Thursday, January 22, 2009

Sihou

Talking about interests is a great way to make friends and expand your vocabulary. Some vocab:
  • tai2 dinying2 (or tai2 hei) - watch a movie
  • tai2 dinsee - watch television
  • ying2s'heung2 - take photos
  • da2 mon2kau4 - play tennis
  • da2 lam4kau4 - play basketball
Ngoh jung1yi da mon3kau4 (I like to play tennis) is a useful phrase.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Saubiu

Cantonese like all Chinese dialects is monosyllabic; almost every syllable carries meaning. Not every word though, is made up of one syllable, for example:

  • sau2biu1 - wristwatch (lit: hand watch)
  • syutgwai - refrigerator (lit: snow cupboard)
Cantonese also has borrowed a lot of words from English, for example:
  • chu1gu1lik1 - chocolate
  • nei4lung4 - nylon
  • wai4ta1ming - vitamin
  • wai1sigei2 - whisky