"ko i" vs. "e sai" for "can"?

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Wed May 04, 2005 3:40 pm

Has anyone heard the term "kō î" 可以 used in Hokkien speech, rather than the more common ĕ sâi "會使"? I have only heard it once, used by an assistant at the Penang Dato Keramat 鐵打 clinic.

hong · Post by **hong** » Thu May 05, 2005 12:19 pm

Yes,I heard ko i in minnan news from taiwan/china/malaysia .However ,e sai 解使 is wrong for 1.6 chuan chiu people in malaysia.It should be e cue or e ing用(tongan/jinmen)
e sai is for ciang/xia.。the same goes for be sai(chiang/xia)bue cue(chuan).

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:52 pm

This is interesting, Hong. You are the first source I know to say that the "e" in "e sai" is 解, and not 會. Virtually alll the China-printed Minnan books I have seen say that "e" is 會. As far as I know, 解 has the wendu "kāi".

hong · Post by **hong** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:55 pm

Yes.many books have explained e is 解 including a book 廈門方言 or maybe廈門話文 which were selling in that bookshop you mentioned.。I had given a link for this last year.
Go to www.google.com.tw type 南北是非 you will find first article by Prof.mei zulin has explained 解=e and another good article by Prof.Yang is helpful as well..
the link is www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/publish..........

hong · Post by **hong** » Sat May 07, 2005 12:25 am

I have to mention the first strange word I learn from Taiwanese minnan drama when I was a kid is bue ing -cannot.We have to look at the screen to find out the mandarin meaning.Not every xiamen say bue sai like chiangchiu as mentioned by Prof.Chiu' s dict.

Casey · Post by **Casey** » Tue May 10, 2005 8:58 am

I think it is the influence of Cuanciu usage in saying e7 ing7 会用 or e7cue7 会做 to avoid using "sai2" because "sai2" is also used in profanity scolding, like "sai2 lin2 nia5".

This is the same reason for saying "hua*7 chia1" instead of "sai2 chia1" (driving a car).

Casey · Post by **Casey** » Tue May 10, 2005 9:01 am

Sorry for the typo- mistake. It should have been "e7 cue3", not "e7 cue7".

tangoloonokongo · Post by **tangoloonokongo** » Tue May 10, 2005 11:32 am

Hi guys

As the words of hnua and sai, as in hnua chia or sai chia is quite perplexing.

Perhaps,we must trace the differences back to age when there were horse drawn chariots - then we may guess that 'sai chia' could have been used at that time, and as transportation modernised to include an internal combustion engine (without horses) and a steering wheel, it became 'hnua chia' because of the steering wheel.

Just wishful thinking!

hong · Post by **hong** » Tue May 10, 2005 12:42 pm

I read 駛 used as driving is in modern era only but in old chinese it mainly means speed,fast,horse/time is running.
駕 on the hand is used for driving a long time ago 宋.岳飛-滿江紅-駕長車﹐踏破賀蘭山缺。
捍/扞 from the meaning of in charge is just minnan invention for driving.
minnan news from China also used 開車(khui1) .開 used for driving is a new invention in Mandarin not more than 100 years.

Casey · Post by **Casey** » Wed May 11, 2005 9:33 am

I think 开车 is more of the influence by Mandarin, meaning 开动汽车 .