Thanks Hong for this very useful information on the original form of "phang1-ki*3". It matches the way I pronounce it very well (I say it with no aspiration and with nasalization: "ki*3", rather than with Mark's form: "khi").
Hi, Sim,
Thanks for pointing out my error in pronunciation (if what Hong says about the Hanzi is true, then the "ki" is really unaspirated - per the way you pronounce it).
I have often heard it pronounced by Penangites in aspirated form. I guess the reason is because the actual Hanzi root words have largely been forgotten, thus many latter-day Penang Hokkien speakers intuitively assume that the "ki" is 去 rather than 見 (khi 去 seems to be a common terminator of verbs in present-perfect-tense sentences, e.g. cau-khi liau 走去了, chia-khi liau 食去了) - resulting in the aspirated pronunciation of the word.
We also usually use the brief form phang3-ki*3 for pha4-m3-ki*3 拍不見, yet the full form for pha4-bo5 khy0 拍無去 (khy3 in neutral tone). We use phang3-ki*3 for things and sometimes about other persons, but never about the speakers. E.g. 伊不知拍不見對哪去 i1-m7-cai1-phang3-ki*3-tui3-to`5 khy0 (all in sandhi ) is still acceptable; but 阮佇芭內拍不見 gun2 ti7-pa1-lai7 phang3-ki*3 is unacceptable. Pha4-bo5 khy0 拍無去 is used for things, with the exception for babies/children as euphemism for miscarriage & infancy death.
I apologize for my spelling mistake which might have caused some confusion. The aspirated "ki" ȥ should have been written as "khi". I shall be more careful next time so as not to cause any confusion.
) is still acceptable; but 阮佇芭內拍不見 gun2 ti7-pa1-lai7 phang3-ki*3 is unacceptable. Pha4-bo5 khy0 拍無去 is used for things, with the exception for babies/children as euphemism for miscarriage & infancy death.