Hi
I've been thinking about some Hokkien words that have the same meaning.
There's "sio sim" and "sue di"
And also "si gan" and "tiam siann"
I was wondering whether "sio sim" is a more modern word and not original Hokkien and is just a sort of translation of the Mandarin "xiao xin" and also like the Cantonese "siu saam". Could it be that "tiam siann" is a more original Hokkien word?
I was thinking the same thing for "si gan" as a translation of the Mandarin "shi jian" and "tiam siann" a more original Hokkien word.
And also, would different variants of Hokkien use one word instead of the other?
Please tell me if I'm completely wrong.
~Jilang
Hokkien compared to Mandarin Translations
Although 細膩 sue3-ji7 in a sense is more Hokkien than 小心 sio2-sim1, they are not 100% similar in usage. Beside the meaning of "careful", sue3-ji7 can mean "shy"; e.g. mang1-sue3-ji7 doesn't mean mang1-sio2-sim1 [don't be careful] but means "don't be shy"/"don't hesitate" [same meaning as mang1-khe4-khi3 別客氣].
In usage, I don't think 無時間 bo5-si5-kan1 (have no time) can be rendered as 無點聲 bo5-tiam2-sia*1.
In usage, I don't think 無時間 bo5-si5-kan1 (have no time) can be rendered as 無點聲 bo5-tiam2-sia*1.
Thanks for that clarification.
This also brings up another question I wanted to ask. Why is it that when a phrase that is less Hokkien such as sio2 sim1 which has the characters 小心, even though the phrase is pronounced as such, the individual words are pronounced differently when NOT in the phrase
examples: 小心的小 = sio2 but in normal Hokkien 小 = sueh4
故事的事 = si3 but in normal Hokkien 事 = su3
How is it more Hokkien?細膩 sue3-ji7 in a sense is more Hokkien than 小心 sio2-sim1
This also brings up another question I wanted to ask. Why is it that when a phrase that is less Hokkien such as sio2 sim1 which has the characters 小心, even though the phrase is pronounced as such, the individual words are pronounced differently when NOT in the phrase
examples: 小心的小 = sio2 but in normal Hokkien 小 = sueh4
故事的事 = si3 but in normal Hokkien 事 = su3
In a sense sue3-ji7 is more Hokkien because sio2-sim1 sounds more Mandarin-like, but both are acceptable, especially since their meanings are not 100% identical.
Strictly speaking, 小 is either sio2 or siau2 [e.g. 小說 siau2-suat4 novel] but in daily usage 小 is often used for sue3 due to the meaning. The original character for sue3 is 細.
故事 is ko`3-sy7 in my variant and 事 is still sy7 if used alone. Some say that 事 is also the character for tai7 as in tai7-ci3; this makes sense since 無事 bo5-sy7 = bo5-tai7. Si7 or su7 are just dialect variant, not colloquial vs literary.
The phenomenon of colloquial and literary pronunciations exists in many Chinese languages, but especially unique and "rampant" in Hokkien.
Strictly speaking, 小 is either sio2 or siau2 [e.g. 小說 siau2-suat4 novel] but in daily usage 小 is often used for sue3 due to the meaning. The original character for sue3 is 細.
故事 is ko`3-sy7 in my variant and 事 is still sy7 if used alone. Some say that 事 is also the character for tai7 as in tai7-ci3; this makes sense since 無事 bo5-sy7 = bo5-tai7. Si7 or su7 are just dialect variant, not colloquial vs literary.
The phenomenon of colloquial and literary pronunciations exists in many Chinese languages, but especially unique and "rampant" in Hokkien.
Originally I thought they were different because ko3 sy7 was a translation from Mandarin and just dropped the 'h' in 'shi' as was done with the Hokkien for 是.故事 is ko`3-sy7 in my variant and 事 is still sy7 if used alone.
Do you have any examples of this?The phenomenon of colloquial and literary pronunciations exists in many Chinese languages, but especially unique and "rampant" in Hokkien.