Some more questions

jilang · Post by **jilang** » Fri May 11, 2007 7:52 am

Hi

Well, I wanted to know a few more things:

1) What is the meaning of "tong chhoo". The hanzi for "tong" is 当/當 and I know the hanzi for "chhoo" but I can't write it on computer. The left side is 礻and the right side is 刀 [礻刀].

2) What does "pang sa" mean? "pang" is 放.

3) What is the hanzi for "toe bak" meaning "question"?

4)people use words common in Mandarin such as 要 as "iau" in Hokkien just to mean "want"? Also, how would you read common Mandarin words such as 你，[他/她/它]，睡覺，可以？

Thank You
~Jilang

duaaagiii · Post by **duaaagiii** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:43 am

1) What is the meaning of "tong chhoo". The hanzi for "tong" is 当/當 and I know the hanzi for "chhoo" but I can't write it on computer. The left side is 礻and the right side is 刀 [礻刀].

當初 / 当初 (the radical is 衤 (衣), not 礻 (示))
literary: tong1-chhoo1
colloquial: tng1-chh(o)e1
pinyin: dang1 chu1
meaning: originally; at first

2) What does "pang sa" mean? "pang" is 放.

I think you mean
放拺
colloquial: pang3-sak4
meaning: to abandon; to discard

3) What is the hanzi for "toe bak" meaning "question"?

題目 / 题目

4)people use words common in Mandarin such as 要 as "iau" in Hokkien just to mean "want"? Also, how would you read common Mandarin words such as 你，[他/她/它]，睡覺，可以？

I think 要 (iau3, iau1) only occurs in compounds. Examples: 需要 su1-iau3, 要緊 / 要紧 iau3-kin2, and 要求 iau1-kiu5.

Some people write 要 but mean beh4 or ai3.

I'm not sure what you mean by reading "common Mandarin words". If you want translations, 你 is 汝 li2, 他/她/它 is 伊 i1, and 可以 is 會使 (o)e7-sai2 or 會當 (o)e7-tang3. If you want to read them as literary terms, 他/它 is tha1, and 可以 is kho2-i2.

jilang · Post by **jilang** » Sat May 12, 2007 1:12 pm

Thanks,

當初 / 当初 (the radical is 衤 (衣), not 礻 (示))

Thanks, the writing that I read was small and I haven't seen that other radical before so I assumed it was the same.

Examples: 需要 su1-iau3, 要緊 / 要紧 iau3-kin2, and 要求 iau1-kiu5.

I recognize the second one but what do the first and third mean?

I'm not sure what you mean by reading "common Mandarin words". If you want translations, 你 is 汝 li2, 他/她/它 is 伊 i1, and 可以 is 會使 (o)e7-sai2 or 會當 (o)e7-tang3. If you want to read them as literary terms, 他/它 is tha1, and 可以 is kho2-i2.

I actually meant reading the characters common in Mandarin in Hokkien as in the Hokkien that corresponds to the character.

Thanks again

duaaagiii · Post by **duaaagiii** » Sun May 13, 2007 7:19 pm

需要 su1-iau3 need/want
要求 iau1-kiu5 request/demand

Reading non-literary Mandarin terms in Hokkien is painful-- it's kind of like pronouncing Cantonese dialectical characters in Mandarin.

你 li2
他 tha1 (e.g. 其他 ki5-tha1 or ki5-thann1)
睡覺 sui7-kau3 (painful)
可以 kho2-i2

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:29 am

Actually, I have heard 可以 kho2-i2 used in Penang before. It is not common among the English-educated and Peranakan's, but you can hear the term used among the more 'pure' Chinese-educated Penang Hokkien speakers - in my case, I heard it used by an assistant to the Chinese physician in Datuk Keramat area (ground floor of a row of flats behind Great World Club 大世界).

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:34 am

Some people write 要 but mean beh4 or ai3.

I know this question has been posted somewhere else before... but what's the hanzi for be4 (to want)? I have seen the following replies before:

1. Colloquial pronunciation for 欲
2. 卜 (this I find very difficult to accept)
3. There is no hanzi for it.

I once postulated that it was 必, but I recall Ong corrected me on it (I cannot find that post anymore).

So, which answer is correct?

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:45 am

Okay, I finally found the thread: viewtopic.php?t=2091

duaaagiii · Post by **duaaagiii** » Tue May 15, 2007 4:25 am

I think people have given up trying to find -the- correct character for beh4--- it is unlikely to exist. Here are a few characters that people use as alternatives:

卜卟 -- borrowed for their pronunciations
欲要 -- borrowed for their meanings
必 -- sounds similar and means something similar

This is also the problem with 必--- it tries to cover both pronunciation and meaning, but does not succeed at either.

ong · Post by **ong** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:06 am

Is should be 望 bong> boh is the original form in quanzhou> berh,beh,bueh.
That has nothing to the meaning = if

jilang · Post by **jilang** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:00 am

Thanks duaaagiii for those "painful" words:D . I believe Taiwanese uses li2 as the regular word for "you". [Sorry, I can't input Chinese characters at the moment] Does this common Taiwanese word correspond to 你 or ['san dian shui' on the left and 'nu' on the right]?

Some additional questions are:

What is the hanzi for "m" the negative word.

Normally when we use "m" we use it like "m thang" or "m si". So why is it when we use it with "ai3 (want/like/love)" we get "mai3" which is one word/syllable instead of any of the other times when we use it? And what is the HanZi for "mai3"?