Cantonese translation
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Wanda
Cantonese translation
A group of us was told that in Cantonese the word woaili was the best translation for "I love you." Not in the man woman sense but in the meaning of deep affection. Now someone just told us that the word woaili translates to "buttered toast." What is the best translation for "I love you." (Not romantice love).
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Dylan Sung
Re: Cantonese translation
Not in Cantonese, but Mandarin, wo ai ni (rhymes with "wore eye knee").
Buttered Toast? Hahahah!
To be affectionate, in Cantonese, you could say "sek", but this could be like for parental affection towards a loved child say.
Dyl.
Buttered Toast? Hahahah!
To be affectionate, in Cantonese, you could say "sek", but this could be like for parental affection towards a loved child say.
Dyl.
Re: Cantonese translation
Expressing deep affection explicitly is not something typically done in Chinese. As Dylan said, you can say "sehk" to express sort of parental affection, but otherwise you wouldn't say that.
I find many Chinese who choose to express something like that default to an English word. e.g. /ngoh/ /hou/ CARE /neih/.
Instead a traditional Chinese person would express care by commenting on a person's health, expressing concern over various issues, etc.
There are ways of saying you care "I miss you", "I care how you're doing", etc., but they almost all have other connotations.
One note- in a standard dialect the vowel sound in "wo" does not sound like the English word "wore", it sounds like the vowel in "wall" (pronounced in a normal North American accent). In certain informal dialect registers that might be the case.
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I find many Chinese who choose to express something like that default to an English word. e.g. /ngoh/ /hou/ CARE /neih/.
Instead a traditional Chinese person would express care by commenting on a person's health, expressing concern over various issues, etc.
There are ways of saying you care "I miss you", "I care how you're doing", etc., but they almost all have other connotations.
One note- in a standard dialect the vowel sound in "wo" does not sound like the English word "wore", it sounds like the vowel in "wall" (pronounced in a normal North American accent). In certain informal dialect registers that might be the case.
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Dylan Sung
Re: Cantonese translation
Fl,
In a way you are right, but it depends who you speak to. In the old pronunciation it was "ngoh" but the initial changed over the years, and folks in HK at least, say 'oh', and this applies as a rule of thumb to all words which originally began with ng- . There are some words which retain it, but more and more it is being lost. You only have to compare how the black and white movies pronounced things in Cantonese and modern media to find out. Words like ngaan (eye) become aan, ngai hiim (danger) ai-hiim etc.
Moreover hyrza also points out "lay" (you) was once pronounced "nei", and initial n- has become l-.
Some folks are hypercorrecting their speech, affixing ng- all over the place where those syllables never had that initial in the first places. For instance oi (love) is now ngoi.
In Cantonese of yesteryear, I love you is "ngoh oi nei"
Today it is "oh ngoi lei".
Dyl.
In a way you are right, but it depends who you speak to. In the old pronunciation it was "ngoh" but the initial changed over the years, and folks in HK at least, say 'oh', and this applies as a rule of thumb to all words which originally began with ng- . There are some words which retain it, but more and more it is being lost. You only have to compare how the black and white movies pronounced things in Cantonese and modern media to find out. Words like ngaan (eye) become aan, ngai hiim (danger) ai-hiim etc.
Moreover hyrza also points out "lay" (you) was once pronounced "nei", and initial n- has become l-.
Some folks are hypercorrecting their speech, affixing ng- all over the place where those syllables never had that initial in the first places. For instance oi (love) is now ngoi.
In Cantonese of yesteryear, I love you is "ngoh oi nei"
Today it is "oh ngoi lei".
Dyl.
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jam
Re: Cantonese translation
been wondering what does pokki means? i just heard somebody said that and according to my friend its cantonese but doesnt exactly know what does it mean...
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Dylan Sung
Re: Cantonese translation
Do you mean puk gai? Swear word, means to stumble and hit the ground.
Dyl.
Dyl.