cantonese accents
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keldjoran
cantonese accents
what's the major difference between them? my friend has a hoisaan accent and he's teaching me so therefore i have one. i found some examples of differences on some sites but not enough to cover most situations (the first one learned being hoisaan and toisaan)
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Kobo-Daishi
Taishan dialect?
Dear Keldjoran,
Is he teaching you the Taishan dialect or the Cantonese dialect? They are different, you know.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
Is he teaching you the Taishan dialect or the Cantonese dialect? They are different, you know.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
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Kobo-Daishi
Previous posting
Dear Keldjoran,
Please see my previous posting on the subject. Click on the link below.
One way to tell if your friend is teaching you Cantonese or the Taishan dialect is the way he pronounces Taishan, is it with an initial h- sound or an initial t- sound?
Also, how does he say "we", "they" and "you (plural form)"?
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
Please see my previous posting on the subject. Click on the link below.
One way to tell if your friend is teaching you Cantonese or the Taishan dialect is the way he pronounces Taishan, is it with an initial h- sound or an initial t- sound?
Also, how does he say "we", "they" and "you (plural form)"?
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
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keldjoran
Re: Previous posting
he says it hoisaan
we ngo de
they koi de
you ne de
u sure its not a dialect of cantonese? cause when we went to Chinatown one of the vender ladies said he spoke with a toisaan accent
we ngo de
they koi de
you ne de
u sure its not a dialect of cantonese? cause when we went to Chinatown one of the vender ladies said he spoke with a toisaan accent
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Kobo-Daishi
Changed tones.
Dear Keldjoran,
Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong province. In the old days they were both called Canton by the west.
As I wrote in the previous posting, the Taishan dialect would be considered a Cantonese dialect if you define Cantonese as being the dialects spoken within the province of Guangdong since the city of Taishan lies within the province of Guangdong. But, if you define Cantonese as the dialect spoken in the city of Guangzhou then you are talking about a different dialect from the Taishan dialect.
Your friend is teaching you Cantonese and not Taishanese. In the Taishan dialect, “we”, “they” and “you” (plural form) are single syllables.
Cantonese:
we, us – ngoh deih
they, them – keuih deih
you (plural) – neih deih
Taishanese:
we, us – ngwaih
they, them – kiahk
you (plural) – niahk
Also, in Taishanese a lot of characters with an initial t – sound in Cantonese and Mandarin, have an initial h – sound in Taishanese. As the Tai in Taishan. That’s why Hoisaan instead of Toisaan. Actually I pronounce it Hwaih Sohn, but, I’m told there’s 3 varieties of Taishanese so I guess some Taishanese pronounce it Hoisaan. I think I posted a list of these kinds of characters before.
Ask your friend to say “we”, “they” and “you” (plural) in both Cantonese and Taishanese and you’ll notice the difference.
Note: The Romanisation for Taishanese, is my own since there doesn’t seem to be any official one around.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong province. In the old days they were both called Canton by the west.
As I wrote in the previous posting, the Taishan dialect would be considered a Cantonese dialect if you define Cantonese as being the dialects spoken within the province of Guangdong since the city of Taishan lies within the province of Guangdong. But, if you define Cantonese as the dialect spoken in the city of Guangzhou then you are talking about a different dialect from the Taishan dialect.
Your friend is teaching you Cantonese and not Taishanese. In the Taishan dialect, “we”, “they” and “you” (plural form) are single syllables.
Cantonese:
we, us – ngoh deih
they, them – keuih deih
you (plural) – neih deih
Taishanese:
we, us – ngwaih
they, them – kiahk
you (plural) – niahk
Also, in Taishanese a lot of characters with an initial t – sound in Cantonese and Mandarin, have an initial h – sound in Taishanese. As the Tai in Taishan. That’s why Hoisaan instead of Toisaan. Actually I pronounce it Hwaih Sohn, but, I’m told there’s 3 varieties of Taishanese so I guess some Taishanese pronounce it Hoisaan. I think I posted a list of these kinds of characters before.
Ask your friend to say “we”, “they” and “you” (plural) in both Cantonese and Taishanese and you’ll notice the difference.
Note: The Romanisation for Taishanese, is my own since there doesn’t seem to be any official one around.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
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keldjoran
Re: Changed tones.
I dont think he knows taishanese, which is why i was wondering about it. He once told me that his mother needed him to write a letter for her (she's not very good with English) and when she dictated it, she was speaking toisaan-wah. Could this be what you are referring to? He said he could understand it but he thought it was weird.
Is it possible to speak Cantonese with a toisaan accent?
Is it possible to speak Cantonese with a toisaan accent?
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Kobo-Daishi
Tone Changed in Plural Form
Dear keldjoran,
In the last posting I wanted to mention that in Taishan Hua the pronouns "I", "he/she", and "you" are turned into the plural forms "we", "they" and "you" (plural) by changing the tone and the pronunciation.
Of course, you can speak Cantonese with a Hoisaan accent. Just as you can speak Mandarin with an English accent.
How did your friend learn Cantonese if his mother speaks Hoisaan Wah? From his father?
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
In the last posting I wanted to mention that in Taishan Hua the pronouns "I", "he/she", and "you" are turned into the plural forms "we", "they" and "you" (plural) by changing the tone and the pronunciation.
Of course, you can speak Cantonese with a Hoisaan accent. Just as you can speak Mandarin with an English accent.
How did your friend learn Cantonese if his mother speaks Hoisaan Wah? From his father?
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.