Ah-bin wrote:in the same way that "oaN-tu" (bowls and chopsticks) has the extended meaning of "dishes"
BTW, my standard word for "dishes" is "puaN-oaN" (plates and bowls), same principle as "oaN-tu". I was actually unfamiliar with "oaN-tu" - did you get that from a Penang Hokkien speaker? (Entirely possible of course, just asking.)
Of this next lot, even less useful information from me, I'm afraid.
In my usage:
4) To compensate, pay back (is this heng 返 or poe to-tuiN 賠倒轉?)
"heng5" = "give back" (can be money, but anything else borrowed as well: a book, clothes, a broom, anything really). It can also mean "to pay", usually in the combination "heng lui".
E.g.
- "wa cioh i e lui, wa siauN i si bo be heng wa liau" (= "I don't think he's going to pay back the money I lent him").
- "i saN le-pai cioh wa e sau-chiu liau, koh a-bue heng koh" (= "he's borrowed my broom for three weeks now, and still hasn't returned it").
- "to-loh khi/thang heng liu?" (= "where should I (go and) pay?").
In this last case, it's not
borrowed money, but simply payment for goods or services.
"poe5" = "compensate" (usually money, but could be goods or time 'representing' money). As far as I can see, "poe" is a complete equivalent of English "compensate". In my usage, one doesn't need to have the "to-tuiN" (almost "shouldn't", but that's perhaps too strong).
E.g.
- "lu e kiaN co-phua wa cin-nia kui e tE-au, lu be(h) an-cuaN pue wa?" (= "Your child broke my very expensive tea-cup, how are you going to compensate me?").
- "A-io, i pang-kE nO le-pai, ta(k)-ta(k) jit tioh be co-kang - lang an-cuaN pue i a?" (= "Oh dear, he had to work every day of his 2-week holiday - how are we going to compensate him (for that)").
9) A cook (perhaps chu-chiah e lang 煮食个儂?)
There is the curious word "cong2/3-phO3/7" (Cantonese?/Hainanese?). The tones are uncertain for both syllables for the obvious reason: I only know the first syllable as the first syllable of this combination, and the last syllable as the last syllable of this combination. Without knowing them in other contexts (i.e. the first in final position, and the second in non-final), the tone of each could be one of a number of possibilities. (Of course, if it
is borrowed from Cantonese or Hainanese, then the concept of the standing tone for these syllables doesn't even arise.)
Actually, I only know this word in the context of huge family celebrations. Whenever one of my great-aunts or great-uncles had a major birthday, then the entire extended family would come. This could be 10-15 nuclear families of 3-5 people per nuclear family (mercifully many of these - perhaps a half or a third - would be children or babies even). The celebration would always be a meal, and it would always be in the home of the person whose birthday it was. Obviously, the household couldn't cope with cooking for that many people, so a "cong2/3-phO3/7" would be engaged. He'd come very early in the morning already, and he and his team would be chopping and folding and boiling stuff, so that by the time guests arrived around lunchtime, the food would be ready. There would be 2 large dining tables (seating a total of 16-20), and people would eat "in shifts": as 2-3 people sitting next to one another - chatting - finished their meal, they would get up, and call the next lot of people to sit. So, over a period of 1-2 hours, several different people would sit at any single seat, and there was a constant stream of people calling out "ue! cui-cui a-bue ciah koh, koh u ui liau!" (= "hey, who hasn't eaten yet, there's space (free) now").
I take the trouble to describe the above partly for "local historical colour", but also to indicate that I only heard people speaking of a professional cook in this context (makes sense, if you think about it). I'll check with my parents whether the term "cong2/3-phO3/7" was restricted to this very specific context of a "free-lance cook/chef with his team of choppers", or whether it was used for any cook in general. Perhaps other readers of this forum are familiar with the word anyway.
10) A copy (of an original)
Here I definitely use the borrowed "kO7-pi1". Perhaps strange to tell you this, but it does give you information on the difference between "a word I don't know in 'pure' Hokkien but have a perfectly comfortable alternative which all the people in the society of that time around me would have understood", vs. "a word I don't know in 'pure' Hokkien and don't have any way of saying, so I would be forced to completely paraphrase or describe, or just switch to speaking English". "kO7-pi1" is of the former category.
Bridal headdress (I have this as "tek koe" from somewhere, but can't find the word anywhere else) 
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