what is mandarin / hokien pronuciaton of 忄尉

[elmer]

Hello,

In my genealogy I see the name of 李仲忄尉. The last two characters are actually one character, but I can't find it anywhere. Is this an extinct character or is it a typically Hokkien character?

How would it have been pronounced in Mandarin and Hokkien? What caracter comes close to this pronunciation?

Thanks
Elmer

[Mark Yong]

Hi, elmer,

Welcome back to the Forum!

I believe you are referring to this character:

It appears to be a variant of the character 慰: http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/yitia/fra/fra01431.htm So, in that sense - no, it is not an extinct or Hokkien-specific character, just a different way of writing the word ‘to comfort / to console’.

If so, then your ancestor’s name 李仲慰 would be:
Hokkien: Li2 Tiong7 Ui3
Mandarin: Lí2 Zhòng4 Wèi4

The most obvious character I can think of that has an identical pronunciation and tone in Mandarin would be 爲.

[elmer]

thanks!

is there an online dictionary where I can find the hokkien Romanization of characters? And is there somewhere an overview of characters which are written in a different form these days?

best regards,
Elmer

[Mark Yong]

Hi, elmer,

The closest thing to a comprehensive online Hokkien Romanisation dictionary that I am aware of is the one hosted by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education:
http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/index.html

I normally use the above in tandem with the 漢典 websites to verify the characters’ definition:
http://www.zdic.net

Alternatively, you could use the Minnan Wiktionary:
http://zh-min-nan.wiktionary.org/wiki/T ... -ia%CC%8Dh
But for this one, you input the desired Romanisation, and it gives you the possible characters - which, I gather, is the reverse of what you are after.

[elmer]

thanks!