tamoe's needs help for hokkien translation thread

[Ah-bin]

Sorry Tamoe, I didn't look at the forum for a while. I can try and say these in Northern Malaysian/Penang/Kedah Hokkien. I am not a native speaker, but I've thought about some of these things for years. You can search for a lot about Penang Hokkien grammar in this forum, and find some of the most reliable guides to how to construct sentences.

1. If you don't go, then please stay at home helping me.

Lú (nā-sī) mài khì, lú tō tòa tī chhù tàu-kha-chhiú wá.

Literally "(If) You don't want to go, then you help me at home"

2. Before I go to sleep, I want to submit this CV.

Wá ài kià chí-lê CV thâu-seng, liáu-ka khì khùn.

"I want to send this CV first, only then can I go to sleep"

3. (in restaurant) "Hello, I want to order fried rice two plates"

Wá ài nō·-pôaⁿ chhà-pūiⁿ
"I want two plates of fried rice" - order is "kiò", but I think "Wá ài kiò nō·-pôaⁿ chhà-pūiⁿ" means more like "I am going to order…" when spoken to another person.

The "kai" you ask about is from Teochew, but widely used in different Hokkien dialects in Southeast Asia.

I have a Chinese article on Medan Hokkian I can send you, if you send me a PM with your e-mail address.

I hope you found this site too:
http://belajarhokkien.wordpress.com

[Abun]

Thank you Ah-bin for your suggestions; I found them very interesting even though my own focus of study doesn’t lie on Medan Hokkien (at least not at the moment

Lú (nā-sī) mài khì, lú tō tòa tī chhù tàu-kha-chhiú wá.

Indeed, now that you mentioned it “mài khì” does sound better than “m̄ khì” in the first sentence to me as well… Also, I didn’t know that “tàu-kha-chhiú” can be transitive in Northern Malaysia; in Taiwanese I’m pretty sure it’s verb+object (so I would say “kā guá tàu kha-chhiú”). Can you add a verb compound after “tàu-kha-chhiú wá”, too? For example: tàu-kha-chhiú wá chò puīnn, help me cook?

chhà-pūiⁿ

is also interesting with respect to the tone on the first syllable. As far as I know “to fry” is “chhá” in second tone in TW, although I’m not sure that “fried rice” isn’t pronounced as “tshá--pn̄g” (or maybe “chhá--puīⁿ” if you’re from around Gî-lân) with a standing tone on the first syllable. Is the verb “to fry” also in third tone in Northern Malaysia?

[amhoanna]

in Taiwanese I’m pretty sure it’s verb+object (so I would say “kā guá tàu kha-chhiú”). Can you add a verb compound after “tàu-kha-chhiú wá”, too? For example: tàu-kha-chhiú wá chò puīnn, help me cook?

Interesting question. I would like to know too. U're right as to Taiwanese. The N M'sian arrangement is a Cantonism or a Siamism, or both.

I'm pretty sure "chá" is T2 everywhere. The T3 was probably a typo...

[xng]

Also, I didn’t know that “tàu-kha-chhiú” can be transitive in Northern Malaysia; in Taiwanese I’m pretty sure it’s verb+object (so I would say “kā guá tàu kha-chhiú”). Can you add a verb compound after “tàu-kha-chhiú wá”, too? For example: tàu-kha-chhiú wá chò puīnn, help me cook?

Read my new thread

[bambims]

你若毋去，會當留佇厝內共我鬥相共無