Transcribing videoclips

[Ah-bin]

Taiwanese textbooks I have seen use 抑是 for the "or" and they write it ah7-si in POJ,

也 is not such a good choice, as 也是 actually does mean "also" in Chiang-chiu Hokkien, perhaps this is originally from 亦是 iah7-si

"still is" they write as 猶是 (iau-si) and give the POJ as iau-si. The opposite "Not yet" (iau-boe) is given as 猶未.

BTW , does Penang HK use 猶是 (iau-si) for still is? Actually, I can;t think of a good example sentence to test this on, as none of my English ones require the use of 是.

[SimL]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the useful information on "a-si". I will need some time for it all to sink in.

BTW, does Penang HK use 猶是 (iau-si) for still is? Actually, I can;t think of a good example sentence to test this on, as none of my English ones require the use of 是.

Ah-bin: I've never come across it, so if it does, then perhaps it's not commonly used, or only used by more "literate" people. Probably Andrew and Mark can comment more authoritatively on this. I would use (the already much discussed) "koh4", either alone, or in combination with "si" 是, or with "ti" 在/(佇?).

For example, "Is he still a teacher?" might be any one of "i koh si sin-sEN bo/m-si?", "i koh ti cho sin-sEN bo?", "i koh ti kah-chhEh bo?" (though, strictly, this last is "Is he still teaching?"). For "Is he still coming?" (= "Does he still intend to come?"), I might say "i koh be lai bo?", though such a formulation is ambiguous, as it could also mean "Does he want to come again?". This ambiguity would normally be resolved from context. Also, perhaps "i koh be lai bo" would indeed be interpreted as "Is he still coming?", and "Does he want to come again?" would be formulated as "i au-pai koh be lai bo?"

[SimL]

16. 'cit8-ki1-chui3 kam5-cit8-ki1-ci8' 一支嘴含一支舌; 'lo`7-ber2-cit8-pai2' 路尾一擺

1. 'cit8-ki1-chui3 kam5-cit8-ki1-ci8' 一支嘴含一支舌

Very nice! Sadly, I understand the individual words, and the literal meaning, but could you tell me what the metaphorical meaning is?

2. 'lo`7-ber2

Also lovely! I say this because I haven't heard this term for more than 30 years, after my Amoy-speaking grandmother died. She used it in a slightly different context, for example, "li lO-be chue si-mi?" (= "what did you do in the end?"), but it is now quite a revelation to me that the "lO" is 路.

Thank you ever so much!

[niuc]

Hi Sim

You are welcome.

1. 'cit8-ki1-chui3 kam5-cit8-ki1-ci8' 一支嘴含一支舌
Very nice! Sadly, I understand the individual words, and the literal meaning, but could you tell me what the metaphorical meaning is?

I never heard of that idiom either. From the context may be it means something like don't know how to open mouth and speak.

2. 'lo`7-ber2
Also lovely! I say this because I haven't heard this term for more than 30 years, after my Amoy-speaking grandmother died. She used it in a slightly different context, for example, "li lO-be chue si-mi?" (= "what did you do in the end?"), but it is now quite a revelation to me that the "lO" is 路.

Yes, literally it means "the end of the road", and by extension "the end", "late" -> 'te2-lo`7-ber2-kau3_e0' (the latest to arrive).

[SimL]

Hi all,

I know there are quite a few Hokkien clips on youtube, but this one I found vague amusing, so I thought I'd share it with the other members.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpJmJRup ... re=related

[SimL]

Hi niuc,

I thought you might find it interesting that the 闽南方言常用小词典 gives 落 rather than 路 as the first character in “lO-be”. Barclay gives “loh4”, “lok8” and “lak8” as pronunciations of 落, no "lO". The etymology site gives "lak4 lau3 loh8 lok4 lok8", also no "lO". So perhaps the 闽南方言常用小词典 is wrong, and you are right. From meaning alone, both characters would work.

It does however (unsurprisingly) agree with 尾.

[niuc]

Hi Sim

Thank you for the info. Interesting that the dictionary lists it as such. In my variant it is 'lo`7-ber2' (lO7-be2), so far I think 落 is unlikely. Also in a sentence such as 'kau3-lo`7-ber2 kha4/cia4-u7-khua*3_tio0' [到]路尾[才]有看着 -> literally:"till the end only then see(n)", 路 suits the meaning better than 落.

落尾 would be usually read as 'lo8-ber2' (loh8-be2) and it would mean (at least for my ears) getting the last position (lit. drop to the tail), in this sense it means something worse than 路尾. Don't know if this is only me.

[SimL]

落尾 would be usually read as 'lo8-ber2' (loh8-be2) and it would mean (at least for my ears) getting the last position (lit. drop to the tail), in this sense it means something worse than 路尾.

I don't feel it as strongly as you do, but I see what you mean.

You have the alternative pronunciation "kha" for 才 also? There was some discussion on this Forum a while back that it is pronounced "cia" in Amoy and other variants, but is pronounced "ka" (no aspiration though) in Penang Hokkien.

[Andrew]

Taiwanese textbooks I have seen use 抑是 for the "or" and they write it ah7-si in POJ,

也 is not such a good choice, as 也是 actually does mean "also" in Chiang-chiu Hokkien, perhaps this is originally from 亦是 iah7-si

"still is" they write as 猶是 (iau-si) and give the POJ as iau-si. The opposite "Not yet" (iau-boe) is given as 猶未.

I have consulted the dictionaries at my college (School of Oriental & African Studies) library, and confirm that both the 1899 Douglas (with characters) and Campbell give 抑是 for "or".

[niuc]

You have the alternative pronunciation "kha" for 才 also? There was some discussion on this Forum a while back that it is pronounced "cia" in Amoy and other variants, but is pronounced "ka" (no aspiration though) in Penang Hokkien.

Yes, my variant uses 'kha4' more often than 'cia4'. Is it 'kah4' in Penang Hokkien?