Hi there,
1. I was wondering if someone could tell me whether the "keng1" in "seng1 keng1" (Bible) and in "liam7 keng1" (to chant (e.g. Buddhist) prayers) is the same character: 经 ? If I understand correctly, 经 means "classic", "scripture" so, the meaning "prayer" is close enough for it to possibly be the same character, but on the other hand not really *that* close, so perhaps it isn’t. Also, what is the character for "liam" (recite) ?
2. What is the original Hokkien word for those Chinese sausages - the reddish, waxy-looking things which have visible bits of white fat in them, and which are sweetish-salty to the taste? The only word I know for them is "lap4 chiOng5", but I have a suspicion that this is a borrowed word from Cantonese. Do Hokkiens traditionally make and eat these things?
On Aurelio’s recommendation, I have ordered the Hokkien-English and English-Hokkien dictionaries from the Maryknoll Center in Taiwan. I look forward to using them to find out the answers to more of these questions when they arrive. For this reason, I’m holding off asking a lot of the questions I presently have, but these two seemed innocent enough, so I’ll ask them now.
3. Just as an afterthought, what do people call *Western* sausages in Hokkien? Or isn’t there a word for them.
Thanks in advance,
Sim.