Friday, 22 April 2022

Don't tell me . . .

How do you say "don't tell me . . .?" or "could it be . . .?" in Teochew? In Mandarin it is said as nan2dao4 難道 and in Teochew it is said as bhuê7zian5 未成 and these area rhetorical questions.

bhuê7zian5 未成

Don't tell me . . .?

Could it be that . . .?

Is it possible . . .?

Do you really mean to say . . .?

nan2dao4 難道|难道

加強反問語氣

Use for reinforcing one's tone of voice when asking a rhetorical question

河水難道會倒流嗎 ?

Can river water flow backwards?

溪水未成會倒流𠁞 ? koi1zui2 bhuê7zian5 oi6 do3lao5 bhoi6?

他們能完成任務 , 難道我們就不能嗎 ?

They can complete the assignment, don’t tell me we cannot?

伊儂會完成功課 , 未成阮𠁞    i1nang7 oi7 uang5sêng5 gang1kuê3, bhuê7zian5 uang2 bhoi6?


Do note: uang5sêng5 can also be said as zo3liao2

uang5sêng5 完成

complete

wan2cheng2 完成

zo3liao2 做了

complete

wan2cheng2 完成

When one ask a question in Teochew, and if one were to use oi6 as a verb and then the question particle at the end of the question has to be bhoi6.

We, Teochew, call river koi1 溪 and in Standard Chinese could be ho5 河 or gang1 江

Task in Standard Chinese is said as 任務 and in Teochew it is said as gang1kuê3 功課

People in Swatow will say we, not including the listener, as uang2 阮 but people in Teochew City will say it as ung2. 


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