strange

IabHui has said a very interesting sentence.

Le2 main3 tian1dioh4 nê1 hiao5hiao5

汝勿聽著呢嬲嬲｜汝勿听着呢嬲嬲

Mandarin: 你不要聽起來覺得怪怪的｜你不要听起来觉得怪怪的

You do not want to think it sounds rather strange.

There are many meanings for hiao5 and in this usage, hiao5 means strange.

Hiao5 can have the following meanings: trilling, to go courting as explained by 野遊｜野游 and 冶遊｜冶游

Hiao5 can also mean to amuse or interesting etc.

Word List

hu1ru2	腐乳	pickled tofu
guê2diao5	粿條｜粿条	flat rice noodles
kah4na5	芥藍｜芥蓝	Chinese broccoli
dou2nêg8	肚肉	pork belly
seng3tao5 iu5	蒜頭油｜蒜头油	Minced garlic fried in oil.
zin2	稚	young – young broccoli is very tender
gao6 la5	厚朥	lots of lard - gao6 does not mean thick in this case
riag8 huê2	熱火｜热火	high heat
nêg8teng1	肉湯｜肉汤	stock made from boiling beef or pork
seng3tao5 la5	蒜頭朥｜蒜头朥	Minced garlic fried in lard.
There is a term “riag8 dian2” which you ought to know which was not used in the video.
riag8 dian2	熱鼎｜热鼎	to heat up a frying pan or a wok
I suppose you know that wok 鑊｜镬 is a Cantonese term for our dian2 and in Mandarin is called chao3guo1 炒鍋｜炒锅。

 

character amnesia

I was reading an article about character amnesia where people forget how to write characters by hand and they found that 70 percent of people tested were unable to write 癩蛤蟆 meaning a toad.

The first character 癩 is used in Teochew as in tai2go1 癩哥 to mean leprosy and the last two characters are said in Teochew as gab4bo5 蛤蟆 to mean a toad. Do remember to close your lips after saying gab4!

Some people write bo5 incorrectly as 婆 and if you were to flip your Teochew dictionary, you will find the correct character to use.

To flip a book is said as hiaoⁿ1 掀 and I have heard it used by Iab Hui to mean to lift a lid of a cooking pot.

So what is the cure for character amnesia? Write out the characters over and over again by hand!

How does one say character amnesia? It is said as 提筆忘字 ti5big4 bhuang5ri7.  In normal conversation, we say ti5 as huaⁿ⁷ 扞 and bhuang5 as 唔記得 m6gi3dig4 and in normal conversation, we can say 扞筆唔記得字 huaⁿ7 big4 m6gi3dig4 ri7 to mean character amnesia .

What did Ziao'ciu Sim say to her son?

Ziao’Ciu Sim spoke a very good Teochew sentence at the end of the video, which is worth us dissecting and learn a few vernacular Teochew Uê.

Si6 ain3 gian1 nia2 ai5 di6a1 le2 huan1 ga1lo5 no7

是欲驚乃𡟓弟啊汝還䜰䜮啢｜是欲惊乃𡟓弟啊汝还䜰䜮唡

Want to frighten your mother, son you are still lacking.

Nia2 meaning yours does not have a character and Mogher 乃 uses this character.

di6 – Modern Teochew people call their son a1di6 or di6di6

Ga1lo5 is a Teochew word which means lacking and the subtitles write 膠羅｜胶罗 which makes the same sound and translated into Mandarin as 還差得遠.

No7 is a final particle of expression and Teochew dictionaries write this no7 as [口二] but there is no such encoded character and the best found is 𠮡 and I use this 啢 encoded character instead.

Tone Practice between round and aunty

This post is for those who want to practice their tones. I have done the tone sandhi for you and these tones are in parenthesis.

Ming7 in5(7)in5 gai7 Ng5 I5(7)I5

面圓圓個黃姨姨｜面圆圆个黄姨姨

Rounded face Aunty Ng

Ng5 I5(7)I5 mian5(7)gio3 Ng5 In5(7)In5

黃姨姨名叫黃圓圓｜黄姨姨名叫黄圆圆

Aunty Ng’s name is Ng Round Round

Ng5 I5(7)I5 gai7 hêng5 in5(7)in5

黃姨姨個形圓圓｜黄姨姨个形圆圆

Aunty Ng’s body shape is round round

I5(7)I5 sên3 Ng5 mian5 In5(7)In5

姨姨姓黃名圓圓｜姨姨姓黄名圆圆

Aunty’s surname is Ng whose name is Round Round

In5(7)In5 ziu6(2)si6 Ng5 I5(7)I5

圓圓就是黃姨姨｜圆圆就是黄姨姨

Round Round is Aunty Ng

Ng5 I5(7)I5 si6 Ng5 In5(7)In5

黃姨姨是黃圓圓｜黄姨姨是黄圆圆

Aunty Ng is Ng Roung Round

Ng5 In5(7)In5 I5(7)I5

黃圓圓姨姨｜黄圆圆姨姨

i5(7)i5 si6 i5(7)i5

Aunty Ng Round Round

姨姨是姨姨

Aunty is aunty

in5(7)in5 si6 in5(7)in5

圓圓是圓圓｜圆圆是圆圆

Round round is round round

i5(7)i5 mo2 gio3 zo3 in5(7)in5

姨姨孬叫做圓圓｜姨姨孬叫做圆圆

Must not call aunty round round

in5(7)in5 mo2 tag8 zo3 i5(7)i5

圓圓孬讀做姨姨｜圆圆孬读做姨姨

Round round must not be read as aunty

 In the picture they use mog8 莫 which has the same meaning as our Teochew mo2 孬 and I prefer to use our own characters mo2.

Word List

ming7	面	face
in5 [nasal]	圓	round
i5	姨	Aunt – mother’s sister
Ng5	黃	family name Ng
mian5gio3	名叫	is called
hêng5	形	shape
sên3	姓	family name, surname
mo2 gio3 zo3	孬叫做	must not be called as
mo2 tag8 zo3	孬讀做	must not be read as

 Just one note: We Teochew do not tone sandhi all the characters except for those marked above. This is why people say Teochew people speak like as if they are singing.

Glottal Stop

Glottal Stop is called ao5sag4im1 喉塞音

In this video, you can hear Professor Lim explaining our language and glottal stop.

Dio5ziu1 Uê7 hoh4 ho2 oh8

潮州話好好學。｜潮州话好好学。

Teochew language is easy to learn

潮州話很好學。｜潮州话很好学。

Dio5ziu1 Uê7 hoh4 oh4 oh8

潮州話好惡學。｜潮州话好恶学。

Teochew language is not easy to learn

潮州話很難學。｜潮州话很难学。

 If you can say the above without any problems, then you have no problems with glottal stops. 

The character 掛｜挂

I am doing a revision on this character 掛｜挂 which we can pronounce as kua3, gua3 or guê3.

Use of kua3

Ziah4 ka1 kua3 do6 he2 in2

隻骹掛在許椅｜只骹挂在许椅

One’s leg is placed on that chair.

Why is it not both legs?

If it is both legs, then it would be said as sang1ka1 雙骹｜双骹。

Whose legs?

The sentence does not disclose the leg belongs to whom.

How is this sentence said in Mandarin?

腳放在椅子上｜脚放在椅子上

(A) leg is placed on top of a chair.

Another examples of the use of kua3

kua3niam6	掛念｜挂念	to be concerned
The Teochew specific word for kua3niam6 is siao3niam6 數念｜数念
kua3 diang6uê7	掛電話｜挂电话	to hang up a phone
kang1kua3	牽掛｜牵挂	to be worried about something, to be concerned about something
These are Mandarin Teochew usage of the word kua3.

 A use of guê3

guê3zua2

掛紙｜挂纸

to sweep the grave of one's ancestors during Qingming festival [CêngMêng Zioh 清明節]

The use of gua3

gua3 ciu2bio1	掛手錶｜挂手表	to wear a watch
gua3 hin6gao1	掛耳鉤｜挂耳钩	to wear a pair of earrings
gua3 hin6huang5	掛耳環｜挂耳环	to wear a pair of earrings
gua3 kao2zao6	掛口罩｜挂口罩	to wear a mask
gua3 ka1liang7	掛骹鏈｜挂骹链	to wear an ankle chain bracelet
gua3 hui1ziang1	掛徽章｜挂徽章	to wear a badge
gua3 mag8gian3	掛目鏡｜挂目镜	to wear a pair of spectacles

 gua3 kao2zao6  掛口罩

What is Sweet Potato Aunty saying to Ah'Hang?

 Let us listen to Huang’guah Sim [Sweet Potato Aunty] saying to Ah’Hang:

Ain3 ke3 hng6mung5, ke3 kao2boin5 zo3dioh4 mih4se6 iao1 di1diao7

欲去遠門去口畔做著乜事夭低調｜欲去远门去口畔做着乜事夭低调

Want to go to a distant place, to go outside, do any thing need to be relatively low key.

Mandarin subtitles: 出遠門做什麼事要低調啊｜出远门做什么事要低调啊

Go out to a distant place, do whatever need to keep a low profile.

Word List

hng6mung5	遠門｜远门	distant place
kao2boin5	口畔	outside one’s home
iao1	夭	relatively
di1diao7	低調｜低调	keep a low profile, to be subdued, low key

A cooking experience with Teochew Mountain Brother

Teochew Mountain Brother has used a number of Teochew expressions today but he speaks in half Mandarin and half Teochew.

I hope the Teochew word list below will help you understand this video better.

dan3pua3 bho5 ziu2 ziah8		When a secret is revealed, one loses one livelihood.
呾破無酒食｜呾破无酒食
gian1rig8	假日		today
There is no character for gian1 as in gian1rig8 to mean today.  I just borrowed gian2 character and we normally say gim2rig8今日for today.
gi3sog8	繼續｜继续		continue
hung1hiang2	分享		to share with others some of the interesting matters
gê1sion5cai3	家常菜		family dishes, home cooking
zêg8 rig8 zêg8 cang1	一日一餐		Each day one meal.
We normally say “zêg8 rig8 zêg8 deng3 一日一頓” for one day a meal.
noin5gao6	蓮藕｜莲藕		lotus root
ka1dang6gug4	骹筒骨		femur or tibia
gao1iab4uê1	高壓鍋｜高压锅		pressure cooker
bai5gug4	排骨		spare ribs
bhung1	燜｜焖		to stew
gang1dang5	干同		potato
Ho5lang1ze5	荷蘭薯｜荷兰薯		potato
suan1ioh8	山藥		Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya)
The Teochew word for suan1ioh8 is huai5suan1 淮山 and he actually said suan1iêh8
lêng5hêng5	菱形		rhombus shape
sai2keng5	西芹		celery
ang5cai3tao5	紅菜頭｜红菜头		carrot
bhuê5nêg8	脢肉		pork loin
The subtitles used the wrong character for bhuê5 and it used the plum’s bhuê5 character 梅
zoih8piang3	截片		cut into thin slices
He actually said zoih8piêng3
iam5	鹽｜盐		salt
hou5zio1 hung2	胡椒粉		ground white pepper
He actually said hu5ziê1 hung2
sên1hung2	生粉		starch
The sên1hung2 I buy here in London is sweet potato flour but I understand that in China, sên1hung2 is a thickening starch and we Teochew call sweet potato flour ze5hung2 薯粉。
he5lou7	魚露｜鱼露		fish sauce
We Teochew call fish sauce co1teng1 臊湯。
tiao5 zêg8 uan2 zion3liao7
調一碗醬料｜调一碗酱料
To blend a bowl of seasoning sauces.
goi1zab4	雞汁｜鸡汁		chicken stock pot
goi1zab4 in the UK is called chicken stock pot and I have no idea what it is called in the US or Canada. They come in miniature pots and people use this instead of stock cubes or bouillon.
la6 zao5	挵□		to mix evenly – no character for zao5
ou1 bhag8re2	烏木耳		black wood ear fungus
muan5hioh8	麻葉｜麻叶		Apoeynum venetum, dogbane
iab4bên5	壓平｜压平		to press flat
seng3iong5	蒜蓉		minced garlic

There are two cooking processes which are listed below.

guê3zui2	過水｜过水	to blanch to partially cook
guê3iu5	過油｜过油	to deep fry lightly