The character 倒

It is difficult to consolidate our command of our Teochew language, without mastering Chinese characters and today we will examine the character 倒 。

This character 倒 can be pronounced as do2, do3 and dao2.

Let us look at some examples of these.

do2

do2dion3	倒賬｜倒账	bankrupt
buah8do2	跋倒	to fall down
do2cia1	倒車｜倒车	to change buses or trains

do3

do3	倒	to lie down
do3 gao3 dig8dig8 bhoi6 ding2dang6
倒到直直𠁞振動。｜ 倒到直直𠀾振动。
Lie very still (and) does not move. [i.e. dead!]
do3boin2	倒反	to turn upside down
do3dê5	倒茶	to pour tea
do3 dou6bung3	倒土坋	to throw refuse
Some people may say rubbish or refuse as nah4sab4 垃圾 but the actual Teochew word is dou6bung3.
do3ciu2	倒手	left hand
do3cia1	倒車｜倒车	reverse a vehicle

dao2

diang1dao2hêg4bêh8

to invert black with white (an idiom); to distort the truth deliberately, to misrepresent the facts, to invert right with wrong

顛倒黑白｜颠倒黑白

Gi1 ing5big4 dao2 guê3lai5 ziu6 ho2 sia2

支鉛筆倒過來就好寫。｜支铅笔倒过来就好写。

Turn the pencil over and it will write better.

I would have said the dao2 above as do3boin2倒反

Gi1 ing5big4 do3boin2 guê3lai5 ziu6 ho2 sia2

支鉛筆倒反過來就好寫。｜支铅笔倒反过来就好写。

 鉛筆