Friday 30 September 2022

不得了 into Teochew

 I saw this image and I thought I should translate the below into Teochew!


Mandarin

English

Teochew

得不得了

extremely painful

tian3si2 痛死

得不得了

extremely tired

hêg8si2 乏死

得不得了

extremely difficult

oh4zoh8

難過得不得了

to feel extremely sad

guê3 gang1kou2guê3 怪艱苦過|怪艰苦过

得不得了

extremely hungry

iao1 gao3 du2m6duê3 枵到堵唔綴

得不得了

extremely noisy

zag4 si2 nang5 咋死人

zag4 si2 nang5 actually means wake up the dead – i.e. it is so noisy that will wake up the dead

得不得了

extremely ugly

bhai2si2 痞死

興奮得不得了

extremely excited

guê3 gêg4dong6 怪激動|怪激动

 I hope you can appreciate our colourful Teochew Language. 

translation exercise

I heard this sentence said in a drama recently, “就你那個娘什麼事她幹不出來” and I thought this is a good exercise for you to translate into Teochew Uê.

就你那個娘什麼事她幹不出來 – concerning that mother of yours, what is it that she is unable to do?  Do note that this is a pejorative statement about the mother of that character.

The table below could help you if you were to translate these words one by one and then join them up together to form a statement.

jiu4

concerning

 

ni3

you, yours

 

na4ge5 那個

that

 

niang2

mother

 

shen2me5shi4 什麼事|什么事

what

 

shi4

matter, work, thing

 

ta1

she

 

gan4 幹|干

to do, to work

 

bu4

not, no – a negative prefix

 

chu5lai5 出來

use after a verb to indicate an action has been completed

 

 


I would have said: ziu6 nia2 ai5 mih4gai5 ia7 oi6 zo3 cug5lai5 就乃𡟓乜個也會做出來

Note: there is no character for nia2 as in yours and I have seen people write nia2 as

Thursday 29 September 2022

just learnt a new word, “gig4 uang5 結丸|结丸”

I have just learnt a new word, “gig4 uang5 結丸|结丸

Iab Hui 葉飛 said:

gia1 hung2zui2 loh8ke3

加粉水落去

Add the starch solution

loh8ke3 ao6 ziag4si5 dioh8 la6

落去後即時著撓

have to stir immediately after adding

si6bho5 siu6riag8 gig4 uang5 ke3

是無受熱結丸去

or else upon heating it will become lumpy.

Iab Hui said gêg4 uang5 and I do not know why a man from Swatow would have a Gig’Ion揭陽 accent. I have now heard him said a number of words with a Gig’Ion accent and perhaps his ancestors were from Gig’Ion and moved into Swatow at a later period or perhaps he has many friends from Gig’Ion.

 




Going home for New Year [Additional lines and amendments completed!]

YouTube has been sending me this song video and I thought I will share it with you this song.

I have used standard Teochew dictionary romanisation and I appreciate that the singer has a different accent - and the point here is that we understand one another's accent and we celebrate our different accents. 

si5gang1 zing1sig8 si6 guê3 dig4 mên2

時間真實是過得猛

time really flies

The singer has a Gig’ion 揭陽 accent and he actually sung zing1sêg8 for really.

 

m6 zai1huang5 iu7 gao3 ni5bhuê2 

唔知防又到了年尾

not being careful, it is again the end of the year

 

za2mên5 zih4dioh4 a1ma2 gai7 diang6uê7

昨暝接著阿媽個電話

received mum’s telephone call last night

 

i1 diam7 gio3 ua2 dan3 cia1pio3 dioh8 soin1 ke3 bêh4

伊扂叫我呾車票著先去㓦

She keeps telling me that a bus ticket must be first booked

Dio’Ion and Gig’Ion both say sain1 like the singer and people from Swatow and Teochew say soin1 for first.

 

Ua2 ia7 sion6 ain3 za2 zêg8 rig8 huê5gê1

我也想慾早一日回家

I also want to return home earlier by a day

huê5gê1 回家 is a Mandarin Teochew word to mean return home. Our word for returning home is deng2lai6 轉內

 

ho2 sio1hu6 coin2tung5 buê5 a1ma5 zo3 guê2

好相輔筅塵陪阿媽做餜

Able to help with spring clean, accompany mother to make cakes

 

li5gê1coin1li2 u6 gi1ce3 dan3 mang7uê7

離家千里有幾次呾夢話

Left home for a place a thousand miles away, several times spoke in one’s sleep

li5gê1coin1li2 is a hiah4ao6ghe2 歇後語 and the second part of the saying is mian3 ziah8 gao2 ki2 勿食枸杞 do not eat wolfberries - where hiah4ao6ghe2 is a two-part allegory

 

gim1ni5 cung1zoih4 bang3gia2 ua2 ngên6houn2 ain3 huê5gê1

今年春節放假我硬否慾回家

This year’s Spring Festival [Chinese New Year] I definitely want to go home.

 

deng2lai6 ke3 buê5 buê5 bê6bho2 gah4 hian1di6 zi2muê6

轉內去陪陪父母合兄弟姊妹

Return home to accompany parents and siblings 

brothers and sisters [as in siblings] is said by some people as hian1di6zê2muê6 兄弟姐妹


niam6sim1 zi3bai3 gong1zou2 zai3 cou3 zêg8 cou3 dang5hag8huê2

念心祭拜公祖再凑一凑同學伙

Worship and offer sacrifices to one’s ancestors and again to meet with fellow classmates

I know there are five or six things people niam6sim1 zi3bai3 – to worship and offer sacrifices – one is our ancestors zou2gong1, the other is Buddha, another is Buddha’s teachings and his monastic order, Buddhist monastic discipline, heaven

huê2  is our Teochew character which denotes the item is plural and in this case “classmates” as in dang5hag8huê2 同學伙 !

 

zuê3 kai1sim1 si6 Guê3ni5 Mên5 ge2ki2 ziu2buê1

最開心是過年暝舉起酒杯

The happiest is Chinese New Year’s Eve night raising one’s wine glasses

The Teochew expression for “zuê3 kai1sim1” is “siang6 huan1hi2上歡喜” to mean the happiest.

 

Zêg8gê1 dua7sio3 tuang5 tuang5 in5 in5 zo6loh8 lai5 puêh8 nang5sên1

一家大細團團圓圓坐落來詖人生

The whole family, big and small, reunited, sit down and discuss about life.


si5gang1 zing1sig8 si6 guê3 dig4 mên2

時間真實是過得猛

 

m6 zai1huang5 ziu6 gê1 liao3 zêg8 huê3

唔知防就加了一歲

not being careful, then has grown older by a year

 

gim1rig8 zih4dioh4 a1ba1 gai7 diang6uê7

今日接著阿爸個電話

Received a phone call from daddy today

 

i1 dan3 i1 do6 cia1zam6 dang2 zih4 ua2 huê5gê1

伊呾伊在車站等接我回家

He said he would wait for me at the bus station to meet and take me home

 

zo3ê7lai5 bhoi2 gê1 zêg8 coh4 ni5huê3

做下來買加一撮年貨

together buy some extra Chinese New Year goods

 

nang2 ni5ni5u6e5 cian2 ngou6 guê2 san1 sên1

俺年年有餘請五果三牲

we have abundance year after year – five fruits three animals [which are used for ancestorial worship]

 

keng3 do6 dou2lai6 u6 hoh4zoi7 sim1lai6uê7

囥在肚內有好㩼心內話

kept in one’s mind lots of heartfelt true feelings


du2dioh4 cu3bin1tao5bhuê2 long2 gio3 dan3 ke3 dih4dê5

堵著厝邊頭尾攏叫呾去滴茶

met neighbours who have all asked to come and drink tea


deng2lai6 ke3 buê5 buê5 bê6bho2 gah4 hian1di6 zi2muê6

轉內去陪陪父母合兄弟姊妹

niam6sim1 zi3bai3 gong1zou2 zai3 cou3 zêg8 cou3 dang5hag8huê2

念心祭拜公祖再凑一凑同學伙

zuê3 kai1sim1 si6 Guê3ni5 Mên5 ge2ki2 ziu2buê1

最開心是過年暝舉起酒杯

Zêg8gê1 dua7sio3 tuang5 tuang5 in5 in5 zo6loh8 lai5 puêh8 nang5sên1

一家大細團團圓圓坐落來詖人生

 

dioh8 zai1 lai5 buê5 buê5 bê6bho2 gah4 hian1di6 zi2muê6

著知來陪陪父母合兄弟姊妹

have to know to come to accompany parents, brothers and sisters

niam6sim1 zi3bai3 gong1zou2 zai3 cou3 zêg8 cou3 dang5hag8huê2

念心祭拜公祖再凑一凑同學伙

zuê3 kai1sim1 si6 Guê3ni5 Mên5 ge2ki2 ziu2buê1

最開心是過年暝舉起酒杯

Zêg8gê1 dua7sio3 tuang5 tuang5 in5 in5 zo6loh8 lai5 puê3 zêg8 puê3 nang5sên1

一家大細團團圓圓坐落來配一配人生

The whole family, big and small, reunited, sit down and have a life with one another

Zêg8gê1 dua7sio3 tuang5 tuang5 in5 in5 zia2 ziu6si6 ua2 sion6 ain6 gai7 nang5sên1

一家大細團團圓圓者就是我想慾個人生

The whole family, big and small, have a reunion, this is precisely what I want from life.  

la1 la1 la1 . . . la1 la1 la1 . . .

啦啦啦 . . . 啦啦啦 . . .

Sing1ni5 Kuai3lag8

新年快樂

Happy New Year

 I hope you have enjoyed listening to this song and perhaps have learnt one or two new Teochew words. 



Wednesday 28 September 2022

translating "bu4ji2 不及" into Teochew Uê

There are a group of words in Mandarin with the term 不及 which are listed below. How do we translate these into Teochew Uê?

Mandarin

English

Teochew

po4bu4ji2dai4 不及

to be impatient, to be in a hurry, itching to get on with it

zao2m6dig4 走唔得

lai2bu5ji2 不及

there is not enough time, it's too late to do something

lai5m6li7 來唔戾|来唔戾

lai2bu5ji2 不及

there is not enough time, it's too late to do something

lai5bhoi6hu3𠁞赴|来𠀾

deng3bu4ji2 不及

cannot wait

bho5biang3dang2 無變等|无变等

gan3bu4ji2 不及

not enough time to do something, too late to do something

bhoi6hu3 𠁞赴|𠀾

gan3bu4ji2 不及

not enough time to do something, too late to do something

zao2m6li7 走唔戾