Napa cabbage

How does one say napa cabbage in Teochew? In the UK, napa cabbage is called Chinese leaves.  

I thought, it was called dua7bêh8cai3 大白菜 to follow the Northern Chinese term.  

The Latin name is Brassica pekinensis.

If you were to listen to this video, the speaker calls it ua1ua1cai3 and Mogher lists it as bêh8cai3sim1

ua1ua1cai3	娃娃菜	napa cabbage, Chinese leaves
bêh8cai3sim1	白菜心	napa cabbage, Chinese leaves
dua7bêh8cai3	大白菜	Brassica pekinensis

  

Additional Vocabulary

Guê3ni5 gai7 zio1bai5cai3	過年個招牌菜｜过年个招牌菜	New Year’s signature dish
no6boin5 dui3zih8	二畔對摺｜二畔对折	to fold both sides in two
geng2 ki2lai5	捲起來｜卷起来	to roll up
zo2iu6	左右	approximately
nam5	淋	to pour
Riang5ao6 zu6 gah8 i1 nam5 do6 coh4 ua1ua1cai3 dêng5boin5
然後就合伊淋在撮娃娃菜頂畔｜然后就合伊淋在撮娃娃菜顶畔
Afterwards then pour the (sauce) on the top of those vegetable (rolls)
bêh8cai3 geng2	白菜卷	vegetable rolls

Do note that if geng2 is a verb then use this character 捲 and if geng2 is a noun then use this character 卷 and if you read and write in Simplified Chinese than both noun and verb are written as 卷。

Last Year

 When I was young, I was taught that last year was said as gu7niⁿ5.

 When I had my Teochew language lessons, my teacher said people in Swatow would say last year as zioⁿ6ni5.

gu7ni5	舊年｜旧年	last year
zion6ni5	上年	last year

 What is strange is two days ago is said as zoiⁿ5rig8 and Mogher has listed zioⁿ6rig8 means two days ago.  Do notice that zioⁿ6rig8 means two days ago where as zioⁿ6ni5 means last year. 

zoin5rig8	前日	two days ago
zion6rig8	上日	two days ago

 How do you say last year and two days ago in Teochew?

character 方

Let us explore this character 方 which can be read in several ways.

Bung1	方	surname
huang1ngang5	方言	topolect, dialect
bag4hng1	北方	the north part of a country, the area north of the Yellow River in China
di7hng1	地方	region, area, place, territory
si3bang1	四方	square, four sided
si3huang1	四方	everywhere, in all directions

The only way to learn this character 方 and know how to say the correct pronunciation is through exposure.

Just one note: If one is not from Teochew or Swatow, one says the surname Bung1 方 and Beng1, similar to cooked rice been called bung7 飯 in Swatow and Teochew and in other places as beng7.

character 假

This character 假 has several pronunciations.

gê2 假	Not real, false opposite to zing1 真
gia2ru5	假如	if
bang3gian2	放假	to have a holiday
hang5gian2	寒假	Christmas holiday, winter holiday

Apparently, 假 can also be said as gê3 but I have not heard of this usage and I cannot find an example of its use. You may want to hear how to say bang3giaⁿ2 and you can in this funny video.

Respecting elders

The lady inthe video is talking about a Teochew sog8ghe2 俗語 which is a Teochew common saying.  You may need the notes below to understand what she is saying in the video.

sioh4loh8 sung6si3 sioh4ki2 do3ti3
惜落順勢 惜起倒剃｜ 惜落顺势 惜起倒剃
It is natural for parents to love their children, (but) it is going a natural tendency for children to how filial respect to their aging parents.
sioh4loh8	惜落	loving children and grandchildren
sung6si3	順勢｜顺势	without much trouble, naturally and easily – opposite to do3ti
sioh4ki2	惜起	to show filial respect to one’s elders
gian5hao3	行孝	an attitude of respect for parents and ancestors in societies influenced by Confucian thought
do3ti3	倒剃	to shave in the opposite direction or in other words, moving against the natural tendency

 行孝

Lady's fingers

 You may need to know the following words to understand the video.

Vocabulary List

bêh8ziag4	白灼	plain blanching
ciu1kui5	秋葵	lady's fingers, okra
bêh8ziag4 ciu1kui5	白灼秋葵	blanched lady’s fingers
ti1ti1	黐黐	sticky

 秋葵

Do you know what chicken feet is called in Teochew?

Do you know what the lady inthe video calls chicken feet?  She calls it hong6riao2.

Hong5 is a male phoenix and riao2 is a claw.

We also say to scratch as riao2.

A female phoenix is called huang5 凰 and we say phoenix as hong6huang5.

hong6riao2	鳳爪｜凤爪	chicken feet
goi1ka1	雞骹｜鸡骹	chicken feet
muan5ciag4 bin3 hong6huang5
麻雀變鳳凰｜麻雀变凤凰
A sparrow turning into a phoenix – i.e., an ugly girl becoming a pretty lady.
Hong6huang5 Sang1	鳳凰山｜凤凰山	Phoenix Mountain
Hong6huang5 Duan1zang5 dê5
鳳凰單叢茶｜凤凰单丛茶
Duan1zang5 單叢 is a class of ou1lêng5 dê5 烏龍茶 Hong6huang5 dê5 is an oolong tea from our Teochew Hong6uang5 Sang1 鳳凰山｜凤凰山 Sang1 is the formal pronunciation of suan1 for mountain. You can watch our Teochew Phoenix Mountain in this video.
Ah4sai2hiang1	鴨屎香｜鸭屎香	A type of Hong Huang tea.
Ah4sai2 means duck shit! Ha! Ha  and you can hear ah4sai2hiang1 being sung in this song!

 潮州鳳凰山