CANTONESE

BASIC COURSE VOLUME ONE

ELIZABETH LATIMORE BOYLE with the assistance of

PAULINE NG DELBRIDGE and others

FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

1970

o EPA R T MEN T 0 F S TAT E

FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE BASIC COURSE SERIES Edited by

AUGUSTUS A. KOSKI

For sale by thp:uperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402· Price $3.50

ii

PREFACE

Cantonese is the principal language ofKwangtung province in Southeast China, parts of neighboring Kwangsi province, and Hong Kong and Macau on China's southeast periphery. In addition Cantonese is spoken by ethnic Chinese in Vietnam, Cambodi«, Leos, SinglJPore lJnd MtJllJysilJ, with the number of ~peaker~ in Southeast Asia being between 45 and 50 million altogether. Americans of Chinese descent in the U.S. are almost entirely of Cantonese origin.

Among the many dialects of Cantonese, the prestige variety spoken in Canton is standard, by definition, and is imitated over a wide area which includes Hong Kong. It is this· dialect which is represented in the two-volume FSI Cantonese Basic Course and the related tape recordings.

The course, intended to provide a syllabus for an intensive course of about 400 classroom hours in spoken Cantonese, was prepared by Elizabeth Latimore Boyle with special assistance from Pauline Ng Delbridge. The direct costs were borne by the U.S. Office of Education. The Foreign Service Institute sponsored the project and underwrote the indirect costs.

The project profited considerably from the help of Cheong Kwong-yu of the National Taiwan University, who was one of the teachers in the earliest try-out of the course and who subsequently served as advisor on pronunciation and usage. Of additional help were the suggestions of Mr. Lung Sing, Cantonese instructor in the American Consulate General in Hong Kong, and the critiques of experienced instructors under Mr. Liu Ming in Hong Kong. Liu Ming, who is director of the Chinese Language Center at New Asia College, also assisted in assembling a staff to voice the text.

Professor fohn McCoy of Cornell read the manuscript in an early version and made helpful suggestions. Professor fames E. Dew of the University of Michigan commented on the first five lessons and contributed two sections of pronunciation drills.

Miss Telia Thweatt had a unique sequence of service in the project, parucipoting first as a student in the try-out of the course in Taipei, then as typist and general

iii

assistant for the present version. Mrs. Lily Lu prepared most of the final typescript. Linda Birkner of the FSI secretarial staff assisted in readying the camera copy for publication.

A Cantonese-English glossary appears at the end of each volume, three columns presenting respectively a romanization, the appropriate characters, and the gloss. A fourth column indicates where the item first occurs in the text. The characters for Volume I were written by Cheong Kwong-yu, and for Volume II by George Lin, Cantonese instructor at FSI •.

The U.S. Information Agency cooperated by contributing recording studio time and technical personnel in Hong Kong and Taipei to make the tape recordings which accompany these volumes. N.C. Hon in Hong Kong and Y. T. Yu in Taipei were helpful both in their patience and in the care with which they made the recordings.

The Cantonese voices on the tapes are Pauline Delbridge, Chik Hen-man; Chow Wai-ming and Lung Yue-ching for the Basic Sentences and the Conversations for Listening. For the Drills, they are Cheong Kwong-yu and Ho Suk-ching. All grew up in Hong Kong with the exception of Miss llo, Users of the tapes should be aware that Miss Ho, the female voice in all Drills in the FSI recording of this text, portrays a few deviations from the textbook standard. Particularly noticeable will be her use of La.] before liv where ril is standard in Canton and Hong Kong.

James R. Frith, Dean School of Language Studies Foreign Service Institute

tv:

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

INTRODUCTION

SYMBOLS USED IN THE TEXT LESSON 1

LESSON 2

LESSON 3

LESSON 4

LESSON 5

LESSON 6

LESSON 7

LESSON 8

LESSON 9

LESSON 10

LESSON 11

LESSON 12

LESSON 13

LESSON 14

LESSON 15

APPENDIX 1: CONVERSATIONS FOR LISTENING APPENDIX 2: GRAMMATICAL INDEX CUMULATIVE VOCABULARY

vi

: xvi

1 31 56 82

104 127 152 188 200 222 241 265 289 309 330 350 366 371

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

INTRODUCTION Scope of the text:

This Cantonese Basic Course is a course in spoken Cantonese. It uses all the basic grammatical structures of the language and a vocabulary of approximately 950 words. The subject matter of the course deals with daily life in Bong Kong. The course was designed

to be taught in an intensive language program of 25-30 class hours

a week. Students are expected to spend additional time outside of class listening to tapes of the lessons. There are 30 lessons in the course, and the rate of progress in an intensive class is expected

to be approximately 2 lessons per week, including time for review

and testing. Each lesson containB five sections: I) a Basic Conversation to be memorized, II) Notes, III) Pattern Drills, structural drills of the type in which the teacher's cue is the stimulus ter t.e students' response, IV) Conversations for Listening, a listening comprehension section, and V) Say it in Cantonese, English to Cantonese practice, much of it in conversational question-answer form, in which students activate what thel have learned ift the lesson. The early lessons in addition contain explanation and practice drills on pronunciation points, and so.e classroom phrases for the students to

learn to respond to when used by the teacher.

Method ot Instruction:

Idealll, but perhaps not typically, instruction is by a tea. consisting of a native speaking Cantonese as instructor and a native speaking American as linguist, with the instructor teaching by voicing the Cantonese sentences of the text for the students to imitate and

the linguist giving explanations in English when required. A good 80-90% ot class time will then be spent with the native speaking instructor drilling the students in recitations, during which time the language in use is entirell Cantonese. Students will read the notes

of each lesson outside of class, and questions they have on the text will be answered in English by the linguist during periods set aside for that purpose. Questions in English are not asked during drill sessions with the instructor. Psychologically this establishes the habit ot using only Cantonese in classes with the instructor. Class ti.e is concentrated on learning the language by imitation, repetition,

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

and transformation, according to spoken cues. The instructor speaks

at natural speed, and the students learn to comprehend and apeak at

the same natural .peed. If there is no linguist to explain students' questions, special periods are .et aside for students to ask questions of the instructor. It is recommended that the rhythm of the drills not be interrupted by questions in English.

Pace:

Although the course is projected as a 16 week course if studied on an intensive program, the time plan is to be viewed as a rough guide only. The number of students in the class, their language learning aptitude, their amount of previous experience with related languages, the amount of time available for outside study, the excellence of the teacher--all these are variable factors which could affect the pace of learning.

An earlier version of the course was tested out on a pilot class of five students during the summer of 1967, and the proposed pace of two lessons a week seemed about right. However the students in that course had been selected on the basis of a roughly the same language aptitude score on the Modern Language Aptitude Test, and they had all previously studied Mandarin Chinese, a closely related language. Also, the present version incorporates pronunciation practices which the earlier version did not have, and additional Conversations for Listening and Say It in Cantonese sections.

It is therefore suggested that the teacher rely on his own judgment in regard to the pace of the lessons, rather than follow a

set pace rigidly. The text has been devised so that the crUCial grammatical structures are covered in the first 26 lessons. By covering the first 26 lessons well students will gain a firm structural control of the spoken language. We firmly feel that confident mastery of the first 26 lessons is preferable to hesitant control of the entire text, if a choice must be made between the two. The rule of thumb should be that before going on to a new les80n students should be able to recite the old lesson'. Basic Conversation fluently and with expression and should be able to do the Pattern Drills without looking at the book and without marked hesitation.

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Objectives of the course:

The objectives of the course are to teach students to speak Standard Cantonese in the locales where Cantonese is spoken, to speak it fluently and grammatically, with acceptable pronuDciation, within the scope of topics of daily life. The course was not designed to

lay the groundwork for learning the written language. At the end

of the course students will be able to buy things; talk on the telephone; ask and give directions; handle money; discuss events past, present, and future; make comparisons; talk about themselves and their families; tell time; order simple meals; talk with the landlord, doctor, servant, bellboy, cabdriver, waiter, sales-clerk; discuss what, when, where, why, who, how, how much. They will not be able

to discuss politics or their jobs or other topics of a specialized

nature.

Reliability of the material:

All the conversations and drills in this book were written by native Cantonese speakers working under the direction of an American linguist who specified which grammatical points to cover and what situations were required. The design of the text--what to cover, what sequence to use in introdUCing new material, what limits to set on vocabulary--, the write-ups of structure notes, types and layouts of pattern drills, and the contents of the English-to-Chinese translation sections, were done by the American linguist.

What we have done to handle the problem of limited Btructures and vocabulary is to plan the lessons so that certain topics and forms don't come up until rather late in the course. The words 'yesterday,' 'today,' and 'tomorro~,' for example, don't occur until Lesson 16. Meanwhile the student has built up the grammatical structure and vocabulary to talk fluently on some subjects which don't involve

these expressions and the complexities of verb structures that are involved with time-related sentences. For this reason the present text is not appropriate for use of students whose needs are for just a few phrases of Cantonese--it takes too long from that point of view to get to some of the phrases which a tourist, for example, wants to use right away. But the student who can study hard on an intensive program for 4 months and cover at least 26 of the 30 lessons, will

viii

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

then speak natural-sounding and grammatical Cantonese, and will be able to cope with most daily life situations in the language.

Procedure:

Basic Conversation. Each lesson begins with a Basic Conversation covering a daily life situation, organized around one or more grammatical points. The conversation is presented first in build-up form, then in recapitulation.

The buildup is partly a device to isolate new words and phrases for pronunciation and identification, partly a device to enable students to gain smooth delivery and natural .entence rhythm by starting with a small segment of a sentence then progressively adding to it to build a full sentence.

The recommended procedure for the buildup is as follows: Students open their books to the new lesson and look at the English equivalents as the teacher voices the Cantonese. The teacher voices the first

item six times--three times for the students to listen only, three times for them to repeat after the teacher. (The teacher may voice

the items more times, but it is recommended that he not do less.)

The teacher then moves on to the next item and repeats the same procedure. When the entire buildup has been performed this way, the students close their books, and the teacher leads the. through the buildup again giving each item one time, the student. this ti.e watching the teacher and imitating his behavior both vocal and kinetic--his lip movements, facial expressions, and body gestures.

If the students have particular trouble with a portion of the buildup, the teacher say give it a few more repetitions than the rest, but if the difficulty persists, he drops it for the time being and marks

it to return to later. Repetitions under pressure are quite tensionproducing, and it works better to return to a difficult passage in a more relaxed mood.

In the recapitulation section the conversation is repeated in full sentence form. The teacher voices each sentence at least two times, with pauses after each sentence for students to repeat. The first goal is for the students to be able to say the conversation after the teacher at natural speed and with natural sentence rhythm.

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Details of pronunciation are spotlighted in another section--the first goal for the conversation is sentence rhythm and natural speed.

The second goal is for the students to memorize the Basic ConTersation, so they can say it independently without the teacher's

model to follow, aaintaining natural speed and rhythm. Students will find the tape recorder a valuable aid to memorizing. The tape recorder is tireless in furnishing a model for students to imitate, and enables them to procede at the pace best suited to their needs.

The purpose of memorizinl the Basic Conversations is twofold.

Memorizing situational .. terial gives students tip-of-the-tongue command of useable Cantonese. Secondly, aince the basic conversations are organized on grammatical principles, students by memoriziag the conversations will be learning the grammatical framework of the language, on which they can construct other sentences.

The second day on the lesson, when students have memorized the conTersation, it is recommended that the teacher have them act out the conversational roles. Later, after moving on to a new lesson, the teacher has them act out the Basic Conversation of an earlier lesson as a form of review.

Pronunciation Practice:

In general, the Pronunciation Practices concentrate on giving limited explanation and fuller practice drills on new sounds encountered in a lesson, plus comparison drills with sounds previously learned and sometimes comparisons with American close counterparts. Instead of giving many examples, using items unknown to the students the pronunciation drills stick to examples from material they have met in the Basic Conversation or Pattern Drills. The exception to this is Lesson One, which presents" overTiew of all the tones, consonant initials. and vocalic finals of the language, in addition to giving an introduction to intonation and stress. Students who absorb pronunciation best thouugh mimicking the model and who find the linguistic description of sounds confusing or boring or both, should concentrate on mimicking the model and skimp or skip the explanations.

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

There are two kinds of Notes--Structure (grammar) Notes and Culture Notes. These are to be read outside of class.

The structure notes summarize the structures used in the Basic Conversations and practiced in the Pattern Drills, and are for those students who want a general explanation of how the language works. The students who absorb language structures better through learning model sentences and drilling variations of the model can concentrate on the Basic ConversatioDs and Pattern Drills, and skimp on the Structure Notes.

The Culture Hotes comment on so .. Cantonese life patterns which differ from our own.

Pattern Drills:

There are six kinds of Pattern Drills iD Cantonese Basic Course.

The purpose of the drills is to make the vocabulary and sentence structures sink in and become speech habits, so that the student understands spoken Cantonese without havins to translate mentally

and speaks fluently and grammatically at natural speed without awkward hesitation and groping for words.

The Pattern Drills give students practice in structures aDd words which have been introduced in the Basic Conversations. In addition, there are other vocabulary items which appear first in the drill sections. A plus sign marks each occurrence of a new word in this section, and the English equivalent is given.

Each drill begins with an example giving a model of the teacher's cue and the students' response. Then there follow 8 to 10 problema to be done on this pattern. The teacher gives the cue, and the student responds to the new cue following the pattern set in the example.

The response is thus predictable, controlled by the pattern and the cue. In, the book the cues are given in the left hand colu.a and the responses on the right, with the example above.

Students will find that goiDg over the drills in a session with the tape recorder before perfor.tng them in class with the teacher aids their grasp of the .. terial and s.ooths their delivery. In

class students look at their books to check the example for each drill,

xi

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

to learn what their task is. Then they perform the drill with books closed, r.17~.ng on the pattern of the example sentence and the cues provided to know what to say. A drill is mastered when the student can respond to the cues promptly, smoothly, and without reference to the bClok.

The types of drills follOW: 1. Sub~titution Drills.

The teacher voic.c a pattern sentence, then voices a word or

phrase (called a !!!) to be substituted in the original sentence. The 8tudent notes the substitution cue and substitutes it in the appropriate place to make a new sentence.

Exallple: T (for 'leacher): Good lIorning, Mrs. Brown. /Jones/ S (for Student): Good morning, Mrs. Jones.

2. Expansion Drills.

There are two kinds of expanbion drills. One could be called a listen-and-add drill, 'Ising vocabulary and structures falliliar to the students. The teacher says a word or phrase and the students repeat

it. Then the teacher voices another word or phrase and the students
add that word to the original utterance, expanding it. The teacher
adds another cue, and the students incorporate it, and so on, making
each time a progressively longer utteranc •• Example: T: Hat
s: Hat
T: Blue
s: Blue hat
T: Two
S: Two blue hats.
T: Buy
s: Buy two blue hat ••
This type of expansion drill is handled a little differentl,. if it includes new vocabulary. In that case it is performed as a listenand-repeat drill, the students echOing the teacher.

Example: T: Hat S: Hat

T: Blue hat

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

s: Blue hat

T: Two blue hats s: Two blue hats

In the second type of expansion drill the example sentence gives the model to follow and the students expand the subsequent cue sentences according to the pattern set by the example.

Example: T: I'm not Mrs. Lee. /Chan/

S: I'm not Mrs. Lee--my name is Chan.

3. Response Drills.

The response drills involve 1) question stimulus and answer response, or 2) statement stimulus and statement response, or 3) statement stimulus and question response.

Ex. 1: T: Is your name Chan? /Lee/

s: No, it's Lee.
Ex. 2: T: He speaks Cantonese. /Mandarin/
s: He speaks Mandarin too.
Ex. 3: T: He speak Cantonese. /Mandarin/
S: Does he speak Mandarin too? 4. Transformation Drills.

In transformation drills the students transform the grammatical form of the cue sentences from positive to negative to question, according to the pattern set in the example. A positive to negative transformation would be:

Ex: T: Her name is Lee.

S: Her name isn't Lee.

5. Combining Drills.

In combining drills the students make one long sentence from two short cue sentences, according to the pattern set in the example.

Ex: T: It's nine o'clock.

We study Chinese.

S: W. study Chinese at nine O'clock. 6. Conversation Drills.

In conversation drills stUdents carryon a conversation following the pattern set by the example. The book or the teacher furnishes cues to vary the content while retaining the structure.

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Ex: A: Good morning, Mrs. Lee.

B: Excuse me, I'm not Mrs. Lee. My name is Chan. A: Oh, excuse me, Miss Chan.

B: That's all right.

A ••••••••• Miss Smith. A. Good morning, Miss Smith.
B •••••••••••••• Bro.n. B. Excuse me, I'll not Miss
Smith, My name is Brown.
A •••••••••••••••••• A: Oh, excuse me, Miss Brown.
B •••••••••••••••••• B: That's all right. Conversations for Listening.

The :onversations for Listening, recorded on tapes, give the students a chance to listen to further conversations using the vocabulary and sentence patterns of the lesson under study. These can be listened to outside of class and repla,ed in class, with the teacher then asking questioDs (in Cantonese of course) on the selections and the students answering. Usually several repla,s are needed before

the students' comprehension of the conversation is complete. After they understand a conversation in its entirety, it is recommended that they play it through two or three more times, listening especially for the expressive elellents of intonation and final particles, as these occur primaril, in conversation and not as natural features of pattern sentences which the students practice ~n the drill sections.

After Lesson 10, there will be new vocabulary in the Conversations for Listening, to help the story along. These words and phrases are glossed in Cantonese and English at the foot of each conversation i. the printed text, but students will not be held responsible for learning the ••

Say It in Cantonese.

The Say It in Cantonese section gives situations and sentences in English, and students are to give Cantonese equivalents. This section is to be performed in class for the linguist or the teacher, though the students may prepare it beforehand if they like. Students should recognize that there is often more than one acceptable wa, to 'sa1

it in Cantonese.'

Vocabulary Checklist.

At the end of each lesson is a vocabulary checklist, giving the Dew

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

vocabulary for that lesson, the part of speech for each entry (noun. verb, etc.), and the English translation.

Suggestions for Further Practice.

The Say it in Cantonese section is the final working section of each lesson. After doing that section the teacher is encouraged to allow time

for the students to carryon conversation practice using the material in the lesson. The teacher should be referee for this part, and make sure all students get a chance to participate. Some students are by nature more talkative than others, and the teacher must see to it, by asking a few questions of the more retiring students, that participation in free conversation is fairly evenly distributed and that the naturally talkative students don't do all the talking.

Repeating the dialogue of the Basic Conversations of earlier lessons is a good way to keep those vocabularies and sentences fresh in the students' minds. Also, selections from earlier dialogues can often be used during free conversation practice of the lesson under study.

System of Romanization Used.

The system of romanization used in the text is a modification of the Huang-Kok Yale romanization. It is described in detail in Lesson 1. In comparing Cantonese and Mandarin sentence structures the system of romanization used for the Mandarin is Yale romanization.

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

adj

adj.s.

adv Aux V bf

Cj CoV

ex

lit.

m, M

MA

n,N

NP

nu

P PAdv PCj Ph PhF PW

prep pro

,sYMBOLS USED IN THIS TEXT

adjective

adjective suffix adverb

auxiliary verb boundform, boundword conjunction

co-verb

exclamation; example literally

Measure

moveable adverb

Q.V
Q.W
S
sp
SPr
SP
SVO
ss
sen.suf.
sur
t
TA
TW
v,V
VO
VP
Vsuf
var
(-)
[ ] noun

noun phrase number

predicate

paired adverb paired conjunction phrase

phrase frame placeword preposition pronoun

xvi

quod vide (Latin for 'which se~) question word

subject

specifier

sentence prefix subject-predicate sentence subject-verb-object sentence sentence suffix

sentence suffix

surname

title

term of address timeword

verb

verb-object construction verb phrase

zer-b suffix

• variant

= doesn't occur

• 1. re pronunciation _phone't~c --transcription.

2. in cumulative vocabulary list, following noun entries =- M for the N

3. within the text of English gloss ::.literal translation of the Cantonese term.

CLASSROOM PHRASES

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LE3S0N 1

The instructor will address you in Cantonese from the first day of class. The following are some instructions which you should learn to respond to. Look at your books while the instructor reads the phrases

the first time. Then close your books, and the teacher will give the phrases several more times, using gestures to help you understand. Repeat the phrases after him, mimicking his movements as well as his voice, to help you absorb the rhythm and meaning.

1. yihga neihdeih tengjyuh ngoh

gong.

2. yihga ngoh gong, neihdeih ganjyuh ngoh gong.

3. Kammaaih bun syU. ~ Kammaaih dI syu.

4. Dahoi bun syu. ~

Dahoi dI syu.

5. yihga yat go yat go gong.

6. Yatchaih gong.

7. yihga yatchaih ganjyuh ngoh gong.

8. Joi gong yat chi.

9. Ahhou tai syu.

Now you (plu.) listen while I

speak. (i.e., listen, but don't repeat.)

Now I'll speak and you repeat after me.

Close the book. or Close the books.

Open the book. ~ Open the books.

Now recite one by one.

Recite all together. (i.e., in chorus)

Now all together repeat after me.

Say it again.

Don't look at your book(s).

1

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

I. BASIC CONVERSATION

A. Buildup:

hohksaang

(At the beginning of class in the morning)

student

Hohksaang

Hoh Saang Hoh Saang jou.ahn

Boh Saang, jo."hn. sInsaang

sInsaans

Leih Taai

L81h Taai

Leih Taai, jousahn.

Hohksaans

d.uiej;yuh ngoh

haih

0-

ehaih

Ngoh ehaih Leih Taai.

Deuiejruh, ngoh lihhaih Leih Tad.

sing Ch&hn

Ngoh sing Chahn.

SIns.ans

sluj'

Chahn S!uje A

A, deui&hjruh, Chahn S!uje.

Hohksaay

2

Ho, surna •• Mr.

Mr. Ho

"good morning" Good morning, Mr. Ho. teacher

Lee, surna .. Mrs.

Mrs. Le.

Good morning, Mrs. Le ••

excuse lie

I

all, is, are not

am not, is not, are not I'll not Mrs. Lee.

Excuse me, I'm not Mrs. Lee.

haTe the surna •• Chan

My nail. is Chan.

Miss; unmarried woman Miss Chan

Oh, A~, a .ild exclamation Oh, excuse me, Mis8 Chan.

That's all right. ~ It doesn't matter.

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

(At the end of the day, the students are lea.ing olass.) Hohltsiay

Joisin.

Goodbye.

SInsaay

Joisin.

Goodbye.

B. Recapitulation:

(At the besinning of class in the aorning:) Hohltsiay

Hoh Saang, jousabB.
SInsians
Leih Tad, jousabn.
Hohltsiay
Deui8bjYUh, ngoh 8bhaih L81h Tad.
Ngoh sing CbAbB. Good aorning, Mr. Ho.

Good aorning, Mrs. Lee.

Excuse ae, I'a not Mrs. Lee.

My naae is Chan.

SIn"ay A, deui8bjyuh CbAhn S{uje.

Hohltsians

Ahsanyiu. That's all right.

(At the end of the day, the students are lea.ing class:)

Oh, excuse ae, Miss Chan.

Hob.k8iay

Joigin.

Goodbye.

SInsRans

Joigin.

Goodbye.

+ + + + + + + ~ + + + + + +

Introduction to Pronunciation:

A. ~:

You ha.e probably heard that Chinese languages are tone languages, and know this means that sounds which are the saae except for rise and fall of the .oice aean different things. This soaetimes leads to confusion and/or merriment when a foreigner gets a ton. wrong in a phrase, and says 'lazy' when he means 'broken,' 'sugar' when he aeans 'soup,' 'ghost' when he means • cupboard,'

and so on--and on and on.

3

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

In Cantonese there are seven tones, that is seven variations in voice pitch having the power to combine with an otherwise identical syllable to make seven different meanings. This is best

illustrated by

al ,~ sl j_

si il\ s! -tt sih a~ slh rfi sih :f

examples, which your teacher will read to you:

think (High falling tone)

poem tille

a market

a matter; business

(High rising tone) (Mid level tone) (High level tone) (Low falling tone) (Low rising tone) (Low level tone)

history try

Below is a practice exercise on the seven tones. Close your books and concentrate on listening to the teacher or tape. Repeat loud and clear during the pause after each syllable or group of syllables.

(This practice section on the basic tones was prepared by Prof.

James E. Dew.)

1. si, el . sl sl __ ; si si --; s! s! . sih elh __ ;
_, --'
slh slh __ ; sih sih_ •
2. el sl si_; al sl si __ ; sl s! si s! • al sl si s! •
--' --'
alh slh sih __ ; alh slh sih __ •
3. al sl __ ; al si_. __ ; alh s!h __ ; sih sih • si sih •
--' --' si sih_.

4. ai dh __ i a1 alh __ ; 81 a1h __ i &1 sili __ •• 1 8i 8ih __ ; s! si sih __ •

5. fan fan fan __ ; fan fan fan ; fan fan fan f&n ;

fihn fahn fahn __ ; fahn fahn fahn __ •

6. fan fan __ ; fahn fahn_; fan f&n fahn __ i fan fan fahn_i fan fahn __ i fan fahn __ ; fan fan fan fan __ ;

fahn fahn fahn __ •

7. ba be. ba __ ; ba be. ba __ ; mih mah mah ..ah mah mah __ ;

ba ba ba .ah mah mah

----

8. bin bIn bin __ i bin bin bin_, bin bin bin b!n __ ;

lIihn .lhn mihn __ ; mihn .lhn lIihn •

9. bit bit .iht __ i bin bin bin bit b!t __ i lIihn .lhn mihn miht __ ; bin bIn bin bit b1t__ .. ihn .lhn mihn miht_.

4

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

10. sl, fan, bi, bln ; si fan ba bin ; si, fan, ba, bin ;

sI, fan, bIn, blt ; slh, fahn, .ah, IIlhn ; sih fahn,

.an, mihn ; sih, fahn, mah, mihn ; si si si sI,

slh sib sih __ ; bin bin bin bit bIt, IIlhn mibn mihn miht __ • Discussion of Tones:

There are seTen tones in Standard Cantonese. Their designations,

together with examples of each tone, are:
1. high leTel sl * fan Ii)
2. high falling al ~. fan ~~
'-:'"
3. high rising si t fan to-
It. mid level si i'K fan i'l I
5. low falling alh 4 fahn ~
6. low rising sib -rp fah». ·ra
7. low leTel sih 1 fahn 1'Q-
You will note that the tone. haTe three cODtours--leTel, rising, and falling.

There are three leTel tones: high leTel, mid leTel, and low leTel.

rising tones: high rising and low rising. hr: ai t.

lr: sih tf

falling tone.: high falling and low falling. hf: sl ~

If: slh ~

Following a chart deTised by Y. R. Chao, we graph the tones of

sl ~,.,",.

ex: hl: .~

Ill: si ~ 11: sih:f

There are two

ex:

There are two

ex:

Cantonese on a scale of one to five, thus:
high leTel :55 sl *
mid leTel :33 si i~
low leTel :22 sih 1
high rising :35 si J_
low rising :23 sib ~
high falling :53 al ~.
low falling :21 alh 131
5 5~"~~2 135 23 5~21
5- I j\
it
.3 -
t!. - \
1 LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

In present day Standard Cantonese as spoken in Hong Kong the high falling tone seems to be dying out. Many people do not have a high falling tone in their speech, and use high level tone in place of high falling. These people then have just six tones in their speech. In this book we mark seven tones, but your teacher may only have six, and the tapes accompanying the text include the speech of some speakers with only six tones. Copy what you hear. High falling and high level tones are given in the examples below. If you do not hear a difference, your teacher doesn't differentiate.

Ex: high-falling, high-level contrasts:

saa.

2. fan fan

3. HOh Saang hohksaang

4. s! sr

three clothing divide minute Mr. Ho student

;f.~ Iff'- 11J ......

1Wj..} .,1. ~

*

think

poetry

Tonal Spelling:

The system of tonal spelling we will use in this book is a modified form of the Huang-Kok Yale romanization. This syste. divides the tones into two groups, an upper register group and a lower register one. The lower register tones are marked by aD h following the vowel of the syllable. This ~ is silent and simply indicates lower register. The upper register group doesn't have the ~:

sI ..H.
.'{
s! ~.
s1 1-
si -#\
at
rf
:f Ex: Upper register tones:

Ex: Lower register: sih slh sih The rising, falling, and level contours of the tones are indicated by the presence or absence of diacritics over the vowel

6

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LZ:SSON 1

of each syllable. The diacritics are: •
falling, rising, and level respectively.
Ex: a falling
• rising
a
a level , representing

The absence of a diacritic represents level tone.

Ex: a

Using three diacritics and the low register symbol ~, we spell the seven tones thus:

a high level
a mid level
ah low level
a high falling
ah low falling
. high rising
a
ah low rising The low register symbol ~ follows the vowel of the syllable.

If the syllable ends with a consonant, the ~ still follows the vowel, but co.es before the rinal consonant.

Ex.

ten

whole, entire

Traditionally Chinese recite Cantonese tones in upper registerin the order falling, rising, level, thus:

lower register sequence,
si t. 53
s1 t_ 35
si -f,\ 33
sih ~ 21
slb -rf. 23
sih 1 22 53 35 33 21 2} 22
5 ~ 1/
it
3 - /
2 \ -
1 This is the way Cantonese themselves recite tones. You will note that the high level tone is not recited traditionally. There are historical reasons for this which we won't go into here.

In a few words the consonants ~ and!! occur as vowels, and in these cases the diacritics are placed above the ~ of ~ and the

~.

7

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Ex: ill

'not'

Dgh 'five'

Tones in Sequence:

Tone Sandhi. Changes in the basic sound of tones when syllables are spoken in sequence is called tone sandhi. The high falling tone in Cantonese undergoes tone sandhi in certain position, as follow.: 1. When high falling tones occur in succession without interTening pause, all but the final one are pronounced as high leTel.

Ex: hf + hf becomes hl + hf
~v ~ 1. sb jju ------ s{ujyU ~f4
roast pig roast pork
l' ~ 2. seung fung seung fung .1t i~
hurt wind to catch cold
it ~ it":: 3. seung fung till! --saung fung tim! 4}~4
hurt wind , caught coldl
. 2. When a high falling tone occurs before a high leTel ton.
without interTening pause, it is pronounced as high leTel.
Ex: hf + hl becomes hl + hl
~li h 1. jou uk -------jou Uk ~,i
rent house to rent a house
~ * 2. sai chian siichian hjf.
west meal western food In this book high falling tone has been written high leTel
only when the tone sandhi is within word boundaries. For separate
words, the high falling will be marked with its usual diacritic.
Ex. SeEarate forlls Combined fore
~ i sin saang ------- s!nsaang -Lt
first born man, teacher, Mr.
si;- i Jeung Saang ------- Jeung Saang ~i
Cheung Mr. Mr. Cheung Tones not 'sung.'

That Cantonese is a tone language doe. not mean that sentenc •• in it are sung a. you would sing a musical phrase. Music has sustained notes and strict rhythmic scheme, the spoken language does not. At first you may feel that Cantonese sounds sing-song,

8

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

but practice will bring familiarity and soon it will sound natural to you.

B. Intonation:

A sentence may be said different ways, to stress different points in the sentence and also to express what the speaker feels about what he is saying. To give an English example, the sentence 'So glad you could come,' may be said:

Sentence:

1. So glad you could come.

2. ~ glad you could come. 3a. So glad you could come.

3b. So glad you could come.

4. So glad you could come.

Indicates: norlll8.1 polite effusive polite (even if your

wife couldn't make it)-cordial

(even if your wife couldn't)-sarcastic

(after havins thought you couldn't)-cordial

question

/'

They were glad you could _.~._/.

come?

The graphs of the sentence contours above represent the rise and fall of the voice pitch throughout the length of the sentence.

5.

This rise and fall over sentence length we call an "intonation."

You will note that the question sentence (#5) rises in pitch

at the end, and the statement sentences (#1 - 4) all end with falling pitch, although within their contours rise and fall occurs at different points. In English sentence-final fall is the norm, and sentence-final rise expresses doubt.

Intonation also has another job within a sentence--it can express how the speaker feels about what he is saying. By expressive rise and fall of his vOice, by varying his "tone of voice," the speaker can indicate that he is angry or happy, doubtful or certain, being polite or rude, Buggesting or demanding.

9

!.ESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Cantoneae sentences too exhibit intonation contours. Sentencefinal contours in particular are much more varied in Cantonese than in English, and capable of expressing quite a range of emotional implications.

You may wonder how intonation affects the tone situation in Cantonese, each syllable having as it does its characteristic tone. How the tone contours operate in the framework of sentence contour has been compared to the action of ripples riding on top of waves. Each ripple relates to the one before it and behind it, whether

in the trough of the wave or on the crest.

Sentence Stress:

In speaking of sentence stress we mean relative prominence of syllables in a sentence--loud or soft (heavy or light), rapid or slow. Consider the stress pattern of the following English sentences:

(In response to "Which one of you is John Smith?")

(In response to "I was supposed to give this letter to Tom Smith. II)

In the sentences above the stressed syllables (those underlined)

1. I'. John Smith.

2. I'm ~ Smith.

give prominence to the information requested in the stimulus sentence ••

In certain sentences stress differences alone indicate difference in message content. The pair of sentences often quoted in illustration of this is:

1. Ship sails today.

2. Ship!!!!! today.

(The ship will sail today.) (Please ship the sails today.)

Another example, from a headline in a newspaper:

Boy Scratching Cat Is Caught, Destroyed How do you stress that one?

Sentence Pause:

Another feature important in establishing natural sentence rhyth. is pause--the small silences between groups of syllables. Note the following English sentences:

10

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LE::lSON 1

In considering him for the job he took into account his education, preTious experience, and appraised potential.

There is a pause between "job" and "he" in the sentence above, and if you read it instead pausing after "took," you find the sentence doesn't make sense--you have to go back and read it again putting a pause in the right place.

We will not discuss Cantonese stress and pause features in this Introduction, other than to say that Cantonese sentences, like English ones, do exhibit stress and pause phenomena, as well as intonational ones. What this effectively means for you as a student is that lOU ~st not concentrate solell on learning words as individual isolated units; but in imitating the teacher's spoken model, you should be alert to his delivery of phrase-length segments and whole sentences, and should mimic the stress, pause, and intonation of the phrases you repeat.

C. Consonants and Vowels

We regard the syllable in Cantonese as being composed of an initial and a final. The initials are consonants. The finals are

vowels, or Towels plus consonants. Tones are also included as part
of the final.
The practices that follow include all the initials and finals
in Cantonese. They were prepared by James E. Dew.
Initials. Repeat after each syllable in the pause provided.
Concentrate on the initial sound of each syllable.
1. bo bo , , , , fo fo
, po po , mo mo ,
2. do do to to , , 10 10
, , no no ,
3. ja ja cha cha , , , ,
, , sa sa , ya ya
4. , , ka ka nga nga ha hi
ga ga ,
5. , , kwa kw. , ,
gwa gwa , wa wa
Finals. Listen carefully and repeat in the pauses provided. Concentrate on the finals--the vowels and Towel+consonant combinations. (Tones are not marked.)

11

eu

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

yu

LESSON 1

a

giu1 giri~

e

i

gon.f.t gun a gong~

o

u

ji :f_

jyu 1i

je It heu ~

ga i.f.

gaai~gai1t gei~ gaa~gauj9

gaamlgam~

geui~

gaan~gan tl deuzClt gin t

gaang gan eng 4t geunt gin

gip-iB, cheu t.t gi t ~t

geukjJ!y gik

go 100 1m t·

gOi' fui 4 gou{;

got$j fut ili1

gok.t guk

yut~

The Mechanics of Producing speech sounds:

In speaking we make use of 1) air, 2) the vibration of the vocal chorda (i.e. the voice), and 3) the position of the tongue and other members of the mouth to produce speech sounds. The air originates in the lungs and is releaaed through the mouth, the vocal chords vibrate to produce voiced sounds, and the position of the tongue

and other members affect the shape of the vocal instrument and thus the sounds it produces.

Consonants:

1) Air:

Air flow, originating in the lungs and released through the mouth, is required for all speech sounds, but different manner of air release produces different aounds. The manner of release is particularly important for consonant sounds. For consonant sounds friction is created at some point in the oral passageway by resistance to the flow of air. The point of resistance to the air flow and the manner of release fro. this resistance are important contributing factor. in how consonants are aade. There are several route. through which the air 8&y be released:

A. Nasal r.leaae: Air can be released through the nose, producing nasal sounds. Try prolonging the English sound. ~ and ~ • .!!!!!,~. While you are prolonging these sounds, hold your nose and you notic. you can't aay! or~. That's because the air flow is released through the nose in saying ~ and ~.

12

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

L~SSON 1

B. Lateral release: The air release can be over the surface of the side of the tongue. Prolong the English sound 1.~. Then breathe in and out through your aouth without moving your tongue froa its 1 position. Can you feel that the air passes laterally out one or both sides of your aouth? For me, the air release for 1 is from both sides. Do you release the air to the right, or to the left, or from both sides?

C. Stop and Release, .ith and without Aspiration: Another manner of air release is for the air flow to be blocked at some pOint in the mouth and then releaaed, letting the air flow through. When you make the English sounds ~-, !-, ~-, you notice that the air flo. is first blocked at different points, and then released.

The stop releases can be either aspirated or unaspirated.

In reference to language sounds 'aspirated' means released with a puff of air. Compare the English sounds ,E-, !-, ~-" and

~-, ~-, 4-. If you put your hand close to your .outh as you say ~-, !-, ~-, you will notic. that you feel your breath against your hand. Say ~-, ~-, 4-, and you find you do not feel your breath against your hand, or at least not as .uch

so. The ,E-, !-, k- sounds are aspirated, th~ ~-, ~-, 4- ones unaspirated.

Try:

p- b-

t- d-

k- g-

D. Spirant release: When air is released through a narrow passage under pressure, a hissing sound is produced, as in !- sssss, and ~- hhhhh. We refer to this type of air release as spirant release.

2) Voicing:

Voiced and Voiceless Consonants: The vocal chords Tibrate to produce some sounds--whieh we refer to as Toiced sounds--and do not Tibrat. in the production of other sounds--which are refered to as Toieeless. For example, in English the 'z' sound is a Toiced sound and the's' sound is a voiceless one.

13

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Prolong the buzzing sound of 'z'--zzzzz. You can hear the voicing, and if you put your hand on your throat over the Adam's apple, you can feel the vibration of the vocal chords. Prolong the hissing sound of 's'--sssss. Notice that voicing ceases, the vocal chords do not vibrate. In Cantonese the only consonants that are voiced are the nasals--~, ~, and ~.

3) Position of tongue and other members: Different position of the tongue and other members of the mouth forma the third element

in producing speech sounds. Note for example how the difference in tongue position produces different sounds in the English words 'tea' and 'key.' For 't,' the tip of tongue touches the roof of the mouth at the gum ridge behind the upper teeth. Try it: t-, t-, t-, tea. For 'k,' the back of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth at the back: k-, k-, k-, key.

We will describe the consonants of Cantonese in terms of air release, voicing, and position of tongue and other members of the vocal aparatus. We will concentrate primarily on those sounds which are problems for Americans.

Vowels:

Production of vowels, like production of consonants, is ~ matter of air flow, voicing, and positioning.

1. Air Flow:

Wilereas in llaking a consonant ao"Jl4 fric~ioa is cr •• ·ted by resistance at some point in the passageway to the flow of air, in .. king vowels the passageway does not resist the flow of air, and the sound produced is therefore frictionless. The presence or absence of friction is a factor distinguishing consonants and vowels.

2. Vibrating of vocal chords (Voicing):

Vowels are voiced sounds. Under certain Circumstances, such as whispering, vowels may be de-voiced, but VOicing for vowels is taken as a given, and when exceptions occur, they are specifically noted.

A feature of voicing which is potentially significant for vowels is vowel length. In some languages different vowel

14

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

length in an otherwise identical syllable can produce different words.

Example: In German, the following two words differ in pronunciation only in the length of their vowels:

staat [;ta"t] 'state'

statt [sta¥t] 'place'

3" Positioning:

In positioning for vowel sounds the important contributing factors are how the lips and tongue are placed.

The lips, in making vowel sounds, are d.scribed in terms

of whether they are rounded or unrounded (spread). For example, in English, the 'i' of 'pit' is a·vowel said with lips spread, and the 'u' of 'put' is said with lips rounded. There are vowels which _reproduced with lips neither markedly rounded or spread, such as 'a' in 'father.' This type is not described

in terms of lip position. If a vowel is not described as being rounded or spread, you can assume that the lip position is midway between rounded and spread. We will use the terms 'unrounded' and 'spread' interchangeably.

Tongue pOSition for vowels is described in vertical terms and in horizontal terms. On the vertical we speak of the tongue height of a vowel. For example, take the vowels of 'pit,' 'pet,' and 'pat' in English. You notice that the forward part of the tongue is relatively high towards the roof

of the mouth in saying the 'i' of 'pit,' that it drops somewhat to say the 'e' of 'pet,' and drops still lower to say the 'a' of 'pat.' These positions might also be described in

terms of how wide the lower jaw opens in making the sounds-narrow for the 'i,' medium for the 'e,' and wide for the 'a.' However, since description in terms of tongue height has

become standard, we will adopt the standard description here, and speak of vowels in terms of high, mid, and low in reference to tongue height. Deviations from these cardinal positions are described in teras of higher-mid, lower-mid, etc.

Horizontally, tongue position is described in terms of front, central, and back. In English the vowels of 'pit,'

15

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

'pet,' and 'pat' are all front vowels, with the points of reference for 'front' being the blade of the tongue and the dental ridge. 'Pit,' 'pet,' and 'pat' are high front, mid front, and low front respectively. For the central vowels

the points of reference in the oral passageway are the center surface of the tongue and the hard palate. In English the vowels of 'putt' and 'pot' are central vowels. For the back vowels the points of reference in the passageway are the back surface of the tongue and the soft palate. In English the vowels of 'put,' 'pole,' and 'paw' are back vowels. Deviations are described in terms of being fronted or backed from the cardinal positions.

Pronunciation Practice: 1. ch, as in Ch&hn

~ is an initial consonant in Cantonese. We describe the ch sound in terms of voicing, air flow, and position of tongue against the roof of the mouth. Like the American ~ sound in "chance," the Cantonese ~ is voiceless. In terms of air air flow the American and Cantonese ~'s are alike--both are stops with aspirated release. The tongue pressing against the roof of the mouth stops the flow of air entirely, then lets go and allows the air to flow through again, accompanied by a puff of air. The tongue position for the American ch and Cantonese ch differs. For the Cantonese ~ sound, the tongue rests flat against the dental ridge (the ridge just behind the upper teeth) and the blade part of the tongue, that part just back from the tip, blocks the air passage at the dental ridge. The blade of the tongue is pressed flat against the ridge: [~ The American ch the contact point is the tip of the tongue, not the blade of the tongue; the tongue is grooved, not flat; and the contact point on the roof

of the mouth is a little farther back on the dental ridge than for

the Cantonese ~ sound.
Compare--Listen and repeat: (Read across)
English: chance ch ch ch
Cantonese: Chahn ch ch ch
chan ch ch ch chance

Chahn ~ chan ..:It

16

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

2. j, as in joigin, jousahn, Jeung, s!uje

J is an initial consonant in Cantonese. We describe the j sound in terms of voicing, air flow, and position of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Unlike the American j sound (in 'joy'), the Cantonese j sound is voiceless. In terms of air flow the American and Cantonese j's are a1ike--both are stops with unaspirated release.

The tongue, pressing against the roof of the mouth, stops the flow of air entirely, then lets go and allows the air to flow through again, without aspiration (accompanying puff of air). The tongue position

for the Cantonese i is the same as that for the Cantonese ~t different from that of the American counterpart. For the Cantonese j sound the blade of the tongue, resting flat against the dental ridge, blocks

the air passage: [t~] For the American j the tip of the tongue, grooved, blocks the air passage at a point a little farther back on

the dental ridge than for the Cantonese j. When air is released, it flows over a grooved tongue surface for the American sound, a flat tongue surface for the Cantonese sound.

Compare English and Cantonese similar syllables:

Listen and repeat: (Read across)
English Cantonese
1. Joe 0 times) jou 0 times) ~
2. joy 0 times) joi (3 times) it
3. Jess o tilDes) je 0 tilles) ';11. The Cantonese J sound is said with lips rounded before rounded vowels, and spread before unrounded vowels. (Rounded vowels are those pronounced with the lips rounded, unrounded vowels those that are

not. )

Watch the teacher, listen and repeat: (read across)
Ex: rounded unrounded
1. Jou~ 0 tilDes) je .(8.0 times)
2. joi Jf. 0 times) je -d.0 times)
Some speakers of Standard Cantonese use slightly different tongue positions for the J sound, depending on whether it cOlles before a rounded or unrounded vow.l. Other speakers use the tongue position described for J above throughout. Those that use different positions

17

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

before rounded and unrounded Towels use the position described aboTe before unrounded Towels. Before rounded Towels they retract their tongue a bit and use the tip of the tongue instead of the part just behind the tip as contact point for making J. Listen and see if your teacher's J sounds the sa.e or different before rounded and unrounded vowels.

Listen: (Watch the teacher:)

rounded

jo Iijoi JI. jou ~

What has been said in regard to lip-rounding for the J applies

unrounded

1t ~

je ja

also to ~ sounds in Cantonese, but we will not practice this feature in relation to ~ until it comes up in the Basic ConTersations.

3. _!!!, a8 in ngoh

_!!! is a Toiced nasal initial consonant in Cantonese. In position, the back surface of the tongue presses against the roof of the mouth at the soft palate, in the same position as for the English word "si_!!!." We refer to this position as Telar, lIaking an adjective of the word velum, the technical term for soft palate. _!!! is a Telar nasal consonant, which in Cantonese may occupy initial position in

a syllable.

Listen and repeat:

ngoh ~ (6 times)

The only reason this sound may be hard for English speakers is that we don't have any words beginning with.!!! in English, though we haTe many ending with the same sound.

If you haTe trouble, try saying "sing on" in English, and then say the & part of "sing" silently, beginning to Toice on the -ns part:

sing on (si)ng on

----ng on

Now try initial !& again:

Listen and repeat:

ngoh ~ (5 times) 18

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

~. .2, and in Hoh, Dsoh

o is a final in Cantonese. It is a mid back rounded vowel--[J].

The closest American sound is the vowel sound of general American "dog," but with more rounding of the lips than in English. In Cantonese a rounded vowel has a rounding effect on a consonant preceding it in a syllable. Watch your teacher and note that in syllables with an 0 vowel, he rounds his lips for the preceding consonant too.

Listen, watch the teacher, and repeat: ngoh .:fX (5 times)

Hoh f.'J (5 times)

5. 1!!, as in deuilibjyuh

1!! is a single vowel spelled with two letters. 1!! is a high front rounded vowel--[u], occuring as a final in Cantonese. There is uo counterpart vowel in American English with a similar sound, but you can produce the sound by protruding your lips while you sustain the "ee" [i] sound of the English letter "E." The "long !," [i] sound in English is a high front unrounded vowel. Rounding the lips produces a high front rounded vowel.

Listen, watch the teacher, and repeat:
1. deuirBbjyuh jyuh jyuh
2. jyuh fi. <3 times)
3. yU.'l (fish) <3 times) 6. eu

~ is a single vowel spelled with two letters. ~ is a mid front radhded vowel--[ p ], occuring as a final in Cantonese only in a very few words. There is no counterpart vowel in American English with a similar sound, but you can produce the sound by protruding your lips while you sustain the "e" [E] sound of the English word "less." This "short e" [E] sound in English is a mid front unrounded vowel. Rounding the lips makes it a rounded vowel. In Cantonese a rounded vowel has a rounding effect on a consonant preceding it in a syllable.

Watch your teacher, listen, and repeat:

leu 'spit out'

'boot'

diu 'tiny bit'

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LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

7. eun!, as in Jeung

eun! is a two-part final composed of the mid front rounded vowel !! ( ~ ] plus the velar nasal consonant~. There is no close English counterpart. As a rounded final, eun! has a rounding effect on a consonant preceding it in a syllable.

Watch the teacher, listen, and repeat:

Jeung ~(5 times)

The eu portion of ~ is not nasalized. In English, a vowel before a nasal final is nasalized--that i5, part of the air releaae for the vowel goes through the nose. To illustrate the English situation, hold your nose and say the following English words:

sue

soon

see

see II

sit sing

You notice that the vowels of the words with nasal finals (-~, -!, and -~) are partially blocked when the nose is blocked, thus revealing that for such vowels some of the air is normally released through the nose. The vowels of the words which do not end in a nasal are unaffected by clocking the nasal passage. They are 'open' vowels, not 'nasalized' vowels.

In Cantonese, a vowel before a nasal final is ~ nasalized-All of the air is released through the 1I0uth for the vowel portion. Test whether you can keep the vowel open before nasal final by stopping you nose as you say:

Jaung (5 times)

To practice the open vowel before a nasal final, try saying the following pairs of words in which -~ and -eun! are contrasted. To make the -eung sound, pretend through the -~ part that you are going to say -~, then add the -~ as an after-thought. You will then

have an open eu followed by the nasal ~ sound.

-eu -~

1. heD ~ boot heung .t fragrant

20

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

2. leu to spit out leuhng ~ two
3. geu « to saw geung $u ginger
4. jeukt to wear Jeung ~ surname Cheung
8. eui, as in deuiDmj~h
eui is a two-part final composed of the mid front rounded vowel ~ plus the high front rounded Towel I! [u]. (We spell the second part of this two-part final with ~ instead of I!--eui instead of ~, the latter being extremely awkward-looking.) The major force of the voice falls on the ~ part, with the I! (spelled ~) part an offglide.

Listen and repeat:

1. deuitlhjYUhft~1t (3 times)

2. deui -tt (3 times)

The tongue position for ~ before ~ is slightly lower and more backed than it is for ~ before,!!g. eui = [oeu ]; eung = [ ~3 ].

Listen and watch for differences in eu sound: (Read across)

1. J eung ~ J eUDg J eung J eung

2. deui -it deui deui deui

3. Jeung ~ deui -ft (4 times)

4. deui-ftJeung,*(4 times) 9. !n, as in Chahn, jousahn, ihganliu

~ is a two-part final composed of the backed mid central vowel ~ [a'] plus the dental nasal consonant~. Tongue height for the Cantonese! [a>] is lower than that for American vowel in "cup," higher than that for American Towel in "cop," and more backed than either of the American counterparts. Before the nasal final the Cantonese Towel is not nasalized, as an American vowel before a nasal final would be. The Cantonese Towel is shorter and tenser than the American counterparts.

Listen, watch the teacher, and repeat:

1. Chahn (4 times) ~

~"J. ~,,!-

2.

jousahn .mganyiu

(4 times) (4 times)

3.

Compare English and Cantonese syllables:

Listen and repeat: (Read across)

English

Cantonese

1. John

John

Chahn

Chahn t

21

LESSOR 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

2. sun

sun

san

10. m as in ih

The bilabial nasal consonant m occurs as a vowel, in that the consonant ! is syllabic in the syllable in.

Listen and repeat:

1. mhhaih (2 times)

2. haih ihhaih a?

(2 timed)

11. Tone practice with words in Lesson 1:

Listen and repeat:

1. Jeung, jou, sing Hoh, Laih, haih
2. Jeung, jou, sing Hoh, Leih, haih
3. Jeung, Jeung Hoh, Hoh
It. jou, jou Leih, Laih
5. jou, Laih ; Leih, jou
6. sing, sing haih, haih •
7. sing, haih haih, sing
8. Jeung, Hoh jou, Leih sing, haih •
9. Hoh, Jeung Leih, jou haih, sing • II. Notes:

A. Cultur. Not ••

1. Surname and titles.

a. Titles follow surnames: (Drills 1-6)

Leih Siang Leih Taai

'Mr. Lee' 'Hrs. Lee'

Leih Sluje 'Miss Lee'

b. Siang/SInsian! and Taai/Taaitaai

Siang and SInsians, Taai and Taaitaai are alternate forms for 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.' respectively.

Leih Srnsiang Laih Taaitaai

'Mr. Lee' 'Mrs. Lee'

Native speakers differ in respect to their use of Siang and SInsiang, and Taai and Taaitaai as titles to Burna_ea. Some say that the full forms denote more respect and the short forms are used in informal situations only. Others say that as title to

22

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

surnames the longer forma are used only in letters and that in speech, Saans and Taai are used even for subordinates speaking to superiors. Everyone seems to agree that on the telephone both long forms and the short forms are common. In this book we have used the short forms almost exclusively, but you--when you get into a Cantonese speaking situation--keep your ears peeled and imitate what your Cantonese peers are saying. Incidentally, you will notice that what people ~ay and what they say they say do not always coincide exactly. Also, different people may disagree vehemently about what is 'right.' This is confusing to the beginning student. Be advised, however, that the area of disagreement is on peripheral matters. If your teachers disagree about two forms, you may safely conclude that both forms are used. taaitaai basically = 'married woman;' sIns.ang = 'man.'

c. SIns.ang as 'teacher'

SIns.ans meaning 'teacher' may be used with or without a surname attached. A woaan teacher named Wong may be addressed as SInsaang or as WOhng SInsaans.

d. Siuje, 'unmarried woman,' used as title

In addressing a woman whose name you do not know, it. is appropriate to address her as Siuje, no matter how old she is, and even if you know she is married. In addressing a woman by her maiden name, the appropriate title is Siuje. Ex: WOhng Siuje. It is the custom for Chinese women to use their maiden names in business life, so it often turns out that someone addressed as Siuje is married.

e. It is inappropriate to refer to oneself by title in a social situation. Avoid saying "Ngoh haih 2.!!ill Saang." Say instead "Ngoh sing Smith." (See Drill 5).

2. sins, Y!N to have the surname of; surname

~ is the surname one is born with. For married women, equiv~lent to the English nee. The English and American custom is for a woman's surname to change at the time of marriage to that of her husband. The Cantonese!!!! does not change upon marriage. When you ask a woman her surna.e, ordinarily she

23

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

gives her maiden name in response. If it is a social gathering, she might add something like "Ngoh sfnsaang sing ••• , My husband has the surname •••• "

B. Structure Notes

1. Relationship of Cantonese to other Chinese languages.

Cantonese is traditionally called a dialect of Chinese. The major dialect of Chinese being Mandarin, and other important dialects in addition to Cantonese, are Shanghai, Fukkienese (also called Hokkienese or Amoy) , and Hakka. Mandarin is considered the major dialect because it is spoken by the greatest number of people and, more importantly, because it has been prompted as the national standard language by both the Communist Chinese government on Mainland China and the Nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan.

Although historically descended from a Single mother tongue, the various Chinese dialects are today different languages. A person who speaks only Cantonese cannot understand a person who speaks only Mandarin, Shanghai, Fukkienese, or Hakka. However, if two speakers of two different Chinese languages can read, they can communicate, since Chinese has a uniform writing system which is not based on sound. (A Western comparison can be made in the number system, in which '2' is intelligible without reference to pronunciation.)

The languages of the Chinese family group are different--and similar--on three levelsl vocabulary, grammatical sentence structure, and phonological sound system. The level of greatest similarity is in that of the grammatical sentence structure. Students who have studied another Chinese language will find that in great measure they already 'know' the sentence patterns of Cantonese. In preparing this book we at first planned to make a Cantonese-Mandarin grammatical appendix to list the grammatically different struotures, the idea being that they were listable, being so few of them. To draw a parallel we wrote out the Basic Conversations of the first

15 lessons in Mandarin translation and found to our surprise quite

a lot more differences than we had expected. The differences, however, were mostly in the nature of 'You could say it that way--that sentence pattern exists in Cantonese--but actually that's not the way we say it, we say it lli! way.' We therefore didn't make the appendix, but for the benefit of students who have previously studied Mandarin, we have used the Notes section to draw attention to basic grammatical differences where they come up in the text.

On the level of vocabulary there are greater differences than 24

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 1

on the level of grammatical structure, but still a great deal of similarity. A rough check of the first 10 lessons of this book reveals that more than 5~ of the Cantonese expressions have identical Mandarin counterparts.

In pronunciation, differences are greater still, but there are systematic oorrespondences. For example, !1 in Mandarin is 01 in Cantonese. In total, though, the phonologioal correspondences are quite complex, as witnessed by a series of artioles on the subject in a Japanese linguistic journal which runs 26 pages long.

2. Sentence Types--full sentences and minor sentences.

a. Full sentences have two parts--subject and predicate, in that

order. Examples from the Basic Conversation of Lesson One are:
1. Ngoh mhhaih Lhh Taai. I am not Mrs. Lee.
2. Ngoh sing Chahn. I am surnamed Chan. In these sentences Ngoh is the subject and the remainder of each sentence is the predicate.

b. Minor sentences are not in subject-predicate form. Minor sentences are common as responses, commands, exclamations. In Lesson One there are several minor sentences in the Basic Conversation:

1. Hoh Siang, jousahn.

2. Joigin.

3. Ahganyiu.

Good morning, Mr. Ho. Goodbye.

That's all right. [literally:

Not important.]

3. ~.

In Cantonese, words which can be preceded by the negative

rDh are regarded as verbs. There are a few cases in which this rule doesn't work, but basically, you can test whether a new word you

hear is a verb by asking whether you can say rDh (new word).
Is ngoh a verb? Ask the teacher whether it's OK to say mh ngoh.
Is haih a verb? Ask the teacher whether it's OK to say mh haih.
4. Adverbs. In Cantonese an adverb is a word or word group which forms a construction with a verb. In most cases in Cantonese adverbs

precede the verb they belong with. An example from Lesson 1 is mh-, 'not,' which precedes a verb to form the negative.

5. Phrases.

We give the name 'phrase' to a group of words which has a 25

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

specialized meaning as a group. For example, in English, spill + water = spill the water, and spill + beans = spill the beans.

Spill the water is a simple Verb + Object construction. Spill the beans may be, but it may also be a phrase whose meaning differs from the added together meaning of the individual words. This type of phrase is often called an idiom, or an idiomatic expression. In

this lesson Ahganyiu, 'It doesn't matter; That's all right; Never mind,' is such a phrase.

We also give the name 'phrase' to another kind of construction-a group of words whose total meaning may be the same as the added together meaning of the individual words, but which we don't feel

is necessary for you to analyze and learn separately in the first stage of learning Cantonese. It may even be that the fact that

the construction is grammatically a word group and not a single

word may not be apparent, since the construction may be written

as a single word. ~xamples are mhhou 'don't' in the Classroom Phrases of Lesson 1 and sesiu 'a little' in Lesson 3.

6. Lead Sentences and Follow Sentences.

a. It's a pretty day today.

b. How about you?

c. Where?

~, ~ and c are all sentences, and all are intelligible, but in ~

and c as stated it is not clear what is happening. Without drawing too rigid lines, we are going to distinguish between lead sentences-sentences that are intelligible as self-contained units, and follow sentences, ones which depend upon information supplied by a preceding sentence or the context for full intelligibility.

II 1. lJR ILLS

1. Substitution Drill: Substitute J01g1n in the position of jousahn following the pattern of the example sentence.

Ex: T: Laih Taai, jousahn.

S: Laih Taai, joigin.

1. Chahn Taai, jousahn.

T: Good morning, Mrs. Lee. S: Goodbye, Mrs. Lee.

26

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE L:!:SSON 1
+ 2. Lauh Saang, jousahn. 2. Lauh Saang, joigin.
-raood morning, Mr. Lau , )
+ 3. Jet g Sluje, jousahn 3. Jeung S!.uje, joigin.
od morning, Niss Cheung.)
+ 4. Mah Saang, jousahn. 4. Mah Saang, jOigin.
(Good morning, Mr. ~.)
5. Leih Taai, jousahn. 5. Lhh Taai, jOigin. 2. Substitution Drill: Substitute the cue in the appropriate position following the pattern of the example sentence.

Ex: T: Leih Taai, jousahn. /Chahn/

S: Chahn Taai, jousahn.

1. Chahn Taai, jousahn. /Leih/ + 2. Leih Taai, jousahn. /Wohng/

(Wong)

3. Vlohng Taai, jousahn. /Hoh/

4. HOh Taai, jousahn. /Jeung/

5. Lauh Taai, jousahn. /Chahn/

T: Good morning, Mrs. Lee. /Chan/

S: Good morning, Mrs. Chan.

1. Leih Taai, jousahn.

2. Wohng Taai, jousahn.

3. HOh Taai, jousahn.

4. Jeung Taai, jousahn.

5. Chahn Taai, jousahn.

3. Substitution Drill: Substitute the cue in the appropriate position, following the pattern of the example sentence.

Ex: T: Wohn~ Saang, jousahn. T: Good morning, Mr. Wong.

/Taai/ /Mrs./

S: Wohng Taai, jousahn. S: Good morning, Mrs. Wong.
1. Wohng Taai, jousahn. /S!.uje/ 1. Wohng Sluje, jousahn.
2. Wohng S!.uje, jousahn. /Lauh/ 2. Lauh Sluje, jousahn.
3. Lauh S!.uje, jousahn. /joigin/ 3. Lauh Sluje, jOigin.
4. Lauh Sluje, jOigin. /Saang/ 4. Lauh Saang, joigin.
5. Lauh Saang, joigin. /Taai/ 5. Lauh Taai, jOigin. 27

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

4. Expansion Drill: Expand the cue sentence as indicated in the example.

Ex: T: Ngoh amhaih Wohng T: I'm not Mr. Wong.
Saang.
S: DeuiMhjyuh, ngoh s: I beg your pardon, I'm not
amhaih \'iohng Saang. Mr. Wong. 1. Ngoh Mhhaih Leih Siuje. 1. Deuiamjyuh. ngoh Mhhaih
Lhh Siuje.
2. Ngoh Mhhaih Chahn Saang. 2. DeuiMhjyuh. ngoh Mhhaih
Chahn Saang.
3. Ngoh Mhhaih Jeung Taai. 3. DeuiMhjYUh, ngoh Mhhaih
Jeung Taai.
4. Ngoh Mhhaih Hoh Saang. 4. Deuiamjyuh. ngoh Mhhaih Hoh
Saang.
5. Ngoh Mhhaih Wohng Taai. 5. DeuiMhjyuh. ngoh Mhhaih
Wohng Taai. 5. Expansion Drill: Expand the cue sentences to conform with the pattern of the example.

Ex: T: Ngoh Mhhaih Leih T: I'm not Mrs. Lee. /Cheung/
Taai. /Jeung/
S: Ngoh Mhhaih Lhh S: I'm not Mrs. Lee, my name is
Taai.ngoh sing Cheung.
Jeung. 1. Ngoh Mhhaih Hoh Taai. /Ch8.hn/ 1. Ngoh Mhhaih Hoh Taai. ngoh
sing Chahn.
2. Ngoh Mhhaih Chahn S!uje. /Mah/ 2. Ngoh Mhhaih Chahn Siuje,
ngoh sing Mah.
3. Ngoh Mhhaih Mah Saang. /Wohng/ 3. Ngoh Mhhaih Mah Saang. ngoh
sing Wohng.
4. Ngoh Mhhaih Wohng Taai. /Jeung/ 4. Ngoh Mhhaih Wohng Taai.
ngoh sing Jeung.
5. Ngoh Mhhaih Lhh Taai. /Hoh/ 5. Ngoh amhaih Leih Taai. ngoh
sing Hoh. 28

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Lt;SSON 1

6. Conversation Drill: Carryon the suggested conversation following the model of the example.

Ex: A: Chahn Saang, jousahn. A: Good morning Mr. Chan.

B: Deuimhjyuh, ngoh B: I beg your pardon, I'm not

mhhaih Chahn Mr. Chan. My name is Cheung.

Saang. Ngoh sing

Jeung.

A: A, deuiMhjyuh, Jeung Saang.

B: tfuganyiu.

A: A, excuse me, Mr. Cheung.

B: That's OK.

B:

· .

1. A: Chahn Sluje, jousahn.

B: DeuiMhjyuh, ngoh mhhaih Chahn S!uje. Ngoh sing Wohng •

A: A, deuiMhjyuh, Wohng Sluje.

B: Ahganyiu.

2. A: Jeung S!uje, jousahn.

B: DeuiMhjyuh, ngoh mhhaih Jeung S!uje. Ngoh sing Leih •

· .

••••••••• Wohng.

A:

B:

· .

2. A: Jeung Sluje •••••••

B:

· .

••.••.•• Leih.

B:

A: A, deuiMhjyuh, Leih S!uje.

B: Ahganyiu.

A:

3. fl.:

Hoh Saang •••••••••

3. A:

B:

B:

Hoh Saang, jousahn. Deuimhjyuh, ngoh Mhhaih Hoh Saang. Ngoh sing Wohng •

A: A, deuinmjyuh, Wohng Saang.

B: Ahganyiu.

· .

••••••• Wohng.

A:

B:

4. A:

B:

Jeung Saang •••••••

· .

••••••• Leih.

4. A: Jeung Saang, jousahn.

B: Deuimhjyuh, ngoh Mhhaih Jeung Saang. Ngoh sing Lhh •

A:

B:

· .

A: A, deuiMhjyuh, Leih Saang. B: Ahganyiu.

· .

B:

5. A:

B:

Chahn S!uje, jousahn. Deuimhjyuh, ngoh Mhhaih Chahn stuje. Ngoh sing

Lauh. .

· .

••••••• Lauh.

29

LESSON 1

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

B: •••••••••••••••••••

A: A, deuiMhjyuh, Lauh Sluje.

B: Ahganyiu.

A: •••••••••••••••••••

Vocubulary Checklist for Lesson 1
1. A ex: Oh
2. Chahn sur: Chan
3. deuiDlhjYUh ph: Excuse me; I beg your pardon; I'm sorry.
4. haih v: is, am, are, were, etc.
5. Hoh sur: Ho
6. hohksaang n: student
7. Jeung sur: Cheung
8. Joigin Ph: Goodbye
9. Jousahn Ph: Good morning
10. Lauh sur: Lau
11. Leih sur: Li
12. Mah sur: Ma
13. .Dh- adv: not
14. Ahganyiu Ph: That's all right; It doesn't matter; Never mind.
15. ngoh pro: I, me, my
16. Saang t: Mr.
17. sInsaang n: man (see notes); teacher
18. SInsaang t: Mr. (see notes)
19. sing v: have the surname
20. sluje n: unmarried woman; woman, lady (see notes)
21. Sluje t: Miss
22. Taai t: Mrs.
23. taaitaai n: married woman (see notes)
24. Taaitaai t: Mrs. (see notes)
25. Wohng sur: Wong 30

CLASSROOM PHRASES

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

L~SSON 2

A. Learn to respond to the following classroom instructions:
1. yIhg_ ngoh mahn neih, neih 1. Now I'll ask you, and you answer
daap ngoh. me.
2. yihg_ neihdeih jihg81 mahn, 2. Now you yourselves ask and answer.
jihgei daap.
3. Gaijuhk. 3. Continue. (i.e., Do the next
one, Keep going.)
4. Nflih jouh _!_, n81h jouh 4. You do A, you do B.
__!_.
B. The following are some comments that the teacher may make on your
recitations. 5. Ng_am laak. OR Iam laak.

6. Haih . laak.
gam
7. Haih laak.
8. Hou jeun.
9. Gongdak hou.
10. Gongdak ~hou.
11. Cha~do.
12. Yiu suhk dI.
13. Daaihseng dI. 5. That's it. (After student suc-

ceeds in saying something right.)

6. That's it. Now you've got it.

7. That's it. Now you've got it.

8. Just right. Quite accurate.

9. Good, spoken well.

10. No, that won't do. Not spoken right.

11. Approximately. (i.e., Good

enough for now, but not perfect.) 12. Get it smoother. (When a student's recitation is halting.)

13. Louder.

31

LESSON 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

I. BASIC CONVERSATION A. Buildup:

(At a party in Hong Kong)

dnaaang

SinsaanlS

g.aising a

your surname (polite) sentence suffix, to soften abruptness

.o .... n

What is your surname, Hiss?

sluje

Sluje g.aising a?

Ngoh sing Wohng.

My name is Wong.

'Iohng Sluje.

sinsaang (bo.ing slightly)

Miss Wong.

ne?

sentence suffix for questioJls

And you? (polite)

S{nsaang ne?

S!nsaang

slusing S t using Lauh.

my name (polite) My name is Lau.

S!uje

(bowing slightly)

Lauh Saang

Mr. Lau.

Sinsaang

(Indicating a young lady standing beside Miss 'long)

mityeh ~ meyeh ~ mIyeh sing meyeh a?

pahnu&uh

neih

neih pahngy&uh

Neih pAAngy&uh sing meyeh a?

S!uje

.hat?

haTe .hat surname? friend

your

your friend

What is your friend's name?

has the name Ma

32

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 2

ge

sing M&h ge k'uih

K'uih sing M&h g ••

SIns.anl

Gwongdung yan GwongdungyahD

haih _haih a1

X'uih haih abhaih GW~Dgdungyahn a1

Seuhngh~i Seuhngh~iyaha

Ahhaih a. K'aih haih SeuhDghoiyahn.

S{naaaeg

,

gam, •••

dOll

doa haih Seuhagh~iyahn Ngoh dou haih SeuhDgh~iyahn.

noun-forming boundword. &! suffixed to a Verb Phrase make. it grammatically

a 1I0un Phrase.

is a na.ed-Ma ODe he, she, it

Her na.e is Ma.

Kwangtang person

Cantonese person, a persoD from Kwangtung provinc. is/not-is? a questioD for_la

Is she Cantones.?

Shanghai Shanghai person

No, she's from Shanghai.

'Well then, ••• ', 'Sayl, ••• sentence prefix, resuaing the thread of previous discussioD.

And you?

alao

also am Shanghai person

II. also from Shaoghai.

B. Recapitulation:

(At a party in Hong Kong) Slnaaaeg

S!uj' g"ising a?

33

What is your (sur)name, Miss?

LESSOll 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

M,. Daile is Wong.

SJnsaay (bowing slightl,.)

Miss Wong.

SInsaang n.?

And ,.ou?

Srasaay

S!udng Lauh.

M,. nalDe is Lau.

Lauh Saang.

S!uje

(bowing alightl,.)

Mr. Lau.

sradans

(Indicating a ,.oung lady standing b •• ide Miss Wong)

,

Neih pahng,.auh .ing •• ,.eh a? What is ,.our friend'. name?

S!uje

Keuih sing NAh ge.

Her naM is Ma.

SInsaay Keuih haih anhaih Gw~ngdung,.ahn a?

S!uje

Ahhaih a. Keuih haih Seuhnghoiyahn. No, she's froll Shanshai. sIneaans

Gam, neth ne?

And ,.ou?

Sluje Ngoh dou haih Seuhnghoi,.ahn.

1'. also froll Shanghai.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Problell sounds in Lesson Two: Initials

1. ~,g, 4, and J (phoneticall,. [pJ, [tJ, [kJ, and [tFJ.

~, g, 4, and J sounds in Cantonese are voiceless, in contrast to the voiced Engli.h sounds spelled with the sail. letter •• Positioning for Cantonese ~ and 4 sounde is the .a.e as for English. For the g sound the tongue tip is more forward in Cantonese than in English--against the base of the upper teeth for Cantonese, on the dental ridge for English. Position for the J sound has been dis-

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LBSSON 2

CU88ed in Les80n One. The 80und8 are una8pirated, a8 are their Engli8h counterparts, but the Cantonese and English sounds oontrast with respect to tenseness--the Cantone8e initial con8onant8 being tense and the Engli8h lax in isolated words and in 8tressed position

in a sentence.
COllpare: (left to right, then right to left.)
Enl5118h Cantone8e
b: bean bIn go ilif!l who
beau bou ~ cloth
buoy bui ~~ cup
bun ban t guest
buy baai ~t worship
d: doe dO\l t'l arr1Ye
d1e claai ~ brina
d1DC dIng -r surnalle Ting
deem dim .It shop (Noun)
g: gay gei if. record (Verb)
gUll gall .~ so
guy gaai "t border
guaya G'lfongdu~ *- Kwangtung
j: joy joi ~ again
gee ji 1- until, to
Jew jiu gli reflect
........
Joe jou ,u. stove
2. .2. !. ~, and g. As initials. phonetically [p] • [t·] , [k·], and
[t~·J • Cantonese .2, !. ~, and g sounds are similar to English counterpart .2, !. ~, g sounds in that they are voiceless and aspirated. Positioning for .2 and ~ is the salle as for Inglish. For the!

sound the tongue tip is more forward in Cantonese than in English-against the base of the upper teeth for Cantonese, on the dental ridge for English. The positioning for ch has been discu •• ed in

35

LESSOJ 2 CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Les.oa Oae. The Cantonese consonants are tenser than the American counterpart ••

Co.pare: (left to right, then right to left)

Ensliah Cantone.e

p: pingpoDg p8.bngyauhJl~~fr1end

pa;r pei ;/t. to throw over the

shoulders

pie Poe putt

pad pou

pit

t: tie tea. top tong

tid tb taap tong

k: cow Kay cut cup

kaau kei kit kap

ch: chuck chew chow

chu chb

chau

chip

chip

send shop (N)

M for hor.e.

.. J,- necktie *- additional 4- pagoda

~ iron (Verb)

-i lean on

t hope

~ cough

~ step (Noun)

;.1 guess

,t! exceed i bad smell .:i- concubine

3. ~,as in Yahtbun, Yahtbunyahn

Un is a two-part final composed of the high back rounded vowel ~ [u] followed by the velar Dasal consonant !.

~ is a high back rounded vowel, which before! has a slight offglide to high central position: ~ + ! = [u:inJ. The vowel is open, not Dasali.ed, before the nasal final. The Cantonese un is roughly co.parable to the ~ in general American "boon."

Compare Cantonese and English:

1. bun ~ boon <3 ti.es)

2. boon bun ~(3 ti.es) 36

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 2

4. eui practice

Listen and repeat--remember to keep the lips rounded throughout, remember that the -i of eui represents the rounded high front vowel

~ [iiJ.

deuilibjyuh

(5 times)

(5 times)

deui

(5 times)

5. iu

~ is a two-part final composed of the high front unrounded vowel! [iJ plus the high back rounded vowel ~ [uJ. In this sequence the! is pronounced as an onglide, with the main force of voiCing on the ~ portion of the syllable--[iuJ.

Listen and repeat:

1. s!uje (3 times)

2. s!u (3 times)

6. Tone practice

1. dou dou ,sing sing ,haih haih

2. dou sing haih , haih sing dou

3. dou sing ,sing haih

haih dou

, dou haih

7. 8.

dou dou Jeung, dou s!u s!u stu neih haih yahn

, Jeung Jeung , dou Jeung , neih neih

, n81h stu

, yahn haih

4. 5. 6.

II. Notes

A. Culture Notes:

1. A Gwongdungyahn is a person from Kwangtung province. In English such a person is usually referred to as 'Canton.8e,' the English name deriving from the city of Canton in Kwangtung province. People from Hong Kong are also included in the term Gwongdungyahn.

2. Polite forms in social conversation:

a) SInsaang and sluje are polite formal substitutes for neih-'you' as terms of direct address.

37

LESSON 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

1. SInsaang gwaising a?

What is the gentleman's (i.e., your) name?

What is the lady's (i.e., your)

2. S!uje gwaising a?

name?

(See Drill _ll_)

b) Sluje is the general polite substitute for neih when addressing a woman, even if she is a married woman.

Ex:

Mr. Lee (to Mrs. Chan):

Siuje haih Mhhaih Gwong- Is the lady (i.e., Are you)

dungyahn a? (See Drill 14)

c) Surname and title as polite formal substitute for neih as term

from Kwangtung?

of address.

Ex:

Mr. Lee (to Miss Chan):

Chahn Sluje haih Mhhaih Is Miss Chan (i.e., Are you)

Gwongdungyahn a? from Kwangtung?

(See Drill ~)

d) gwai- and s!u-

1. gwai- is a polite form meaning "your," referring to the person you are talking to.

Ex: gwaising = your name. The literal meaning of gwai"precious, valuable."

2. siu- is a polite form used in referring to oneself when talking with another person. It means "my." Ex: s!using my name. The literal meaning of s!u- is "small."

(See Drill _ll_)

3. Ngoh sing seems more commonly used than siusing, but gwaising is more common than Neih sing meyeh a? in social conversation. At a doctor's office, or in registering for school 'What is your name' would be more apt to be asked as 'Sing meyeh?' than as 'Gwaising a?'

B. Structure Notes.

Some people in speaking about Cantonese and other Chinese languages, say "Cantonese has no grammar." In this they are referring 38

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Li!:SSON 2

to the fact that words in Cantonese (and other Chinese languages) do not undergo the changes of form which English words experience in relation to tense: see, saw, seen; to number: boy, boys; to case: I, me, my, mine; to word class: photograph, photographer, photography, photographic; to subject-verb concord: He sits, They sit.

1. Verb form: Absence of Subject-Verb concord.

There is no subject-verb concord in Cantonese. Whereas the English verb changes form in concord with the subject-I Rm, You are, He is--, the Cantonese verb remains in one form regardless of the subject.

Ex:

SUbject Verb
Ngoh haih Chahn Sluje. I am Miss Chan.
Nhh haih ngoh pahngyauh. You are my friend.
Keuih haih Gwongdungyahn. He is Cantonese.
Keuihdeih haih Seuhnghoiyahn. They are Shanghai people. (See Drill _3_ )
2. Noun form: Absence of Singular/Plural Distinction.
There is no distinction in Chinese nouns between singular
and plural. One form is used for both single and plural objects, with other parts of the sentence, or sometimes simply the situational context, giving information regarding number.

Ex: yahn = person, people

ylnggwokyahn = 'Englishman, Englishmen.' Singular/Plural

(a) Keuih haih ylnggwokyahn. He is an ~nglishman. (b) Keuihdeih haih ylnggwokyahn. They are Englishmen. (See Drill _3_)

3. Pronoun forms.

1. Cantonese has three personal pronouns:

1. ngoh

2. nhh

I, me, my

you, your (singular)

3. keuih = he, she, it, him, her

2. Plurality is marked in personal pronouns by the plural suffix -deih:

39

LESSOR 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

1. ngoh = I

ngohdeih we (both inclusive and exclusive)

2. neih = you (sing.) neihdeih = you (plu.)

3. keuih = he, she, it keuihdeih = they (See Drill _3_)

4. Modification structures: Noun modification:

In Cantonese a modifier precedes the noun it modifies:

Example: Modifier + Noun head

friend

is an Englishman.

We will refer to this modifier-modified noun structure as a Noun Phrase (NP), consisting of modifier and head.

(See Drills 5a, 12, 13)

5. Sentence suffixes.

What we call sentence suffixes are also called "final particles" and "sentence finals."

Sentence suffixes are used in conversation, and are a means by which the speaker signals the listener what he feels about what he's saying--that he is doubtful, definite, surprised, sympathetic, that he means to be polite, or sarcastic.

Some sentence suffixes have actual content meaning. For example, me, which you will learn in Lesson 3, has interrogative meaning, and suffixed to a statement sentence makes it a question. But others operate primarily as described above--to add an emotion-carrying coloration to the sentences they attach to. As such they have been called also "intonation-carrying particles," intonation here used in its "tone of voice" sense.

Two sentence suffixes appear in the Basic Conversation of this lesson:

1. Sentence suffix a

The sentence suffix ~ has the effect of softening the

40

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 2

sentence to which it is attached, making it less abrupt than it would otherwise be.

Examples from this lesson:

1. Keuih haih IDhhaih Is she a Cantonese?

Gwongdungyahn a?

2. Ahhaih a. No.

In English a courteous tone of voice is perhaps the best counterpart to the ~ sentence suffix.

(See Basic Conversation (BC), and Drill __1_)

2. Sentence suffix ne

ne in a follow sentence of structure Noun + ne? is an interrogative sentence suffix, meaning 'how about ••• ?,' 'And ••• ?' In such a sentence ne is interrogative on its own:

Example:

Ngoh haih Gwongdungyahn; neih ne?

I am a Cantonese; how about you?

Sentence suffix a is not substitutable for ne in this type of sentence, a not having an interrogative sense of its own.

(See BC, and Drill ~)

'.'Ie have used tone marks in writing the sentence suffixes, but p~rhaps it would have been better to use other symbols, maybe arrows pointing up for high, diagonally for rieing, to the right for mid, down for falling. Since some finals can

be said with different pitch contours with the effect of changing the coloration of what is said but not the content, they are not truly tonal words. For example, sentence suffix ~, encountered in this lesson, we have described as having

the effect of softening an otherwise rather abrupt sentence. This final can also be said at high pitch: a, without changing the sentence-softening aspect, but adding liveliness to the response.

Ex: A: Neih haih IDhhaih

Are you a Cantonese?

Gwongdungyahn a?

41

LESSON 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

B: ~hhaih i. Ngoh haih Seuhnghoiyahn.

Beginning students, even advanced students, often have a lot of difficulty with sentence suffixes, because they don't

No, siree, I'm a Shanghai man.

fit into categories which we recognize in English. Partly this is because most of us haven't analyzed the English we use. How would you explain, for example, the English

"sentences suffixes" in the following:
1. What do you mean by that, pray?
2. Hand me that pencil, will you?
3. Cut that out, hear?
4. He's not coming, I don't think. Our advice to students in regard to sentence suffixes is absorb them as you can, don't get bogged down in trying to plumb their "real" meanings--in doing so, you spend more time on them than they warrant.

6. Choice-type Questions.

Questions which in English would be answered by yes or no, are formed in Cantonese by coupling the positive and negative forms of a verb together, and requiring an echo answer of the suitable one. This question form we call the Choice-type Question.

Example:

Question: Keuih haih Mhhaih Is he an American?

Meihgwokyahn a? [He is-not is Americanperson a?J

Responses: Haih. Yes. [Is.J

~haih. No. [Not-isJ

(See BC and Drills 6, 9, 13, 14)

7. Question-word Questions.

Question-word Questions are question sentences using

the Cantonese question-word equivalents of what, when, where, why, how, how much, how many, who. meyeh? 'what?' (variant pronunciations matyeh? and miyeh?) is an example of a question-word.

42

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

L~SSON 2

In Cantonese question-word (~W) questions pattern like statement sentences--they have the same word order as statement sentences, with the question-word occupying the same position in the sentence which the reply word occupies in the statement.

Example: Keuih sing meyeh a? [He is surnamed what?] What is his name?

Keuih sing Wohngo

[He is surnamed Wong.] His name is Wong.

(See BC and Drill 12, 13) 8. =K!, noun-forming boundword

~ attaches to the end of a word or phrase which is not
a noun and makes it into a noun phrase. In such cases it
usually works to translate -~ into English as 'one who' or
'such a one. , Nhen we say ~ is a boundword we mean it is never spoken as a one-word sentence, but always accompanies some other word.

Example: 10 Keuih sing Wohng geo She is one who has the surname Wong. ~ She's a person named Wong.

(See BC and Drills 9, 10, 12, 13) ~ is a fusion of ~ + sentence suffix ~

Example: A: Keuih haih mhhaih Is he named Wong?

sing Wohng ga?

B: Ahhaih--keuih mhhaih sing Wohng gee Keuih Sing HOh.

No, he's not named Wong.

His name is Ho.

(See Drill _1)

43

LESSON 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

9. matyeh, meyeh, and miyeh = variant pronunciations for 'what?'
mat:t:eh is occasionally used in conversations as an
emphatic form; normally the spoken pronunciation is meyeh or miyeh, some people favoring me:t:eh, others mi:t:eh. We have written meyeh uniformly in the text, but on the tapes you will hear all three forms.

III. DRILLS

1. Transformation Drill: Make negative sentences following the pattern of the example. Student should point to himself in ngoh sentences, to another student in keuih and neih sentences.

Ex: T: Keuih haih Seuhng- T: He (or she) is from Shanghai.
hoiyahn. (Shanghai person)
S: Keuih amhaih S: He (or she) is not from
Seuhnghoiyahn. Shanghai.
1. KEmih haih Seuhnghoiyahn 1. Keuih mhhaih Seuhnghoiyahn.
+ 2. Keuihdeih haih Gwongdungyahn. 2. Keuihdeih amhaih Gwongdung-
(They are Cantonese.) yahn.
+ 3. Ngoh haih Junggwokfahn. 3. Ngoh mhhaih Junggwokyahn.
(I am a Chinese.
+ 4. Ngohdeih haih Junggwokyahn. 4. Ngohdeih amhaih Junggwokyahn.
(~ are Chinese.)
+ 5. Nhh haih Yinge;wok:t:ahn• 5. Neih mhhaih Yinggwokyahn.
(You are an Enslishman.)
+ 6. Nhh haih Meiht:lwoklahn. 6. Neih amhaih Meihgwokyahn.
(You are an American)
+ 7. Neihdeih haih Meihgwokyahn. 7. Neihdeih amhaih Meihgwok-
(You (Elu.) are Americans.) yahn.
+ 8. Ngoh haih Yahtbun;y:ahn. 8. Ngoh amhaih Yahtbunyahn.
(I am a JaEanese. )
+ 9. Ngoh haih TOihsaan;y:ahn. 9. Ngoh amhaih Toihsaanyahn.
(I am a Toishan man. ) 2. Substitution Drill: Substitute the cue word to make a new sentence, following the pattern of the example.

Ex: T: Keuihdeih haih Gwongdunpahn /Seuhnghoiyahn/

44

T: They are Cantonese. /Shanghai people/

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE LESSON 2
S: Keuihdeih haih S: They are Shanghai people.
Seuhnghoiyahn.
1. Keuihdeih haih Seuhnghoiyahn. 1. Keuihdeih haih Meihgwokyahn.
/Meihgwokyahn/
2. Keuihdeih haih Meihgwokyahn. 2. Keuihdeih haih yinggwokyahn.
/yinggwokyahn/
3. Keuihdeih haih yinggwokyahn. 3. Keuihdeih haih Yahtbunyahn.
/Yahtbunyahn/
4. Keuihdeih haih Yahtbunyahn. 4. Keuihdeih haih Junggwokyahn.
/Junggwokyahn/
5. Keuihdeih haih Junggwokyahn. 5. Keuihdeih haih Gwongdung-
/Gwongdungyahn/ yahn. 3. Mixed Substitution Drill: Substitute the cue word in the appropriate position, following the pattern of the example.

Ex: T: Ngoh haih Seuhnghoiyahn. /neihdeih/

S: Neihdeih haih Seuhnghoiyahn.

T: Neihdeih haih SeuhnghOiyahn. /Junggwokyahn/

S: Neihdeih haih Junggwokyahn.

1. Keuih haih Yinggwokyahn. /keuihdeih/

2. Keuihdeih haih Yinggwokyahn. /neihdeih/

3. Neihdeih haih Yinggwokyahn. /Meihgwokyahn/

4. Neihdeih haih Meihgwokyahn. /ngoh/

5. Ngoh haih hohksaang. /sInsaang/

I am from Shanghai. /you (plu.)/

You (plu.) are from Shanghai.

You (plu.) are from Shanghai. /Chinese/

You (plu.) are Chinese.

1. Keuihdeih haih Yinggwokyahn.
2. Neihdeih haih Yinggwokyahn.
3. Neihdeih haih Meihgwokyahn.
4. Ngoh haih Meihgwokyahn.
5. Ngoh haih ... .
s~nsaang. 4. Expansion Drill: Expand the cue sentences as indicated in the example. Students should gesture to indicate pronouns.

Ex: T: Keuih mnhaih Leih Taai.

She is not Mrs. Lee.

LESSON 2 CANTONESE BASIC COURSE
S: Keuih .Dhhaih Leih She is not Mrs. Lee, I am.
Taai, ngoh haih.
1. Keuih .Dhhaih Jeung Saang. 1. Keuih .Dhhaih Jeung Saang;
ngoh haih.
2. Keuih .Dhhaih Chahn S!uje. 2. Keuih .Dhhaih Chahn Sluje;
ngoh haih.
3. Keuih .Dhhaih Hoh Saang • 3. Keuih .Dhhaih Hoh Saang;
ngoh haih.
4. Keuih Jilhhaih Leih Taai. 4. Keuih .Dhhaih Lhh Taai;
ngoh haih.
5. Keuih Mhhaih Chahn Saang. 5. Keuih .Dhhaih Chahn Saang;
ngoh haih. 5. Transformation Drill: Respond according to the pattern of the example. Students gesture pronouns.

1. Neih haih .Dhhaih Gwongdungyahn a?

2. Nhh haih mhhaih Wohng Saang a?

3. Keuih haih .Dhhaih Leih Saang a?

4. Neih haih IDhhaih Meihgwokyahn a?

5. Neihdeih haih IDhhaih Yahtbunyahn a?

6. Keuih haih .Dhhaih Junggwokyahn a?

a. Do the above sentences as an expansion drill, expanding with pahngyauh thus:

T: Ngoh haih Gwongdungyahn.

Ex: T: Ngoh haih Meihgwokyahn.

S: Neih haih .Dhhaih M81hgwokyahn a?

1. Ngoh haih Gwongdungyahn.

2. Ngoh haih Wohng Saang.

5. Ngohdeih haih Yahtbunyahn.

6. Keuih haih Junggwokyahn.

T: I am an American.

S: Are you an American?

S: Ngoh pahngyauh haih Gwongdungyahn.

46

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

L~SSON 2

6. Response Drill: Respond according to the pattern of the example.

Ex: T:

Jeung S!uje haih T:

mhhaih Meihgwokyahn a? /yinggwokyahn/

s: Ahhaih. Keuih haih ylnggwokyahn.

Is Miss Cheung an American? /English-person/

S: No, she's English.

1. Neih haih Mhhaih yinggwokyahn 1. Ahhaih. Ngoh haih Meih-
a? /Meihgwokyahn/ gwoky8.bn.
2. Nedh haih Mhhaih Seuhng- 2. Ahhaih. Ngoh haih Gwong-
hoiyahn a? /Gwongdungyahn/ dungyahn.
3. Jeun~ Sa~ng ~aih Mhhaih 3. Ahhaih. Keuih haih Seuhng-
Gwongdun~yahn a? hoiyahn.
/3euhnghoiyahn/
4. Mah Taai haih Mhhaih ylng- 4. Ahhaih. Keuih haih Meth-
gwokyahn a? /Meihgwokyahn/ gwokyahn.
5. Keuih haih Mhhaih Seuhng- 5. Ahhaih. Keuih haih Toih-
hoiy8.bn a? /Toihsaanyahn/ saanyahn. 7. Conversation Exercise: Carry on the suggested Conversations
following the pattern of the example.
Ex: A: Neih haih Mhhaih A: Are you Miss Cheung?
Jeung S!uje a?
B: Ahhaih. Ngoh sing B: No, my name is Chan.
Chahn.
1. A: · .......... Ch8b.n Siang a? 1. A: Neih haih Mhhaih Chihn
Siang a?
B: · .......... Hoh. B: Ahhaih a. Ngoh sing Hoh.
2. A: ........... Leih SIuje a? 2. A: Neth haih Mhhaih Leih
SIuje a?
B: · .......... Jeung. B: r~haih a. Ngoh Sing
Jeung.
3. A: ........... Ch8.bn Taai a? 3. A: Neih haih Mhhaih Ch8.bn
Taai a?
B: ........... Hoh. B: Ahhaih a. Ngoh sing Hoh.
4. A: ........... Leih Saang a? 4. A: Neih haih Mhhaih Leih
Saang a?
B: · .......... Jeung. B: Ahhaih a. Ngoh Sing
Jeung.
5. A: · .......... Hoh Sluje a? 5. A: Neih haih Mhhaih Hoh
Sluje a?
47 LESSON 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

B: ••••••••••• Chahn.

B: Ahhaih a. Ngoh sing Ch&hn.

7a. Continue, with student A using a name at random and student B using his own name in response.

8. Response Drill: Respond according to the pattern of the example:
Ex: T: Keuih sing WOhng. T: Her name is Wong. /Cheung/
/JElUng/
S: Keuih IDhhaih sing S: Her name is not Wong, it's
Wohng, sing Jeullg. Cheung.
1. Keuih sing Jeung. /Hoh/ 1. Keuih Mhhaih sing Jeung,
sing Hoh.
2. Keuih sing Hoh. /Chahn/ 2. Keuih IDhhaih sing Hoh, sing
Chahn.
3. Keuih sing Chahn. /Leih/ 3. Keuih Mhhaih sing Chahn,
sing Lhh.
4. Keuih sing Leih. /Lauh/ 4. Keuih Mhhaih sing Leih, sing
Lauh.
5. Keuih sing Mah. /Wohng/ 5. Keuih IDhhaih sing Mah, sing
Wohng. 9. Response Drill
Ex: T: Keuih haih IDhhaih sing Is her name Chan? /Ho/
+ Chahn ~? /Hoh/
s: Ahhaih. Keuih sing Hoh No, her name is ae,
gee
1. Keuih haih IDhhaih sing Leih 1. Ahhaih. Keuih sing Chahn gee
ga? /Chahn/
2. Keuih haih Mhhaih sing M8.h 2. Ahhaih. Keuih sing Hoh gee
ga? /Hoh/
3. Keuih haih IDhhaih sing Jeung 3. Ahhaih. Keuih sing Leih gee
ga? /Leib/
4. Keuih haih Dlhhaih sing Chahn 4. lfuhaih. Keuih sing Mah gee
ga? /Mah/
5. Keuih haih Dlhhaih sing Hoh 5. Ahhaih. Keuih sing Jeung gee
ga? /JElUng/
Comment:
a. Sentence suffix 2 is a fusion of ~ + a 2·
48 CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 2

b. In the choice-type question form, sing is preceded by haih mhhaih to make the question.

10. Expansion Drill:

Ex: T: Neihdeih haih Meihgwokyahn. /ngohdeih/

S: Neihdeih haih Meihgwokyahnj ngohdeih dou haih Meihgwokyahn.

1. Keuihdeih haih yinggwokyahn. /ngohdeih/

2. Ngohdeih haih Seuhnghoiyahn. /keuihdeih/

3. Wohng Taai haih ngoh pahngyauh. /keuih/

4. Keuihdeih haih Gwongdungyahn. /neihdeih/

5. Ngohdeih haih sing Chahn gee /keuihdeih/

You are Americans. lwei

You are Americansj we are also Americans.

1. Keuihdeih haih yinggwokyB.hnj ngohdeih dou haih yinggwokyahn.

2. Ngohdeih haih Seuhnghoiyahnj keuihdeih dou haih Seuhnghoiyahn.

3. Wohng Taai haih ngoh pahn~yauhj keuih dou haih ngoh pahngyauh.

4. Keuihdeih haih Gwongdungyahnj neihdeih dou haih Gwongdungyahn.

5. Ngohdeih haih sing Chahn gej keuihdeih dou haih sing Chahn gee

11. Conversation Exercise

Example:
1. A: Sluje gwaising a?
B: Slusing Hoh.
A: Hoh Sluje.
2. A: sinsaang gwaising a?
B: Slusing Lauh.
A: Lauh Saang.
1. A: SInsaang •••••••• ?
B: ••••••••••••• Leih.
A: .............
49 (To a woman) What is your name? My name is Ho.

Miss Ho.

(To a man) What is your name? My name is Lau.

Mr. Lau.

1. A: Sinsaang gwaising a?

B: Slusing Lhh • A: Lhh Saang.

LESSON 2 CANTONESE BASIC COURSE
2. A: SInsaang •••••••• 1 2. A: SInsaang gwaising a?
B: •••••••••••• Chahn. B: S!using Chahn.
A: ..........•.. A: Chahn Saang.
3. A: SInsaang • • • • • • • • ? 3 • A: SInsaang gwaising a?
B: .••.••••••.• Jeung. B: S!using Jeung •
A: · ............ A: Jeung Saang.
4. A: S!uje ? 4. A: S!uje gwaising a?
............
B: ••••••.••••• Wohng. B: Slusing WOhng.
A: · ............ A: IVohng S!uje.
5. A: S!uje ••••••••••• ? 5. A: S!uje gwaising a?
B: •••••••••••.•• Hoh. B: Slusing Hoh.
A: · ............ A: Hoh Sluje. 12. Conversation Drill

Ex: A: Nhh pahngyauh sing meyeh a1

B: Keuih sing \vohng gee

What is your friend's name?

His name is Wong.

B: •••••• Lauh •••••••

1. A: Nh~ fahngyauh sing
meyeh a?
B: Keuih sing Hoh gee
2. A: Nh~ fahngyauh sing
meyeh a?
B: Keuih sing Lauh gee
3. A: Nh~ fahngyauh sing
meyeh a?
B: Keuih sing Wohng ge.
4. A: Nh~ fahngyauh sing
meyeh a?
B: Keuih sing Jeung gee 1. A: •••••••••••••••• 1

B: •••••• Hoh ••••••••

2. A: •••••••••••.•••• 1

3. A: •••••••••••••••• ?

B: •••••• Wohng ••••••

4. A: •••••••••••••••• 1

B: •••••. Jeung ••••••

B: •••••• Leih •••.•••

5. A: Nei~ fahngyauh sing meyeh a?

B: Keuih sing Leih ge.

5. A: •••••••••••••••• ?

50

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE LESSON 2
13. Conversation Drill
Ex: A: Nh~ ~ahngyaUh sing A: What is your friend's name?
meyeh a?
B: Keuih sing Wohng gee B: His name is Nong.
A: Keuih haih amhaih A: Is he a Cantonese?
Gwongdungyahn a?
B: Ahhaih. Keuih haih B: No, he's a Japanese.
Yahtbunyahn.
1. A: ? 1. A: Nei~ ~ahngyauh sing
· ..................
meyeh a?
B: • ••.•••••••..•• Hoh. B: KElUih sing Hoh gee
A: •••• yinggwokyahn a? A: Keuih haih amhaih
yinggwokyahn a?
B: •••••• Meihgwokyahn. B: Ahhaih. Keuih haih
Meihgwokyahn.
2. A: • ••••••••••••••••• ? 2. A: Nh~ ~ahngyauh sing
meyeh a?
B: •••••••••••••• Leih. B: Keuih sing Leih gee
A: ••• Seuhnghoiyahn a? A: Keuih haih amhaih
Seuhnghoiyahn a?
B: •••••• Toihsaanyahn. B: Ahhaih • Keuih haih
Toihsaanyahn.
3. A: •••••••••••••••••• ? 3. A: Neih pahngyauh Sing
meyeh a?
B: ••••••••••••• Chahn. B: Keuih sing Chahn gee
A: •••• Meihgwokyahn a? A: Keuih haih mhhaih Meih-
gwokyahn a?
B: •••••• yinggwokyahn. B: Ahhaih • Keuih haih
yinggwokyahn.
4. A: • ••••••••••••••••• ? 4. A: Nei~ ~ahngyatlh sing
meyeh a?
B: •••••••••••• ~ •. Mah. B: Keuih sing Mah gee
A: • •• Gwongdungyahn a? A: Keuih haih mhhaih Gwong-
dungyahn a?
B: ••••• Seuhnghoiyahn. p. Ahhaih. Keuih haih
Seuhnghoiyahn.
5. A: • ••••••••••••••••• ? 5. A: Nei~ ~ahngyauh sing
meyeh a?
B: • •••••••••••• \'/ohng. B: Keuih sing Wohng gee
51 LESSON 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

A: ••••• Yahtbunyahn a? A: Keuih haih Mhhaih Yaht-
bunyahn a?
B: •••••• Junggwokyahn. B: Ahhaih • Keuih haih Jung-
gwokyahn.
6. A: ? 6. A: Neih pahngyauh sing
...................
meyeh a?
B: ••••••.••••.. Jeung. B: Keuih sing Jeung gee
A: ••• Seuhnghoiyahn a? A: Keuih haih rlIhhaih Seuhng-
hoiyahn a?
B: ••••••• yahtbunyahn. B: Ahhaih. Keuih haih Yaht-
bunyahn. 14. Conversation Drill: Carryon the suggested conversations following the pattern of the example.

Ex: A: SInsaang haih iDhhaih Is the gentleman (i.e. Are you)
Meihgwokyahn a? an American?
B: Ahhaih--ngoh haih No, I'm an Englishman. And
Y:tng~wokyahn. the lady (i. e. you)?
Sluje ne?
A: Ngoh haih Gwongdung- I am a Cantonese.
yahn. 1. A: (Woman): SInsaang A: Sinsaang haih rlIhhaih
• ••• Gwongdungyahn. Gwongdungyahn a?
B: (Man) •••• Seuhnghoiyahn. B: Ahhaih. Ngoh haih Seuhng-
hoiyahn. Sluje ne?
A: (Woman): ••••. yahtbunyahn. A: Ngoh haih Yahtbunyahn.
2. A: (Man) S!uje •....•..• A: S!uJe ~aih rlIhhaih Yaht-
• ••••• Yahtbunyahn ••• bunyahn a?
B: (Woman) : •••• Junggwokyahn ••• B: Ahhaih. Ngoh haih Jung-
gwoyahn. sinsaang ne?
A: (Man) ••••• Meihgwokyahn •• A: Ngoh haih Meihgwokyahn.
3. A: (Man) SInsaang . ...... A: SInsaang haih Mhhaih
•••••• y!nggwokyahn Y!nggwokyahn a?
B: (Man) ••••• Meihgwokyahn. B: Ahhaih. Ngoh haih Meih-
gwokyahn. SInsaang ne?
A: (Man) ••••• Gwongdungyahn. A: Ngoh haih Gwongdungyahn.
4. A: (Woman) : Mah sInsaang •••• A: Mah SInsaang haih Mhhaih
••••• yahtbunyahn. Yahtbunyahn a?
52 CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LiSSON 2

B: (Man) ••••• Junggwoklihn. •••• Chahn Sluje ••• ?

A: (Woman): ••••• Ylnggwokyahn.

B: Ahhaih. Ngoh haih Junggwokyahn. Chahn Sluje ne?

A: Ngoh haih Ylnggwokyahn.

a. Continue, students using their own situation to carry on the suggested conversations.

IV. CONVERSATION;:) FOR LISTENING

The text of these conversations is written out in Appendix 1. Listen to the tape with your book closed, checking the text afterward, if necessary.

V. SAY IT IN CANTONESE:

In this section you get directed practice in using some of the Cantonese you have learned, using the English sentences to prompt

you. This is not to be thought of as a translation exercise--the English is just to get you going. Try to put the ideas into Cantonese, saying it the way the Cantonese would. Often there will be quite a

few ways to say the same thing.

A. Ask the person sitting next
to you:
1. What is your name?
2. Are you an Englishman?
3. Is your friend also an
American?
4. Is Miss Ho from Shanghai?
5. Is Mr. Lau a Toishan man?
6. What is your friend's name?
7. Are you Mr(s). 'Nong? 8. Are you a student?

And he answers:

1. My name is

2. No, I'm an American.

3. Yes, he is.

4. No, she's from Toishan.
5. Yes, he is.
6. His name is Lee.
7. I'm not Mr(s). Wong, my name is

8. No, I~m not a student, I'm a teacher.

53

LESSON 2

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

B. At a party:

1. Mr. Wong asks Mr. Ho his name.

2. Mr. Ho replies that his name is Ho, and asks Mr. Wong his name.

3. Mr. Wong gives his name, and asks Mr. Ho if he is a Kwangtung

man.

4. Mr. Ho answers that he is. He asks Mr. Ho if he also is from Kwangtung.

5. Mr. Wong says no, that he is a Shanghai man.

C. A and B, two new students, wait for the teacher to come to class:
1. A asks B what his name is. (students use actual names)
2. B replies and inquires A's name.
3. A gives his name, and asks B if he is Japanese.
4. B replies, and asks A if he is an Englishman.
5. A replies, and asks B what CiS name is.
6. B replies, adding that C is Chinese. Vocabulary Checklist for Lesson 2

1. a ss: se-n. suf., to soften abruptness
2. dou Adv: also
3. ga ss: sen. sur , , fusion of ge + a = ga
4. Gam sp: 'Well then, . . . , 'Say, ••• I sen • prefix
resuming the thread of previous discussion
5. -ge bf: noun-forming boundword; -ge added to a Verb
Phrase makes it a Noun Phrase
6. gwaising? Ph: what is (your) surname? [polite]
7. Gwongdung pw: Kwangtung, a province in SE China
8. Gwongdungyahn [go] n: Cantonese person, person from Kwangtung
Province
9. Junggwokyahn n: Chinese person
10. keuih Pro: he, him, his
11. keuihdeih Pro: they, them, their
12. matyeh? Qi'l: what?
54 CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 2

13. Meihgwokyahn

14. meyeh?

15. mIyeh?

16. ne

17. neih

18. neihdeih

19. ngohdeih

20. pabngyauh [go]

21. Seuhnghoi

22. Seuhnghoiyahn

23. S!nsaang

24. slnsaang

25. siuje

26. siusing

27. Toihsaan

28. Toihsaanyabn

29. yahn

30. Yahtbunyahn

31. Y!nggwokyahn

n: American

QW: what? QW: what?

ss: sen. suf. for questions Pro: you, your

Pro: you, your (plu.)

Pro: we, our, us n: friend

pw: Shanghai

n: person from Shanghai

n: "Sir," term of direct address n: man

n: 'Miss,' Madame, term of direct address Ph: my surname is (polite)

pw: Toishan, a county in southern Kwangtung

about 100 miles west of Hong Kong.

n: person from Toishan

n: person

n: Japanese person

n: Englishman, person from England

55

LESSON 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

CLASSROOM PHRASES

Learn to respond to the following classroom instructions. First look at the English equivalents as the teacher reads the Cantonese instructions.

Then close your books and listen to the teacher and watch his gestures to help you understand. Check your book if you have difficulty. The teacher will say each sentence several times to help you become familiar with the instructions. Your goal is to be able to respond to the Cantonese without doing mental translations into English. Knowing the scope of what

to expect will make the details stand out clearly.

1. Ngoh j!dou bingo, bingo jauh 1. I'll point to someone, and that

gong.

2. yihga ngoh duhk, neihdeih

person should speak.

2. Now I'll read aloud and you (plu.)

sin teng. first listen.

3. yihga neihdeih Shhou tai 3. Now don't look at your books, and

syU, ganjyuh ngoh duhk. recite after me.

4. yihga neihdeih ganjyuh laih- 4. Do (the problems) according to

geui gam jouh.

the pattern set in the example sentence.

5. yihga ngohdeih tai daih yat 5. Now we'll look at the first

go lihnjaahp.

exercise.

6. yihga ngohdeih tai daih yat 6. Now we'll look at the first

geui.

7. Yauh mouh mahntaih?

sentence.

7. Are there any questions? OR Do you have any questions?

Responses: yauh.

Mouh.

Have. (i.e., Yes, I have a question)

Don't have. (i.e., No, I don't have any questions.)

8. Shake the head.

9. Nod the head.

8. Nihng tau.

9. Ngahp tau.

56

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 3

I. BASIC CONVERSATION

A. Buildup:

(Three colleaguea, returning fro. lunch, are waiting for the elevator in their ottice building. Next to thea two other busineaamen are engaged in converaations)

WohM sluje

~

wa

•• ,.eh w. a? gong

gong •• ,.b w. a?

Keuihdeih gong a;,.eh w. a?

ji ~ jidou ji imji a?

Neih ji Mhji keuihdeih gong •• ,.eh w. a? awokyUh

gong awokyUb

Haih lnhaih gong aWOk,.uh a?

Chahn Suy

Abhaih.

Seuhnghoiw.

Keuihdeih gong Seuhnghoiw ••

elk

alk gong Seuhnghoiw.

a.?

Chahn Siang

a.alu

57

language

what lagguage? apeak

speak what language? What language are the,.

apeaking? know

know/not know?

Do you know what language they are apeaking?

Handarill

apeak Mandarin

Are the,. apeaking Mandarin?

(They) are not.

Shanghai dialect

They're apeaking the Shanghai dialect.

know (how)

know how to apeak Shanghai dialect, be able to apeak Shanghai dialect. aentence aut., indicating

surprised ~uestion Iou can apeak Shanghai dialecUI

a little, soaewhat

LESSON 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

slk ••• iu ji.

senteDce .uf., indicating 'merely', 'only', 'that'. all'

I kDowa little, that'. all.

and

Shanghai dialect and MaDdarin

both

he speak. botla

he speaks both Shanghai dialect and MaDdaria • • en. auf. for matter of fact assertioD.

Seuhnghoiw, tuhDg GwokyUh keuih Be .peaks both ShaDghai dialect

dou .Ik goag ga. aDd MaDdariD.

JiUDg Sluje

Yias_Jl or Ying_a EJlglish language

G •• , Jleih sik ihsik Ying.an a? Well, do 70U kIlow Engli.h?

ttihDg

Seuhnghoiw, tuhng GwokJUh

keaih dou slk gong SeuhDghoiw' tuhDg GWOkyiB k'uih dou sik gong

ga

ChahD Saay

slk gong ••• iu

caD .peak a little write

can't write but

but caDit write

I caJl speak a little, but I can't write •

daahDhaih daahDhaih ih.Ik .,

S{lt gOJlg ••• lu, daahDhaih in.Ik

•

• e.

•

.euJlg

study, lear.

wish to, want to, would

like to

would like to learJl

would like to learn EJlgli.h a little, .o.e

would like to learn a li t tle Engli.h

hohk

.'UDg hohk

S'UJlg hohk ying.aJl dl

.'ung hohk d{ YiDg.aJl

Ngoh seuag hohk d! ying.aa--

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

L~SSON 3

d .• a?

d ... gong a?

yins_n, di. gong a? yit yih ea.. sei Dgh

Yit yih .aa. sei Dgh, Ting.an di .. gong a?

ChahJl SUM

One two three four fi.e.

chingcho Dchingcho

Ngoh t.ng anchingcho. yit chi

gong yit chi joi

joi gong yit chi lihgoi Jl81h

Rhgoi neih joi ,ong yat chi.

I'd like to learn a little

English-kow?

how (do you) eay?

how is it said in English? one two three four fi.e

How do you say 'one two three four five' in Englieh?

One two three four fi.e.

clear

not clear

I didn't hear clearly. one tilDe, once eay (it) one ti .. agaiJl

Bay (it) once again

Would you pleaee

•••

Would you pleaee Bay it once again?

B. Recapitulation:

Wohlllt siu;1e:

Neih ji Sbji keuihdeih gong lDeyeh

w' a? Haih ihhaih gong Gwokygh a?

Chahn Saays Ahbaih. Keuihdeih gong Seuhnghoi-

# wa.

What language are they epeaking?

Are they epeaking Mandarin?

(They) are not. They're speaking the Shanghai dialect.

• ~ #

Jeulllt 81ujel

Neih slk gong Seuhnghoiw, .e? You can speak the Shanghai

dialect?

Chihn Suns:

s{k •• elu je.

59

I know a little, that'e all.

LESSON 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

WohM S{Uj8:

SeuhDghoi.' tUhng Gwok7Dh He speaks both Shanshai dialect

keuib dou srk gong ga. and Mandarin.

Jaung Siuje:

G'm, .eih slk Iihelk Ting .... a? Well, do 70U know English?

Chaha Saang:

srk goag ••• iu, daahnhaih Shslk I can speak a little, but I

.e. can't write.

Jaun, Slaje:

Igoh .'ung hohk dr Tiag"n-- I'd like to learn a little

Tit 7ih saa •• ei ~h, T!ag.aa English--How do 70U sa1

di. gong a? 'one t.o three four fiTe' in English?

Chahn Saa.:

One two three four fiTe.

Jaunf5 Siuje:

Ngoh te.. 8hchingcho. Abgoi neih joi gong 7at chi.

One two three four fiTe.

I didn't hear clear17. Would 70U please say it once again.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Pronunciation

1. Open Towels before Dasal consonants:

Practice the open Towel before a nasal final in the syllables of that structure you haTe had thus far in the text. Hold 10ur nose, listen,

and repeat:

.. A.. .. 'il

-II: gall~gall ,saa.~j

-n: YahtbunS~Yahtbun ,

Chun ¢ Chahn ,jousah~ ,J,jousun

, Jeung~ Jeuag •

, srnsaang~srasaang , gwaisinst~waising

,

saam

•

•

-ng:

saung!t seung

.. ~ .. gong lfI gong

singa sing

•

2. Nasalized Towel follo.ins nasal coaaoDaDt&

Vowels following nasal consonants in the same syllable are nasalized in Cantonese, whereas in English a Towel following a nasal consonant in the sa.e syllable is open.

Listen to lour teacher as he holds his nose and says: ngob ~

60

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE'

Lt;SSON 3

neih -1!f.

ne ~ M&h .ff, Ylng.anjJ:

You notice that the yowels are partially blocked when the nose

is blocked, revealing that som, air is normally released through the nose. Repeat the above words after your teacher, holding your nose to test if you are nasalizing the vowel.

If you can't quite say these right your pronunCiation will sound foreign accented, but it won't make any significant difterent becau •• what you say won't have som. other meaning, as it might if you got the tone wrong.

3. ~ practic.:
1. , , ,
seung seung seung
2. Jeung Jeung Jeung
4. ID practice: (Remember that the .=! here represents the lip-rounded
I! sound.)
1. keuih keuih keuih
2. deui.mjyuh deui deui 5. eui/oi contrast practice:
1. deui deui deui
2. jOi joi joi
3. deui joi , deui joi , deui joi •
4. joi deui , joi deui , joi deui 6. ok, as in ~, JUnggwok

~: k in final position is produced by the back of the tongue pressing against the roof of the mouth, stopping the air flow at the junction of the hard and soft palates. In final position ~ is unreleased--[k'].

£: 0 before ~ has the same value as 0 elsewhere--mid back rounded yowel: [ ::> ] •

Listen and repeat:

1. hohk 'f' (5 times)

2. Junggwokti(5 times)

3. ngoh hohk ~" , ngoh hohk

4. joi hohk JJ..f, joi hohk

61

, ngoh hohk

•

, joi hohk

•

LESSOR 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

5. hohk " gong 11 , hohk 7. !! as in ~

The velar nasal consonant !& occurs as a vowel, in that the consonant!! is syllabic in the syllable~. (There are also two surnames using the syllable !I.)

gong

, hohk

Listen and repeat:
i. _j.. 1. .. .. , Dgh Dgh
seung seuJlg •
-a ..i. 2. ngoh ngoh , Dgh Dgh •
_..:....:...~.A. 3. yat yih saa. 1581 Dgh • II. NOTES

A. Culture Notes:

1. Chinese languages

Gwongdungwa: The language spoken in the area roughly coinciding with Kwangtung Province in SE China is called Gwongdungwa 'Kwangtung - speech.' In English it is referred to as 'Cantonese,' named after the major city in

which it was spoken when Westerners arrived in China and began to learn it.

There are many dialects of Gwongdungwa, of which the recognized standard is the language of Canton and Hong Kong. This book will not concern itself with the many dialects, but will concentrate solely on Standard Cantonese. (The dialect of Cantonese spoken by most American Chinese is Toihsaanwa, spoken in Toishan county in Southern Kwangtung, from whence most American Chinese emigrated.)

[national-language] called in English 'Mandarin,' is

GwokyUh:

the native language of the greater part of north and northwest China. Mandarin has been promoted as the national language by both the Communist Chinese and the Nationalists and is the language of instruction in the school systems of both China and Taiwan.

Seuhnghoiwa: 'Shanghai dialect' spoken in the area around Shanghai on the East Coast of China.

62

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

L:C:;SSON 3

2. Dialect differences in Standard Cantonese: initial n 1

In Standard Cantonese as spoken in Hong Kong there exist variations in pronunciation which cannot be called substandard, since they are used by educated persons. One such variation

is to substitute an 1 sound for an ~ sound in words and syllables which begin with~. Some educated speakers do not have initial ~ in their speech, and substitute 1 wherever n occurs. This is quite common in Hong Kong.

Ex: nEdh ~ leih 'you (sing.)'

neihdeih __,. leihdeih 'you (plu.)'

B. Structure Notes:

1. Uninflected verb forms in Cantonese:

Verbs in English have compulsory differences in form (inflections) to represent action in progress (is eating), intended action (going to eat), past action (ate), general statement (eats), and others.

Broadly speaking, Cantonese verbs do not have the same compulsory differences in form. One form may cover action in progress, intended action, past action, general statement. For example:

Keuih gaau Gwongdungwa can mean: He is teaching Cantonese, He taught Cantonese, He teaches Cantonese.

(See Drill ~)

Additional clements may be used by the speaker to particularize ~ction in progress, repeated action, accomplished action, etc.,

but their use is not the compulsory feature of the language that

it is in English.

2. Verbs in series: affirmative, negative, and question forms.

1. When two verbs occur together in series, it is the first verb which forms a set with the negative and the choice-type question.

Example: Keuih srk gong Gwokyuh.

He can speak Mandarin.

Keuih mhsrk gong Gwokyuh. He can't speak Mandarin.

Keuih srk mhsrk gong Can he speak Mandarin?

Gwokyuh a?

63

LESSOR 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

2. haih is frequently used in series with action verbs in the negative and in choice questions, but not normally in the affirmative or in question-word questions.

~

wa a?

Vlhat language are they speaking?

Are they speaking Mandarin?

(CHQ): Haih Mhhaih gong Gwokyuh a?

(Neg): Ahhaih gong Gwokyuh--

(They're) not speaking Mandarin--

(Aff): Keuihdeih gong Seuhng- They're speaking Shanghai

hoiwa. dialect.

(See BC)

3. Sentence suffix me

me is an interrogative sentence suffix indicating surprised question. me makes a question sentence of the statement sentence it attaches to, with the force of "What?~ I can hardly believe

it~1I

Ex: Neih srk gong Seuhnghoiwa me?~ What?! You can speak Shanghai dialect?!

(See BC and Drill ~) 4. Sentence suffix Ji.

~ has the force of "merely," "only," "that's all." Alternate pronunciations are j!, or J!.

Ex: Sik gong ses!u ji.

I can speak just a bit,

that's all.

5. Sentence suffix ~

1. Sentence suffix ~ (usually pronounced [kaJ, similar to the ~ sound in the English word IGuS") attaches to a sentence,

giving a matter-of-fact connotation to the sentiment expressed.

Ex. (from Basic Conversation):

Seuhnghoiwa tuhng Gwokyuh Keuih dou srk gong gao

The implication is that there's

Shanghai dialect and Mandarin, he can speak both, that's a fact.

nothing extraordinary about

it, that's simply the way it is.

64

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LZSSON 3

2. Matter-of-fact ~ and NP forming ~.

These two are sometimes difficult to differentiate. A test is that a NP ~ sentence either uses the verb haih or can be

I

expanded with h!1h, but a matter-of-fact ~ sentence can't

always be expanded with haih.

Ex: 1. Keuih haih gaau ying-

He is someone who teaches

,
man ge.
(See Drill 18)
2. Keuih (haih) sing
Wohng ge. English.

He is someone named Wong.

3. Seuhnghoiwa tuhng Gwokyuh keuih dou sik gong gao

Shanghai dialect and Manda-

rin, he can speak both, that's a fact.

6. Loose relationship of Subject-Predicate in Cantonese: Subject + Predicate as Topic + Comment.

We described full sentences above in Lesson One as being composed of Subject and Predicate, in that order.

Below are examples of S,ubject-Predicate sentences:

Subject Predicate
1. Ngoh sing Chahn.
2. Keuih srk gong Seuhnghoiwa me?t
3. Nhh pahngyauh , meyeh , a?
gong wa
4. Sluje gwaising a?
5. yingman dim gong?
6. Yat yih saam Yingman dim , a?
gong
7. Seuhnghoiwa
tuhng Gwokyuh keuih dou sIk ,
gong gao
8. Nhh .. rDhji keuihdeih , meyeh , a?
Jl. gong wa You will note from the sentences above that Subject in Cantonese does not cover the same territory that Subject in English does. For example, Sentence No.7 above might be rendered in English: "Shanghai dialect and Mandarin--he can speak both."

The subject of that sentence is "he." If you were to say "Shanghai dialect and Mandarin are both spoken by him," the subject would

be "Shanghai dialect and Mandarin." In English the subject of

65

LESSON 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

the sentence is that which governs the verb. But in Cantonese the subject doesn't govern the verb--there is no subject-verb concord (He speaks, They speak, It is spoken), and the ground rules are different. In Cantonese the subject comes first in a sentence, and is what is being talked about; the predicate follows, and is what is said about the subject. The subject is thus the topic

of the sentence, and the predicate is the comment. In Seuhnghoiwa tUhng Gwokyuh keuih dou slk gong ga, the subject, or topic,--

what is beinf", talked about--is Seuhnghoiwa tuhng Gwokyuh "Shanghai dialect and Mandarin," the predicate or comment,--what is said about the topic--is "keuih dou srk gong ga," "he knows how to speak both."

In Sentence No.5 above, Yingman dIm gong a? the topic is Yingman, "English," and the comment dIm gong a? "how say?" Extended, in Sentence No.6, to "Yat yih saam Yingman dIm gong a?" the subject, or topic, is Yat yih saam, the predicate, or comment, is Yingman dIm gong a?

The relationship of Subject and Predicate in Cantonese is looser than that of Subject and Predicate in English. In English Subject and Predicate are tied together by the verb of the predicate being governed by the status of the Subject. In Cantonese Subject and Predicate are bound together by simple juxtaposition.

7. Types of Predicates

a. Verbal Predicate. The most common predicate is the verbal predicate, consisting of a verb phrase (VP). A Verb Phrase consists of a verb alone, a verb and preceding modifier(s), or a verb and its following object(s), or a combination of these.

Ex: Subject Predicate
( modifier)
Ngoh
Ngoh R1h
Keuih Verb (Object)

jidou.

I know.

ji.

I don't know.

gong Gwokyuh. He's speaking Mandarin.

b. Nominal Predicate. Another type of predicate is the nominal predicate, consisting of a nominal expression. Sxamples are:

66

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Ll!;SSON 3

Subject

Predicate

Nominal Zxpression

Siusing Siuje

My name (is) Ho.

gwaising a?

Miss

your name?

c. Sentence Predicate. The predicate can be in itself a full Subject-Predicate sentence.

Ex: Subject Ngoh rDhji

I don't know what language they are speaking.

Yat yih saam Yingman dIm gong a? How do you say, one two three in English?

Predicate keuihdeih gong meyeh wa.?

,

gong.

8. Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) Sentence.

saam

He can't even say one two three.

A Subject-Predicate sentence in which the predicate contains

a verb and its object is a very frequent sentence type in Cantonese. Ne take Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) as the base form of the Cantonese

sentence.

Ex: Subject: subject

Predicate:

verb

object

Keuihdeih gong Seuhnghoiwa. 9. Absence of pronoun object.

Compare Cantonese and English: lAo Neih srk ~srk yingman a?

B. Ngoh srk gong, rDhsIk se.

lAo Do you know English?

B. I can speak (it), can't wri te (it).

2. Ahgoi neih joi gong yat chi. 2. Please say (it) once again.

Note that English requires a pronoun object, and Cantonese

does not.

10. Subjectless sentence. The predicate sentence with no subject is a very common sentence type in Chinese.

Ex: SIk s8siu je. = (I) know just a little.

Note that the counterpart English sentence requires stated subject. (We are referring here to statement sentences ('I study'), not to imperative sentences ('study!'), which we will take up in Lesson 5.)

67

LESSOI 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

11. tUhng and yauh

1. tuhng, 'and,' links nominal expressions.

Seuhnghoiwa tUhng Gwokyuh keuih dou srk gong ga.

He knows how to speak both Shanghai dialect and Mandarin. (See Drills 10, 11)

2. yauh, 'and,' links verbal expressions. It is classed as an adverb because it is always linked to a verb, preceding it.

• ~. r·

Keuih s1k gong yauh s~k see

He can speak and write. (See Drill ...2..)

3. yauh can be in a set with a second yauh, with the force of

'both ••• and

...

Kauih yauh srk SOng

yauh slk

• see

He can both speak and write. (oee Drill ...2..) 12. dou 'also,' 'both,' 'all'; 'even'

dou is classed as an adverb, becau.e it appears always linked to a verb, preceding it.

Ex: 1. Ngoh dou haih Seuhnghoiy8hn.

2. Keuih dou srk gOng GwokyUh.

3. Seuhnghoiwa tuhng GwokyUh keuih dou srk gOng ga.

I am also a Shanghai

person.

He also can speak Mandarin.

He can speak both Shanghai dialect and Mandarin.

dou, 'even'

In the Subject-Predicate pattern X dou negative Verb, dou translates into English as 'even'.

Ex: Yat yih saam (keuih)

- ~"".,. ~

dou uws1k gong.

(He) can't even say 'one two three.'

(See Drill ~)

14. Auxiliary verbs.

Auxiliary verbs take other verbs as their objects. Two auxiliary verbs appear in Lesson Three: srk, 'know (how),' and saung 'want to, plan to, be considering, have (it) in mind to ••• ' Ex: 1. Naih srk gong Seuhnghoiwa me?l

You know how to speak Shanghai dialect?l

68

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 3

2. Ngoh seung hohk dt Yingman.

I want to learn a little English. (S •• BC and Drill 2, 3, 4, 7)

15. srk 'know (how),' 'be acquainted with'; 'know (someone)'

srk operates both as an auxiliary verb and as a main verb. 1. As an auxiliary verb:

Ex: Keuih slk gong Gwokyuh. He can speak Mandarin.

(See Drill ~)

2. As a main verb:

Ex: 1. Keuih mnslk Seuhnghoiwa.

He is unacquainted with Shanghai dialect.

(See Drill ~) 2. Ngoh mnslk keuih.

(See Drill _!1_)

III. DRILLS

I don't know him.

1. Transformation Drill: Transform the sentences from question to statement, following the pattern of the example.

Ex: T: Keuih gong meyeh T: What language is he speaking?

+ wa a? IGwongdungwa! ICantonesel (Cantonese)

S: Keuih gong Gwongdungwa.

1.

Keuih gong meleh , a?
wa
ISeuhnghoiwa!
Keuih , meyeh , a?
gong wa
Keuih gong meyeh , a?
wa
Yingmahnl 2. 3.

+ 4. Keuih gong meyeh wa a1 IYahtbunwal

(Japanese spoken language)

s: He's speaking Cantonese.
1. Keuih , Seuhnghoiwa.
gong
2. Keuih , Gwokyuh.
gong
3. Keuih , Yingmahn.
gong
4. Keuih gong Yahtbunwa.
He's speaking Japanese. 5. Keuih gong Gwongdungwa.

5. Keuih gong meleh wa a1 IGwongdungwa!

Comment: The examples in this drill could also serve as general statements:

T: What l:lnguage(s) does he speak? S: He speaks Cantonese.

69

LESSON }

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

2. Substitution Drill

Ex: T: Keuihdeih srk gong Gwongdungw". /Seuhnghoiwa/

S: Keuihdeih srk gong Seuhnghoiwa.

1. Keuih srk gon~ yingmahn. /Gwongdungwa/

2. Wohn~ Saang sIk gong Gwongdungwa.

3. Hoh Taai srk ~ong Gwokyuh /Seuhnghoiwa/

4. Hoh Srnsaang sIk gong Seuhnghoiwa. /yingman/

5. Chahn S!uje sIk gong yingman. /Yahtbunwa/

a. Repeat, omitting

,

~:

sIk Gwong/Seuhng-

T: Keuihdeih dungwa. hOiwa/

S: Keuihdeih srk Seuhnghoiwa.

b. Repeat, adding me:

T: Keuihdeih srk gong Gwongdungwa.

S: Keuihdeih srk gong Gwongdungwa me!?

T: They can speak Cantonese. /Shanghai dialect/

s: They can speak Shanghai dialect.

1. Keuih ark gong Gwongdungwa.

2. Wohng Saang sIk ,
Gwokyuh. gong
3. Hoh Taai srk , Seuhng-
hoiwa. gong
4. Hoh SInsaang srk gong
Yingman.
5. Chahn Sluje srk ,
Yahtbunwa. gong They know Cantonese. /Shanghai dialect/

They know Shanghai dialect.

They know Cantonese.

They know Cantonese?!?

3. Transformation Drill

Ex: T: Meihgwokyahn mhsrk gong Gwongdungwa.

S: Meihgwokyahn ark mhsIk gong Gwongdungwa a?

1. Keuih mhsrk gong yingman.

2. Hoh S!uje srk gong Seuhnghoiwa.

70

Americans can't speak Cantonese.

Can Americans speak Cantonese?

1. Keuih srk mhsIk , ying-
gong
man a?
2. Hoh Sluje srk mhsIk ,
gong
Seuhnghoiwa a? CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 3

3. Keuihdeih srk gong GwokyUh. 3.
4. Mhhgwokyahn rDhsrk , 4.
+ se
Junsmahn.
Americans can't write
Chinese.
+ 5. Keuih srk gaau Yahtbunwa. 5.
He knows how to teach
spoken Japanese. Keuihdeih srk rDhsrk gong Gwokyuh a?

Meihgwokyahn srk mhsrk se Jungmahn a?

Do Americans know how to write Chinese.

Keuih sIk rDhsrk gaau Yahtbunwa a?

4. Response Drill

Ex: T: Keuih hohk Gwongdungwa. /Seuhnghoiwa/

s: Gam, keuih hohk S: Well, then, does he study

rDhhohk Seuhnghoiwa Shanghai dialect?

T: He studies Cantonese. /Shanghai dialect/

a?

1. Keuih srk Yingman. /Jungmahn/ 1. Gam, keuih srk rDhsrk Jungman
a?
2. Keuih gaau Gwongdungwa. 2. Gam, keuih gaau rDhgaau Gwok-
/Gwokyuh/ yuh a?
3. Keuih srk ~on~ Gwokyuh. 3. Gam, keuih srk Mhsrk ,
gong
/Seuhnghoiwa/ Seuhnghoiwa a?
4. Keuih srk se Jungmahn. 4. Gam, keuih srk rDhsrk ,
se
/Yingman/ Yingmahn a?
5. Keuih sIk gaau yingman. 5. Gam, keuih srk MhsIk gaau
/Gwongdungwa/ Gwongdungwa a? Comment: gam is a sentence prefix with the connotation of continuing from before, resuming the thread of previous discourse. The closet English approximations would be 'In that case •••• ', 'Then, ••• ' J '~Vell, then, ••• ' but these don't always fit. Gam is very frequent in Cantonese, but if translated in counterpart English sentences is not usually idiomatic. 'He will usually not translate gam in the English sentences. In the above examples gam is translated as 'Well, then,' suggesting continuation from the previous statement.

5. Transformation Drill

Ex: T: Wohn~ Sa~ng ~ohk Gwongdungwa.

T: Mr. Wong is studying Cantonese.

71

LESSON 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

S: Is Mr. Wone studying Cantonese?

S: Nahng Siang haih mhhaih hohk Gwongdungwa a?

1. Leih Taai gaau Gwokyuh.

2. Hah Saang gong Yingman.

4. Jeung S~an~ srk gong Yahtbunwa.

5. Liuh Taai ark gaau Gwongdungwa.

1. Leih Taai haih mhhaih gaau Gwokyuh a?

2. Hah Saang haih IDhhaih gong Yingman a?

3. Chahn Sluje haih IDhhaih ae Jungmahn a?

4. Jeung Eaang haih mhhaih srk gong Yahtbunwa a?

5. Lauh Taai haih IDhhaih srk gaau Gwongdungwa a?

6. Question and Answer Drill

Ex: T: Wahng Saang se Yingmahn.

+ /Yahtmahn!(or)

Yahtm~n/

Sl: Wahng Saan~ haih IDhhaih se Yahtman a?

S2: Ahhaih. Keuih IDhhaih se Yahtmanj keuih se Yingmahn.

1. Jeung Taai gong Gwokyuh. /Seuhnghoiwa/

Mr. Wong is writing English (right now). /Japanese/

Is Mr. Wong writing Japanese?

No, he's not writing Japanese, he's writing English.

Jeung Taai haih IDhhaih gong Seuhnghoiwa a?

Ahhaih. Keuih IDhhaih gong Seuhnghoiwa, keuih gong Gwokyuh.

Wahng Taai haih IDhhaih gaau Yingmahn a?

Ahhaih. Keuih IDhhaih gaau Yingmihnj keuih gaau Gwongdungwa.

Leih Saang haih IDhhaih hohk Yahtbunwa a?

Ahhaih. Keuih IDhhaih hohk Yahtbunwaj keuih hohk Yingmahn.

Comment: The above sentence may also be translated 'He writes' instead of 'He is writing,' etc. For example:

se Yingmahn, 'writes English'--not knows how to,

2. Wohn~ Taai gaau Gwongdungwa. ., Sl:
......
/hngmahn/
S2:
3. Leth Saang hohk Yingmahn. 3. Sl:
/Yahtbunwa/
S2: 72

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 3

but does it as a habit, custom or general rule. For instance, He writes English at the office. Likewise for sentences with main verb hohk, gaau, and gong. The situational context, not the structural form

of the Cantonese verb, makes the meaning clear.

7. Expansion Drill

Ex: T: Ngoh alk gong Gwokyuh. /Seuhnghoiwa/

S: Ngoh sik gong Gwokyuh, daahnhaih Mhsik gong ;3euhnghoiwa.

1. Ngoh sIk gong Gwongdungwa. /Seuhnghoiwa/

2. Keuih slk gong Yingman. /Gwokyuh/

+ 3. Keuihdeih srk gong Toihsaanwa.

They can speak Toishan dialect. /yingman!

4. Hoh Taai slk ~ong Gwokyuh. /Gwongdungwa/

5. Chahn Taai slk gong Yingman. /Yahtbunwa/

I can speak Mandarin. /Shanghai dialect/

I can speak Mandarin, but not the Shanghai dialect.

1. Ngoh sik gong Gwongdungwa, daahnhaih mhsik gong Seuhnghoiwa.

2. Keuih srk gong Yingman, daahnhaih MhsIk gong Gwokyuh.

3. Keuihdeih sIk gong Toihsaanwa, daahnhaih MhsIk gong Yingman.

4. Hoh Taai slk gong daahnhaih MhsIk Gwongdungwa.

5. Chahn Taai srk gong Yingman, daahnhaih Mhslk gong Yahtbunwa.

Gwokyuh,

.

gong

8. Expansion Drill

Ex: T: Ngoh srk gong Yingmahn. /Gwongdungwa/

S: Ng~h srk gong Yin~mahn; I dou slk gong Gwongdungwa.

1. Ngoh slk gong Gwongdungwa. /Seuhnghoiwa/

2. Keuih slk Gwokyuh. /Yingman/

3. Leih Saang srk ~ong Seuhnghoiwa. /Gwokyuh/

73

I can speak English. /Cantonese/

can speak English; (and I) can also speak Cantonese.

1. Ngo~ sl~ go~g Gwongdun~wa: dou s~k gong Seuhnghoiwa.

2. Keuih srk gong Gwokyuh; dou slk gong Yingman.

3. Leih Saang alk gong Seuhnghoiwa;dou slk gong Gwokyuh.

LESSON ,

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

4. Chahn Taai srk gong Yingman. /Gwongdungwa/

4. Chahn Taai srk gong Yingman; dou srk gong Gwongdungwa.

5. Hoh Siuje srk gong Seuhnghoiwa. 5. HOh,~i~je ~rk ~ong,Seuhn~-

/Gwongdungwa/ ho~wa; dou s~k gong Gwongdungwa.

9. Expansion Drill

Ex: T: Keuih srk gong Gwongdungwa. /Gwokyuh/

+ S: Keui~ (y~uh),sIk gong Gwongdungwa, y~uh srk gong Gwokyuh. [(both) ••• and ••• J

1. Keuih hohk Yahtmahn./Yingman/

2. Ngoh gaau Jungmahn. /Yingman/

3. Keuih srk se Y!ngmahn. /Yahtmahn/

4. Keuih rDhhaih Heihgwokyahn. /yinggwokyahn/

5. Ngoh ~hohk gong Gwokyuh. /Seuhnghoiwa/

He can speak Cantonese. /Mandarin/

He can speak Cantonese and Mandarin. or

He can spea~both Cantonese and Mandarin.----

1. Keuih yauh hohk Yahtman, yauh hohk Yingman. He's studying written Japanese and English.

2. Ngoh yauh gaau Jungman, yauh gaau Yingman.

3. Keuih yauh sIk se Yingmahn, yauh srk se Yahtmahn.

4. Keuih yauh rDhhaih Meihgwokyahn. yauh ~haih Yinggwokyahn.

5. Ngo~ yauh Mh~ohk gon~ Gwokyuh, yauh mhhohk gong 3euhnghoiwa.

10. Expansion Drill

Ex: T: Leih Saang hOiyahn.

S: Lhh Saang Taai dou hOiyahn.

haih Seuhng- Mr. Lee is from Shanghai

/Leih Taai/ /Mrs. Lee/

tuhng Leih haih Seuhng-

1. Wohng Taai srk gong Gwokyuh. /Chahn Riuje/

2. KEmih srk Wohng Saang. /ngoh/

74

Mr. [LeeJ and Mrs. Lee are both from Shanghai.

1. V/ohng Taai tuhng Chahn Siuje dou srk gong Gwokyuh.

2. Keuih tuhng ngoh rlou srk Wohng Saang.

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 3

3. Jeun~ S!uje hohk Gwongdungwa. /keuih pahngyauh/

4. Ngoh haih sing Jeung gee /keuih/

5. Hoh Taai srk se Yahtmahn. /Chahn Sluje/

3. Jeung S!uje tuhng keuih pahngyauh dou hohk Gwongdungwa.

4. Ngoh tuhng keuih dou haih sing Jeung gee

5. HOh Taai tuhng Chahn S!uje dou srk se Yahtmahn.

11. Expansion Drill

Ex: T: Keuih srk gon~ Gwokyuh. He can speak Mand€crin. /Canton-

/Gwongdungwa/ ese/

S: Keu~h srk ~ong.Gwo~yuh tuhng Gwongdungwa.

1. Keuih hohk Yingman. /Yahtman/

2. Keuihdeih gaau Jungmahn. /Yingman/

3. Leih Taai ark se Yahtmahn. /Jungman/

+ 4. Ngoh srk Leih Saang. /Leih Taa~(know (someone»

He can speak Mandarin and Cantonese.

1. Keuih hohk Yingman tuhng Yahtman.

2. Keuihdeih gaau J,lngmahn tUhng Yingman.

3. Leih Taai sik se Yahtman tuhng Jungmahn.

4. Ngoh srk Leih Saang tuhng Leih Taai.

I know Mr. and Mrs Lee.

12. Substitution Drill

+ Ex: T: Bin~o g,;au Gwong- \'Iho teaches Cantonese?

dungwa a?

/Lhh Saang/

S: Leih Saang gaau Gwong- Mr. Lee teaches Cantonese. dungwa.

1. Brngo gong Seuhnghoiwa a? /Holl Taai/

2. Brngo hohk Gwokyuh a? /Wohng Saang/

3. Brngo gaau Yingmahn a? /Chahn Sluje/

4. Brngo ark gong Yahtbunwa a? /Jeung Saang/

75

1. Hoh Taai . Seuhnghoiwa.
gong
2. Wohng Saang hohk Gwokyuh.
3. Chahn Sluje gaau Yingmahn.
4. Jeung Saang srk gong Yaht-
bunwa. LESSON }

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

5. BIngo sik gaau Gwongdungwa a? /Lhh Taai/

5. Leih Taai sik gaau Gwongdungwa.

13. Response & Sxpansion Drill

Ex: 1.T: Neih alk Mhslk T: Do you know Mr. Wong?

Wohng Saang a? /nod/

S: Ngoh slk keuih. S: Yes, he is a friend of mine.

Keuih haih ngoh pahngyauh.

2.T: Neih slk Dmsi:k T: Do you know f.lr.,vong?

Wohng Saang a? /shake/

S: Ngoh Mhslk keuih. S: No, who is he?

Keuih haih bIngo a?

1. Nhh srk Mhsik Hoh Taai a? 1. Ngoh sik keuih. Keuih haih
/nod/ ngoh pahngyauh.
2. NEdh sik Mhslk Chahn Saang a? 2. Ngoh Mhsrk keuih. Keuih haih
/shake/ bingo a?
3. Neih sik Mhslk Jeung Sluje a? 3. Ngoh srk keuih. Keuih haih
/nod/ ngoh pahngyauh.
4. Nhh slk Dmsik Lhh Saang a? 4. Ngoh MhsIk keuih. Keuih haih
/shake/ bingo a? 14. Response Drill

Ex: T: Nhh sik amslk ,
gong
Yahtbunwa a?
/shake/
S: Ahark. Yahtbunwa
+ ngoh yat geui dou
Mhslk gong.
T: /nod/
S: Sik aeslu je. T: Do you know how to speak Japanese? /shake/

s: No.1 don't even know one sentence in Japanese.

S: (1) know just a little.

1. Neih ark DmsIk gong Gwong- 1. Ahslk. Gwongdungwa ngoh
dungwa a? /shake/ yat geui dou Mhsik gong.
2. Neih sik Dmsik , Gwokyuh a? 2. Ahslk. Gwokyuh ngoh yat geui
gong
/shake/ dou UmBlk gong. 76

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE LESSON 3
3. Neih slk .msrk gong Seuhng- 3. Srk ses1.u je.
hoiwe. a? /nod/
4. Neih slk IDhsrk , Yingmahn a? 4. SIk sesh je.
gong
/nod/
5. Neih slk nmsIk , Yahtbunwe. 5. Ahslk. Yahtbunwe. n§oh yat
gong
a? /shake/ geui dou .malk gong. 15. Expansion Drill

Ex: T: Keuihdeih gong meyeh we. a?

S: Neih ji .mji keuihdeih gong meyeh we. a?

T: iI/hat language are they speaking?

S: Do you know what language they're speaking?

1. Keuih sing meyeh a? 1. Neih ji nmji keuih sing
'.'Ihat is his name? meyeh a?
Do you know what his name
is?
2. Kauih gaau meyeh we. a? 2. Neih ji .mji keuih gaau
What language does he teach? meyeh we. a?
3. Keuih se meyeh a? 3. Neih ji .mji kE!Uih se meyeh
What is he writing? a?
4. Keuih haih bIngo a'l 4. N81h ji .mji keuih haih
Who is he? bIngo a?
5. Kauih haih.mhaih sing Hoh 5. Neih ji Mhji keuih haih
ga? Mhhaih sing Hoh ga?
Is her name Ho? Do you know if her name
is Ho? 16. Translation Drill

Ex: T: "Pahngyauh" Yingman d1.m gong a?

S: Friend

T: How do you say "friend" in English

s: Friend.

1. "Hohk," Yingman d1.m gong a?

2. "Gaau," Yingman d1.m gong a?

3. "Daahnhad.h ;" Yingman d1.m gong a?

4. "ses1.u," Yingman d1.m gong a? 4. "A little~"

5. "Gwokyuh," yingman d1.m gong a? 5. "Handarin~"

1. "Learn".

2. "Teacht"

3. "But."

77

LESSON 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

6. "Jidou", Yingman dIm gong a? 6. "Know" (some thing) ."
7. "SIk" , Yingman dIm gong a? 7. "Know how to or knol'l (a
person)."
8. "Se", Yingman dIm gong a? 8. "Write."
9. "Hohksaang, "Yingman dim 9. "Student. "
gong a? 17. Translation Drill

Ex: T: "Two" Gwongdungwa dIm gong a?

S: "Yih".

1. "Three" Gwongdungwa dIm
, a?
gong
2. "Teach" Gwongdungwa dIm ,
gong
a? 3. "They" Gwongdungwa dIm gong a?

4. "Who" Gwongdungwa dim gong a?

5. "Know how" Gwongdungwa dIm gong a?

6. "But" Gwongdungwa dIm gong a?

7. "Pl~ase,sal it,again" Gwongdungwa d~m gong a?

8. "I don't know" Gwongdungwa dIm gong a?

T: How do you say "two" in Cantonese?

S: "Yih".

1. "Saam."

2. "Gaau. "
3. "Keuihdeih."
4. "BIngo."
5. "SIk."
6. "Daahnhaih."
7. "Ahgoi neih joi , yat
gong
chi. "
8. "Ngoh rim . II "
Jl..
9. "S Insaang • " , .. , r

9. "Te~cher" Gwongdungwa d~m

gong a?

10. "Four" Gwongdungwa d{m gong a? 10. "Sei."

11. "Five" Gwonedungwa dim gong a?

11. "flgh."

18. Respon8e Drill:

Ex: T: Keuih haih bIngo a? /gaau Ylngman/

S: Keuih haih gaau Ylngman ge.

78

T: Who is he?

/teach English/

S: He's someone who teaches English.

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 3

1. Keuih haih bIngo a? 1. Keuih haih sing Wohng gee
Ising Wohng/
2. Keuih haih bIngo a? 2. Keuih haih gaau Gwongdung-
/gaau Gwongdungwa/ ,
wa gee
3. Keuih haih bIngo a? 3. Keuih haih gaau Yingman gee
/gaau Yingman/
4. Keuih haih bIngo a? 4. Keuih haih hohk Gwokyuh gee
/hohk GwokyUh/ a. Repeat, teacher cueing with right hand column, students responding with correspond haih Mhhaih question sentence, thus:

T: Keuih gaau ngoh Yingman gee

S: Keuih haih Mhhaih gaau neih Y!ngman ga?

IV. CONVE;RSATION';; FOR LISTENING

(On tape. Listen to tape with book closed.)

V. SAY IT IN CANTONESE:

A. Ask your neighbor:

1. if he can speak the Shanghai dialect.

2. who teaches him to speak Cantonese.

3. if Mrs. Wong teaches Cantonese.

4. if his friend can speak Cantonese.

5. how to say 1Good morning' in Cantonese.

6. if he can write Chinese.

7. if Mr. Chan can speak the Taishan dialect.

8. if Mr. Cheung can speak Japanese and English.

B. And he answers:

1. that he can't, but that he can speak Mandarin.

2. that Mr. Cheung does.

3. that she doesn't; she teaches English.

4. that he can1t say even one sentence.

5. that he didn't hear you (hear clearly)--would you repeat.

6. that he can1t write it, but can speak a little.

7. that he can speak Taishan dialect and also can speak Shanghai dialect.

8. Yes, he can speak both Japanese and English.

79

LESSON 3

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

9. they're speaking English.

9. if he knows what language they are speaking.

10. whether his student is American.

10. No. he's not an American. he's an Englishman.

Vocabulary Checklist for Lesson 3

1. bIngo?

2. chi

3. chingcho

4. daahnhaih

5. dI

6. dim?

7. dou

8. gaau

9. ga/ge/g

10. geui

11. gong

12. GwokyUh

13. Gwongdungwa

14. hohk

15. je

16. jHdou)

17. joi

18. Joi gong yatchi

19. Jungmahn

20. me

22. ngh

23. saam

24. se

25. ses1u

26. sei

27. Seuhnghoiwa

adj: c j:

adv:

adv:

QW:

who?

m:

time. occasion clear

but

m:

a little. some how?

QW:

both

v:

teach

sen. suf. for matter of fact assertion

ss:

m:

sentence

v:

speak

Mandarin spoken language Cantonese spoken language study. learn

sen. suf. only. merely; that's all know (something)

again

Say it again.

Chinese (written) language

sen. suf. for question indicating surprise Please •••• Would you please ••••

sen. pre. preceding a request

five

three

write

a little

n:

n:

v:

ss:

v:

Ph:

n:

ss:

Ph:

nu:

nu:

v:

Ph:

nu: four

n: Shanghai dialect (spoken language)

80

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE LESSON 3
28. . wish to, want to, would like to,
seung aux v: am con-
sidering, be of a mind to
29. srk v: to know someone
30. slk aux v/v: know how (to do something)
31- tEmg v: hear, listen
32. Toihsaanwa n: Toishan dialect
33. tuhng cj: and (connects nouns)
34. . spoken language, dialect
wa n:
35. Yahtbunwa n: Japanese (spoken) language
36. Yahtman n: Japanese (written) language
37. Yahtmahn n: Japanese (written) language
38. yat nu: one
39. yat chi Ph: once [one-time]
40. yauh adv: also (connects Verb Phrases)
41- yauh y, yauh y. PAdv: both ••• , and ....
42. yih nu: two
43. Yingmahn n: English language
44. Yingman n: English language 81

LESSON 4

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

CLASSROOM PHRASES

Learn to respond to the following classroom instructions. First look at the English equivalents as the teacher reads the Cantonese instructions. Then close your books and listen to the teacher and watch his gestures to help you understand. Check your book if you have difficulty. The teacher .ill say the sentences several times to help you become familiar with th... Your goal is to be able to respond to the Cantonese without needing to do mental translations into English.

1. Yihg. neihdeih tai daih 1. No. look at page 1_.

__!_ yihp.

2.

Dahoi neih bun syu, daih

_1_ yihp.

3. yihga ngohdeih duhk daih 4 fo geibun wuihwa.

4. Yihga ngohdeih .anjaahp daih __L fOe

5. Kahmyaht gaaudou bIndouh a?

6. Seuhng chi gaaudou bIndouh a?

7. Kahmyaht gaaudou daih 2 yihp, daih _2_ fo, daih _2_ goo lihnjaahp, daih __ 2_ geui.

8. Dak lIeih?

Responses:

Dak laak.

Meih dak a. ~ Meih dak.

2. Open your book to page

_.

3. No. we'll read aloud Lesson __ 4_, BaBic Conversation.

4. Now .e'll revi •• Lesson __ 3_.

5. Where didwe get to [lit. teaoh to]
yesterday?
6. Where did we get to last time?
7. Yesterday we got to page __ 2_,
LeBson __ 2_, Drill -2...., Sentence __ 2_.

8. Are you ready yet?

Ready.

Not ready yet.

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CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

LESSON 4

I. BASIC CONVERSATIOR

A. Buildup:

Leih Baak-ch!u appears at the door ot taub awok-juag'. ottice. The two had planned to ha.e lunch together, and Mr. Leih ha. co •• to get Mr. Laub.

l!!!!:

dik .eih?

Baak-ch!u, dik .eih?

read,,?

Baak-ch!u, are "ou read,,?

~:

.eih Meih a.

d.juDg.2£ d. geidl. ~ seidl.juag? ahd. a?

not "et Not "et.

hour, o'clock what ti.e?

What ti.e is it?

~:

"ihgi daahp "it

"it dl. daahp "it

fihgi ••• (he look. at hi. watch) "it dl. daahp "it.

now

tive atter the hour ti.e atter one

It' •••• five after one.

~:

.entence sutfix 'what did
"ou .a,,?'
What U.e did "ou .a,,?
tive .inute.
It'. one oh five. "it go jih

fit dl. "it go jib.

~:

jeun

j;un ojeun a? bIu

go bIu

neih go bIu

Neih go bIu jeun ojeun ga?

accurate

accurate/not accurate wristwatch, watch

a watch

"our .. tch

Your watch accurate one? (1.e.

I. "our watch accurate?)

83

LESSON 4-

CANTONESE BASIC COURSE

Ch&.mdo-faai la

tad ••• lu 1&

li • la + rai •• d •• nt.nc. fiD~ intonation

waahkje

Waahkje faai ••• tu lie

fanjuDS g81

g81 fanjung dang

dang g81 finjung

dang ngoh gei fanjung

joi dang ngoh gei fanjung

tim li

Ga., joi ettng ngoh gei finjung
tim li.
L81h
hOt.
Bou, ngoh dang n81h lie
Lauh
-
mmou li•i Approxi .. t.l,-ta.t

•• nt.nc •• uffix indicating chang. fro. pr •• ious condition: 'has b.co •• •• gott.n a bit fa.t

rai •• d final intonation = a •• nt.nc. .uffix indicating ca.ualn •••• 1118.1b., or

Malb. it'. a little fa.t. ~ Or a little fa.t.

ainut.(.) •••• ral

...... ral ainut •• wait

wait a f.w alnut ••

wait for •• a f.w minut •• again wait for •• a f.w

ainut ••

in addition, al.o, .or. •• nt.nc •• uffix for .ugg •• tion--polit. i.p.rati •••

W.ll, wait for •• a t.w .inut •• .or., pl.a •••

OK, all right, fin.

OK, I'll wait for lOU.

1' •• orrl. ~ It'.

•• barra •• ing. (u •• d in apologizing for .ocial gaff •• )

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