What's New?
4th February
Happy Chinese New Year to all, especially my fellow Rabbits! :-)
CantoDict 1.4.2 has now been released.
More information
3rd December 2010
Well 2010 was a year plagued by server issues to be honest. This site has become increasibly busy, with some months seeing over 3 million page views.
This all took a toll on the old hardware, and I had to spend far too much time fixing database crashes etc in the background.
The good news is that about a month ago I invested in a much more powerful server, so hopefully this will keep the site stable for the forseeable future.
The new server costs about twice as much as the old one though, so a Big Thank You to the users who noticed the announcements about the changes on the forums and donated.
With advertising revenue, flashcard sales and donations the site is at present just about breaking even, so your support really is appreciated.
For new users who haven't read about the benefits of donating, please click this link:
/\dam
Last 10 posts in our forums:
Re: Expressions of frustration...without swearing 05/23/2012 by Tang
[+-] @cheve
basically, depend on the situation, the speaker's tone and the subject, there's more than one translation you can use for the same phrase.
Two friends chatting about someone else drunkenly dropped his pants in front of the ladies as 該煨囉!(that's bad) is different from an old woman looking at a beaten wife's face and tearfully utter 該煨囉!(Oh my God!)
Yelling at someone: "有冇搞錯!?" in anger (Seriously!?)
and saying: "有冇搞錯?" calmly to oneself ( how could this be?)
are different
Re: Expressions of frustration...without swearing 05/23/2012 by cheve
[+-] @Tang: My understanding of the phrase "該煨囉" was shaped by the story-telling(with all voice-acting done by one person) radio program of the good old days. This phrase seems to be used(as least in those stories that I have heard) as an expression of dismay/disapproval on other people's conduct by old/mid-age gossiping woman.
Here is an example:
A: did you see them holding hand in public?
B: 該煨囉, how could they do that, what a disgrace!
So, it is not a case of a real disaster. If you listen to the Fairchild Radio AM1430's 八卦是非圈 - by 張無忌(Tony Cheung), sometime you would also hear him using this phrase '該煨囉' on usually light-hearted topic.
Cheers,
Re: Expressions of frustration...without swearing 05/23/2012 by visitor10
[+-] Quote
Tang
>I think "It is a disaster" is a bit stronger than " 該煨囉"
Wife beating is not just "what a pity!" it is really a "disaster" I stand by my decision of translating it as such.
On second thought, I think you and I are both thinking in a narrow sense only. What about translating "該煨[囉]" as "Oh, no!", which is a "catch-all" translation covering not only something disastrous but also something bad but
not necessarily disastrous.
BTW, please check this out:
video: [
v.youku.com]
Quote
Tang
>唔 係呀嘛？same as 有冇搞錯？ Seriously？
>>"又會噉嘅?" also has this meaning.
No it doesn't" fit "Seriously?", it is more like:"How could that be?!" or " That's strange!" ( with questioning tone)
When you say "Seriously?" = "有冇搞錯？", you are narrowing the meaning of "有冇搞錯？" down to "係真唔係呀?" or "真唔真㗎?". That means the speaker of "有冇搞錯？" is having doubts about what he/she is seeing/hearing, in which case "有冇搞錯？" and "又會噉嘅?"(:"How could that be?!" or " That's strange!" ( with questioning tone)) can be used interchangebly -- they are contextually synonymous.
BTW, "冇搞錯" = seriously
e.g.
A: 我三日唔瞓都得。
B: 有冇搞錯呀？
A: 冇搞錯。
Re: what is 卉 as in 花卉 05/23/2012 by pkchan
[+-] Mandarin huì
Cantonese (Jyutping) wai2, wai5
Cantonese (Yale) wái
Re: what is 卉 as in 花卉 05/23/2012 by cheve
[+-] Quote
pkchan
卉 =general term for plants;
it must refer to plant that can bear flower, otherwise it would not be fitting to use as a title of an album(see discussion in [
www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk]).
by the way, how do you pronunciate this word?
Re: what is 卉 as in 花卉 05/23/2012 by pkchan
[+-] 卉 =general term for plants;
Re: 昊 not found 05/23/2012 by Steph_fr
[+-]
Re: Why is Cantonese unpopular to foreign ears? 05/23/2012 by fyi
[+-] Quote
go for aesthetic appeal
check the history of chinese emigration to understand why cantonese is widely spoken by overseas chinese. only the most desperate the most underprivilaged would leave home to work as coolies overseas. they represented the lowest level of human resources in china(similar to the african slaves taken to the new world America
Actually they left because they faced starvation in the aftermath of failed crop yields after a series of political uphevals, civil wars and the onslaught of foreign invasions. The landlocked Chinese facing the same situation just starved to death.
In Indo-China, the collective majority of Cantonese speakers trace their ancestry from the Chaozhou, Hakka, and Hokkien regions. The Cantonese language is what culturally united these groups together in Vietnam, pre-Pol Pot Cambodia, and parts of Malaysia. The majority of true Cantonese meaning those from Canton City (not Siyi counties) to foreign countries were actually not coolies but from the merchant class, herbalists, accupuncturists, doctors, educators, and entertainers... therefore everyone from other dialect groups learned Cantonese if they wanted these professional services.
fyi
Btw, African slaves did not leave Africa because of famine, they were captured by their own rival brothers and then sold to white people.
Re: Why is Cantonese unpopular to foreign ears? 05/23/2012 by go for aesthetic appeal
[+-] Quote
burgundy
the emergence of ebonics is the newest pinnacle of the evolution of English.
that surely adds another 4 inches to the moral high heel the speaker is wearing.
cantonese is just like the ebonics of the chinese language. thx for the introduction.
Re: Why is Cantonese unpopular to foreign ears? 05/23/2012 by go for aesthetic appeal
[+-] Quote
burgundy
Oh lawd. "go with aesthetic appeal" is one of the worst stereotypes of internet trolls - he's only half-educated in what he talks about (the worst kind), spews half-truths and opinions (some of them patently, unapologetically racist), as well as baseless, unfounded conclusions, and keeps coming back for more. According to his logic, the emergence of ebonics is the newest pinnacle of the evolution of English. First rule of the internets: stop feeding the troll. It was kind of amusing at first, but it's pointless and he'll never get it, because he doesn't want to (because he's racist!...anti-Cantonist?).
Personally, I do not find Cantonese a "pretty" language, hence why the perception that it may not be very popular. I cannot pinpoint precisely why (I do find that it's kind of nasally), but ultimately it doesn't matter. I embrace it because I grew up with it, and it is my sense of identity.
check the history of chinese emigration to understand why cantonese is widely spoken by overseas chinese. only the most desperate the most underprivilaged would leave home to work as coolies overseas. they represented the lowest level of human resources in china(similar to the african slaves taken to the new world America a couple hundred years more back).
throughout history, cantonese and its speakers have always been viewed as being less civilized by other chinese.
econonic affluence will only be very short-lived if the related culture is not respected. guangzhou has a township history of over 2000years but has it ever been able to project much (if any at all) cultural influence to areas further north beyond guangdong and guangxi(the cantonese area)?
btw, any of the poems and poets and literary epics mentioned in this thread are of cantonese origin?
