Cantonese character of the day

DEmeant0r

I will post a word everyday in chinese, the jyutpin and the meaning. You will need the Big5 font to view this. The font should be in your windows installation disc.

Today's(8/9/03) word:

神

jyupin: san4
[1] [n] spirit; god; supernatural being; deity; immortal [2] soul; mind; spirit [3] appearance; looks; expressions; air [4] supernatural; marvelous; wondrous; miraculous; mysterious; mystical [5] smart; clever
Stroke count: 10

神

DEmeant0r

生

saang1 sang1
[1] [v] live; life; living; lifetime; livelihood; alive [2] [v] be born; come into being; come into existence; birth [3] [v] breed; bear; produce; beget; create; give rise to; cause [4] uncooked; raw; unripe; crude [5] unfamiliar; strange; unknown [6] save; untamed; barbarian; uncultured [7] [n] pupil; student [8] the male character type in a Chinese opera [9] creatures [10] a Chinese family name [11] Kangxi radical 100
Stroke count: 5

生

oeNeo

Tomorrows word should be 'HAI', which means 'YES' or 'OK'.

DEmeant0r

Yeah sure, I'll prepare it for tomorrow.

DEmeant0r

OK, I've prepared 'yes' like neo asked. The first is the one used in writing, but the second is used in speech.

是

jyutpin: Si
Definition: indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that

是

This one is used in speech:

係

jyutpin: Hai
Definition: yes, yes it is.

係

crowbar

i thought 'si' is the one normally used in speech in putonghua, and that 'hai' is a dodgy cantonese thing?

Zion

ahem...crowbar, just wondering what do you mean by "dodgy cantonese thing"?

crowbar

from what i have seen, spoken mandarin is much closer to written chinese than spoken cantonese is. spoken cantonese seems to use many more words that are only used in spoken cantonese, and not in written chinese. is one allowed to write 'hai' in formal written chinese?

for example, i don't remember reading or hearing 'dix xie' or 'bar xie' being used last time i was in the mainland, but it's commonplace in hk. (can't for the life of me remember what it was instead.) times, however, may have changed, and spoken mandarin may well have absorbed said englishisms into the language.

and come on, cantonese speakers are a dodgy lot ... just look at the things they get up to in their soaps!

ezpzie

hi;

Crowbar, you're correct there is far more slang in Cantonese than mandarin, for example: ba xie is bus in cantonese slang but written is is siu ba (translating to small transport I think..)

As for hai, you never write is down, we write dui (as in you are correct, and si when we mean what).
Isn't hai a handy word??

Zion

All the words mentioned there e.g. 'dix xie', 'bar xie', 'hai' etc. can be written in Chinese. It's only not as formal.

One really interested me is 'dui'...hope it's not the curse word I've heard in my entire life.

DEmeant0r

I think diu is a curse word, heard people say it when they got angry.

DEmeant0r

Anyways, today's word of the day is:

雪

syut3
[1] snow [2] [v] wipe away; wash away; clean
Stroke count: 11

雪

DEmeant0r

受

sau6
[v] receive; accept; get; [2] [v] take; bear; stand; suffer; tolerate; endure [3] [v] be pleasant to (the ears, etc) [4] preceding a verb to form a passive voice
Stroke count: 8

受

DEmeant0r

辣

laat6
[1] peppery; pungent; hot; piquant [2] [v] burn; bite (smell, taste) [3] [Wu] be
Stroke count: 14

辣

DEmeant0r

目

muk6
[1] [n] eye [2] [v] look; regard; see [3] [n] table of contents; category
Stroke count: 5

目

DEmeant0r

四

sei3
[1] four; fourth [2] all around
Stroke count: 5

四

DEmeant0r

母

mou5
[1] one's mother; one's female parent [2] [n] mother (figuratively); origin
Stroke count: 5

母

DEmeant0r

無

mou4
[1] negative; no; not; none [2] without; destitute of; wanting; [v] lack; have not [3] no matter what (or how); not yet [4] a Chinese family name
Stroke count: 12

無

DEmeant0r

獅

si1
n. lion
Stroke count: 13

獅

DEmeant0r

親

can1 can3
[1] relatives [2] parents [3] [v] love; intimate; near to; dear [4] personally; personal; person; self [5] [v] kiss
Stroke count: 16

親

DEmeant0r

享

hoeng2
[1] [v] enjoy; receive (peace, happiness, long life, good health) [2] [v] offer; enjoy or taste of the sacrifices (gods, spirits) [3] [v] entertain
Stroke count: 8

享

DEmeant0r

哭

huk1
[v] weep; cry; wail; sob
Stroke count: 10

哭

Posted in Simplified chinese, so to view this one change to Simplified encoding.

DEmeant0r

馬

ma5
[1] [n] horse [2] a Chinese family name [3] Kangxi radical 187
Stroke count: 10

馬

DEmeant0r

Âd

gwai6
[1] [n] cupboard; wardrobe; cabinet [2] [n] shop counter
Stroke count: 18

Âd

DEmeant0r

®v

si1
[1] [n] teacher; master; tutor [2] [n] specialist (especially of medicine; painting, music, divining, etc.) [3] [n] division in the Chinese army; [4] [n] army [5] [n] model; example [6] [v] teach [7] [v] pattern; model after [8] [n] local administrative chief [9] a surname
Stroke count: 10

®v

DEmeant0r

±i

zoeng1 zoeng3
[1] [v] open; stretch; extend [2] [v] display [3] [n] sheet (of paper); leaf (of a book) [4] a Chinese family name [5] [Hakka] [v] trap animals; catch animals
Stroke count: 11

±i

DEmeant0r

窗

coeng1
[1] [n] window; skylight [2] a place where one studies
Stroke count: 12

窗

DEmeant0r

雞

gai1
[n] chicken; hen; cock; domestic fowl
Stroke count: 18

雞

This is for the 26th btw, didn't have time to do it...

DEmeant0r

講

gong2
Cantonese dialectical word: say; speak
Stroke count: 17

講

DEmeant0r

色

sik1
[1] [n] colour; tint; tinge; hue; shade [2] facial expression; look; appearance [3] sensuality; desire for beauty; lust; lewdness; carnal pleasure [4] worldly things [5] a kind; sort [6] Kangxi radical 139
Stroke count: 6

色

This is for the 28th, too lazy to do it last night.

DEmeant0r

木

muk6
[1] [n] tree [2] wood; lumber; timber [3] made of wood; wooden [4] simple; honest [5] senseless; benumbed; dull [6] [n] coffin
Stroke count: 4

木

This is for the 29th (today)

DEmeant0r

和

wo4 wo6 wu4
[1] harmony; harmonious [2] peace; peaceful; calm [3] [v] be affable [4] [n] sum; aggregate [5] of Japan [6] and
Stroke count: 8

和

DEmeant0r

樂

lok6 ngok6
[1] music [2] a Chinese family name
Stroke count: 15

樂

Zion

This is funny...I''ve never saw someone has a "樂" for their family name in my life

DEmeant0r

I'm not sure either, but I got some words from a big enough site, I've never heard of someone with 樂 for a surname either.

DEmeant0r

行

ha6 ha5
[1] [v] put down [2] [v] lay [3] [v] fall [4] [v] descend [5] [v] begin [6] below; under [7] inferior; lower [8] next
Stroke count: 3

行

This is for the 2nd of October, forgot to do it yesterday.

DEmeant0r

富

fu3
[1] abundant; rich; wealthy; affluent; plentiful [2] a Chinese family name
Stroke count: 12

富

This is for the 3rd of October.

DEmeant0r

冬

dung1
[1] winter [2] 11th lunar month; period from the 10th to the 12th month
Stroke count: 5

冬

This is for yesterday (4th October).

DEmeant0r

行

haang4 hang4/6
[1] [v] go; walk; go on foot [2] [v] move; travel; circulate; go [3] [v] act; do; work [4] [v] publish [5] [v] be current; prevail [6] able; capable [7] all right; O.K.; enough [8] baggage for travel [9] [n] road; path [10] ready to ... [11] Kangxi radical 144
Stroke count: 6

行

DEmeant0r

Ugh I haven't updated for the past 9 days, anyways this is for the 6th of October.

瘦

sau3
thin; emaciated; lean; meager; slim; scrawny; skinny
Stroke count: 15

瘦

DEmeant0r

This is for the 7th of October.

滑

waat6 gwat1
[1] [v] slip; slide; glide [2] smooth; slippery [3] insincere; dishonest; cunning1
Stroke count: 3

滑

DEmeant0r

This is for the 8th of October.

淺

cin2
[1] shallow; not deep; superficial [2] easy; simple [3] light (color) [4] narrow and small (land)
Stroke count: 11

淺

DEmeant0r

This is for the 9th of October.

晚

maan5
[1] sunset; night; evening [2] late [3] drawing toward the end [4] younger; junior
Stroke count: 11

晚

DEmeant0r

This is for the 10th of October.

歡

fun1
[1] happy; pleased; glad; joy; jubilant [2] joys; pleasures [3] [n] lover [4] active and energetic; quick; in full swing [5] a Chinese family name
Stroke count: 22

歡

DEmeant0r

This is for the 11th of October.

街

gaai1
[n] street; road; thoroughfare
Stroke count: 12

街

DEmeant0r

This is for the 12th of October.

鹽

jim4 jim6
[n] salt; common salt
Stroke count: 24

鹽

DEmeant0r

This is for the 13th of October.

簘

piu1 piu3
[1] [v] float; drift; be tossed about 簘獹: beautiful
Stroke count: 14

簘

DEmeant0r

This is for today the 14th of October.

鼻

bei6
[1] [n] nose [2] before any others; first [3] Kangxi radical 209
Stroke count: 14

鼻

DEmeant0r

灰

fui1
[1] [n] ashes; dust [2] lime [3] gray (color) [4] [v] break into tiny pieces or particles [5] disheartened disappointedly; discouraged
Stroke count: 6

灰

NeoSlicerZ

*mutters about changing board name to "Cantonese"*

strawberry

Ok, what does that mean?
Other than two lines with a french c beside them.

Originally posted by Demeant0r
灰

灰