Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK (Divided Into Different Categories and Arranged Alphabetically)
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Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK (Divided into Different Categories and Arranged Alphabetically) Colloquial Formulaic Sequences (226 Instances) a1 an interjection to show surprise, similar to English word oh a2 a Cantonese particle usually used to end an utterance fi a3 a pre x to a name ai / ay a Cantonese particle for showing exclamation aiya / aieeyah a Cantonese particle for showing exclamation baak a suffix for an elderly man for example, ‘His nickname is Leung baak’ cheng sui-sam che mun please mind the train door cheuih yi I don’t mind daaih a prefix for being elder or big dai yaht jaaam hai Jung Wan the next station is Central dend send a message via email, phone, etc.; literally meaning ‘throw’ dim so now what? Or how dim duhk / dim gong how to say it in English diu you fuck; a swear word dor tsai thank you fight wa nonsense © The Author(s) 2017 165 M. Wong, Hong Kong English, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-51964-1 166 Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK... gam yeuhng just like this gei hou a not bad gel fail in one’s study (Note: this usage occurs only once in an informal letter presumably written by a university student talking about his study (W1B-011#84); it represents a rather unusual, idiosyncratic language form and the more common form should be chaau.) gihng super go douh there ha a Cantonese particle for seeking agreement hai mee-yeh see what’s the matter? haih (la) yes haih lo that’s right haih mai right? haih me is that right? haih meih wah what did you say? haih uhm haih uh is it? hei (hei) a Cantonese particle used to draw attention from other speakers, sometimes showing annoyance ho an exclamatory word ho noi mo gin na long time no see hou (hou) gik a an exclamatory word for something being extremely good or awesome hou an exclamatory word for something being good or okay hou ging an exclamatory word for showing admiration hou mei douh a it’s delicious hou yeah an exclamatory word for showing approval ji a Cantonese measure word that describes the shape of an object as a stick ji-seen an exclamatory word for showing annoyance jou sahn / jou sun good morning jun hai truly Kung Hei Fat Choy Happy Lunar New Year! la a Cantonese particle that helps to make an utterance sound friendly and less formal lang good-looking lei ho ma how are you? Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK... 167 leuih chih dan gou gei yeh something similar to cake lo an emphatic particle in Cantonese m`goi (m`goi) thanks m`oi m`oi no, thanks mee-yeh wa what did you say? mihng baahk I understood mou a I haven’t got it mou liu inane; this Cantonese word is typically used in the context in which someone is doing something foolish or doing something without a clear purpose in mind. mutyeh what? nah this Cantonese word is used to draw attention from other speakers ne go ngh ji mei I don’t have a clue neih douh here neih haih louh baan you’re the boss neih louh baan used as a vulgar slang expression in Cantonese speech; literally meaning ‘you boss’ neih neih gong yeh used as a vulgar slang expression showing disbelief in Cantonese speech; literally meaning ‘you speak something’ aai (yo) an exclamatory word for showing regret or disgust aai a / aai yah an exclamatory word for showing surprise ngh gei dak I’ve forgotten what I said ngh goi please ngh haih (ngh haih) no ngh sik don’t know ngh sik gong don’t know what to say ngh yahn ji daih a Chinese idiom meaning pupils are misguided by their teachers ngoh an exclamatory word for showing agreement ngoh douh haih aam aam sik ga I just know about it (not long before) ngoh gok dak I think ngoh mm duk haan I’m busy pook gai a swear word; literally meaning ‘drop dead’ sei (la) an exclamatory word for expressing worry or embarrassment sihk daan gou eat cake wa(h) an exclamatory word for showing admiration 168 Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK... wai used to draw attention from other speakers wong bak dan a rude expression meaning a stupid and bad person yung-yung-yung an onomatopoeic word for the sound produced by a bee Chinese/Hong Kong Customs (218 Instances) ang one of the structural units of a traditional Chinese building bazi a person’s lunar date and hour of birth ch`a shou a building block of traditional Chinese architecture ch`an meditation in Buddhist tradition ch`i a philosophical construct in Chinese traditions; literally meaning ‘a breath of air’ ch`ung-kung a double tier in traditional Chinese architecture chah chaan teng a Cantonese bistro serving Chinese and western food chi hsin a type of arrangement of building blocks of traditional Chinese architecture Ching Ming a Chinese festival for people to visit their ancestors’ graves chuen fong one of three main elements of pillars in traditional Chinese buildings, along with dao fong and hin chi compradore a Chinese agent of a British corporation dak ji tai kwahn meih traditional Chinese virtues dao fong one of three main elements of pillars in traditional Chinese buildings, along with chuen fong and hin chi fai chuen a piece of red paper used for decoration at Lunar New Year fend ya hsiung three main sections of the Book of Poems; literally meaning wind, grace and ode respectively feng shui shi fu a person who is specialised in Feng Shui feng-ch`i satire gang lihn security guards gihng gwo to pass an examination with flying colours; literally ‘super pass’ gihng gwo faahn a dinner for wishing everybody best of luck with their exams Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK... 169 gihng gwo leih sih a red packet for wishing the recipient best of luck with his/her exams Gong Saan Yuh Chih Do Fun a TV quiz show in Hong Kong gwai lo / gwailo(s) / gwai lou / gweilos / fan-gui-lo adult male foreigners gwaipor adult female foreigners hau kung two tiers of jutting in traditional Chinese architecture hin chi one of three main elements of pillars in traditional Chinese buildings, along with chuen fong and dao fong hua kung major bearing blocks at the rear of a traditional Chinese building Huhng Lauh Muhng Dream of the Red Chamber hung piu a kind of lottery in traditional Chinese society jen humaneness jen-hsing the human nature kaifong neighbours kuah a traditional Chinese wedding dress made of silk and worn by a bride kung arms, part of tou kung of a traditional Chinese building kung fu martial arts lai see / leih sih red packets with money inside, which people exchange during the Lunar New Year lau sung (wah) the language of the older brothers; slang for Mandarin lauh guhk uaahn fuh yuh hau gung bouh testimonies of destitutes staying in Po Leung Kuk (a charitable organisation) lu tou major bearing blocks at the front of a traditional Chinese building luhng dragon mah tung a Chinese-style toilet man sze chit literature, history and philosophy in classical Chinese mihng dak gaak maht sapientia et virtus; the motto in classical Chinese of the University of Hong Kong muih jai (foreign) domestic helpers ngam chaai an undercover detective p`ai lou one of the main components of Sheng Mu Miao, a traditional Chinese building peih neuih domestic servant 170 Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK... pipa a Chinese musical instrument with several strings on a long piece of wood that is played by pulling or hitting the strings with the fingers po piu a kind of lottery in traditional Chinese society sau jai fasting or abstaining from food for a certain period on some religious occasions sei ngaahn jai a bespectacled man seuhng tohng a ritual practised in traditional Chinese marriage Shih Ching the Book of Poems; the first-ever comprehensive collection of approximately 300 classical Chinese literary works written in the period from the eleventh century to the sixth-century BCE t`ai-chi-ch`iian a kind of physical exercise that involves slow movement and is used for meditation t`iao / tiao an extension of traditional Chinese architecture t`ien-jen-ho-i the idea of unity of heaven and humanity t`ien-tao the way of heaven t`o chiao a building block of traditional Chinese architecture tai-tai literally ‘see see’; in the corpus, it specifically refers to a kind of service offered by some local pet shops that look after animals for a short period of time when the owners go on a trip tan kung a type of arrangement of building blocks of traditional Chinese architecture tao a person’s moral sense Tien Dey Sien a series of early initiatives by a local telecommunications firm Hutchison to advertise paging service ton kung four tiers of cantilevers in traditional Chinese architecture tou blocks, part of tou kung of a traditional Chinese building tou kung bracket sets that form the basis of structural support for a traditional Chinese building tse fa a kind of lottery in traditional Chinese society wet hang around with friends yuet kuk gou tan Cantonese opera club Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK... 171 Local Food and Cooking (32 Instances) chau stir-fry chau mihn fried noodles choi vegetables choi sum a kind of vegetables only grown in southern parts of China dim sum dumplings in Chinese cuisine lou chau dark soy sauce mushu roast piglets commonly served at a wedding banquet naaih chah tea with milk ngau nau beef loin ngau yuk / ngauh yuhk beef saan chau light soy sauce siu yuh gap roast pigeon sung dish as part of a meal tohng seui Chinese dessert waan yu a kind of fish usually for steaming yam chah / yum-cha having lunch in a Chinese restaurant Kinship Terms (13 Instances) ah gong grandfather ah tai gong father of grandfather (great grandfather) ah tai ma mother of grandmother (great grandmother) jie elder sister nai nai mother-in-law poh poh grandmother yeuhng neuih adopted daughter Proper Nouns (Person; 43 Instances) A Chiu a given name A Mahn a given name 172 Appendix 1: Indigenous Cantonese Expressions in ICE-HK..