Since I’m so inspired by Colloquial Cantonese vs Mandarin
phrases, I’ll try to review each one from the Omniglot Cantonese list until we
finish the list. This will be fun! My Mandarin skills are not that good so I want to apologize if my Mandarin examples are not realistic.
Note: When formally writing in Cantonese, the Mandarin
version is used instead. Colloquial Cantonese is only used in speech or when quoting
speech. Therefore, I will designate:
(M) = Mandarin
(CS) = Cantonese Speech
(CW) = Cantonese Writing
This week’s list is: 呢 vs. 這
Colloquial
Jyutping Cantonese
|
Standard
Written Chinese
|
English
|
呢
|
ni1
ne1
|
這
|
zhè
|
this
|
|
|
|
|
|
I’m surprised to see the Chinese word meaning “this” by itself.
Usually, even in English writing, it is generally bad form to write the word,
“this,” without indicating what the speaker is referring to afterwards.
“This chair…”
“This bottle of water…”
There’s always creative ways to indicate the subject, but eventually,
the reader needs to know what is being referenced. Of course, when we speak or
when we want to be general, we’d just say “this” or “that” by itself with the
meaning usually implied to the listener through surrounding words or by our
actions.
*Claps hands* “This is great!”
But, what is great? Generally,
there is a clue somewhere in the person’s previous or future sentences or
actions.
In Chinese, however, the absence of a reference is painfully obvious. Even
in speech, it would sound so awkward without a reference. Using the almost
equivalent meaning of the sentence above, but in Chinese instead, the phrase
would sound better to omit the entire “this” word instead of adding words
without a proper reference:
[這个…]真的很好!
[zhè ge4…] zhen1 de hen3
hao3! (Mandarin -
literally means “really very
good!”)
[ni1 go3…] zan1 hai6 hou2 aa1 (Colloquial Cantonese - - literally means “really is good!”))
The above phrases in bold could mean “so great!” or
“really great!” “truly great” or “awesome!” Notice how the Mandarin sentence is different
from the Cantonese sentence because the way the message is naturally delivered
is different. It would be awkward to use the sentence in the other language
unless the speaker is trying to prove a point. Otherwise, if I heard a
Cantonese speaker say, “真的很好!” to me,
I would think he or she is reading some text outloud instead of actually
speaking. Or it could be that the speaker is purposely joking around with me
using “proper” language since we have a close enough relationship. I don’t know
for sure how “真係好啊!” would sound to a Mandarin
speaker, but they would definitely think it’s weird.
Did you notice that in the silent brackets above, I added a “classifier”
个or
個after 這or 呢? That is almost always
mandatory.
Nobody would say: “這真的很好!” or
“呢真係好啊!”
I would call these sentences “incomplete” and they
do not exist in everyday language. Native speakers yearn for a classifier to go
with the word. (This piece of paper.
This pair of chopsticks. This slice of pizza.)
“這个真的很好!”or“呢個真係好啊!”
Now, in this case, we have a classifier to indicate
the possibilities of the subject. At least we now have a clue about the subject,
but since the speaker used the most general classifier, 个 or 個, it’s still anybody’s guess. The above sentence is still a better
sentence than the previous one, but it is still not that specific and might be
confusing.
Sometimes, the speaker wants to be vague on
purpose and perhaps the listener already knows what the subject is from
previous or later sentences or actions. In that case, there’s no explanation
needed. If not, it’s still better to
stick to the “真的很好!”or “真係好啊!”part
since it is still considered more easier to listen to with the subject implied.
Then we expect a curious listener to come up to the speaker and ask, (M) 什么? shen2 me5? (CS) 乜嘢呀? mat1 je5 aa3? (CW) 甚麼? sam6 mo1? That question, of course, is
“what?”
什么真的很好? 乜嘢咁好呀?
Note: 咁gam3, which is (CS) for “so.”
In order to make ourselves clear, we can give all
the information that’s needed in one sentence:
This + classifier + subject (or object depending
on the case)
Now, if you haven’t learned classifiers yet, there
are so many ways to identify the subject or object. In English, we sometimes use classifiers
such as “a set of” or “a sheet of,” but the only difference is that it is not
mandatory in English. I can say “these
chopsticks” or “this paper.” Saying, “a book” instead of “a bounded book” is
okay in English without sacrificing the meaning. In the Chinese language, the listener would still
be waiting for the classifier if it is absent or else the listener would be confused.
In the
Chinese language, there are so many classifier words, which would sound weird
if it was left out of a sentence. Some people use the alternative term
“measurement words” even though some classifiers do not actually measure
anything.
Here’s a great website which lists Chinese
classifiers:
Perhaps, I might write up some posts explaining
classifiers in the future.
Lastly, let’s take my trusted friend,
Rilakkuma to give us an example of what we learned so far: (M) = Mandarin (CS)= Cantonese Speech
Rilakkuma /松弛熊
song1 chi2 xiong2 (M)
Rilakkuma /鬆弛熊 sung1 ci4 hung4 (C)
Rilakkuma is named after the Japanese stuffed animal
which literally means “relax” + “bear”
這只熊真的很好! 松弛熊真的很好!
呢隻熊真係好啊! 鬆弛熊真係好啊!
When in doubt about which classifiers to use, try
to use 個 (go3 in Cantonese) or 个 (ge4
in Mandarin). They are the most generic
classifiers. In my example, I used the classifier for animals: 只 (zhi1 in Mandarin) or 隻 zek3 (in Cantonese)
Advanced Question: Why did I not use the English word, “is” or 是? (M) shi4
(C) si6
“This bear is really great!”
這只熊是真的很好!
呢隻熊係真係好啊!
Short Answer: 是 is generally omitted when used with adjectives. In our
case, we’re talking about the degree of greatness (adverb, verb).
I’ll probably explain more about the use of 是 in
a future post since I did extensive research on this topic for this post.
My Chinese isn’t that great (不太好) so feel free to correct me.
不太好= bu4 tai4 hao3 (M) bat1 taai3 hou2 (CW – Cantonese Writing)
