Basic Course: Lesson 16 Reading

At the end of each lesson in the Basic Course, there is a reading portion, which I’ve copied down and transcribed below for lesson 16. You can check out the vocabulary list here, the dialogue and grammar notes here.

黃先生喺美國出世。黃夫人喺中國出世。屐喺日本結婚。黃先生該時喺班房上堂，佢學台山話。黃夫人正話去街買田野，寄信，同打電報俾佢個母親；佢買兩本英文書俾黃先生。

黃先生個父親以前喺一間大公司做事；黃先生個大佬前年喺一間日本學校教書，佢教英文；黃先生個細佬舊年喺一間日本個學校讀書，佢讀日文，今年佢喺美國當兵；黃先生個母親喺屋企，佢冇做事。

Wöng Lhing-Sang hāi Mị-Gwōk chut-sại. Wöng Fu-Ngïn* hāi Jung-Gwōk chut-sại. Kìak hāi Ngìt-Bōn gīk-fun*. Wöng Ling-Sang kọi-sị hāi ban-fọng siang höng, kui hòk Höi-San-wà*. Wöng Fu-Ngïn* jing-wà hui-gại mai hing-nẹ*, gi-lhen*, hüng ā ìng-bo bī kui gwoi mu-tin; kui mai līang-bōn Ying-Mün si bī Wöng Lhing-Sang.

Wöng Lhing-Sang gwoi fù-tin ị-tïng hāi yīt-gan ài gung-lhu du lhù; Wöng Lhing-Sang gwoi ài-lō tïng-nïng hāi yīt-gan Ngìt-Bōn hòk-hàu gau si, kui gau Ying-Mün; Wöng Lhing-Sang gwoi lhai-lō gìu-nïng hāi yīt-gan Ngìt-Bōn gwoi hòk-hàu ùk si, kui ùk Ngìt-Mün, gim-nïng kui hāi Mị-Gwōk ong-bing; Wöng Lhing-Sang gwoi mü-tin hāi ūk-kī, kui mo du lhù.

I tried to place in the rising tone change (marked by the asterisk *) where I heard it in the audio, but I may have missed some or mistakenly inserted others.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know of any necessary corrections that you might notice!

Basic Course: Lesson 16 Dialogue

This dialogue is again all about location. You can check out this lesson’s vocab here.

1	A: 黄先生，好耐冇見你囉！	Wöng Lhing-Sang, hō nòi mo-gian ni lo.
	B: 係囉，李先生。哦大家冇見好耐咯！	Hài lō, Lī Lhing-Sang. Ngọi ài-gä* mo gian hō nòi lok.
2	A: 你到乃出世呀？	Ni o nại chūt sại a?
	B: 我到美國出世。	Ngoi o Mị-Gwōk chūt sại.
3	A: 你到乃當兵？	Ni o nại ong-bing nē.
	B: 我到美國陸軍當兵。	Ngoi o Mị-Gwōk Lùk-Gun ong-bing.
4	A: 你個夫人以前到乃讀書呀？	Ni gwoi fu-ngïn* yị-tïng o nại ùk si a?
	B: 我個女人以前到中國學校讀書。	Ngoi gwoi nūi-ngïn* yị-tïng o Jung-Gwōk hòk-hàu* ùk si.
5	A: 你個父親該時到乃處做事呀？	Ni gwoi fù-tin kwọi-sị* o nại chụi* du lhù a?
	B: 我個父親該到一間公司做事。	Ngoi gwoi fù-tin kwọi-sị* o yīt-gan gung-lhu* du lhù.
6	A: 你個大佬幾時喺日本結婚呀？	Ni gwoi ài-lō gī-sị* hāi Ngìt-Bōn gīk-fun a?
	B: 我個大佬今年喺日本結緍。	Ngoi gwoi ài-lō gim-nïng hāi Ngìt-Bōn gīk-fun.
7	A: 你個細佬幾時喺美國陸軍語言學校教書呀？	Ni gwoi lhai-lō gī-sị* hāi Mị-Gwōk Lùk-Gun Ngụi-Ngün Hòk-Hàu* gao si nē?
	B: 我個細佬舊年喺美國陸軍語言學校教書。	Ngoi gwoi lhai-lō gìu-nïng hāi Mị-Gwōk Lùk-Gun Ngụi-Ngün Hòk-Hàu gao si.
8	A: 逽喺美國陸軍語言學校做乜田野呀？	Nìak hāi Mị-Gwōk Lùk-Gun Ngụi-Ngün Hòk-Hàu* du mōt hing-nẹ* a?
	B: 哦喺美國陸軍語言學校學台山話。	Ngọi hāi Mị-Gwōk Lùk-Gun Ngụi-Ngün Hòk-Hàu* hòk Höi-San wà*.
9	A: 逽到班房做乜呢？	Nìak o ban-fọng* du mōt nē?
	B: 哦到班房上堂。	Ngọi o ban-fọng* siang höng.
10	A: 黄夫人，你響乃處來架？	Wöng Fu-Ngïn*, ni hīang nại chụi* löi ga?
	B: 啊！我正話響美國來個。	Ò! Ngoi jing-wà hīang Mị-Gwōk löi gwoi.

The Locative Expression: 到/喺 + [LOCATION] + Verb

I failed to post this dialogue last month because I didn’t know when 到/喺 o/hāi + [LOCATION] (“the locative expression”) should precede or follow the expression it modifies (i.e. 我到美國出世 · Ngoi o Mī-Gwōk chūt-sại · “I was born in America”). In this dialogue, the locative expression precedes the expression it modifies, namely: 當兵 ong-bing, 讀書 ùk si, 做事 du lhù, 結婚 gīk-fun, 教書 gao si, 學台山話 hòk Höi-San-wà*.

Note that according to this definition, the terms for “where,” 到乃 o nại* and 到乃處 o nại chụi*, are both locative expressions.

Pardon my linguistic terminology here, but my sense is that locative expressions precede the expressions they modify (or “locative phrases precede the verbal phrases they modify”) when they are adjuncts that describe the place of an event rather than a crucial part of that event.

Does this hold? Does this make sense? I don’t know; I’m already thinking up counter examples. If I were still in graduate school, this would make an amazing syntax problem set, but as for now, I’m going to rely on your help on this one!

The Thousand Character Classic, Kaiping Version

The story of the Thousand Character Classic (千子文) is that it was composed at the emperor’s orders of one thousand unique characters from the works of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi (王羲之) and has served for centuries both as a text for the practice of calligraphy and as a repository of Chinese values. Just recently, a Kaiping dialect version of this text being read aloud was posted on Youtube.

I haven’t been keeping this blog up to date as often as I’d like to, but I will start again later this week. I hope you can enjoy this reading in the meantime. Many thanks to the support of the readers here!