Basic Course: Lesson 19 Vocabulary

This lesson’s grammar points are similar to the last lesson, as they both review how to modify verbs with the word 得 ak.

1. 貴姓呀？· gwi lhing a? · what is your surname? (honorific form)
2. 幾妥樣 · gī-họ-yịang* · how is it? in what manner?
3. 喊做 · ham du · to be called as, to be named as
4. 名 · mïang* (mïng) · name, given name
5. 生意 · sang-yi · business
6. 昨晚 · dọng-mạn* · last night
7. 駛（趕）· sōi (gōn) · to drive, use, employ, cause
8. 做生意 · du sang-yi · to do business
9. 唔使 · m̈-sōi · need not, it is not necessary, do not have to
10. 唔使拘 · m̈-sōi-kui · don’t stand on ceremony
11. 瞓 · fun · to sleep, lie down
12. 快得逮 · fai-ak-dài · too fast
13. 慢得逮 · màn-ak-dài · too slow

One of my favorite terms is 得逮 ak dài, which roughly corresponds to English “too” as in “too fast” fai-ak-dài 快得逮. By modern Cantonese convention, this term is written 得滯 (dak1 zai6); the character 滯 is otherwise pronounced zài in Taishanese. In the Kaiping dictionary, Deng Jun uses the character 济 (濟), which is otherwise pronounced dai (as in 經濟) or dāi (as in 濟濟).

Please don’t hesitate to drop a comment if you have any comments—especially if you notice any typos!