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Addressing people

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English Cantonese

Mother mr-mhaa

Father bra-bhaa

Grandmother

Grandfather

Brothers j-mrui

Sisters hhng-drai

Children sai-mhan-ji

Mr., husband shn-shangMrs., wife taai-tai

Friend prng-yrv

I, me ngrYou nri

He, She, Him, Her, It krui

(not defined separately)

Mine ngr-drei

Yours nri-drai

His, Hers, Its krui-drai

When addressing people in Cantonese, you start with the surname because it shows which family you belong to.

You would then say the first name and follow it with the title.Example: Doe John Mr.

When addressing children you put su in front of their name or qaa if they are related

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Colors and counting

Writing System

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CitationBaker, Hugh and Ho, P.K. Teach Yourself

Cantonese: A Complete Guide for Beginners.

United Kingdom: NTC Publishing Group,1995.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-

8&fr=yfp-t-

701&p=cantonese+language+rules&SpellState=n-

1266168711_q-

33HD37W8Uajkdyk7uNJ0HwAAAA%40%40&fr2=sp-qrw-corr-top

Red is a very dominant color in Cantonese,

which is why so many things are red in

Chinesese culture.

Yellow is also an important color, but forimperial things.

Instead of wearing black to a funeral,

Cantonese would wear white.

The utterance shik at the end of each

Red hrng-shik

Orange chng-shik

Yellow wrng-shik

Gold gham-shikGreen lruk-shik

Blue lram-shik

Purple j-shik

Black hhaak-shik

Gray fhui-shik

Silver ngrn-shik

Unique words for 1-9, but the rest are made by

the use of adding numbers

1 yhat

2 yri3 sham

4 sei

5 ng

6 lruk

7 chhat

8 batt

9 gu

10-19 (1-9)-srap20-29 (2)-srap-(1-9)

30-39 (3)-srap-(1-9)

40-49 (4)-srap-(1-9)50-59 (5)-srap-(1-9)

60-69 (6)-srap-(1-9)

70-79 (7)-srap-(1-9)

80-89 (8)-srap-(1-9)

90-99 (9)-srap-(1-9)100-999 (1-9)-baak-(1-99)

Add -irng- for 0, such as in 109

Example: yhat-baak-irng-gu

The Cantonese language has a writing system much different than

that of English. They use symbols to represent ideas rather thanindividual sounds. The symbols are made to somehow look like

what they are expressing. There are 15,000 symbols of Cantonese.

Other Interesting facts about the Cantonese

Language

The Cantonese language is very musical.

All Chinese cultures think it is very important to smile.

When complimented by others, you never accept the

compliment. In fact, you down-talk yourself and talk-up

the qualities of the person giving the compliment.

Popularity of gangster movies and shows have greatly

influenced the lan ua e.

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