8/11/2019 What's in a Cantonese Name?

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LESSONNOTES

AbsoluteBeginnerS1#1

What'sinaCantoneseName?

CONTENTS

2 Traditional Chinese

2 Jyutping

2 English

2 Vocabulary

3 Sample Sentences4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage

4 Grammar

5 Cultural Insight

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TRADITIONAL CHINESE

1.

2.

3.

4.

JYUTPING

1. nei5 hou2

2. nei5 hou2

3. ngo5 giu3 wai5 zai2nei5 ne1

4. ngo5 giu3 gaa1 ling4

ENGLISH

1. Hello.

2. Hello.

3. I'm Tony Leung. And you?

4. I'm Carina Lau.

VOCABULARY

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ngo5 m4 zung1 ji3 gaa1 ling4

I don't like Carina.

ngo5 zung1 ji3 wai5 zai2

I like Tony Leung.

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

(nei5hou2) means "hello" in Cantonese and is made up of two words:(nei5)

meaning "you" and '(hou2) meaning "good." Between friends, you can replace the

with(haai1), which literally means "hi," and it sounds just like it.(giu3) is literally the

verb for "to call." So, as in the case of our dialogue, when you are saying "My name is ____,"

in Chinese, actually you are saying "I'm called ______."

GRAMMAR

TheFocusofThisLessonisIntroducingYourselfandAskingOther'sNames.

ngo5giu3wai5zai2,nei5ne1?

"I'mTonyLeung.Andyou?"

The way to introduce yourself in Cantonese is very similar to English. In this case, we follow a

simple pattern:

(ngo5giu3)-"I'mcalled"+(name)

The sentence follows the subject () + verb () + object (name) sentence structure, which

is standard for Cantonese.

ForExample:

1. Nicole

ngo5giu3Nicole

"I'm Nicole."

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2. Matt

ngo5giu3Matt

"I'm Matt."

(nei5ne1)"andyou?"

We can use(nei5ne1) on any occasion where you want to ask for the other person's

information or opinion. It is normal to first say something about yourself before you ask

someone else.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

WhatisYourName?

When dealing with names in Cantonese, there are two ground rules you want to follow.

In the Chinese naming system, the given name is placed after the surname. Imagine yourname in English. To turn your name into a Cantonese name, just put your family name first,

and your first name, last. So for instance, Paul Johnson would now be Johnson Paul. For a

Cantonese example, Tony Leung would be, (loeng4ciu4wai5)- Literally, Leung

Tony.

A second guideline is that it is more polite in Cantonese to introduce your name before asking

others theirs. It is very common to simply ask for the family name of someone who is older

than you as a sign of respect. For example,(nei5gwai3seng3?)- "What is yourfamily name?"