Loving the Pocket Mice
There are several factors that make Cantonese a bit difficult as far as languages go. The speaking doesn't always match the writing. The tones can trick you into saying something completely different. And then there's characters.
But there is another aspect that makes Canto a bit easier, a much-needed boost in the language-learning realm. Vocabulary! Yes, you still have to remember the character (if you are at that point), the pronunciation, the tone, and the meaning, but Cantonese is so intuitive that it can really help learners remember new vocabulary.
English loves sucking new words into our vocabulary, sometimes keeping the original pronunciations and sometimes anglicizing them. Words like "pajamas" and "mosquito" came from other languages. This makes for an interesting linguistic study, but I can see how it also makes things more challenging for learners. There's no trick to remembering "mosquito"; you just remember it.
Cantonese, on the other hand, has a ton of words that make total sense and build on other words. English does do this somewhat like with words like "underwear" or "milk cow," but that is still not totally intuitive (why is it underwear and not underclothes? I guess language evolution at work). So allow me to point out a few of my favorite Cantonese words that are extremely logical and easy to remember.
袋鼠. Doi6 syu2. Kangaroo. Literal meaning: pocket mouse. Isn't that the cutest??? The only thing that they're missing here is "big."
火車. Fo2 ce1. Train. Literal meaning: fire car. When I was a child, I would have loved to read "The Little Fire Car That Could."
香草. Hoeng1 cou2. Herbs. Literal meaning: fragrant grass. This may sound like it should be marijuana, but it is not. Just regular herbs. The cooking kind.
飛機. Fei1 gei1. Airplane. Literal meaning: flying machine. This sounds like something we would have said a hundred years ago. Classic.
雪櫃. Syut3 gwai6. Refrigerator. Literal meaning: snow cupboard. This sounds so much more poetic than refrigerator. Would you be a darling and bring me some fragrant grass tea from the snow cupboard?
The last one I will tell you through a story. A few years back, some of my friends and I were gathering in Aberdeen to celebrate my sister's birthday. We had enjoyed a nice dinner at Greenwood's, a Taiwanese place tucked in an obscure alley (so secretive!). After dinner, we headed down to the praya (park/walkway by the harbor) to enjoy some birthday cake.
I had forgotten to bring a lighter, so one friend and I dashed off to 7-11 to buy one so that my sister's birthday cake would be appropriately glowy. Before we got to the convenience store, I decided I should look up how to say lighter. I have found that if I learn a new word and then immediately use it in a real situation, I much more likely to remember it. Just today before ducking into a pharmacy, I quickly looked up the word "gauze bandage" so I could ask the shop owners in Canto.
"So what is the Cantonese word for "lighter."" I turned to my friend. But before she could answer, I jumped up and down. "Is it fo2 gei1(火機)? Is it?"
"Yes, it is. You're right!" She smiled at me. "How did you guess?"
"I don't know. Maybe because so many Canto words have "machine" in them. So it would make sense that "fire machine" was a lighter." I was feeling very self-satisfied until she continued.
"Yeah, that's good. But be careful. If you say it the wrong way then you're saying "waiter."
I groaned. Tones strike again...
But there is another aspect that makes Canto a bit easier, a much-needed boost in the language-learning realm. Vocabulary! Yes, you still have to remember the character (if you are at that point), the pronunciation, the tone, and the meaning, but Cantonese is so intuitive that it can really help learners remember new vocabulary.
English loves sucking new words into our vocabulary, sometimes keeping the original pronunciations and sometimes anglicizing them. Words like "pajamas" and "mosquito" came from other languages. This makes for an interesting linguistic study, but I can see how it also makes things more challenging for learners. There's no trick to remembering "mosquito"; you just remember it.
Cantonese, on the other hand, has a ton of words that make total sense and build on other words. English does do this somewhat like with words like "underwear" or "milk cow," but that is still not totally intuitive (why is it underwear and not underclothes? I guess language evolution at work). So allow me to point out a few of my favorite Cantonese words that are extremely logical and easy to remember.
袋鼠. Doi6 syu2. Kangaroo. Literal meaning: pocket mouse. Isn't that the cutest??? The only thing that they're missing here is "big."
火車. Fo2 ce1. Train. Literal meaning: fire car. When I was a child, I would have loved to read "The Little Fire Car That Could."
香草. Hoeng1 cou2. Herbs. Literal meaning: fragrant grass. This may sound like it should be marijuana, but it is not. Just regular herbs. The cooking kind.
飛機. Fei1 gei1. Airplane. Literal meaning: flying machine. This sounds like something we would have said a hundred years ago. Classic.
雪櫃. Syut3 gwai6. Refrigerator. Literal meaning: snow cupboard. This sounds so much more poetic than refrigerator. Would you be a darling and bring me some fragrant grass tea from the snow cupboard?
The last one I will tell you through a story. A few years back, some of my friends and I were gathering in Aberdeen to celebrate my sister's birthday. We had enjoyed a nice dinner at Greenwood's, a Taiwanese place tucked in an obscure alley (so secretive!). After dinner, we headed down to the praya (park/walkway by the harbor) to enjoy some birthday cake.
I had forgotten to bring a lighter, so one friend and I dashed off to 7-11 to buy one so that my sister's birthday cake would be appropriately glowy. Before we got to the convenience store, I decided I should look up how to say lighter. I have found that if I learn a new word and then immediately use it in a real situation, I much more likely to remember it. Just today before ducking into a pharmacy, I quickly looked up the word "gauze bandage" so I could ask the shop owners in Canto.
"So what is the Cantonese word for "lighter."" I turned to my friend. But before she could answer, I jumped up and down. "Is it fo2 gei1(火機)? Is it?"
"Yes, it is. You're right!" She smiled at me. "How did you guess?"
"I don't know. Maybe because so many Canto words have "machine" in them. So it would make sense that "fire machine" was a lighter." I was feeling very self-satisfied until she continued.
"Yeah, that's good. But be careful. If you say it the wrong way then you're saying "waiter."
I groaned. Tones strike again...
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