Sunday, April 4, 2021

Learn Hakka Words

 Sleep would be  'soy mook'.

What a way to start off. 

Hakka and Cantonese are two different dialects. 

"Sleep" in Hakka is 'soi muk' .  ' Duk mui soi ' is feeling sleepy but not yet asleep. 

In Cantonese, feeling sleepy is ' ngan fen ' . ' Fer  gau' is sleep. 


"What is your name?" in Hakka is ' Ni ge miang ma ke' . You may also say ' Ni hum ma kai miang '

Ni = you. 

Ge = possessive affix. 

Miang = name. 

Ma ke / ma kai = what or question.

Hum = call.


' Ah Poh Mai Hum Choi ' is 阿婆卖咸菜, Hakka saying for an elderly woman buying salted vegetable ( usually mustard) = "Granny buys salted vegetable." Listen to this Hakka song on YouTube, click here .


 The Guangdong Hakka dialect also known as the Moiyan Hakka dialect. 

' Nee xiang mah kai ' is Hakka for asking someone's surname. 你姓什么 = What is your surname? Nee  = you. Xiang = surname. Mah kai 什么 = what or question mark. 

You would reply, 'Ngai xiang ...(your surname)'.

Ngai我= my/I. Xiang姓 = surname.


'Nee hao mo' is asking "How are you?" Or enquiring "You good (or) not."

Nee = you. Hao好 = good/fine. Mo吗= sort of question mark. 

You reply either, "I am good/fine" = 'Ngai hao hao ' or  " I am not fine." = 'Ngai mo mak kai hao'

Ngai我= I.

hao好 = good/fine.

hao hao 好 = very good.

Mo mak kai= don't have.



To Continue , click here

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