The use of Cantonese

Cantonese is widely used in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province, western Guangdong, south-central and southeastern Guangxi, western Hainan Province (villages where Danzhou dialect and Mai dialect are spoken), Hong Kong and Macao, Singapore, Mindanao, Christmas Island, Malaysia, northeastern Vietnam (where Shanyou people live) in Southeast Asia, and Chinese communities in North America, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

The prominent feature of Guangdong, Guangxi and Cantonese is its distribution along the river: Guangzhou and Hong Kong are the centers, and it is spread in four ways: east, west and south. The first channel is Xijiang-Pearl River, that is, the area from Xijiang to Panyu (Guangzhou) in the east, including Wuzhou and Hezhou in Guangxi, Zhaoqing, Fengkai, Deqing, Foshan, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Shenzhen and Jiangmen in Guangdong, and two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao. The second river is Xijiang-Yujiang, which goes back to Xijiang, Jiang Xun and Yujiang and reaches Jiaozhi County. Including Nanning, Chongzuo, Guigang, Wuzhou and most of their counties in Guangxi. The third river is Beiliu River-Nanliu River. Including Guangxi Yulin, Beihai, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang and other cities and counties. The fourth passage is Nanjiang-Jianjiang, that is, back to Nanjiang, across the Yunkai Mountains to Jianjiang Valley. Including Yunfu, Maoming, Yunnan, Luoding, Xinyi, Gaozhou, Huazhou, Zhanjiang, Wuchuan and Lianjiang in Guangdong.

The sub-provincial or prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province that are pure Cantonese or mainly Cantonese are Guangzhou, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Maoming, Yangjiang, Yunfu and Qingyuan. Municipal districts, county-level cities and counties/autonomous counties include:

Yuexiu, Liwan, Haizhu, Tianhe, Baiyun, Huangpu, Panyu, Nansha, Luogang, Huadu, Zengcheng and Conghua Districts;

Chancheng District, Nanhai District, Shunde District, Gaoming District and Sanshui District of Foshan City;

Futian District, Luohu District and Nanshan District under the jurisdiction of Shenzhen City;

Dongguan city;

Longmen County, Huizhou City;

Zhongshan city;

Xiangzhou District, Doumen District and Jinwan District under the jurisdiction of Zhuhai City;

Jiangmen City, Jianghai District, Pengjiang District, Xinhui District and county-level cities Taishan City, Kaiping City, Heshan City and enping city City;

Zhaoqing City, Duanzhou District, Dinghu District, Dawang District and county-level cities Gaoyao City, Sihui City, Guang Ningxian City, Huaiji County, Fengkai County and Deqing County;

Jiangcheng District under the jurisdiction of Yangjiang City and county-level cities such as Yang Chun, Yangdong County and Yangxi County;

Yuncheng District under the jurisdiction of Yunfu City and county-level cities such as luoding city, Xinxing County, Yun 'an County and Yun 'an County;

Qingcheng District, Qingxin District, Lianzhou City, county-level city, Fogang County, Yangshan County and Lianshan Zhuang and Yao Autonomous County under the jurisdiction of Qingyuan City;

Zhenjiang District, Shaoguan City;

Maonan District of Maoming City and county-level cities Gaozhou, Huazhou and Xinyi;

Chikan District (Old Town), xiashan district (Old Town), Potou District and Wuchuan City, a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang City.

In addition, Cantonese is also spoken in parts of the following areas in Guangdong Province:

Wujiang District, Shaoguan City, qujiang district, county-level cities Lechang City, Nanxiong City;

Yingde city, a county-level city hosted by Qingyuan City;

Boluo County and Huicheng District of Huizhou City;

Baoan District, Longgang District and Yantian District under the jurisdiction of Shenzhen City;

Shanwei city;

Mazhang District (minority), Lianjiang City and Leizhou City (sporadic distribution), Suixi County (minority) and xuwen county City (sporadic distribution) under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang City;

Dianbai District, Maoming City;

Hong Kong and Macao: Cantonese is spoken throughout the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: There are more than 30 Cantonese-speaking counties and cities in Guangxi, namely Nanning, Yongning, Hengxian, Guigang, Guiping, Pingnan, tengxian, Wuzhou, Yulin, Beiliu, Rongxian, Bobai, Luchuan, Fangchenggang, Dongxing, Qinzhou, Hepu, Pubei, Lingshan, Beihai, Cangwu, Cenxi and Zhao Chuan.

In addition, other non-Cantonese-speaking cities in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region also have Cantonese population distribution, usually along the river streets. Due to the development of new Guangxi immigrants and the need of agricultural technology upgrading in the Republic of China, central Guangxi moved to southeast Guangxi, and many Cantonese villages appeared.

Hainan Province: Danzhou, Dongfang, Ledong, Qiongzhong, Sanya, Changjiang and Puqian Town, Wenchang City.

Overseas: There are many overseas Chinese who mainly speak Cantonese. In Chinatown and Chinese communities, many overseas Chinese communities use Cantonese as the common language. Mainly distributed in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and other countries or regions. In the past, most Chinese in North America, Central America, Oceania, Britain and Northern Europe communicated in Cantonese. However, due to the slight increase of immigrants from Chinese mainland, the proportion of Cantonese speakers declined slightly, but Cantonese is still the daily language of most overseas Chinese.

Due to the large population of Guangdong immigrants in San Francisco or other Cantonese-speaking areas in the United States (that is, Guangdong and Guangxi people, such as Guangxi people, many people can speak Cantonese), the San Francisco Metro in San Francisco also provides Cantonese broadcasting on buses, which is an American government agency that provides Chinese broadcasting in a few American public transport systems. Cantonese has 20 initials:

Bp gang; pp？ Gu; Ff application; Mm Ming; Dt ends; tt？ Through nn south; Ll is coming; Zts essence; Cts is clear; Ss heart; See you in gk; kk？ Stream; gwk？ Light; Kwk gauge; ng？ Teeth; Hh is good; Jj salt; Ww soul; ? safe

(Note: There are international phonetic symbols in it, with Cantonese phonetic symbols on the left and example characters on the right) The Cantonese phonetic system is complex, with 22 initials and 94 finals at most, which is very close to Guang Yun. Nine tones and six tones: Yin Ping, Yin Shang, Yin Qu, Yang Ping, Yang Shang, Yang Qu, Yin Entering, Zhong Yin Entering and Yang Entering.

Nine-syllable characters are: poem (si1); History (si2); Try (si3); Time (si4); City (si5); Things (SI6); Color (sik1); Tin (sik3); Food (sik).

In fact, the pitch of the tones of Yin-in, Zhong-in and Yang-in is the same as that of Yin-in, Yin-out and Yang-out, and they are only distinguished by entering words ending in -p, -t and-K. Because of the definition of tone, it includes intonation (that is, actual pitch) and cadence. The vowels -p, -t and -k affect its frustration. Therefore, even if it is only marked by the six numbers 1 to 6, we still have to say that there are nine tones, or "nine tones and six tones", but we can't say that there are only six tones.

The representative words of the six tone values are: Zhou (ZAU1); Hau 2; Store (dim 3); River (ho); mu(mou 5)； Cross (dou6).

Drawing the tones into the chart intuitively makes it easier for people to imagine the differences between the six tones. Cantonese vocabulary is divided into Chinese characters, Cantonese words and loanwords.

Chinese words: most commonly used, accounting for most of the vocabulary, such as "time".

Cantonese words: Cantonese-specific words, such as "virtuous".

Loanwords: refers to words composed of foreign languages, and Cantonese absorbs more loanwords. For example, "store" in Cantonese everyday language means "store" in English.

frequent term

I (I); You (you); Hey (he, she); I (we); You (you); Hey (them, them); Person (person); ABBA, Lao Dou (Dad); Mommy, mom, grandma (mom); Brother, big brother (brother); Sister (sister); Sister (sister); Fine guy (younger brother); Xiaoguzi; Grandpa (grandfather); Aunt and aunt (grandma); Grandpa (grandfather); Grandma, mother-in-law (grandma); Department (Yes); Hey (in); Chen (think about it); Er (no); Um (this, this, that); Hey (come); Dai (speaking); None, none (none); Give (give); See (see); Bang (music); Please (find); Wear (wear); "take"; Enterprise (station); ? ? (that); Mi (do not); Point (how); Is the microphone (isn't it); Hey (things); Eat (eat); Drink (drink); Edge (where); Edge (where); Edge (where); Talk (talk); Turn over (come back); Sleep; Degree (here); Days (another day, the next day); The first time (next time); Uh-huh, baa (what); What (what); How much (how much); Good (so good); Know well and explain (why); Turn over the house (go home); Stay (plan); Neck thirst (thirst); Useless (useless); Hey, ga, ga, Jia (of); Lo, baa, bam, ya, la (modal particles); Agitate (get angry); Counting (welfare); Stupid (cheated, cheating); Be free (free); Well, stop (not just); Fixed system (or); Or (or); So (so); After that (then); Same (and); For (for); Boom (just); Good (very tired); Hey (hey); As if (as if); Talking to you (too lazy to talk to you); Joke (joke); Blow water (chatting, joking, bragging); Dress up (pretend); Closed (worrying); Mie (don't do this); Mimi (isn't it); Fly the plane (pigeon); Trust the cat.

Daily expression

Mandarin cantonese

1. Hello! Hello!

2. What is your name? What's your name?

3. Thank you! Oh, great! Thank you very much

4. I'm sorry/sorry. Excuse me/excuse me.

5. Sorry to bother you. I am sorry to have kept you waiting.

6. Where is it? What is the profit margin?

7. It's two o'clock. Go to IKEA at two o'clock.

8.2: 45. Two points and three words. (The word here means 15 minutes)

9. What are you doing? What are you doing?

10. Have you eaten? Have you eaten?

1 1. Watch a movie. Play.

a two-part allegorical saying

God is a pain in the ass and hates cats.

Burning flagpole-sigh (charcoal)

Cowhide lanterns-the focus is extremely obscure

A-beng (a rabbit-lipped man, who talks flat) calls a dog-the more he barks, the more he walks (meaning he doesn't listen).

Yellow bark tree-can't be cooked or eaten.

One-eyed man's wife-a glance (meaning a glance)

Amao's whole cake-nothing is the same.

Undersea grouper-Good blood stasis (fish)

October mustard-from the heart

Ear teapot-you must keep your mouth shut.

Chickens have sex-spit on meat (meaning "skin pain")

Mountain herbs-that's it (pronounced up in English, meaning talking)

Sweet potatoes have fallen into the oven-it's time to simmer.

The birthday boy hanged his neck-too long for life.

Husband flapping fan-sad (wife) cool

The differences between Cantonese grammar and modern Mandarin are mainly reflected in word order, function words, adverbs, some adjectives, auxiliary words and their positions. Complex and indispensable modal particles are also a feature of Cantonese.

place upside down

Adjective postposition

Some words in Cantonese are used to putting adjectives after the modified head words, which forms a so-called inverted word-formation structure compared with Mandarin. For example, the "rooster" in northern Chinese is "rooster" in Cantonese.

Adverbial post

Cantonese usually puts adverbs that modify verbs or adjectives after the modified words, and sometimes even at the end of sentences, such as eating too much after modern standard Chinese verbs in Cantonese. Eat more. Oh, I should tan you. Thank you very much. Bury. Give them all. After adjectives, sluggishness is not good. It's not very pretty. Hey, it is too late. He is really bad. Karma is too high. It's too high. It's no use. At the end of the sentence, there are three mosquitoes. Give me another three dollars. Reverse word formation

Many other structures of Cantonese vocabulary are also contrary to the word order of modern Mandarin Chinese. For example, "snack" means "snack" in Cantonese, "crowded" means "crowded" in Cantonese, and "urgent" means "urgent" in Cantonese.

inverted sentence

This kind of inverted sentence also produces many special sentence patterns, such as "no wonder" in northern dialect and "no wonder", "no wonder" or "no wonder" in Cantonese. Another example is "I'll go first" in northern dialect or "I'll go first" in Cantonese.

Directional verbs Cantonese directional verbs take objects directly and are not used in modern standard Chinese.

The usage of directional verbs in Cantonese: the differences of modern Mandarin habits in Cantonese; I stay in the street on weekdays. We want to go shopping in the afternoon.

We want to go shopping in the afternoon. Modern standard Chinese can't remind me with the usage of "going to the street". He said he would come to me. Come to me vs come to me to coordinate verb forms.

Cantonese can add "Jin", "Bang", "Wan", "Guo" and "Xia" between two coordinate verbs to form a verb form. Modern standard Chinese must put corresponding words or translated words before or after a single verb. For example, "take a break" and "study hard" are "take a break (1)" and "study" respectively in modern standard Chinese.

emphasize

The grammatical structure of "you+verb" is widely used in Cantonese to express emphasis. Cantonese, modern standard Chinese, I have a question. I did see it. Quantifier usage

Quantifiers have a specific usage in Cantonese.

Quantifiers are used as definite articles Cantonese quantifiers can be added directly before nouns as sentence components. There is no need to specify pronouns or numerals before quantifiers, which plays a grammatical role similar to articles. For example, the grammatical function of modern standard Chinese in Cantonese is very good. ("This" omits this book. (One of the books discussed or read in front of you) This book is very good. Especially cars. That's right. This car is very punctual. ) Great car! Especially when he attacked Bodhi. He stole a bunch of grapes (as both speakers know). Especially when I scream. My voice is completely hoarse. (there is no corresponding word, it does not appear) emphasizes the block surface.

Pull up the building blocks and lengthen the face (no corresponding words, no appearance). Emphasize that you knocked down your shoes (no equivalent, no appearance). Emphasize quantifiers instead of referential auxiliary words. Cantonese idioms have replaced referential auxiliary words such as "de" and "zhi", but the function of these quantifiers in sentences is still to indicate the ownership of objects. Explain the logical meaning of modern standard Chinese in Cantonese My pen belongs to my pen. ("I" is the owner of the pen) The quantifier of the pen is "supporting" the car.

His car, his car belongs to his car. ("He" is the owner) The quantifier of the car is "Bu" your schoolbag.

This bag belongs to your bag. ("You" is the owner of the schoolbag) The quantifier of the schoolbag is "Ge". Your schoolbag does mean your schoolbag, but the word "ge" here is no longer a quantifier. Anyone who knows Western Cantonese knows that "ge" means "de", which is completely equivalent to standard Chinese.

translate freely

In comparative syntax, Cantonese means "you are taller than him" and Mandarin means "you are taller than him". Cantonese says "you are older than him" and modern standard Chinese says "you are older than him". Recently, influenced by Putonghua, this situation has also changed. Grammars such as "You are older than him" and "Brother is taller than A-mei" in modern standard Chinese are gradually absorbed by Cantonese. In some adverbs, such as the word "first", Cantonese is also used to putting verbs after them. For example, "you go first" should be said as "you go first" in Cantonese.

modal particle

Cantonese modal particles play a very important grammatical role in expressing the meaning of sentences. Modal words are rich and complex to use, with simple, double overlapping, triple overlapping and multiple overlapping forms:

Simplex, such as "la" and "?" , "baa" and so on: "Come on." "Department?" "yes." There are quite a variety of overlapping words, such as "flowers", "Cleisthenes" and "moo" and so on: "Really?" "hey!" "Are you? ! "Triple overlapping structure is also commonly used, such as" 嗺嗺 "and" 嗺嗺 ".Repeatedly, such as" wow ". It plays an important role in expressing emotions and emotions and is indispensable in many cases.