My grandfather is Chinese, and when I was born he gave me a Cantonese name. It wasn't a legal name, but honourary. Unfortunately he died before I could ask him to write it out.
I know that it is pronounced "ee-mahn" (sorry for the crude phonetics), and that it means something along the lines of "little bird".
It has always bothered me that I don't know if the translation is even correct, or how to write it correctly. Honestly my pronounction may even be off, as he died when I was young and this was mostly relayed to me by my parents, who don't speak Cantonese.
I know this is kind of a long shot, does anyone have any idea what the name might be?
Hello r/cantonese! In light of the lack of Cantonese subs, I along with my friend Crush decided to put our own money and time into this subtitling project that we call CantoCaptions. Early on in my learning journey I realized the great potential of and greatly lacking quantity of written Cantonese subs, especially for popular media. It is with great pleasure that I present to you a Google Drive that represents the collective efforts of us as well as dozens of others who through donations or other means have aided the project. It is still very much in its infancy, but we figured such a resource should no longer be kept in the shadows.
Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1dQU8lb0dprmDNDr_Q6utOP_I7JcSQt-R
Discord: https://discord.gg/Eh7XCENw4t
As for completed works with matching audio there are currently 12 subtitled movies, and 1 full 40-episode series, with the first season of Avatar the Last Airbender nearing completion. There are also subs for series without accompanying matching or existing audio. Currently this has been achieved by paying for transcripts and/or making the subs ourselves. Both of these quickly become time and money intensive. If you are interested in contributing to the creation of more subtitles, please contact Crush in the discord. All money goes towards subs.
Feel free to join the discord if you are interested in the project, in contributing, or have ideas you would like to share. There you will also find a discussion of some of the tools that will make these subs even more useful.
As for the subtitles themselves, I personally am quite interested in standardizing them and I am doing my best to develop conventions to adhere to throughout, especially with regard to variant usage. I base the variants mostly on 粵典words.hk and 迴響 Resonance.
Mandarin
А [a] (阿, ā)
Б [p] (冰, bīng)
Г [k] (哥, gē)
Д [t] (地, dì)
Ђ [t͡ɕ] (鸡, jī)
Е [je] (夜, yè)
Ё [jo] (用, yòng)
Ж [ʐ~ɻ] (日, rì)
Ѕ [t͡s] (字, zì)
И [i] (你, nǐ)
Й [j] (会, hùi)
Ї [ji] (一, yī)
К [kʰ] (可, ké)
Л [l] (拉, lā)
М [m] (马, mǎ)
Н [n] (那, nà)
Ҥ [ŋ] (横, héng)
О [o] (我, wǒ)
П [pʰ] (怕, pà)
Р [ ˞] (二, èr)
С [s] (四, sì)
Т [tʰ] (他, tā)
Ћ [t͡ɕʰ] (青, qīng)
У [u] (五, wǔ)
Ў [w] (娃, wá)
Ѵ [y] (女, nǚ)
Ѵ̆ [ɥ] (月, yuè)
Ф [f] (凤, fèng)
Х [x] (河, hé)
Ц [t͡sʰ] (葱, cōng)
Ч [ʈ͡ʂʰ] (吃, chī)
Џ [ʈ͡ʂ] (中, zhōng)
Ш [ʂ] (沙, shā)
Щ [ɕ] (下, xià)
Ъ [ə~ɤ] (鹅, é)
Ы [ɨ] (次, cì)
Э [e] (诶, ê)
Ю [ju] (油, yóu)
Я [ja] (牙, yá)
Mandarin tones
Flat - А̄а̄ Е̄е̄ Ё̄ё̄ Ӣӣ Ї̄ї̄ О̄о̄ Ӯӯ Ѵ̄ѵ̄ Ъ̄ъ̄ Ы̄ы̄ Э̄э̄ Ю̄ю̄ Я̄я̄
Rising - А́а́ Е́е́ Ё́ё́ И́и́ Ї́ї́ О́о́ У́у́ Ѵ́ѵ́ Ъ́ъ́ Ы́ы́ Э́э́ Ю́ю́ Я́я́
Falling-rising - А̌а̌ Е̌е̌ Ё̌ё̌ И̌и̌ Ї̌ї̌ О̌о̌ У̌у̌ Ѵ̌ѵ̌ Ъ̌ъ̌ Ы̌ы̌ Э̌э̌ Ю̌ю̌ Я̌я̌
Falling - А̀а̀ Ѐѐ Ё̀ё̀ Ѝѝ Ї̀ї̀ О̀о̀ У̀у̀ Ѵ̀ѵ̀ Ъ̀ъ̀ Ы̀ы̀ Э̀э̀ Ю̀ю̀ Я̀я̀
Neutral - Аа Ее Ёё Ии Її Оо Уу Ѵѵ Ъъ Ыы Ээ Юю Яя
Cantonese
А [a] (三, saam)
Б [p] (八, baat)
Г [k] (哥, go)
Ґ [kʷ] (瓜, gwa)
Д [t] (打, da)
Е [je] (夜, yeh)
Ѕ [t͡s] (剪, jin)
И [i] (时, sih)
Й [j] (饮, yam)
Ї [ji] (热, yiht)
К [kʰ] (卡, kaat)
Л [l] (辣, laaht)
М [m] (五, m)
Н [n] (那, nah)
Ҥ [ŋ] (我, ngoh)
О [ɔ] (我, ngoh)
Ө [ɵ~œ] (上, seung)
П [pʰ] (怕, pa)
Ҁ [kʷʰ] (夸, kwa)
С [s] (十, sahp)
Т [t] (停, tihng)
У [u] (福, fuk)
Ў [w] (滑, waaht)
Ѵ [y] (鱼, yu)
Ѵ̆ [ɥ] (月, yuht)
Ф [f] (凤, fuhng)
Һ [h] (河, hoh)
Ц [t͡s] (茶, chah)
Ъ [ɐ~ʌ] (心, sam)
Э [e] (你, nei)
Ю [ju] (了, liuh)
Cantonese tones
High - А̄а̄ Е̄е̄ Ӣӣ О̄о̄ Ө̄ө̄ Ӯӯ Ѵ̄ѵ̄ Ꙏ̄ꙏ̄ Э̄э̄ Ю̄ю̄
High falling - А̀а̀ Ѐѐ Ѝѝ О̀о̀ Ө̀ө̀ У̀у̀ Ѵ̀ѵ̀ Ꙏ̀ꙏ̀ Э̀э̀ Ю̀ю̀
Mid rising - А́а́ Е́е́ И́и́ О́о́ Ө́ө́ У́у́ Ѵ́ѵ́ Ꙏ́ꙏ́ Э́э́ Ю́ю́
Mid - Аа Ее Ии Оо Өө Уу Ѵѵ Ꙏꙏ Ээ Юю
Low rising - А̋а̋ Е̋е̋ И̋и̋ О̋о̋ Ө̋ө̋ Ӳӳ Ѵ̋ѵ̋ Ꙏ̋ꙏ̋ Э̋э̋ Ю̋ю̋
Low - А̌а̌ Е̌е̌ И̌и̌ О̌о̌ Ө̌ө̌ У̌у̌ Ѵ̌ѵ̌ Ꙏ̌ꙏ̌ Э̌э̌ Ю̌ю̌
Low falling - А̏а̏ Е̏е̏ И̏и̏ О̏о̏ Ө̏ө̏ У̏у̏ Ѷѷ Ꙏ̏ꙏ̏ Э̏э̏ Ю̏ю̏
Like words like 隔離 (quarantine) or 海盜 (pirate) or 皺紋 (wrinkles).
Is it because they were common to old Chinese, or is it because they are newer and Cantonese just used the term from Mandarin?
Would this be an acceptable translation, "我會永遠愛你"? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated it!
Hello everyone!
I'm a polyglot who's completely new to Chinese. I've wanted to learn it for a while and Cantonese is hands down the Chinese language that interests me the most.
I'm a bit confused on how the writing system works however. More specifically, how does a Cantonese student learn it without any previous knowledge of Standard Mandarin Chinese. I know that Cantonese is pretty much just spoken and that Hong Kong uses the Standard Written Chinese system, but if I want to learn how to read Chinese, does that mean that I'll need to learn Standard Mandarin Chinese as well?
Please forgive my ignorance
Any recommendations for comics/artists who write content in spoken Cantonese?
I used to save Old Master Q books, McDull movies and comic strips (cut out from my mom's HK gossip magazines) for lighthearted content. I recently found this neat artist who posts slice-of-life comics in EN and Canto: https://www.instagram.com/bonniepangart/?hl=en
I have a basic knowledge of writing and reading (weekend Chinese school in Canada), and usually use the Speak function on my phone to read characters idk.
Thanks!
I'm curious as to whether anyone has written a novel or something in Cantonese, using 系 instead of 是 etc. I love reading and I feel like it'll be help me learn faster.
If not, anyone recommend some manga? Lol
Hi all,
My goal is to understand Cantonese pop and I'm not referring to Sam Hui songs that use colloquial Cantonese. For an Asian-American, I am pretty fluent in spoken Cantonese, however, the words used in songs are different in songs. The sentence structure might be different too. I actually find Mandarin songs much easier to understand even though I can barely speak Mandarin.
Are there any resources or advice you can give me on how I can go about learning written Cantonese?
Thank you!
Here are some examples:
Pop Songs:
Rock Songs:
Hip Hop:
Food for thought:
I noticed a lot of the songs in Spoken Cantonese are Hip Hop, Rock, or not serious songs. I'm also jealous that Taiwanese Hokkein songs are mostly in Written Hokkien. Why can't we have that?
Sources:
https://cantonpopblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-post_4598.html?view=flipcard
Since a lot of shows/movies with Cantonese audio only have subtitles (subs) in standard Chinese and not written Cantonese, you could create your own subs in written Cantonese and then enjoy your masterpiece afterward.
You can reuse existing Standard Chinese subs and just replace the text with your Cantonese audio transcription, so you don't have to waste time on timing the speech. It can help you improve your listening, reading, IME efficiency, and writing skills. It is a bit tedious, but at least you have a goal to work towards. The learning is also active compared to passively watching the show.
You could use subtitle editing programs like Aegisub, Subtitle Edit, or Jubler.
If you want, you could also share your fansubs, but of course, that is likely illegal.
Why are Cantonese pop songs written in Standard Chinese, i.e. Mandarin, but pronounced with Cantonese readings of the characters? For example, I've seen 我的 (ngo dik) in Cantonese songs, but my understanding is that the standard Cantonese is 我嘅 (ngo ge).
Why use Standard Chinese in Cantonese songs? It's not like Mandarin speakers can understand just by hearing it.
