Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
I was asked to explain "Cantonese writing" in relation to "the many Chinese languages" by @toddo, but the 500-character limit on Mastodon won't cut it. So here's a pedestrian look at it. Hopefully I won't lose too many of you along the way.
By the way, I'm not an academic and have no formal training. If anything I say is inaccurate, please refer to our resident linguist @lukito for his expertise.
Anyway, here we go. (1/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
CLOSED WORD CLASSES
Different Sinitic languages use very different grammars, which heavily influence the use of closed word classes, such as adpositions, classifiers, particles, pronouns. Those are usually mutually unintelligible across Sinitic languages, even when written down.
The pronoun "he" is 他 in Mandarin, 佢 in Cantonese and Hakka, 伊 in Taiwanese.
Taiwanese has "inclusive we" 咱 and "exclusive we" 阮, but the latter is not understood in Mandarin or Cantonese. (7/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
Adjectives and adverbs share even less commonality than nouns and verbs. "Beautiful" is 靚 in Cantonese, 媠 in Taiwanese, but 漂亮 in Mandarin. A Mandarin speaker would not understand 靚 or 媠 even if the written character is shown to them. (6/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
Verbs share less commonality than nouns. In each language certain verbs are used in favor of others. For instance, 食 means "to eat" across all Sinitic languages. It is often used in Cantonese and Taiwanese, whereas a Mandarin speaker would opt for 吃.
Conversely, the same verb can refer to a varying degree of action: 走 means "to walk" in Mandarin, but "to run" in Cantonese. 冷藏 is "to freeze" food in Hong Kong, but "to refrigerate" in Taiwan. (5/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
OPEN WORD CLASSES
Nouns share the most commonality among Sinitic languages. They are typically expressed using the same characters. 狗 means "dog" regardless of the Sinitic language one speaks. But there are nouns which look the same but mean different things: 土豆 means "potatoes" in Mandarin, but "peanuts" in Taiwanese.
Then there are regional variations. An oven is 焗爐 in Hong Kong, but 烤箱 in Taiwan. Think "truck" and "lorry" between US and UK English, but much more frequent! (4/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
TRADITIONAL VS. SIMPLIFIED
In the simplest terms: Traditional Script is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and much of the older diaspora; while Simplified Script is used in China, Singapore, and much of the newer diaspora. Think of them as one being an alphabet written in all capital letters, and the other in all small letters. Some shapes are different across the two: A-a, B-b… while some shapes are the same between both: C-c, O-o…
I'll be using Traditional Script in the following posts. (3/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
Most flavors of "Chinese" fall under "Sinitic languages," a family of related but mutually unintelligable languages. Calling them all "Chinese" is a bit like calling French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. a single language called "Romance". Sure, they share the same roots, the same alphabets, and many of the same words, but are diverse enough to stand as different languages. It's similar with Sinitic languages: despite common roots they are different in many ways. (2/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Officially all other Sinitic languages are labeled "dialects" in China. In formal settings, writing in anything other than Mandarin is frowned upon. So all literate folks are taught to read/write text in Mandarin grammar, even if it means pronouncing the written text in their own languages or code-switching between the two. This explains why "writing" between speakers of different Sinitic language users seem to work. (13/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
PRONUNCIATION
The same character is pronounced completely differently across Sinitic languages.
Here's how to think about it. Take this word: "chat"
• in English: [ʦæt]
• in French: [ʃa]
Of course "chat" means different things in English and French. But even when the meaning of a character is the same across different Sinitic languages, it still sounds different:
熱
• in Mandarin: [ɻɤ˥˨]
• in Cantonese: [jiːt̚˨]
• in Taiwanese: [ʣuaʔ˦]
• in Hakka: [ŋiet̚˥] (12/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
• Modal particles: Due to tonality, moods cannot be conveyed with pitch changes alone. Modal particles mark different emotions, but are unintelligible between different Sinitic languages. Some examples in Cantonese:
食飯[aː˥] (invite) Let's eat.
食飯[aː˧] (statement) I'm eating.
食飯[aː˩] (rhetorical question) Are you eating?
食飯[kwaː˧] (speculation) I guess he's eating.
食飯[laː˧] (change of state) Time to eat!
食飯[laː˩] (confirmation) Time to eat yet?
食飯[ʦaː˧] ("just") I'm just eating. (11/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
• Classifiers: In the place of articles (a/an/the), Sinitic languages use classifiers, which largely depend on the noun described. Mandarin requires a determiner and/or a number in front of the classifier. The concept of "the" doesn't exist in Mandarin.
一本書: a book
這本書: this book
那本書: that book
Cantonese speakers can omit both the number and the determiner to express "the", or add a pronoun in front to mark possession.
本書: the book
我本書: my book (10/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
• Aspect marking: There are no grammatical tenses in most Sinitic languages. Mandarin compensates with 3 aspect markers and a range of adverbs. Cantonese uses 39 aspect markers instead - few are understood in Mandarin. Some examples:
我食飯: I eat/ate/will eat
我食咗飯: I have/had/will have eaten
我食緊飯: I am/was/will be eating
我食過炒飯: I have/had/will have eaten fried rice before
我食住飯(等你): (I'll wait for you) while I eat
我食完飯: I am/was/will be done eating
我食埋飯: after I am/was/will be done eating (9/13)
Chunshek Chan :flying_toaster:
GRAMMARS
Apart from the wildly different closed words, the grammars vary greatly among languages.
• Object placement: Mandarin places indirect objects before direct objects, whereas Cantonese places direct objects before indirect objects. This impacts the word order in sentences.
I gave him the book.
• Mandarin: 我 (SUBJ: I) 給 (V: give) 了 (ASP: perfect) 他 (IO: him) 那本書 (DO: that book)
• Cantonese: 我 (SUBJ: I) 畀 (V: give) 咗 (ASP: perfect) 本書 (DO: the book) 佢 (IO: him) (8/13)
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