High level: | 憂 | yāu ‘worry’ |
High rising: | 油 | yáu ‘paint’ (noun) |
Mid level: | 幼 | yau ‘thin’ |
Low falling: | 油 | yàuh ‘oil’ |
Low rising: | 有 | yáuh ‘have’ |
Low level: | 又 | yauh ‘again’ |
問一問 | mahn yāt mahn | → | mán-mahn ‘try to ask’ |
甜一甜 | tìhm yāt tìhm | → | tím-tìhm ‘very sweet’ |
一句一句 | yāt geui yāt geui | → | 一句句 yāt géui-geui ‘one sentence at a time’ |
一碟一碟 | yāt dihp yāt dihp | → | 一碟碟 yāt díp-dihp ‘one dish after the other’ |
食咗飯 | 未 | 呀? | 食飯 | 未 | 呀? | |
Sihk-jó-faahn | meih | a? | → | Sík-faahn | meih | a |
eat-PFV-rice | not-have | SFP | eat-PFV-rice | not-have | SFP | |
‘Have you eaten?’ |
肥肥哋 fèih-fèih-déi → fèih-féi-déi ‘rather fat, chubby’ |
滴滴聲 dihk-dihk-sēng → dihk-dík-sēng ‘ticking sound’ (of clock, watch) |
擒擒青 kàhm-kàhm-chēng → kàhm-kám-chēng ‘in a mad rush’ |
立立亂 lahp-lahp-lyuhn → lahp-láp-lyuhn ‘messy, disorganized’ |
Basic tone | Changed tone | |||||
一 | 盒 | 朱古力 | 呢 | 個 | 盒 | |
yāt | hahp | jyūgūlīk | lī | go | háp | |
‘a box of chocolates’ | ‘this box’ |
陳 Chàhn → 阿陳 A-Chán, 老陳 lóuh-Chán ‘old (Mr.) Chan’ |
眼鏡 ngáahn + geng → ngáahn-géng ‘glasses’ |
鹹魚 hàahm + yùh → hàahm-yú ‘salted fish’ (also slang, ‘dead body’) |
cheese → 芝士 jīsí |
order → 柯打 ōdá |
公司 | 經理 | 嘅 | 工人 |
gūngsī | gīngléih | ge | gūngyàhn |
company | manager | LP | maid |
‘the company manager’s maid’ |
A: | 我 | 俾 | 啲 | 嘢 | 你 | 做 | 得唔得 | 呀? |
Ngóh | béi | dī | yéh | léih | jouh | dāk-m̀h-dāk | a? | |
I | give | CL | thing | you | do | okay-not-okay | SFP | |
‘I’m giving you something to do, okay?’ | ||||||||
B: | 得 | |||||||
Dā-āk! | ||||||||
okay | ||||||||
‘Sure!’ |
點 | 算 | 呀? |
Di-ím | syun | a? |
how | do | SFP |
‘What shall I do?’ |