Hello everyone, my name is Edward
So I'm a Hongkonger
So today I'm filming this video to introduce to everyone to
my mother tongue, Yue, Hong Kong variety Yue,
that is Cantonese spoken by Hongkongers
So actually besides at work, or sometimes when
chatting with friends from a different country
I may speak in English
But usually most of the time I would speak Cantonese
So Hong Kong Cantonese, compared to other places like
Guangzhou, Malaysia, etc.
There are many differences
So I’ll give you a brief introduction now
So first, Hong Kong Cantonese has a lot of English loanwords
So in daily life, the ones most commonly used include
“Bus”, which is bus
Taxi, which is “taxi”
Store, which is “store”
File, which in English is “file” and so on
So besides loanwords from English, when Hongkongers speak
a lot of times they will actually mix in a few English sentences
We speak a blend of Chinese and English
So for example when planning a meal with a friend
You might need to “book” a table ahead of time
meaning reserve a table
And when at work, you might talk about “project” and “deadline”,
working every day like a “jack” [servant]
And travelling on vacation is never complete without
going to an “outlet” to go shopping
And in fact there are a lot of other examples of mixing Chinese and English
but I’ll stop here for now
So lastly, Hong Kong Cantonese actually uses a lot of words
that are different from other places that speak Cantonese
I recently saw on the Internet an article about
Guangzhou and Hong Kong Cantonese and their difference in vocabulary
So it turns out what Hongkongers usually call ticket [CE FEI],
in Guangzhou Cantonese is called ticket [CE PIU]
And Hongkongers will say swipe card [LUK KAAT]
in Guangzhou Cantonese it is swipe card [CAAT KAAT]
Hongkongers will say photocopy [JING JAN]
Guangzhou people will say photocopy [FUK JAN]
Hongkongers will go to class [SOENG TONG]
Guangzhou people will say go to class [SOENG FO]
What Hongkongers call straw [JAM TUNG]
Guangzhou people will say straw [KAP GUN]
So there’s a lot more examples
In fact sometimes when you hear someone speak Cantonese
Their vocabulary will roughly tell you what region they are from
So Cantonese has a long history
It has its own unique pronunciation system and vocabulary
so although a lot of people say it’s difficult to learn Cantonese
but personally I think if you have a little more patience and time
you will realise Cantonese is actually pretty fun and interesting
So I hope there will be more of you who will get to know and learn Cantonese
Together we can pass down this unique linguistic culture
So okay, I’ll end today’s video here
maybe I’ll see you next time, bye bye!