Learn about diminutives in Cantonese
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are diminutives and how are they formed in Cantonese? |
| Siuling: And are they commonly used? |
| Michael: At CantoneseClass101.com, we hear these questions often. In this scenario, Peggy Wong points out a cute kitten to her daughter, Portia Pang. She says, "Look at the kittens!" |
| 黃慧芝: 睇下啲貓仔！ (tai2 haa5 di1 maau1 zai2!) |
| Dialogue |
| 黃慧芝: 睇下啲貓仔！ (tai2 haa5 di1 maau1 zai2!) |
| 彭妤柔: 好得意呀！ (hou2 dak1 ji3 aa3!) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| 黃慧芝: 睇下啲貓仔！ (tai2 haa5 di1 maau1 zai2!) |
| Michael: "Look at the kittens!" |
| 彭妤柔: 好得意呀！ (hou2 dak1 ji3 aa3!) |
| Michael: "[They’re] so cute!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In Cantonese, words can change shape in order to convey extra information about the size or the appearance of something, or the way the speaker feels. It is achieved by adding certain suffixes to the words. In this lesson, we’ll focus on the most common suffix used for creating diminutives, |
| Siuling: 仔 (zai2). |
| Michael: By itself, this word means "son," but, when it's added at the end of certain nouns, it refers to a smaller or younger version of that noun, or to show affection or familiarity. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s see the diminutive from this lesson’s conversation. Do you remember how Peggy says "Look at the kittens?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Siuling: 睇下啲貓仔！ (tai2 haa5 di1 maau1 zai2!) |
| Michael: Here, the diminutive is |
| Siuling: 貓仔 (maau1 zai2) [SLOW] 貓仔 (maau1 zai2), |
| Michael: which means “kitten” or "kittens." We can see that it's a combination of |
| Siuling: 貓 (maau1) |
| Michael: meaning "cat," followed by the diminutive suffix, |
| Siuling: 仔 (zai2). Together, it is 貓仔 (maau1 zai2), |
| Michael: “Kittens.” The diminutive version of the noun here indicates smallness or youngness, but more probably cuteness. Let's look at another example of this diminutive suffix. |
| Siuling: 鴨仔 (aap3 zai2), |
| Michael: “duckling” or “ducklings.” It is constructed the same way as we just mentioned—“cat” plus the diminutive suffix becomes “kitten.” Here, it’s “duck,” |
| Siuling: 鴨 (aap3), |
| Michael: followed by the diminutive suffix, |
| Siuling: 仔 (zai2), |
| Michael: becomes “duckling.” |
| Siuling: 鴨仔 (aap3 zai2) [SLOW] 鴨仔 (aap3 zai2). |
| Michael: Can you give us another example other than animals? |
| Siuling: Okay, let’s look at 禮物仔 (lai5 maat6 zai2), |
| Michael: “gift” plus the diminutive suffix. It refers to “a small gift,” and is usually used by the giver to present the gift in a humble manner. Again, it’s the noun “gift,” |
| Siuling: 禮物 (lai5 maat6), |
| Michael: followed by the diminutive suffix, |
| Siuling: 仔 (zai2), |
| Michael: “a small gift.” |
| Siuling: 禮物仔 (lai5 maat6 zai2) [SLOW] 禮物仔 (lai5 maat6 zai2) |
| Michael: Sometimes, this suffix is used to refer to a young male of a particular nationality or background. |
| Siuling: For example, 法國仔 (faat3 gwok3 zai2), |
| Michael: “a young French male.” |
| Siuling: or IT仔 (IT zai2), |
| Michael: “a junior male IT engineer.” |
| Michael: And, in some cases, this suffix can refer to both genders of a particular background |
| Siuling: such as 打工仔 (daa2 gung1 zai2), |
| Michael: “a junior employee,” which can be either male or female. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that, in Cantonese, you can modify words in order to convey extra information and connotation about what you’re talking about or the way you feel about it. Diminutives are modified words that describe something as smaller, younger, or cuter. In Cantonese, the most common suffix to form diminutives is: |
| Siuling: 仔 (zai2). |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Siuling focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Peggy says "Look at the kittens?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 睇下啲貓仔！ (tai2 haa5 di1 maau1 zai2!) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Siuling: 睇下啲貓仔！ (tai2 haa5 di1 maau1 zai2!) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 睇下啲貓仔！ (tai2 haa5 di1 maau1 zai2!) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Portia says "[They’re] so cute?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 好得意呀！ (hou2 dak1 ji3 aa3!) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Siuling: 好得意呀！ (hou2 dak1 ji3 aa3!) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 好得意呀！ (hou2 dak1 ji3 aa3!) |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: This common diminutive suffix can also be used to address someone affectionately or as a term of endearment. And, some famous Hong Kong actors got a nickname this way. |
| Siuling: Right, usually, we take one of the characters from the person's name, and then add 仔 (zai2) behind it. |
| Michael: For example, consider a popular actor and producer, Stephen Chow, |
| Siuling: His Chinese name is 周星馳 (zau1 sing1 ci4), so we take the character 星 (sing1) and then add the endearment suffix 仔 (zai2), then we get 星仔 (sing1 zai2), which is a nickname that most people called him when he was younger. |
| Michael: Another example is the famous actor, Andy Lau. |
| Siuling: His Chinese name is 劉德華 (lau4 da k1 waa4), so we take the character 華 (waa4) and then add the endearment suffix 仔 (zai2); then, we get 華仔 (waa4 zai2), which is a nickname that many people have been using since he was young, and still in use even though he's almost 60 years old! |
| Michael: This version of the word clearly conveys endearment and the speaker’s feeling of affection toward the actors, which is not necessarily a young person. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Siuling: 拜拜！ (baai1 baai3!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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