Hakka phrasebook

File:Hakka phrasebook banner Village in Meizhou - A village in Meizhou Hakka (客家话 Hak-kâ-fa/Hak-kâ-va) originated in China but is also spoken in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Province of China, and among overseas Chinese, especially in Southeast Asia. In this Travel Guide and the Hong Kong dialect of the Hakka language will be used.

Brief overview

The Hakka (客家 Kèjiā, IPA: [hak₃ ka₃₃] ) people migrated South from Northern China over the centuries to settle in southern Jiangsu and Hunan, western Fujian, eastern Guangdong, and various other areas, due to wars, famine, natural disasters, and political persecution.

Hakka comes from the words '客' "guest" and '家' "families" which derives from an official term during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) for the program of resettlement of the coastal areas of Guangdong after evacuation orders imposed during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. These settlers whose language was different to the original inhabitants were given this appellation to show they were not indigenous to the areas they became settled in. The indigenous inhabitants (punti) had generally occupied the more fertile basins, so the incoming Hakka often settled in the more inaccessible valleys and mountainous or hilly terrain.

In some areas and the Hakka built tulou (土楼, tǔlóu), earth and straw round houses. These fascinating, centuries-old buildings are home to a whole clan and are easily defended. The largest groups of Fujian Tulou|tulou, in Fujian, are now on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Though less well known internationally, Hakka people in other areas built different types of walled villages such as wei (围, wéi) and weilongwu (围龙屋, wéilóngwū).

To a considerable extent, Hakka have their own culture, different from their neighbours. In Neal Stephenson's novel Ream De, much of which takes place in Xiamen, one character is a Hakka lass from a tea-growing mountain area, and she is sometimes called a "big-foot woman" in reference to the fact that, unlike most other Chinese and the Hakka never adopted the custom of foot-binding.

The Hakka language (客家话; Kèjiāhuà) shares a common vocabulary with Southern languages such as Cantonese, Teochew and the many dialects of Fujian, and there are regular sound correspondences to the historical sound system of Middle Chinese. In terms of pronunciation, it has some features in common with Cantonese and some with Mandarin, though it's not mutually intelligible with either dialect.

Pronunciation guide

The most accessible Hakka speakers are found in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Province of China. Most of them will be dual language speakers, in Hong Kong and they are able to understand and speak Cantonese, whilst on the mainland of China and on Taiwan and they will also speak Mandarin, with those from Guangdong province typically being trilingual in Hakka, Cantonese and Mandarin. There is no standard form of Hakka and regional variations in local dialects can be surmounted by understanding the gist of the spoken sentence and knowing some sound correspondences that the user will encounter. That said, many people consider the dialect spoken in Meizhou to be the prestige dialect of Hakka.

There are some sounds in Hakka which do not occur in English. The following pronunciation guide aims to rhyme English words with the sounds found in the Hakka syllable. Please note they are approximations, you may require a Hakka speaker to guide your pronunciation.

Vowels

The vowels can be long or short. Long vowels occur in open syllables, where there are no endings. Short vowels occur in syllables which end in nasals (-m, -n or -ng) or stops (-p, -t or -k).

Vowel Sound Length Varies with Syllable Endings

Romanised Vowel	IPA	Long Vowel (syllable ends in a vowel)	IPA	Short Vowel (syllable ends with -m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k)
a	[ aː ]	a in car	[ ɐ ]	a in pat
e	[ ɛː ]	ai in hair	[ e ]	e in pet
i	[ iː ]	ee in been	[ ɪ ]	i in pit
o	[ ɔː ]	or in core	[ ɒ ]	o in pot
u	[ uː ]	oo in boot	[ ʌ ]	u in put In some dialects there is a vowel which we represent as ii, which does not occur in standard English. It is a retroflex i and the closest sound is almost like ir in "shir" when saying English 'sure'. In the Hong Kong dialect and these sounds become -i or -u. Initial or Consonant Consonant Sounds in Hakka b p m f v [ p ] [ pʰ ] [ m ] [ f ] [ ʋ ] almost like b in boy almost like p in pot like m in man like f in far almost like v in van d t n l [ t ] [ tʰ ] [ n ] [ l ] almost like d in dart almost like t in star like n in no (in most Hakka dialects) like l in low g k ng h [ k ] [ kʰ ] [ ŋ ] [ h ] like g in gone like k in kin like ng in singer like h in how z c s y [ ts ] [ tsʰ ] [ s ] [ j ] [ ˀ ] like ts in tests like t in too or c in Italian ciao like s in sow like y in yew A slight closing of the throat before syllables that begin with a vowel Rimes Syllable Rimes in Hakka a ai au am an ang ap at ak [ a ] [ ɐj ] [ ɐu ] [ ɐm ] [ ɐn ] [ ɐng ] [ ɐp ] [ ɐt ] [ ɐk ] far eye how ham an fang lap sad hag ] ia   iɐu iɐm   iɐng iɐp   iɐk [ ja ]   [ jɐu ] [ jɐm ]   [ jɐng ] [ jɐp ]   [ jɐk ] yarn   yow yam   yang yap   yak e   eu em en   ep et   [ ɛ ]   [ eu ] [ em ] [ en ]   [ ep ] [ et ]   hair   eow em en   epic bet   ie   ieu iem ien   iep iet   [ jɛ ]   [ jeu ] [ jem ] [ jen ]   [ jep ] [ jet ]   yeah   yeow yem yen   yep yet   i     im in   ip it   [ i ]     [ ɪm ] [ ɪn ]   [ ɪp ] [ ɪt ]   bee     dim tin   dip ] lit   ii     iim iin   iip iit   [ ɨ ]     [ ɨm ] [ ɨn ]   [ ɨp ] [ ɨt ]   fur     firm fern   burp bird   o oi     on ong   ot 'ok [ ɔ ] [ ɒj ]     [ ɒn ] [ ɒŋ ]   [ ɒt ] [ ɒk ] core coy     con kong   cot cock io ioi     ion iong   iot 'iok [ jɔ ] [ jɒj ]     [ jɒn ] [ jɒŋ ]   [ jɒt ] [ jɒk ] yore yoy     yon yong   yot yok u ui     un ung   ut 'uk [ u ] [ uj ]     [ un ] [ uŋ ]   [ ut ] [ uk ] woo wee     bun bung   but book iu       iun iung   iut 'iuk [ ju ] [ jʌj ]     [ jʌn ] [ jʌŋ ]   [ ʌt ] [ ʌk ] you youeille     'yun young   yut yuck       m n ng             [ m ] [ n ] [ ng             mmm nnn ung       Tones Tones in Hakka # IPA Tone Letter Character Romanisation Syllable in IPA Meaning 1 33 ˧ 被 pi1 [ pʰi˧ ] quilt cover 2 11 ˩ 皮 pi2 [ pʰi˩ ] skin 3 31 ˧˩ 彼 pi3 [ pʰi˧˩ ] that and there, those 4 53 ˥˧ 鼻 pi4 [ pʰi˥˧ ] nose 5 3 ˧ 匹 pit5 [ pʰi˧ ] bolt of cloth; counter for horses 6 5 ˥ 蝠 pit6 [ pʰi˥ ] flying mammal called a bat The tone changes known as sandhi does occur, but the change in the pitch is not as great as found in other Chinese languages. Some Sound Correspondences between dialect of the Hakka Language Apart from tonal differences and there are small variations in pronunciations from place to place. The following details some of the more commonly found differences, which may be helpful to the user when hearing other speakers from different areas. h is sometimes pronounced as s, especially when there is a vowel -i- in the syllable. E.g. 兄 hiung1 may be pronounced siung1. au is sometimes pronounced as o. E.g. 好 hau3 / ho3 ai is sometimes pronounced as e E.g. 雞 gai1 / ge1 Some Hakka dialects has the -u- medial, so you may hear words like 光 gong1 pronounced as guong1 (gwong1). Phrase list Basics Common signs| OPEN  營業中 / 開 CLOSED  休息 / 關 ENTRANCE  入口 EXIT  出口 PUSH  推 PULL  拉 TOILET  洗手間 MEN  男 WOMEN  女 FORBIDDEN  禁止 }} Hello.  . ( ) Hello. (informal)  . ( ) How are you?   ? ( ?) Fine, thank you.  . (Simungi ) What is your name?   ? ( ?) My name is ______ .  ______ . ( _____ .) Nice to meet you.  . ( ) Please.  . ( ) Thank you.  . ( ) You're welcome.  . ( ) Yes.  . ( ) No.  . ( ) Excuse me. (getting attention)  . ( ) Excuse me. (begging pardon)  . ( ) I'm sorry.  . ( ) Goodbye  . ( ) Goodbye (informal)  . ( ) I can't speak name of language [well.  [ ]. ( [ ]) Do you speak English?   ? ( ?) Is there someone here who speaks English?   ? ( ?) Help!   ! ( !) Look out!   ! ( !) Good morning.  . ( ) Good evening.  . ( ) Good night.  . ( ) Good night (to sleep)  . ( ) I don't understand.  . ( ) Where is the toilet?   ? ( ?) Problems Leave me alone.  . ( .) Don't touch me!   ! ( !) I'll call the police.  . ( .) Police!   ! ( !) Stop! Thief!   ! ! ( ! !) I need your help.  . ( .) It's an emergency.  . ( .) I'm lost.  . ( .) I lost my bag.  . ( .) I lost my wallet.  . ( .) I'm sick.  . ( .) I've been injured.  . ( .) I need a doctor.  . ( .) Can I use your phone?   ? ( ?) Numbers 1  一 yit5 2  二 ngi4 3  三 sam1 4  四 si4 5  五 ng3 6  六 luk5 7  七 cit5 8  八 bat5 9  九 giu3 10 十 sip6 11  十一 sip6 yit5 12  十二 sip6 yit5 13  十三 sip6 sam1 14  十四 sip6 si4 15  十五 sip6 ng3 16  十六 sip6 luk5 17  十七 sip6 cit5 18  十八 sip6 bat5 19  十九 sip6 giu3 20  二十 ngi4 sip6 21  二十一 ngi4 sip6 yit5 22  二十二 ngi3 sip6 ngi4 23  二十三 ngi3 sip6 sam1 30  三十 sam1 sip6 40  四十 si4 sip6 50  五十 ng3 sip6 60  六十 luk5 sip6 70  七十 cit5 sip6 80  八十 bat5 sip6 90  九十 giu3 sip6 100  一百 yit5 bak5 200  二百 ngi4 bak5 300  三百 sam1 bak 5 1000  一千 yit5 cien1 2000  二千 ngi4 cien1 10,000  一萬 yit5 van4 100,000  十萬 sip6 van4 1,000,000  一百萬 yit5 bak5 van4 10,000,000  一千萬 yit5 cien1 van 100,000,000  一億 yit4 yit6 1,000,000,000  十億 sip6 yit6 10,000,000,000  一百億 yit5 bak5 yit6 100,000,000,000  一千億 yit5 cien1 yit6 1,000,000,000,000  一兆 yit5 cau4 number _____ (train, bus, etc.)  _____號 hau4 half  半 ban4 less  少 sau3 more  多 do1 Time now  今下 gin1 ha4 late  遲 ci2 early  早 zau3 morning  朝頭早 zau1 teu2 zau3 afternoon  下晝 ha1 zu4 evening  暗晡晨 am4 bu1 sin2 night  夜晚晨 ya4 man1 sin2 dawn  日頭一起 ngit5 teu2 yit5 hi3 dusk  日頭落光 ngit5 teu2 lok6 gong1 Clock time 1 o'clock  一點鐘 yit5 diam3 zung1 2 o'clock  兩點鐘 liong3 diam3 zung1 (Note 兩 liong3 is used) 3 o'clock  三點鐘 sam1 diam3 zung1 The twelve divisions of the hour by five minutes increments makes it fairly convenient to tell the time. at the hour  搭正 dap5 zin4 5 past  搭一 dap5 yit5 (literally "connected to number 1 on the clock face") 10 past  搭二 dap5 ngi4 quarter past  搭三 dap5 sam1 20 past  搭四 dap5 si4 25 past  搭五 dap5 ng3 half past  搭半 dap5 luk5 25 to  搭七 dap5 cit5 20 to  搭八 dap5 bat5 quarter to  搭九 dap5 giu3 10 to  搭十 dap5 sip6 5 to  搭十一 dap5 sip6 yit5 Combine the two and you can express time as hour and minutes combinations twenty five past seven  七點搭五 ciu4 cit5 diam3 dap5 ng3 When you want to express a time between the five minutes divisions, you can do so by nearly or just after in the following manner. nearly twenty five past seven  就七點搭五 ciu4 cit5 diam3 dap5 ng3 just after twenty five past seven  整過七點搭五 zang4 go4 cit5 diam3 dap5 ng3 nearly (approaching)  就到 ciu4 dau4 just past (gone) : 過滴 go4 dit6 noon  正午 zin4 ng3 midnight  半夜 ban4 ya4 Duration _____ minute(s)  _____分鐘 _____fun1 zung1 _____ hour(s)  _____隻鐘頭 _____zak5 zung1 teu2 _____ day(s)  _____日 _____ngit5 _____ week(s)  _____隻星期 _____zak5 sin1 ki2 / _____隻禮拜 _____zak5 li1 bai4 _____ month(s)  _____ 隻月頭 _____zak5 ngiet6 teu2 _____ year(s)  _____年 _____ngien2 Days today  今日 gin1 ngit5 yesterday  喒晡日 cam4 bu1 ngit5 tomorrow  明早日 min2 zau1 ngit5 this week  這隻星期 ngia3 zak5 sin1 ki2 / 這隻禮拜 ngia4 zak5 li1 bai4 last week  上隻星期 song4 zak5 sin1 ki2 / 上隻禮拜 song4 zak5 li1 bai4 next week  下隻星期 ha4 zak5 sin1 ki2 / 下隻禮拜 ha4 zak5 li1 bai4 Sunday  禮拜 li1 bai4 / 星期天 sin1 ki2 tien1 Monday  禮拜一 li1 bai4 yit5 / 星期一 sin1 ki2 yit5 Tuesday  禮拜二 li1 bai4 ngi4 / 星期二 sin1 ki2 ngi4 Wednesday  禮拜三 li1 bai4 sam1 / 星期三 sin1 ki2 sam1 Thursday  禮拜四 li1 bai4 si4 / 星期四 sin1 ki2 si4 Friday  禮拜五 li1 bai4 ng3 / 星期五 sin1 ki2 ng3 Saturday  禮拜六 li1 bai4 luk5 /星期六 sin1 ki2 luk5 Months January  一月 yit5 ngiet6 February  二月 ngi4 ngiet6 March  三月 sam1 ngiet6 April  四月 si4 ngiet6 May  五月 ng3 ngiet6 June  六月 luk5 ngiet6 July  七月 cit5 ngiet6 August  八月 bat5 ngiet6 September  九月 giu3 ngiet6 October  十月 sip6 ngiet6 November  十一月 sip6 yit5 ngiet6 December  十二月 sip6 ngi4 ngiet6 First lunar month  正月 zang1 ngiet6 Second lunar month  二月 ngi4 ngiet6 Third lunar month  三月 sam1 ngiet6 Fourth lunar month  四月 si4 ngiet6 Fifth lunar month  五月 ng3 ngiet6 Sixth lunar month  六月 luk5 ngiet6 Seventh lunar month  七月 cit5 ngiet6 Eighth lunar month  八月 bat5 ngiet6 Ninth lunar month  九月 giu3 ngiet6 Tenth lunar month  十月 sip6 ngiet6 Eleventh lunar month  十一月 sip6 yit5 ngiet6 Twelfth lunar month  十二月 sip6 ngi4 ngiet6 Leap intercalculary month  閏月 yun4 ngiet6 First day of lunar month  初一 co1 yit5 Second day of lunar month  初二 co1 ngi4 Ninth day of lunar month  初九 co1 giu3 Tenth day of lunar month  初十 co1 sip6 Eleventh day of lunar month  十一(日) sip5 yit5 (ngit5) Writing time and date Colors black  ( ) white  ( ) gray  ( ) red  ( ) blue  ( ) yellow  ( ) green  ( ) orange  ( ) purple  ( ) brown  ( ) Transportation Bus and train How much is a ticket to _____?  ( ) One ticket to _____, please.  ( ) Where does this train/bus go?  ( ) Where is the train/bus to _____?  ( ) Does this train/bus stop in _____?  ( ) When does the train/bus for _____ leave?  ( ) When will this train/bus arrive in _____?  ( ) Directions How do I get to _____ ?  ( ) ...the train station?  ( ) ...the bus station?  ( ) ...the airport?  ( ) ...downtown?  ( ) ...the youth hostel?  ( ) ...the _____ hotel?  ( ) ...the American/Canadian/Australian/British consulate?  ( ) Where are there a lot of...  ( ) ...hotels?  ( ) ...restaurants?  ( ) ...bars?  ( ) ...sites to see?  ( ) Can you show me on the map?  ( ) street  ( ) Turn left.  ( ) Turn right.  ( ) left  ( ) right  ( ) straight ahead  ( ) towards the _____  ( ) past the _____  ( ) before the _____  ( ) Watch for the _____.  ( ) intersection  ( ) north  ( ) south  ( ) east  ( ) west  ( ) uphill  ( ) downhill  ( ) Taxi Taxi!  ( ) Take me to _____, please.  ( ) How much does it cost to get to _____?  ( ) Take me there, please.  ( ) Lodging Do you have any rooms available?  ( ) How much is a room for one person/two people?  ( ) Does the room come with...  ( ) ...bedsheets?  ( ) ...a bathroom?  ( ) ...a telephone?  ( ) ...a TV?  ( ) May I see the room first?  ( ) Do you have anything quieter?  ( ) ...bigger?  ( ) ...cleaner?  ( ) ...cheaper?  ( ) OK, I'll take it.  ( ) I will stay for _____ night(s).  ( ) Can you suggest another hotel?  ( ) Do you have a safe?  ( ) ...lockers?  ( ) Is breakfast/supper included?  ( ) What time is breakfast/supper?  ( ) Please clean my room.  ( ) Can you wake me at _____?  ( ) I want to check out.  ( ) Money Matters & ATM's in Hakka phrasebook Do you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars?  ( ) Do you accept British pounds?  ( ) Do you accept Euros?  ( ) Do you accept credit cards?  ( ) Can you change money for me?  ( ) Where can I get money changed?  ( ) Can you change a traveler's check for me?  ( ) Where can I get a traveler's check changed?  ( ) What is the exchange rate?  ( ) Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)?  ( ) Eating A table for one person/two people, please.  ( ) Can I look at the menu, please?  ( ) Can I look in the kitchen?  ( ) Is there a house specialty?  ( ) Is there a local specialty?  ( ) I'm a Vegetarian.  ( ) I don't eat Pork.  ( ) I don't eat beef.  ( ) I only eat kosher food.  ( ) Can you make it "lite", please? (less oil/butter/lard)  ( ) fixed-price meal  ( ) a la carte  ( ) breakfast  ( ) lunch  ( ) tea (meal)  ( ) supper  ( ) I want _____.  ( ) I want a dish containing _____.  ( ) Chicken  ( ) beef  ( ) fish  ( ) ham  ( ) Sausages  ( ) Cheese  ( ) eggs  ( ) salad  ( ) (fresh) vegetables  ( ) (fresh) fruit  ( ) bread  ( ) toast  ( ) l-food/halal-certified-noodles/ Noodles  ( ) Rice  ( ) beans  ( ) May I have a glass of _____?  ( ) May I have a cup of _____?  ( ) May I have a bottle of _____?  ( ) coffee  ( ) tea (drink)  ( ) juice  ( ) (bubbly) water  ( ) (still) water  ( ) organic juice  ( )   ( ) May I have some _____?  ( ) salt  ( ) black pepper  ( ) butter  ( ) Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server) ( ) I'm finished.  ( ) It was delicious.  ( ) Please clear the plates.  ( ) The check, please.  ( ) Bars Do you serve alcohol?  ( ) Is there table service?  ( ) A Cola/two soft drinks, please.  ( ) A glass of none-alcoholic drinks, please.  ( ) A pint, please.  ( ) A bottle, please.  ( ) _____ (hard drink) and _____ (mixer), please.  ( ) whiskey  ( ) vodka  ( )   ( ) water  ( ) club soda  ( ) tonic water  ( ) orange juice  ( ) Coke (soda)  ( ) Do you have any bar snacks?  ( ) One more, please.  ( ) Another round, please.  ( ) When is closing time?  ( ) Cheers!  ( ) Muslim Friendly Shopping in Hakka phrasebook Do you have this in my size?  ( ) How much is this?  ( ) That's too expensive.  ( ) Would you take _____?  ( ) expensive  ( ) affordable  ( ) I can't afford it.  ( ) I don't want it.  ( ) You're cheating me.  ( ) I'm not interested.  (..) OK, I'll take it.  ( ) Can I have a bag?  ( ) Do you ship (overseas)?  ( ) I need...  ( ) ...toothpaste.  ( ) ...a toothbrush.  ( ) ...tampons.  . ( ) ...soap.  ( ) ...shampoo.  ( ) ...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen)  ( ) ...cold medicine.  ( ) ...stomach medicine.  ... ( ) ...a razor.  ( ) ...an umbrella.  ( ) ...sunblock lotion.  ( ) ...a postcard.  ( ) ...postage stamps.  ( ) ...batteries.  ( ) ...writing paper.  ( ) ...a pen.  ( ) ...English-language books.  ( ) ...English-language magazines.  ( ) ...an English-language newspaper.  ( ) ...an English-English dictionary.  ( ) Driving I want to rent a car.  ( ) Can I get insurance?  ( ) stop (on a street sign)  ( ) one way  ( ) yield  ( ) no parking  ( ) speed limit  ( ) gas (petrol) station  ( ) petrol  ( ) diesel  ( ) Authority I haven't done anything wrong.  ( ) It was a misunderstanding.  ( ) Where are you taking me?  ( ) Am I under arrest?  ( ) I am an Malaysian/Indonesian/Emirati/Singaporean citizen.  ( ) I want to talk to the Malaysian/Indonesian/Emirati/Singaporean embassy/consulate.  ( ) I want to talk to a lawyer.  ( ) Can I just pay a fine now?  ( ) Learning more