Zhaoyang wrote:
And lastly, accidently speaking SWC with Cantonese readings should be the least of my worries, and almost everyone would understand it anyway.
Very true, indeed. In fact, many SWC terms, such as 吹牛, 走紅, 高買, 一刀切, 走後門, 黑箱作業, etc, have been widely used in spoken Cantonese nowadays.
Therefore, I think the word “only” as being used in “Mandarin/SWC only” and “Cantonese only” found in CantoDict entries could sometimes be very misleading. There are too many instances of SWC terms being used in spoken Cantonese or of Cantonese terms being used in Mandarin/SWC.
Simon Pettersson wrote:
So the "seng4" in "seng4 gung1" is a Canto-only usage which means "entire". Since it's Canto-only, it always uses the colloquial pronunciation. You can put any measure word after it: "seng4 tiu4", "seng4 go3", "seng4 san1" etc.
Yes, we can put almost any measure word after seng4 to indicate the meaning of “entire”. But I am not sure about your example of “seng4 gung1” (probably a typo)? If you mean 成功, then it should be read as “sing4 gung1” which means “success”, and 成 does not carry the meaning of “entire” in 成功.
I don't think, however, that I've heard 不同, but I could see that being used in more formal Cantonese.
不同 (a Mandarin term) can be used as part of an idiom in spoken Cantonese as well as SWC, e.g. 不同凡響, 與別不同.
Varbird25 wrote:
For example, could 鼻子 be used in spoken Cantonese without garnering too many stares? The CantoDict doesn't list it as Mandarin / Standard Written Chinese only … Another example like this would be 屋子,
Both 鼻子 and 屋子should be listed as Mandarin/SWC only. I have yet to hear them being used in Cantonese. If there is no second opinion, we are going to revise the wordings to “Mandarin/SWC only”.
Also, [www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk].
I'm guessing that the Cantonese alternatives are preferred, but the more Mandarin-esque versions can also be used in spoken Cantonese. Am I right about this?
不由得 is definitely a Mando term; the Canto equivalent is 唔到你 (or點到你). This entry should be revised as well.
And lastly, accidently speaking SWC with Cantonese readings should be the least of my worries, and almost everyone would understand it anyway.
Very true, indeed. In fact, many SWC terms, such as 吹牛, 走紅, 高買, 一刀切, 走後門, 黑箱作業, etc, have been widely used in spoken Cantonese nowadays.
Therefore, I think the word “only” as being used in “Mandarin/SWC only” and “Cantonese only” found in CantoDict entries could sometimes be very misleading. There are too many instances of SWC terms being used in spoken Cantonese or of Cantonese terms being used in Mandarin/SWC.
Simon Pettersson wrote:
So the "seng4" in "seng4 gung1" is a Canto-only usage which means "entire". Since it's Canto-only, it always uses the colloquial pronunciation. You can put any measure word after it: "seng4 tiu4", "seng4 go3", "seng4 san1" etc.
Yes, we can put almost any measure word after seng4 to indicate the meaning of “entire”. But I am not sure about your example of “seng4 gung1” (probably a typo)? If you mean 成功, then it should be read as “sing4 gung1” which means “success”, and 成 does not carry the meaning of “entire” in 成功.
I don't think, however, that I've heard 不同, but I could see that being used in more formal Cantonese.
不同 (a Mandarin term) can be used as part of an idiom in spoken Cantonese as well as SWC, e.g. 不同凡響, 與別不同.
Varbird25 wrote:
For example, could 鼻子 be used in spoken Cantonese without garnering too many stares? The CantoDict doesn't list it as Mandarin / Standard Written Chinese only … Another example like this would be 屋子,
Both 鼻子 and 屋子should be listed as Mandarin/SWC only. I have yet to hear them being used in Cantonese. If there is no second opinion, we are going to revise the wordings to “Mandarin/SWC only”.
Also, [www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk].
I'm guessing that the Cantonese alternatives are preferred, but the more Mandarin-esque versions can also be used in spoken Cantonese. Am I right about this?
不由得 is definitely a Mando term; the Canto equivalent is 唔到你 (or點到你). This entry should be revised as well.