This week we had to rely on the Lecture 7 mp3 recording for our learning. I have learnt that the direct translation of ‘chu geh’ is chu jia in Chinese, which literally means leaving the house. Moreover, I gained extended knowledge about this phrase as it can also mean to marry, which can be implied if a spouse moves out of her house. The unexpected realisation that I got was that ‘bak kut teh’ is actually a popular Hokkien dish, given by the fact that a lot of Hokkien ‘gu li’, known as coolies, patronise the pork rib stall mentioned in the audio.

This week, learning was done based on the lyrics from ‘Long Liu Lian’, otherwise translated as Waves Wandering. Some of my direct takeaways from the song is the 成语 ‘hong hong u u’ which directly translates to windy and rainy, also a description for something faced with many obstacles. The title of the song is mentioned in the line ‘lan long si ui tio ai jiong lai long liu lian’, which directly translates to wandering on waves for love. However, the implied meaning I have taken away from that line is going through ups and downs for love, using waves as a symbolic idea in Hokkien adds a layer of beauty and emotion to the song. Incidentally, the words we’ve learnt previously like ‘siau lian’ and ‘jit eh’ are present in the song, which means youngsters and the number one paired with a classifier.

We learnt about different animals and food in Hokkien. We can simply ask how much food one is going to eat by saying ‘li eh sai jia kway bao’ which directly translates to how many packets you want to eat. The youtuber introduced ‘si ka zua’ as lizard however we learnt that this term is actually monitor lizard while lizard is actually ‘ji leng’ which stands for a kind of dragon. I did not expect that some of the Hokkien words for the animals sound similar to their actual sounds they emit. For example, ‘gu’ for cow sounds like its moo sound.

Certain phrases are expressed in a unique way in Singapore Hokkien compared to other kinds of Hokkien. For example, market in Singapore Hokkien is expressed as pasat which is similar to a local Malay term as compared to cai qi ah. In asking the stall owner what time he starts business, I learnt how to use this question and answer with different timings, using numbers I have learnt in the first lesson. The question ‘Ah pek kway tiam kai xi’ can be replied with ‘si diam’ or ‘gor diam’ for instance. The phrase ‘Lang zi hui tou’ actually has the meaning of turning back which can imply turning over a new leaf.

Today, based on the ‘Are u a Hokkien 2’ video, I have learnt a few Hokkien phrases regarding certain food items. Zap cai represents mixed vegetable and can also be used to describe vegetable curry which is Nyonya dish. Or cuk bi represents black glutinous rice. I also learnt to say a rhyming sentence in Hokkien ‘Wa wu sa niah sa’ which means I have 3 shirts. Even though tau ka chiu literally means take out your hand and leg, it has an inferred meaning when used which is to help out. A certain phrase may be said differently by some based on one’s culture and background.