Cantonese grammar
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Cantonese is an analytic language where, in a sentence, the arrangement of words is important to its meaning. A basic sentence is in form of SVO, i.e. a subject is followed by a verb then by an object, though this order is often violated because Cantonese is a Topic-prominent language. Unlike synthetic languages, seldom do words indicate time, gender and plural by inflection. Instead, these concepts are expressed through adverbs, aspect markers, and particles, or are deduced from the context. Different particles are added to a sentence to further specify its status or intonation.
A verb itself indicates no tense. The time can be explicitly shown with time-indicating adverbs. Certain exceptions exist, however, according to the pragmatic interpretation of a verb's meaning.Additionally, an optional aspect particle can be appended to a verb to indicate the state of an action. Appending interrogative or exclamative particles to a sentence turns a sentence into a question or shows the attitudes of the speaker.
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[edit] Verbal Aspect
In contrast to many European languages, Cantonese verbs are marked for aspect rather than tense - that is, whether an action has begun, is ongoing, or has been completed. Tense - where an action occurs within time, ie past, present, future - is specified through the use of time adverbs. In addition, verbal complements may convey aspectual distinctions, indicating whether an action is just beginning, is continuing, or at completion, and also the effect of the verb on its object(s).
Aspect particles are treated as suffixes bound to the verb.
| Aspect | Marker | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfective | jo2 (咗) | To emphasise a completed activity the result of which still applies to the present situation | 我I 喺at/in 香港Hong Kong 住咗live-PERF 一one 年year = I have lived in Hong Kong for a year (and still live here) |
| Experiential | gwo3 (過) | To emphasise an activity completed in the indeterminate past which no longer applies to the present situation | 我I 喺at/in 香港Hong Kong 住過live-EXPR 一one 年year = I lived in Hong Kong for a year (but am now back in England) |
| Progressive | gan3 (緊) | To emphasise a dynamic activity which may undergo a change of state | 我I 著緊wear-PROG 衫clothes = I am putting on clothes |
| Durative | jyuh6 (住) | To emphasise a continuous activity without a change of state | 我I 著住wear-DUR 衫clothes = I am wearing clothes |
| Delimitative | haa5 (吓) | To emphasise an activity of brief duration | 等Let 我me 著吓wear-DEL = Let me wear it for a while |
| Habitual | hoi1 (開) | To emphasise an activity protracted over a period of time to the point that it has become characteristic or habitual | 我I 做開do-HAB 鐘點part-time 嘅SFP = I normally work part time |
| Inchoative | hei3-soeng6-lai4 (起上嚟) | To emphasise the beginning of an activity | 個CL BBbaby 突然之間suddenly 喊起上嚟cry-INCH = the baby suddenly began crying |
| Continuative | lok6-heoi3 (落去) | To emphasise the continuation of an activity | 你you唔NEG 使need 再again 講落去speak-CONT 喇SFP = You don't have to go on speaking |
Abbreviations: CL = classifier; SFP = sentence-final particle
[edit] Pronouns
Cantonese uses the following pronouns, which like in many other Sinitic languages, function as both subjective (English: I, he, we) and objective (me, him, us):
| Pronoun | Pronunciation (in Jyutping) | Grammatical Classification | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 我 | ngo5 | 1st person singular | I / me |
| 你 | nei5 | 2nd person singular | you |
| 佢 | keoi5 | 3rd person singular | He / she |
| 我哋 | ngo5 dei6 | 1st person plural | We / us |
| 你哋 | nei5 dei6 | 2nd person plural | You (all) |
| 佢哋 | keoi5 dei6 | 3rd person plural | They / Them |
[edit] Copula ("to be")
States and qualities are generally expressed using stative verbs that do not require the verb "to be". For example, to say "I am hungry", one would say 我肚餓 (ngoh5 tou3 ngoh4)(literally: I hungry).
With noun complements, the verb 係 hai6 serves as the verb "to be".
- 琴日係中秋節 Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn festival
(Here 琴日 kam4 jat6 means "yesterday")
Another use of 係 is in cleft constructions for emphasis, much like the English construction "It's ... that ...". The sentence particle 嘅 "ge3" often follows.
- 佢係完全唔識講廣東話嘅 "(It is the case that) s/he cannot speak Cantonese at all."
N.B.: Do not confuse 係 hai6 ("to be") with 喺 hai2 ("at").
To indicate location, the words 喺 hai2 and 響 hoeng2, which are collectively known as the locatives or sometimes coverbs in Chinese linguistics, are used to express "(to be) at":
- 我而家喺圖書館 I am at the library now
(Here 而家/依家 ji4 gaa1 means "now")
[edit] Negations
Many negation words start with the sound m- in Cantonese; for example, 唔 m4 (not), 冇 mou5 (not have), 未 mei6 (not yet). Verbs are negated by adding the character 唔 m4 in front of it. For example:
- 我食得花生 I can eat peanuts
(Where 食 sik6 is the verb "to eat")
becomes:
- 我唔食得花生 I cannot eat peanuts
The exception is the word 有 jau5 (to have), which turns into 冇 mou5 (don't have) without the use of 唔.
The negative imperative is formed by prefixing 唔好 m4 hou2 or 咪 mai5 in front of the verb:
- 唔好睇戲 Don't watch movies
- 咪睇戲 Don't watch movies
In contrast to the examples of sentential negation above where the entire sentence is negated, 唔 can also be used lexically to negate a single word. The negated word often differs slightly in meaning from the original word; that is, this lexcial negation is a kind of derivation. Evidence for this is that they can be used with the perfective aspect particle 咗 jo2, which is not possible with sententially negated verbs.
- 見 (see) --> 唔見 (lose)
- 記得 (remember) --> 唔記得 (forget)
- 錯 (wrong) --> 唔錯 (pretty good; not bad)/ 冇錯(right)
- 我唔見咗我本書 "I lost my book"
is perfectly acceptable, but
- '*'我唔食咗嘢 "I did not eat"
is ungrammatical. (The correct expression should be "我未食嘢" "我(I)未(not yet)食(eat)嘢(something/anything)")
[edit] Questions
[edit] Yes-or-no
- Yes-or-no questions take the form of SUBJ VERB+唔+VERB:
- 你識唔識講廣東話? Do you know how to speak Cantonese?
(Where 識 sik1 is the verb "to know (how)")
The exception is with the verb "to have", where one uses the form 有冇 jau5 mou5 for yes-no questions:
- 有冇紅綠燈? Is there (literally: "has it") a traffic light?
- Often, 係 hai6 ("to be") uses the shortened form 係咪 hai6 mai6 instead of the expected 係唔係.
- 佢係咪加拿大人? Is he/she a Canadian?
- With multi-character verbs, only the first character is repeated:
- 你鍾唔鍾意年糕? Do you like new-year cake?
(Where 鍾意 zung1 ji3 means "to like" - a two-character word)
[edit] Interrogative Words
- The interrogative words are as follows:
| Interrogative | Pronunciation | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 邊個 | bin1 go3 | who |
| 乜(嘢) / 咩 | mat1 (je5) / me1 | what |
| 邊度 / 邊處 | bin1 dou6 / bin1 syu3 | where |
| 幾時 | gei2 si4 | when |
| 點解 | dim2 gaai2 | why |
| 點(樣) | dim2 (joeng6*2) | How |
| 幾多 | gei2 do1 | How many/much |
[edit] Demonstratives
[edit] Singular
- The proximal demonstrative ("this"), is 呢 ni1 / nei1 or more frequently in fast speech, 依 ji1 (+ measure word). For example:
- 呢本書 this book
- 依本書 this book
- The distal demonstrative ("that") is 嗰 go2 (+ measure word). For example:
- 嗰本書 that book
[edit] Plural
- For plural demonstratives, add 啲 di1 before the noun:
- 呢啲書 these books
- 嗰啲書 those books
[edit] Possessives
- For singular nouns, the word 嘅 ge3 is roughly equivalent to English " 's":
- 爸爸嘅屋企 father's house
- Plural nouns take 啲 di1:
- 你啲動物 your animals
N.B.: 啲 is a very versatile word in Cantonese, besides pluralizing certain phrases, it can also mean "a little/few", e.g. 一啲 jat1 di1 (a little), or 早啲 earlier (literally: early + (intensifier)).
- Possessive pronouns (i.e. "mine", "his", "hers") are formed by adding 嘅/啲 after the pronoun.
- 係佢嘅呀! It's his!
(呀 aa3 is a particle used to end affirmative statements)
However, in the case where there's an implied plural noun, one does not say:
- 係佢啲呀! It's his!'.
For example:
- 呢啲書係邊個嘅呀？ (Whose books are these?)
- 係佢嘅呀! (It's his! [referring to his books])
嘅呀 ge3 aa3 is usually shortened in speech into one syllable, 嘎/㗎 gaa3.
- One could also say:
- 係佢啲書呀！ (It's his books!)
Both of these are generic possessives.
[edit] Differences from Standard Mandarin Grammar
The following Cantonese grammatical aspects are not found in Mandarin Chinese.
- For some special objects, possessives can be omitted, but not must:
- 爸爸屋企 father('s) house
- For some states of being, verbs can also be omitted, but not must:
- 我肚餓 I (am) hungry
- For specific objects, measure words can be used as possessive as well:
- 佢本書 his book (本 is the measure word)
- Classifiers in Cantonese can also serve as definite articles.
- 本書唔見咗 The book is lost.
