Protests in Diosua:

As of late there's been two major protests that made it to Western media channels...  check out this video from CNN HK/Beijing.

1) Wukan (near Sua:bhuè 汕尾) - Townspeople claim that a protest leader died of torture. Government officials claim he died of a heart attack. I'm not clear on why the original protest happened.

2) Haimen (near Dio:'iō: 潮陽) - Townspeople (30,000!) gathered to protest a current AND a new planned coal powerplant. Apparently the gov't has backed down on this second one. Go Haimen people!

I'm glad that Diosua: people are fighting against corruption and attacks on the local environment. Protest in Teochew is kàngngì 抗議。

What is so good about Teochew Food?

What's so good about Teochew food? Well I actually don't know. That's why these videos (2 parts) are great for helping to enlighten us Teochew-food-ignorants. This quick video is in Mandarin but with English subtitles. It leaves off where the other video that I posted, takes off. A nice little slice of Teochew food knowledge. What did I get from the video? Teochew food is all about subtle flavors. I haven't had some good Teochew food in months! Anyone have any suggestions (worldwide) for the best Teochew restaurants?

We are Gik-io:nang!

CHECK OUT THE MANGA HERE

Small snippet of the comic, go HERE for the full thing

Found this internet manga called "Uàng si Gīk-ionāng" (We are Gik-io: People). For those who don't know, Gik-io: is a city in the Diosua: region. The comic focuses on anthropomorphized tea kettles (very Teochew!) and  is light-hearted and quite funny. I really like the art and facial expressions. The linked episode is called "Gaginang". I think there's about a dozen of them. seems like they were created for that website "Chaoshanren.net" One interesting thing to note is that the whole thing is in Chinese characters and yet is in Teochew. Those Chinese readers who don't know know Teochew will probably be quite confused reading it.  For some a good percentage of words it uses Mandarin characters that approximate the sound of Teochew... for example:

- uà would normally be written 我 but is written as 瓦 in the comic. 
- măi would normally be written 勿 but is written 邁 in the comic.

I'll do a translation:


1A Jájai mài duà hiot jọi muetgiá:! / If I'd known, I wouldn't have brought so many things!
1B Mmm? / Hmm..
2B Hẹnglì kēt uà! / Give me the luggage!
2A Pāt kiot? Chàm liạo! / Oh no! Is he planning to steal stealing my stuff?

3A Nguánglại A Hia: sị hósim. Siohụ uà bua muetgiá, jọisiạ, jọisiạ!  / Turned out that you're a pretty nice guy. Helping me move my stuff, thanks a lot man!
3B Uàng lóngsị Gēk-iọ:nāng, dọ káo giā: diot siohú gagināng! / We're all Gek-io people! You have to help your own people!

3A Hia: a! Mó-ìseu, uà singdèng gại ngīng ṃ lạ hāi... / Hey man! So sorry, but I'm don't have enough to pay...
3B ...

Teochew Words That are Hard to Translate into English

For a change, I thought I'd make an original (wow!) post, so I wanted to throw in some fun words that I think are relatively hard to translate into English (or require many words to describe). Now, some of these may have easy translations into other languages, but it's takes some creativity to say it in Engbhūng.

Gáogoit
Rubbed off dead skin. This is my favorite, because I don't know of any other languages that have a word for this. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. All good Teochew parents teach their children how to clean themselves, and it takes a daily regimen of rubbing away gáogoit.

Mimi
Something shut closed but with a slit or small crack of showing. Mākmimi is someone's eye's that are closed so tight you can only see the slits. Perhaps "chink" would work.


 


Bhọlẹng-ūi
There's nothing you can do about it, there's no satisfactory way to do anything about this.

Lōng
To slide an object into a relatively small opening. Something like sliding a chopstick into a hole, or reach in with one's hand into a bag.

Tīktō
This one doesn't describe anything unique, but encompasses vacations, play, leisure, and doing anything for fun or enjoyment.

Have any more? Share them in comments!

Teochew Accents!

Time to hear some accents from around the Teochew world, we'll start with Vietnam and Cambodia. I'm gonna analyze how these individuals speak Teochew and perhaps we can understand some "typical" characteristics of regional Teochew speech (keep in mind some of it may be individual aberrations):

1. Vietnam - Thuan Loi's Gang-hu Dē Demonstration (quite good actually to see a hạose:nāng doing this)

- Any tone 5 (such as 個 gāi) becomes more of a tone 6 (so, 個 gái)
- 杯 bue, sounds more like bui
- 沖茶 chongdē, becomes songdē (this is a very typical change CH -> S for Vietnamese TC speakers)

2. Cambodia - Teochew People Celebrating New Year's Eve (aka Sa:japmē) in Phnom Penh

- (.48) 好就 hòjiụ is a very common connector between sentences, means "and then"
- (4.55) 零顆 lạnglò, meaning "some", very common
- (6.35) 每 mué is pronounced múi
- ang-he meaning "this way"