Learn Cantonese - Siu Mihng (what all kids know!)
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- Hi there,
Have you ever heard of "Siu Ming" (or Siu Mihng)? :D
It's a children's sing-song rhyme that my kids used to do with their grandma when we'd go to yum cha, and I think most if not all kids in Hong Kong learn it.
It's a fun way to remember your directions and to interact with little kids (and impress them and their parents with your Cantonese!). I hope you like it!
I didn't write the English definitions on the board since we were acting them out, but here they are:
seuhng = up, upward
hah = below, under
jo= left (direction wise)
yauh = right (direction wise)
chihn = front, forward
hauh = back, backward
fo che = train
gyun saan lung = goes through the mountain
So here's a note about the "gyun" because it doesn't mean at all what it's supposed to .... but that is what most people will tell you is the character and the pronunciation when used in Siu Ming! So if you learned this a different way or with a different character (maybe chuyn or jyun), I won't be surprised. But this "gyun" is often used as well, so I decided to stick with this one.
Anyway - Cantonese never fails to surprise or frustrate - LOL!
Thanks for subscribing to my channel and liking my videos -- I'll try to get some more done soon!
Happy learning,
Sue Marguerite
PS. Learn more Cantonese with me and open new windows into Cantonese culture by taking my Traditional Characters in Cantonese Pronunciation courses over at www.cantolingo.com.
Learn traditional Standard Written Chinese characters, their Cantonese equivalent (if any), the radicals, proper stroke order, and much more! Classes are on-going and combine online self-study with Zoom sessions. This is a university-level course based on materials from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and is effective and fun!
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Sue 老師, your lessons are amazing! I'm fascinated by your videos and learned a few things even as a native Cantonese speaker!!! There's one small correction I'd like to point out:
The seuhng 上 in the context of the "Siu Ming" song is actually the sixth tone (low level). In the song, the seuhng 上 is used as an adjective (in the context of a position) instead of a verb so it would be the sixth tone instead of the fifth tone.
Examples:
Fifth Tone
上樓 - going up stairs
Sixth Tone
上層 - upper level
上司/上頭 - superior
The "上頭" case is an interesting one because the fifth and sixth tone mean completely different things.
When used with the fifth tone seuhng 上頭, it literally means the action of combing hair or more accurately the hair combing ceremony for the bribe the night before the wedding.
There you go, the surprising and/or frustrating part of Cantonese :)
Hi Johnny, thanks so much for commenting and correcting this! When I sang it again to myself just now, I naturally sang it in the low flat or sixth tone, so not sure how I ended up writing it in the low rising or fifth tone and then following that to sing it. Obviously, I wasn't being as careful as I ought to be! In any case, I've pinned your comment to the top so I hope everyone can see it and learn about the séuhng/seuhng difference.
And the hair combing ceremony is so interesting! I had to look it up to learn more and found this site: asiaweddingnetwork.com/en/magazine/expert-advice/1381-traditional-chinese-hair-combing-ceremony-here-s-all-your-questions-answered
Thanks again for commenting and for such nice compliments!
I just wanted to let you know I've just discovered your videos two days ago and I love them! I'm learning cantonese to talk to my in laws more and you are such an amazing help! Thank you so much!
You're so welcome!! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment - I really appreciate it, and it's given me the idea to do a video on "Talking to Your In-laws". (There are definitely certain universal things or phrases that I use when talking to mine! :) If there's anything in particular you'd like to learn to say to yours, let me know!
Thank you so much, that would be very helpful as I only started learning recently and I don't have too much contact with them, so I don't get to practice it much. I somtimes speak cantonese with my S.O. for practice though :) Looking forward to the next video!
Hi again - just wanted to let you know that I posted a little video on things you might say to your in-laws. I hope you find it useful! :)
A lovely lesson and demonstration, I must say!
Thank you so much! I appreciate your taking the time to watch and comment :)
haha omg i use this "song" to remember my directions when i'm trying to figure out my left & right haha I'm ABC lol so i tend to forget.
That's so awesome to hear! :)
very impressive
It is better to use 瓹山窿 instead of 捐山窿 . 捐 means to donate something while 瓹 means to pass through something. Their pronunciations are the same but with different meanings and belong to different categories of characters. 捐 belongs to 「手字部 Category of Hand」 while 瓹 belongs to 「瓦字部 Category of Food Containers」. 捐 and 瓹 are both picture-and-sound-combined characters where one half of the character assists the pronunciation （肙）while the other half associates the character with its potential (original) meanings. In the case of 捐，when you donate something to others , you may use your hands to pass something to others in a dedicated manner. In the case of 瓹 , you may imagine that something can pass through a hole on a food container(瓹山窿 are later derived to mean passing through a cave). There are even two more similar words : 涓 and 娟 . These two words are both beautiful words in which parents like to name their daughters by using one of these two words . 涓 means a small river while 娟 means a young and elegant lady. 涓 belongs to the Category of Water while 娟 belongs to the Category of Lady .
Thank you so much , Miss Sue .
I like your videos and I learnt a lot from you on how to explain complicated things by using effective and simple English.
Do you have any tips for pronouncing 香，长, and stuff with the "oe" sound? I can't do it
For some odd reason, I'm just seeing this now! I'm sorry for not replying sooner. I wish UA-cam allowed me to record a message, like in whatsapp, because that might be much easier! I'll try to explain by saying that the "heung" like in Hēung Góng (Hong Kong) I most closely equate with "H--earn--g" ... so the English word "earn" is pretty close, I think. Same with the "cheuhng" -- "ch--earn--g" ... and remembering to run the "n" and "g" together at the end.
The "oe" sound? Do you have any examples? The Yale system doesn't use "oe" so I'm not sure.
Cantonese Corner yeah that's it. "Hoeng gong" 香港 thanks!
in cantonese we use traditional chracters so 长 should be 長
Fantastic 🙏🙏🙏EA
Thanks so much!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and appreciate your taking the time to comment. :)