Learn some common suffixes in Cantonese
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some suffixes in Cantonese? |
| Siuling: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At CantoneseClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee hears a new word that sounds familiar, but he isn't sure about the meaning. He asks his friend Lynn, "What does 'dung6 mat6 hok6' mean?" |
| 李麗莎: 「動物學」係咩意思？ ("dung6 mat6 hok6" hai6 me1 ji3 si1?) |
| Dialogue |
| 李麗莎: 「動物學」係咩意思？ ("dung6 mat6 hok6" hai6 me1 ji3 si1?) |
| 盧曉玫: 即係研究動物嘅科學。 (zik1 hai6 jin4 gau3 dung6 mat6 ge3 fo1 hok6.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| 李麗莎: 「動物學」係咩意思？ ("dung6 mat6 hok6" hai6 me1 ji3 si1?) |
| Michael: "What does 'dung6 mat6 hok6' mean?" |
| 盧曉玫: 即係研究動物嘅科學。 (zik1 hai6 jin4 gau3 dung6 mat6 ge3 fo1 hok6.) |
| Michael: "It means 'zoology.' " |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A suffix is a character added to the end of a stem or root word, which results in the formation of a new word. Just like there are numerous suffixes in English like “-ness”, “-less”, “-ly”, etc., there are a handful of suffixes in Cantonese as well. Thus, learning about suffixes will not only expand your vocabulary, but will also let you grasp or guess the words you are not familiar with. In Cantonese, a suffix is called |
| Siuling: 後綴 (hau6 zeoi3) |
| Michael: Let's start with the suffix we hear in this lesson's dialogue: |
| Siuling: 動物學 (dung6 mat6 hok6) |
| Michael: "zoology." When we break down this term, we can see that it starts with the noun |
| Siuling: 動物 (dung6 mat6), |
| Michael: "animal," followed by the suffix |
| Siuling: 學 (hok6), |
| Michael: by itself, this character means "study," but, when used as a suffix as in this case, it implies "the study of." So, the study of animals is zoology. |
| Siuling: 動物學 (dung6 mat6 hok6) [SLOW] 動物學 (dung6 mat6 hok6) |
| Michael: This suffix is commonly used for fields of study. Another example is |
| Siuling: 生物學 (sang1 mat6 hok6), |
| Michael: "Biology." This term starts with the noun |
| Siuling: 生物 (sang1 mat6) |
| Michael: literally "living creatures," followed by the "study" suffix, |
| Siuling: 學 (hok6); |
| Michael: So, here, we have the study of living things, which is "biology." |
| Siuling: 生物學 (sang1 mat6 hok6) [SLOW] 生物學 (sang1 mat6 hok6) |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Siuling focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Sasha says "What does 'dung6 mat6 hok6' mean?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 「動物學」係咩意思？ ("dung6 mat6 hok6" hai6 me1 ji3 si1?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Siuling: 「動物學」係咩意思？ ("dung6 mat6 hok6" hai6 me1 ji3 si1?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 「動物學」係咩意思？ ("dung6 mat6 hok6" hai6 me1 ji3 si1?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Lynn says "It means 'zoology?'" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 即係研究動物嘅科學。 (zik1 hai6 jin4 gau3 dung6 mat6 ge3 fo1 hok6.) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Siuling: 即係研究動物嘅科學。 (zik1 hai6 jin4 gau3 dung6 mat6 ge3 fo1 hok6.) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 即係研究動物嘅科學。 (zik1 hai6 jin4 gau3 dung6 mat6 ge3 fo1 hok6.) |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: Now, let’s talk about another common Cantonese suffix, |
| Siuling: 性 (sing3). |
| Michael: By itself, this character means “nature,” “quality,” and “sex.” But, when used as a suffix, it turns an adjective into a noun, similar to “-ness” or “-ity” in English. For example, let’s take the adjective “flexible,” |
| Siuling: 靈活 (ling4 wut6) |
| Michael: and add the suffix, |
| Siuling: 性 (sing3), |
| Michael: then it becomes “flexibility,” |
| Siuling: 靈活性 (ling4 wut6 sing3) [SLOW] 靈活性 (ling4 wut6 sing3) |
| Michael: And can you guess for the word “possibility”? It would be “possible,” plus this suffix. |
| Siuling: 可能 (ho2 nang4) “possible,” plus the 性 (sing3) suffix, becomes 可能性 (ho2 nang4 sing3) |
| Michael: “Possibility” |
| Siuling: 可能性 (ho2 nang4 sing3) [SLOW] 可能性 (ho2 nang4 sing3) |
| Michael: Let’s move on to another common Cantonese suffix, which is |
| Siuling: 化 (faa3) |
| Michael: When placed after a noun or adjective, the word becomes a causative verb, similar to “-ize” or “-ify” in English. For instance, “modernize,” |
| Siuling: 現代化 (jin6 doi6 faa3), |
| Michael: is constructed simply by adding the suffix after “modern.” |
| Siuling: Right. 現代 (jin6 doi6) “modern,” plus the 化 (faa3) suffix, becomes 現代化 (jin6 doi6 faa3), “modernize.” |
| Michael: Another example with the adjective “pretty,” |
| Siuling: 美 (mei5), plus the 化 (faa3) suffix, becomes 美化 (mei5 faa3) |
| Michael: which means “to make something (more) beautiful,” “to beautify.” |
| Siuling: 美化 (mei5 faa3) [SLOW] 美化 (mei5 faa3) |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Siuling: 拜拜! (baai1 baai3!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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