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Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Word of the day / tuì-tâng

Word of the day / tuì-tâng

tuì-tâng
I heard this term on a cartoon. 
Here it is:
The dad burst out laughing after hearing the grandfather made a comment. 
tuì-tâng here means precisely, can't agree more. 








#taigi #taiwanese #learntaiwanese #learntaigi #taigu #formosa #formosan #taioan #nativelanguage

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Idiom of the day /

Idiom of the day /
á-pô á tshue-kué ..... tò-thap

â-pô--á = elderly woman
tshue = steam (a cooking method)
kué = rice cake
tò = on the opposite, overturn, invert.
thap = fall down, collapse, sink in, cave in.
tò-thap : it could mean that the middle of the rice cake sunk in, form a puddle kind of sunk hold in the middle. (Normally the top of rice cake should be flat.)
Also use this pun to mean that (this is hard to explain...) not only you didn't get any profit, benefit from investing time and money into something, someone, it ended up cost you more than you wished.










#taigi #taiwanese #learntaiwanese #learntaigi #taigu #formosa #formosan #taioan #nativelanguage

Friday, October 27, 2017

Idiom of the day / gia̍t-kat-á uē

Idiom of the day /
gia̍t-kat-á uē
pái-kha-ê kiânn toh tíng .... gioh-toh

pái-kha = limp
pái-kha-ê is someone who limps, crippled.
kiânn = walk
toh = table
tíng = top
toh tíng = on top of the table

pái-kha-ê kiânn toh tíng = the crippled person walks on the table.

gioh is describing the action of limping. Sort like descriptions the one heel twist and dig into the ground kind of movement.
gioh--leh, gioh--leh.

gioh-toh means ..... show off
With a proud air
it's similar to hiau-pai.

gioh-toh is a new term for me. I've never heard of this term before. Perhaps it's not spelled nor translated correctly.

(Help!!!)






#taigi #taiwanese #learntaiwanese #learntaigi #taigu #formosa #formosan #taioan #nativelanguage

Monday, October 23, 2017

Siraya class notes - final exam

Siraya class notes

Oct. 21st 2017


Final exam

Naunamu:

1. Nimilingig ko ki oni ti mamuama aw.

I heard my grandpather's sound.


2. Akumeya ki pitu ki uma ti mamuina tu uwal ki zarok.

Akumeya ki = there are

pitu ki uma = seven fields

uwal ki zarok = the right side of stream/river.


3. vavaw ki talag

over the house/home.

vavaw = over, above

halap = on top of, above


4. Mahapul ta halibang ka maiden k'ata.

This skirt is soft to wear. (it feels soft when you wear the skirt)

halibang = skirt

maiden = wear

mahapaul = soft/tender


5. Q: Kamang ta ata?

A: Ata ta isip.


Q: What is this?

A: This is flower.



Ka raruha:


1.  Tmaplag ta raway ki aluf ka magute ki vato ka maflag.

Tmaplag = hit

raway = kid, child

aluf ka magute = green grass

vato = stone, rock

maflag = big, large


2. ta ti yaw = ko

ta imhu = kaw


3. Nismasasngog ta teni ki isip ka marapul tu iga.

marapul = scent, smells good.



4. Miripa, Hanyu.

Kmana kita, aley ka malaat ato.

ato = already

malaat = late

malaat ato = already late.

Kmana kita = We(everyone) come eat!  Let's eat!


note: Kmita past tense is kiraey

kmite = see, look


5. Mano ka mumha kaw ki Siraya?

tu papitu ki wagi ki kapta


6. Kman ta ina ki apat ki kudo tu iga.

Ni-kman ta ti ina aw ki apat ki kudo tu iga.


Ka tuturu:  Translation:

1. The black dog used his teeth bited three pieces of meat on the road.

Kmagat ta asu ka maudim k'ata ki turu ki vaat ki walig tin tu tarang.


black dog = asu ka maudim

three pieces of meat = turu ki vaat

on the road = tu tarang

it's teeth = walig tin


2. There aare five fish on the living room table.

Akumeya ki rima ki tging ka using tu halap ki tupal tu/ki glaf ki peymawagan.

rima = five



3. My sister saw her kind/sweet friend on the right side of the garden yesturday.

Nikmita ta viil aw ki diu tin ka maharum tu uwal ki raul tu iga.

nikmita = see/look, past tense.


4. Grandma draws two small flowers on the ground.

Hmawaypatag ta ti mumaina ki ruha ki isip ka using tu (halap ki) nay.


5 Welcome to our beautiful village.

(Maku) Tatalaga tu parug yan ka mamutirag.


6. There are rabbits and deer by the river/stream.

Akumeya ki(Itukwa ta) rutok, ki fnang apa tu said/hili/tamang ki zarok.

akumeya ki = there is, there are (no past tense)

Itukwa ta = exist, (verb)  past tense = ni-itulkwa ta


========== the end of final exam ===========



Siraya song on YouTube

https://youtu.be/Foy0fl9gnUg

Masusu-a ki su ka Maka-Siraya


Milingig-a ki oni ta imumi

Masusu-a sumulat-a kuting-a apa

Masusu-a ki mannig ki su ka Maka-Siraya




#sirayalanguage #formosa #siraya #taiwanese #indigenous #triballanguage #Austronesian #西拉雅 #tainan #formosan

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Great radio program on Taiwan's history in Tâigí

By Chou Wan-yao (周婉窈), Professor, Dept. of History






#taigi #taiwanese #learntaiwanese #learntaigi #taigu #formosa #formosan #taioan #poj

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Word of the day - cement

lâm-á khóng
nickname for cement.
lâm-á is a brand name of a cement company (南亞)
khóng is probably the noun for "khōng" (?! Is it?)  -- wrong, please see comment below.
khōng is the action of applying cement onto a mode of some sort.
Another term often heard is "khōng-kû-lí" from "a-ta-ma khōng kû-lí" (originated from Japanese?)
a-ta-ma = あたま means head in Japanese.
"a-ta-ma khōng kû-lí" literally: the brand is full of concrete, meaning stupid, jelly head.

Hanji
khōng = 鞏  -- wrong, please see comment below.


Heard lâm-á khóng on radio. Lots of guesses in today's post. I'm not certain about any of this information. Correct ideas are welcome.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Word of the day - lia̍h-thán-hûainn

lia̍h thán-hûainn
Turn something to horizontal
or mean determined.
For example: guá sim lia̍h thán-hûainn a, it ting ài piànn kàu-té!!

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Word of the day - tsāi pak

tsāi-pak
Solid, opposite of hollow.




#taigi #taiwanese #learntaiwanese #learntaigi #taigu #formosa #formosan #taioan #poj

Friday, October 6, 2017

The Tâigí accent - a new normal


I've been only using Tâigí and English for more than one year.
I've got lots of thoughts on this experience and it will take more than one post to talk about it. This time I want to talk about accent.

I don't know if it's because Tâigí and Manderin Chinese are both tone-based language, unlike English, when it comes to accent, people in Taiwan are especially not so tolerant about having an accent speaking Tâigí.
Or perhaps it's just that the environment - after all, it's an island - it has been relatively isolated therefore it hasn't been seen as often that language is spoken by non-native speakers.  (Compare to countries like the US, UK where immigrants are commonly seen in society.)
Or perhaps it's the ROC-Manderin-centric single-dynamic viewpoint influence. I don't really know. But if you speak Tâigí with an accent, which is easy to have if you are not a native speaker or growing up, you didn't have the chance to actually say it in daily life.  People here would jokingly laugh at you, pick on your accent and therefore as a language learner, you would be easily discouraged and want to give up early on.

This makes the already-difficult language promotion even harder. Because the only way to get rid of the accent is to speak the language!! Even if by practicing so hard, you'd still have the accent. And that's my point. What about the accent? What's wrong with it?
If we are going to save the language, we must accept that we will have to go through a phrase that when most people speak Tâigí (and other native language) with an accent. And that's FINE.
Because it is the fact that we are trying to get out of the colonial period. We are all learning the native language like we were foreigners - and we sort of are considering how unfamiliar we are with our own culture.
It's sad, it's ridiculous but it's TRUE. 

We should recognize it, make peace with it, get over it and start learning our native languages like we are foreigners with a humble attitude and funny accent. So what?
Let the funny accent be a new normal. We should all be speaking in our native languages in funny accents but we are PROUD. We will be proud to be ourselves.




#taigi #taiwanese #learntaiwanese #learntaigi #taigu #formosa #formosan #taioan #poj #accent #newnormal

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Word of the day - articulate

Articulate

My guess: iōng ching-chún ê jī lâi piáu-ta̍t kah iù-lōo ê siūnn-hoat, iá-sī kài-liām.

I don't think there is one word or phrase in Tâigí that means "articulate". This is the best way I can think of to express the idea.
If you have better idea of how to say "articulate" in Tâigí, please do share your thoughts.