Cantonese through News Stories: Giant Lizard Sighted in Tuen Mun!

Much of the news over the Easter period was of little lasting interest and, on some days, degenerated into a dreary catalogue of traffic accidents, both on land and on sea. For this reason, the following story about Giant Lizards particularly stood out, especially since I lived and worked in Tuen Mun for a brief time in 2016. Actually, the important issue of animal cruelty has become an issue of concern in Hong Kong recently, so the motivations for this report were not entirely sensational. Like all skilled journalists, 蘆儀 Louh4 Yih4 manages to convey some useful advice about the issue at hand in this story, despite the threat of an impending dinosaur invasion!

Visit the TBV website for a shorter version of this report!

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12 new words:

蜥蜴 sīk1 yihk6 = lizard
飼養 jih6 yéuhng5 = to raise, to rear (of livestock)
走失 jáu2 sāt1 = wander away; be lost; be missing
捕足 bouh6 zūk1 = to catch
黑白泰加巨蜥 hāak1 baahk6 tai3 gāa1 geuih6 sīk1 = Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae)
品種 bán2 júng2 = a type (of animal, plant, etc.); a cultivated variety (of); varieties
瀕危物種 = pàhn ngàih maht júng = endangered species
成體 sìhng4 tái2 = adult; (?) fully grown
放養 fong3 yéuhng5 = to put in a suitable place to breed
性情 sing3 chìhng4 = disposition; temperament; nature
溫馴 wān1 sèuhn4 = (of animals) docile; tame
觸摸 jūk1 mó2 = to touch

*For jyutping romanization, you can cut and paste any Cantonese vocabulary in this post onto the Sheik Cantonese website.

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屯門大興邨有住戶發現單位嘅花槽一隻巨型蜥蜴。
A resident of the Tai Hing Estate in Tuen Mun found a giant lizard in a planter/flower rack [花槽 fāa1 chòuh4] [outside] her flat.

有專家相信係有人飼養嘅寵物走失咗。
An expert believes that it is a pet belonging to someone which has wandered off and got lost.

Note: In these first two sentences, 有 yáuh5 is used in a way similar to the indefinite article “a/an” in English. Compare this usage to 隻蜥蜴 in the next sentence, in which the measure word employed on its own before a noun indicates definite reference: “the lizard”. However, it would seem that a noun at the start of a sentence is generally understood as definite in many cases.

隻蜥蜴大約一米長。
The lizard was approximately a metre in length.

“Cycle” by Woo Sai Nga, translated by Audrey Heijns

Please scroll down for the Chinese version!

When only a few lamps are left on a winter night
he is left with the bitter cold,
with only a very small piece of cardboard
Why doesn’t he pull in his frozen ankles and curl up
to keep warm, amid the heart beats and
moist breath, or groom a dream
back to the time when
the bed was large, his parents still young and him
longing for tomorrow

How could he not have thought
of the risk of death as
possibly the only door left ajar
that could be fully opened
to escape the old body, just like
all the broken bowls and cups
that will eventually return with new contours

But only summer nights return, while he
unexpectedly starts to feel affection
for his cardboard, his groomed dream and when
the wind blows, and carries away sweat stains, unexpectedly
he happens to find
some leaps in rain-like drops dripping, spraying
as well as vague palpitations of existence, like
streets after the rain, wet old newspapers, a gleam of light
on the back of a cockroach, reflecting in his eyes
until the next winter night

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〈週期〉／胡世雅

當冬夜只剩幾盞燈
他剩下寒冷，
和一張過細的紙皮
就收進凍僵的腳踝吧，蜷縮
在心跳和微濕的呼吸下
取暖，或豢養一個夢
回到那個時候
床很大，父母未老而他
嚮往明天

對於死亡，他怎會
沒有過危險的想法
那可能是唯一的
裂縫像半掩的門可以徹底打開
可以逃離舊的軀體，就像
所有曾經破掉的碗和杯
終會以新的外形歸來

但歸來的只是夏夜，而他
竟然開始貪戀
他的紙皮，養出的夢以及
風過，帶走汗漬黏膩，他竟然
還可以找出
一些躍動，類似雨點滴落，濺開
以及一些有關生存的
微微的脈搏，例如
雨後的路，沾過水的舊報紙，蟑螂的背部
帶光，映在眼眸
直到下個冬夜

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● Woo Sai Nga, born in Hong Kong, is a member of Fannou Poetry Society. She graduated from the Chinese Department, Baptist University of Hong Kong in 2017 and is now teaching at a secondary school. She publishes poems in literary magazines in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and has won the Youth Literary Award (青年文學獎) and the Award for Creative Writing in Chinese (中文文學創作獎) in Hong Kong.

● Audrey Heijns, based in Hong Kong, is working at Shenzhen University. Her translations of Chinese literature have been published in literary magazines, including Het Trage Vuur, Twee Ronde, KortVerhaal, Terras, Renditions, Exchanges and Poetry International.

Cantonese through News Stories: Hong Kong Trials New Mosquito Catcher

The mosquitos of Hong Kong must tremble in their boots when they see Mr Lee Ming-wai, Pest Control Officer-in-charge at the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. There were twenty-nine cases of dengue fever in Hong Kong last year, a fact that must add to Lee’s determination to control the insects effectively. Hence this story on a new mosquito catcher or 捕蚊器 bouh6 mān1 hei3, a Dutch invention that Mr Lee hopes will answer all his prayers. Whatever the eventual outcome of this innovation, the following report, put together by 關可為 Gwāan1 Hó2 Wàih4 at TVB, is a veritable treasure trove of entomological vocabulary!

Visit the TVB website for a slightly different version of this report!

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12 new words:

1. 引入 yán2 yahp6 = to introduce (from elsewhere)
2. 成蚊 sìhng4 mān1 = adult mosquito
3. 幼蟲 yau3 chùhng4 = larva; larvae
4. 滋生 jī1 sāang1 = to breed; to multiply
5. 產卵 cháan2 léun2/léuhn5 = to lay eggs
6. 孵 fū1 = to hatch; to brood; to incubate
7. 監察 gāam1 chaat3 = to supervise; to monitor
8. 白紋伊蚊 baahk6 màhn4 yī1 mān1 = (Asian) tiger mosquito or forest mosquito (Aedes albopictus)
9. 針 jām1 = (of a mosquito) to bite
10. 實地測試 saht6 deih6 chāk1 si3 = on the spot + to test
11. 成效 sìhng4 haauh6 = effect; result
12. 推展 teui3 jín2 = to roll forward; to roll out; to promote; to extend to

*For correct jyutping romanization, you can cut and paste any Cantonese vocabulary in this post into the Sheik Cantonese website for checking.

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食環署引入新型捕蚊器，可以同時針對成蚊同幼蟲。
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department are introducing a new type of mosquito catcher that can target both adult mosquitos and larvae at the same time.

Note: The character 針 jām1 crops up in a couple of words used in this report. Here, 針對 jām1 deui3 is used, which means “to be aimed at; to be directed at”. Later, you’ll notice that 針 jām1 is also used as the verb “to bite” when applied to mosquitos (it means “to sting” in the case of bees, etc.).

春夏潮濕多雨，有利蚊蟲滋生。
Spring and Summer are humid and rainy, [conditions] favourable to [有利 yáuh5 leih6] the breeding of mosquitos.