Cantonese

Text:

Given recent events, wherein personnel from the Hong Kong National Security Department (NSD) visited both my former residence and the residence of my family members for searches and inquiries, alleging a violation of the National Security Law in connection with an entry for the Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis (SLHK) ’s Cantonese essay competition, and demanding its removal, I have decided, with the guidance of legal counsel, to cease all operations of the Hong Kong Language Learning Association, effective immediately, in order to ensure the safety of my family and former members. Dissolution procedures are also initiated.

On the 22nd of August, officers from the Hong Kong National Security Department arrived at my former residence at 7:20 AM, requesting a meeting with me. However, as I was not present, my family informed them that I was out of town, making a meeting unfeasible. Nevertheless, the National Security officers entered the residence of my family members without a search warrant, and they requested that my family relay their demand to remove a specific fictional essay article from a competition held by the Hong Kong Language Learning Association three years ago.

Following this incident, I promptly contacted the National Security officer to inquire about the situation. The officers informed me that they had conducted a search of my former cake shop earlier that day. During this communication, the National Security officer mentioned my family and the past members of the SLHK, requesting the immediate removal of the aforementioned essay article. Considering the circumstances and the safety of my family, I took immediate action to remove the article on the same day.

The officers from the National Security Department emphasized that their actions were prompted by their unsuccessful attempts to contact me by the Central and Western District Office, and after consultation with the Department of Justice, they concluded that the essay article in question violated the National Security Law. However, upon reviewing my email correspondence with the Central and Western District Office, I found no previous communication or notice requesting the removal of any articles prior to December 21, 2021.

Since 2020, the Hong Kong Language Learning Association has been conducting community activities and organizational work under my sole decision-making. The Association has organized events such as the Cantonese essay competition through the “Community Participation Funding Scheme” from the District Council. However, the funding allocation from the Home Affairs Department has been pending for more than 30 months, causing a significant financial burden on my part.

In light of the circumstances mentioned above and to avoid any adverse impact on my family members and former participants of the Association, I have taken the difficult decision to halt all operations of the SLHK. This decision has been made in consideration of the legal risks involved in continuing its activities.

It is important to note that, since 2020, I have been solely responsible for all decisions and activities of the SLHK, including community events and the management of social media platforms and the website. I would like to clarify that my family members, any named members, or individuals residing in Hong Kong have not been involved in the Association’s activities or operations in any capacity.

The Hong Kong Language Learning Association, established in 2013, has served for ten years with the purpose of safeguarding the linguistic rights of Hong Kong people. It has organized numerous events to promote linguistic culture and language rights, particularly focusing on Cantonese and traditional Chinese characters.

In 2018, due to my opposition to the mandatory Putonghua graduation test at Baptist University, I received death threats and was forced to cease my hospital internship. Subsequently, the Hong Kong Language Learning Association was reported by a certain major political party as a “radical anti-China” organization, and I reported this to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Even as a volunteer, I helped organize Hong Kong language and cultural activities. However, to this day, I find myself barred from entering mainland China since the beginning of this year, with my Mainland Travel Permit invalided.

Moreover, a young man who previously wrote against the policy of teaching Chinese in Putonghua was charged with “inciting secession,” receiving sentences of nearly four years. Regrettably, I have had to halt my efforts to safeguard Cantonese in Hong Kong.

Earlier, on the SLHK’s website, I published an article with screenshots, exposing instances of examiners selling confidential information regarding public school examination grading on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. This ultimately led to the arrest of one suspect. The Hong Kong Police Force has repeatedly invited me to return to Hong Kong for court proceedings in relation to this case. However, given the current risks to my personal safety upon returning to Hong Kong, I am unable to comply with their request.

Due to the current circumstances and in light of the SLHK’s lack of financial resources and personnel, coupled with the associated legal risks, I have made the decision to halt all operations of the Association. Consequently, I will also initiate dissolution procedures in accordance with legal advice. Additionally, I retain the right to seek compensation for outstanding payments from the “Community Participation Funding Scheme” provided by the Hong Kong Government.

For any inquiries regarding the dissolution procedures of the Hong Kong Language Learning Association, please feel free to contact me via email at [email protected].

Andrew Lok Hang Chan

Chairman of the Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis

28 August, 2023

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In English, there are many succinct words which I've yet to find an equivalent for in chinese languages.

Examples in English are zenith/nadir, petrichor, effervescent, salience, obfuscate, apricity, nefarious, sycophant, unbecoming, churlish, gauche, stalwart, capricious, obdurate, pelf, penury, ignominious, anathema, insouciance, varlet, cozen, ravishing, furtive, banal, forsooth, diatribe, fastidious.

"Fastidious" or "meticulous" are translated in Mandarin as "不苟", literally "not + careless" but it doesn't have the same nice ring to it as it does in English. "diatribe" is translated in Mandarin as "長篇大論地抨擊" (criticize at length). "nefarious" is either 不道德的 (unethical) or 邪惡的 (evil)

Put differently, if a Cantonese speaker is "well spoken", what are some advanced words they might use?

For me, it's cause i used to live in HK + i like to speak canto with my old friends

I'd love some help understanding how to create a sentence in Cantonese.

What is the structure of a sentence? Is it "Subject (Time) (Place) Verb Object"?

For example, nei bin jat saang jat gaa (Which day of the month is your birthday?).

Conversely, 今日氣溫幾多度呀? (gam yat hei wan gei dor do a), if the topic is "temperature" shouldn't that come first in the sentence, rather than gam yat?

If i change the sentence, is it grammatically incorrect? for example, when speaking, i will translate from english to cantonese and think of each word as it comes along in the sentence.

Also, does anyone have a good dictionary recommendation? I have come across a few online but they seem to either be written cantonese or there seem to be multiple cantonese characters for what i'm looking for (and i can't tell which is correct). I have seen witionary has cantonese-specific phrases (for example, le fe: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%92%A7%E5%95%A1) but I can't sort specifically for cantonese phrases (i am especially looking for spoken cantonese words).

Thank you!

There are quite a few resources available for learning spoken Cantonese but i've found it difficult to find resources to learn Cantonese grammar.

For example, the sentence "he asked me to send you some photos" is, in my opinion, not a difficult sentence to translate in many languages but it seems particularly difficult in cantonese:

佢叫我 send的畫比你 keui yiu ngoh send dik waak bei nei he + ask + I + send + of + photo + ? + you

I have found this is called the "passive voice" but i don't understand the sentence order or why/where this "bei" is used.

Does anyone have any good resources for learning cantonese grammar, especially making sentences?