‘OK laa’: learn Cantonese ‘tail sounds’ or mei jam to speak like a local with Luisa Tam

[@mikerainbblue4474]

This is mind blowing! I didn’t know there are so many different ways to say “OK”

[@xbrandi12345x]

I wasn't planning on learning Cantonese but this lady is so easy to like and pay attention to. I am going to see if she has a KZbin channel of her own. Thanks for showing this!

[@aletheia6672]

Cantonese almost became the official language of China because Dr Sun Yat Sen, the founder of the Republic of China, and many revolutionaries were from the Guangdong province. However, for various reasons Manchurian-influenced northern 官话 was retained as the official language, thus northern Chinese continued to use it to assert political dominance and cultural primacy over all of China, from the Qing Dynasty until today. Meanwhile, despite having direct ties to classical Middle Chinese, southern Chinese languages like Cantonese were demoted to the lesser rank of regional 'dialect'.

[@emiriebois2428]

Manchurian? Manchu spoke Machu !

[@alvinthai9058]

Yes, and it was off by one vote.

[@wolverine9377]

You ain't making sense here

[@aletheia6672]

​@@emiriebois2428 You are right, I made a mistake. I have edited to 'Manchurian-influenced'.

[@lolmonkyboi]

😢

[@JS-rm2ws]

I'm a British national, ethnic Chinese. My parents are from HK. I'm learning the language; thank-you for sharing this video. I found it very useful :-)

[@vandeseroy3266]

Malaysia and Singapore also used that 'laa' thing.

[@smilingface2006]

it became lah

[@FF-ch9nr]

so thats where MY and SG got their “lahs”

[@RespectOthers1]

So proud to speak one of the languages regarded as the most difficult to learn.

[@IcanseeeverythingwhatyouDohere]

Mandarin is harder

[@hizzirm]

@@IcanseeeverythingwhatyouDohere well, they are both difficult though Cantonese is harder due to the having more different tones than mandarin

[@IcanseeeverythingwhatyouDohere]

@@hizzirm man you are speaking the reverse and opposite what I just said and I stand by what I said so I disagree

[@linphilip6389]

@@IcanseeeverythingwhatyouDohere No way. I have tons of complains from mandarin speakers when they learn cantonese but a lot fewer from cantonese speakers to learn mandarin. You are saying this based on your iwn pride and prejudice. If you don't agree, you are lying. F* you la.

[@meagany]

since when was mandarin harder 😭

[@kenrock2]

Love this segment.. Malaysia has very similar to Cantonese slang.. Like boleh lah, boleh meh? O boleh... Boleh ka? Most likely influence from Chinese local here with the malays..

[@dottrie7767]

You left out ok lor.

[@eklim2034]

Ok meh = o(kay) (kay climbing pitch) Ok wor = o(kay) (kay at low base) Ok laa =o(kay) (kay louder)

[@borderless2223]

Bless Luisa...Anyone heard of OK loh? Usually meaning someone is somewhat reluctant and expressing their agreement with some resistance. Also, in the way it's delivered, it can be a sulky response or flirty response.

[@simunooi5306]

I use 'kwa' in place of 'geh' for uncertainty. Cantonese speaker in Malaysia.

[@bkcalvine]

Kwa is a slightly different kind of uncertainty. Geh is like "I guess ... (but not committed)" where as Kwa is more like "perhaps (but not sure)"

[@bca1945]

This is true. Both of them can convey uncertainty but with a slightly little bit of difference. In certain context, 'kwa' attaches to answer you're giving that you're not so sure if it's really correct or not, or basically you have no idea about it. Sometimes, it also gives a sense of not caring about it 'ge' (here with a lower-rising tone or 2nd) is somehow used to say you're not exactly certain about it but you're still leaning towards it (like 50-50). 'ge' (here with the 3rd tone) is likely to convey affirmative attaching to the end of a sentence. All in all, the lexical tone of these tail particles is a rough guide; it's the emotion you're ALSO showing that takes into true effect. (spoken with a soft voice, a higher pitch showing you care about it, uncertain/ decisive tone, an abrupt manner etc) P.S. Exploring these in a real context is far more useful than digging it with written description. They're actually spoken devices.

[@Nerfunkal]

Ok might be the most universal word in all languages besides our sign languages.

[@catus-cactus]

You forgot the word no lol

[@DanielHYNg]

I am ok laa. I am Cantonese from Malaysia wor. Hope everyone is doing and practising well geh. Cheers folks.

[@hok9540]

I thought "lah" are the word from Chinese people in Malaysia and Singapore cause there's a lot of Malay word that use "lah"

[@COVID_24]

I heard both thank you lah and 謝謝lah in Singapore.

[@breadyegg]

When subtitling a tonal language, I recommend using one of the conventions for showing times eg jyutping, Yale

[@ZoeyaKitchen]

Masha Allah nice video sharing friend.

[@hanabibibiy]

i never realised dllm la , dllm lor , dlm gah indeed all have different meaning

[@kedricjackson2299]

I need to learn Cantonese. I'm already learning Mandarin.

[@Mistydiamond234]

I never know I know an extremely bit of Cantonese (Because a little bit sounds same as Mandarin) You should become a Cantonese teacher so you can teach us Cantonese, so Chinese people from other regions can communicate with Chinese in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong SAR. Overall, sounds helpful to me.

[@sovietwizard1620]

many people in hong kong already have basic mandarin levels. Pretty much everyone in guangdong should speak fluent mandarin as well.

[@ghostland8646]

there is nothing in Cantonese sound like mandarin

[@Mistydiamond234]

@@ghostland8646 A bit, but you don’t know though.

[@ghostland8646]

@@Mistydiamond234 yes I do know. I know Cantonese. what you mean by ‘ a bit ‘ is that none of the pronunciation is the same in Cantonese so u don’t know what u talking about either

[@Mistydiamond234]

@@ghostland8646 actually most of them are completely different, but like the word lā is like slight longer than the mandarin lā

[@geoffy8245]

You forgot "Ok diu", which is a term of endearment and shows that you recognize the divine in the other person.

[@Blitzkit]

from PH here, and we almost use the word "geh" without even the word ok in it to mean OK in a very lazy unsure way :D

[@k.3004]

you mean shortened version of sige, (from spanish seguir) shortened words are informal in philippine languages this could seen as either familiarity or informal in the sense of not talking properly to the person

[@postpwnmalone]

Very interesting

[@alvinthai9058]

My cousin taught how to say flower bridge. Faa Kiu!

[@Neyobe]

❤️

[@WorldRecordRapper]

❤🤙🏼🤙🏼🤙🏼❤

[@irememberla6460]

O-K! Lol

[@yanchan9711]

if they called it Cantonese what language i am speaking？ Hebeinese？

[@kitebabe05]

i thought chinese was generally a tonal language, not just the individual dialects. is that wrong?

[@tdugong]

Cantonese has more tones than Mandarin.

[@kikifiat5021]

😂

[@Neuvari]

how about ok lor?

[@tdugong]

Sounds like you're convincing someone whatever it is is ok, I think.

[@Neuvari]

@@tdugong aaah i see

[@hotpotato7392]

Somewhat okay, or so-so.

[@hotpotato7392]

Oh! Btw, _'lor'_ or _'loh'_ is a Singaporean application.

[@dracolnyte]

why is mei yum spelt as 'jam'? this aint German or Spanish.

[@MeiinUK]

Mei yum can let you tell the context of the situation. Is it a question ? Is the other person feeling annoyed ? Or happy ?... Basically.. by respect in Cantonese. They mean to take care of the other person's feelings... As you communicate and do not overstep or crosses any red lines. HK is in lockdown.. and HK has experienced so many fluctuation as well.

[@TheYellowmyth]

First, lah

[@joeadamides3433]

Piggery

[@eggventuretechnology5173]

I am not sure she speak correctly

[@sealobo]

Try “ok wor diu lay lo mei!” If you wanna be a real expert.

[@MeiinUK]

Do you want to know why people like the Cantonese say "Dil lay lo mo" ?... This is the most cursing comment. It literally states "f your mother". Why would a random person get so angry at you ?.. In a polite society.... For somebody to say that to you means that, they don't think that your mother should've given birth to you. If you understood Chinese culture and society... Then people marry by age. Elder marry first before the younger ones and etc etc etc. There is an order to life as well. Many overseas diaspora like Singapore and Malaysia is not as cohesive as the Cantonese because many of you were not in the shipping routes where you were. Some of you even ran off further south killing other Cantonese as you go. Violating borders etc. You don't go back to help your own family prosper at all ? So you end up spoiling your family's wealth. Then next you will try and steal somebody's wealth too. Then hatred and fights and the rest is history. This is why they say... "Curse your mother for lack of discipline"....

[@MeiinUK]

You want to shame the Cantonese? As a British Cantonese... I am shaming you back.

[@pia_mater]

Cantonese isnt even learnable

[@jonathankimty8599]

If children can learn to speak it, so can you.

[@zzz7315]

Being the most popular 2nd language in China, it would like to disagree

[@pia_mater]

@@jonathankimty8599 children can learn any language

[@pia_mater]

@@zzz7315 yeah but 99% of the people that speak it are native

[@zzz7315]

@@pia_mater A sizable number of people in Vietnam also speak it. As well as many non-natives from Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan etc staying in HK and Malaysia learned it. Edit: To add on, many of these expats came to find work when they are fully grown adults and still learned the language Edit #2: And no man, not all Chinese are native Cantonese. The many dialects of China are really "dialects" in bold apostrophe. I'm an overseas Chinese + native Hakka and I can't understand shyt on dialects like Hokkien, Teocheow, Hainan, Shanghai etc. To summarise although everyone identifies as Han, mandarin is the language that most speaks as a lingua franca but not our native language. Being Chinese does not mean they are native Cantonese, native Hakka etc.

[@ahmadsantoso9712]

Just keep your language for your people only, don't push it beyond your line.

[@emiriebois2428]

That is why you are writing in english ! LOL

[@youtubeed12345]

Cantonese language sounds disrespectful

[@IcanseeeverythingwhatyouDohere]

You know this isn’t really Cantonese she spoke?

[@emiriebois2428]

No doubt you are disrepectful

[@alvinthai9058]

I agree, but it's bad on other people who don't understand nor spell correctly

[@ChiakiShirakawa]

Black dot Monkeypox？