Hakka phrasebook

Hakka (客家话 Hak-kâ-fa/Hak-kâ-va) originated in China but is also spoken in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and among overseas Chinese, especially in Southeast Asia. It is one of the official languages of Taiwan. In this article, the Hong Kong dialect of the Hakka language will be used.

Most Hakka speakers are bilingual: in Hong Kong, they are able to understand and speak Cantonese, whilst in mainland China and Taiwan, they also speak Mandarin, with those from Guangdong province often being trilingual in Hakka, Cantonese and Mandarin. Foreigners in the area typically choose to learn Mandarin and/or Cantonese instead of Hakka as they are more widely used.

Brief overview

The Hakka (客家 Kèjiā, IPA: [hak₃ ka₃₃] ) people migrated south from Northern China over the centuries to settle in southern Jiangxi and Hunan, western Fujian, northern Guangdong, and various other areas, due to wars, famine, natural disasters, and political persecution.

Hakka comes from the words '客' "guest" and '家' "families" which derives from an official term during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) for the program of resettlement of the coastal areas of Guangdong after evacuation orders imposed during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. These settlers whose language was different to the original inhabitants were given this appellation to show they were not indigenous to the areas they became settled in. The indigenous inhabitants (punti) had generally occupied the more fertile basins, so the incoming Hakka often settled in the more inaccessible valleys and mountainous or hilly terrain.

As the Hakkas were constantly in conflict with their neighbours for much of the Qing Dynasty, often resulting in bloody civil wars, they developed a tradition of living in fortified communities. In some areas, the Hakka built tulou (土楼, tǔlóu), earth and straw round houses. These fascinating, centuries-old buildings are home to a whole clan and are easily defended. The largest groups of tulou, in Fujian, are now on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Though less well known internationally, Hakka people in other areas built different types of walled villages such as wei (围, wéi) and weilongwu (围龙屋, wéilóngwū). Many of these can be seen today in Hong Kong and the Hakka-speaking parts of Guangdong. Constant warfare with their neighbours, including the Punti–Hakka Clan Wars of 1855-1867, in which the Qing government was complicit in a genocide of the Hakka people by Cantonese and Taishanese peoples, led many Hakkas to emigrate for greener pastures. Many of them ended up in Southeast Asia, which now home to some of the world's largest overseas Hakka communities, which have produced numerous prominent figures like former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

To a considerable extent, Hakka have their own culture, different from their neighbours. In Neal Stephenson's novel Ream De, much of which takes place in Xiamen, one character is a Hakka lass from a tea-growing mountain area, and she is sometimes called a "big-foot woman" in reference to the fact that, unlike most other Chinese, the Hakka never adopted the custom of foot-binding.

The Hakka language (客家话; Kèjiāhuà) shares a common vocabulary with Southern languages such as Cantonese, Teochew and the many dialects of Fujian, and there are regular sound correspondences to the historical sound system of Middle Chinese. In terms of pronunciation, it has some features in common with Cantonese and some with Mandarin, though it's not mutually intelligible with either dialect.

All Chinese languages, in general, use the same set of characters in reading and writing in formal settings, based on standard Mandarin. This means that a Hakka speaker and a Mandarin speaker cannot talk to each other, but either can generally read what the other writes. However, there can be significant differences when the "dialects" are written in colloquial form, and special characters may need to be used in addition to the common characters to convey some dialectal terms. Use the Chinese phrasebook for reading most writing in Hakka-speaking areas.

Pronunciation guide

Like other Chinese languages, Hakka is written using Chinese characters, but employs its own "unique" pronunciation.

There is no standard form of Hakka. Regional variations in local dialects are extensive, but can usually be surmounted by understanding the gist of the spoken sentence and knowing some sound correspondences that the user will encounter. Many people consider the dialect spoken in Meixian, Meizhou to be the prestige dialect of Hakka. In Taiwan, the Miaoli dialect is taken as the de facto standard, and used in Hakka broadcasting.

There are some sounds in Hakka which do not occur in English. The following pronunciation guide aims to rhyme English words with the sounds found in the Hakka syllable. Please note they are approximations, you may require a Hakka speaker to guide your pronunciation. There is no widely-used standardized romanisation system for Hakka, and native speakers almost never learn the romanisation systems that exist, so stick to Chinese characters for written communication.

Vowels

The vowels can be long or short. Long vowels occur in open syllables, where there are no endings. Short vowels occur in syllables which end in nasals (-m, -n or -ng) or stops (-p, -t or -k).

Vowel Sound Length Varies with Syllable Endings
Romanised Vowel IPA Long Vowel
(syllable ends in a vowel)
IPA Short Vowel
(syllable ends with
-m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k)
a [ aː ] a in car (UK) or o in lot (US) [ ɐ ] a in pat
e [ ɛː ] e in bed [ e ] a in baby (the first part of the sound, without the closing towards the end)
i [ iː ] ee in feed [ ɪ ] i in pit
o [ ɔː ] aw in maw [ ɒ ] o in pot (UK)
u [ uː ] oo in boot [ ʌ ] u in put

In some dialects there is a vowel which we represent as ii, which does not occur in standard English. It is a retroflex i, the closest sound is almost like ir in "shir" when saying English 'sure'. In the Hong Kong dialect, these sounds become -i or -u.

Initial or Consonant

In Chinese linguistics, syllables are traditionally divided into an "initial" (the consonant at the beginning of the syllable) and a "final" (the vowel and the consonant after it if there is one).

Consonant Sounds in Hakka
b p m f v
[ p ] [ pʰ ] [ m ] [ f ] [ ʋ ]
almost like b in boy almost like p in pot like m in man like f in far almost like v in van
d t n l
[ t ] [ tʰ ] [ n ] [ l ]
almost like d in dart almost like t in star like n in no (in most Hakka dialects) like l in low
g k ng h
[ k ] [ kʰ ] [ ŋ ] [ h ]
like g in gone like k in kin like ng in singer like h in how
z c s y
[ ts ] [ tsʰ ] [ s ] [ j ] [ ˀ ]
like ts in tests like t in too
or c in Italian ciao
like s in sow like y in yew A slight closing of the throat before syllables that begin with a vowel

Finals


Syllable Finals in Hakka
aaiauamanangapatak
[ a ][ ɐj ][ ɐu ][ ɐm ][ ɐn ][ ɐng ][ ɐp ][ ɐt ][ ɐk ]
fareyehowhamanfanglapsadhag ]
ia iɐuiɐm iɐngiɐp iɐk
[ ja ] [ jɐu ][ jɐm ] [ jɐng ][ jɐp ] [ jɐk ]
yarn yowyam yangyap yak
e euemen epet 
[ ɛ ] [ eu ][ em ][ en ] [ ep ][ et ] 
hair eowemen epicbet 
ie ieuiemien iepiet 
[ jɛ ] [ jeu ][ jem ][ jen ] [ jep ][ jet ] 
yeah yeowyemyen yepyet 
i  imin ipit 
[ i ]  [ ɪm ][ ɪn ] [ ɪp ][ ɪt ] 
bee  dimtin dip ]lit 
ii  iimiin iipiit 
[ ɨ ]  [ ɨm ][ ɨn ] [ ɨp ][ ɨt ] 
fur  firmfern burpbird 
ooi  onong ot'ok
[ ɔ ][ ɒj ]  [ ɒn ][ ɒŋ ] [ ɒt ][ ɒk ]
corecoy  conkong cotcock
ioioi  ioniong iot'iok
[ jɔ ][ jɒj ]  [ jɒn ][ jɒŋ ] [ jɒt ][ jɒk ]
yoreyoy  yonyong yotyok
uui  unung ut'uk
[ u ][ uj ]  [ un ][ uŋ ] [ ut ][ uk ]
woowee  bunbung butbook
iu   iuniung iut'iuk
[ ju ][ jʌj ]  [ jʌn ][ jʌŋ ] [ ʌt ][ ʌk ]
youyoueille  'yunyoung yutyuck
   mnng   
   [ m ][ n ][ ng]   
   mmmnnnung   

Tones

Tones in Hakka
#IPATone LetterCharacterRomanisationSyllable in IPAMeaning
133˧pi1[ pʰi˧ ]quilt cover
211˩pi2[ pʰi˩ ]skin
331˧˩pi3[ pʰi˧˩ ]that, there, those
453˥˧pi4[ pʰi˥˧ ]nose
53˧pit5[ pʰi˧ ]bolt of cloth; counter for horses
65˥pit6[ pʰi˥ ]flying mammal called a bat

Tones vary substantially by dialect. The tone changes known as sandhi do occur, but are less complex than many other Chinese languages.

Some sound correspondences between dialects of the Hakka language

Apart from tonal differences, there are small variations in pronunciations from place to place. The following details some of the more commonly found differences, which may be helpful to the user when hearing other speakers from different areas.

h is sometimes pronounced as s, especially when there is a vowel -i- in the syllable. E.g. hiung1 may be pronounced siung1.

au is sometimes pronounced as o. E.g. 好 hau3 / ho3

ai is sometimes pronounced as e E.g. 雞 gai1 / ge1

Some Hakka dialects has the -u- medial, so you may hear words like 光 gong1 pronounced as guong1 (gwong1).

Phrase list

Basics

Common signs


OPEN
營業中 / 開
CLOSED
休息 / 關
ENTRANCE
入口
EXIT
出口
PUSH
PULL
TOILET
洗手間
MEN
WOMEN
FORBIDDEN
禁止
Hello.
. (Neh Ho )
Hello. (informal)
. ( )
How are you?
 ? ( Ne How Mau)
Fine, thank you.
. (Simungi )
What is your name?
 ? (Nyah Miang Hair )
My name is ______ .
______ . ( Ngah Miang Hair .)
Nice to meet you.
. ( How Seek Ne)
Please.
. ( )
Thank you.
do1 cia4 . ( )
You're welcome.
. ( )
Yes.
. ( )
No.
. ( )
Excuse me. (getting attention)
. ( )
Excuse me. (begging pardon)
. ( )
I'm sorry.
. ( )
Goodbye
. ( )
Goodbye (informal)
. ( )
I can't speak Hakka [well].
[ ]. ( [ ])
Do you speak English?
 ? ( ?)
Is there someone here who speaks English?
 ? (Neh Wooi You Nyin Kong Yin Mun Mau?)
Help!
 ! ( !)
Look out!
 ! ( !)
Good morning.
. ( )
Good evening.
. ( )
Good night.
. ( )
Good night (to sleep)
. ( )
I don't understand.
. ( )
Where is the toilet?
 ? ( ?)

Problems

Leave me alone.
. ( .)
Don't touch me!
 ! ( !)
I'll call the police.
. ( .)
Police!
 ! ( !)
Stop! Thief!
 ! ! ( ! !)
I need your help.
. ( .)
It's an emergency.
. ( .)
I'm lost.
. ( .)
I lost my bag.
. ( .)
I lost my wallet.
. ( .)
I'm sick.
. ( .)
I've been injured.
. ( .)
I need a doctor.
. ( .)
Can I use your phone?
 ? ( ?)

Numbers

1
一 yit5
2
二 ngi4
3
三 sam1
4
四 si4
5
五 ng3
6
六 luk5
7
七 cit5
8
八 bat5
9
九 giu3
10
十 sip6
11
十一 sip6 yit5
12
十二 sip6 yit5
13
十三 sip6 sam1
14
十四 sip6 si4
15
十五 sip6 ng3
16
十六 sip6 luk5
17
十七 sip6 cit5
18
十八 sip6 bat5
19
十九 sip6 giu3
20
二十 ngi4 sip6
21
二十一 ngi4 sip6 yit5
22
二十二 ngi3 sip6 ngi4
23
二十三 ngi3 sip6 sam1
30
三十 sam1 sip6
40
四十 si4 sip6
50
五十 ng3 sip6
60
六十 luk5 sip6
70
七十 cit5 sip6
80
八十 bat5 sip6
90
九十 giu3 sip6
100
一百 yit5 bak5
200
二百 ngi4 bak5
300
三百 sam1 bak 5
1000
一千 yit5 cien1
2000
二千 ngi4 cien1
10,000
一萬 yit5 van4
100,000
十萬 sip6 van4
1,000,000
一百萬 yit5 bak5 van4
10,000,000
一千萬 yit5 cien1 van
100,000,000
一億 yit4 yit6
1,000,000,000
十億 sip6 yit6
10,000,000,000
一百億 yit5 bak5 yit6
100,000,000,000
一千億 yit5 cien1 yit6
1,000,000,000,000
一兆 yit5 cau4
number _____ (train, bus, etc.)
_____號 hau4
half
半 ban4
less
少 sau3
more
多 do1

Time

now
今下 gin1 ha4
late
遲 ci2
early
早 zau3
morning
朝頭早 zau1 teu2 zau3
afternoon
下晝 ha1 zu4
evening
暗晡晨 am4 bu1 sin2
night
夜晚晨 ya4 man1 sin2
dawn
日頭一起 ngit5 teu2 yit5 hi3
dusk
日頭落光 ngit5 teu2 lok6 gong1

Clock time

1 o'clock
一點鐘 yit5 diam3 zung1
2 o'clock
兩點鐘 liong3 diam3 zung1 (Note 兩 liong3 is used)
3 o'clock
三點鐘 sam1 diam3 zung1

The twelve divisions of the hour by five minute increments makes it fairly convenient to tell the time.

at the hour
搭正 dap5 zin4
5 past
搭一 dap5 yit5 (literally "connected to number 1 on the clock face")
10 past
搭二 dap5 ngi4
quarter past
搭三 dap5 sam1
20 past
搭四 dap5 si4
25 past
搭五 dap5 ng3
half past
搭半 dap5 luk5
25 to
搭七 dap5 cit5
20 to
搭八 dap5 bat5
quarter to
搭九 dap5 giu3
10 to
搭十 dap5 sip6
5 to
搭十一 dap5 sip6 yit5

Combine the two and you can express time as hour and minute combinations

twenty five past seven
七點搭五 ciu4 cit5 diam3 dap5 ng3

When you want to express a time between the five minute divisions, you can do so by nearly or just after in the following manner.

nearly twenty five past seven
就七點搭五 ciu4 cit5 diam3 dap5 ng3
just after twenty five past seven
整過七點搭五 zang4 go4 cit5 diam3 dap5 ng3
nearly (approaching)
就到 ciu4 dau4
just past (gone) : 過滴 go4 dit6
noon
正午 zin4 ng3
midnight
半夜 ban4 ya4

Duration

_____ minute(s)
_____分鐘 _____fun1 zung1
_____ hour(s)
_____隻鐘頭 _____zak5 zung1 teu2
_____ day(s)
_____日 _____ngit5
_____ week(s)
_____隻星期 _____zak5 sin1 ki2 / _____隻禮拜 _____zak5 li1 bai4
_____ month(s)
_____ 隻月頭 _____zak5 ngiet6 teu2
_____ year(s)
_____年 _____ngien2

Days

today
今日 gin1 ngit5
yesterday
喒晡日 cam4 bu1 ngit5
tomorrow
明早日 min2 zau1 ngit5
this week
這隻星期 ngia3 zak5 sin1 ki2 / 這隻禮拜 ngia4 zak5 li1 bai4
last week
上隻星期 song4 zak5 sin1 ki2 / 上隻禮拜 song4 zak5 li1 bai4
next week
下隻星期 ha4 zak5 sin1 ki2 / 下隻禮拜 ha4 zak5 li1 bai4
Sunday
禮拜 li1 bai4 / 星期天 sin1 ki2 tien1
Monday
禮拜一 li1 bai4 yit5 / 星期一 sin1 ki2 yit5
Tuesday
禮拜二 li1 bai4 ngi4 / 星期二 sin1 ki2 ngi4
Wednesday
禮拜三 li1 bai4 sam1 / 星期三 sin1 ki2 sam1
Thursday
禮拜四 li1 bai4 si4 / 星期四 sin1 ki2 si4
Friday
禮拜五 li1 bai4 ng3 / 星期五 sin1 ki2 ng3
Saturday
禮拜六 li1 bai4 luk5 /星期六 sin1 ki2 luk5

Months


January
一月 yit5 ngiet6
February
二月 ngi4 ngiet6
March
三月 sam1 ngiet6
April
四月 si4 ngiet6
May
五月 ng3 ngiet6
June
六月 luk5 ngiet6
July
七月 cit5 ngiet6
August
八月 bat5 ngiet6
September
九月 giu3 ngiet6
October
十月 sip6 ngiet6
November
十一月 sip6 yit5 ngiet6
December
十二月 sip6 ngi4 ngiet6
First lunar month
正月 zang1 ngiet6
Second lunar month
二月 ngi4 ngiet6
Third lunar month
三月 sam1 ngiet6
Fourth lunar month
四月 si4 ngiet6
Fifth lunar month
五月 ng3 ngiet6
Sixth lunar month
六月 luk5 ngiet6
Seventh lunar month
七月 cit5 ngiet6
Eighth lunar month
八月 bat5 ngiet6
Ninth lunar month
九月 giu3 ngiet6
Tenth lunar month
十月 sip6 ngiet6
Eleventh lunar month
十一月 sip6 yit5 ngiet6
Twelfth lunar month
十二月 sip6 ngi4 ngiet6
Leap intercalculary month
閏月 yun4 ngiet6
First day of lunar month
初一 co1 yit5
Second day of lunar month
初二 co1 ngi4
Ninth day of lunar month
初九 co1 giu3
Tenth day of lunar month
初十 co1 sip6
Eleventh day of lunar month
十一(日) sip5 yit5 (ngit5)

Colors

black
( )woo sek
Where does this train/bus go?
()
Where is the train/bus to _____?
()
Does this train/bus stop in _____?
()
When does the train/bus for _____ leave?
()
When will this train/bus arrive in _____?
()

Directions

How do I get to _____ ?
( )
...the train station?
( )
...the bus station?
( )
...the airport?
( )
...downtown?
( )
...the youth hostel?
( )
...the _____ hotel?
( )
...the American/Canadian/Australian/British consulate?
( )
Where are there a lot of...
( )
...hotels?
( )
...restaurants?
( )
...bars?
( )
...sites to see?
( )
Can you show me on the map?
( )
street
( )
Turn left.
( )
Turn right.
( )
left
( )
right
( )
straight ahead
( )
towards the _____
( )
past the _____
( )
before the _____
( )
Watch for the _____.
( )
intersection
( )
north
( )
south
( )
east
( )
west
( )
uphill
( )
downhill
( )

Taxi

Taxi!
( )
Take me to _____, please.
( )
How much does it cost to get to _____?
( )
Take me there, please.
( )

Lodging

Do you have any rooms available?
( )
How much is a room for one person/two people?
( )
Does the room come with...
( )
...bedsheets?
( )
...a bathroom?
(baa fong )
...a telephone?
( )
...a TV?
( )
May I see the room first?
( )
Do you have anything quieter?
( )
...bigger?
( )
...cleaner?
( )
...cheaper?
( )
OK, I'll take it.
( )
I will stay for _____ night(s).
( )
Can you suggest another hotel?
( )
Do you have a safe?
( )
...lockers?
( )
Is breakfast/supper included?
( )
What time is breakfast/supper?
( )
Please clean my room.
( )
Can you wake me at _____?
( )
I want to check out.
( )

Money

Do you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars?
( )
Do you accept British pounds?
( )
Do you accept euros?
( )
Do you accept credit cards?
( )
Can you change money for me?
( )
Where can I get money changed?
( )
Can you change a traveler's check for me?
( )
Where can I get a traveler's check changed?
( )
What is the exchange rate?
( )
Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)?
( )

Eating

A table for one person/two people, please.
( )
Can I look at the menu, please?
( )
Can I look in the kitchen?
( )
Is there a house specialty?
( )
Is there a local specialty?
( )
I'm a vegetarian.
( )
I don't eat pork.
( )
I don't eat beef.
( )
I only eat kosher food.
( )
Can you make it "lite", please? (less oil/butter/lard)
( )
fixed-price meal
( )
a la carte
( )
breakfast
( )
lunch
( )
tea (meal)
( )
supper
( )
I want _____.
( )
I want a dish containing _____.
( )
chicken
(gai )
beef
(ngu nuk )
fish
( )
ham
( )
sausage
( )
cheese
( )
eggs
( )
salad
( )
(fresh) vegetables
( )
(fresh) fruit
( )
bread
( )
toast
( )
noodles
( )
rice
( )
beans
( )
May I have a glass of _____?
( )
May I have a cup of _____?
( )
May I have a bottle of _____?
( )
coffee
( )
tea (drink)
( )
juice
( )
(bubbly) water
( )
(still) water
( )
beer
( )
red/white wine
( )
May I have some _____?
( )
salt
( )
black pepper
( )
butter
( )
Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server)
( )
I'm finished.
( )
It was delicious.
( )
Please clear the plates.
( )
The check, please.
( )

Bars

Do you serve alcohol?
( )
Is there table service?
( )
A beer/two beers, please.
( )
A glass of red/white wine, please.
( )
A pint, please.
( )
A bottle, please.
( )
_____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please.
( )
whiskey
( )
vodka
( )
rum
( )
water
( )
club soda
( )
tonic water
( )
orange juice
( )
Coke (soda)
( )
Do you have any bar snacks?
( )
One more, please.
( )
Another round, please.
( )
When is closing time?
( )
Cheers!
( )

Shopping

Do you have this in my size?
( )
How much is this?
( )
That's too expensive.
( )
Would you take _____?
( )
expensive
( )
cheap
( )
I can't afford it.
( )
I don't want it.
( )
You're cheating me.
( )
I'm not interested.
(..)
OK, I'll take it.
( )
Can I have a bag?
( )
Do you ship (overseas)?
( )
I need...
( )
...toothpaste.
( )
...a toothbrush.
( )
...tampons.
. ( )
...soap.
( )
...shampoo.
( )
...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen)
( )
...cold medicine.
( )
...stomach medicine.
... ( )
...a razor.
( )
...an umbrella.
( )
...sunblock lotion.
( )
...a postcard.
( )
...postage stamps.
( )
...batteries.
( )
...writing paper.
( )
...a pen.
( )
...English-language books.
( )
...English-language magazines.
( )
...an English-language newspaper.
( )
...an English-English dictionary.
( )

Driving

I want to rent a car.
( )
Can I get insurance?
( )
stop (on a street sign)
( )
one way
( )
yield
( )
no parking
( )
speed limit
( )
gas (petrol) station
( )
petrol
( )
diesel
( )

Authority

I haven't done anything wrong.
( )
It was a misunderstanding.
( )
Where are you taking me?
( )
Am I under arrest?
( )
I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.
( )
I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate.
( )
I want to talk to a lawyer.
( )
Can I just pay a fine now?
( )

Learning more

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