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Foreign Germs Don't Respect Local People

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  1. #121

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    This is such a dumbass argument! Sorry, it's like arguing that Spanish is a dialect of English because it uses the same letters! Is Swedish a dialect of Danish or vice versa? I can tell you that their languages are much closer than Potunghua and Guangdonghua - My wife can have a go in all four!
    No, I don't think you can draw the same analogy.

    Cantonese is the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese. The issue of whether Cantonese is a language in its own right or a dialect of a single Chinese language depends on conceptions of what a language is. Like Shangahinese, Beijingnese, Cantonese is considered a dialect for ethnic, political, and cultural reasons. But in all intense and purposes it it not a language in its own right.

  2. #122

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    Lightbulb GRAMMAR CHECK

    Quote Originally Posted by HKITperson:
    No, I don't think you can draw the same analogy.

    Cantonese is the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese. The issue of whether Cantonese is a language in its own right or a dialect of a single Chinese language depends on conceptions of what a language is. Like Shangahinese, Beijingnese, Cantonese is considered a dialect for ethnic, political, and cultural reasons. But in all intense and purposes it it not a language in its own right.
    INTENTS not INTENSE

  3. #123

    The OP is obviously p*ssed about something and it's so much easier to just stereotype and classify everyone in the same boat. We should be helping him though, rather than typing snide remarks about his lack of. That only frustrates him further and all this thread does is promote more racial hate. This white dude, that Chinese dude, etc.

    I have met many foreigners who have this crass and overbearing posture about their outlook on things in HK. Arrogant, self righteous, know-it-alls. That's got nothing to do with race though, that's just some people are certain words I'd rather refrain from on here. Really xenophobic people too, which leads me to wonder why the hell are you in Hong Kong.

    Luckily this is just another case of minorities ruining the peace and harmony in HK for the masses. Nothing to worry about.

    dear giant likes this.

  4. #124

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    WingLing has left the building...


  5. #125

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    Quote Originally Posted by chowfun:
    INTENTS not INTENSE
    Wrong Forum, try "English Teacher Offers lessons"

  6. #126

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    Quote Originally Posted by periphery831:
    The OP is obviously p*ssed about something and it's so much easier to just stereotype and classify everyone in the same boat. We should be helping him though, rather than typing snide remarks about his lack of. That only frustrates him further and all this thread does is promote more racial hate. This white dude, that Chinese dude, etc.

    I have met many foreigners who have this crass and overbearing posture about their outlook on things in HK. Arrogant, self righteous, know-it-alls. That's got nothing to do with race though, that's just some people are certain words I'd rather refrain from on here. Really xenophobic people too, which leads me to wonder why the hell are you in Hong Kong.

    Luckily this is just another case of minorities ruining the peace and harmony in HK for the masses. Nothing to worry about.
    But that's life! I met many obnoxious Chinese, French, English, Italians, Indians, Australians...etc. It's the person and not the race. We should not make this a racist issue.
    Skyhook, MovingIn07 and dear giant like this.

  7. #127

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    Quote Originally Posted by HKITperson:
    Cantonese is the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese. The issue of whether Cantonese is a language in its own right or a dialect of a single Chinese language depends on conceptions of what a language is...
    Indeed, it's up to the users, their Cantonese-speaking communities - e.g. Guangzhou natives - to define that for themselves, and to voice any concerns over the official bias revealed in the national policy.

    By the way (as we're already merrily rambling on), another wee titbit:

    From SCMP's YoungPost, under Liberal Studies - Education - Modern China: 'Effort to Save Cantonese' (Chloe Lai , 22 Oct 2009), an excerpt:

    Cantonese is regarded as a modern variation of the ancient Han language, said Roxana Fung, an assistant professor at Polytechnic University's department of Chinese and bilingual studies. The Cantonese system - pronunciations, vocabulary and usage - is very similar to the official language used during the Tang dynasty (618-907).

    "Every dynasty had its official language to help the emperors rule. The official language of the Tang dynasty has left plenty of its traits in Cantonese," she said... "Remoteness and inefficient transport created an environment for the language to remain largely intact after it arrived..."

    Putonghua, meanwhile, only came into being after the Communist Party took power in 1949. Beijing dialect - a mixture of Manchu, the language of the ethnic group that ruled during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), and the indigenous Beijing language - forms the backbone of Putonghua.

    "To standardise Putonghua, officials decided to eliminate the unpopular indigenous usage and vocabularies of the Beijing dialect. Meanwhile, they included the popular terms spoken in the bigger northern China area, making the northern dialects the basis of Putonghua," Fung said.

    "As a result, Putonghua is not the native tongue of anyone. We call it a linguistic artefact."
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  8. #128

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    In fact though, the SCMP is one of the worst offenders in labelling Cantonese a dialect. Any story submitted to them that refers to Cantonese as a language will be edited to call it a dialect. And this is a Hong Kong newspaper!


  9. #129

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    Quote Originally Posted by HKITperson:
    No, I don't think you can draw the same analogy.

    Cantonese is the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese. The issue of whether Cantonese is a language in its own right or a dialect of a single Chinese language depends on conceptions of what a language is. Like Shangahinese, Beijingnese, Cantonese is considered a dialect for ethnic, political, and cultural reasons. But in all intense and purposes it it not a language in its own right.
    Please look it up, any scientific publication on Cantonese defines it officially as a "language". If people want to call it a dialect fine, but then please also call Dutch, German and Swedish "dialects" of English. As these are all part of the Germanic languages group, just as there is a Chinese languages group. The term dialect in relation to Cantonese is only used because of it's political context, there is no one "right" Chinese language.
    bookblogger likes this.

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