# Cantonese: 我地唔动气



## indigoduck

Hi all,

What is the meaning of the phrase "我地唔动气" ?

As an example, please translate the following sentences into Putonghua:

咪话唔就你，我地唔动气
故事何样美，我地唔动气
Thanks in advance.


----------



## Ghabi

动气 "upset; angry" is Mandarin, not really Cantonese. If you hear the couplets in a song, the word 动气 is probably simply chosen for the sake of rhyming.


----------



## echo_zkl

"我地唔动气"=“我不生气” 吗？


----------



## GamblingCamel

echo_zkl said:


> "我地唔动气"=“我不生气” 吗？


I see that you replaced 地唔 with 不.  Does 唔 mean "no,not" only in Cantonese?
Is 地 a character that functions grammatically as an adverb?



Ghabi said:


> 动气 "upset; angry" is Mandarin, not really Cantonese. If you hear the couplets in a song, the word 动气 is probably simply chosen for the sake of rhyming.


I think the text is from this song.


----------



## strad

GamblingCamel said:


> I see that you replaced 地唔 with 不.  Does 唔 mean "no,not" only in Cantonese?
> Is 地 a character that functions grammatically as an adverb?



Yes, 唔 means "no, not" and functions pretty much the same way as 不 in standard Chinese.

地 in this case should be 哋 which is the plural marker in Cantonese.  我哋 = 我們。


----------



## echo_zkl

Thanks strad. Then how do you pronounce 哋? di?


----------



## strad

echo_zkl said:


> Thanks strad. Then how do you pronounce 哋? di?



dei6 (low level tone).  Same sound as 地, so it is common to type 地 instead of 哋.


----------



## natasha_139

Hi, Strad, I have a question, how do you differentiate say dei2 from dei6? To non-Cantonese,I think they sound the same...

Thanx beforehand`


----------



## strad

natasha_139 said:


> Hi, Strad, I have a question, how do you differentiate say dei2 from dei6? To non-Cantonese,I think they sound the same...
> 
> Thanx beforehand`



Hi Natasha.  I'm sorry, but I do not understand the question?  Are you asking how to tell the difference between the sounds?  Or how the different usages of 地 are pronounced? It is usually pronounced dei6 when it is a noun, and dei2 when it forms an adverb, like 麻麻地 or 特地, which I believe is the same as the mandarin distinction between pronouncing it dì or de.


----------



## indigoduck

natasha_139 said:


> Hi, Strad, I have a question, how do you differentiate say dei2 from dei6? To non-Cantonese,I think they sound the same...
> 
> Thanx beforehand`


 
To non-cantonese they sound the same because your ear is not yet trained to recognize them.  Add to the mix, different age groups and different accents and this is a 1002 page book in itself.

But yes, they are different tones.  You would have to recognize it based on context.  This occurs even in putonghua.

My cantonese tone sucks but i can relatively speak it because i've spoken it for many years so I'm used how the words should sound.

Learn cantonese numbers first, then remember the following date.  

Does Cantonese speakers see anything special with this date ?

1980-5-2


----------



## GamblingCamel

indigoduck said:


> Learn cantonese numbers first, then remember the following date.
> Does Cantonese speakers see anything special with this date ?
> 1980-5-2


I'm playing along with the game.
1980 = jat1 cin1 gau2 baak3 baat3 sap6 
5 = ng5 
2 = ji6

I don't see a pattern, an anomaly. I don't see nuttin'.


----------



## indigoduck

GamblingCamel said:


> I'm playing along with the game.
> 1980 = jat1 cin1 gau2 baak3 baat3 sap6
> 5 = ng5
> 2 = ji6
> 
> I don't see a pattern, an anomaly. I don't see nuttin'.


 
Almost close.  A slight oversight on my part.  

I was hoping you said each number separately.  

Here, let me help:

jat1  gau2  baak3  ?  ng5  ji6

You wanna guess what number the question mark represents in the above sequence ?


----------



## GamblingCamel

indigoduck said:


> Here, let me help:
> jat1  gau2  baak3  ?  ng5  ji6
> You wanna guess what number the question mark represents in the above sequence ?



Well, I was looking for a 1,2,3,4,5,6 tone pattern because I figured it was a TONE number game. But all I saw was 11 2 33 6 5 6.

The question mark is obviously 4.
zero 零 ling4  BINGO!!

_More games! More! More!_


----------



## natasha_139

strad said:


> Hi Natasha. I'm sorry, but I do not understand the question? Are you asking how to tell the difference between the sounds? Or how the different usages of 地 are pronounced? It is usually pronounced dei6 when it is a noun, and dei2 when it forms an adverb, like 麻麻地 or 特地, which I believe is the same as the mandarin distinction between pronouncing it dì or de.


 
Yes,it is about the sound distiction. I did not understand the tones in Cantonese. But your explanation is clear for me. Thank you. It sounds different in different context.


----------

