#22 Learning Tip: SFPs 2 - gaa3 and laa3
Vocabulary
1. 學者 hok6 ze2 (N) scholar
2. 資深 zi1 sam1 (ADJ) experienced, veteran
3. 提出 tai4 ceot1 (V) to propose, to suggest
4. 強調 koeng4 diu6 (V) to emphasize
5. 事實 si6 sat6 (N) fact
6. 隨便 ceoi4 bin2 (ADV/ADJ) casually, casual
7. 強烈 koeng4 lit6 (ADJ/ADV) strong, strongly
8. 深刻 sam1 hak1 (ADJ) deep, profound
9. 印象 jan3 zoeng6 (N) impression
10. 鴛鴦 jyun1 joeng1 (N) coffee and milk tea drink, mandarin duck
11. 飲品 jam2 ban2 (N) beverage, drink
12. 奶茶 naai5 caa4 (N) milk tea
13. 激動 gik1 dung6 (ADJ) emotional
14. 講大話 gong2 daai6 waa6 (VO) tell lies
15. 語氣 jyu5 hei3 (N) manner of speaking, tone of voice
16. 八卦 baat3 gwaa3 (ADJ/N/V) nosy, gossip, to pry
17. 解釋 gaai2 sik1 (V/N) to explain, explanation
18. 理想 lei5 soeng2 (ADJ/N) ideal
19. 配合 pui3 hap6 (V) to match
20. 主觀 zyu2 gun1 (ADJ) subjective
21. 客觀 haak3 gun1 (ADJ) objective
22. 摸索 mo2 sok3 (V) to feel about/around/for
23. 狀態 zong6 taai3 (N) condition, state
24. 變化 bin3 faa3 (N/V) change, to change
25. 講得通 gong2 dak1 tung1 (VC) to make sense
26. 提醒 tai4 seng2 (V/N) to remind, reminder
27. 絕對 zyut6 deoi3 (ADV/ADJ) absolutely, absolute
28. 意識 ji3 sik1 (N) awareness, consciousness
29. 犀利 sai1 lei6 (ADJ) impressive, powerful
30. 感受 gam2 sau6 (N/V) feeling, to feel
ADJ - Adjective
ADV - Adverb
N - Noun
V - Verb
VC - Verb complement
VO- Verb object
Cameron: So Raymond, last time we talked about SFPs. We covered the basics of how changing the tone also changes the meaning. What SFPs do you want to talk about today?
Raymond: 噉呀，噉“呀”呢，噉呢個簡單啲啦。噉不如呢我哋又講下“㗎”喇。你可能都會聽到“㗎”。噉呢，我頭先有提過兩位學者1，馬詩帆同埋葉彩燕。即係 Stephen Matthews同埋 Virginia Yip。噉佢哋兩位好資深2嘅語言學家呢，噉佢哋提出3嘅。“㗎”呢，一個簡單嘅理解就係“嘅”加“呀”。噉特別係如果你識普通話，“嘅”其實係普通話另外一個字啦。 Cameron，“嘅”嘅普通話係咩呀？
(Well, aa3,” this is rather easy. How about we talk about gaa3. You will probably hear gaa3. I first want to mention two scholars, Stephen Matthews and Virginia Yip. They are two very experienced linguists, and this is their proposed explanation. One simple explanation for gaa3 is ge3 plus aa3. Especially if you know Mandarin, then ge3 is another word. Cameron, what is the Mandarin for ge3?)
Cameron: “的”。
(De.)
Raymond: 係喇。噉呀普通話讀“的”，即係廣東話嘅“的”啦。即係“我嘅”、“你嘅”。噉呀，除咗係一個 possessive，即係我有嘅嘢、我嘅書、我嘅袋噉樣之外呢，句尾呢都可以加個“嘅”嘅。噉係喇，你最簡單話“係嘅”、“係嘅” 噉呀普通話你會話“是的”係唔係？噉呢個“嘅”呢，亦都係強調4一個事實5嘅。噉所以我嘅理解就係話，俾我好清楚知道呢個係個事實、一個 fact 係咪？噉如果呢你將“嘅”加“呀”講快啲，“嘅呀” 、“嘅呀”，就變成“㗎”喇。噉即係意思呢，就係話我話俾你聽，係呢個唔係隨便6講嘅喎。我即係話俾你聽，我知道呢件事係真嘅，或者我比較有強烈7嘅意見。你諗唔諗到一啲例子，我用一個句子講個“㗎”字呀？
(Yup. In Mandarin it’s pronounced de, which is dik1 in Cantonese. As in “mine,” “yours.” Besides being a possessive, as in “my stuff,” “my book,” “my bag,” it can also come at the end of a sentence. Most simply, I can say hai6 ge3 [“Correct”/”yes”], which is si6 dik1 in Mandarin [shì de in Mandarin pronunciation], right? This ge3 is also for stressing a fact. So we can understand it as, let me know very clearly that this is a fact, right? And if you add an aa3 to ge3, it becomes gaa3. The meaning of that is to let you know that this isn’t just being said for no reason. I am telling you that this is real, or that I have a rather strong view. Can you think of an example when you would use gaa3?)
Cameron: Err… I think one is… or the term I heard a lot it's sort of also combining another expression which is “嚟嘅” [lai4 ge3]. But if you want to really really “係咩嘢咩嘢嚟嘅”, if you want to stretch it “嚟㗎”. Then that's, that's something I've heard quite a bit.
Raymond: 係呀，非常好，你呢個解釋非常好。同埋普通話都係噉樣講嘅，“來的”係唔係？噉廣東話就係“嚟㗎”。噉呢，除咗係句子之外呢，我都好深刻8印象9，我教啲初學嘅學生呢，噉呀嗰個課本呢，佢有一句好出名嘅問題，我啲學生個個都識嘅，問佢就話“鴛鴦10係咩嘢嚟㗎？”鴛鴦，即係飲品11呀。“鴛鴦係咩嘢嚟㗎？” 噉呀 Cameron 我問你喇，鴛鴦係咩嘢嚟㗎？噉你會點答呀？你知唔知鴛鴦係咩嘢嚟㗎？
(Yes, great, this is an excellent explanation. And Mandarin also has a way of saying this, loi4 dik1 [lai2 de], right? In Cantonese it’s lai4 gaa3. Besides at the end of sentences, I have a very deep impression of teaching my beginner student a famous question from their textbook that they all know, asking them what jyun1 joeng1 consists of. Jyun1 joeng1 is a drink. “What sort is jyun1 joeng1 made of?” Cameron, I’ll ask you, what is jyun1 joeng made of1? How would you respond? Do you know what jyun1 joeng1 is?)
Cameron: 當然, 就係係我自己好非常之鍾意飲嘅嘢。
(Of course, it’s something that I really like to drink.)
Raymond: 係。
(Yes.)
Cameron: 係茶同咖啡嚟嘅。
(It’s made of tea and coffee.)
Raymond: 係喇，係喇。噉所以呢我問你“鴛鴦係咩嘢嚟㗎？”噉你就可以話“鴛鴦係咖啡加奶茶12嚟㗎。”噉樣囉。
(Yes, yes. So if I ask you, “What is jyun1 joeng1 made of?” you can say, “jyun1 joeng1 is made of coffee and milk tea.”)
Cameron: “嚟㗎”。
(lai4 gaa3 [repeating to self after saying lai4 ge3 in initial response])
Raymond: 係，噉你話“嚟嘅”都可以嘅。係喇“嚟嘅” 就係好簡單噉講。你強調呢，我真係知道，我好鍾意呀，“鴛鴦就係咖啡加奶茶嚟㗎！”係喇，噉呢個“㗎”就係一個強啲嘅“呀”啦，基本上可以噉樣講嘅。噉同埋亦都係嘅你比較激動13嘅時候呢，會話“哎呀我冇講大話14㗎！係真㗎！真㗎！”噉呢，同…
(Yes, you can say lai4 ge3 as well. Lai4 ge3 is to say it more simply. If you are emphasizing that you really know, that you really like it, you say “jyun1 joeng1 is made of coffee and milk tea!” Yes, you can basically say that this gaa3 is like an aa3 that stresses. You can also say it when you are relatively emotional, like, “I wasn’t lying! Really! Really!”)
Cameron: 哦“真㗎”，“真㗎”。係，呢個聽過。
(Ah, zan1 gaa3, zan1 gaa3, I’ve heard this.)
Raymond: 噉你講“真嘅”，即係你比較到嗰個語氣15有啲唔一樣。“係真嘅”同“係真㗎”噉樣。
(If you say zan1 gaa3, then the tone is a little different from zan1 ge3.)
Cameron: 係呀，“真嘅”就係我八卦16，講八卦嘅時候就係“真嘅、真嘅”。但係“真㗎”係有人覺得我講嘅係錯嘅話，即係覺得我講大話。“唔係嘅！係真㗎！”
(Yes, when I am just gossipping I say zan1 ge3, but if people think what I am saying is wrong or that I am lying, then I will say zan1 gaa3!)
Raymond: 係，同埋呢，我真係想解釋17一啲事俾你聽啦。可能老師會用得多嘅。“嗱呢個呢其實係噉樣㗎，嗱我講俾你聽啦，係噉樣噉樣㗎”噉樣。噉所以呢，就係強調一啲事實。噉所以我覺得都幾好，都唔係好難理解，係咪？
(Yes, also, I want to explain something to you. Perhaps this is something teachers will use a lot. “Actually, this is like this. I’ll explain to you, it’s like this.” [Ending explanation with gaa3 to emphasize] So this is a way of emphasizing a fact. I think it’s rather good and not too hard to understand, right?)
Cameron: 係，我覺得係可以，但係問題就係你要不停聽到其他人用先至學到用。到自己用。
(Yeah, I think so. But the issue is that you need to repeatedly hear other people use it in order to use it yourself.)
Raymond: 係。噉同埋呢，即係更加理想18嘅就係，有陣時呢個嘅助詞會配合19其他字一齊用呀。例如頭先講話“咩嘢嚟㗎？” 噉一個好常問嘅問題啦。噉呀另外呢，譬如我會同你講“係噉噉噉噉㗎！”即係其實嗰個事實係噉樣嘅。噉你會記得“哦，噉㗎噉㗎”。噉就係一個比較強調性嘅一啲主觀20、客觀21事實都可以，我覺得。噉呢個就係“㗎”啦。噉最後喇，“喇”呢，噉我就會亦都係同，即係用返頭先嗰個方法理解喇。“喇”呢，就係普通話嗰個“了”。經常講係唔係？咩嘢咩嘢“了”嗰個“了”，係句尾嗰個“了”再加個“呀”。“啦呀，啦呀” 噉。但係你，噉我都知你識講普通話啦，嗰個“了”呢，一個句子最後嗰個“了”呢，係咩意思呀？
(Yes. Also, more ideally is for the SFP you use to complement the other words you use with it, like with the "something lai4-gaa3" example. This is a question that gets asked frequently. Another instance would be like if I said to so you, "It's this this this this - gaa3." So in fact that situation is like that. Then you'll remember, "Oh, it's like this." I think it can be used to emphasize an objective or subjective case. So this is gaa3. Last is laa3, and I'll use the same method as before. Laa3 is like Mandarin's liu5 [le in Mandarin pronunciation]. You say it a lot, right? "Something something liu5" "That liu5." It's a liu5 at the end of a sentence plus an aa3. So la3-aa3, la3-aa3, like that. However, you know Mandarin, when that liu5 appears at the end of a sentence, what does it mean?)
Cameron: Um, yes, so the dreaded “le”. For Mandarin speakers, it’s probably one of those… I think it’s grammatically challenging to a lot of people because people think it means tense, but it doesn't. It means completed action or change of state.
Raymond: 係，所以我覺得你啱啱講咗一個重點呀，其實我自己教書，我自己都摸索22咗一段時間。我覺得最好理解正如你所講呢，你將佢睇成係一啲一個狀態23，或者係一個事實嘅改變。即係變咗，變咗啲嘢嘅你就會話“了”喇，係唔係？即係我書面語講“了”喇，噉廣東話就講“喇”喇。所以基本上“喇”呢好多時基本上就係有啲嘢有變化24。有變化嘅，可能係已經做完喇，即係由未做完到做完喇。噉所以我話“做晒功課未呀？”“做晒喇。”噉樣，“la-a”。噉亦都係我加個，我用個“呀”字話俾你聽啦，噉然之後呢，我就係強調有變化嘅，所以話“做晒喇”。
(Yes, I think you just said an important point. In fact, I myself teach, but I’ve fumbled around with this. I think it’s best to understand it as you’ve explained it, to see it as a change of state, a change of fact. So when something changes, you’ll use liu5, right? In written language you’ll use liu5, and in Cantonese you’ll use laa3. So basically with laa3 it means that something has changed. There has been a change, perhaps it is already finished, or perhaps it hasn’t quite finished. So I’ll say, “Have you finished your homework?” “I’ve finished.” Like that, la-aa3. That was me adding on, letting you hear that aa3, so I am stressing that there has been a change, so I say, “I’ve finished.”)
噉你話“做晒功課未呀？”“做晒呀。”其實都講得通25嘅，不過“喇”就係多咗個“了”嗰個意思囉，即係有變化囉。噉同埋頭先都講，譬如你可以加個“已經”，“已經咩嘢喇”噉會容易記啦。另外呢就…睇下先，係喇，我提醒26你去做啲嘢啦。即係我講俾你聽，你而家知喇。我唔講你可能唔知。我而家話俾你聽你會知喇。譬如“而家時間差唔多到喇”，噉我會用個“喇”字。即係我提醒你，你要知道有啲變化嘅，我唔講你可能唔知，係喇。或者倒返轉你諗唔諗到幾時用“喇”？
(Now if you say, “Have you finished your homework?” “I have.”[with no laa3] That still works, but with laa3 there is more of a sense of liu5, that something has changed. I’ll also add that, you can also add an “already,” as in, “already-something-laa3,” that will be easy to remember. Also… let me see, yes, if I remind you to do something, and when I tell you, you then know. If I don’t tell you, perhaps you won’t know, but if I do, you will. Such as, “It’s pretty much time,” I will use laa3 there. As in, I am letting you know that there has been a change, and if I don’t say something you might not know, yes. Or turning it over to you, can you think of when you might use laa3? )
Cameron: 好熱喇。
(It’s so hot.)
Raymond: 嗯，點解你用個“喇”呢？噉我講“好熱呀”都講得通㗎。
(Yes, why are you using laa3? You could also say hou2 jit6 aa3.)
Cameron: So one instance we would think of this is, I went somewhere in the morning. I went to a nice comfortable building that had, you know, air conditioning. But also when I went there, it was, you know, it was fine outside, but then when I come out maybe at lunch time, it's something really hot, and it's just like, oh my god. So then I may say “好熱喇” [hou2 jit6 laa3].
Raymond: 係，係囉我覺得如果只要你解釋得通呢，我覺得都冇話絕對27啱同錯。同埋可能呢個都係強調一個唔同呀、分別啦都好。噉呀另外仲有一個我哋經常用嘅用法就係“太咩喇”。即係呢，我唔講呢，你都可能未必會意識28到原來係噉犀利29嘅。譬如話最簡單“太好喇”，或者“而家太凍喇”噉樣。即係我話俾你聽呀，即係呢個係我嘅，我嘅感受30呀。噉呀可能我唔講你都唔知噉樣。噉呀“太咩嘢喇”。噉可以係好嘅，可以係唔好嘅，都得。噉所以呢個就係啲“呀”呢，再加上其他嘅，頭先講啦“嘅”加“呀”就“㗎”啦。“喇”加“呀”其實就係“喇”啦。噉呢三個我哋都係用得好多嘅。
(Yup, I think as long as you can explain in a way that makes sense, there is no absolutely improper way to use it. It might also stress that something is different, or that there is a distinction. And another usage that I have already used is when something is “too-something-laa3.” As in, if I didn’t say it, you might not know how intense something is. You can simply say, “That’s amazing,” or, “It’s too cold now,” like that. I am telling you that if you were me, this would be my feeling. If I didn’t say something you might not know. So “taai3-something-laa3.” It can be for something that is good or something that is bad, both work. So that’s how you use aa3 along with these others, where ge3 and aa3 is gaa3, and laa3 plus aa3 is just laa3. I think these three are used a lot.)
Cameron: Awesome. Well, I think that's it. It’s a great place to start, and I'm hoping in the future we will tackle even more because it's… I mean especially as you said before, no one is quite certain about the exact number of SFPs in Cantonese, so we could hypothetically, you know, talk about them forever and never finish.
Raymond: 你真係講得太好喇。
(You put it too well.)