"Sampai" in Penang

[AndrewAndrew]

Perhaps I need some examples. I'm used to hearing people say "i gong ka ..." (he is so stupid that ... / he is stupid to the extent that ...), etc.

[SimL]

Hi Andrew,

Indeed, the usage you are familiar with is how I use it. In my case, it goes even further, and the standard collocation in my case is "<adjective> ka puaN si" (= "to half dead").

E.g.:

- i gong ka puaN si (= "he's as stupid as hell")

- ca mE, wa kuaN ka puaN si (= "last night, I was as cold as hell")

Some other phrases I might use "ka" in are:

- ca mE, wa kuaN ka be tin-tang (= "last night, I was so cold that I couldn't move")

- ca mE, wa kuaN ka ti-ti cun (= "last night, I was so cold that I couldn't stop shivering")

- i co e kue teng ka bo lang e ciah (= "the cakes he makes are so hard that no-one can eat them")

[xng]

My father-in-law is of Eng-Ch'un descent, spent a number of years in Kedah, and now resides in Ipoh. He says 甚至 săm-chî. I suspect the săm should really be sim, the former likely a corruption from Cantonese influence.

Yes, you're correct, it is 'Sim Chi', I have watched enough taiwanese hokkien shows to verify this.

[aokh1979]

I also hear sim-tsi all the time, including Korean. Taiwanese programmes may not always say the right thing, as things may change in Taiwan. Like 牽掛 - I dunno why it's pronounced tshian-kua...... Hm......

[niuc]

I also hear sim-tsi all the time, including Korean. Taiwanese programmes may not always say the right thing, as things may change in Taiwan. Like 牽掛 - I dunno why it's pronounced tshian-kua...... Hm......

Good observation, Aokh! 甚至 is sim7-tsi3 in some dictionaries I checked. However, none of them, including Taiwanese dict, have 牽掛 as tshian1-kua3. This came as a "shock" for me, as I always assume that is the "standard" pronunciation. May be that is Taiwanese influence upon my variant, my mom also says that tshian1-kua3 sounds more "correct" than khan1-kua3. Personally I feel that the latter sounds like doing divination.

[amhoanna]

千掛

[xng]

I also hear sim-tsi all the time, including Korean. Taiwanese programmes may not always say the right thing, as things may change in Taiwan. Like 牽掛 - I dunno why it's pronounced tshian-kua...... Hm......

see below

[xng]

However, none of them, including Taiwanese dict, have 牽掛 as tshian1-kua3. This came as a "shock" for me, as I always assume that is the "standard" pronunciation. May be that is Taiwanese influence upon my variant, my mom also says that tshian1-kua3 sounds more "correct" than khan1-kua3. Personally I feel that the latter sounds like doing divination.

Taiwanese actors/actresses don't speak pure Hokkien just like Malaysian Chinese don't speak pure Hokkien.

The correct pronunciation spoken in Taiwanese songs by Hokkien experts are 'Khien Kua'.
Chien Kua is Mandarin pronunciation.

牽 has several pronunciation depending on usage.

牽手 is Khan Chiu (colloquial pronunciation)
牽牛 is Khan Gu
牽掛 is Khien Kua (literary pronunciation)