I need to get the two words Chi and Wai translated.
This must be an easy assignment, so please help me. It's very important.
Thanks
/Magnus
Help me Please!!!!
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lisa C
Re: Help me Please!!!!
First, do you have the characters? There are many homonyms in Chinese. If no characters, are you sure that it's Cantonese? Do you know if it's a name, object etc. Could be several different characters and no way of knowing for sure unless you have the characters.
Not so easy assignment
Hi Magnus,
it isn't so easy.
The straightforward translations of "child" and "smart" do not sound like 'chi' or 'wai'. So, it must be more rarely used words. You also did not tell how you got the spelling of the word. There are several different spelling systems for Cantonese. So, checking out the dictionary for all possible sounds (more than 100) similar to 'chi' and 'wai' is quite some work.
With the help of a native speaker, I found the following, which may be at least part of the answer.
There is a character pronounced 'wai6' (Jyutping system) that can mean "smart". It is sometimes used in names.
There is another character pronounced 'zi3' (Jyutping system) that can also mean "smart". In the official Hong Kong transcription, it is actually written 'chi'.
Both together form 'zi3 wai6' meaning "intelligence", and this is really used when talking.
If your 'chi' is really HK transcription meaning 'zi' in Jyutping (or 'ji' in the Yale system), then there is 'zi2' meaning "son", possibly also "child". A normal word for "child" is 'haai4 zi2', using the same 'zi2'.
Hope that helps
Helmut
it isn't so easy.
The straightforward translations of "child" and "smart" do not sound like 'chi' or 'wai'. So, it must be more rarely used words. You also did not tell how you got the spelling of the word. There are several different spelling systems for Cantonese. So, checking out the dictionary for all possible sounds (more than 100) similar to 'chi' and 'wai' is quite some work.
With the help of a native speaker, I found the following, which may be at least part of the answer.
There is a character pronounced 'wai6' (Jyutping system) that can mean "smart". It is sometimes used in names.
There is another character pronounced 'zi3' (Jyutping system) that can also mean "smart". In the official Hong Kong transcription, it is actually written 'chi'.
Both together form 'zi3 wai6' meaning "intelligence", and this is really used when talking.
If your 'chi' is really HK transcription meaning 'zi' in Jyutping (or 'ji' in the Yale system), then there is 'zi2' meaning "son", possibly also "child". A normal word for "child" is 'haai4 zi2', using the same 'zi2'.
Hope that helps
Helmut