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This might be a big of a long shot...but does anyone here speak Toisanese? I've got a few quick questions. (My mother's family speaks Toisanese, but she's dead and her siblings don't speak it very well, and my grandmother speaks very little English, so it is hard to ask anyone in my family.)
1) Can you confirm that "Ngin Ngin" is the how you say paternal grandmother? I've found a few references to this in online forums, but I want to be sure. (Also, how do you pronounce it?)
2) Stick rice dumplings. My family calls these "doong doong". A little online research tells me they're called "joong" in Cantonese and "doong" in Toisanese...but why does my family repeat the word? Do other people do this, too, or should I just use "doong"?
3) "Mm soy." (Not sure how to write this, but this is how it sounds to me.) My understanding is that this is a polite way of saying no; basically, "you shouldn't". Is that correct?
4) I need a name for a man, as well as one for a woman, both born circa 1925 in Toisan. Any suggestions? Man is lower class. Woman is upper class...her parents were landowners.
5) Taishanese vs. Toisanese...which one should I use? I'm currently using the latter transliteration, because that's what I'm used to hearing, and I think I'd prefer to keep it. However, I believe "Taishan" is the transliteration of the standard Mandarin pronunciation, so it is perhaps more common now. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
1) Can you confirm that "Ngin Ngin" is the how you say paternal grandmother? I've found a few references to this in online forums, but I want to be sure. (Also, how do you pronounce it?)
2) Stick rice dumplings. My family calls these "doong doong". A little online research tells me they're called "joong" in Cantonese and "doong" in Toisanese...but why does my family repeat the word? Do other people do this, too, or should I just use "doong"?
3) "Mm soy." (Not sure how to write this, but this is how it sounds to me.) My understanding is that this is a polite way of saying no; basically, "you shouldn't". Is that correct?
4) I need a name for a man, as well as one for a woman, both born circa 1925 in Toisan. Any suggestions? Man is lower class. Woman is upper class...her parents were landowners.
5) Taishanese vs. Toisanese...which one should I use? I'm currently using the latter transliteration, because that's what I'm used to hearing, and I think I'd prefer to keep it. However, I believe "Taishan" is the transliteration of the standard Mandarin pronunciation, so it is perhaps more common now. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
