Cantonese emotion sounds part 3

We have spent 2 weeks on emotion sounds and one week on the story, let’s chat a little more about them. To be honest, there are over 100 different emotion sounds, and of course I have only been talking about a few. Don’t be too alarmed. The ones I have been talking about and will talk about are the more commonly used ones, slowly you might discover some more. Once again, pay closer attention to how these emotion sounds are stressed, they are sometimes the same character but the tones are different to express different ranges of emotions.

First sound we will talk about today is the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound. There are again 3 characters or even more that are seen in the written Cantonese, but again for convenience purposes, I will group them all under the same 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound in spoken Cantonese.

To begin with, the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound can express that you are telling someone something or the emotion to answer someone with. To express these regular emotions for example,

琴晚我又係同媽媽食飯囉! (Dummy PY: Come Marn Ngo Yao High Tung Ma Ma Sick Farn Lo!)

Last night I was again eating with my mother.

Last night I was again eating with my mother lo.

or

今日又落雨囉! (Dummy PY: Gum Yat Yao Lok Yu Lo!)

Today it’s raining again!

Today it’s raining again lo!

Or when you respond to someone about your opinion, let’s say they were saying last night’s dinner was too big a meal, you can say

係囉! (Dummy PY: High Lo!)

Yes!

Yes lo!

To even emphasize the exactly yes, you can say,

咪係囉! (Dummy PY: My High Lo)

Exactly Yes!

Exactly Yes lo!

唔係囉! (Dummy PY:Um High Lo)

No!

No lo!

Or you can use the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound to express that you are anticipating for something or some event to happen, or even to invite someone to do something, To invite, for example:

去食飯囉! (Dummy PY: Hui Sick Farn Lo)

Let’s go eat! Let’s go eat lo!

Or to anticipate that something might happen, for example,

聽日又落雨囉!(Dummy PY: Ting Yat Yao Lok Yu Lo)

Tomorrow it’s raining again!

Tomorrow it’s raining again lo!

the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound can also be used to express contradictory emotions to what you are saying, a little like sarcasm in English, or you are not willing to do whatever they are saying, for example,

咁你聽日去同佢食飯咯!(Dummy PY: Gum Neigh Ting Yat Hui Tung Kui Sick Farn Lo)

Then tomorrow you go and eat with him/ her!

Then tomorrow you go and eat with him/ her lo!

So essentially that’s just like sarcasm, you are saying that person, hey if you wish to go you can go, but subtly saying, but you already know I won’t like or be happy about it. Pay attention, if you were to say it like,

咁你聽日去同佢食飯囉!(Dummy PY:Gum Neigh Ting Yat Hui Tung Kui Sick Farn Lo)

Then tomorrow you go and eat with him/ her!

Then tomorrow you go and eat with him/ her lo!

That is to express regular emotion, also like you are suggesting the person who you are speaking to should go and eat with the other person, so very different meaning if the tone of the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound is changed. If they are unwilling to do something, but they are saying they will do it, you might also hear the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound. For example,

我去睇醫生囉!(Dummy PY: Ngo Hui Tie Yee Sung Lo)

I will go see a doctor!

I will go see a doctor lo!

You see what I mean? Whoever is saying they will go see the doctor, when they say 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) that means they are not very willing to, but sure. The 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound can also be used to indicate that something has already been done before, or something is completed, or reached a certain point, for example:

都話知咯! (Dummy PY: Doe Wah Gee Lo)

I said I knew!

So here because they have said they knew before, so it has been completely before, you can use the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound, but it also shows that you are slightly annoyed. Or if you have to say something that you think that the other person should already know this, maybe you already mentioned it to them, you can say:

我今日去睇醫生囉!(Dummy PY: Ngo Gum Yat Hui Tie Yee Sung Lo)

I today went to see the doctor!

I today went to see the doctor lo!

To tell them this is what is it, it contains disdain, speechlessness, unwillingness these emotions in the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound when you use it like that.

Let me introduce to you another very similar sound 嚕 (Dummy PY: Loo). the 嚕 (Dummy PY: Loo) is used to expressed something that is done, therefore you should hear verb indicators like 完meaning finish, 咗 to indicate it’s the past tense etc etc in the sentence to indicate something is done, it contains a little bit of joy and happiness in this 嚕 (Dummy PY: Loo) sound. For example:

我睇完醫生嚕!(Dummy PY: Ngo Tie Yuen Yee Sung Loo)

I have finished seeing the doctor!

I have finished seeing the doctor loo!

That is to say maybe the person was anticipating bad news at the doctor, but it’s not as bad as they thought. Or seeing the doctor has been long overtime and now it’s done, they feel good now. Or for example:

我食完飯嚕!(Dummy PY: Ngo Sick Yuen Farn Loo)

I have finished eating!

I have finished eating loo!

Same principle, that is to say maybe the person was anticipating to talk to the boyfriend on the phone for example, a little excited and happy that they are done with their meal. All clear?

Sometimes the 嚕 (Dummy PY: Loo) sound is just used to express regular emotions, for example,

今日又落雨嚕! (Dummy PY: Gum Yat Yao Lok Yu Loo)

Today it’s raining again!

Today it’s raining again loo!

When it’s just the regular emotion is expressed with the 嚕 (Dummy PY: Loo) sound, you might or might not hear the verb indicators like 完meaning finish, 咗 to indicate it’s the past tense.

The next one I am going to talk about is 噃 (Dummy PY: Ball) sound. Today all the sounds I am talking about all contain the “O” sound. The 噃 (Dummy PY: Ball) sound is used when you want to warn someone something, to advise or urge people to do something, or to show confirmation of their statement.

For example, to caution someone:

你記得去睇醫生噃！(Dummy PY: Neigh Gay Duck Hui Tie Yee Sung Ball)

Remember to go see the doctor!

Remember to go see the doctor bo!

Another example to urge someone with the 噃 (Dummy PY: Ball) sound,

你要食飯噃! 知唔知呀?(Dummy PY:Neigh You Sick Farn Ball! Gee Um Gee Ah?)

You have to eat! Ok?

You have to eat bo! Ok not Ok ah?

Here, 知唔知呀? (Dummy PY:Gee Um Gee Ah?)Literally know or not know? But really it means you got it? Ok? Alright? After you have urged someone to eat with 噃 (Dummy PY: Ball) sound.

Another usage of the 噃 (Dummy PY: Ball) sound is to add confirmation to your statement like i mentioned, for example,

唔係噃! 你今日係要去睇醫生噃!(Dummy PY: Um High Ball! Neigh Gum Yat You Hui Tie Yee Sung Ball!)

No! You today are supposed to see the doctor!

No bo! You today are supposed to see the doctor bo!

The 噃 (Dummy PY: Ball) sound is to emphasis and confirm the statement. Emphasizing the “No”, and confirming that you are supposed to see the doctor.

Excellent, the last sound I will talk about today is the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound, again the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound can be written in two or several different characters, but for easy comprehension, we will again group them together.

The 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound can be used to express that you realized something, containing the “oh I see” meaning, it also can expressed a “sighing” emotion, as well, to express slight surprise, or even disdain, sometimes it is also used to purely describing an event.

To use the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound to express that you realize something, using the same example earlier,

唔係喎! 你今日係要去睇醫生喎!(Dummy PY:Um High Wo! Neigh Gum Yat You Hui Tie Yee Sung Wo!)

No! You today are supposed to see the doctor!

No wo! You today are supposed to see the doctor wo!

You see, earlier with the 噃 (Dummy PY: Ball) sound, that was to emphasize that it is what it is. But here with the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound, it is as if you just realized that the other person should go see the doctor today, like for example, you just found the appointment reminder in the mail so that’s when you might be saying this sentence with the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound.

Or for example:

係喎！你仲未食飯喎!(Dummy PY: High Wo! Neigh Jung May Sick Farn Wo!)

Oh yes! You still haven’t eaten!

Yes wo! You still haven’t eaten wo!

That’s to express that you have literally just realized the other person hasn’t eaten, say if the other person had a long day and hadn’t eaten, and you met up with this person but been chatting for an hour and you just remembered/ realized the person hasn’t eaten. Or you can use the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound to express a sighing emotion, for example:

佢話佢知喎! 咁OK 囉!(Dummy PY: Kui Wah Kui Gee Wo! Gum Ok Lo!)

He said he knows! That’s okay then!

He said he knows wo! That’s okay lo!

Say for example, a teenage child said they know they should study, and the mom or the dad keeps nagging because the teenager is still gaming on the computer, so the other parent might be saying this sentence, 佢話佢知喎! (Dummy PY: Kui Wah Kui Gee Wo!) He she said he/she knows wo! That is to say, you are sort of sighing, speechless, nothing further to say, well he said he knows, sort of feeling.

The next sentence 咁OK 囉!(Dummy PY:Gum Ok Lo!) Is with the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound, that is to express that you are saying it but not meaning it, expressing disdain emotions, unwillingness etc. Even if you are saying “it’s ok”, but it’s not and we know because the 囉/ 咯/ 囖 (Dummy PY: Lo) sound is in the emotion sound used in the sentence.

Finally, to use the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound to express slight surprised or to deny a certain fact subtly or to express disdain or even just purely describing a situation,

佢話佢唔想睇醫生啝!(Dummy PY: Kui Wah Kui Um Seung Tie Yee Sung Wo!)

he/ she said he/ she doesn’t want to see a doctor!

he/ she said he/ she doesn’t want to see a doctor Wo!

In this sentence the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound is used to describe that the person doesn’t want to see the doctor, but here it also contains a conflicting emotion, since we know going to see the doctor, if they have some health issues, is supposed to be a good thing, but they don’t want to, but you cannot force them. So you are a little not sure what to do, a little sad, a little angry sort of emotion in the 喎/啝 (Dummy PY: Wo) sound.

That’s all I got for you today, let chat about some more single character emotion sounds next week! We can then soon talk about 2 character emotion sounds!