入 yap tones: the solitary instance is found in the word cockroach which is pronounced ⿰虫卡曱 ꜀k'a-ts'at꜇ (instead of 曱甴 kát꜇-tsát꜇, as in Cantonese) without the t to the first character.
Differences in words used.
As instances of words that differ in the Höng Shán from the Cantonese, we may cite the following:—耕仔 ꜀káng ꜂tsaí for farm labourers; to engage such is 請耕仔 ꜁tsy'eng ꜀káng ꜂tsaí or 請耕 ꜁tsyeng ꜀káng. 'A married woman⟨'⟩ is called a 夫娘 ꜀hú ꜁nöng, (this word is used in the Tung Kwún district and it is also used by the Hakkas) . The Kwong Tung San Yü says that this term is a rather ancient one.[1] A bride or daughter-in-law is not called a 新 (or 心) 抱 ꜀san (or ꜀sam) ꜃p'o but a 新娘 ꜀san ꜁nöng. This latter word is used in Cantonese also; but it is employed much more extensively in Höng Shán, and is the common word there. ⿱亠甾 ꜃t'om is not used for a pit but 氹 ꜁t'am. This comes perhaps more under the heading of a different pronunciation than of a difference in words. 𫬀 ꜀tö is not used for the sound of a trumpet but 嘟 ꜀tú is employed instead. A bunch of keys is called a 抽 ꜀ts'aú and not a 唥 ꜀lang as in Canton. 𢆡 ꜀nín is not a word for milk in Höng Shán but ⿰女呢 ꜀ne is the word employed, and to suckle is 食⿰女呢 shak꜇ ꜀ne. This 上 平 shöng p'ing is a little lower than the ordinary 上平 in the Höng Shán. 砦 ꜂cháí (or rather ꜂tsáí) is seldom used for brothels in the villages in the Höng Shán district; but 老舉寮 ꜂lò ꜂kü ꜁líú takes its place generally; book words are used, however, in Macao and Shek-k'éí.
A place, spot, or the word 'here' is represented by ⿰口坭 naí, as:—he lives at his place (i.e. his house, &c.) 佢在佢⿰口坭住 ꜃kü tsôí꜄ ꜃k'ü ꜀naí chü꜄, not here 唔 在⿰口坭 ꜁m tsôí꜄ ꜀naí, sometimes is here 愛 時在⿰口坭 cí꜄ ꜁shí tsôí꜄ ꜀naí; so ⿰口坭 ꜀naí equals 處 shü꜄ in the Cantonese.
The classifiers are the same as in Canton, and used with the same words, and in the same way, with the single exception of 笪 tát꜇ which is not used in the villages as a classifier of them, the more bookish word 處 ch'ü being used in its stead. But in the large centres of trade 笪 tát꜇ is in use, as the inhabitants of such places have learned it from Cantonese traders. This single instance will show how a standard dialect exerts a dominant influence which tends to eliminate the peculiarities of other dialects in use in its vicinity. Examples of this same tendency towards copying the standard, as heard in Canton city, are to be seen in the approximation of the district city (Shek-k'éi) in its pronunciation of words to that of Canton. No doubt with the increasing facilities of intercourse, in the use of steam now being employed pretty well throughout the delta of the Canton River in the way of steam-launches as tow-boats for the native passage-boats, this tendency will make itself felt more and more until, with the advent of railways or even some more rapid method of intercommunication, it will have fulfilled one part of its mission by assisting in the development of a more uniform speech amongst those who are comparatively neighbours.
The sign of the genitive or possessive is not 嘅 ke꜄ as in Cantonese, but 個 ko꜄, as:—mine 我個 ꜂ngo ko꜄; ours 我哋 個 ꜂ngo tí꜄ ko꜄, and so on, the 嘅 ke꜄ not being used at all in Höng Shán; hence it may be said once for all that, where 嘅 ke꜄ is used in Cantonese, it is superseded by 個 ko꜄, whether following nouns or verbs or other parts of speech.
One of the most noticeable features in the
