5/22/2023 0 Comments Chinese pidgin english examplesLots of interesting stuff here, including the mention of Indian guards and the wonderful note about 吃生活 ("getting a taste of life?") being a Wu term for getting beaten. There's no need to provide a word for word translation, since each line consists of an expression in Ningbonese and its transcribed equivalent in English, with the original English words appearing in parentheses).īrendan O'Kane, who not only sent Barney's photograph to me, but also kindly typed out the clear copy, offers these cogent remarks: Yé yào fāchái (father) niáng màichái (mother) Hóngtóu āsān kāipō duō (keep door hóngtóu ā sān zhǐ yìndù ménwèi) Shēng táng shēng táng qǐng nǐ zuò (sit down)ĭǎ pìgu jiào bānpú chī'ā (bamboo Wúyǔ āidǎ jiào"chī shēnghuó") Xuē jiào báituō (boot) xié jiào xuē'ā (shoe) Meanwhile, all that I can offer is a transcription in Modern Standard Mandarin (MSM): Perhaps a Language Log reader will be able to help out in the comments (I'm sure that the phonetic resemblances would be much better in Ningbonese). Though I tried to find a Ningbonese speaker who was able to provide a Romanized version, I was unsuccessful in doing so. Since I don't know Ningbonese, which belongs to the Wu branch of Sinitic, I cannot supply a transcription of the verse in that language. Collectively, they are known as the Ningbo Commercial Group ( English Wikipedia, Chinese Wikipedia). For centuries, merchants from Ningbo were active throughout East Asia, and some of the most influential entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and Taiwan (not to mention nearby Shanghai) come from Ningbo. Ningbo, located just south of the Hangzhou Bay, is a major seaport and commercial center. īefore taking a look at the language of the ditty, just a few words about Ningbo and the Ningbo Commercial Group. The photograph is not clear (even with a magnifying glass it's hard to read), so a typed version is given below. While visiting Ningbo last month, Barney Grubbs snapped this picture of a doggerel song featuring English words in local transcription at the Museum of the Ningbo Commercial Group ( Níngbō bāng bówùguǎn寧波幫博物館): Website, Wikipedia article.
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