To give

In Hakka, the word to give is pronounced bin¹. The modern written Chinese character 給 (pronounced gib⁵ in Hakka), clearly inappropriate since the pronunciation is different.

The character 分 fun¹ {to divide, to share, to separate} can be seen used in some Hakka materials. Another character also seen for this word is 𠚼 composed of 分 and 刂 with the meaning 分 in old Chinese character dictionaries. The additional 刂 radical seems to enforce an idea of sharing, dividing and separating. It has an alternative form 攽 bin¹ which I think is much more appropriate, the radical 攵 can be traced to oracle bone inscriptions as a hand holding a axe or some type of implement.

攽 bin¹ {to give}

Hakka Pronouns

The Hakka character for 'I', 'me', was discussed earlier, but what are the appropriate characters for the other pronouns?

In modern written Chinese, the pronouns 我 {I} / 你 {you} / 他 {he, she, it} are pronounced in Hakka as ngo¹, ni¹, ta¹. They are only used in reciting from texts in Chinese.

In the spoken language, Hakka pronouns are ngai² {I}, ngi² {you}, gi² {he, she, it}.

The readings for the characters above are all in tone 1 when read in Hakka. However, Hakka pronouns are in a different tone register, tone 2. We therefore require characters which are read in Hakka in the appropriate tone as well as pronunciation.

Our inspiration comes from Classical written Chinese, and the suitable characters are 爾 ngi² {you} and 渠 gi² {he, she, it}.

We now extend the our gaze towards the possessive pronouns. In modern written Chinese, 我的 / 你的 / 他的 form the possessive pronouns my, mine/ your, yours / his, hers, its. In Hakka, a single syllable word for each person can be used as well as an alternative two syllable compound similar to modern written Chinese. We shall look at the case for the single syllable form.

Hakka possessive pronouns are nga¹, ngia¹, gia¹. Our inspiration again is to look to classical Chinese :　吾, 若, 其. These characters can function as possessive pronouns or are used in the genitive case in classical Chinese.

So far we've looked pronouns in the singular form. Hakka uses an additional syllable in conjunction with the above singular forms to indicate the plural form of the pronouns. The syllable is variously diu¹ or den³ in some places. Variously, the characters seen for this syllable is 兜 for the former and 丁 or 等 for the latter. I will be using the former, as it accords with my dialect, and there is some tonal harmony in keeping both syllables in the same tone.

An odd quirk in the system is that the possessive form is used to form the plural form of the personal pronouns, thus

Sing. Plur.
𠊎 -> 吾兜
爾 -> 若兜
渠 -> 其兜

That leaves some uncertainty as to how the plural of the possessive pronouns are formed. We mentioned above that there are two forms of the possessive pronouns which again requires the addition of another syllable. 介 gai⁴ is used as the indicator of the possessive or genitive case in Hakka. Thus the singular and plural form of the possessive pronouns are:

Sing. Plur.
吾介 -> 吾兜介
若介 -> 若兜介
其介 -> 其兜介

The reflexive form of pronouns is formed similarly to that of English whereby the word 'self' is added immediately adjacent to the principle pronoun word. The word 自家 ci² ga¹ refers to 'self' as well as 'myself', and 'ourselves' depending on context. There are two main forms for the plural, with and without the pluralising sylable 兜.

Sing. Plural.1 Plural.2
𠊎自家 -> 吾兜自家 <-> 吾自家
爾自家 -> 若兜自家 <-> 若自家
渠自家 -> 其兜自家 <-> 其自家

Summary:

Hakka Personal Pronouns

Singular
𠊎 ngai² {I, me}
爾 ngi² {you}
渠 gi² {he/him, she/her, it}

Plural
吾兜 nga¹ diu¹ {we, us}
若兜 ngia¹ diu¹ {you}
其兜 gia¹ diu¹ {they, them}

Hakka Possessive Pronouns

Singular (Form 1)
吾 nga¹ {my, mine}
若 ngia¹ {your, yours}
其 gia¹ {his, hers, its}

Singular (Form 2)
吾介 nga¹ gai⁴ {my, mine}
若介 ngia¹ gai⁴ {your, yours}
其介 gia¹ gai⁴ {his, hers, its}

Plural
吾兜介 nga¹ diu¹ gai⁴ {our, ours}
若兜介 ngia¹ diu¹ gai⁴ {your, yours}
其兜介 gia¹ diu¹ gai⁴ {their, theirs}

Hakka Reflexive Pronouns

Singular
𠊎自家 ngai² ci² ga¹ {myself}
爾自家 ngi²　ci² ga¹ {yourself}
渠自家 gi² ci² ga¹ {himself, herself, itself}

Plural (Form 1)
吾兜自家 nga¹ diu¹ ci² ga¹ {ourselves, ourself}
若兜自家 ngia¹ diu¹ ci² ga¹ {yourselves, yourself}
其兜自家 gia¹ diu¹ ci² ga¹ {themselves}

Plural (Form 2)
吾自家 nga¹ ci² ga¹ {ourselves, ourself}
若自家 ngia¹ ci² ga¹ {yourselves, yourself}
其自家 gia¹ ci² ga¹ {themselves}

My dialect of Hakka

My parents hail from "Shataukok"^[1] in the north eastern corner of Hong Kong ^[2]. Our Hakka dialect^[3] is similar to Hakka spoken within Hong Kong and nearby Shenzhen^[4].

Characters, [IPA], Romanisation & Meaning

^[1] 沙頭角 / 沙头角 [sa₃₃ tεu₁₁ kok₃] Sa¹ Teu² Gok⁵ Shataukok, Shatoujiao, a small town in the north eastern corner of Hong Kong S.A.R.
^[2] 香港 [hioŋ₃₃ koŋ₃₁] Hiong¹ Gong³ Hong Kong
^[3] 客家話 /客家话 [hak₃ ka₃₃ νa₅₃] Hak⁵ Ga¹ va⁴ Hakka dialect/Hakka language
^[4] 深圳 [ts^him₃₃ tsun₅₃] Cim¹ Zun⁵ Shenzhen, area immediately adjacent to the north of Hong Kong S.A.R.

Why 'Salt Baked Chicken' ?

Yamgukgai ^[1] or in Chinese characters 鹽焗雞 literally means 'salt baked chicken'. It is quintessentially a Hakka^[2] dish and this Hakka connection is why I have chosen to call this blog "yamgukgai".

The dish requires a clean whole chicken which is to be is seasoned, and its cavity flavoured with salt, ginger and spring onions and perhaps some star anise, then it is wrapped in parchment or grease paper, and baked in hot salt until done. The salt is prepared by heating in a wok and often until it begins to colour. The wrapped chicken is then buried in the hot salt on the stove for an hour and a half to cook through. The result is an aromatic chicken with juicy tender meat.

Hakka 客家 literally means 'guest families' and points to a history of migration which will be discussed in a future entry. It now refers to a group of southern Chinese who speak dialects which are grouped together as Hakka. They can be found in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Zhejiang, Taiwan, Sichuan, Guizhou and around the world.

Characters, [IPA], Romanisation & Meaning

^[1] 鹽焗雞 [ [jam₁₁ kuk₅ kai₃₃ ] yam² guk⁶ gai¹ salt baked chicken
^[2] 客家 [ hak₃ ka₃₃] hak⁵ ga¹ Hakka, guest families, the Hakka people, the Hakka language