CANTONESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY

粵英詞典

Yale Romanization
with English words alphabetical index

Over 25,000 words and phrases

1.525 sayings
6.276 characters

compiled by

Marco Bosio
Aknowledgements
A great aknowledgment goes to Mr. John Burket, I’ve never met him but his Java App
“Canto Input” has been very very useful for the editing of this dictionary. Thank you
John!

A special thank goes to my good friend Robert Lam, from whom I’ve learned so many
words and expressions in Cantonese and with whom I’ve shared many Cantonese meals.
Robert died in 2017.

The compilation of this opera has taken up a lot of time that I have not shared with my
family, therefore this dictionary is rightly and wholeheartedly dedicated to them.

Copyright Marco Bosio 2016.

All rights reserved.
ISBN 979-12-200-3572-9

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Author’s Preface
This Cantonese-English Dictionary is, at the date of its publication, the most complete dictionary that
covers Cantonese and English languages including also most modern Cantonese expressions, with both
Romanization and characters. The dictionary includes also 1,525 sayings, that the author considers
greatly important because many of them are part of the daily language, and because sayings are able to
convey the way of thinking and of understanding reality of a culture. The words listed are particularly
those of the Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong, although most of them are valid and understood all over the
廣東 Province, and all the sayings are part of the general Cantonese heritage.

Cantonese language, more properly called Yue language (粵語), commonly called 白話 by Cantonese people,
is formally defined as a Yue dialect (粵方言), and is one of the most famous Chinese dialects. Its fame
is also due to the fact that is the dialect spoken in South China, therefore in the part of China that has
historically been an important place of commercial contact with the rest of the world. The areas where it
is spoken are the whole Province of 廣東 and the South of 廣西: it is important to note that nowadays in
these provinces live also many Chinese who are not Cantonese and that do not speak the language, or
cannot speak it well. As 粵語 we shall consider all those dialects, on the whole quite similar, spoken in
South China and indicated as 廣府片, 四邑片, 羅廣片, 高陽片, 吳化片, 邕潯片, 梧州片, 勾漏片, 欽
廉片.
廣東話 we mean only 廣府片, that includes 廣州話, 順德話, 莞寶話, 香山話 and some
Moreover, as
廣州話 in several local varieties, i.e. 城內
others. Most probably it is further possible to differentiate
音, 西關音, 番禺音. 廣東話 is therefore a generic term, more suitable to indicate the prevalent dialect
of a territory than to precisely identify such dialect.

The historical origin of Cantonese is by some considered to be in an area of South China (嶺南), among
the inhabitants of such part of today’s China (百越), but other studies indicate that Cantonese comes
instead from central China, from a language called 雅言.

雅言 dates back to the legendary first Chinese Emperor 黃帝, who lived 2500 years before Christ, when
this language was supposedly the language of those ancient Chinese populations. The arrival of 雅言 into
the South happened probably during the 秦 dynasty, then around 200 years b.C., when groups of
population moved South along with soldiers sent to occupy those territories. Starting from these
colonizers, the will-be language of the 百越 expands South from the 西漢 dynasty, 200 years a.C. The
centre of the development of this language derived from 雅言 is 廣信, that will become a commercial,
legislative and cultural area and, most of all, a thriving place for business and trade.

The next step will be the descent of Northern populations to the plans of central China, an event that
will lead to a strong transformation of what was the 雅言 , that will practically lose most of its
characteristics in all the center-North areas, while Southern populations will be protected by these
changes and will continue to speak the 雅言 that will then become 粵語.

The modern history of Cantonese language cannot be separated by that of the colonies of Macau,
Portuguese, and Hong Kong, British, today no more existing as foreign colonies but still existing as
protected enclaves characterised by a border and a special status. For decades these two territories
have been the point of connection between the local culture and people of other cultures coming to the
area mainly for business purposes. Especially before the development of Shanghai and the opening of
Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau have been a sort of window on China, and the non-Chinese people
who have been residing, visiting and touring those areas have mostly been in contact with Cantonese
people, have been exposed to Cantonese culture and have eaten Cantonese food.

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Lastly, it cannot be forgotten the fact that Cantonese Chinese constitute a significant part of the
“overseas” Chinese: large colonies of Cantonese Chinese are present in United States, Canada, Australia,
United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, where their retain the use of their language and of many
traditions. It is possible to say that nowadays approximately 70 million people in the world speak
Cantonese.

Contents
Cantonese language is a colloquial, straightforward language, rich in ironic and colourful expressions,
based on a grammar rather similar to that of Mandarin Chinese but sometimes absolutely peculiar. It is
important to understand that all Chinese characters commonly used can be read in Cantonese.
Nevertheless, not all these characters are used in Cantonese, on the contrary, if we use Mandarin
Chinese as a comparison, we can say that Cantonese language makes use of most of the “Mandarin”
characters, plus a series of characters that Mandarin does not use and that we will call Cantonese
characters.

The clarification above leads to explain that in this dictionary are collected all the expressions and words
that have been identified as Cantonese in a large sense, therefore words and expressions also present in
Mandarin, together with words and expressions that in Mandarin are not present nor understood. As a
consequence, this dictionary does not present all the characters that can be found in a Chinese-English
dictionary, otherwise this would be the translation into Cantonese of a Mandarin-Chinese dictionary.
Particular scientific, commercial or financial words, also commonly shared with Mandarin, have not been
included. 6.276 characters are depicted.

Following a careful evaluation, the author has decided to include in this dictionary also a large series of
abusive, vulgar and coarse words, used as insults or at least as very straightforward expressions that are
openly offensive and sometimes astonishingly graphic. As said above, Cantonese language is direct and
down-to-earth, and such expressions are integral part of it. An apology goes to all those who may feel
offended in reading them.

This dictionary uses traditional characters only (not simplified).

Note on Cantonese characters

As said above, Cantonese language is making use of a large series of characters that Mandarin does not
use: an average Mandarin speaker will not recognise them, neither will he be able to tell their meaning.
In addition, there are several characters that are also used in Mandarin but that in Cantonese take a
very different meaning. The list is completed by purely phonetic characters, used to reproduce the sound
of foreign words, sometimes in connection with words or letters taken mostly from the English language
and used in Cantonese “as they are”.

When compiling this dictionary the author has put a lot of emphasis in researching Cantonese characters,
having the obvious need to write them, but especially because driven by the need to be authoritative
about how a Cantonese character “should be” written. As a matter of fact, Cantonese has become a
mostly spoken language, because most of the written texts available today to Cantonese people are
written in Mandarin. This does not mean that writing in Cantonese is not possible, not at all. From the
texts of Cantonese Opera to hundreds of modern books, to newspapers presenting sections written in
Cantonese, to advertisements and so many blogs and websites, all these sources prove that Cantonese can
be and still is also a written language. Unfortunately, the undoubtedly limited use of written Cantonese
brought to a general weakness of the capacity to write in Cantonese, giving as a consequence a big

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confusion about how many characters should be written.

In this dictionary the author follows the concept of writing a Cantonese character “as it should be
written based on significant sources”, using then notes to indicate all cases when the habit of writing is
different.

Tone changes
The tones used in this dictionary are those used in spoken language: in some cases such tones will differ
from that indicated in a character’s dictionary. Such occurrence constitutes a tone change, rather
frequent in Cantonese, and is usually happening only in some words, so that sometimes a character is
pronounced following the “standard”, sometimes not. An example for all is 白 蘭 地 , pronounced
baahklāandéi, where 蘭 and 地 are by standard pronounced làahn and deih.

Yale Romanization
Many are the Romanization systems created for the Cantonese language. This dictionary uses the Yale
system, that is a seven-tones system. Below are tables which illustrate the main characteristics of this
system, namely the initials, the finals and the tones.

Every Romanised word is constituted by an initial plus a final.

INITIALS
b p m f d t n l g k ng h gw kw w j ch s y
[p] [pʰ] [m] [f] [t] [tʰ] [n] [l] [k] [kʰ] [ŋ] [h] [kw] [kʰw] [w] [ts] [tsʰ] [N] [j]

FINALS
a aai aau aam aan aang aap aat aak ai au am an ang ap at ak and
[a] [ai] [au] [am] [an] [aŋ] [ap] [at] [ak] [ɐi] [ɐu] [ɐm] [ɐn] [ɐŋ] [ɐp] [ɐt] [ɐk] [ɛ]
ei eng ek i iu im in ing ip it ik or oi ou on ong ot ok
[IE] [ɛŋ] [ɛk] [i] [iu] [im] [in] [ɪŋ] [ip] [it] [ɪk] [ɔ] [ɔi] [ou] [ɔn] [ɔŋ] [ɔt] [ɔk]
u ui a ung ut uk eu eui eun eung eut euk yu yun yut
[u] [ui] [a] [ʊŋ] [ut] [ʊk] [œ] [ɵy] [ɵn] [œŋ] [ɵt] [œk] [y] [yn] [yt]

TONES EXAMPLE YALE ROMANIZATION

High falling 施 Sì
High raising 使 Sí
Middle level 試 Si
High level 詩 Sī
Low falling 時 Sìh
Low raising 市 Síh
Low level 是 Sih

As visible above in the example of Romanization, the Yale system indicates low tones with an “h”, and the

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concepts of falling and rising with accents. The middle level has no accent, while high level is indicated by
an horizontal hyphen. For practical reasons, the common character for no, not 唔 is written without the
“h” that should have, therefore as Ï instead of Ïh. In many cases it is not easy to tell a difference
between high falling and high level, although dictionaries correctly indicate them as different.

List of Symbols
This dictionary includes for every word a symbol that indicates its nature. The author has chosen to limit
the classification to a minimum, for example avoiding to divide adverbs in their various categories.

[ADJ] Adjective Words that describe or clarify a noun.

[ADV] Adverb Words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

[IE] Idiomatic expression A way of saying, a jargon, a colloquialism sometimes close to a

proverb but not definitely one.
[CL] Classifier Characters placed between a number and a noun to indicate a
quantity of a certain object.
[NU] Number All numbers useful to quote in this dictionary.

[PN] Proper noun People, places, nations...

[PR] End particle, particle Character placed at the end of a sentence, carrying emphasis,
feelings, nuances of meaning.
[PH] Phrase Expression not being a proverb or a particular idiomatic
expression, just a way of talking that is not as small as a word.
[INT] Intensifier Character that intensifies the meaning of a adjective or other
character.
[P] Pronoun A word that substitutes for a noun.

[N] Noun Naming words that are not Proper nouns.

[V] Verb Inclusive also of verb-object compounds and resultative verbs.

[成語] Proverbs and sayings Popular sayings known and repeated, part of the culture heritage.

[OF] Offensive Insults, bad words, abusive language.

[TSL from…] Transliteration The word is all or partly a transliteration of a non-Chinese word,
mostly an English one, introduced into spoken Cantonese by
cultural contamination and daily use.
[radical X] Radical The dictionary includes the 214 radicals of Chinese characters.

Unidentified character Characters that cannot anymore be identified, existing in spoken

but not possible to write.
⎕
A circle surrounding the Yuht indicates characters that don’t
○
粵 Cantonese character
exist in Mandarin Chinese or existing ones that are used in a
totally “Cantonese” way.

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A
À 啊 Exclamation, the sound “ah” expressing surprise, pain.

Ā, ngā 丫 Forking. Forking objects [N]

Ā chā 丫叉 Pitchfork. Forked stick *Jì, go [N]

Ā gok gai 丫角髻 Short and thick braid (also 長丫角) *Tìuh [N]
A wàahn 丫鬟 Female servant. Domestic helper (also 丫頭) *Go [N]
A wù 丫嗚 A bizarre, grotesque person, possibly also a sort of monster (i.e.
丫嗚婆). Sometimes used to scare children [IE]

千金小姐當丫鬟賣: consider one’s beloved daughter as a servant. Do not give to something or someone
the right value [成語]

A 吖 ○
End particle 粵

A mà 吖嘛 End particle expressing surprise, doubt. (小强你冇事吖嘛?) [PR]

A ma 吖嗎 End particle expressing contradiction, disagreement, doubt (唔
係吖嗎!? What? Are you sure? Give me a break! ) [PR]
A nàh 吖嗱 End particle expressing surprise, exhortation, challenge [PR]

A 呀 End particle ending a question, giving emphasis to a statement,

or expressing warning [PR]

AA jai AA 制 Share the bill at the restaurant [PH]

A 阿 Particle placed before a person’s name, nickname or kinship title.

Phonetic character [PR]

A bà 阿爸 Father. Dad *Go, waí [N]
A baak 阿伯 Uncle (elder brother of the own father). Commonly used to
address
an old man even when unknown to the speaker *Go, waí [N]
A bài 阿跛 Crippled [IE][OF]
A bàng 阿崩 Name used in sayings and idiomatic expressions: it always
depicts a stupid, taunted man. Person with a hare lip [IE][OF]
A bóu a sing 阿保阿勝 Tom, Dick and Harry (呢啲工作阿保阿胜都做得啦 [IE]
A chà 阿差 Offensive term indicating Indians or Pakistani (in HK) [IE][OF]
A cháan 阿燦 Chinese from Mainland China, so called by HK people [IE][OF]
A daaih 阿大 Eldest. Senior [IE]
A dáugùn 阿斗官 Affluent young person. Son of rich people [IE]
A díng 阿頂 Gang boss. Triad boss. (公司阿頂叫我假期返工...點好?) *Go [N]
A fèi 阿飛 Good-for-nothing. Young criminal [N]
A fèih 阿肥 Fat man [IE][OF]
A fūk 阿福 Imbecile. Stupid [IE][OF]

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Báanhéi go mihn 板起個面 Pouting [IE]
Báanjeung 板障 Partition *Faai [N]
Báankàuh 板球 Cricket *Chèuhng, go, guhk [N]
Báansehk 板石 Stone slab *Faai [N]

石屎樓, 冇釘冇板: a building made of reinforced concrete, without nails and wooden panels. The saying
plays with the resemblance of 冇釘冇板 with 冇叮冇板, that means without rhythm, to ridicule a song
wrongly played [成語]

Báan, fáan 坂阪岅 Slope. Hillside.

Báan 舨 Sampan (type of boat).

Baahn 扮 Disguise. Dress up [V]

Baahn chàsìu 扮叉燒 Pretend. Pretend to understand. Also 扮嗮叉燒 [IE]

Baahnchéun 扮蠢 Play dumb. 不過你呢種唔知真傻定扮蠢嘅態度... [IE]
Baahn daaihdói 扮大袋 Boast. Brag. Show off [IE]
Baahn doihbíu 扮代表 Pass for the envoy or delegate of someone else [PH]
Baahngwáibaahnmáh 扮鬼扮馬 Disguise oneself.我細個嗰陣至鐘意扮鬼扮馬 [IE]
Baahnháaih 扮蟹 Feign not to understand. Feign not to know. 你唔好扮嗮
蟹喎!. Boast. Show off [IE]
Baahnhóuyàhn 扮好人 Pretend to be a nice person [IE]
Baahnhòuh 扮豪 Flaunt. Dress overly elegant and pompous [IE]
Baahnjok 扮作 Impersonate. Feign. 嗰次我就選擇扮作聽唔到 [V]
Baahnjòngwòhngdai 扮裝皇帝 Actress posing as a man *Go [N]
Baahnjòngwòhnghauh 扮裝皇后 Transvestite *Go [N]
Baahn jyù sihk lóuhfú 扮猪食老虎 "Impersonate a pig to eat the tiger". Same as "a wolf in sheep's
clothing” [IE]
Baahnleng 扮靚 Dress well. Doll up (also 扮靚靚) [IE]
Baahn lóuhsíng 扮老醒 Pretend to be swift and capable when it is not true [IE]
Baahn mòhnglūk 扮忙碌 Feign to be very busy: 周身喐, 扮忙碌 [IE]
Baahnnánchyun 扮 串 Be just a big bastard [IE][OF]
Baahnsaai yú hā háaih 扮嗮魚蝦蟹 Horse around. Show off. Act as a powerful person [IE]
Baahnséigáu 扮死狗 Act as a dead dog; pretend to not know [IE]
Baahnseuhngchoi 扮上菜 Show off. Haughty behaviour. Boast superiority 你唔好扮嗮
上菜呀 [IE]
Baahnsòh 扮傻 Play dumb [V]
Baahnsuhk 扮熟 Pretend to know someone well. 講真, 我討厭嗰種成日同
我扮熟嘅人 [V]
Baahn yàuwàt 扮憂鬱 Feign sadness: 眼濕濕, 扮憂鬱 [V]
Baahnyéh 扮嘢 Impersonate. Cheat by pretending to. Pretend. Act as. 唔使
扮嘢喇, 我唔會再信你. 我最憎人扮嘢 [V]
Baahnyín 扮演 Mock. Act in a theatre. Playact [V]

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扮死狗點嗮頭: pretend to be a dead dog. Pretend to be really down or in trouble. Pretend not to know.
你唔好扮晒死狗啊 [成語]

知少少, 扮代表: pretend to know well. Also as 識少少, 扮代表 [成語]

Baahn 湴 Mud. Sludge. Muddy water *Dī [N] 粵 ○

Baahntáhm 湴氹 Puddle. Muddy pond *Go [N]

爛湴難扶. The mud is difficult to support. Those who are used to an immoral, illicit conduct, will not
change easily their way of living [成語]

爛湴須防有刺: it is important to make sure that no pointed object is hidden inside the mud . In affairs
and in life you must always be alert, someone can try to cheat you and ruin you [成語]

大寒牛湴湴, 舊穀有人要. If at 大寒 the ox sinks in the mud, someone will need (want) to buy last
year’s wheat. An unusually warm year [成語]

大寒牛湴湴, 出正冷死魚. If at 大寒 the ox sinks in the mud, during the first month the fish die of
cold. An unusually warm autumn is dangerous for fish farmed in a pond, that can be harmed by a sudden
wave of cold [成語]

Baahn 辦辧 Manage. Do. Order goods. A sample of something (I’ll show you a

sample: 有辦畀你睇) *Júng, yeuhng [V][N]

Baahnfaat 辦法 Method. Way of doing. Means *Go [N]
Baahnfo 辦貨 Order goods. 佢去咗日本辦貨[V]
Baahn gùngchóng 辦工廠 Manage a factory [V]
Baahn hohkhaauh 辦學校 Manage a school [V]
Baahnhóu 辦好 Manage well. Do well [V]
Baahnléih 辦理 Manage. Run. 呢啲手續你唔需要親自到銀行去辦理嘅 [V]
Baahngùng 辦公 Carry on a working activity [V]
Baahngùngsāt 辦公室 Office *Go, gàan [N]
Baahngùngsìhgaan 辦公時間 Working hours. 我哋嘅辦公時間係 * Go [N]
Baahnsih 辦事 Manage affairs. Work in an office [V]
Baahnsihchyu 辦事處 Office *Go, gàan [N]
Baahnyéung 辦樣 Sample *Go [N]

你辦事我放心: if you manage this I feel confident [IE]

Baahn 爿 Chopped wood. Radical [radical 90]

Baahng, bàahng Bang. Slam ( 度門) [V] ○

粵
Baahng yātsèng 一聲閂 Close by slamming [V]
-sàanmàaih

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Bāk 北 North. The north [N]

Bākbihn 北便 North side [PH]

Bākbìngyèuhng 北冰洋 Arctic Ocean [PN]
Bākbouh 北部 North side. Northern part of *Go [N]
Bākbunkàuh 北半球 Northern hemisphere *Go [N]
Bākfòng 北方 Northern regions. Places located at north *Go [N]
Bākfòngge 北方嘅 Nordic. Of the north [ADJ]
Bākfòngyàhn 北方人 Northerner. Person from the north *Go [N]
Bākfùng 北風 Northern wind *Jahn [N]
Bākgihk 北極 North Pole [PN]
Bākgihkge 北極嘅 Polar (of the north pole) [ADJ]
Bākgìng 北京 Beijing. Peking [PN]
Bākgìngchoi 北京菜 Beijing’s food *Júng [N]
Bākgìngngáap 北京鴨 Peking duck *Jek [N]
Bākgìng wá 北京話 Beijing’s dialect *Júng [N]
Bākgù 北菇 Northern Chinese mushrooms. Used in many Cantonese dishes i.e.
北菇蝦球粥, 北菇扒雙蔬 *Jek [N]
Bākgù 北姑 Chinese girl from the north who works in HK; prostitute from the
North *Go [N][OF][IE]
Bākgùgài 北姑雞 Northern Chinese girl prostituting in the South *Go [N][OF][IE]
Bākhòhn 北寒 North Korea [PN]
Bākkèih 北芪 Radix astragali, herb with curative properties *Pò [N]
Bāklóu 北佬 Northern Chinese man [IE][OF]
Bākméihjàu 北美州 North America [PN]
Bākmūi 北妹 Chinese girl from the North who works in HK; prostitute from the
North *Go [N][OF][IE]
Bākyàhn 北人 Northern Chinese person (man or woman) *Go [N][OF]

春吹南風晴, 北風雨唔停: if the wind blows from the south in Spring, the sky will be clear; if the wind
blows from the north the rain will not stop [成語]

Bàm 乓 Onomatopoeic of the sound “bam”.

Bām 泵 Pump. To pump [V][N] *Go [TSL from “ pump”]

Bàn 奔 Run. Move swiftly. Run away.

Bànbō 奔波 Be always in movement. Excited. 四處奔波 [V]

Bàntòuh 奔逃 Run away. Escape [V]

Bàn 賓 Guest. Visitor. Subdue oneself benevolently.

Bànchìh 賓詷 Subject in a sentence *Go [N]

Bàngún 賓館 Hostel. Guest lodging *Gàan [N]
Bànhaak 賓客 Client of a hotel or restaurant *Go, wái [N]

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Banjohng 殯葬 Bury a corpse [V]
Banlíhm 殯殮 Funeral *Chi [N]
Banyìhgún 殯儀館 Funeral parlour *Gàan [N]

Ban 擯 Expel. Reject. Doorman.

Ban 鬢 Hair on temples.

Ban 捹 Make a ponytail. Fabricate a rope (捹辮) [V]

Bahn 笨㤓 Stupid. Clumsy.

Bahnbahn déi 笨笨地 Silly. Stupid [ADJ][OF]

Bahnchat 笨 Asshole. Imbecile (also 笨 ) [ADJ][OF]
Bahnchīk 笨叱 Moron. Imbecile [ADJ][OF]
Bahndáan 笨蛋 Stupid. Idiot. Imbecile [N][ADJ][OF]
Bahndeuhn 笨鈍 Idiot. Dull. Stupid [ADJ][OF]
Bahnhài 笨閪 Asshole. Moron (female) [ADJ][OF]
Bahnnánchat 笨 Asshole. Imbecile (male) [ADJ][OF]
Bahnsáu bahngeuk 笨手笨腳 Clumsy. Gawky. Ungainly [ADJ][OF]
Bahnsíchùhng 笨屎蟲 Dung beetle *Jek [N]
Bahntàuh bahnnóuh 笨頭笨腦 Stupid. Idiot. Moron [ADJ][OF]
Bahnyàhn 笨人 Stupid. Idiot. Imbecile [N][OF]

真係笨過大笨蕉呀! You are more stupid than a big banana [IE][OF]

Bàng 崩 Collapse. Subside. Broken, damaged. Chipped. Notched [V][ADJ]

Bàngdaaihwún 崩大碗 Medicinal herb from South China (Centella asiatica) *Dī [N]
Bàngge 崩嘅 Chipped. Notched [ADJ]
Bàngháu 崩口 Hare lip *Go [N]
Bàngkwúi 崩賄 Subside. Collapse [V]
Bàngngàh 崩牙 Chipped tooth *Jek [N]
Bàngyíh 崩耳 Ears uncommonly protruding [IE]

崩口人崩口碗: to say things out of place, capable to embarrass and/or to humiliate the listener. Also
applicable to someone who does not want to come to terms with a flaw. "A chipped bowl given to someone
with a hare lip" (also 崩口人忌崩口碗) [成語]

Bàng Large butterfly (variety of) [V] 粵○

Bàngsā Variety of large butterfly, the same name is applied to a sort of
fried food whose shape resembles the butterfly *Jek [N]

Bàng, baahng, màang 綳繃 Endure. Tense. Stretched. Bandage.

Bàngdáai 綳帶 Bandage *Tìuh [N]

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Béi dōu Ï... 畀都唔... Even as a gift, I don’t want it. When something is absolutely
unwelcomed, not even when free of charge [PH]
Béifàan 畀返 Return. Give back [V]
Béigwáimàih 畀鬼迷 Bewitched. Hexed. Be strongly attracted [PH]
Béi gòumouh… daai 畀高帽…戴 Ingratiate oneself with someone through favours and compliments.
"Give a tall hat to someone to wear" [IE]
Béi háugùng 畀口供 Witness formally or in legal sense [PH]
Béijó 畀咗 Given (past of to give), have given [V][ADJ]
Béi jòu 畀租 Pay the rent. 每個月一號畀租 [V]
Béikāat 畀咭 Pay by credit card [V]
Béikéuih 畀佢 Give to him/her. 畀佢機會試吓 [PH]
Béilèuihpek 畀雷劈 I wish a thunderbolt will snap you [IE][OF]
Béimihn 畀面 Show respect. Give face [PH]
Béi néih 畀你 Give you. I give to you. I let you have [PH]
Béi ngáahntái 畀眼睇 Show. Let (someone) see [PH]
Béi ngóh 畀我 Give me. 有冇嘢畀我呀? [PH]
Béi sàmgèi 畀心機 Pay attention. Dedicate time and efforts [PH]
Béi sànséui 畀薪水 Pay a salary, a wage [V]
Béiseui 畀稅 Pay taxes. 畀稅平時唔係幾開心 [V]
Béi tìuhmòuh 畀條毛 Give a hair. To make someone pay for his wrongdoing at the due
time, 我畀條毛你 [IE][OF]
Béiyàhn dahn 畀人燉 Be demoted (be stewed) [IE]
Béiyàhn fèi 畀人飛 Be abandoned by a lover [IE]
Béiyàhn kèihsih 畀人歧視 Suffer discrimination [PH]
Béiyàhnmaaih 畀人賣 Fooled. Betrayed, applied to someone who is cheated with the
promise of a good job, or to a woman induced to prostitution [IE]
Béiyàhnmaaih jyùjái 畀人賣豬仔 Be cheated. Be fooled, someone sells your piglet [成語]
Béiyàhn naauh 畀人鬧 Be rebuked. 佢今次畀人鬧到仆街 [PH]
Béiyàhn siu 畀人笑 Be sneered at. 下次唔好講呢啲會畀人笑嘅說話 [PH]
Béiyàhn táiséi 畀人睇死 Be considered as “dead”, a nothing, a loser [PH]
Béiyàhn wāt 畀人屈 Be treated unfairly. Mistreated [PH]

畀人賣咗妳, 重要幫人數錢: you have been cheated and now you must help them count the money [IE]

天皇都冇面畀: (he) does not show respect, not even to the Emperor . Used when someone is not showing
respect to someone else who is entitled to, when someone is unsympathetic, when someone does not
respect the position of a third party: 今次真係天皇都冇面畀啊 [成語]

畀, 畀, 畀... 膝頭對上就髀: give me, give me, give me... the thigh is above the knee! Ironic expression
used with someone that is asking for something insistently or too many times, it plays with the
pronunciations of 畀 and 髀, as if the speaker would have said 髀髀髀 instead of 畀畀畀 [IE]

Béi 匕 Radical [radical 21]

Béisáu 匕首 Dagger. Daga *Bá [N]

37
Beihtai 鼻涕 Mucus (nasal) (流鼻涕, dripping nose) *Dūk [N]
Beihtaichùhng 鼻涕蟲 Snail *Jek [N]
Beihyām 鼻音 Nasal sound *Bá [N]
Beihyìhm 鼻炎 Rhinitis *Júng [N]
Beihyīn 鼻烟 Snuff (tobacco) *Hahp, dī [N]
Beihyīnháp 鼻烟盒 Snuffbox *Go [N]

鼻䯊裏擔遮 or 鼻哥窿擔遮: to hold an umbrella in a nostril. The saying is definitely obscure, it

indicates a situation of no escape, when there is no solution to something, and comes from the direct
picture of the umbrella that cannot be hidden inside the nose, and most of all from the closeness in
sound between 鼻 and 避, so that 避冇可避 is created from 鼻冇可避 [成語]

鼻屎好食, 鼻囊挖穿: bogeys are good, you dig in your nose for it. To do whatever it takes, even if
disgusting or despicable, to reach your goal [成語]

Beih 避 Hide, avoid. –Proof, protect from, protecting [V]

Beihdaahn 避彈 Bulletproof [ADJ]

Beihdaahnyì 避彈衣 Bulletproof jacket *Gihn [N]
Beihfùngtòhng 避風塘 Port. Marina. Indicates specifically a port suitable as a shelter
against typhoons and rough sea *Go [N]
Beihgeih 避忌 Keep a low profile to avoid being heard / seen [V]
Beihhòi 避開 Avoid. Stay away [V]
Beihjaaigámbeih 避債咁避 Prevent this and that [IE]
Beihlèuihjām 避雷針 Lighting rod *Jì, tìuh [N]
Beihmíhn 避免 Avoid. Not to have to [V]
Beihmòuhhóbeih 避無可避 Inevitable. No refuge from [IE]
Beihnaahn 避難 Flee from some disaster. Find refuge [V]
Beihnaahnsó 避難所 Refuge. Shelter *Go [N]
Beihnìhn 避年 Spend the New Year’s Eve abroad (thus avoiding all New Year’s
social obligations) [IE]
Beihyahn 避孕 Contraception. Prevent pregnancy *Chi [V][N]
Beihyahnge 避孕嘅 Contraceptive [ADJ]
Beihyahntou 避孕套 Condom *Júng [N]
Beihyahnyún 避孕丸 Birth control pill *Nāp [N]
Beihyu 避雨 Find shelter from the rain [V]

游白雲遇雨, 冇避: be in 白雲 (a district of 廣州) on a rainy day, no shelter. Ancient saying of an age
when carrying an umbrella was not common: in the area of 白雲 was very difficult to find shelter from
the rain. The saying applies to situations of no escape, no shelter, no good solution available. Same is 白
雲山撞雨, 冇得避 [成語]

Beih 被 To be subject to. It generates passive forms as “to have been...”,

“to be...”, but its use is limited in Cantonese because it is substituted by 畀.

Beih dihn dihnchàn 被電電嚫 Suffer from an electric shock [V][PH]

40
Napkin ........................................................................... 80; 316; 886
Narcissus ..................................................................................... 906
Narrate ........................................................................................ 499
Narrow ....................................................................... 124; 409; 1041
Narrow waist ............................................................................... 464
Narrow-minded ............................... 10; 225; 410; 430; 868; 950
Nasal septum .................................................................................. 39
Nasal sound ..................................................................................... 39
Nation ........................................................................................... 392
Nation’s founder ......................................................................... 392
National ........................................................................................ 393
National anthem.......................................................................... 393
National flag ................................................................................ 393
National product......................................................................... 392
National seal ................................................................................ 393
National team .............................................................................. 392
Nationalism ......................................................................... 393; 705
Nationalist Party ........................................................................ 393
Nationality ................................................................................... 393
Nationals .....................................................................................1067
Native .............................................................................................. 66
Native of a place (person) ........................................................... 65
Native salt ................................................................................... 855
Natural .......................................................................................... 518
Natural disasters ....................................................................... 997
Natural gas .................................................................................. 997
Natural park ................................................................................ 302
Natural pearl ............................................................................... 835
Natural phenomena ..................................................................... 518
Natural raw rubber .................................................................... 854
Natural resources ............................................................. 518; 997
Natural rubber................................................................... 507; 968
Natural salt ................................................................................. 663
Natural sciences .......................................................................... 518
Natural selection ........................................................................ 997
Naturalize ......................................................................... 382; 1070
Naturally ............................................................................. 366; 518
Nature ................................................................................. 164; 997
Naughty ............................. 16; 240; 783; 903; 1002; 1027; 1059
Naughty boy ............................................................. 236; 683; 689
Naughty girl................................................................................. 740
Nauru ............................................................................................ 809
Nausea .......................................................................................... 786
Nauseating ................................................................................... 795
Nautical map ................................................................................. 451
Nautical mile................................................................................ 627
Nautilus ........................................................................................ 257
Naval fleet ................................................................................... 606
Navel ................................................................................... 120; 1014
Navigate ........................................................................................ 451
Navigate the web .......................................................................... 49
Navigation ..................................................................................... 451
Navigator ...................................................................................... 451
Navy .............................................................................................. 445
Navy soldiers ............................................................................... 904
Near ................... 275; 293; 317; 492; 542; 577; 626; 709; 835
Near a station .............................................................................. 691
Near by.......................................................................................... 317
Near East ...................................................................................... 317
Nearing ......................................................................................... 822
Neat ..................................................................................... 354; 394
Neat and clean ............................................................................ 585
Neatly ........................................................................................... 382
Nebulise ....................................................................................... 249
Nebuliser .............................................................................737; 822
Necessarily .....................................................................................47
Necessary ..................................................................................... 187
Necessary information .............................................................. 903
Necessity ................................................................... 48; 903; 1122
Neck .....................................................................................334; 645
Neck bone .................................................................................... 334
Necking ......................................................................................... 572
Necklace ....................................................................................... 334
Necktie .......................................................................................... 631
Nectar........................................................................................... 235
Need .............................................................................................. 904
Need money .................................................................................. 186
Needful .................................................................................. 47; 258
Needle........................................................................................... 479
Needle tip .................................................................................... 479
Needlework .................................................................................. 283
Negative attitude ....................................................................... 949
Negative pole............................................................................. 1059
Negative result absolutely unexpected ....................................27
Neglect ......................................................................................... 400
Neglected................................................................................... 1032
Negligent ......................................................... 161; 400; 608; 1058
Negotiate ......................................358; 419; 478; 777; 977; 1116
Negotiate peace.......................................................................... 326
Negotiation .................................................................................. 977
Negotiator ................................................................................... 977
Neighbour..................................................................................... 635
Neighbourhood ...................................................................285; 293
Neighbours..........................................................................293; 542
Neither ............................................................................................47
Neither... nor ............................................................................. 1090
Neither... not... ............................................................................ 676
Nepal ............................................................................................. 759
Nephew ................................................................. 7; 486; 793; 970
Nepotism ...................................................................................... 598
Nerve ............................................................................................ 875
Nerve-racking ............................................................................. 339
Nervous..............266; 317; 368; 488; 543; 875; 879; 880; 943
Nervous cell ................................................................................. 875
Nervous exhaustion.................................................................... 875
Nervous system .......................................................................... 875
Nest.........................................................................................85; 193
Net .......................................................................................652; 727
Net amount .................................................................................. 882
Net profit ........................................................................... 534; 912
Net weight ................................................................................... 534
Net worth..................................................................................... 873
Nettle ..............................................................................................87
Neuralgia ...................................................................................... 875
Neurology ..................................................................................... 875
Neurosis ....................................................................................... 875
Neutral ......................................................................................... 558
Neutral area ................................................................................ 558
Neutral nation ............................................................................. 558
Neutralize .................................................................................... 558
Neutron ........................................................................................ 558
Neutron bomb ............................................................................. 558
Never .......................................................................................... 1042
Never before.................................................................... 146; 1042
New ....................................................................................... 871; 872
New and shiny............................................................................ 1058
New and strange ......................................................................... 872
New entry ..................................................................................... 133
1230
鰕........................ 397
鰣........................ 926
鰥........................ 380
鰨.........................981
.........................105
.........................138
........................ 497
鰫....................... 1143
鰭........................ 585
鰱.........................641
鰲........................ 798
鰳.........................616
鰵........................ 706
鰷...................... 1003
鰹.........................341
䲁 ...................... 1005
鰻........................ 694
鰽.........................142
鰾........................ 833
鱀........................ 332
鱅....................... 1143
鱈........................ 973
鱉.......................... 48
鱒........................ 570
鱔........................ 939
鱖........................ 385
鱘.......................... 88
鱟........................ 426
鱣........................ 526
鱤.........................312
鱧.........................614
鱭.......................... 86
鱲........................ 647
鱷........................ 795
鱸........................ 660
鳥 ............... 806
鳩 ........................ 321
鳯 ....................... 283
鳳 ....................... 283
鳴 ........................ 721
鳶 ...................... 1135
鴇 .......................... 58
鴈 ....................... 774
鴉 ....................... 764
鴒 ....................... 644
䳇 ........................ 737
䳈 ........................... 58
鴕 ......................1004
鴛 ...................... 1135
鴜 .........................116
鴝 ....................... 588
鴣 ....................... 364
鴨 ....................... 775
鴺 ....................... 986
鴻 ........................ 461
鴿 ....................... 300
鵂 ......................1078
䳄 ..........................116
䳍 ........................ 376
鵑 ....................... 395
鵒 ....................... 556
鵜 ....................... 986
鵝 ....................... 790
鵞 ....................... 790
鵠 ....................... 369
鵡 ....................... 737
鵪 ....................... 782
鵬 ........................ 818
䳭 ........................ 522
鵯.......................... 36
鵰.........................212
鵲.........................106
鶘...................... 1053
䳰 .......................... 58
鶚........................ 795
鶯........................ 784
鶴........................ 447
鶵.........................133
鶻...................... 1042
鶿.........................120
鷀.........................120
鷂....................... 1125
鷄........................ 307
鷓........................ 494
鷚........................ 624
鷝.......................... 34
䴃 ........................ 759
鷯........................ 649
鷰....................... 1113
鷸........................ 762
鷹....................... 1117
䴉 ........................ 972
䴋 ........................ 972
鷺........................ 664
鸕........................ 660
鸚....................... 1117
鸞.........................671
䴐 .......................... 58
鹵 ................ 663
鹹........................ 403
鹼........................ 298
鹽....................... 1110
鹿 ............... 665
麂 ....................... 330
麒 ....................... 584
麓 ....................... 665
麕 ....................... 597
麖 ....................... 334
麗 ........................ 615
麝 ....................... 895
麥 ............... 702
麩 ....................... 270
麪 ....................... 720
麯 ....................... 368
麴 ....................... 368
麵 ....................... 720
麹 ....................... 368
麻 ....................... 683
黃 ..............1046
黇 ....................... 995
䵌 ......................... 123
黍 ............... 967
........................ 1131
黎 ........................ 613
黏 .............. 525; 801
........................ 747
䵙 ........................ 464
黐 .........................115
黑 ............... 402
黕 ........................ 184
1344