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Chapter 8. Cantonese ‘ mong4 ’

A cultural keyword of ‘busy’ Hong Kong
  • Helen Hue Lam Leung
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Cultural Keywords in Discourse
This chapter is in the book Cultural Keywords in Discourse

Abstract

This chapter investigates the Hong Kong Cantonese cultural keyword ‘mong4’.1 Mong is usually translated into English as busy and into Mandarin as máng, but though their meanings overlap, many examples of busy and máng cannot be translated directly into Cantonese using mong. This is because mong has a culturally significant meaning and usage, and is linked to a specific value system supported by Hong Kong discourse. This chapter examines some differences between mong, busy and máng, explores Hong Kong discourses of work and life, and the meta-discourse surrounding mong in the speech community. A Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) explication for mong is proposed in English and Cantonese.

Abstract

This chapter investigates the Hong Kong Cantonese cultural keyword ‘mong4’.1 Mong is usually translated into English as busy and into Mandarin as máng, but though their meanings overlap, many examples of busy and máng cannot be translated directly into Cantonese using mong. This is because mong has a culturally significant meaning and usage, and is linked to a specific value system supported by Hong Kong discourse. This chapter examines some differences between mong, busy and máng, explores Hong Kong discourses of work and life, and the meta-discourse surrounding mong in the speech community. A Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) explication for mong is proposed in English and Cantonese.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Typographical conventions and symbols ix
  5. Chapter 1. How words do things with people 1
  6. Chapter 2. Nice as a cultural keyword 25
  7. Chapter 3. Bogan as a keyword of contemporary Australia 55
  8. Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse 83
  9. Chapter 5. Talking about Livet ‘life’ in Golden Age Danish 107
  10. Chapter 6. Visuality, identity and emotion 131
  11. Chapter 7. Subúrbio and suburbanos 157
  12. Chapter 8. Cantonese ‘ mong4 ’ 183
  13. Chapter 9. Kawaii discourse 211
  14. Chapter 10. An invitation to keyword studies 235
  15. Index 243
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.277.08leu

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Typographical conventions and symbols ix
  5. Chapter 1. How words do things with people 1
  6. Chapter 2. Nice as a cultural keyword 25
  7. Chapter 3. Bogan as a keyword of contemporary Australia 55
  8. Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse 83
  9. Chapter 5. Talking about Livet ‘life’ in Golden Age Danish 107
  10. Chapter 6. Visuality, identity and emotion 131
  11. Chapter 7. Subúrbio and suburbanos 157
  12. Chapter 8. Cantonese ‘ mong4 ’ 183
  13. Chapter 9. Kawaii discourse 211
  14. Chapter 10. An invitation to keyword studies 235
  15. Index 243
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