Based on my personal experience and this observation, I’ve developed a personal understanding of Aiya.Īiya is 24-carat Chinese gold. Lo and behold, I heard Aiya used in a variety of ways. I clipped my cell phone to my belt, grabbed a couple of pink bakery boxes and sat around San Francisco’s Portsmouth Square drinking 7-Up and eating dim sum. Seeing that the publishers of tourist books were not going to be helpful, I decided to observe its use in the community. I thumbed through all the Chinese language materials, but couldn’t find any vocabulary drill including Aiya. First, I went to a national bookstore chain to review its Chinese language materials. I decided to conduct informal research about Aiya. No matter how far removed I’ve become as an American, there is something at my core that is Chinese. I was surprised that I would instinctively use my mother’s tongue because I’ve always known that I don’t speak Cantonese well. ![]() “M’sai… No apology needed.” Although it was a minor exchange, I later realized that Aiya is more than just two characters it is part of the spirit of being Chinese…in a moment of surprise, I could have said just about anything – my reaction was to say Aiya. At that moment, both of us said, “Aiya.” The children giggled, she apologized, and I quickly replied. I was putting said treat into my cart and looking for my Ranch 99 VIP card, when a woman with three kids in two ran into my cart. I had a craving for a sweet taste of childhood the other day, so I went shopping for some moy. Since I thought people might not understand it, here’s an explanation.Īn interesting look at a phrase that is completely second nature to me.Īi-Ya! – A must-read for all Chinese people If he/she reads this, welcome back, by the way even though I don’t know you! (I was going to post that in the other thread, but it was closed by the time I got to it) Or sometimes Chinese words or expressions just sound much more funny than English or another language.I originally used “aiya!” in the thread about Kyomara 's banning. Sometimes there are just words in other languages that express something much more detailed than in your native language. Is your computer not doing as you want, Āiyā! 哎呀! Mosquito bite? Āiyā! 哎呀!You get what I’m saying… You can even use it if someone annoys you simply say Āiyā! 哎呀!in a very annoyed voice. You are grocery shopping and bought too much you can’t carry it and it falls down: Āiyā! 哎呀! Use it for when something you want to do, fails. The exclamation Āiyā! 哎呀!has lots of different meanings. That’s why I would love to use it in other languages as well. Gànma is definitely great to use at all times. Respond: Gànma? 干嘛? or somebody does something to you for no reason, scream : Gànma? 干嘛? It can be used to express “What do you want?”, “What is it?” or simply “Why?”. Gànma? Is also one of my favorite words that we should use in other languages as well. And it’s so convenient too and makes you get used to saying it very fast ah. It basically just means that you really want to eat or it can also be kind of “defensive”, like 我就这样子啊!(That’s just how I am (ah))!Ĭhinese people put ah 啊 after almost anything and it’s suuuuuper common in everyday speech. Similar to Ba 吧, Ah 啊 is another great little word to emphasize what you are saying and you can but it anywhere! This particle is so important and great to use that we should really add it in other languages as well! Like: Can you send me this file? – Later ba. … Ba 吧īa 吧 is used all the time in everyday speech and is an awesome addition to your sentence! There are two main functions to use 吧: to mark and soften commands, requests and suggestions or as a tag question to ask for agreement or confirmation with what is being said.īa is great for almost everything to emphasize something or also express a little bit of anger like: 那你不用帮我吧!(Well, don’t help me then…) It doesn’t only sounds fun it also is fairly easy to pronounce! That’s why we need to use mafan in other languages as well! 2. It can be used for almost anything that you find “sucks”. It actually means something like “trouble” so you can say “This is so troublesome!” (“Tai mafan le! 太麻烦了!).But it describes so much more than the English word “trouble”. Máfan is one of the favorite Chinese word for a lot of foreigners. ![]() Here’s a list of Chinese words I think are useful for people to use in their native languages as well. When I speak English or German again, though, I sometimes like to use certain Chinese words or expressions because they are just bringing things more to the point than my native languages sometimes. Being the only foreigner in my company and almost only hanging out with Chinese people made me speak the language on a different level than before. Since I moved back to China, my Chinese has gotten better and better.
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