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粤语与唐语


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Also, I am interested in the relationship between 西安话“得四”and the Japanese "desu". Is that true? 西安乃秦都,相传徐福。。。

Not really, it's quite a big stretch of the imagination.

Xian's “得是” (deisi) is used in questions to express doubt, or to contradict (反意疑问). I guess someone must of gotten confused with what the desu in Japanese そうですか? (sou desu ka?) means, and thought: "wow they sound similar and the phrases express the same thing."

Xian's 是 (si) is equivalent to Japanese "desu". This is the same for most Chinese dialects. The character 是 in Japanese is pronounced as a voiced ze (是非 zehi).

Xian's “得是?” (deisi) or "得是的?" is equivalent to Japanese "sou desu ka?" or something like 是吗? or 真的? in Standard Mandarin.

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When answering questions in positive term, both Cantonese and Japanese pronounce the same. Cantonese uses 係 for YES in a positive answer while Japanese uses Hai which sound the same.

I was under the impression that the Cantonese Hai is a restricted form of Yes, similar to Mandarin 是 (shi4). It is better translated as "It is" or "It is so." Am I wrong?

Shanghainese has a broader form of Yes: éh (/E/ 53). It covers: 对,正确,是,可以.

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I was under the impression that the Cantonese Hai is a restricted form of Yes, similar to Mandarin 是 (shi4). It is better translated as "It is" or "It is so." Am I wrong?

You are correct... essentially 係 replaces almost all instances of 是 in Cantonese, sometimes even in compounds such as 但是, which becomes 但係 (it doesn't happen to all compounds, i.e. 要是 stays the same).

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