Thursday, September 3, 2009

Chinese: the meaning & taboo behind the Numeric

In Chinese culture, certain numbers are believed by some to be auspicious (吉利) or inauspicious (不利) based on the Chinese word that the number name sounds similar to. However some Chinese people regard these beliefs to be superstitions. Since the pronunciation and the vocabulary may be different in different Chinese dialects, the rules are generally not applicable for all cases.
Because of the supposed auspiciousness of certain numbers, some people will often choose, attempt to obtain, or pay large sums for numbers that are considered to be lucky for their phone numbers, street addresses, residence floor (in a multi-story building), driver's license number, vehicle license plate number, bank account number, etc.
Lucky numbers are based on Chinese words that sound similar to other Chinese words. The numbers 6, 8, and 9 are believed to have auspicious meanings because their names sound similar to words that have positive meanings.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture)


Following is our local taboo of “Chinese number”:-
0 – 灵 / 宁 (Cantonese: soul, willing)

1 – 日 (Cantonese: day / sun), 易 (Mandarin: easy)

2 – 易 (Cantonese: easy)

3 – 生 (Cantonese/Mandarin: live / birth)

4 – 死 (Cantonese: dead /Mandarin: Yes)

5 – 无 (Cantonese: none) / 吾 (Mandarin: I, me)

6 – 捞 (Cantonese: cari makan), 禄 (Cantonese: salary/money),in Hokkien, 6 pronounces as ‘Luck’ (English: Lucky). 流 (Mandarin: Float / fluid); 落 (Cantonese: to drop, fall, or decline).

7 – 去 (Cantonese: gone)/ 起 (Mandarin: arise)

8 – 发(Cantonese/Mandarin: prosper) (Cantonese: gossip / long winded)

9 – 久 (Longlasting)


168 / 1668 – 一路发 Cantonese: fortune all the way.
24 - 易死 Cantonese: easy to die.
28 - 易发 Cantonese: easy to get rich
38 - 生发 Cantonese: prosper, 三八 Hokkien: crazy
49 - 死狗 Caontonese: dead dog.
520 – 我爱你 Mandarin: I love you, applies in China only
524 - 唔易死 Cantonese: not easy to die.
5354 - 唔生唔死 Cantonese: 'not alive, not dead' or 不三不四 nonsense.
584 - Hokkien: nonsense, sex maniac
67 – Cantonese: male’s organ (hash word)
7788 – Cantonese: almost complete.
9394 - 搞三搞四 Caontonese: do nonsense.
9413 - 九死一生 Cantonese/Mandarin: nine dead one alive.

1 comment:

  1. 9876543210拼凑浩瀚奇妙的数据0123456789并肩而进紧紧相系谁也不能没有谁一个都不能少每个皆美好

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