Happy Year of the Ox 2021!

Learn Teochew wishes everybody a happy Year of the Ox! (Because we are promoting Teochew and not Mandarin, we won’t make a joke about “happy 牛 year”.)

When I was a kid I learned the common New Year greetings in Mandarin: xīnniánkuàilè 新年快樂, gōngxǐfācái 恭喜發財, wànshìrúyì 萬事如意, and so on. But when visiting older relatives, my parents told me to say something in Teochew which I didn’t really understand at the time: sing1zian1 ru5(7)i3. Only as an adult did I understand that this means 新正如意.

sing1zian1 ru5(7)i3 新正如意 - may your wishes be fulfilled in the new year

Vocabulary for the Lunar New Year:

sing1zian1 新正 - “new first month”, the first month of the lunar calendar is called zian1guêh8 正月

zian1guêh8 ciu1ig4 正月初一 – First day of the First month in the calendar (i.e. “new year’s day”)

cung1zoih4 春節 - “Spring Festival”; another name for the New Year festival

Some more New Year greetings in Teochew:

sing1ni5 kuai3(2)lag8 新年快樂

giong1hi2 huêg4(8)cai5 恭喜發財

sing1ni5 huêg4(8)cai5 新年發財

We hope that learning some of these greetings will help you give your older relatives a pleasant surprise, whether you are able to see them in person or are sending them virtual greetings.

zog4(8) dai6(7)gê1: sing1ni5 huêg4(8)cai5, sing1zian1 ru5(7)i3!

祝大家：新年發財、新正如意！

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Posted on 2021-02-11 00:00:00 +0000