Getting along with neighbours

Most people in Hong Kong live in flats in high-rise buildings.

In the building we live in, which is unassumingly typical, there are 29 floors and 12 flats per floor. That gives a total of 348 flats. Assuming an average of 2 people per flat (a low estimate; there are 5 in my own flat), and assuming all flats are occupied, that leads to at least 700 people in our building.

My next door neighbor's door is so close that if I spread open one of my hands and have my thumb touch our door, my little finger is just one inch away from touching my next-door neighbor's door, which is at a 90-degree angle from mine.

Bumping into neighbors is a frequent occurence (but not literally bumping - it's not that crowded). You come across them as you wait for the lift (elevator), you share lifts with them, you come across them at the lobby, at the bus stop, inside the bus, at neighbourhood shops, and even at the garbage disposal.

In order to appear (be) civil, you will be expected to utter some phrases of greeting and common courtesy when bumping into people. Some of the most common expressions include:

jo² san⁴ - good morning
lei⁵ ho²? - how are you?
joi³ gin³ - good bye/see you

Remember that every word must be pronounced with the correct tones.

(I just used jo² san⁴ this very morning and mis-toned on the san⁴, pronouncing it at a higher tone than jo² -- a dead give-away of my speaking competence. Fortunately, I had a chance to redeem myself a few minutes later as the cleaning ladies arrived, and I greeted them with a sparklingly perfect jo² san⁴).

You'll hear jo² san⁴ very frequently in the morning, as it's very standard. There seems to be, however, no equivalent standard greeting for 'good afternoon', or 'good evening'. I'm told that for those periods of the day, you just greet or acknowledge a person by uttering their name.

Lei⁵ ho² is also a standard way of saying 'how are you?' As in English conversation, it's just politeness. You are not really expected to say that you've had a bad week, had been seeing the doctor for 3 weeks now, and all your other woes.

When you are really interested, you ask lei⁵ ho² ma³? which is a more personal greeting. You ask this only of friends and relatives, and not of strangers and acquaintances. It's similar to the usage of 'how have you been?'

When parting ways, Cantonese say joi³ gin³, which means 'see you again'. It's also common to say 'bye bye', but with a Cantonese intonation.

Here's a typical conversation:

On meeting at a building lobby
A: Jo² san⁴ (good morning)
B: Jo² san⁴
(Some Cantonese small talk or silence, depending on how well acquainted they are)
A: Joi³ gin³ (see you, bye)
B: Joi³ gin³

Next: You and yours, me and mine.

The Six Tones

Many words in Cantonese are spoken with two pitches. You begin a word at one pitch, and end at a higher pitch, or a lower pitch, as required by the word.

When you say 'yeah?' in English, note how the ending sound is at a higher pitch than the opening 'y' sound. This is similar to the Middle Rising tone in Cantonese. For contrast, say the same word 'yeah...' and listen to how the pitch remains even throughout.

Do you see how using a Middle Rising tone when you say 'yeah?' indicates to the user that you are asking a question? And how saying 'yeah' at an even pitch indicates to the user that you are making a statement of fact. That's an example of changing the meaning of a word by using the pitch, although the situation is far more radical in Cantonese, where yeah can mean 'darkness' and a rising yeah can mean 'countryside'.

Let us know return back to the first 6 tones and the Lau system. Let's also refer back to the musical notes do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti as an easy reference for how a word could be pronounced. We say 'could be' because, as mentioned before, Cantonese does not demand absolute pitch.

By appending a number at the end of each romanised Cantonese word, we can tell the tone that the word must be spoken at (must -- it is not voluntary). This notation of appending a number is the Lau system.

Tone 1 High Falling

Say such words as if the start is at the same pitch as the note fa and the final (lower) sound at
mi.

Tone 2 Middle Rising

This is the reverse of Tone 1. Say these words starting at a pitch of mi and ending at fa.

Tone 3 Middle Level

Speak the word at mi and remain at mi all throughout. You'd think this is easy, but remember not to change the tone even if you are asking a question!

Tone 4 Low Falling

Speak the word at re and end at the lower do.

Tone 5 Low Rising

The reverse of Tone 4. Speak the word at do and end at the lower re.

Tone 6 Low Level

Speak the word at do and remain at do all throughout the word.

That is all.

Don't worry about having to memorise the 6 tones; you will become familiar with them quite quickly. A useful memory device I use is to remember that the 'higher' numbers (1,2,3) have to do with High and Middle tones, and the 'lower' numbers (4,5,6) have to do with the lower tones.

Uh...1,2,3 are higher numbers? Yes, if you associate then with rank (1st place is higher than 2nd place is higher than 3rd place).

Next: Enough theory, let's start talking to neighbors!