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Re: Cantonese 因住对脚

Posted By: Super
Posted Date: Jan 13, 2015 (02:58 PM)

Message
Hi, Keith:

I know it did sound a bit far-fetched because even after I had posted my translation I did have some doubts about it. Of course I could be wrong if those characters are not "Cantonese".

The problems are:
(1) If you try to google the four characters 珍字对脚, I guarantee you would never find anything on them. If you ask any Chinese what they mean, again I guarantee you that nobody can tell you because to the best of my knowledge, these four characters were never used together and I have studied Chinese for more than 50 years;
(2) Now if you ask somebody who can speak Cantonese what 因住对脚 mean I believe many of them would be able to tell you;
(3) The last two characters 对脚 being written on a table (or a chair?) has to mean a pair of legs (either one pair or two pairs). That is the most probable translation for them;
(4) The use of 珍字 instead of the more modern 因住 may mean this table is older than 60 years or whoever wrote them actually spoke a Cantonese dialect, therefore pronounced them a bit different.

Do any of the legs of your table appear to be a bit shaky, or uneven or easily broken?

I was originally from Hong Kong but now reside in USA. I love Chinese literature and once wanted to study comparative literature and became a writer. I did get some of my Chinese poems and translated poems (from English) published on Hong Kong newspapers and won quite a few written essay contests when I was a teenager

Cheer.

Super

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