Re: hakka: Hakka Chinese FAQ

[fchin@brooklaw.edu (Fran Chin)]

Approved: teoh

Hello SL,
Yes, there are a few errors this time around on the FAQ; this is what
happens when you work on it at 4 in the morning.

>1. Cantonese has 9 tones, not 6. That is the most complicated of all.
Not being a native Cantonese speaker, I had to rely on books for this
information. Cantonese most definitely does not have 6 tones; there are 9
tones (although a few books only consider 8 of them important). The error
was caused by my misreading of the Sidney Lau, _Elementary Cantonese_, Vol.
1 textbook. It indicates 6 basic tones:
1. high falling, 2. middle rising, 3. middle level, 4. low falling, 5. low
rising, and 6. low level.

However, Tones 1, 3, and 6 can be "clipped", or pronounced in a short
plosive voice, thereby deriving 9 tones.

>>2. The origin of Mao Zedong as a hakka came from a newsletter I received
>from England. The original was forwarded to Dylan Sung.  I don't see it is
>proven yet and have not entered it in the famous people list on my
>homepage.  But it is something new that I think should be shared. This is
>not a place to make any political commentary on any person. He was born in
>Hunan. But I have not heard about his relation with Fujian. Any more info?

Yes, Mao came from Hunan, not Fujian. The correct region name was
transcribed incorrectly.

However, as far as I can tell, Mao was not Hakka, or at least did not
publically admit to being one. As mentioned in B.301, there is really no
way to physically distinguish Hakka Chinese people from other Chinese
people; either one has to trace ancestry records or the subject
acknowledges one's Hakka roots through language or culture.

It seems odd that considering Mao has been reasonably well- known and
studied as a historical figure, a conclusion has not been made on this
point, when such a conclusion has been made of many of his contemporaries,
such as Dr. Sun and Deng Xiaoping. It personally doesn't matter to me one
way or the other if Mao is found to be Hakka or not.  For purposes of the
FAQ, I don't care about politics (see the answer for B.001); however, I'd
like to be right though.

3. The question numbering system was originally the method you mentioned;
however, the job at hand did not justify having such an elaborate system. I
decided to flatten out the tier approach into the present system. Getting
more contributions to fill in the empty spaces would be helpful, too.

Thanks for your help,
-Fran





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FRANCIS H. CHIN                  fchin@brooklaw.edu, franchin@panix.com
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"What I don't want done onto me, I don't want to do onto others."
                            - Analects of Confucius 5:11 (500 B.C.)