"2"gether or not "2"gether...that is the "?" (updated)

[Tortoise X-press <n8nrg@access1.net>]

>From my daily interaction with overseas Chinese HuaQiao residing in
California whose origins come from various Asian regions of Chinese
cultural spheres of influences, I have taken particular interest &
linguistical attention to how the various Chinese languages pronounce
the #"2".
 
>From dialect to dialect, there are consistant similar cross-linguistical
counting patterns from 1-10 with the exception of the #"2".

For some unique reason, the #"2" seems to remain inconsistantly
represented among the various Chinese languages for example:
 
> Standard Mandarin:............. er
> SuZhou-hua..................... lan
> ShangHai-hua................... liang
> WuHan-Mandarin:................ yao
> Standard Cantonese:............ yi
> ZhongShan Cantonese:........... ngii
> TaiShan Cantonese:............. ngei
> MoiYan Hakka................... ngii
> ChaoZhou-hua................... noh
> HaiNan-hua..................... noh
> XiaMen-Fujianese............... nung
> TaiWanese...................... nung
 
Can you see the various linguistical relationship in counting from 1-10
from the example below by looking at the intials & finals? It would also
be helpful if you super-impose these languages onto a geographical
context.
 
> Standard Mandarin. :.Yi Er San Si Wu Liu Qi Ba Jiu Shi
> 
> SuZhou-hua........ :.Yat Lan Sei Si Ng Luk Chit Boht Jiu Saht
> 
> ShangHai-hua...... :. Yea Liang Sei Si Ng Lok Chiet Boht Jiu Sahk
> 
> WuHan Mandarin:... :. Yi Yao San Si Wu Liu Qi Ba Jiu Shi
> 
> Standard Cantonese.:. Yat Yi Saam Sei Ng Luk Chat Baat Gou Sahp
> 
> ZhongShan Cantonese:. Yat Ngii Saam Sii Ng Luk Chit Baat Giu Sahp
> 
> TaiShan Cantonese. :. Yit Ngei Schlaam Schlei Ng Luk Tiit Baat Giu Sihp
> 
> MoiYan Hakka...... :. Yit Ngii Saam Sii Ng Liuk Chit Baat Giu Soop
> 
> ChaoZhou-hua...... :. Jik Noh San Sii Ngou Lak Chit But Gou Juhp
> 
> HaiNan-hua........ :. Yang Noh Da Di Ngau Lak Shiet Boi Gau Dahp
> 
> XiaMen-Fujianese.. :. Jik Nung Sah Sii Ngou Lak Chit Bot Gou Jahp
> 
> Taiwanese......... :. Jik Nung Sah Sii Ngou Lak Chit Bot Gou Jahp

Just think: "2"gether-ness may just be the missing link that will unite
us or divide us.
 
Sincerely,
Charles Louie
San Francisco
 
Note:

I agree with Dr. Lee about any successionist motive from GuangDong.
After all, you must be reminded that Hakka means Guest People and that
the present boundary of GuangDong is one of the last legacies of the
Kingdom of Yue. If it isn't already, I think MeiZhou is a Special
Economic Zone (SEZ) therefore is already a seperate economic entity
(like a quasi-province) with self-determination outside of the
provincial jurisdiction of GuangZhou. SEZ status already gives you
economic independence from the provincincial control and it already
recieves investments from overseas. Look at the municipality of greater
ShangHai for example. People there are speaking mandarin more so than
they are speaking ShangHainese. If a Hakka Province were to materialize,
it could follow either the ShangHai model or the HaiNan model.
Logically, one would follow the example of which is more economically
successful.  

Anyway, culturally, I can not tell the difference between Hakka &
Cantonese except for the facet of traditional Hakka dwelling in
community homes. But now-a-days, who is even living in those round
traditional houses anymore? Even the tradition black dress of the
elderly Hakka women that I've seen in books is nothing special to your
"culture" since it is common among elderly women in all the other
non-Hakka-speaking areas in GuangDong.

And as far as a Hakka "connection" with royalty? The foot-binding
tradition of women is the ultimate connection to royalty, nobility, &
the merchant classes which was a tradition passed down from mothers to
daughters as a passport to upward mobility. My own grandmother's mother
had her feet bound but made the decision not to pass down the feet
binding tradition to my grandmother which would have been a liability
especially during the events leading to the Fall of the Qing Dynasty and
the uncertainty of China after Manchukuo was established by the
Japanese. My understanding about why Hakka women didn't bind their feet
was more so economic than that of the Mulan syndrome. Yaks & water
buffalos used for tilling the fields were an expensive commodity which
the average peasant class could not afford. A Hakka woman who can work
the field was a marketable commodity than one that couldn't walk. Women
were used in placed of yaks and incidently were treated like yaks.
That's the product of our Confucian legacy in all (not just Hakka)
traditional Chinese cultures that did not bind their feet.    

More so, I am baffled by those of you who have this "what used to be
ours" mentality. In regards to Hong Kong, just because there were Hakka
villages there before Cantonese became the dominant language, does not
mean the Hakkas had "lost" Hong Kong. If any group were to claim that
they lost Hong Kong, then it would be the Tanka people who live on the
coastal harbor speaking their own brand of Yue Cantonese dialect.
 
A reminder is that nobody is forcing anybody to assimilate into
Cantonese. It is difficult for me to grasp the concept of how your
discussions have painted Cantonese to be an enemy. What makes Mandarin
any less of a threat than Cantonese? One thing for sure, the TangRen
identity does not exist in the Mandarin culture.

An alternative way to save the Hakka language is to register Hakka as a
non-Han ethnic group (I think with the Culture of Ministries) just like
the Hui people who are just as Han as you and I but are classified as an
ethnic minority based on the fact that they practice Islam. If the
government is expending resources to preserve all the minority languages
in the SouthWest & Tibet, then there is hope for Hakka. Succession is a
bad idea.