Pronunciation in Hakka

["S. L . Lee" <sllee@asiawind.com>]

Zinfad,

Thanks for your post. First of all the dnotation I used is not any standard
one, but my own.  The "w" I denoted in the Hakka pronunciation is not
exactly the English "w" but more like the German "w". The Hakka "w" as in
wunhok (literature) has the lower incisor touching the inner lower part of
the lower lip.  It does not show the incisor. It is not the English "v"
either which would require biting about 2/3 of the lower lip. All these
denotations using Roman languages can only be approximate.

Elder sister is called jia, not ji, in my Dongguan tongue. I always thought
it is closest to Meixian as I could listen to standard Meixian radio
broadcast without any problem. Only Dongguan Hak is more softened and less
emphatic in the consonants. I can't tell sin from xin as in new and body.

If we had to develop a pinyin system for Hakka, I would use oong for soong
(send) rather than ung as the English speaking people always pronounce ung
as in lung, sung, hung.  The Pinying system also missed this point when it
was first adopted. Now the surname Song sounds like the music we sing. If
Soong was introduced, then I think it would be more precise.

SL