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Learning Kunmingese (Kunminghua)

John Xie (109 posts) • 0

but why do you need to learn Kunming Hua? even the local people think their dialect ugly. but here's a tip, in mandarin, exchange the 3rd tune with the 4th tune, then it sounds like Kunming Hua.

pongpongcar (4 posts) • 0

Software? I don't think there's gonna be any software teaching kunminghua.
But if you're really interested. I can teach you kunminghua lol

sean1sean1 (82 posts) • 0

TCI, if you live in Kunming, theres no need for software, just listen....9/10 people you cross on the street will be conversing in it. Finding a friend to teach you would be easier...there will never be software for learning Kunminghua, but if you follow a few simple rules, you'll be on your way to learning kunminghua in no time. I'm not a local and my interpretation could be up for debate, but this is what I know about the dialect that allows me to understand most of it, and speak it on that rare occasion (I used to think i was B because I could speak a bit, but some local friends said its kind of a B thing to try and take it too seriously, now I just use the knowledge for listening purposes and respond in 普通话)

First and perhaps most important think to know about kunminghua is how to ask a yes or no question. Standard mandarin has its sentences end with the particle ma, as in 你吃饭了吗
Kunminghua however takes the question paricle MA and replaces it with gei put before the verb, as in 你给吃饭啦(note:le often becomes la as an ending particle)

Second, the possesive particle de becomes ne, like '我呢朋友','是我呢'

the word how, 怎么zenme in Mandarin, becomes 咋个zage(zaw-gah) in Kunminghua. Mandarin-你怎么那么笨 Kunminghua-你咋个那么笨

to say the word 'know' mandarin-知道zhidao becomes 认得rende or 少的shaode, negative form being 认不得 or 少不得

as in 我认不得 or 我认不得要咋个走

The verb 'to go' changes from qu in Mandarin to ke in Kunminghua
Mandarin-你要一起去吃饭吗? Kunminghua-你给要一起克吃饭啦

The word Where, 哪里nali, becomes 哪点nadian(naw-dian) in Kunminghua.
Mandarin- 你要去哪里? Kunminghua- 你要克哪点

One of my favorite parts of Kunminghua is the expressive sound, Mehhhhhhhhhhhh, which is represented with 汉字 using 。It represents sort of astonishment or annoyance with something, as seen in this sentence, "(mehhhh), 你这个人咋个这样?"

Also, like the sound in beijing, or the sound that is an ending particle that serves nothing but a stylistic purpose, are used in kunming with ga,sai, and la- with being the most predominant one that is identified by 老外. It is impossible to say when exactly each of these is used, so you just have to listen and figure out when it fits, sorta of like
我要走了嘎 or 没问题噶

Finally There are a few great words that make Kunminghua really humorous as well
老表laobiao- the same as what American's might call a 'redneck,' or what the brits might call a 'wanker.' Just someone with very little 素质 who does things

勺婆shaopo- is an insult for a 'bitch' or a woman that is sort of stupid or lacks common knowledge. and means kind of an ADJ for stupid or cuntish.

亥子haizi- is sometimes used for shoes or 鞋子 in Mandarin.

also 买买三三maimaisansan, is sort of like saying 'Oh my god.'

In my non-expert opinion this is about all you need to know, no software necessary...Anything anyone might want to add go ahead...any of this could be wrong, but probably isnt.

sean1sean1 (82 posts) • +1

oh and one more

咋个说zage shuo, is kind of like saying 'what's up?' to start a conversation with a friend.

sean1sean1 (82 posts) • +1

Oh yeah, good link Yuantongsi, I almost forgot

板扎 means awesome, like 太板扎啦!- 'thats too cool'

and instead of mei, they use mo, but say 莫得 instead of 没有...

also, the intensity of adjectives are modified by saying ADV的很,like 快得很,笨得很,慢得很 instead of 很快,很笨,or很慢.

like 那个老表笨得很

TICexpats (207 posts) • 0

Wow thanks .

Shame about no software as I like to practice alone often, so that would have helped.
To answer your ? John my wife's family are all Kunmingese/ Yunnanese and that's what they speak, some don't speak mandarin, the Bia part of the family speak bia/ yunnanese and no mandarin at all.

None of them have said they think their dialect is ugly though, they did comment on Hainanese being ugly when they visited us there, though.

sean1sean1 (82 posts) • 0

Not to come off as rude, but do you think there is enough of a market for a software developer to make a program for Kunminghua? Cantonese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Shanghainese, or maybe even Sichuannese, but Yunnanese.....it just doesn't 划算

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