Logistics Center

Ūn-tiû tiong-sim

—————

Hông-hái Chi̍p-thoân Ko-hiông ūn-tiû tiong-sim kè-oē ē hoat-seng piàn-hoà.

The Honhai Group’s plans for a logistics center in Kaohsiung could change.

Online MOE Dictionary, part 2

I’ve had a chance to take a longer look at the Ministry of Education’s new Taiwanese dictionary. If you can read Mandarin well, you’ll find, in addition to the dictionary itself, lots of other good material on the site, including:

–A dictionary of proverbs (sample here)

–Pronunciation for hundreds of family names (sample here)

–Taiwan place names (including old names, MRT stations, rivers and streams, mountain peaks and ranges, and railroad stations)

–Family relations (this might be my favorite)

–Foreign loanwords

–Regional differences in pronunciation and vocabulary

–Body parts (sample here)

–Traditional seasonal terms

Greater Taipei

Tâi-pak îⁿ-kôan

Take a shortcut

Kiâⁿ té-lō•

Literally: “Walk the short road”

Rush Hour

Siōng-hā-pan sî-kan

Literally: “the going-to-and-getting-off-work time”

Multiple-entry visa

To-chhù ji̍p8-kéng chhiam-chèng

————–

He̍k8-hoat gō·-nî ê tn̂g-kî to-chhù ji̍p8-kéng chhiam-chèng

Approve a five-year, multiple-entry visa

Stop over for four hours

Thêng-lîu  sì sío-sî

Keep the change

M̄-bían chāu.

Courtesy seat

Phok-ài-chō

This is one name for the seats on buses and trains in Taiwan that are supposed to be given up for the elderly, injured, pregnant, etc. 博愛座 in Mandarin.

A note about yesterday’s cartoon

In the second frame, the father says:

Chiūⁿ-kiā ū-kàu thiám-thâu… (Going uphill is really tiring)

This sounds a little strange to me (and most people I’ve asked).  It’s much more common to hear peh for “go up” instead of chiūⁿ, as in peh soaⁿ (go up/climb the mountain) or peh kiā /peh khiā (go uphill).

Chiūⁿ, on the other hand, turns up more in expressions like “get on the bus/get in the car” (chiūⁿ chhia) or “get up on stage” (chiūⁿ-tâi).