<p>Chong Sau Lin's Hakka is a bit different from standard (Meixian) Hakka. In particular, [ɛu] is replaced by [iau] or [iu].</p>

<p>1) As others have said, 唱带 means music tapes.</p>

<p>2) 镭 <em>lui</em> = 钱 <em>cen</em> (money) in Malaysia/Singapore, derived from duit, the Dutch coin, through Malay. There isn't a Chinese word for it, so they use 镭 for the sound. Then it makes more sense: 人家赚到笑，镭装满几盘。Other people earning till they laugh (i.e. laughing to the bank), money filling plates.</p>

<p>As for <em>cin-pu</em>, they used the wrong word. It should be 尽补, i.e. keep restocking. Then 货又尽补好唔得闲 means they keep restocking, no time to idle. If you listen to his 炒面 <em>cau men</em> song, <em>cin</em> appears in 尽加凳 <em>cin ga den</em> (keep adding chairs).</p>

<p>3) 蚀 is a fantastic word, it combines the meaning of 食 and 失 with are both also <em>sit</em>. Meaning, the pirate sellers "eat" the profits, and the singers "lose" the money. So 蚀到只只改行唔限 would be losing (money) till everyone changes industry.</p>

<p>4) 去开一间海南鸡饭 means open a shop to sell Hainanese chicken rice, i.e. 去开一间店卖海南鸡饭</p>

<p>5) 齐家 literally means whole house, but is extended to mean everybody, i.e. all the customers. I believe zau-man is 招满, meaning customers come and fill the whole place.</p>

<p>I'd translate it as:</p>

<pre><code>Lately, being a singer is so hard
All those barbaric pirated music sellers
Everywhere i see pirated copies
One street has ten-plus stalls
Those people laugh to the bank, money filling their plates
They keep restocking, don't even have time to idle
I sing till half dead, spend over a hundred thousand dollars
Other people steal and make pirated copies
Singers lose money till all of them change jobs without limit
Go open a Hainanese chicken rice shop
Everyone comes to praise after eating
Such a good business, customers often fill the whole place
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-01T21:53:25.837Z
I see "restock" translated to 重新进货 on [Wiktionary](https://zh.wiktionary.org/wiki/restock). Was that 尽补 meant to be 进补?
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-01T21:54:11.480Z
Mmh, 进补 spelt that way means "take a tonic" in mandarin though…
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-25T15:31:34.127Z
2015-08-25T16:09:34.330Z
2015-08-25T16:09:34.330Z
iamanigeeit
<p>I've come across Zhang Shaolin's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VyazYfmmaY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hoi-nam kai-fan</a> (characters 海南鸡饭, lyrics only in subtitles), a song in Hakka. It is split into three parts. This question concentrates on part 1, <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/9651/help-translating-%E6%B5%B7%E5%8D%97%E9%B8%A1%E9%A5%AD-2">part 2 being here</a> and <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/9652/help-translating-%E6%B5%B7%E5%8D%97%E9%B8%A1%E9%A5%AD-3">part 3 here</a>. I have trouble translating it. The lyrics from the subs are:</p>

<pre><code>海南鸡饭

最近做歌星讲好难
唱带翻版好鬼野蛮
到处看到翻版
一条街有十几间
人家赚到笑镭装满几盘
货又乘补好唔得闲
唱到半死花百几千
人家偷做翻版
蚀到只只改行唔限
去开一间海南鸡饭
齐家吃开晓来称赞
按好嘅生意客仔常照满
</code></pre>

<p>Listening to the video carefully and accurately representing the sounds I hear, and subsequently tweaking the spelling for a "standard" spelling, I got the following transliteration:</p>

<pre><code>Hoi-nam kai-fan

Cui kun co ko-sing kong hau nan
Chong tai fan-pan hau kui ya-man
Tou-chu khon tau fan-pan
Yit thiau kai yiu sip ki kan
Nyin-ka chan tau siau lui zong man ki phan
Fo yiu cin pu hau m tet han
Cong tau pan-si fa pak pi chen
Nyin-ka tiu co fan-pan
Sit dau cak-cak koi-hong m-han
Hi hoi yit kan Hoi-nan kai-fan
Che-ka sit hoi hiau loi ching-can
An hau ke sen-i hak-cai song cau man
</code></pre>

<p>This is a possible mandarin rendition:</p>

<pre><code>海南鸡饭

最近做歌星说好难
唱带翻版好鬼野蛮
到处看到翻版
一条街有十几间
人家赚到笑泪装满几盘
货又乘补好不得闲
唱到半死花百几千
人家偷做翻版
蚀到个个改行没限
去开一间海南鸡饭
全家吃开会来称赞
很好的生意客人常照满
</code></pre>

<p>Notes:</p>

<ol>
<li>讲 is kong, Hakka standard for "say"; replaced with "shuō";</li>
<li>笑镭 is pronounced siau-lui; <a href="http://hakka.dict.edu.tw/hakkadict/index.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">my reference</a> says "lèi" (tears) is read "lui", so I guessed this was some sort of misspelling, since I couldn't find any better option; replaced with "xiàolèi";</li>
<li>唔 is m/ng, a standard Hakka negation; replaced with "bù" in many cases;</li>
<li>只 can be used as a classifier; according to <a href="http://hakka.dict.edu.tw/hakkadict/index.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">my reference</a>, it's cak when classifier and cii when "only"; doubled, it should mean "every", like doubled classifiers can in Mandarin; replaced with gègè, since I interpreted it as "everyone" = "every person";</li>
<li>齐家 is che-ka; according to <a href="http://hakka.dict.edu.tw/hakkadict/index.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">my reference</a>, 齐 can mean "all", so this could mean "the whole household"; replaced with 全家;</li>
<li>晓 is hiau; I have learnt this means "can", though this meaning is in my reference only under "晓得"; replaced with "néng";</li>
<li>按 is an; <a href="http://hakka.dict.edu.tw/hakkadict/index.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">my reference</a> says 恁 (an) means "very"; replaced with "hěn";</li>
<li>嘅 is ke; my reference spells that 个, distinguished from classifier 個, and says it means "de"; replaced accordingly;</li>
<li>仔, cai, is a common noun suffix, like 子; after kè it should mean "kèrén"; replaced accordingly;</li>
<li>There are some <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/9653/strange-pronunciations-in-hakka-song">strange pronunciations</a>: 张惠妹 is pronounced with Mandarin pronunciation (save for sh = s), 来 is sometimes pronounced lei instead of loi, 好 and 无 (actually 冇) are hau and mau, and the reference states they should be mo and ho, 两 is lioeng (compare Cantonese loeng).</li>
</ol>

<p>With all that, my attempt would be:</p>

<pre><code>Hainanese Chicken rice

Lately becoming a song star is, come to speak of it, very hard
Singing, dealing with very cunning and barbaric pirate versions,
Everywhere I see pirate versions:
One road has over ten (pirate version selling) places
People earn till their smiles and tears fill up a few plates,
Richnesses (cin-pu?) decidedly can't stay idle
Sing till half-dead and spend a few thousand money
And people do pirate versions, stealing.
I've been nibbled till every profession change is not a limit
So I go boil a Hainanese Chicken rice
Everyone eats and can praise
It's good business, and guests often (cau-man?)
</code></pre>

<p>As you can understand, the problems are many. I will make a few points.</p>

<ol>
<li>The second line doesn't convince me because those two verbs in a row sound odd; is it just Hakka or is my translation wrong?</li>
<li>The part of the people is really mysterious: does it mean people are all poor? Because they earn little, so they have to feed on smiles and tears? Or is there a subject change in the "Chàng dào bànsǐ huā bǎi jǐ qián" line? And what is that "cin-pu"?</li>
<li>The "nibbled away" line convinces me little, is it right?</li>
<li>Is the next line saying he gave up singing and switched to cooking or that he prepares the chicken rice to get more income? Or is it just for him?</li>
<li>And again, do the following lines imply the chicken rice is for other people who enjoy it really or is it not? And what is "cau-man"? And is the che-ka interpretation riht? That might mean the rice is for him and family, not for others. But then there is "business".</li>
</ol>

<p><strong>Edit:</strong>
<a href="http://www.syndict.com/hakka/h2m/hk/E58FBB.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Another reference</a> confirms liap (or rather, liak) means "clever", i.e. "cōngming". </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T00:41:27.713Z
I have no knowledge about Hakka at all and I don't know what a good question is defined as on this site, but I wanted to give you props on a well-researched effort! It is quite impressive how much thought you've put into this!
rramphal
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T00:51:07.903Z
Seeing foreigners learning Hakka that seriously makes me ashamed of my Chinese identity >_<
Joseph S WU
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T07:50:14.153Z
@rramphal thanks, but you didn't read about the ages I spent on looking at every character with certain readings in the reference. _That_ was a _real_ bore, and often left me with no result. I've been going with this song for over a year now, and this is what I got. I really hope someone can help me.
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T07:50:47.177Z
@JosephSWU why do you get ashamed for that?
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T09:42:08.747Z
Note how the references transliterate Hakka in a different way from mine, using voiced consonants for voiceless ones even for final unreleased stops and unvoiced ones for aspirated ones, much like Pinyin, whereas I use a more Wade-Giles like scheme, with voiceless for voiceless and an extra h for aspiration.
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-20T15:56:09.553Z
@rramphal an SX way of «giving me props» would be upvoting the question (and maybe the other 2 as well)…
MickG
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-23T03:57:01.043Z
@MickG Because it makes me feel like not mastering the Chinese language well...On this point, I think the Chinese government should be blamed for suppressing public recognition of regional variants of the language.
Joseph S WU
<translation><topolect><hakka>
Help translating 海南鸡饭
# Help translating 海南鸡饭

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-19)

I've come across Zhang Shaolin's Hoi-nam kai-fan (characters 海南鸡饭, lyrics only in subtitles), a song in Hakka. It is split into three parts. This question concentrates on part 1, part 2 being here and part 3 here. I have trouble translating it. The lyrics from the subs are:
海南鸡饭

最近做歌星讲好难
唱带翻版好鬼野蛮
到处看到翻版
一条街有十几间
人家赚到笑镭装满几盘
货又乘补好唔得闲
唱到半死花百几千
人家偷做翻版
蚀到只只改行唔限
去开一间海南鸡饭
齐家吃开晓来称赞
按好嘅生意客仔常照满

Listening to the video carefully and accurately representing the sounds I hear, and subsequently tweaking the spelling for a "standard" spelling, I got the following transliteration:
Hoi-nam kai-fan

Cui kun co ko-sing kong hau nan
Chong tai fan-pan hau kui ya-man
Tou-chu khon tau fan-pan
Yit thiau kai yiu sip ki kan
Nyin-ka chan tau siau lui zong man ki phan
Fo yiu cin pu hau m tet han
Cong tau pan-si fa pak pi chen
Nyin-ka tiu co fan-pan
Sit dau cak-cak koi-hong m-han
Hi hoi yit kan Hoi-nan kai-fan
Che-ka sit hoi hiau loi ching-can
An hau ke sen-i hak-cai song cau man

This is a possible mandarin rendition:
海南鸡饭

最近做歌星说好难
唱带翻版好鬼野蛮
到处看到翻版
一条街有十几间
人家赚到笑泪装满几盘
货又乘补好不得闲
唱到半死花百几千
人家偷做翻版
蚀到个个改行没限
去开一间海南鸡饭
全家吃开会来称赞
很好的生意客人常照满

Notes:

讲 is kong, Hakka standard for "say"; replaced with "shuō";
笑镭 is pronounced siau-lui; my reference says "lèi" (tears) is read "lui", so I guessed this was some sort of misspelling, since I couldn't find any better option; replaced with "xiàolèi";
唔 is m/ng, a standard Hakka negation; replaced with "bù" in many cases;
只 can be used as a classifier; according to my reference, it's cak when classifier and cii when "only"; doubled, it should mean "every", like doubled classifiers can in Mandarin; replaced with gègè, since I interpreted it as "everyone" = "every person";
齐家 is che-ka; according to my reference, 齐 can mean "all", so this could mean "the whole household"; replaced with 全家;
晓 is hiau; I have learnt this means "can", though this meaning is in my reference only under "晓得"; replaced with "néng";
按 is an; my reference says 恁 (an) means "very"; replaced with "hěn";
嘅 is ke; my reference spells that 个, distinguished from classifier 個, and says it means "de"; replaced accordingly;
仔, cai, is a common noun suffix, like 子; after kè it should mean "kèrén"; replaced accordingly;
There are some strange pronunciations: 张惠妹 is pronounced with Mandarin pronunciation (save for sh = s), 来 is sometimes pronounced lei instead of loi, 好 and 无 (actually 冇) are hau and mau, and the reference states they should be mo and ho, 两 is lioeng (compare Cantonese loeng).

With all that, my attempt would be:
Hainanese Chicken rice

Lately becoming a song star is, come to speak of it, very hard
Singing, dealing with very cunning and barbaric pirate versions,
Everywhere I see pirate versions:
One road has over ten (pirate version selling) places
People earn till their smiles and tears fill up a few plates,
Richnesses (cin-pu?) decidedly can't stay idle
Sing till half-dead and spend a few thousand money
And people do pirate versions, stealing.
I've been nibbled till every profession change is not a limit
So I go boil a Hainanese Chicken rice
Everyone eats and can praise
It's good business, and guests often (cau-man?)

As you can understand, the problems are many. I will make a few points.

The second line doesn't convince me because those two verbs in a row sound odd; is it just Hakka or is my translation wrong?
The part of the people is really mysterious: does it mean people are all poor? Because they earn little, so they have to feed on smiles and tears? Or is there a subject change in the "Chàng dào bànsǐ huā bǎi jǐ qián" line? And what is that "cin-pu"?
The "nibbled away" line convinces me little, is it right?
Is the next line saying he gave up singing and switched to cooking or that he prepares the chicken rice to get more income? Or is it just for him?
And again, do the following lines imply the chicken rice is for other people who enjoy it really or is it not? And what is "cau-man"? And is the che-ka interpretation riht? That might mean the rice is for him and family, not for others. But then there is "business".

Edit:
Another reference confirms liap (or rather, liak) means "clever", i.e. "cōngming".

**Tags:** translation, topolect, hakka
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I have no knowledge about Hakka at all and I don't know what a good question is defined as on this site, but I wanted to give you props on a well-researched effort! It is quite impressive how much thought you've put into this!  
> **username_2**: Seeing foreigners learning Hakka that seriously makes me ashamed of my Chinese identity >_<  
> **username_0**: @rramphal thanks, but you didn't read about the ages I spent on looking at every character with certain readings in the reference. _That_ was a _real_ bore, and often left me with no result. I've been going with this song for over a year now, and this is what I got. I really hope someone can help me.  
> **username_0**: @JosephSWU why do you get ashamed for that?  
> **username_0**: Note how the references transliterate Hakka in a different way from mine, using voiced consonants for voiceless ones even for final unreleased stops and unvoiced ones for aspirated ones, much like Pinyin, whereas I use a more Wade-Giles like scheme, with voiceless for voiceless and an extra h for aspiration.  
> **username_0**: @rramphal an SX way of «giving me props» would be upvoting the question (and maybe the other 2 as well)…  
> **username_2**: @MickG Because it makes me feel like not mastering the Chinese language well...On this point, I think the Chinese government should be blamed for suppressing public recognition of regional variants of the language.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-08-25. Score: 2

Chong Sau Lin's Hakka is a bit different from standard (Meixian) Hakka. In particular, [ɛu] is replaced by [iau] or [iu].
1) As others have said, 唱带 means music tapes.
2) 镭 lui = 钱 cen (money) in Malaysia/Singapore, derived from duit, the Dutch coin, through Malay. There isn't a Chinese word for it, so they use 镭 for the sound. Then it makes more sense: 人家赚到笑，镭装满几盘。Other people earning till they laugh (i.e. laughing to the bank), money filling plates.
As for cin-pu, they used the wrong word. It should be 尽补, i.e. keep restocking. Then 货又尽补好唔得闲 means they keep restocking, no time to idle. If you listen to his 炒面 cau men song, cin appears in 尽加凳 cin ga den (keep adding chairs).
3) 蚀 is a fantastic word, it combines the meaning of 食 and 失 with are both also sit. Meaning, the pirate sellers "eat" the profits, and the singers "lose" the money. So 蚀到只只改行唔限 would be losing (money) till everyone changes industry.
4) 去开一间海南鸡饭 means open a shop to sell Hainanese chicken rice, i.e. 去开一间店卖海南鸡饭
5) 齐家 literally means whole house, but is extended to mean everybody, i.e. all the customers. I believe zau-man is 招满, meaning customers come and fill the whole place.
I'd translate it as:
Lately, being a singer is so hard
All those barbaric pirated music sellers
Everywhere i see pirated copies
One street has ten-plus stalls
Those people laugh to the bank, money filling their plates
They keep restocking, don't even have time to idle
I sing till half dead, spend over a hundred thousand dollars
Other people steal and make pirated copies
Singers lose money till all of them change jobs without limit
Go open a Hainanese chicken rice shop
Everyone comes to praise after eating
Such a good business, customers often fill the whole place

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I see "restock" translated to 重新进货 on [Wiktionary](https://zh.wiktionary.org/wiki/restock). Was that 尽补 meant to be 进补?  
> **username_0**: Mmh, 进补 spelt that way means "take a tonic" in mandarin though…  

---

