{"id":2264,"date":"2024-07-19T02:19:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T02:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quillroom.uk\/wordpress\/?page_id=2264"},"modified":"2024-08-23T21:50:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T21:50:23","slug":"language-the-english-language","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.quillroom.uk\/wordpress\/language-the-english-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our “Local” English<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n

THE English language is one of the official languages of Hong Kong, so it is seen on signs and labels everywhere. But some of our official words are unique to our city and were \u201cborrowed\u201d from other languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the word \u201cshroff\u201d. It means the place in a building where a cashier<\/strong> operates and takes payments, usually for car parks and government offices. But it migrated to Hong Kong all the way from Persia, where its equivalent word, \u201csaraff\u201d, means a generic<\/strong> money-changer of any sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also \u201cnullah\u201d, like in Stone Nullah Lane. This means a gully or ravine, but in Hong Kong, it specifically means a water drainage channel. The word actually is derived<\/strong> from the Indian \u201cna la\u201d, which has a similar definition of a brook or ravine, but India eventually came to use the term for artificial<\/strong> canals. When India became a British colony, its colonial masters turned it into \u201cnullah\u201d, and it spread to other colonies, including Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for a \u201cgodown\u201d, it usually refers to a warehouse, especially one near harbours, which are used to store products. It actually comes from a Malaysian word \u201cgudang\u201d, which similarly refers to a storeroom. When it was transliterated <\/strong>to English, it was sometimes written as \u201cgudam\u201d, but eventually writers settled on its modern version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tai-pan, meanwhile comes from Chinese. It is derived from the pronunciation of \u201c\u5927\u73ed\u201d. The Chinese characters mean \u201ctop-class\u201d, and the English word likewise refers to those who are at the top, in this case, the top of a company. In other words, a Tai-pan is a business executive<\/strong> of a large company in China. Sometimes it can be extended to refer to any executive who is from overseas, specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Credits: Issue 09, 24 November 2022 (Thursday) by Quest from hkej<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click to listen!<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n