Hong Kong written Chinese

Hong Kong written Chinese (HKWC) is a local variety of Standard Chinese used in formal written communication in Hong Kong.[1] While, like other varieties of Standard Chinese, it is largely based on Mandarin it differs from the mainland's national variety of Standard Chinese (Putonghua) in several aspects, for example that it is written in traditional characters, that its phonology is based on Cantonese, and that its lexicon has English and Cantonese influences.[2]

Lexicon

Lexical differences between HWKC, Putonghua, and Guoyu

Some lexical differences between the varieties of Standard Chinese in the mainland (Putonghua), Hong Kong, and Taiwan (Guoyu):


Mainland	Hong Kong	Taiwan	English
出租汽车 chūzū qìchē	的士 dik¹ si⁶²*	計程車 jìchéngchē	"taxi"
移动电话 yídòng diànhuà	流動電話 lau⁴ dung⁶ din⁶ waa⁶²*	行動電話 xíngdòng diànhuà	"mobile phone"
服务器 fúwùqì	伺服器 si⁶ fuk⁶ hei³	伺服器 sìfúqì	"server"
初一 chūyī	中一 zung¹ jat¹	國一 guóyī	"7th grade"

Semantic differences

Some etymologies appear both in HWKC and Putonghua, but may differ in their semantic value:


Word	Meaning in Mainland	Meaning in Hong Kong
认真 rènzhēn / 認真 jing⁶ zan¹	seriously, earnestly	truly, really
机会 jīhuì / 機會 gei¹ wui⁶	opportunity (for gaining advantages or benefits)	opportunity (for anything)
㤏 dǒng / 懂 dung²	to understand	to understand; to know^{nb 1}

Notes

^ In Singaporean Standard Chinese, 㤏 / 懂 dǒng also has the meaning of to know.

References

Shi, Dingxu (2006-10-12). "Hong Kong written Chinese: Language change induced by language contact". Journal of Asian Pacific Communication. 16 (2): 299–318. doi:10.1075/japc.16.2.09shi. ISSN 0957-6851.
Bauer, Robert S.; 包睿舜 (2018-03-26). "Cantonese as written language in Hong Kong". Global Chinese. 4 (1): 103–142. doi:10.1515/glochi-2018-0006. ISSN 2199-4382.

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[1] Shi, Dingxu (2006-10-12). "Hong Kong written Chinese: Language change induced by language contact". Journal of Asian Pacific Communication. 16 (2): 299–318. doi:10.1075/japc.16.2.09shi. ISSN 0957-6851.

[2] Bauer, Robert S.; 包睿舜 (2018-03-26). "Cantonese as written language in Hong Kong". Global Chinese. 4 (1): 103–142. doi:10.1515/glochi-2018-0006. ISSN 2199-4382.

nb 1