Re: Cantonese "Nah!" (Here!) rude or not?

Charles Belov wrote:
I studied Cantonese about 16 years ago. In the Department of State's Cantonese Basic Course, Volume One (1970) which we used, they include the Cantonese word "Nah!" (low falling tone) as meaning "Here! (expression accompanying giving something to someone."

However, when I used it with a friend who came from Hong Kong as a child in the mid-50's a few years ago, both he and his Cantonese-speaking friend told me it was rude to say "Nah!" when handing something to someone. This was as a result of my handing him my share of the tab at a restaurant and saying "Nah!" as I did so. For several years after that, he would occasionally tease me about the incident by handing me something and saying "Nah!"

Given that the State Department would be so concerned about manners that they teach deuimhjyuh, excuse me, in the first lesson and mhhou yisi, I'm so embarrassed, in the third, I can't imagine they would include a faux pas like that. 

It depends on the context and the tone.  "Here!" in English could
be quite rude too -- e.g., a waiter serving food to a patron saying
just "Here!" (not "Here Sir" or "Here it is, Sir") would would be
brusque at the very least.

"Nah" tend to imply that the interlocutor has (recently) asked for
the item; more "You asked for it, here it is." than simply "Here
it is."  You can see why this makes the utterance rude in the
case in handing in one's share of the tab, or when serving food as
a waitor -- it implies that the other party was too demanding.

Lee Sau Dan's point of the nasal qualilty is just part of the
audial impression: nasal implies disdain, similar to "saying through
the nose" in English.  I don't think it is that significant a feature
in insolation (i.e., without the accompanying tone and/or facial
expression.)

The only times I have heard it used outside of the above were in the media. In an episode of a 80's Hong Kong TV serial "On Lohk Cha Faahn" (Peace, Happiness, Tea, Rice), a woman hands a torn-up contract to her ex-husband who has just tried to cheat here out of her newly successful restaurant. 

Judging from the context, I imagine that the tone would be something
similar to "You have been asking for it, so here! Satisfied?"  ("You
deserve this!")

And in Royston Tan's 2003 film 15, a teenager speaking in Hoklo (which I know is not Cantonese, but the word obviously has the same literal meaning) joked about wanting to act in a porn film, in which he would whip out his penis and say "Nah!" to the actress. 

Probably trying to surprise/shock the actress?

Tak
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Tak To                                            takto@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cantonese "Nah!" (Here!) rude or not?
    ... >I studied Cantonese about 16 years ago. ... >accompanying giving something to someone." ... when handing something to someone. ... > saying "Nah!" ...
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  • Cantonese "Nah!" (Here!) rude or not?
    ... I studied Cantonese about 16 years ago. ... In the Department of State's Cantonese Basic Course, Volume One which we used, they include the Cantonese word "Nah!" ... This was as a result of my handing him my share of the tab at a restaurant and saying "Nah!" ... And in Royston Tan's 2003 film 15, a teenager speaking in Hoklo joked about wanting to act in a porn film, in ...
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