Daddy the Hakka

November 26, 2008

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So in China, there’s this Chinese minority called “Hakka.” So here is a conversation that went down with my dad at the dinner table.

Me: So my roommate Connie’s Chinese too… oh! And her boyfriend is a Hakka!
Dad: Really? Professional or leisure?
Me: What? I don’t know…?
Dad: You know, Daddy is a Hakka too!
Me: Really?!?!?! How do you know?
Dad: I hakked the iPhone!

Tagged as: miscommunication, mispronunciation

  • cowbert

    Uhm…
    Hakka is pronounced “kejia” (at least in Mandarin, and probably Cantonese too) [ke -> “guest”, jia -> “tribe”, as the Cantonese traditionally regarded the Hakka as continental migrants to their region).

    So it looks like you commited a reverse-FOB yourself :)

  • Loey

    it's “Hakka” in hakka
    and “hak ga” in Cantonese
    so yesterday i learned it was “ke jia” in mando =P

  • Person

    Well, maybe it wasn't clear that this conversation was in English and not Mandarin or Cantonese. Secondly, I said Hakka the way my Chinese Civ (she is Chinese) teacher said it freshman year of college. I'd assume she'd know what she's saying, so I was confident in my submission. Thanks for that little lesson anyway though cowbert.

    And thanks Loey for further clarification. :)

  • xy

    well there are also sorta different regions of hakka people

    its mostly pronounced as kak-ga/kak-ka (g or h sound, something in between) rather than hakka

  • xy

    well there are also sorta different regions of hakka people

    its mostly pronounced as kak-ga/kak-ka (g or h sound, something in between) rather than hakka

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