Big Nose (ah-dok-ah?) in Taiwanese

[Hartzell]

What is the correct romanization for the Taiwanese expression BIG NOSE?

Would "ah dok ah" be appropriate?

Is this considered polite?

[Chris]

What is the correct romanization for the Taiwanese expression BIG NOSE?

Would "ah dok ah" be appropriate?

Is this considered polite?

And you've lived in Taiwan how long, Richard?

I get different answers when I ask different people, and have heard different theories.

I've heard that it's 阿凸仔, pronounced "a tok a", but with the influence of Mandarin (which has no final stops), it sometimes ends up ends up sounding like "a to a". I've also seen it written "阿多仔", but this may be backformation.

I think the degree of politeness depends on how it's used. Kind of like "gringo" or "farang"; if it's said in a relaxed, friendle way, it's like "foreign friend", if it's said in an annoyed way it's like "foreign scum".

[rice_t]

It depends which romanization system you use.

TLPA and Mary Knoll: a-tok-a
Taiyu Tongyong: a dok-a

Polite? Not really. Politer would be

TLPA and Mary Knoll: goa-kok-lang, goa-te-lang
Taiyu Tongyong: ghua-gok-lang, ghua-de-lang

[miltownkid]

I just use adoa, but that's the miltown romanization.

[yonglan]

I use 'ah-dohk-ah', but that's just my own romanization. I use it as it seems to me to represent the sounds, though that sort of concept rarely occurs to the people who make romanization systems.

I was told that the front and back 'ah' were the same character. Can't remember what character 'dohk' is supposed to be.

Polite? About as polite as 'redskin' or 'yellow man' in my book, but we (the US) do have an NFL team named the former . . .

[Tempo Gain]

Amoy-English Dictionary (Mary Knoll) says

A-tok-

[Southpaw]

I have seen it written as follows:

阿荳仔
阿豆仔

[mod lang]

That k must obviously be silent or spoken on a frequency inaudible to foreigners' ears, because I've always heard it pronounced as "ah-doe-ah" (my phonetic English romanization; long o, 'a' as in 'father'). Where do Taiwanese pronounce it as "a-doK-a"? They certainly don't say it that way in the south of Taiwan. Can you explain what the purpose of having that silent K is in that romanization?

[Tempo Gain]

That k must obviously be silent or spoken on a frequency inaudible to foreigners' ears, because I've always heard it pronounced as "ah-doe-ah" (my phonetic English romanization; long o, 'a' as in 'father'). Where do Taiwanese pronounce it as "a-doK-a"? They certainly don't say it that way in the south of Taiwan. Can you explain what the purpose of having that silent K is in that romanization?

The k is softened but it's still there as a kind of guttural click. i sometimes hear people say it more clearly.

[Bu Lai En]

Yes, the 'k' in Taiwanese is a 'glottoral stop' (if that's the right terminolgy). It is more of an anticipated sound in the back of the throat.

Brian