Hong Kong protest slogan
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The main slogan of the Hong Kong protesters is "faan2 sung3 Zung1 反送中" (“against being sent to China; against extradition to China"). The sung3 Zung1 送中" ("extradition to China") part of the slogan is echoed by the expression sung3zung1 送終 ("attend upon a dying relative; mourning; pay one's last respects; bury one's parent"). Consequently, when the protesters shout "faan2 sung3 Zung1 反送中" (“against being sent to China; against extradition to China"), they are also simultaneously and paranomastically exclaiming that they are against the death [of Hong Kong] (faan2 sung3zung1 反送終).
Readings
"Cantonese protest slogans" (10/26/14)
"'Cantonese' song" (10/24/14)
"The umbrella in Hong Kong" (10/19/14)
"Translating the Umbrella Revolution" (10/3/14)
"The backstory to seven of the most popular protest slogans in Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement" (10/23/14)
[Thanks to Abraham Chan, Zeyao Wu, and Tong Wang]
AntC said,
June 20, 2019 @ 5:57 pm
In an attempt to figure out whether these phrases are in putonghua or Cantonese, I tried running them through Google Translate. Unfortunately that's not even telling me whether it's traditional script or simplified (although its phonetics agree with Prof Mair's).
反送中 – 'reverse delivery', weirdly no mention of China despite the 中
送終 – 'end of delivery'
反送終 – 'reverse delivery'
GT doesn't offer Cantonese. Would these slogans be recognised for what they are on the mainland?
Tom said,
June 21, 2019 @ 1:14 am
@AntC: they are rendered in Cantonese here on Language Log but would be understood by Mandarin speakers too, in writing.
You can see the simplified-form version translated from Mandarin to English on the mainland online dictionary Nciku here: https://dict.naver.com/linedict/zhendict/#/cnen/entry/f0770bae8aaa4881882a7883983e27d8
"1v. [临终照料] be with … in his/her last moments
2v. [安排丧事] make funeral arrangements"
Meanwhile, Google Translate gives it as "bury a parent".
Michael Watts said,
June 21, 2019 @ 4:43 am
送终 doesn't appear to present any problems. When I type "song z" into Google Pinyin Input, it's a prominent suggestion. ABC glosses it as "pay one's last respects", and the Mandarin-Mandarin Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian glosses it as 照料临终的长辈；也指为长辈亲属操办丧失 [to care for an elderly person on their deathbed; also indicates kin making funeral arrangements for an elderly person].
送中 is going to be obvious given the context. 反 "oppose" is also not a problem.
I find the equation of 终 "final" with 中 "China" pretty cute; you could view that as a statement about the likely odds of getting out of China once extradited there. But that's probably just me.
Michael Watts said,
June 21, 2019 @ 4:49 am
Oh,
中 is the abbreviation for China (中国), but it's also an incredibly common ordinary word with meanings in the semantic space "middle; medium; inside". (This is why people sometimes refer to the "Middle Kingdom".) "China" is not the most common meaning of the character by a long shot.
Michael Watts said,
June 21, 2019 @ 5:40 am
correcting an earlier typo: the Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian gloss of 送终 refers to 丧事, funeral arrangements, not 丧失, losing.
Victor Mair said,
June 24, 2019 @ 6:34 am
"Memes, cartoons and caustic Cantonese: the language of Hong Kong's protests", Jerome Taylor, Elaine Yu, AFP (6/24/19) — with five must-see photographs and excellent text.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/memes-cartoons-caustic-cantonese-language-hong-kongs-protests-072418530.html
With five must-see photographs and excellent text.