Faculty of Art
看得見的廣東話：三百年中外語言文化的借用、融合與創新
Cantonese made visible: Three Centuries of Linguistic and Cultural Borrowing, Integration, and Innovation
演講嘉賓: 李燕萍、片岡新
Speakers: Yin-Ping Cream Lee & Shin Kataoka
温哥華時間 Vancouver time:
日期：2026 年 1 月 30 日(星期五)
時間：晚上 6 點至 7 點半
Date: Friday, January 30, 2026
Time: 6:00 P.M.- 7:30 P.M. (PDT)
香港時間 Hong Kong time:
日期：2026 年 1 月 31 日(星期六)
時間：早上 10 點至 11 點半
Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026
Time: 10:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. (HKT)
線上粵語講座
Program in Cantonese on Zoom
Cream Lee
Cream Lee holds a Master’s degree in Chinese Linguistics from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She has taught Cantonese and Chinese at various tertiary institutions, including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, City University of Hong Kong, and The University of Hong Kong. Her primary research interests lie in Cantonese pedagogy and nineteenth-century missionary writings in Cantonese.
Shin Kataoka
Shin Kataoka holds a PhD in Chinese Language and Literature from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He previously served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong, and has taught Japanese and Chinese linguistics in Japan, the UK, and Hong Kong. His main research interests include Cantonese grammar, Sino-Western cultural contacts during the 19th century, and the integration and evolution of Japanese-based loanwords in Hong Kong in the twenty-first century.
Over the years, the two scholars have devoted themselves to research on Cantonese and Japanese, and have co-authored a number of works, including:
- 《港式日語》, which received the Best Publishing Award at the Fifth Hong Kong Publishing Biennial Awards
- 《我手寫我口：中外人士廣東話書寫（1535–1935）》
- 《用漢字學日本慣用語：廣東話普通話對照300例》
- The Shortcut to Cantonese and Fun with Cantonese series.
- Numerous articles on nineteenth-century Cantonese, published in journals and edited volumes such as Studies in Chinese Linguistics, Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Yue Dialects, and Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics.
李燕萍
香港理工大學中國語言學碩士。曾在香港中文大學、香港科技大學、香港城市大學、香港大學等多所大學教授廣東話及中文。主要研究廣東話教學、19 世紀傳教士用廣東話書寫。
片岡 新
香港中文大學中國語言及文學哲學博士。曾任香港教育大學語言學及現代語言系助理教授。曾在日本、英國和香港教授日語和漢語語言學。主要研究廣東話語法、19世紀中西文化交流、21世紀日語外來詞在香港的融合與演變。
兩位多年來致力於研究廣東話和日語，合著作品包括：
- 《港式日語》榮獲第五屆香港出版雙年獎：最佳出版獎。
- 《我手寫我口：中外人士廣東話書寫（1535-1935）》。
- 《用漢字學日本慣用語：廣東話普通話對照300例》。
- Shortcut to Cantonese、Fun with Cantonese系列
- 多篇有關19世紀廣東話的論文，載於《中國語文研究》、《第十三屆國際粵方言研討會論文集》、Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics等。
看得見的廣東話：三百年中外語言文化的借用、融合與創新:
自16世紀已有書面廣東話作品，現代學者可據此構擬早期廣東話的特色。19世紀外國人來華從事貿易與傳教，開始以廣東話書寫，並創立以拉丁字母拼寫廣東話的系統，為日後香港地名人名的英文拼音奠定基礎。隨着商品與飲食文化輸入，出現「咖啡」、「牛油」等音譯與意譯詞；港人亦嘗試改良西菜，創出港式奶茶、菠蘿包等新式飲食。
當時為了與外國商人溝通，廣東人以方音注字編纂教材學習英文，如「温」（one）、「科」（four）。廣東官員亦為外國外交官撰寫廣東話教材，說明社會語域差異與文化對比。香港成為殖民地後，廣東話與英語夾雜，如「book酒店」、「好amazing」、「O唔OK」。廣東話書寫亦進入消閒讀物、歌詞及字幕。
20世紀中葉起，日語文化進一步滲入香港，從飲食到娛樂皆受影響，出現借詞如「壽司」、混合詞「撈丁」、創新詞「餃子控」等。日本飲食文化亦改變港人生活習慣。這些例證皆說明廣東語言文化長期與外來文化互動：既接納外來元素，又輸出「飲茶」、「點心」、「燒賣」等詞彙至英語與日語。三百年來，廣東話在交流中展現出兼容、融合與創新的活力，並逐步與世界接軌。
Cantonese made visible: Three centuries of linguistic and cultural borrowing, integration, and innovation:
Since the sixteenth century, written Cantonese texts have existed, enabling readers to mentally reconstruct spoken forms and allowing modern scholars to infer features of early Cantonese. In the nineteenth century, foreigners engaged in trade and missionary work in Guangdong began writing in Cantonese and devised romanization systems with the Latin alphabet. These later formed the foundation of Hong Kong’s official romanization for place and personal names. With the importation of foreign goods and culinary exchange, loanwords such as 咖啡 and 牛油 emerged. Later, Hong Kong cooks adapted Western dishes and created distinctive local foods such as 港式奶茶 and 菠蘿包.
To communicate with foreign merchants, Cantonese speakers developed localized phonetic notation to learn English, such as 温 (one) and 科 (four), in language manuals. Local officials also produced Cantonese textbooks for foreign diplomats, illustrating differences in social registers and cultural practices. After Hong Kong became a British colony, code-mixing between Cantonese and English became common, as seen in expressions like book 酒店, 好amazing, and O唔OK. Written Cantonese increasingly appeared in leisure reading materials, song lyrics, and film subtitles.
From the mid-twentieth century onward, Japanese language and culture exerted a growing influence on Hong Kong life—from cuisine to entertainment and advertising. Borrowings such as 壽司, hybrid forms like 撈丁, and creative coinages such as 餃子控 reflect this trend. Japanese cuisine also reshaped local dining habits.
These examples reveal that Cantonese language and culture have long interacted dynamically with foreign influences: they not only absorbed external elements but also exported terms like 飲茶, 點心, and 燒賣 into English and Japanese. Over three centuries, Cantonese has exhibited a dynamic capacity for integration, adaptation, and innovation, as it connects with the global community.