万 means “10 thousand”, 事 means “matters” and 如意 means “as you wish”. 新年 refers to “new year” while 快乐 refers to “happy”.Īnother popular greeting is 万事如意.
Well, you can’t miss this one as it is more commonly heard in Singapore – 新年快乐. Now, what are some festive greetings that we can use? On the first day of Chinese New Year, you will see Chinese families, dressed typically in red, visiting extended family members. This is the case, no matter whether this last lunar month – prior to Chinese New Year – has 29 or 30 days. 二九暝, translated literally into “twenty-ninth night”, is the term conventionally used to refer to Chinese New Year eve. Chinese families typically stock up food items for reunion dinner on Chinese New Year eve, otherwise known as 二九暝. This is especially so for food items that symbolize prosperity and wealth, for example, abalone. In the few weeks leading up to Chinese New Year, prices of food will start to increase. From having reunion dinners to giving red packets, Chinese people practice multiple cultural traditions which we will explore some on today’s Hokkien – How Do You Say Podcast. Hey there, this is Eugene from LearnDialect.sg! Wow, Chinese New Year is just round the corner! This is the single most important festival for Chinese all around the world and signifies a time for family members to gather as well as a new beginning. Podcast Transcript | Hokkien: How Do You Say “Happy New Year” Psst… You can find our How Do You Say Podcasts on Spotify too! Head to Spotify – LearnDialect.sg or search for LearnDialect.sg on Spotify. Thank you.Listen to Podcast | Hokkien: How Do You Say “Happy New Year” Let me know if we can make it even better for you.
Come back for more! I hope you enjoy this Mandarin Chinese greetings guide. We’ll post another guide for Chinese New Year’s greetings first week in January.
There is a more common way for people to greet each other at the beginning of the Chinese New Year (Saturday, January 28th this year): Gong Xi Fa Cai. So “Happy New Year” in English is “New Year Happy” in Chinese: 新年快樂 (xīn nián kuài lè). 新年 (pinyin spelling xīn nián, pronounced sseen nee-ahn) is New Year. 新年快樂 (simplified: 新年快乐, pinyin spelling xīn nián kuài lè, pronounced sseen nee-ahn kwhy luh) is Happy New Year in Chinese. How do you write and say Happy New Year in Chinese? So, 佳節快樂 (jiā jié kuài lè), Good Holidays Happy, is how you say Happy Holidays in Chinese. 節 (simplified: 节, pinyin spelling jié, pronounced jee-eh) is festival or holiday. 佳 (pinyin spelling jiā, pronounced jee-ah) is good, excellent, beautiful, or fine. Happy Holidays is 佳節快樂 (simplified: 佳节快乐, pinyin spelling jiā jié kuài lè, pronounced jee-ah jee-eh kwhy luh) in Chinese. Thus, 耶誕快樂 (yē dàn kuài lè), or Jesus’ Birth Happy, is also how you say Merry Christmas in Chinese. In that pronunciation, the name 耶穌 (yē sū) not only sounds close to the Latin pronunciation of Jesus, but also has a great meaning: The Lord who has risen again. Their speech has a hint of their particular accent. Just like people speak English with different accents in different parts of America, most Chinese don’t speak 100% Beijing Mandarin. 穌 (simplified: 稣, pinyin spelling sū, pronounced suu) means to revive, to come to, or to rise again. In old Chinese literature, 爺 (yē or yé, can be pronounced in the first or second tone) is the same as the Lord, father, or used to indicate a question (old Chinese writing has no punctuation marks). It is a character used to imitate a sound, often used for transliteration of foreign names. The character 耶 (yē pronounced in the first tone as in the transliteration of Jesus) does not have a special meaning. 耶 (pinyin spelling yē, pronounced yeh) is short for 耶穌 (simplified: 耶稣, pinyin spelling yē sū, pronounced yeh suu), which is the transliterated name for Jesus. 耶誕快樂 (simplified: 耶诞快乐, pinyin spelling yē dàn kuài lè, pronounced yeh dahn kwhy luh) is another way to say Merry Christmas in Chinese. So, 聖誕快樂 (shèng dàn kuài lè), Holy Birth Happy, is how you say Merry Christmas in Chinese.įor Christians who believe Jesus is more than a saint, there is another common phrase for Merry Christmas in Chinese: 耶誕快樂 (yē dàn kuài lè). 快樂 (simplified: 快乐, pinyin spelling kuài lè, pronounced kwhy luh) is happiness, joy, delight, or rejoicings. 誕 (simplified: 诞, pinyin spelling dàn, pronounced dahn) is birth or birthday. It is also short for 聖人 (simplified: 圣人, pinyin spelling shèng rén, pronounced shuung ruhn), meaning a sage or a saint. 聖 (simplified: 圣, pinyin spelling shèng, pronounced shuung) is sacred or holy.
Merry Christmas is 聖誕快樂 (simplified: 圣诞快乐, pinyin spelling shèng dàn kuài lè, pronounced shuung dahn kwhy luh) in Chinese. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! How do you say and write all these in Mandarin Chinese? You’re about to know them all! Read on.