zKing wrote:... particles are a big fuzzy topic and it is often hard to get real concrete definitions for them. ... And I think for the more rare particles, even the natives might argue about _exactly_ what they mean (could be regional differences?)
It'd be hard for the average Joe Hongkonger to define the Cantonese particles because Cantonese is not taught at school in HK, only Written Chinese 書面語 is taught, just like teachers in Australia likely won't teach you how to use the little English words "well, umm, you know, like, sorta, that thingy, now, I mean, right..." We know next to nothing about our language except how to speak and understand it as a user.
It also gets complicated and confusing as a particle could convery several meanings and attitudes, and while I may be able to define the first or second meanings that come to mind, there could be other meanings that I may have missed. So I could be giving you different definitions every time you ask me.
And in HK, there are many immigrants from neighbouring parts of China. They and their children speak Hokkien-etc-influenced Cantonese. My grandparents speak HK Cantonese with no foreign accent, but many of my friends speak or hear dialect at home, so I might be used to hearing their distorted Cantonese.
zKing wrote:I think 嗎 maa3, (smallwhite can correct me here if I'm wrong) is mostly just used in the set phrase "你好嗎?" or variations of it or as a contraction of 冇呀 usually following 好.
(1) I never say 你好嗎 (how are you) to people orally.
(2) I write 你好嗎 (how are you) as a polite opening phrase in letters to friends and family. I pronounce this 嗎 maa1 (55 version).
(3) If you make me say 你好嗎 (how are you) to someone orally, eg. in drama, I pronounce the 嗎 maa3.
It makes my head spin to think where else 嗎 is used.
zKing wrote:
me1 咩 Used in questions expressing surprise or disbelief.
maa3 嗎 Used to change a statement into a neutral question. This is used more often in Mandarin/written Chinese, but can still be heard in Cantonese. Example: 你返屋企嗎? Are you coming home?
aa3 呀 Used in neutral questions. Also used to soften the tone of affirmative statements so they don't sound as abrupt.
Like I said above, it's hard for me to give exhausive or consistent definitions or uses of a particle.
> me1 咩 Used in questions expressing surprise or disbelief.
Agree, and there are other uses.
> maa3 嗎 Used to change a statement into a neutral question.
As a native speaker, I don't change statements to questions. I simply ask questions.
> maa3 嗎 Example: 你返屋企嗎? Are you coming home?
That sounds fine to me but I probably never say it like that.
> aa3 呀 Used in neutral questions. Also used to soften the tone of affirmative statements so they don't sound as abrupt.
Agree, and there are other uses.
I'll go read some Turkish now to unspin my head.