寧賣祖宗田，不忘祖宗言

Chinese

		rather	sell	ancestors; forebears; forefathers	field; farm		to forget not	ancestors; forebears; forefathers	to speak; to say; talk to speak; to say; talk; word
trad. (寧賣祖宗田，不忘祖宗言)		寧	賣	祖宗	田	，	不忘	祖宗	言
simp. (宁卖祖宗田，不忘祖宗言)		宁	卖	祖宗	田	，	不忘	祖宗	言
Literally: “rather sell the farmland of your ancestors, than forget their language”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bùwàng zǔzōng yán

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄞˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥ ㄊㄧㄢˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄤˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥ ㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ning⁴ maai⁶ zou² zung¹ tin⁴, bat¹ mong⁴ zou² zung¹ jin⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mong chú-chûng ngièn / nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mong chú-chûng ngiàn

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bùwàng zǔzōng yán [Phonetic: nìng mài zǔzōng tián, búwàng zǔzōng yán]
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄞˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥ ㄊㄧㄢˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄤˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥ ㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nìng mài zǔzong tián, bùwàng zǔzong yán
    • Wade–Giles: ning⁴ mai⁴ tsu³-tsung¹ tʻien², pu⁴-wang⁴ tsu³-tsung¹ yen²
    • Yale: nìng mài dzǔ-dzūng tyán-, bù-wàng dzǔ-dzūng yán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ninq may tzuutzong tyan, buwanq tzuutzong yan
    • Palladius: нин май цзуцзун тянь, буван цзуцзун янь (nin maj czuczun tjanʹ, buvan czuczun janʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /niŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ maɪ̯⁵¹ t͡su²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ wɑŋ⁵¹ t͡su²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ jɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ning⁴ maai⁶ zou² zung¹ tin⁴, bat¹ mong⁴ zou² zung¹ jin⁴
    • Yale: nìhng maaih jóu jūng tìhn, bāt mòhng jóu jūng yìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ning⁴ maai⁶ dzou² dzung¹ tin⁴, bat⁷ mong⁴ dzou² dzung¹ jin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ning⁴ mai⁶ zou² zung¹ tin⁴, bed¹ mong⁴ zou² zung¹ yin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɪŋ²¹ maːi̯²² t͡sou̯³⁵ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ tʰiːn²¹ pɐt̚⁵ mɔːŋ²¹ t͡sou̯³⁵ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ jiːn²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mong chú-chûng ngièn
    • Hakka Romanization System: nenˇ mai zu` zung´ tienˇ, bud` mong zu` zung´ ngienˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: nen<sup>2</sup> mai<sup>4</sup> zu<sup>3</sup> zung<sup>1</sup> tian<sup>2</sup>, bud<sup>5</sup> mong<sup>4</sup> zu<sup>3</sup> zung<sup>1</sup> ngian<sup>2</sup>
    • Sinological IPA: /nen¹¹ mai̯⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ tʰi̯en¹¹ put̚² moŋ⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ ŋi̯en¹¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mong chú-chûng ngiàn
    • Hakka Romanization System: nenˇ mai zu` zung´ tienˇ, bud` mong zu` zung´ ngianˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: nen² mai⁴ zu³ zung¹ tian², bud⁵ mong⁴ zu³ zung¹ ngian²
    • Sinological IPA: /nen¹¹ mai̯⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ tʰi̯en¹¹ put̚² moŋ⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ ŋi̯an¹¹/

Proverb

寧賣祖宗田，不忘祖宗言

1. do not forget the Hakka language and one's roots

Synonyms

• 寧賣祖宗田，莫忘祖宗言／宁卖祖宗田，莫忘祖宗言
• 寧賣祖宗田，不賣祖宗言／宁卖祖宗田，不卖祖宗言 (nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bù mài zǔzōng yán)