I don't speak either language, but I've heard that "Lei hou ma" literally means "You good ???" in Cantonese, and that "Lei" also means "You" in Italian. If so, is this just a coincidence?
2006-12-22 22:20:25 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I speak Mandarin, and I actually know some Cantonese too.
"Lei hou ma" means "how are you" in English. "Lei" means "you" in Cantonese. But "lei" in Italian means she/her/you(female). So they are not exactly the same, because the Cantonese version of "lei" can refer to male as well. But, nice pick up!
2006-12-22 22:43:13 · answer #1 · answered by Lilliana 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Pure coincidence! Lei hou ma? is Cantonese for Mandarin Ni hau ma? and Lei means "you". Italian Lei is a formal "you".
2006-12-22 23:28:28 · answer #2 · answered by JJ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I guess it depends on the dialect, but I understand that it is "ni hau ma" that asks "how are you", but then again, that is a Pin Yin translation of Chinese characters. Remember when it was Mao Tse Dong, then Mao Ze Dong and then Mao Ze Dung? Pin Yin keeps changing and is different in different areas of just Taiwan.
Tu, te, ti and voi are most common forms of "you" in Italian. Ella is less common and "Lei" is a very formal use of ella (a ya).
2006-12-22 22:44:39 · answer #3 · answered by bob's your uncle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"lei" is the Italian for "she". By a semantic transition it became also the pronoun for "you" (singular, formal). Because at some point they used "Vostra Signoria" (approx. "Your Lordship") and "Signoria" was feminine.
For Danny: Very true, but beside the point. Are you a Romanian, perchance?
2006-12-22 23:31:02 · answer #4 · answered by Cristian Mocanu 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lei hau ma is how are you/greeting....in chinese (cantonese)
i dunno about the italian
probably is a coincidence....
lei is a necklace for hawaiians..its made of flowers..
lei is also a name of a brand of jeans (L.E.I= life, energy, intelligence)...
just for your info:
in korean...ahn nyung ha sae yo is a greeting for adults and for people your age/friends its just ahn nyung....
its all the lei i can think of...its kinda late....i'm caffeinated too..=P
2006-12-22 22:24:25 · answer #5 · answered by kowalley 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in romanian the singular for lion is "leu" and the plural is "lei". Also this is the national currency.
2006-12-22 22:26:36 · answer #6 · answered by Theta40 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lei is italian for ''she''
2006-12-22 23:47:48 · answer #7 · answered by oana 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋