Each Sunday, we’re adding to both our baby sign langauge and Cantonese vocabulary inspired by our Sing and Sign class of the week. Remember, I’ve also made Quizlet deck especially for learning signs. If you need to catch up, here is what we learnt last week.
Sign of the Week
This week, we only have one key word: no. Because we can use this sign anytime we talk about the negative (don’t, shouldn’t, wasn’t, can’t, nothing) this sign is incredibly useful for introducing boundaries to your little one. AJ is still in his cute potato stage but I know he will be up and mobile before I know it so the no sign will definitely be coming in handy!
In Cantonese, there isn’t really a direct translation to the word no like in English. You often just use the character 唔 (m4) followed by a verb or 好 (hou2) to communicate a negation. Remember, baby sign language is flexible so however you are expressing a negative in Cantonese, do use that no sign.
Example Sentences
唔好搞搞震! m4 hou2 gaau2 gaau2 zan3! = Don’t mess about!
唔好亂結 | m4 hou2 lyun6 dim6 = Don’t touch that
唔好食 | m4 hou2 sik6 = Don’t eat that
唔好 舔 出 嚟 ! m4 hou2 loe1 ceot1 lai4 = Don’t spit it out
唔好 整 瀉 。 m4 hou2 zing2 se3 = Don’t spill it
我幫唔到你住 | ngo5 bong1 m4 dou2 nei5 zyu6 = I can’t help you right now
唔使 驚 | m4 sai2 geng1 = Don’t worry
Read and Sign
Story time is a great place to use baby sign language. We already know reading to our babies and signing to them helps them develop speech but signing is also a fun way to bring your story telling to life.
To practise to no sign, the “That’s not my…” board book series are perfect. I alternate between the no sign and the animal sign when reading to AJ. To get you started, I’ve got Cantonese translations to “That’s not my puppy” and “That’s not my pony” as well as the corresponding animal signs below.
I hope you don’t have to use my negative example sentences too often but rest assured you have the faithful no sign to back you up. See you next Sunday!
Mama Bear Cantonese 