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 ㄗㄨㄥㄊㄧㄢˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄤˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥㄧㄢˊ
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

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bùwàng zǔzōng yán [Phonetic: nìng mài zǔzōng tián, búwàng zǔzōng yán]
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄞˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥㄊㄧㄢˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄤˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥㄧㄢˊ
  - 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: nen^ˇ mai zu^ˋ zung^ˊ tien^ˇ, bud^ˋ mong zu^ˋ zung^ˊ ngien^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: nen² mai⁴ zu³ zung¹ tian², bud⁵ mong⁴ zu³ zung¹ ngian²
  - Sinological IPA: /nen¹¹ mai̯⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ tʰi̯en¹¹ put̚² moŋ⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ ŋi̯en¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mong chú-chûng ngiàn
  - Hakka Romanization System: nen^ˇ mai zu^ˋ zung^ˊ tien^ˇ, bud^ˋ mong zu^ˋ zung^ˊ ngian^ˇ
  - 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

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)