寧賣祖宗田，不賣祖宗言

Chinese

	peaceful; rather; Ningxia (abbrev.)	sell	ancestors; forebears; forefathers	field; farm		not; no	sell	ancestors; forebears; forefathers	to speak; to say; talk to speak; to say; talk; word
trad. (寧賣祖宗田，不賣祖宗言)	寧	賣	祖宗	田	，	不	賣	祖宗	言
simp. (宁卖祖宗田，不卖祖宗言)	宁	卖	祖宗	田	，	不	卖	祖宗	言
Literally: “rather sell the farmland of your ancestors, than sell (forget) their language”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bù mài zǔzōng yán

(Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄞˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥㄊㄧㄢˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄇㄞˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥㄧㄢˊ
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mai chú-chûng ngièn / nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mai chú-chûng ngiàn

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bù mài zǔzōng yán [Phonetic: nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bú mài zǔzōng yán]
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄞˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥㄊㄧㄢˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄇㄞˋ ㄗㄨˇ ㄗㄨㄥㄧㄢˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: nìng mài zǔzong tián, bù mài zǔzong yán
  - Wade–Giles: ning⁴ mai⁴ tsu³-tsung¹ tʻien², pu⁴ mai⁴ tsu³-tsung¹ yen²
  - Yale: nìng mài dzǔ-dzūng tyán-, bù mài dzǔ-dzūng yán
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ninq may tzuutzong tyan, bu may tzuutzong yan
  - Palladius: нин май цзуцзун тянь, бу май цзуцзун янь (nin maj czuczun tjanʹ, bu maj czuczun janʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /niŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ maɪ̯⁵¹ t͡su²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ maɪ̯⁵¹ t͡su²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ jɛn³⁵/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mai chú-chûng ngièn
  - Hakka Romanization System: nen^ˇ mai zu^ˋ zung^ˊ tien^ˇ, bud^ˋ mai zu^ˋ zung^ˊ ngien^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: nen² mai⁴ zu³ zung¹ tian², bud⁵ mai⁴ zu³ zung¹ ngian²
  - Sinological IPA: /nen¹¹ mai̯⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ tʰi̯en¹¹ put̚² mai̯⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ ŋi̯en¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nèn mai chú-chûng thièn, put mai chú-chûng ngiàn
  - Hakka Romanization System: nen^ˇ mai zu^ˋ zung^ˊ tien^ˇ, bud^ˋ mai zu^ˋ zung^ˊ ngian^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: nen² mai⁴ zu³ zung¹ tian², bud⁵ mai⁴ zu³ zung¹ ngian²
  - Sinological IPA: /nen¹¹ mai̯⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ tʰi̯en¹¹ put̚² mai̯⁵⁵ t͡su³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴ ŋi̯an¹¹/

Proverb

寧賣祖宗田，不賣祖宗言

do not forget the Hakka language and one's roots
- 客家人向來有「寧賣祖宗田，不賣祖宗言」、「寧賣身，不賣言」的尊重傳統、恪守古訓的觀念，海外的客家人亦如此。 [MSC, trad.]
  客家人向来有「宁卖祖宗田，不卖祖宗言」、「宁卖身，不卖言」的尊重传统、恪守古训的观念，海外的客家人亦如此。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 2014, 吴忠伟 (Wu Zhongwei), 《印尼棉兰美达村客家话调查记略》, in 《汉语方言在海外的播迁与变异：第四届海外汉语方言国际研讨会论文集》, →ISBN, page 203
  Kèjiārén xiànglái yǒu “nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bù mài zǔzōng yán”, “nìng màishēn, bù mài yán” de zūnzhòng chuántǒng, kèshǒu gǔxùn de guānniàn, hǎiwài de kèjiārén yì rúcǐ. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

寧賣祖宗田，不忘祖宗言／宁卖祖宗田，不忘祖宗言 (nìng mài zǔzōng tián, bùwàng zǔzōng yán)
寧賣祖宗田，莫忘祖宗言／宁卖祖宗田，莫忘祖宗言