Module talk:zh/data/dial-syn/妓女

摃婆, 漚貢

@Mlgc1998, Mar vin kaiser Any reason for these two kòng words to be written differently? — justin(r)leung _{{ (t...) | c=› }} 19:47, 16 November 2022 (UTC)

@Justinrleung The available definitions provided for 摃 and 貢 at least here and 闽南方言大词典 seems to show that the former is just a verb, while the latter is mostly a noun and sometimes a verb according to moedict and some of the dictionaries recorded in ChhoeTaigi, so the relationship of its meaning to the other character fits more this way, but multiple families or individuals, at least 3 or more independent instances, just know they say it like kòng-pô and àu-kòng, although one says they just heard the kong as just "kong" with the first tone and claims it must be 公, but 公婆 is recorded to have an entirely different meaning. Months ago, the "kong" I had in mind was 工, but the boomers or middle-aged gen X people being talked to about this syllable have some vague level of idea describing something to do with the act of hitting or bumping someone, like the idea behind Tagalog pokpok, which is basically originally a strike of a hammer like pound, bang, more often conjugated to be a verb, which pokpok/pukpok in Tagalog later gained a colloquial vulgar noun sense referring to a prostitute, which I'll leave it to the imagination on how that works lol. The current ambiguity on this is the exact tones of that "kong" syllable if its exactly consistent with everybody among the Hokkien speakers in ph, at least among the boomers and elderlies. bit strange convo to ask such people tho because these two terms are considered vulgar referring to prostitutes and it's not exactly a frequent topic of discussion and sometimes they're not sure of themselves as well on the exact meaning of each of the syllables besides the meaning of the full term. The latest discussion on it tho gave some more idea around it that apparently, even though both words mean the same as synonyms, "àu-kòng" supposedly sounds fancier or Tagalog sosyal, which matches with the meanings behind 貢. Mlgc1998 (talk) 14:26, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

@Mlgc1998: Thanks for your reply. I would think it's more likely for 摃 as in "to hit" to be the etymon for both. It wouldn't be surprising that a verb became a noun since categories in Chinese languages are generally "fuzzy". The connection to 貢 seems a little far-fetched to me. @Mar vin kaiser, Kamkamkamuti, do you have any thoughts? — justin(r)leung _{{ (t...) | c=› }} 15:12, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

@Justinrleung so basically like a "bad hit" or "naughty bang" lol. I asked another boomer and she said the difference with the two terms is that àu-kòng was a term that others called the person as being a prostitute, whereas kòng-pô was more generalized that someone could claim as their occupation. Mlgc1998 (talk) 15:28, 17 November 2022 (UTC)