宵

[yuechu]

大家好！

I was recently listening to a Cantonese song called 今宵多珍重 by 陳百強. This is my first time seeing the character 宵 as a separate word. Is it more "literary" Chinese? (Is it used in informal spoken Cantonese, too? Just asking because I know that spoken Cantonese and spoken Mandarin often prefer different words with the same meaning!)
Thanks!

 

[hx1997]

Is it more "literary" Chinese?

Yes.

Is it used in informal spoken Cantonese, too?

I don't think so. I hear 今晚 much more often, but let's wait for a native speaker to confirm this.

 

[AquisM]

I don't think so. I hear 今晚 much more often, but let's wait for a native speaker to confirm this.

@yuechu Hx1997 is right. 今宵 is strictly literary.

 

[yuechu]

Thanks, hx1997 and AquisM!

 

[AquisM]

@yuechu Just thought of a couple of points I wanted to highlight:

1. 今晚 can be pronounced gam1 maan5 or gam1 maan5*1. The latter is perhaps a little more colloquial and used in daily conversation, but both are natural and common.
2. You likely already know this, but in general, Cantopop lyrics are written in Standard Chinese (or a register close to it), so you have to be careful when using them to learn informal Cantonese.

 

[yuechu]

1. 今晚 can be pronounced gam1 maan5 or gam1 maan5*1. The latter is perhaps a little more colloquial and used in daily conversation, but both are natural and common.
2. You likely already know this, but in general, Cantopop lyrics are written in Standard Chinese (or a register close to it), so you have to be careful when using them to learn informal Cantonese. I think I had heard that before but I'd almost forgotten!

They are both very useful to know! 唔該晒, AquisM! 😄