Dictionary of the Swatow dialect/tham

by Adele Marion Fielde

tham

• 貪tham8531544
• To covet; to desire inordinately.

tham sim put cok;

the covetous are never satisfied.

tham-lâm;

avaricious.

lṳ́ phah-sǹg ŭ tham-thâu a bô̤ tham-thâu?

Do you think there is anything to desire in it or not?

ŭ nâng li tham cíu, ŭ nâng li tham cîah, ŭ nâng li tham cîⁿ, ŭ nâng li tham sek: kak ŭ só̤ tham;

some are fond of wine, some of dainties, some of money, some of women: each has some object of supreme desire.

nâng m̄ hó̤ khah tham, khak tham cū tîeh gō sṳ̄;

one should not be too inordinately desirous of anything, for so doing thwarts its object.

tham khùaⁿ-ûah;

fond of ease.

tham-khû i ŏi sie thâi;

calculated upon their fighting.

• 打thám839642
• To manipulate.

tám khak;

to tie a knot.

thám ke kâi khak cìaⁿ bŏi lut;

tie another knot then it will not loosen.

àiⁿ thám sí khak a thám ûah khak?

Do you want it tied in a hard knot or in a bow knot?

• 探thàm853648
• To explore, to sound, to feel and search; to speculate on; to try to get information about.

hàm cêk nâng soiⁿ khṳ̀ thàm, thàm-thóiⁿ sṳ̄ sĭ cò̤-nî, kah thàm-thiaⁿ i kâi nâng ŭ lâi a būe;

send some one to first go and get authenthic information, finding out what is the condition of affairs, and whether he has arrived yet.

cí kâi nâng hó̤ ēng cò̤ thàm-bé;

this is a good person to employ as a detective.

lîah tîeh châk kâi thàm-kíaⁿ;

caught the spy sent by the rebels.

lṳ́ khṳ̀ chì-thàm cē;

you go and experiment upon it.

i íⁿ-keng khṳ̀ thàm sìn-sek;

he has been to see waht news he could get in regard to it.

thàm-mn̄g;

to inquire about.

ēng sô̤h thūi în thàm-thóiⁿ cúi jîeh chim;

let down the lead by a rope and

see how deep the water is;

sound and ascertain the depth.

tèng-thàm-hue;

the third of the Hanlin academicians; (the name has reference to the metaphor of plucking the sprig of Olea fragrans^*).

• 𧝓thâm85614512
• A sacrifice offered at the end of the twenty-seven months or the three years of mourning for a parent, when the mourning garments are put off.

thâm hôk;

lay aside mourning.

thâm hôk kùe lío cìaⁿ bó̤ khí hôk;

after the mourning is laid aside one returns to ordinary attire.

• 潭thâm8558512
• Deep poopls in a river; unfathomable.

chim kùe bw̄n tn̆g chim thâm;

deeper than a pool of ten thousand fathoms; a bottomless abyss.

toi pàng lío châng khṳt i kúu cò̤ thâm;

the dike having given way, the fields were washed out into pools.

cía sĭ ngŏ̤ tîeh thâm un sṳ̀ kâi;

this is having a vast favor conferred on me.

• 痰thâm8551048
• Phlegm, mucous from the lungs.

ciu jît kâi thâm-nŭaⁿ cōi căi;

raises much phlegm, spitting continually all day.

thâm phùi-pàng thâm-kóng kò̤;

spit in the spittoon.

thâm-âp;

a small spittoon having a cover.

thàm-kẁn;

a spittoon.

cía cîah lío àiⁿ seⁿ thâm;

after taking this you will raise phlegm.

thâm phùi chut lâi sĭ kṳ̂t a sĭ chieh?

Is the phlegm that you raise solid or watery?

thâm cúi;

thin mucous.

thò tīo thâm;

vomits mucous.

thâm chàu-cho̤;

fetid phlegm.

khak thâm;

hawk and spit.

sio thâm;

to cut the phlegm.

hùe-thâm;

an expectorant.

i khṳt i khì kàu thâm-phû;

she was so vexed that she was suffocated by phlegm.

cêk cūn thâm lâi kàu cū ĭng-kùo-khṳ̀;

when the death-rattle comes one dies at once.

nâng li m̄ cai nâng, hía thâm li lō̤-lō̤-kìe;

he was wholly insensible, and had the death-rattle in his throat.

i tì kâi thâm chẃn pēⁿ;

his disease is expectoration with shortness of breath.

i sĭ thâm-ìong sí khṳ̀;

he died of consumption.

thâm sàu;

a cough with much expectoration.

cîah i kût thâm cìaⁿ hó̤;

take somethign to loosen the phlegm and it will be better.

i sĭ thâm sak tîeh sim-khìo, sim-sîn cìaⁿ ŏi m̄ tīaⁿ;

the derangement of her mind is caused by the passages in her chest being obstructed by phlegm.

sio thâm sŭn khì;

a sedative.

thâm-húe pēⁿ;

a cough with fever.

i kâi thâm-húe-húe pēⁿ;

a cough with fever.

i kâi thâm-húe-cèng sêng lío;

he has settled consumption.

sĭ jîet thâm; a sĭ hâng thâm, a sĭ huang thâm; a sĭ sip thâm, a sĭ cîah thâm?

Was his expectorating brought on by heat, cold, wind or dampness, or was it caused by something he ate?

kún thâm îⁿ;

pills taken to remove phlegm.

i kâi thâm sek sĭ tòa cheⁿ a sĭ tòa o?

Is the phlegm which he raises flecked with green or with black?

thâm kho̤h chut lâi ŭ hueh-si;

the phlegm which he coughs up has flecks of blood in it.

jûah thâm, lîang thâm;

lung complaints with either a feverish or a chilly habit of body.

• 談thâm8551498
• To converse; to discuss; to talk; a local dialect.

ôiⁿ thâm;

idle conversation; gossip.

chap nâng thâm-sńg thâm-chìe cē cū bŏi hìeⁿ hŵn-ló̤;

be where you will chat playfully with other people and you will not be so gloomy.

thâm-lŭn;

to discuss; to cavil at.

i hàuⁿ phiah ka-chng-ău thâm-lŭn nâng kâi tó̤ chù;

she is fond of talking about people's short-comings behind their backs.

ngân-thâm;

conversation.

tŏ̤ ngân-thâm cṳ kang put kak cū tàⁿ chut lâi;

inadvertently spoke of it when talking.

i kâi ūe tàⁿ lâi seⁿ thó-thâm, bô̤ hìeⁿ cìaⁿ;

he speaks with a local accent, and not very correctly.

kak chù kak chù kâi hiang thâm;

each place has its peculiar modes of speech.

cía sĭ khîeh khí lâi cò̤ chìe thâm kâi;

this is something she has treasured up to tell as a good joke.

• 罈thâm85512112
• A cylindrical earthenware wine-jar.

i kng cêk thâm cíu lâi sie sàng;

they brought a jar of wine as a present.

khù phah cêk thàm cíu kâi cíu-toaⁿ kio i sie hō̤;

went and wrote out an order for a jar of wine, and sent it to him as a congratulatory present.

• 湴thām652859
• To step in the mud; to get mired.

thām lo̤h khṳ̀ lok-cē-kìe;

splashed as he sank in the mud.

thām lô̤h khṳ̀ lío, kha poih m̄ khí;

sunk in the mud and could not get out.

thām kàu cêk sin cĕng-cĕng thô-kâu-mûeⁿ;

got mired so deeply that he was wholly covered with mud.

thām lô̤h khṳ̀, bît pĭn kha-thâu-u;

sank up to his knees in mud.

thām lío khṳt i kuh kín tŏ̤ kò̤;

sank in the mire and stuck fact.

thām kàu kâi ūi kâi ūi;

left tracks where his feet sank in the mud.