Happy Boar Year 2007!

Happy New Year! Today, February 18, 2007, is Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year:

• Traditional , simplified characters: 農曆新年 , 农历新年
• Mandarin: Nong2li4 Xin1nian2
• Cantonese: Nung4lik6 San1nin4
• English: Chinese New Year (somewhat literally: “Lunar Calendar New Year,” literally: “Agricultural Calendar New Year”)

or

• 春節 , 春节
• Mandarin: Chun1jie2
• Cantonese: Ceon1zit3
• English: Chinese New Year; also, literally: “the Spring Festival” [of Chinese New Year]

You can wish people the traditional greeting:

• 恭喜發財 , 恭喜发财
• Mandarin: Gong1xi3fa1cai2! (Gung shee fa tsie!)
• Cantonese: Gung1hei2faat3coi4! (Gung hay fat choy!)
• English: I wish you happiness and prosperity (somewhat literally: “Congratulations! Get rich!,” literally: “Respectful Happy! Bring-into-existence Wealth!”).

It’s the Year of the Boar/Pig.

Chinese zodiac (in Mandarin):

Animal Character/Sign Character

1. 鼠 shu3 / 子 zi3 (“rat” or “mouse”) 2008
2. 牛 niu2 / 丑 chou3 (“ox” or “cow”) 2009
3. 虎 hu3 / 寅 yin2 (“tiger”) 2010
4. 兔 tu4 / 卯 mao3 (“hare” or “rabbit”) 2011
5. 龍 , 龙 long2 / 辰 chen2 (“dragon”) 2012
6. 蛇 she2 / 巳 si4 (“serpent” or “snake”) 2013
7. 馬 , 马 ma3 / 午 wu3 (“horse”) 2014
8. 羊 yang2 / 未 wei4 (“ram” or “sheep”) 2015
9. 猴 hou2 / 申 shen1 (“monkey”) 2016
10. 雞 , 鸡 ji1 / 酉 you3 (“rooster” or “chicken”) 2017
11. 狗 gou3 / 戌 xu1 (“dog”) 2018
12. 豬 , 猪 zhu1 / 亥 hai4 (“boar” or “pig”) 2007, 2019

Chinese zodiac (in Cantonese):

Animal Character/Sign Character

1. 鼠 syu2 / 子 zi2 (“rat” or “mouse”) 2008
2. 牛 ngau4 / 丑 cau2 (“ox” or “cow”) 2009
3. 虎 fu3 / 寅 jan4 (“tiger”) 2010
4. 兔 tou3 / 卯 maau5 (“hare” or “rabbit”) 2011
5. 龍 , 龙 lung4 / 辰 san4 (“dragon”) 2012
6. 蛇 se4 / 巳 zi6 (“serpent” or “snake”) 2013
7. 馬 , 马 maa5 / 午 ng5 (“horse”) 2014
8. 羊 joeng4 / 未 mei6 (“ram” or “sheep”) 2015
9. 猴 hau4 / 申 san1 (“monkey”) 2016
10. 雞 , 鸡 gai1 / 酉 jau5 (“rooster” or “chicken”) 2017
11. 狗 gau2 / 戌 seot1 (“dog”) 2018
12. 豬 , 猪 zyu1 / 亥 hoi6 (“boar” or “pig”) 2007, 2019

If your solar year hasn’t been going so well these last seven weeks, here’s hoping the beginning of the Chinese lunar year brings you lots of 福 (M. fu2, C. fuk1), “good luck,” “happiness.”

Mandarin dictionaries:

• Zhongwen.com
• TigerNT.com
• Lin Yutang’s Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage – 當代漢英詞典

Cantonese dictionaries:

• CantoDict
• A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced According to the Dialect of Canton – 粵音韻彙

Character Dictionary

• Chinese Character Dictionary