海洋
hoi2 joeng4
The Cantonese word for ocean is 海洋 (hoi2 joeng4).
海洋 is used to refer to one of the large bodies of water.
Meaning: one of the large bodies of water (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of two parts: 海 (hoi2), meaning 'sea' and 洋 (joeng4), meaning 'ocean' or a 'vast expanse of water'.
Which one should you use?
海洋 is the formal and scientific term for 'ocean'. In contrast, 大海 (daai6 hoi2), which literally means 'big sea', is a more common and colloquial way to refer to the sea or the ocean in general. Additionally, the character 海 (hoi2) can be used alone to mean 'sea' or 'ocean' in many contexts.
How do you pronounce it?
hoi2 joeng4
Did you know?
- In Cantonese, the word 洋 (joeng4) from 海洋 also means 'foreign' or 'overseas', which is why a person from abroad is often called 洋人 (joeng4 jan4).
- In Cantonese, the character 海 is often used to describe an overwhelming quantity of something, such as 'a sea of people' 人海, which is a common idiom for a massive crowd.
- The character 海 is a key part of the name for 'Shanghai', which literally translates to 'on the sea', though the city is actually located on a river.
Examples in context
- Randall Luthi 係代表超過250個國內海上能源行業嘅國家海洋工業協會（ NOIA ）嘅主任。喺布什政府期間，佢係礦物管理服務局嘅主任，負責監督緊內政部喺海上嘅鑽探。Randall Luthi is the director of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) which represents more than 250 domestic offshore energy industries. During the Bush administration, he was director of the Minerals Management Service which oversees offshore drilling at the Interior Department.This sentence uses 海洋 in a professional context regarding the director of an ocean industries association.Tatoeba #12908310 by Matthewyau1367, translation #12249675 by Cangarejo
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
