Need help identifying Cantonese expression ("乜嚟㗎"?)

[chrisp]

I frequently hear my colleagues, and also generally people around me, using a phrase which to me sounds something like "me lei ga", and it appears to be used to mean something like "What's that?" / "What have you got there?". For example, we were sitting having lunch at work and one of my colleagues pointed to another of my colleague's lunch and used the phrase, wondering what the other guy was eating.

I was wondering for ages exactly what the phrase was so I asked another colleague and, judging by her explanation, I *think* I'm right in saying it's "乜嚟㗎". My question is - is this the phrase that I'm hearing? If so, what is its exact meaning? Is it just what I presumed it to be? Something like "What's this/that [you've got there]?" etc?

If it is 乜嚟㗎 I'm hearing and I've guessed the meaning correctly, what exactly is the meaning of 嚟 here? Because I understand this character to mean "to come". According to Cantodict, however, there is a final particle 嚟㗎 ("final modal particle to strengthen an assertion or question") so is this phrase actually to be analysed as:

乜 + 嚟㗎

instead of

乜+ 嚟 + 㗎

?

And if so I presume it can be pronounced as both "lei4 gaa3" and "lai4 gaa3"? I seem to hear lei4 more than lai4 for 嚟, but my colleague (originally from Guangzhou) doesn't seem to accept lei4 as a valid pronunciation so perhaps lai4 is HK-specific. Only guessing here, grateful for help!

[skylee]

Yes that is what you've heard, and yes that is what it means ("what is it?").

Can't explain grammar.

I say lai4. Some people might say lei4. Similar to the different pronunciations of tomato and potato, no big deal.

[creamyhorror]

Does this have almost a word-for-word correspondence with Mandarin's "什么来的？" or Minnan's "sia-mih lai e"?

[陳德聰]

嚟㗎 is a final "particle", yes.

And I say lei4 but hear lai4 sometimes too.

[skylee]

Does this have almost a word-for-word correspondence with Mandarin's "什么来的？"

I've always wondered if 來的 is Putonghua. Can anyone confirm if it is or not? I've always thought that it is just Cantonese-speakers' vocab (which might have been adopted by some Mandarin speakers) because it is an exact translation of 嚟㗎 to Putonghua, but I have never come across it in properly written Chinese.

[HusbandOfWuhan]

来的 is used in Putonghua and its similar equivalent is also used in Cantonese. However, as far as which language used it first, it is either polemic or cannot be known.

About 来的 being used in Chinese writing, it is of course used in written language on the mainland, however, whether it is appropriate to be used in "formal essays" is debatable. It is nevertheless commonly in colloquial Mandarin.

[creamyhorror]

I've always wondered if 來的 is Putonghua. Can anyone confirm if it is or not? I've always thought that it is just Cantonese-speakers' vocab (which might have been adopted by some Mandarin speakers) because it is an exact translation of 嚟㗎 to Putonghua, but I have never come across it in properly written Chinese.

Considering 啥物來的 "sia-mih lai e" is used in Minnan, the 嚟㗎 / 來的 structure is probably an old one. Maybe it's particularly Southern - I don't think I hear it in Mainland speech/shows, but definitely in Singaporean (and probably Taiwanese) speech.

[skylee]

I am re-watching BBC's Lark Rise to Candleford and 來的 appears twice in the subtitles right at the beginning of this episode.

[Mak Jo Si]

hahaha~ yeah Cantonese is full of those words that made people confused if they are from a mandarin background. That phrase means "what is it?" and more weird you will hear like 乜鬼野黎架.. and don't think there is really a ghost they are talking about.. haha..

[ylkwan]

乜 = speak 咩野 very fast

[Baileys]

generally , when it pronounce as lai4 it means `comeˊ

e.g. oh you finally come*! 咦你終於嚟*啦！

come* here now! 依家嚟*啦！

when it pronounces as lei4 it is just useless, you can say it is a final particle

e.g. it just a game*?! 只係遊戲嚟㗎？

what is it(usually describe a thing)? 乜（or you can also say 咩）嚟*㗎？

to sum up, 嚟in乜嚟㗎 should b pronounce as lei4

however, some local may pronounce as lai4,too

it will not b consider as a mistake

both of them ‘都無所謂’