CONSIDERING EGG TARTS

One thing the happy linguist can do, late at night, is read about his medical condition on the internet in various languages. Such as Chinese (Cantonese) and Dutch. It yields some fascinating stuff.
The material below is a short selection. The Chinese pronunciation given is for the language of Canton and Hong kong, and as for the Dutch, I am sorry, you are on your own. It looks goofy, but to us Dutch-readers it is perfectly phonetic.


冠狀動脈疾病 'gun jong dung mak jat beng': Coronary disease. Ischemische hartklachten.

冠狀動脈支架 'gun jong dung mak ji gaa': Coronary stent. Coronaire stent.

動脉粥样硬化 'dung mak juk yueng ngaan faa': : Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerose.

高血壓 'gou huet ngaat': High blood pressure / hypertension. Hoge bloeddruk / hypertensie.

血管再成形術 'huet gun joi sing ying seut': Angioplasty, balloon angioplasty, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Angioplastiek, ballonangioplastie, percutane transluminale angioplastie.

Note that angioplasty is also simply 血管成形術 ('huet gun sing seut').

心臟手術'sam jong sau seut': Coronary procedure, heart operation. Coronaire ingreep, heart operatie..


Mind you, there is no need for me to know how to say any of this in any other language than English. The hospital/clinic where I get treatment is the Chinese Hospital on Jackson Street, where not only is English the language of their medical education, but they are experienced in dealing with crusty old farts who sometimes gibber. Dutch is not a tongue with which they are familiar (unlike myself), but all communication has been comprehensive, and clear.

I doubt that I will ever need to explain any of this in Dutch.

Other than perhaps wailing operatically "no, I cannot have a fifth delicious egg tart, because I am ill, and it might give me a heart attack! ("冇啊，不可以食嗰第五個美味的蛋撻，因為得心臟疾病，可能會心髒病發作... 。"; 'mou ah, pat ho yi sik ko dai ng go mei mei di daan taat, yan wai dak sam jong jat beng, ho nang weui sam jong beng faat jok')  in one of my favourite bakeries, the opportunity to use any of this is limited.



I seldom have more than one egg tart (蛋撻 'daan taat') anyway.



NOTE: 脉、脈、衇、䘑 。

The variants 脉、脈、衇、䘑 all mean the same thing: arteries, veins.
Pronounced 'mak' in Cantonese.

Some other useful stuff:
醫療預約 ('yi liu yiu yuk): A medical appointment.
要動手術 ('yiu dung sau-seut'): need to have an operation.
得接受手術 ('dak jip sau sau-seut'): have surgery, had surgery.
接受手術 ('jip sau sau seut): undergo surgery.
病情 ('ping jing'): condition of the patient.
病人 ('ping yan'): patient, sick person.
患者 ('waan je'): patient, sufferer.
病 ('ping'): illness, ailment.
急診 ('kap chan'): emergency medical consultation.
門診 ('mun chan'): outpatient services.
診室 ('chan sat'): consulting room.
診所 ('chan so'): clinic.
診 ('chan'): diagnosis.
臟 ('jong'): internal organ.
狀 ('jong'): shape, form.




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