In the Hakka language, “食” meaning “to eat” is a verb that usually collocates with nouns referring to food or drink. For example, “食飯” means “to eat rice” or “to dine,” and the meaning of “食茶” is “to drink tea.” Another special usage is “食菸,” which means “to smoke.”
There are no nouns specifically referring to "breakfast, lunch, dinner" in the Hakka language. Instead, the concept of three daily meals is expressed by using the verb “食 (to eat)” and the nouns “朝 (morning),” “晝 (noon),” and “夜 (night).” Hence, “食朝,” “食晝,” and “食夜” figuratively mean “to eat breakfast,” “to eat lunch,” and “to eat dinner.”
(Photo: CNA)
Check out the Hakka dictionary and listen to how to say them in different accents.
To eat breakfast (食朝)
To eat lunch (食晝)
To eat dinner (食夜)
Daily use sentence: 你愛食麼个？(What would you like to eat?)
你 (nˇ): you; 愛 (oi): would like/want; 食 (siid): to eat; 麼个 (magˋge): what
Listen to various accents
Sixian accent (四縣腔): nˇoi siid magˋge？
Hailu accent (海陸腔): ngi oiˇ shidˋmaˋgaiˇ？
Dapu accent (大埔腔): hnˇoi+ shidˋma^ gai+？
Raoping accent (饒平腔): ngiˇoiˋshed maˋgaiˋ？
Zhao-an accent (詔安腔): henˋoi^ shiedˋbboo^ gaiˋ？