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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Saam kap dai''}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|hide=no
|c  = 三及第
|j  = saam<sup>1</sup> kap<sup>6</sup> dai<sup>6(*2)</sup>
|y  = sāam kahp daih
|ci = {{IPAc-yue|s|aam|1|-|k|ap|6|-|d|ai|6}}/{{IPAc-yue|d|ai|2}}
}}

'''''Saam kap dai''''' ({{zh|t=三及第|link=no}}; [[Help:IPA/Cantonese|IPA]]: {{IPAc-yue|s|aam|1|-|k|ap|6|-|d|ai|6}}/{{IPAc-yue|d|ai|2}}) was a writing style combining [[Classical Chinese]], [[Written Cantonese]] and [[Standard Chinese]].<ref name="Snow_2004">{{cite book |last1=Snow |first1=Donald B. |title=Cantonese as written language: the growth of a written Chinese vernacular |date=2004 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |location=Hong Kong |isbn=978-962-209-709-4 |pages=127–135}}</ref> The articles and stories written in ''saam kap dai'' first appeared in several [[Guangzhou]] newspapers in the 1940s and 1950s, eventually popularized by its widespread use in Hong Kong newspapers from the late 1940s to the 1960s.

''Saam kap dai'' is notable in how it uses the different systems to help reflect different registers in writing. Sentences with more Classical Chinese vocabulary and grammar give off the impression of more formality and authority, while those in Standard Chinese have a far more neutral and straightforward feel to them, and written Cantonese being far more informal and colloquial, often incorporating a lot of slang.<ref name="Snow_2004" />

== Name ==
Two main theories exist for the name. One is from the name for the three ranks awarded by the [[imperial examination]] of dynastic China, in {{lang-zh|t=三元及第|j=saam1 jyun4 kap6 dai6}}.<ref name="Lo_2005">{{cite book |last1=Lo |first1=Kwai-Cheung |title=Chinese face/off: the transnational popular culture of Hong Kong |date=2005 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Chicago |isbn=9789622097537 |page=227}}</ref> The other is that it is derived from the name of a [[congee]] dish popular in [[Guangdong]], called in {{lang-zh|t=三及第肉|j=saam1 kap6 dai6 juk6}}. The two are linked, as this porridge is eaten by children in the hope that candidates will score highly in such examinations.<ref name="Lo_2005" />

== History ==
In the early 1900s, [[tabloid newspaper]]s of the mosquito press ({{lang-zh|t=小報|j=siu2 bou3|p=xiǎobào}}) in Hong Kong and [[Guangzhou]] used a base of written [[Modern Standard Mandarin|Standard Chinese]] and [[Classical Chinese]], with very occasional examples of [[Written Cantonese]]. For example, in the 1920s and 1930s, runs of the newspapers ''Guzi'' ({{lang-zh|link=no|t=骨子}}) and ''The China Star'' ({{lang-zh|link=no|t=華星}}) only contained a maximum 20 examples of Written Cantonese per issue.<ref name="Snow_2004" />

After the [[Second World War]], many such newspapers adopted the ''saam kap dai'' style. An analysis of one issue of ''Hung Lok'' ({{lang-zh|link=no|t=紅綠}}) from 1947 shows several features of the style:

* A base of formal [[Standard Chinese]].
** Using {{wikt-lang|zh|的}} ([[Jyutping]]: {{transliteration|zh|jyutping|dik1}}, [[Pinyin]]: {{transliteration|zh|ISO|de}}) instead of the native Cantonese {{wikt-lang|zh|嘅}} ([[Jyutping]]: {{transliteration|zh|jyutping|ge3}}) as the [[possessive]] marker and [[relativizer]].
* Just over 10% of the text employs [[Written Cantonese]] characters, less than half the percentage for dialect literature movement texts from the same period.<ref name="Snow_Notes">{{cite web |last1=Snow |first1=Donald B. |title=Written Cantonese and Implications for Hong Kong |url=https://www.fe.hku.hk/clear/doc/WC%20and%20Implications%20for%20HK%20HO.pdf |access-date=10 October 2023}}</ref>
** Most of these are Cantonese [[function word]]s.
* Features of [[Classical Chinese]] syntax, such as:
** Using {{wikt-lang|zh|之}} ([[Jyutping]]: {{transliteration|zh|jyutping|zi1}}) to mean 'him', whereas {{wikt-lang|zh|他}} would be used in Standard Chinese and {{wikt-lang|zh|佢}} in Written Cantonese.
** Using {{wikt-lang|zh|曰}} ([[Jyutping]]: {{transliteration|zh|jyutping|jyut6}}) to introduce direct speech, in contrast to Standard Chinese {{wikt-lang|zh|說}} or Written Cantonese {{wikt-lang|zh|話}}.

The majority genre using ''saam kap dai'' is [[Serial (literature)|serial fiction]], many of which involve [[War novel|war stories]] and [[crime fiction]] set in Hong Kong and Guangdong. There are also traditional [[Fable|moral fables]], and [[advice column]]s using this form of writing. In 1940s newspapers such as ''Hung Lok'', the number of articles using such a style reached a peak, with a local Hong Kong working-class readership as their clear [[target audience]].<ref name="Snow_2004" />

By 1950, the serial fiction genre was no longer confined to mosquito press newspapers in Hong Kong, with serials being run in newspapers such as the New Life Evening News ({{lang-zh|t=新生晚報|p=Xīnshēng Wǎnbào|j=San1 Sang1 Maan5 Bou3}}), appealing to a more [[White-collar worker|white-collar audience]]. The use of [[first-person narrative]] allowed a greater percentage of Written Cantonese in the stories. This genre continued to be popular into the 1960s and 1970s, although the Classical Chinese element tended to dwindle with time.<ref name="Snow_2004" />

Another genre which frequently employed the ''saam kap dai'' style was the [[opinion piece|'odd opinion' piece]] ({{lang-zh|t=怪論|j=gwaai3 leon6|lit=absurd discussion}}), particularly associated with the columnist {{ill|Saam So|zh-yue|三蘇 (香港)|display=1}}.<ref name="Snow_2004" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Minford |first1=John |title=The best China: essays from Hong Kong |date=2020 |publisher=The Chinese University of Hong Kong |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789882371972 |pages=297–298 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtA9EAAAQBAJ |access-date=10 October 2023 |chapter=Introduction to "''Paying One's Last Respects Is Both a Source of Anguish for the Living and an Insult to the Dead''"}}</ref> Many authors have felt that the heterogeneity of the language employed allows a greater range of linguistic tools, and this is reflected in the fact the use of ''saam kap dai'' in this genre is still current in the early 21st century.<ref name="Snow_2004" />

Despite this, the use of ''saam kap dai'' in the 21st century is generally considered moribund,<ref>{{cite book |last1=de Sousa |first1=Hilário |chapter=The Expansion of Cantonese Over the Last Two Centuries |editor1-last=Ye |editor1-first=Zhengdao |title=The Palgrave handbook of Chinese language studies |date=2022 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Singapore |isbn=9789811609244 |page=432 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dIN-EAAAQBAJ |access-date=10 October 2023}}</ref> having from the 1980s yielded its place to texts in a form of [[Written Cantonese]] closer to the spoken idiom.<ref name="Snow_2004" />

According to one modern analysis, a "new" ''saam kap dai'' has emerged since the 1970s, combining elements of the English language with Written Cantonese and Standard Chinese.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=張 |first1=彥嵐 |title=論⾹港「新三及第」⽂學的本⼟意識－以丘世⽂、⿈霑為例 |journal=文化研究季刊 |date=31 December 2022 |issue=180 |pages=1–25 |url=https://www.airitilibrary.com/Publication/alDetailedMesh?docid=P20151027001-N202301060024-00001 |access-date=10 October 2023 |language=zh |issn=2076-2755}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|}}

[[Category:Cantonese language]]
[[Category:Classical Chinese]]
[[Category:Writing]]
[[Category:Mixed languages]]
[[Category:Writing systems using Chinese characters]]


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