sai1 man4西文

Jyutpingsai1 man4

Yalesāi màhn

名詞

Definition

Any Western language, or specifically Spanish.

any Western language
the Spanish language

colloquialschoolcommunication

How it's used

While 西文 can technically refer to any Western language, it is overwhelmingly used in Hong Kong to specifically mean Spanish. If you want to refer to Western languages in a broader or more academic sense, it is clearer to use 西方語言 to avoid ambiguity. It is rarely used to describe English, as that is almost always referred to as 英文.

Examples

keoi5佢sik1識gong2講sai1西man4文，hou2好sai1犀lei6利aa4呀。

He knows how to speak a Western language, that's impressive.

nei5你hai6係mai6咪soeng2想hok6學sai1西man4文aa4呀？

Are you wanting to learn Spanish?

Common phrases

hok6學sai1西man4文

to learn Spanish

gong2講sai1西man4文

to speak Spanish

Common mistake

Do not confuse this with 英文, which is the standard term for English. Using 西文 to refer to English will cause confusion, as listeners will assume you are talking about Spanish or a generic European language.