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words.hk reads 新年 as san1 nin4. The gloss separates the two calendars first. The Western new year is 1 January. The Chinese new year is the first day of the first lunar month, and the stretch from that day through the fifteenth is often called 新年 as a whole. It then says that in Hong Kong both are called by these two characters. The measure is 個. Collocations include the new-year holiday and 農曆新年 nung4 lik6 san1 nin4.

年卅晚 and 年三十晚 are two spellings on one page. Both mean the last day of the lunar year. 年卅晚 is nin4 saa1 aa6 maan5. 年三十晚 is nin4 saam1 sap6 maan5. The two characters 三十 split saa1 aa6, and 晚 stays maan5.

年初一 nin4 co1 jat1 is the first day of the lunar new year. The near synonym is 大年初一 daai6 nin4 co1 jat1. The example for 大年初一 says that day is for going out to 拜年. 拜年 baai3 nin4 is visiting elders or friends in that period and exchanging auspicious words. Another example is a visit to a grandfather on 年初一.

恭喜發財 gung1 hei2 faat3 coi4 is the greeting used when people meet at lunar new year. The example is 「恭喜發財，利是逗來」. In that line 利是 is lai6 si6 and 逗來 is dau6 loi4. 利是 is also written 利市. Both spellings list lai6 si6 and lei6 si6. It is money given as a blessing, usually inside a red or gold envelope. The envelope is named 利是封 in the text. It is given mainly at the new year. The Hong Kong sentence says married people give them to children, to juniors and to unmarried friends, and bosses give them to staff. The measure is 封. to-jyutping, asked for 利是 alone, gives lai6 si6 first.

赤口 cek3 hau2 is the third day of the first lunar month. The entry says people take that day as easy to misspeak and to quarrel, so they stay home, do not pay new-year visits, and do not meet relatives or friends.

團年飯 tyun4 nin4 faan6 is the 團年 meal at the end of the lunar year, measure 餐. The English adds that it is usually on new year’s eve. The near synonym is 年夜飯, which has no page.

年糕 nin4 gou1 is made from glutinous rice or glutinous-rice flour. The Cantonese custom named here is to add slab sugar, so the cake is brown. The measures are 塊, 嚿 or 底. In the example 「今年我買了兩底年糕」, the 年 of 今年 is marked nin2.

油角 lists both jau4 gok3 and jau4 gok2. It is a new-year food: a filling of fried peanuts, sesame and sugar, wrapped in pastry into a half-moon and deep-fried until golden, measure 嚿. 角仔 gok3 zai2 has the same gloss and the two pages point at each other, but the 角仔 page writes only gok3, not gok2. Its example asks which is preferred, 煎堆 or 角仔, and marks 煎堆 zin1 deoi1. 煎堆 has no page of its own.

全盒 is also written 攢盒, both cyun4 hap2: a box for new-year snacks, measure 個. The example asks what to put in it for the best luck. The entry does not answer.

花市 faa1 si5 is the lunar new-year fair. The entry says Hong Kong’s fair runs each year from the 24th of the last lunar month until 6 a.m. on 年初一, selling new-year flowers, dry goods, wet goods and cooked food, measure 個. The example says that year’s fair had more locally designed stuffed figures, so there was no need to buy copies. Copy, 翻版, is marked faan1 baan2.

The first sense of 桃花 tou4 faa1 is the blossom of a peach tree, measure 朵, 樖 or 盆. The example says a new year calls for buying a whole plant. 樖 is marked po1. The second sense turns to romance: a chance of a love affair. 爛桃花 is laan6 tou4 faa1, glossed as meeting someone who is not your cup of tea. 桃花運 is tou4 faa1 wan6.

揮春 fai1 ceon1 is red paper with a greeting written on it, put up at lunar new year for luck, measure 張. The example says every household sticks them on a door or a wall. Stick, 黏, is nim4. 金桔 has no page. to-jyutping gives gam1 gat1.

Sources

• LSHK Jyutping scheme
• CanCLID to-jyutping
• words.hk: 新年, 年卅晚, 年初一, 大年初一, 拜年, 恭喜發財, 利是, 赤口, 團年飯, 年糕, 油角, 角仔, 全盒, 花市, 桃花, 揮春