Official Naming of the Characters (Hanzi) in Mandarin Chinese Is there any official naming of complex (not the basic ones) Chinese Characters in Mandarin Chinese.

For example, I know that the character 博 is pronounce in Pinyin as:

bó

But If I were to, address (the name of) this particular character, and not intending to address its pronunciation, what name should I use? (example:the letter W is pronounce as "w" as in "ˈwɔːtə(r)" for the word water in the IPA of BrE but the letter itself is named (referred to as) "double u")

Note: Please add the resources link for this. I'm at a level of a beginner so please add some pinyin in your answer so that I can read it.

Regards

Generally, there is no name for a single character in Chinese. Or you can say the name is the character itself, but then there are too many duplicates when you only have the reading.

To address a single character, there are often two ways, one is to describe how it is written, one is to put it into a word.

Take "博" as an example. You can say that it is the "bo2" with a "十" on the left, which is describing how the character is written. Or you can say it is the "bo2" in "博士"("博士的博"), which is putting it into a word.

For some characters, there are generally accepted ways to describe them. For example, "李" is often referred to as "木子李", and "张" is often referred to as "弓长张".


How to express psychological insecurity (not physical insecurity)? These two dictionaries seem to offer translations for insecurity that capture the physical sort, not the psychological sort (i.e., insecurity about your looks, weight, smarts, etc.).

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/scripts/wordsearch.php?level=0

https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/dictionary.php

Example sentence: What you react to, and what you're sensitive to, often reveal your insecurities.

1) In Mandarin, what's the best translation for psychological insecurity?

2) What's the best translation for Cantonese?

Security (think: Otis Redding) is 安全感, a very popular and common concept in Chinese.

——

Oxford gives the example:

  有安全感
  have a sense of security

——

Insecure is 没有安全感.

Oxford has the example sentence:

  她没有安全感。
  She feels insecure.

I think Cantonese would opt for 缺乏 over 没有 giving you something like:

  缺乏安全感


Original Chinese version of the mango poem I was reading an article about mango's cultural significance in modern Chinese history. It mentioned about the following poem which was translated from Chinese:

  Seeing that golden mango / Was as if seeing the Great Leader Chairman
  Mao!

  Standing before that golden mango / Was just like standing beside
  Chairman Mao!

  Again and again touching that golden mango: / the golden mango was so
  warm!

  Again and again smelling the mango: / that golden mango was so
  fragrant!

I searched on Google and Baidu but couldn't find the original poem. Does anyone know the original verse?

This poem came from Page 6 of Renmin Ribao (Aug 10, 1968). The title was "金色的芒果" (Golden Mango) and the author was 鼓兵. The bold lines denote the cited part.

  金色的芒果

  鼓兵
  首都工农毛泽东思想宣传队的同志们，为了使全市工农兵都能迅速地看到毛主席送的芒果，特在清华园扎了一座彩台，将一颗芒果放在上面。几天来，首都工农兵群众，排着整齐的队伍，敲锣打鼓地来到清华园，瞻仰这颗芒果……
  　　金色的芒果啊，
  　　放在红色的彩台上，
  　　金色的芒果啊，
  　　闪耀着红太阳的光芒。
  　　千万支队伍在迎着芒果走来，
  　　千万支歌曲在对着芒果高唱。
  　　千万双眼睛在注视着芒果，
  　　千万颗红心在激烈地跳荡。
  　　见到那金色的芒果啊，
  　　就好象见到了伟大领袖毛主席；
  　　站在那金色的芒果面前啊，
  　　就好象站在毛主席身旁。
  　　一次又一次地摸着那金色的芒果啊，
  　　金色的芒果多么暖！
  　　一次又一次地闻着那金色的芒果啊，
  　　金色的芒果多么香！
  　　多少人手捧芒果眼望中南海，
  　　幸福的热泪簌簌淌；
  　　多少人面对芒果表决心，
  　　誓言滚滚震天响：
  　　“毛主席啊！
  　　我们永远跟着您干革命，
  　　海枯石烂心不变，
  　　任何困难无阻挡。”
  　　“毛主席啊！
  　　为了捍卫您的革命路线，
  　　我们刀山敢上；
  　　为了夺取无产阶级文化大革命的全面胜利，
  　　我们火海敢闯。”
  　　“毛主席啊！
  　　我们一定认真读您的书，
  　　活学活用您伟大的思想，
  　　我们一定贯彻您的指示，
  　　一丝一毫不走样。”
  　　…………
  　　金色的芒果啊！
  　　放在红色的彩台上。
  　　金色的芒果啊！
  　　闪耀着红太阳的光芒。


Where is the verb in reduplication of adjectives "Noun + Adj + Adj + 的"? I understand the 的 from the structure:

Adj + 的
Example: 高的。

as attaching the Adj to an omitted Noun. This omitted Noun can either be a general noun such as "one/s" (高的 can mean the tall one) or an implied Noun from the context (if the topic is a boy, 高的 could mean a tall boy).

I have come across the following structure for reduplication of adjectives:
Noun + Adj + Adj + 的.
For example:

他的儿子高高的。
His son is tall.

Question: Because Adj + Adj + 的 is attached to an omitted noun, it becomes a nominal phrase and grammatically Noun + Adj + Adj + 的 is equal to Noun + Nominal Phrase. Where is the verb and predicate in this sentence? Is the verb copula 是 omitted but implied in connecting the nouns：Noun +（是）+ Adj + Adj + 的？From the example: 他的儿子（是）高高的？

Edit: My original post addressed the question focusing on the function of 的. However, the question of why 的 was necessary in reduplication of adjectives, instead of (Adv of degree) + Adj + Adj, was already asked in Adverbs of degree with reduplicated adjective phrases?

EDIT:
blackgreen's answer reminded me that the noun in “Noun + Adj + Adj + 的” is not the subject of a [SVO] sentence but the topic of a [topic + comment] sentence.
There are two ways to interpret which is the topic in 他脸红红的

[他(的)脸 (topic)] [红红的 (comment)] = [his face (topic)] [is very red (comment)]

[他 (topic)] [脸红红的 (comment)] = [he (topic)] [is red-faced (comment)]

Either way, 的 is acting as an adjective marker that marks 红红 as an adjective. and the 是 (is) between the topic and the comment is omitted
As for the rest of the explanation, I cannot explain it better than blackgreen did, so I am not going to try.
Different example:

[關羽的脸 (topic)][(是)红红的 (comment)] = [Guan Yu's face (topic)][(is) very red (comment)]

[關羽 (topic)][脸红红的 (comment)] = [Guan Yu (topic)][(is) red-faced (comment)]

Example of using 红红的 in SVO sentences:

[關羽][有] [一張红红的脸]
[Guan Yu (S)] [has (V)] [a very red face (O)]


How do Chinese spell English words over the phone? In English, if I am spelling my name for someone over the phone I can use a phonetic alphabet to ensure they get my name right. Especially for potentially ambiguous letters; d and t, b and p, c and e, f and s etc.

For example

  I live on Theodore Ave, T as in today, H, E as in elephant, D as in delta, O, R, E as in elephant

As Chinese does not have an alphabet per se and there are not enough intials in pinyin to cover the English alphabet,

What words would they use to confirm the receiver has the correct spelling of an English word?

Even for educated Chinese people who know English fairly well, they do not use the same method that native English speakers use (the one mentioned in your question).
The common methods Chinese use include:
1 - Read a small sequence of letters from the alphabet that contains the letter in question.

“Theodore怎么拼？”
“T-H-...”
“等一下，是T还是P”
“T，R-S-T的T"

2 -  Prefix the letter with its ordinal number in the alphabet. This is borrowed from school as it's how teachers and students read answers of choice questions. It is commonly used for A-D but not very common for letters after D.

“最后一个字母是二B还是四D？”
“四D。”

(Make sure when you read “2B", B is in prominent falling tone, to distinguish from the swearing word "二逼" where the second character reads bi1. Of course students often make joke out of these homonyms.)
3 - Describe the shape or some other distinctive properties of the letter.

“G还是J？” (It's very common for Chinese people to confuse the pronunciations of these two letters.)
“J，勾儿。” (It's referring to the shape of the letter AND also it's the urban name of the letter in poker games.)

If you do need to spell some English word over the phone with a Chinese, chances are the person is a service personnel, receptionist or secretary, with whom these methods work quite well, as per my personal experience.


Why did China opt for 星期 over 曜日? Korea and Japan seem to have a week system that looks like this:

Monday 月曜日
Tuesday 火曜日
Wednesday 水曜日
Thursday 木曜日
Friday 金曜日
Saturday 土曜日
Sunday 日曜日

China apparently used to be the same as well.
星期 wikipedia:

老黄历的值日星君就是曜日。日曜日是星期日，月曜日是星期一，火曜日是星期二，水曜日是星期三，木曜日是星期四，金曜日是星期五，土曜日是星期六。中国在民国成立后改称星期，其中的“星”字便是指这七曜，但在日本、韩国和朝鲜仍沿用曜日名称。台湾日治时期由日本引进星期制，因此亦使用七曜，但战后由中华民国统治后改成星期。

Why did China opt for 星期 over 曜日? (esp. since the whole 七曜 is rather Chinese, after all.)

The answer to this question is quite complicated, there is a whole website devoted to this subject here.

Shrinking things down as short as possible, the idea of seven day periods within a calendar based primarily on months came from the West into China, possibly more than once. During the Tang dynasty, it was taken up in China for use in astrology. For the percentage of the population who were not astrologers, it was not an important or widely known idea, and by the Ming dynasty, it was simply an odd factoid in astrological treatises.

According to the same website, the Japanese got the idea of the seven day period through Buddhist sources in the early 800s. Both the Chinese and Japanese thus got this idea, either directly or indirectly, through Western Buddhist or Manichaean sources, which identified the days with the sun, moon, and five planets, the 'seven luminaries' 七曜. Unlike China, the astrological use remained popular in Japan, but was limited to astrology until Japan decided to adopt the Western system of weeks as part of its calendar reform in 1876.

The seven-luminaries names of the seven days thus continued to be used in Japan because they had a continuous history.  In China, the whole thing was forgotten until they were reminded of the idea when Westerners starting setting up extra-territorial concession across China in the second half of the 1800s. The concessions naturally used weeks to regulate both work schedules and religious worship, particularly the Sabbath.

It seems clear that libai 禮拜 'worship' as the name for a week originated some time in this period; there is a very interesting article by 張書華 called 西制東漸：試探“星期制”於清末上海之傳布 which describes the spread of the week throughout China, a spread in which Shanghai played a leading role.

Yuan Chia-ku 袁嘉谷 was the Qing official who was supposedly responsible for coining the name xingqi 星期 'a stellar period' for the week in the last years of the Qing dynasty, but it was not until the Republic of China was declared that the Western calendar was adopted and the 'week' became a part of Chinese time-keeping.  Even then, the use of libai remained much more common than xingqi, until the dawn of the People's Republic in 1949.

I have to say that Yuan's objection to the use of the Tang era names for the days of the week doesn't seem that unreasonable to me. If we had to go through a major calendrical reform (heaven forfend), would you like to have a new system of days set up named after the Buddhas of the seven heavens?


Translating ministerial job title I need help understanding this title.

國家 in this case is China.
部委 are ministries and commissions
某司： a certain department (of the above)
項目：project
處長：head （of department）

But why is there a second 處 and is he head of only one project in the department?

i used the hong kong police force as an example:

https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_tc/01_about_us/os_chart.html

commissioner of police --> 警務處處長

Deputy Commissioner of Police --> 警務處副處長

commissioner is the #1 of the police force, deputy commissioner is the #2;
in chinese, these're 處長 & 副處長.

then, the term "police" is translated to 警務處, that's why there're two 處 in a short title, one is from the department name, the second is from the job title.

now, the trickiest one, there're 5 "departments" (divisions) in the police force, which is also translated to "處":

director of operations a department --> 行動處處長

so, if we put together "director of operations of hong kong police (force)", we could get 香港警務處行動處處長, that 3 "處" in the title.

fortunately, it's acceptable to translate "police force" to "警隊", that the above title is 香港警隊行動處處長.

back to your question, i think he's a project manager, or the head of projects, in particular government department.

have fun :)


How to say "season's / personal best (result in sport for athlete)" in Chinese? How to say "season's best (result in sport for athlete)" in Chinese?

I mean there could be personal best (all time, does not matter this or past or past-past year), and seasonal best result (only this year). How to say this?

年度最佳(best in this year)

季度最佳(best in this seanon)

个人最佳 (personal best)

all 佳 can be replaced by 好, the first 2 words can be prefixed with 上(last year), 2007 (in 2007).


Pronunciation of Tang Dynasty Poetry It was related to me that Tang Dynasty poetry is meant to be pronounced in the style of the Cantonese dialect.  Is this correct, incorrect, or a subject of contention?

well,  this answer is "limited" only, in relation to poetry in 唐 dynasty & cantonese.

1   cantonese (and several southern dialects/languages) is highly correlated to middle chinese, which was used in 唐 dynasty.

2   cantonese still has 入聲 (entering tone), while mandarin lost it. e.g.

屋 uk1　sound file

沃 yuk1　sound file

燭 juk1　sound file

in mandarin, these three are pronounced as:

屋　wū　(陰平, dark level)

沃　wò　(去, departing)

燭　zhú　(陽平, dark level)

3   韻書 (rime dictionary), e.g. 切韻, 廣韻; one can find character based on cantonese, or other southern dialects / languages, but not mandarin.

4   poetry in 唐 dynasty had rules and patterns. compare to a language without entering tone, characters not in accord with rime dictionary; cantonese is a better choice.

last, there was a book 文鏡秘府論 by japanese monk 遍照金剛　(空海), which was written at about 809. it talks about the rules /  patterns of poetry & chinese phonology in details.

the internet archive has a copy:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=文鏡秘府論

or, 文鏡秘府論匯校彙考

have a read, please.


中学生 why not secondary student life? As 生 means life I thought 中学生 = secondary study life.
But actual meaning of 中学生  is Secondary School Student.  xuésheng is student, so I remember it as student.
Why it is student rather study life?

中學生活 does mean 'secondary school life', 中學生 however must mean 'secondary school student'.

生 is a compound ideogram comprising 屮 (sprout) and 一 (ground). A sprout emerging from the ground therefore symbolises life and growth.

Besides meaning life (as in 生命), living (as in 生活), growth (as in 生長) etc., 生 has a few other noteworthy derived meanings. 生 in 中學生 corresponds to the second row:

Definition
Example

n. the living
養育眾生 lit. to feed everyone that is alive

n. the literati, the learned, pupil
學生, 生徒 (retained in Japanese), 諸生 (obsolete)

n. nature; fundamental character (now replaced by 性)
天性 (天生 in classical Chinese)

adj. raw
生魚片 lit. raw fish slices

The above is an incomplete list, only there to give you an impression of how diverse in meaning 生 can be. I also found a few remarks online that suggest pupils are like sprouts, as they 'grow' and 'absorb knowledge'; reasonable as they may seem, I however do not know how etymologically sound this justification is, as 生 has a long tradition of being a laudatory title for the literati in general (子 as well, as in 孔子 Confucius, 孟子 Mencius; surely one cannot interpret it as 'son'). But if this is good for memorisation, then by all means!


What does 回 do in 这回事? I have come across quite a few instance of 这回事(儿) instead of 这件事.
Is there is a real difference between the two, or is it just a syntactical preference of the speaker?

回
[6] (measure) time (as used to indicate number of occurrence)
[7] (measure) piece (as used for happenings or events)

回 is a measure word for event or occurrence ; 这回事 means "this (piece of) event" or "this (time of) occurrence"
Different between 回 and 件 as measure word is:

回 measure specific course of events (how many times it happens)

件 measure event as an unit (how many of it exists)

就是这一回事 = it is this occurrence
當沒有这回事 = pretend there is no such occurrence

~

就是这一件事 = It is this event
當沒有这件事 = pretend this event doesn't exist

We also say 这回战斗(This battle) or 这回会谈(this discussion) ; but not 这件战斗 or 这件会谈.


Difference between 马上，立刻，直接 What's the difference between 马上、立刻 and 直接? How do I use each word and in what situation is each word used?

Basically, we would use 马上 to imply that I’m on my way.

We use 立刻，to imply “immediately”.

直接 means directly or straightforward.

For example, when I was a high school student, I was naughty and always made teachers mad at me, so they would ask me “go to the office after class immediately!” (That’s: 立刻来我办公室！in Chinese.)
 And I would reply 马上来，which means I’m on my way. So when I describe this story to my friends, I could say, 下课之后我直接去了办公室（I went to the office directly after class.)


Are tones sometimes glossed over? To elaborate, although ni3 hao3 has a double third tone, when I hear native speakers say it, it's said so quickly that they definitely are not using that tone, nor is there feasibly time to use the third tone when it's said that quickly; I mean there isn't time to lower and then raise pitch when the syllables are practically spat out.

So the question is whether tones are sometimes, to some extent, omitted? Especially in extremely common phrases like ni hao?

Listening to native pronunciation clips on many sites (for example, one among many: http://www.learnchineseez.com/lessons/mandarin/pinyin/index.html), take for example the clip of wǒ hěn hǎo. To my uneducated ear, none of those syllables have a full third tone pronounced on them, especially "hen3." It just sounds like no tone.

There is a very interesting phenomenon in Chinese, called 语音变调（tone sandhi).

Here are the rules. (Note: all the rules apply only characters in the same word/phrase)

Tone Rule #1: 3-3 to 2-3

When there are 2 third tones in a row in the same word/phrase, the first one becomes second tone. This rule is always followed automatically, even though it will not be reflected in the pinyin.

The reason of this tone sandhi, I personaly believe, is because 3rd tone needs a little bit more time to pronounce than any other tones, and if multiple 3rd tones roll in a row, a lot extra time will be needed if pronounce them all in 3rd tone, and that will break down the speech fluency. So in order to keep the speech speed nomal and speak natually and fluently, we drop the lowering part of the 3rd tone, and just keep the rising part, which makes it 2nd tone.

  Like 你好，很好，买米，好酒，土改，检举，冷水，and many more.

Note this rule doesn't apply if the two third-tone characters in a row are not in the same word.

  For example: 中午我出去吃饭。午 and 我 both are still 3rd tone in normal speed, and there will be a very short gap between 午 and 我. But when speak very fast, again 午 will become 2nd tone.

When 3 third tones in a row in the same word/phrase, both 1st and 2nd character will have 2nd tone.

  For example: 你好早啊。Tone pattern is: 2-2-3. This is a greeting used in the morning, used to the peope who arrive before you.

When 4 third tones in a row in the same word/phrase, the tone pattern is: 2-3-2-3. like 剿匪手本。

When 5 third tones in a row in the same word/phrase: 2-3-2-2-3. Like 剿匪手本好.

When 6 third tones in a row in the same word/phrase: 2-3-2-3-2-3. Like 剿匪手本挺好.

Tone Rule #2: 不

When the word 不 (bù) precedes a fourth tone, 不 changes to second tone (bú). This rule is always followed, automatically, even though it will not be reflected in the pinyin.

  Like 不对，不去，不错，不坏，and many more.

Tone Rule #3: 一

3.1 The character 一 (yī), meaning "one," is first tone when alone, or at the end of a word.

  Like 一，第一，始终如一。

3.2 It becomes second tone when followed by a fourth tone。

  Like 一个 (yí gè) 一次 (yí cì) 一寸(yí cùn) 一夜(yí yè)

But This rule is NOT always followed, for example, 一月一号(Jan 1), some people say yí yuè yí hào, but others say yī yuè yī hào.

3.3 It becomes fourth tone when followed by any other tone.

  Like 一斤(yì jīn) 一天(yì tiān) 一杯(yì bēi) 一般 (yì bān) 一些 (yì xiē) 一直 (yì zhí) 一条 (yì tiáo) 一起 (yì qǐ) 一点 (yì diǎn)

But This rule is NOT always followed, for example, (第)一期工程, it is (第)yī qī 工程, not (第)yì qī工程. Another example: 一条, when used in Mahjong for "one stick" tile, it should be pronounced as yī tiáo, not yì tiáo. Some people say 一鸡 (yī jī) for "one stick" tile.

3.4 It becomes a Neutral Tone when in the pattern of X一X.

  Like 听一听 (tīng yi tīng) 看一看 (kàn yi kàn) 走一走 (zǒu yi zǒu) 等一等 (děng yi děng)

The last but not least, DO NOT TRY TO REMEBMER ALL THESE RULES. You just need to listen to native speakers and imitate, until it becomes your natural speaking habit.


Does 上嗨 work as a pun for 上海? While riding the subway in Shanghai last week, I glanced at the TV playing some commercials and saw what looked like a slightly off spelling of the city's name (上海). I could not get a very good look (and my area of [limited] expertise is kanji, not hanzi), but I am pretty sure the second character was: 嗨 (instead of 海).

When I looked it up in my Mandarin dictionary, sure enough '嗨' had a similar pronunciation, and a meaning ('alas', but also slang for 'hi!', according to that dictionary) that seemed to make it a pretty good fit for a pun on 上海.

However, the tone seems to be different:

  上海 [shàng-hǎi] vs. 上嗨 [shàng-hāi]

To my limited understanding, this would make the two words completely different to a native Mandarin ear...

My question is therefore:

To a regular Mandarin speaker, would 上嗨 sound close enough to 上海, to work as a pun? Would it only work as a visual pun (and not so much when read aloud)? Neither?

I don't really know the answer, but have some hypotheses.

What you saw is actually part of a sentence such as "在大街上嗨" where 嗨 has the meaning of 啊 (an emotion particle).
It's actually Shanghainese. On Baidu somebody asked for the meaning of 吾雷给欧上嗨吾 (which is supposed to be Shanghainese) and somebody answered 我在学上海话 (I'm studying Shanghainese). So according to this 上嗨 refers to 上海 in Shanghainese. I didn't find any other websites supporting this claim. The answer also got the remark that if it would have this meaning 吾 should actually be 哎吾.
This forum is called "学嗨吾吖" which actually refers to 学海无涯 (no limits to what one still has to learn). In this example the tones are changed and 海 is changed into 嗨). This is something that often happens on the Internet (mostly done by young people and sometimes used to bypass the Great Firewall of China). Some famous examples: 和谐 => 河蟹, 什么 => 神马， 肏你妈 => 草泥马, 压力 => 鸭梨, 央视 => 央屎. So maybe the advertisement wanted to appeal to young people.


What is the difference between 例子 and 榜样? If I'm trying to say someone is a good example I often hear 例子, however, I have also heard 榜样, which seems to make more sense to me based on the meaning of the characters. What is the difference between these two?

榜样 is a model, specifically a person regarded as an excellent example of a certain quality.

Every year, the government announces

  全国劳动模范 or 劳模 in short (people who excel in work) and 全国道德模范 (people who possess good
  moral values)

In a lot of companies, they have an honor called

  模范带头人 (employees that come first in sales numbers, etc.)

Teachers use the word fairly often:

  小明是我们（学习）的榜样。Xiao Ming set a good example for us.

An idiom:

  榜样的力量是无穷的。If one sheep leaps over the ditch, all the rest will
  follow. (official translation)

例子 is a typical thing that can represent the whole kind.

  举个例子 give an example

It's actually very easy to distinguish between the two words.

Definition of "example" (from the Dashboard widget on my Mac):

  example |igˈzampəl| noun

  a thing characteristic of its kind or illustrating a general rule --> 例子 (neutral)
  a person regarded in terms of their fitness to be imitated or the likelihood of their being imitated --> 榜样 (positive, and used to describe people
  only)


Adding tone marks to characters I'm looking for a way of adding tone marks above characters. It's fairly easy to add Pinyin with tone marks, but I want to add only tone marks. I want to use this as a teaching tool, because even though most students don't have a big problem with the syllables, they do need to focus more on tones. Thus, adding the tone marks would mean that students can focus on the characters while still being able to see the tones if they need to and focus on them more.

Right now, I have to do this manually, which is quite tedious. However, I'm guessing that there might be a way of doing this automatically. Perhaps there are fonts that display the tone diacritic next to the character? The problem would be characters with multiple readings, of course, but perhaps there is a way around that. Does anybody know of any other way of adding tone marks above characters without having to do it manually?

This is done both in Practical Audio-Visual Chinese and New Practical Chinese Reader (can't remember exactly where it begins and where it stops, though), but I think they've done it manually using some kind of typesetting tool. The best solution would probably be to use Ruby annotation and somehow get rid of the Pinyin/Zhuyin and get only the tone mark. I don't know if that's possible, though.

I'm not quite sure what your question actually is. Do you want to know how:

to better teach Chinese tones? (cram specific tone recall quizzes)
to automate adding pinyin with diacritical marks to your text? (google, find e.g. annotator.jiang-long.com)
to use Ruby annotations in your typesetting environment? (which?)

If you use LaTeX, see e.g.: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/4448/tone-marks-above-chinese-characters-in-latex

You might also try combining Unicode characters with the program of your choice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combining_character

The easiest solution to getting the tone marks out of pinyin is to use Regular Expressions. I have written a Javascript bookmark for you, which works with annotator.jiang-long.com:

javascript:(function(){var e,es,i;es=document.getElementsByTagName("acronym");for(i=0;e=es[i];i++){e.innerHTML=e.innerHTML.replace(/\w*[āɑ̄ēīōūǖĀĒĪŌŪǕ]\w*/g,' ˉ ').replace(/\w*[áɑ́éíóúǘÁÉÍÓÚǗ]\w*/g,' ˊ ').replace(/\w*[ǎɑ̌ěǐǒǔǚǍĚǏǑǓǙ]\w*/g,' ˇ ').replace(/\w*[àɑ̀èìòùǜÀÈÌÒÙǛ]\w*/g,' ˋ ');}})();

And an advanced version using XPath which also takes care of toneless pinyin:

javascript:(function(){var i,t,ts,e,at;at=parseInt(prompt("Which row is the pinyin in?",1))-1;ts=document.querySelectorAll( 'table.textblock' );for(i=0;t=ts[i];i++){e=t.querySelectorAll('acronym')[at];e.innerHTML=e.innerHTML.replace(/\w*[āɑ̄ēīōūǖĀĒĪŌŪǕ]\w*/g,' ˉ ').replace(/\w*[áɑ́éíóúǘÁÉÍÓÚǗ]\w*/g,' ˊ ').replace(/\w*[ǎɑ̌ěǐǒǔǚǍĚǏǑǓǙ]\w*/g,' ˇ ').replace(/\w*[àɑ̀èìòùǜÀÈÌÒÙǛ]\w*/g,' ˋ ').replace(/[^ˉˊˇˋ ]+/g,' · ').replace(/ /g,'&nbsp;');}})();

Just create a new bookmark and past the Javascript as URL. It replaces any word containing an āíěòū etc. with the respective tone mark.
I picked annotator.jiang-long.com totally at random; you may need to adjust the code if you want it to work with your favorite annotator webservice.

Update: convert pinyin without tonemarks into dots


Any direct English equivalent for "佩服"? 我真佩服

I know that "佩服" means admiration/respect, but would there be any direct word for "佩服"?

Given "我真佩服", I understand that it could be something like "I have a lot of admiration", but more or less, it sounds a bit off.

I also know that there may not be any direct English translation, but would there be any word better than "admiration"?

I think "appreciate" should be the right word.

I'd say the first meaning, "to be grateful or thankful for", of the word is not related. But 2nd and 4th meanings are good matches. See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/appreciate for the meanings that I mentioned.

I am not sure if one can apply it to somebody. Correct me if I were wrong.


Parsing this text from Mencius https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=12913&remap=gb#s10096477

朝秦楚，莅中国而抚四夷也

As per the translation, it seems like 秦楚 are doing the 朝'ing and the 中国 are doing the 莅'ing, so why do these verbs come before the noun they modify?
I am also having some trouble understanding

以若所为求若所欲

Would this be a correct understanding? But 以 if 若 your desires 所为求 are indeed what you wish 若所欲... (then it's like climbing a tree to find fish)

欲辟土地，朝秦楚，莅中國而撫四夷也

The grammatical subject is hidden (Liang Hui Wang, 梁惠王). What we see are four parallel verb-object constructions that describe Mencius' guess of Liang Hui Wang's desires (王之所大欲).

辟土地: 'to enlarge your territories'

朝秦楚: while normally 朝 as a verb means ‘to meet in court', this is no doubt used in the causative sense (使動用法, see fourth entry here): 'to make (Qin and Chu) meet in (your) court'.

莅中國: 莅 simply means 'to come'. 中國 does not mean China, it refers to the Central Kingdoms (somewhat similar to 中原).

撫四夷: 'to pacify the barbarous tribes on the four boarders'.

You may consult D. C. Lau (1984:21)'s translation too: 'You wish to extend your territory, to enjoy the homage of Ch'in and Ch'u, to rule over the Central Kingdoms and to bring peace to the barbarian tribes on the four boarders.'

以若所為求若所欲

The 所-construction nominalises the verb that follows it. So 所為 means 'deeds' (from 'to do') and 所欲 means 'wants' (from 'to want'). 若 means 'you'. But we see two nouns adjacent to each other in 若所為 and 若所欲. For better understanding, you may add 之 in between, indicating possession: 以若之所為，求若之所欲.

以A求B means to seek B with A.

D. C. Lau: 'Seeking the fulfilment of such an ambition by such means as you employ'

Reference
Lau DC. Mencius. Hong Kong: CUHK Press; 1984.


What does 这些地方 mean in this dialogue about health checks? I'm confused about the use of 这些地方 in the following dialogue in my Chinese text book (click for larger image):

I'll transcribe it below:

  马克：体检时检查什么？
  丁波：很多。耳朵，眼睛，鼻子，牙齿，还有胃等等。
  马克：以前我总是肚子疼。
  丁波：可能是胃疼吧。你去医院检查一下儿吧。
  马克：体检时胳膊，手，脚要不要检查？
  丁波：这些地方一般没有大问题，看一看就行了。

And here's my translation:

  Mark: When you get a health check, what is checked?
  Ding Bo: Lots. Ears, eyes, nose, teeth, also stomach, and so on.
  Mark: In the past, my tummy has been always painful.
  Ding Bo: It could be your stomach that's painful.  You go to the hospital for a check [suggestive particle].
  Mark: When you get a health check, are arms, hands, feet inspected?
  Ding Bo: These places generally have no big problems, have a look and it'll be okay.

In particular, I'm unclear if "these places" (这些地方) means the places you go to get 体检 (health checks), or if "these places" means these places on your body (胳膊，手，脚).

Question: What does 这些地方 mean in this dialogue about health checks?

In this context, '这些地方'(these places) refers to 'areas' on a human body.

For example:

'upper arm area' (上臂一带)

'left wrist and left lower palm area' (左腕及左掌底部一带)

'neck and spine area '(颈椎一带)


Chinese Idiom puzzle 7 Please solve the following puzzle

To win a war, you need XX, YY, and 人和, What are XX and YY?

All formed by nature, no traces of man-made carvings

One hand covers the sky. ( Describes someone use his power to deceive the masses)

Far away; the edge of the world

Describe 'very happy'

A metaphor of extremely strict preventive measures  (intruder will not escape)

Steal the Sky, switch the sun. A metaphor for pulling off a great deception

Heaven's proud son (Metaphor of talented and influential people)

Unrealistic and unreasonable strange ideas

Vivid like sky raining flowers. Mostly refer to exaggerated and unrealistic speech

Live as long as heaven

Man can overcome nature (with determination and diligent)

Create a new world

Common people care the most is food. 《漢書．卷四三．酈食其傳》

Heaven's will

Genius

Under the sky (the whole world)

Vast space

Violate Heaven's rule

Nickname of 包拯

A metaphor of an extremely beautiful woman

Two people are each at a different corner of the world. Describes that they are far apart and difficult to meet. 出自《古诗四首》

A. Reach the sky in one step. A metaphor to reach a high level or degree at once. Sometimes it is also used to metaphor a person's sudden ambition and climb to a high position. 出自《清稗类钞·三十四》
B. Heaven's fairy change into human (describe beauty)
C. The ocean and the sky are the same color
D. Engulf heaven and earth
E. World turns dark
F. Weather is hard to predict
G. Heaven's horse runs in the sky (metaphor of creative and unrestrained imagination)
H. If the emperor break the law, he is subjected to the same punishment as a common citizen would
I. completely fair and reasonable
J. Ancient Chinese believed the shapes of the sky and the earth are ...?
K. 盤 __ created the sky
L. The South Gate of the Heavenly court (天庭)
M. Nickname of Sichuan (四川) area
N. Indulging in wine and women
O. There is only one sun in the sky (下一句是"民無二主")
P. Peace on earth
More hints below

green: I need the spoiler
red: I am not sure


What does the character in this Naruto poster mean? I dont know how to type that character, otherwise I would try it out through other means.

What does the character mean? It appears in a poster concerning the Japanese manga Naruto.

This is not Chinese, it's Japanese(絆). The meaning of the character in very different in the two languages now.

The meaning of the symbol is already shown in the picture : bonds (between friends, family members, etc.)


Help with Zen Painting translation? Can anyone help with translating this? I think I see characters for Buddha, Chan Zen and Insight or Seeing Clearly?

The calligraphy seems identify two namings(both should be male names): 張果(right column), 朱自然(left column)
But I didn't found any related information or related about Zen for these namings from Google.


How to explain the structure of "将在外，军令有所不受。" In my own opinion, this sentence should be "将在外，军令不受".

I can hardly imagine any use of "有" and "所" here. Could someone explain the structure of this sentence?

This is classical Chinese, not modern Chinese.
Normally in Classical Chinese 所 stands for an omitted object of a verb.  所 + Verb means ‘Verb 的东西 (the thing that is verb-ed), which is equivalent to a kind of relative clause marker (RM) in English ‘what/that is Verb-ed’. It makes the sentence passive.
The 有 just means 有.
In modern Chinese I would write it as: 如果将军在外面大战，朝廷的命令有可以不被将军接受的。
On Baidu I found this explanation:

原义为：将军出征在外，由于敌情复杂，战场情况瞬息万变，所以可以依据实际情况对皇帝的命令适当的随机应变，不一定生搬硬套。
释义为：作事情应掌握实际情况，根据现实作出适当的判断和行动。

(If you are reading these texts, your Chinese should be good enough to understand the explanation :-) ).


Taiwanese People Reading Mandarin Audio Files I would like to improve my listening skills.  One way I would like to do that is to find a large number of shortish audio clips (5 to 10 minutes?) of Taiwanese people reading mandarin.  What they are reading matters less.  It could be novels, news clippings, horoscopes, whatever.  I am looking for Taiwanese speakers of Mandarin because I am going to Taiwan and trying to learn Mandarin Chinese.  I plan to import the audio files into iTunes and make a playlist I can shuffle thru in my car.

Any ideas where I can get the audio files I am looking for?

Go to twitch.tv and find Chinese stream.
Almost all streamers on twitch that speak Chinese are from Taiwan.
Go to youtube, change your location to Taiwan and you will get a lot of Taiwan videos.


Is this a translation of 逍遥游？ I think this is from 逍遥游， but I'm not sure.  I just can't locate the following sentence.

  Thus, the wise man looks into space, and does not regard the small as
  too little, nor the great as too much; for he knows that there is no
  limit to dimension.

It's reallys cited from 《庄子》,but not from the chapter of 《逍遥游》. It's from the chapter of 《秋水》. The orginal words for your citation are:

  是故大知观于远近，故小而不寡，大而不多，知量无穷。

  是故大知觀於遠近，故小而不寡，大而不多，知量無窮。


Can someone tell me if this script is correct? I'm trying to write in full cursive with my own personal style and this is one of my first letterings.

I'm quite happy and I think that it does look readable, but I'm afraid that the two long line I left in the middle of the first sentence could break its logic. The long line in the second one should divide this "有形" from this "以太".
I found many different way to write the same Hanzi in cursive and I'm afraid I made up a mess mixing styles that don't match among them... but I almost like the final result and I hope it can be considered a good work.

According to you is this strange or wrong?
Do the Hanzi have a logical and coherent style?
Can you easily understand what it means?

I hope not to be off topic, if so I really apologize. I have no intention to waste anyone's time, I'd just like to have an opinion from people I can trust.

Hanzi have many different writing styles and there is no right or wrong as long as you can understand what you are writing.

For me, it looks like Caoshu style. But unfortunately that is one of the hard-to-read styles in Hanzi. I only recognize 4 out of 8 of them. (if I am counting right)

As for 太, it is not easy to recognize. The small dot should be more upwards, at least in between the two swipes.

If this is for display purpose, that is fine. But not in communication purpose as not so many Chinese these days could read Caoshu.


"您好,我是否能知道原因呢" translate to "Hello, can I know the reason" I translate "您好,我是否能知道原因呢" to "Hello, can I know the reason"
But it looks like lose courtesy meaning.
How to normally behavior courtesy meaning this chinese sentence in english?

The word 您 as an alternate for 你, implicates that you really respect the person you are talking, thus, you would also need to use 'May I' to show politeness while asking.
I would translate it as follow:
Greetings Sir/Madam, may I know what is the reason?


為無為， 則無不治 translation of Dao De Jing these are to last lines of the third chapter of Dao De Jing.my question to the first line: Is the first 為 used in another meaning than the last one. I know what is 無為. Should I translate it: by 無為, there is no untreatment? sorry, if my translation is silly:)

Is the first 為 used in another meaning than the last one.

They have the same literal meaning of 'action', but very different connotations. Since you already know what 無為 is, you know the connotation of the word is much deeper than the sum of the two characters.

  How to translate it

By acting the non-action, nothing can't be treated/ruled.


Tone Change: Why is 欢 (huan1) in 喜欢 (xi3huan0) pronounced with a neutral tone? Would you do that for all words ending in a first tone? Or the 西 (xi1) in 东西 (dong1xi0) is pronounced with no tone?

No. It does not always apply.

xi0 might be another way of writing the neutral tone. I haven't seen it before.

For 东西, dong1xi1 (east and west) and dong1xi(thing) have different meanings.

To make sure whether a word ends with a neutral tone, without hearing how natives are using it, you'll have to look it up in a dictionary.


What is the term for alluding to a more formless concept by listing its specific members? (I only understand Vietnamese, but I guess this phenomenon is an influence of ancient Chinese.)

For example, we say "table-chair" to mean furniture, "month-year" to mean time, "land-water" to mean country, "spring-summer-fall-winter" to mean the cycle of time, "birth-old-sickness-death" to mean the cycle of life...

The concept being mentioned is at least a name of a category that individual listed member belongs to it, or in the two latter cases there is also a subtle connotation of never ending within it, and these are the first step to Eastern philosophy. Is there a name for this phenomenon? What would be a good source to learn it?

Related: Open-ended concepts in Chinese usually be alluded by listing specific examples. Would native English speakers find it hard to grasp the connotation?

At least in the context of 春夏秋冬 being used to represent the cycle of time, some might call that a "metonym". From The American Heritage Dictionary (on Wordnik):

  n. A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power.

"Washington" is often used to represent the US government, though it's really only a place. Maybe in the case of Chinese (or Vietnamese), such phrases are so commonly used that they become lexicalized as the standard means of expressing the concept.


What does 二货朋友 mean? Another Weibo post. This one has a lot that i dont understand. I think 有天二货朋友看到我的说说 Means “one day two friends said to me..." But that structure is very strange. I would have written 有一天两位朋友对我说。。。is this some kind of slang?

The rest is difficult for me to translate as well. My take: one day two friends sais to me, compare girls to clothes, young women are brands that you can buy! They adamantly commented: expensive brands also need no money!

有天二货朋友看到我的说说， 就算女人如衣服，姐也是你穿不起的牌子！ 果断在评论里说：“再贵的牌子，试穿也是不要钱的！「转」更多精彩关注@女神阁

G.Depardieu is Jean Reno's 二货朋友 in Tais-toi. Joey Tribbiani is the 二货朋友 in Friends. As Stan mentioned above, 二货 is an affectionate way to refer to a friend that may not be a genius but everyone loves him. 二: stupid. 货: buddy/man/stuff. More usage: 吃货 is one that admires good food(in a less graceful way). A refined 吃货 is a 美食家(gourmet).

女人如衣服 means "women are like clothes". It's usually used with another sentence, 兄弟如手足, which means "brothers are like limbs". If you ruined your garments, you can always buy new ones. But a lost limb is a pain that lasts. And here brothers mean true friends. But this joke is just using 女人如衣服 in its literal meaning.

姐也是你穿不起的牌子！Here 姐 is just a way to call oneself. To further the comparison 女人如衣服, she says that I'm a brand that you can't afford.

再贵的牌子，试穿也是不要钱的！ I'm afraid there're a lot to cover if you want to make sens of this, so I will just write down the translation: No matter how expensive clothes are, it's always free to try them on!

This is supposed to be a joke, but frankly I didn't get it.


Handwritten note in chinese (Characters identified: 阳台还有衣服) A chinese visitor left this note on my door.
If it was typed, i'd easily find the meaning. But it is handwritten!
Would you guys help me to understand it, please?

Thanks!

It says

  阳台还有衣服
  Yángtái háiyǒu yīfu

This directly translates to "balcony still has clothes".  More specifically:

阳台 (yángtái) = balcony (or something similar, like a veranda)
还有 (háiyǒu) = still has (in this context)
衣服 (yīfú) = clothes


My Chinese Laoshi gave me a Chinese name "玉意" I don't know what it means My Chinese Laoshi gave me a Chinese name "玉意" I don't know what it means.. if anyone knows what my chinese name means... can you please explain to me?? My mandarin is still very limited so I could not ask my Laoshi directly...

玉意, I assume you are female?
There was an actress of the same name in the 50s.
https://baike.baidu.com/item/容玉意
Maybe your Laoshi is a fan.
Anyway, 玉意 could be translated many ways depending on how 玉, (jadeite) is interpreted.
Besides being a semi-precious stone worn as jewellery it is revered by the Chinese, and in their culture jade symbolizes nobility, perfection, constancy, immortality, purity.
"The wise have likened jade to virtue. For them, its polish and brilliancy represent the whole of purity; its perfect compactness and extreme hardness represent the sureness of intelligence; its angles, which do not cut, although they seem sharp, represent justice; the pure and prolonged sound, which it gives forth when one strikes it, represents music" -- 礼记 -- "Book of Rites", (Zhou dynasty -- 1046 until 771 BC, (周; pinyin: Zhōu)
So Jade is more than a stone. Thus the meaning to be put to 玉 in your name would be nobility, perfection, constancy, immortality, purity. Take your pick.
Finally, 意 too could mean many things or meanings. But let's take the one which, to my mind, (no pun intended), is most suited to combine with 玉, and that is "thought"
So, 玉意 could mean "nobility, perfection, constancy, purity of thought"


Request for a 成语 to describe a person with all of 貌, 才, and 德 We can use 才貌双全 to describe a person with both 貌 and 才 and 德才兼备 to describe a person with both 才 and 德.

Does there exist a 成语 that describes a person with all of the three?

No, I don't think there is an idiom describing all of the three.

In Chinese, it is very common to use parallelisms, such as "他才貌兼具，德艺双馨".
I used little different terms from yours and parallelize them together to avoid literal duplication.


Does this 淘 just mean 买？ The little text I'm listening to has a poetic style. So I presume this is a poetic useage of 淘。Think it just means 'buy'. Is that right?

。。, 有很多特色的小商品店，可以淘一些特产带回家。Something like 'can fish up a few souvenirs to take home.'？？

It is a modern slang for 买.
淘 comes from 淘宝网 (Taobao), a very popular Chinese online shopping site, similar to eBay or Amazon. Although its name does literally mean "searching for treasure website", where 淘 means "searching", 淘 has become a verb that first meant "to buy on Taobao", "to buy online", and then to mean "buy" in general. This is similar to how "google" has become a verb meaning "to search online".
Since it's new slang, you won't find dictionaries attesting to this usage, but if you search for "淘东西" you'll find plenty of examples, such as this:

想在55淘东西要睁大了慧眼喔~跟风需谨慎
(where 55 refers to 55bbs.com, a different shopping site to Taobao)

or this:

可以海淘东西到新西兰吗？
(where 海淘 means "to buy overseas")


好羡慕拍照的人，有这么漂亮的人可以拍: who is 的人? Google translated this 好羡慕拍照的人，有这么漂亮的人可以拍 as
“I really envy people who take pictures. There are such beautiful people who can take pictures.”
Context:  This came from someone looked at some pictures of one person.
I thought it implied the person whose pictures were taken.
Am I wrong?

The latter half of your sentence belongs to the structure subject + 有 + object + transitive verb, where the subject 拍照的人 is hidden. To understand why they are arranged like so, consider a simpler example below.

When we rearrange 我吃東西 ('I eat something'), which bears the orthodox subject + verb + object structure, into 我有東西吃 ('I have something to eat'), the sentence gravitates towards the object 東西 (i.e. food). The purpose of saying 我有東西吃 is that there is food to eat, not eating itself.

Similarly, 拍照的人/有/人/可以拍 (for simplicity, remove the adjectival phrase 這麼漂亮的) is 拍照的人/可以拍/人 rearranged (lit. ‘people who take pictures=the photographer can take someone’s picture’). 有人可以拍 emphasises on the fact that there does exist someone that a photographer (the hidden subject) can take pictures of, not the action itself.

In 我有東西吃, we may guess by emphasising on the food, the speaker might have been hungry for a long while. In 拍照的人有人可以拍, we may guess, by the emphasis on (the beauty) of photographic models, the reason of the speaker's envy. The point being, common sense does help in parsing sentences correctly.

Google translation thinks a noun (有人) placed before a verb (可以拍, lit. can take) must make it the doer of the verb, following the logic in SVO structure. That is not the case, because the structure is rearranged.


How does 行 evolved to mean industry? I was interested in differentiatig between different usages of obj+业,for example: 企业,商业... and there it was - 行业.

So the question is "why 行  means industry and does it have something to do with it's "original" meaning "a row\line?".

My intuitive guess was it has something to do with 行会. So I looked it up and there it is:
from baidu baike
(although the entry is about 行会 and not 行, so everything would technically still be based on my original assumption, which isn't that bad of a guess from a native speaker's perspective):

  行会产生于隋唐。唐代工商业组织大都称“行”，源于街巷上的贩卖摊商，往往一条街上开设的都是同类的店铺，故称“行”，如“织锦行”、“金银行”等。到了宋代，行会组织更加发展。

So it turns out that during Sui/Tang dynasty, it often happened to occur that along a certain street, there were exclusively shops doing the same kind of business, and therefore the 行 (line).


Why is 在 in 就这样在孔琳犹豫不决地跟着朋友进了酒吧? I'm revising my notes, and a while ago I wrote:

  这样孔琳犹豫地跟着朋友进去。

It means something like "In this way, Kong Lin reluctantly followed her friends in", and in the context of the story she entered a bar.

In my notes, my teacher made these corrections:

  就这样在孔琳犹豫不决地跟着朋友进了酒吧。

It all clear except for 在.

Question: Why is 在 in 就这样在孔琳犹豫不决地跟着朋友进了酒吧?

These corrections were written by me, as we're currently forced to do WeChat lessons.  I may have made a mistake.

I think your teacher meant to say: 就这样，孔琳在犹豫不决之间跟着朋友进了酒吧。Because 犹豫+地 doesn't sound good (Surprise! You cannot add 的/地 to any word to form an adj/adv)

犹豫

v.迟疑不决

他犹豫着要不要跟着朋友进去。

a.迟疑不决的，缺乏主见的

他平时就是个犹豫的人，此时自然指望不了他来做主。

If you search 犹豫地, most likely you get 毫不犹豫地 instead of 犹豫地. Because 犹豫 is the state that one cannot make decision on whether or not to do something, you shouldn't use it to modify "do something". If you want to express the idea of "weighing for a long time but finally do something", you can say:

volunteering:

他犹豫再三，还是跟着朋友进了酒吧。

by force:

他在犹豫之间被朋友拉进了酒吧。


Is there a comprehensive list of separable verbs (离合动词) anywhere? Problem: I need to find and compile a list of separable verbs / 离合词.
Searching the internet I have managed to collect a list of 65 verbs which of course is not enough.
Some examples of separable verbs / 离合词 are:

睡觉，决口，罢工，保险，报名，投资，安心，洗澡

Question: Do you know a resource that provides a list of such verbs?

I agree with the earlier answer, but I had the same question!

So if it can help, I found an interesting information at Chinese Grammar Wiki's list of separable verbs
and especially at “Separable Verbs” – A Misleading and Unnecessary Concept.


Is this Chinese? If so can you tell me what it says in english? Thank you Is this Chinese?  If so can you tell me what it says in english?  Thank you

This is Chinese (and it's written in Simplified Chinese).

"苹果" means "apple"; and "帝国" means "Empire". The whole phrase could be translated as "The Apple Empire" or "The Empire of Apple" into English.


This is a seal on a porcelain piece. I am not sure if it is from China or Japan. Can anyone tell me what it says? (Characters identified: 大明嘉靖年製) I am trying to read the seal script on the base of a porcelain piece. I am not sure if it is from China or from Japan.

From right to left, up to down:

大明嘉靖年製
Made during the Jiajing era of Great Ming

大明 is the official name of the Ming dynasty. 嘉靖年 refers to the Jiajing era (1521–67). 製 is a verb meaning 'to make', here it is passive. So assuming this not being a counterfeit, it is from China.

An old character for 明 is 朙 (seen here), which is frequently adopted in seal scripts.


What are the most common Chinese honorifics? What are the most common Chinese honorifics? As far as I know we have:

大人 = respect, like the -sama in Japanese
贵 = your
臣 = your servant
朕 = I (only used by the emperor)

When addressing the listener's family, a prefix 令 (ling4, which has a meaning of good, lucky) can be used:

令尊, your father
令堂, your mother
令郎, your son
令嫒, your daughter
令兄, your elder brother
令弟, your younger brother
令姊, your elder sister
令妹, your younger sister

Correspondingly, when addressing the speaker's own family, a prefix 家(jia1, which means home, family) is used:

家父, 家严, my father
家母, 家慈, my mother
家兄, my elder brother
家弟, 舍弟, my younger brother
家姊, my elder sister
家妹, 舍妹, my younger sister

舍 (she4, my humble house) is used only with the younger of the same generation, or the younger generation:

舍侄 (brother's son), 舍甥 (sister's son), my nephew

My son and my daughter are 犬子, 犬女. 犬 here is puppy. But it's extremely rude to call others with any dog related words.
In daily informal cases, we can use:

您 as a replacement of 令
我 as a replacement of 家、舍,
common words like 父亲, 母亲, 哥哥, 弟弟, 姐姐, 妹妹, 儿子, 女儿

Examples:

您父亲, your father
我弟弟, my younger brother

My father and my mother can be 我爸爸, 我妈妈. But 您爸爸X or 您妈妈X is not proper because 爸爸 and 妈妈 are not honorific while 父亲 and 母亲 are.
Besides, 尊 (zun1, honor, respect) is a honorific prefix:

尊夫, your husband
尊夫人, your wife, also 嫂夫人
尊驾, you
尊师, your teacher
尊长, your elders


Is 纟 obtained by simplification of 糸 ？ Neither纟 nor 糸 are used as words in modern Chinese, i know the word for silk is 丝( trad 絲).
Many radicals in the list of 214 kangxi radicals have both traditional and simplified character, but that one is not clear about what it is, simplified or traditional.
Any information about etymology or origin of 纟 and 糸  is welcome  :-)

纟 derived from 糸, which is the silk. (looks very like)
Like many other simplified Chinese Characters, 纟comes from 草书, such as

訁 -> 讠
飠 -> 饣
糹 -> 纟
釒 -> 钅

most of the characters with 纟are related to textiles ( 纺织品 ) , such as
“丝”、“线”、“经”、“纬”、“绑”、“纹”、“纷”、“纱”、”“绞”
refer to: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%BA%9F/8457525?fr=aladdin


What does 打着 mean in 不能打着传统文化的旗号去否认简体字? In the following sentence:

  众所周知，简体字源于历史上人们自行简化的手书体，它是以繁体字为基础的，不能打着传统文化的旗号去否认简体字。

打着 means "hit the mark", according to Pleco. 百度词典 does not have the entry for the word.

I struggle to understand the meaning of 打着 in this context, which likely is either one of the following:

Unless you "hit" the flag of the traditional culture, you cannot veto the Simplified Chinese. (i.e. if you "hit" the flag, you could veto it; this is from 不能 and 否认, two negation words)
You cannot "hit" the flag of the traditional culture to veto the Simplified Chinese. (i.e. you cannot veto the Simplified Chinese by "hitting" the flag)
Or maybe another meaning?

I'm not sure if 打 or 打着 (is 打着 a word here or 打 + particle?) has the positive or negative connotation in this context to begin with... It is likely 比喻 in this context.

'打' in '打着旗号' means 'to display/ to hold up'
打着 means 'displaying/ holding up'
旗号 (flag/ banner) is a metaphor for 'claim; declaration'
More examples:
(打着)少林正宗的招牌 = (displaying/ holding up) signboard of authentic Shaolin
(打着)燈籠 = displaying/ holding up lantern
(打着)雨傘 = holding up umbrella
(打)手勢 = (display) gesture = to gesture

I'm not sure if 打 or 打着 (is 打着 a word here or 打 + particle?) has the positive or negative connotation in this context to begin with... It is likely 比喻 in this context.

打 is the verb, 着 is a particle that indicates 'on going' status of the verb. There's no positive or negative connotation on the verb 打 (displaying/ holding up) itself
打燈籠 and 打傘 are common terms that use '打' as 'to display/ to hold up'

"不能打着传统文化的旗号去否认简体字"
"Should not holding up the banner of 'Traditional Culture' to dismiss simplified characters"

Side note: "和尚打傘: 無法無天" - "Monk holding up umbrella: no law (hair) no rule (sky)


Is there a difference between "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 一样", and "这里 的 天气跟 我 老家 的 一样" In short, when to, and when not to, repeat the possessive "的“ after a comparative '和/跟' or '比' . Thanks!

Well actually not so big difference as we could use either of them in daily conversation. Maybe in your writing it would be better to use the latter but we usually save characters in chat as long as it's understandable by others.
Ps: You can even omit the first "的" to make the sentence shorter.


To be good at something. Is 很會 appropriate? When I started learning Chinese, my language partner (from Taiwan) taught me that the phrase 很會 can be used to indicate ability. I don’t use it all the time, because in Chinese there are alternatives such as:

  小姐文字寫的很清秀。

But sometimes an expression such as 很會 comes in handy because you don’t need to know the associated verb. Such a case would be:

  學妹很會甌繡。

Now it has happened a few times that people say 很會 sounds strange. I opted to replace it with 善於，工於，長於，but it seems people don’t immediately understand me (perhaps because these expressions are too literary as compared to the overall level of my Chinese).

Is 很會 regional or slang? What should I pay attention to, when replacing it with 工於，善於，長於？ Are these limited to set phrases? Which of these last three is most universally applicable?

"很會" emerged in modern time, used in vernacular chinese. imo, it's ok in most usages, just plain dull :(
well, to enrich your vocabulary, here're some alternatives:
閑熟

况及今刷選得人﹒猶須按舊制演習禮儀﹒非數月不能閑熟﹒比及閑熟﹒两宫已告成矣
我何人斯又能閑熟六藝﹒以求全儒林之宗旨哉

閑熟六藝 is roughly "skilled at six arts"
精, 究

有究韜略精武藝者

究韜略 is roughly "good at strategy"
精武藝 is roughly "skilled in martial arts"
善

丞相達之妹善畫﹒巧妙無雙

roughly "the sister of prime minister was good at drawing"
have fun :)


Comparative Glyph Origins Of (Visually) Close Characters As part of my learning experience, I am taking the useful advice someone offered and examining the many different tools available to learn more characters. To that effect, I am keying in the characters into a Mac using pinyin. I noticed that there are a number of visually related characters with different meanings. Is this a known phenomenon or just an unusual coincidence?

Some examples are:

  天，夭

>

  失，矢

I noticed that the differences are so slight (at least to my untrained eye) that one wonders about the glyph origins and how these visually related characters came to be. Is there a science to these visual relationships or are they random?

EDITS: Added to the examples with links to Chinese Etymology and Zhongwen images. However, I am still unsure of whether the development of the characters is related. I also plugged the characters into zdict.net but I am not competent enough to understand whether there is an explanation that might help me answer the main question: 天，夭，失，矢

They are not much related.

The common part in these characters is 大/big, which is the pictograph of front of a person.

天 is sky, which is represented by the line above the person.

夭's original meaning is bending one's neck, represented by a curve on person's head.
It's extended meaning is "young", because young plants are curved.

The other two are different.

矢 is arrow. The top part is head and the bottom part is arrow feather.

失 is very interesting. It actually comes from 手/hand with a extra stroke.
Something falls out of one's hand -> lose something


What does 都挺 indicate here?l What does 都挺 in this sentence mean/indicate?

我一直都挺想学滑板的

The whole sentence is translated as : "I've always wanted to learn skateboard(ing)". I then opened my online dictionary and tried to look for the meaning of each word, especially 都挺. However, it turned out that 都挺 isn't one whole word because each character of 都挺 appeared as independent character. Unlike 一直, 都 and 挺 aren't tied together.

Then I tried to translate 都挺 in Google Translate and the word "quite" appeared as a result. But the thing is, doesn't 挺 already mean "quite"? Then what does 都 here mean?

Plus, why is "一直" which has the meaning of "always", used together with "都挺" which means "quite" here? I find it strange because I had never seen both words used together in a sentence before.

In reading Chinese, we are always faced with the difficulty of correctly grouping characters. Here the correct pairing is not 都挺。 Rather, you should view 一直都 as one group, meaning all along and 挺 as a modification to 想。The meaning of 挺 comes very close to 很.
Examples：

我一直在等你/I’ve been waiting for you all along.
今天挺冷。/It’s pretty cold today.

I would say there is virtually no difference between 一直 and 一直都. The choice is guided by rhythm.


How to say "beginning of the month?" I've tried google translate, but it doesn't seem like what I'm trying to translate is quite right (at least I'm not sure if it's correct).

To say "end of the month", I have heard people say "这月底“，but is there a complement to that for "beginning of the month"?

There are lots of translations. What @agriprop said is probably the most common translation----月初----both in spoken and written Language.

月初 对应着 月末,月底(end of month)

What @CA55CE37 answered should not have 本, here 本 means this month. You cannot use it to describe other month. However 月起 is not a word. I never heard. While 伊始 is a very formal word that we often used in written Chinese. 伊始 means the beginning. 伊始 is often used as adverb to describe that we begin to do something. The usage of 伊始: verb+伊始----the beginning of doing something.

refer:

http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E6%9C%88%E5%88%9D/52961
http://www.zdic.net/c/8/94/168956.htm


The difference between simplified and traditional Chinese and how should one convert a traditional sentence into a simplified one? I'm wondering how is the difference between traditional and simplified Chinese?
For example think of the following sentence:

  在StackExchange網站中建立遙感探測和攝影測量問答網站的這個提案，仍處在委託階段 ( commitment phase) 。

That has been written in pure Taiwanese version by a native who has studied in USA as the translation for the following:

  a proposal for creating a remote sensing and photogrammetry Q&A site
  in StackExchange Network is in commitment phase now

Now how can it be converted to a pure mainland Chinese version?
I mean are the differences just in typing?
Are there any difference in the vocabulary?
Is there any service on the net which gets a traditional word (or a
word typed in traditional Chinese) and then gives you its simplified
version?
Do I have to apply grammatical changes, too?
Do simplified Chinese (People who are living a mainland China)
understand traditional Chinese easily? What about vise versa?
Which one is used wider in the world (traditional or Chinese)? (I
mean for promotional purposes is it better to translate a passage
into simplified or traditional to be understandable by more people?)

Now how can it be converted to a pure mainland Chinese version?
It's a big project. Best to find a professional translator who knows both well to do the job.
I mean are the differences just in typing?
No
Are there any difference in the vocabulary?
Yes. Quite a lot are different. Like software, in Taiwan it's 軟體 and in the mainland it's 软件. I'd like to show another example, the word cache in computer science. In Taiwan they adopt 快取 while in the mainland 缓存 is used. The two versions seem quite different at the first glance. One uses 快 fast, the other 缓 slow. But they describe the very same thing from two aspects. Both 快取 in simplified and 緩存 in traditional will be odd.
Is there any service on the net which gets a traditional word (or a word typed in traditional Chinese) and then gives you its simplified version?
Character-to-character is available, like from 體 to 体. But word-to-word is not that easy. 软体 is improper. Besides, there are cases that multiple traditional characters can be transformed into one simplified one.
Do I have to apply grammatical changes, too?
Grammars of both are almost the same in the written language, but I'm not sure about it.
Do simplified Chinese (People who are living a mainland China) understand traditional Chinese easily? What about vise versa?
The written language can be easily understood. The characters can be recognized easily though one may find it hard to write them by hand. I know little about the case vise versa since I'm from the mainland. Traditional characters are never forbidden though they cannot be used in the official documents like laws. We learn to recognize the traditional ones but not how to write in the school. I have read a lot of novels printed in traditional Chinese. Both of them can be widely seen in daily life, of course the simplified more than the traditional. Anyway both are precious legacies from our ancestors of the past thousands of years.
Which one is used wider in the world (traditional or Chinese)? (I mean for promotional purposes is it better to translate a passage into simplified or traditional to be understandable by more people?)
So far as I know, many softwares, webs and manuals provide both. But I myself find it okay to read only the traditional version.


What does '眼观鼻鼻观心' represent? Obedience or an attempt to be invisible? Is it more about obedience as in 'obediently looked down and listen to someone's teaching';

Or is it more about pretending to be oblivious/invisible? For example two of your bosses are fighting each other, you as their subordinate can only stand and '眼观鼻鼻观心'?

Furthermore, do people really use its literal translation?

眼观鼻 (eyes looking at the nose) = 'look down'

鼻观心  (nose pointing at the chest) = 'lower one's head'

眼观鼻鼻观心 = 'look down and lower head'

It is a graphic description of a posture

This posture can be used to express many things, like humbleness, submissiveness, relaxation and concentration

The two most common activities that require someone to 眼观鼻鼻观心 are praying and meditation .

'眼观鼻鼻观心地冥想' = 'look down, lower one's head and meditate' (require relaxation)

'眼观鼻鼻观心地祈福' = 'look down, lower one's head and pray for blessing' (require humbleness and concentration)


What is the difference between 王 and 皇? If I understand correctly, 王 means "king", "monarch" or "sovereign." I also see that 皇 means "emperor", "sovereign" or "ruler."

So is 皇 higher than 王?

Also, in the case of female monarchs (considering both consorts and non-consorts), can females be called 王 and also 皇? Or are there gender-specific terms for female monarchs?

The generic way to refer to the highest ruler of any country/region is「君主」, corresponding to monarch.

If we talk about an English translation, specifically avoiding how these terms are used in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, then「國王」is used to translate the English equivalent of king and「皇帝」is used to translate emperor, which are strictly gender neutral. Their specifically female equivalents are「女王」and「女皇」, respectively, for regnants (non-consorts), and「王后」and「皇后」for consorts.

Margrethe II,「丹麥女王」 (Queen Regnant of Denmark)
Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein,「德國皇后」(Empress Consort of the German Empire)
Napoléon Bonaparte,「法國皇帝」(Emperor of the French)
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,「沙特阿拉伯國王」(King of Saudi Arabia)

  Equivalent titles for territories historically surrounding and interacting with China, like Khagan and Raja, have their own Chinese transcriptions (可汗, 羅闍).

In Chinese-language influenced regions, the situation is different, and whether a person holds the titles「王」or「皇」is more complicated.

「皇」as a monarchial title was invented by Qin Shihuang, "the First Emperor of China". The「君主」of the previous Zhou Dynasty (and earlier) held the title「王」. Note that the Zhou Dynasty themselves invented another term for highest ruler, called「天子」(son of heaven), which wasn't shared by the predecessing Shang Dynasty. The timeline for the "highest ruler of China" title is something like:

Shang Dynasty:「后」>「王」(Yes,「后」was a title originally used by Shang Kings. The meaning queen (consort) arose later.)
Zhou Dynasty:「王」,「天子」
Qin Dynasty and beyond:「皇」,「天子」
Occasionally for non-Han rulers of China, in addition to their Chinese titles:「可汗」

The context for inventing「皇」was the Qin's wars of unification, where the de-facto rulers of the smaller Warring States all declared themselves to be「王」.「皇」was thus invented to be an overlord title. From Qin unification onwards, any "leader" of "a small state" within China, or in contact with China and admitting themselves into the Sinocentric system, would likely be called a「王」(おう, 왕, vương). In Sinocentric-style vocabulary, they are granted the title of「王」by the Chinese Emperor (封王).

Liu An (劉安),「淮南王」(Prince of Huainan)
Five Kings of Wa,「倭の五王」; see also King of Na gold seal
Sejong the Great (世宗大王),「朝鮮國王」(King of Joseon)

For China,「皇」corresponds to the Chinese Emperor; for Korea, Japan, and Vietnam,「皇」corresponds to their respective「君主」as soon as they are removed from the Sinocentric system.

Naruhito (德仁),「日本天皇」(Emperor of Japan)
Sunjong (純宗　隆熙帝),「大韓帝國皇帝」(Emperor of the Korean Empire)
Lê Lợi (黎利),「大越皇帝」(Emperor of Đại Việt)
To remain within the Sinocentric system, but simultaneously call themselves「皇」, the monarchs would style themselves「王」only when they deal with China in diplomatic missions. Korean Kings were the only ones which styled themselves「王」and dealt with China as「王」; both Japanese and Vietnamese monarchs styled themselves as「皇」in their own regions.


How to write "bei wu long" in Chinese and what is its origin? Bei Wu Long in Cantonese means to make a big mistake.

What are the Chinese characters for this?
Is there a story for this?

I'm pretty sure that the " Bei Wu Long" is "摆乌龙". "乌龙" in Cantonese sounds like "own goal" in English. You know own goal is a big mistake, right？

It is a long story. According to this website, is is original from a folk tale in Canton. Once upon a time, there was a drought. People prayed to the "青龙"(Green Dragon) because it can bring rain. However, at last it was the "乌龙"( Black Dragon) who bring disaster that answered to them. The situation became worse.

Then in 1960s, journalist in Hongkong use "乌龙" to describe the "own goal" in soccer game because the "乌龙" sound similar in Cantonese to "own goal".


What are the differences between 男女, 公母, and  雄雌? In what situations would you use one of the following instead of the others?

  男女 nán nǚ

  公母 gōng mǔ

  雄雌 xióng cí

Is it a matter of formality or is each term confined to a particular field (e.g. biology)?

男女 is used only for humans.

公母 is normally used on animals.

雄雌 is more academic.

公母 is usually used with terms closer to everyday life:

  公鸡 / 母鸡 gōngjī / mǔjī for cock / hen

For biological terminology, usually 雄 / 雌 would be used:

  雄蕊 / 雌蕊 xióngruǐ / cīruǐ for stamen / carpel

Here are more characters for "male" or "female":

郎猫＝公猫

米猫＝母猫

儿马＝公马

骒马＝母马

草驴＝母驴

叫驴＝公驴

牡＝公的

牝＝母的


How do you translate "I always drink coffee with cream"? I'm particularly interested in how you translate "with" here.

I remember someone using it in a conversation yesterday, but didn't get the chance to have them repeat it. I tried searching MDBG and Chinese Grammar Wiki but found nothing useful. I also searched Chinese StackExchange, but "with" is such a common word that I couldn't find anything useful.

"with" here means "contains" or "have"
"with cream" in "coffee with cream" is an adjectival phrase that describe the noun coffee.

I drink coffee
what coffee?
the coffee that's with cream

I always drink coffee  = 我总是喝咖啡
I always drink coffee (with cream) = 我一向喝(加了奶油的)咖啡 or 我一向喝(有奶油的)咖啡
If you are having a cup of black coffee and a cup of cream at the same time, then 'with' would mean "together" and coffee and cream would be of equal weight. That is not what the sentence in your question meant. in "I always drink coffee with cream",  coffee is the main object, cream is an addition
More example of "with" meaning "contains"  or "have"
"book with pictures" (book that contains pictures)
"people with money" ( people who have money)


When and why did Cambridge go from being 康桥 and become 剑桥? I've previously only known Cambridge to be translated as: 剑桥.
Flipping through some things today I came across an old poem entitled:《再别康桥》
The Wikipedia page has the following note on the poem:

作者最后一次重访英国剑桥（旧译康桥）

Aside from this piece of work 康桥 doesn't seem to get a lot of results online. 康 does seem closer to Cambridge than 剑 as well.
When and why did Cambridge go from being 康桥 and become 剑桥?

英国的康桥，如今大部份人都称之为剑桥，这个译法很特别，但是居然
还是被人们接受了。一般来讲，中国人翻译外国的地名大多采用音译，
如“翡冷翠”、“枫丹白露”，都是其中的上乘之作；也有不多的一些
外国地名是采用字面的义译，如“牛津”、“地中海”，可算别具一格，
但鲜有音译和义译混合的。“剑桥”是少见的一例，剑桥的“剑”乃是
“Cam”的音译，“桥”是“Bridge”的义译。由此可以推断，
当初作如此翻译的人士，出身大概总归是在闽粤两地，那里的方言仍然
保留着古汉语的入声，因此才会想到把“Cam”译作“剑”。
《两处康桥的回忆》，维一《域外怀旧录》

Weiyi, the author of this essay thinks, the translator who had translated "Cambridge" as "剑桥" comes from Fujian or Guangdong because the people in these two areas say "cam" as "剑", it's their accent. Obviously, the people who speak Mandarin Chinese won't think "cam" is similar to "剑", maybe a bit like "卡姆", but "卡姆桥" sounds "ugly" and too ordinary.
In Chinese-Western languages translation, this situation is very very common, because many reasons. For example, Florence went from being "翡冷翠" and became "佛罗伦萨" because "翡冷翠" is from "Firenze", "Florence" in Italian, and "佛罗伦萨" is from English. Germany(Deutschland) went from being "独国" and became "德国" because "独" isn't a common "译名用字": Chinese think some special Chinese Characters are commonly use in foreign proper nouns, such as "尔", "斯", "格", "德", etc. If you can use these to translate names of people or places or other words from Western countries, choose them.


Is this sentence right ? 用两个语言把自己介绍 I'm making a video which I speak a few words about myself in two languages. I want to have a Chinese title for it.

1- 用 (使用/通过) 两个语言把自己介绍
2- 用(使用/通过) 两个语言把自己介绍
3- 用 (使用/通过) 两个语言来介绍自己
4- 用(使用/通过)两个语言介绍自己

Which one is correct ? or any other suggestions?
Thank you!

The correct classifier for 语言 is not 个, but 种
The following are grammatically correct
用两种语言介绍自己
以两种语言介绍自己
两种语言的自我介紹

I want to have a Chinese title for it

双语 (bilingual) is less wordy and more literary than 两种语言 (two languages) which is more colloquial
As a title, a noun phrase feels more formal than a verb phrase
Depend on your preference you can consider:
以双语介绍自己 = Introduce Yourself Bilingually (verb phrase)
or
双语自我介绍 = Bilingual Self-introduction (noun phrase)


Why do Chinese people always use Chinese subtitles? This is my question, almost every program, TV Show, movie...
everything has subtitles, one reason could be that there are many different accents in different provinces but I don't really find that convincing, because that happens in every language.
Does anyone know the real answer?

There are Chinese-language-only reasons like the many mutually-unintelligible dialects/topolects, the huge difference between spoken and written Chinese languages, but this doesn't explain why subtitling is ubiquitous, even when the entire show is in perfect Mandarin.
This is because subtitles are somewhat required under PRC state authorities, so there are a few other benefits/purposes for subtitling.

It improves literacy; according to OECD standards of literacy, China has about 80% literacy rate, meaning there are large sections of the populace that are illiterate. SLS (same language subtitling) has been shown to improve literacy, and apart from China this is also done in parts of India for the same reason.
It makes it easier to understand regional colloquialisms, as the subtitles will replace them with Mandarin versions. For example, the Cantonese "nei hai bin dou", instead of being shown as "你喺邊度", will be subtitled as "你在哪里".
It is more accessible to deaf viewers. Note that most other countries provide optional closed captions for this purpose.
It pushes Mandarin/putonghua hegemony, national unity and so on.

This is all enforced by SAPPRFT/SARFT (the equivalent of FCC, but much more powerful) under something called the Language Law. It is constantly evolving, and only really became prominent around the late 90s I believe. This is why if you look at older TV shows, they may not have subtitles. This state organ enforces many other things like requiring Mandarin proficiency for TV presenters, standardised Mandarin terminology, quotas for types of shows deemed less beneficial like reality-TV, historically-inaccurate dramas etc.


Is "酷比" an actual used word in any Chinese-speaking location? (Including colloquial and slang) I've been looking at some very cheap tablet computers made in China and one goes by the English brand name "Cube" or "Alldocube" or "cube51". Their Chinese brand name is "酷比魔方" (Kù bǐ mófāng).

I see that "魔方" is the Chinese name of Rubik's Cube and that "酷" is a colloquial or slang term like "cool" (as well as other meanings).

Even though "酷比" gets lots of Google hits it could just be a regular phrase. I see that "比" has a meaning "than", among others.

So does the brand name "酷比魔方" just translate to the phrase "Cooler than Rubik's Cube", or is "酷比" actually some kind of compound as well.

Google Translate translates "酷比" as "cool", which is one clue that maybe it's not just a phrase?

There is no meaning for "酷比". I guess it could be just a transliteration of "cube", you see these two words are pronounced similarly.

While "酷" has the meaning of cool, "酷比" stands for cube, "魔方" means Rubik's Cube, all these words put together make an easy-to-remember and catchy brand name. Brand names don't always have a meaning, they just need to be cool and catchy.


Can the dialectical final "ue" be written in pinyin "ue"? The final ue can be found in some Chinese dialects/topolects. It seems to also be written properly as uɛ if I'm not mistaken.
The Wikipedia page for Sichuanese Mandarin lists an example:

uɛ
ue
国

Which I would understand could be written, in full, as gue without any sort of tone markings.
Does ue/uɛ just equate to pinyin ue?

Hanyu Pinyin is generally used for Standard Chinese. If you want to represent /uɛ/ in something consistent with Hanyu Pinyin, you could use uê. The Wikipedia article was using Sichuanese Pinyin, which may not be compatible with Hanyu Pinyin.


How do (did) you remember the meaning for 迫(廹)? 迫 = coerce, force, compel; urgent
how you learnt ?

Well, a mnemonic might be:
walk 辶 chuò in the moonlight 白 bái ：
you can't go home, you are forced to wander the roads alone under the moonlight


How to type the Chinese ellipsis ⋯⋯ using Google Pinyin IME? I've learned that  "。。。" is incorrect in Chinese punctuation (see e.g. Chinese ellipsis marks), it should be "⋯⋯", called 省略号.  I've just been copy/pasting this into my documents so far, but there's surely a better way to do this.

I'm using Google Pinyin IME which is fairly standard, I think.  (If relevant, my operating system is Linux Mint.)

Question: How to type the Chinese ellipsis ⋯⋯ using Google Pinyin IME?

I didn't find an obvious answer by searching google pinyin ellipsis.

I don't use Google pinyin on Linux, but a lot of (simplified) Chinese IME use Shift + 6 to produce ellipsis. I assume the Google pinyin might follow the trend.

And by the way, you can try all the symbol keys on the keyboard with the Chinese IME. They do not always produce the "full-width" version of the symbol on the keyboard. Some Chinese specific punctuations can be inputted in this way.


Which one is correct? 这家餐馆菜都很好吃的
这家餐馆的菜都很好吃

What's the correct form to say "all the food of that restaurant it's delicious" ?

Number 2 is correct.
Number 1 translates as This restaurant food is delicious. (Does not make sense)
Number 2 translates as The food in this restaurant is delicious. (Should be what you are looking for)


What's the difference between 称赞, 表扬 and 夸奖? They all have a meaning of "praise", but do they have a difference?

They have similar meanings in daily usage.

I personally consider 赞扬 > 称赞 > 夸奖 = 表扬

表扬 and 夸奖 are more common words and are often used when an elementary student is praised by his/her teacher for a good mark in exam. (It’s definitely natural to use them in other scenarios, but we began to use them frequently since elementary school).
称赞 and 赞扬 are often for someone with greater achievements or a higher moral level, such as someone bravely fought the crime for a just cause. 扬 raises the object to a higher level, for which I consider 赞扬 greater than 称赞


Where is 蛮 used, as in the meaning of 'quite'? I was watching a Chinese show today, where they said '蛮舒服'. Since I've never heard 蛮 before I looked it up, and the dictionary tells me that 蛮 is only used as 'quite' in dialect. Now my question is, where?

As others have said, 蛮 is not exactly dialectal. Most Chinese speakers would understand what you mean if you use it to mean "quite."

However, it should be noted that it is colloquial--it shows up in spoken Chinese but rarely in print, hence your discovery of it on a Chinese TV show. In fact, some native Chinese speakers will confuse 蛮 with 满 when asked to write the word down.


What is the phrase for "sounds like" as in "it sounds like your dad is getting better"? At first I thought I could use 听起来, but if I'm not mistaken this is only used for actual sound, not "you just told me your dad is back from the hospital, it sounds like he's getting better each day". (My version: 听起来你的爸爸越来越好，太棒了！)

What about 看起来? Some of the meanings given by the dictionary are "gives the impression that" and "looks as if", is 看起来 reserved for actual physical appearance or can it be used in the context above?

Drunken (programming) Master is right. These 2 from iciba:

It sounds like a wonderful idea to me, does it really work?

听起来这个主意很不错，真的能行吗？

His rhetoric sounds like the death rattle of a fading leadership.

他的慷慨陈词听起来像是一个衰落的领导层垂死的挣扎。

They also have examples of 听上去。It's a great site for finding example sentences.


Old Mandarin vs. Mandarin Chinese? How intelligible is Old Mandarin to the speakers of Mandarin Chinese?
If an Old Mandarin Chinese speaker heard a Mandarin Chinese speaker or vice versa, how fluent would the communication be?

I believe the situation is more or less the same in all languages, that the language drifts across generations. Whereas you could easily communicate with Isaac Newton, it would be a little more difficult to do with Shakespeare, and more so with Chaucer. When you get to Richard Lionheart and earlier (say, the times of Beowulf), you can just forget any meaningful exchange of ideas.

As for Mandarin, you could speak perfectly well with late Qing people, although they would still retain tones that are now forgotten. Going back to Cao Xueqin's time (1700s), you would still be able to discern most of the vernacular used, just like you can read 红楼梦 without too much trouble. But you would get progressively lost talking to Su Dongpo and Princess Wencheng of Tang, they would speak a completely different language.

The thing with Chinese, though, is that you could still exchange ideas in writing with these people.


Is there a difference between 连朋友都没告诉过 and 即便是朋友也没有告诉过? Comparing Toosky Hierot's answer to my original attempt in Writing critique request: Zhou Ziwang loses weight, just like everyone else nowadays, we have:

  me: ...连朋友都没告诉过...
  Toosky Hierot: ...即便是朋友也没有告诉过...

I think both mean:

  Even [my] friends, [I] did not tell.

I'm not sure if there's any difference here, aside from perhaps writing style.  We've opted for different grammar constructs: 连...都... vs. 即便...也... which I think is the same as 即使...也... (which seems to necessitate the 是).

Question: Is there a difference between 连朋友都没告诉过 and 即便是朋友也没有告诉过?

连朋友都没告诉过 = Had not told even his friends

~

即便(是)朋友也没有告诉过(他们) =  Even though they (are) his friends, he had not told (them)

Notice:
即便 means "even though" or "even if"
There's a verb "是" (being) in "是朋友" (being friends)
More example:

连他父母也不知道他是同性恋 = Even his parents don't know he is gay
即便(是他父母)也不知道他是同性恋 = Even though (they are his parent), they don't know he is gay

Example of 即便:

即便(有)朋友也不能告诉(他们) = Even if/ even though he (has) friends, he can't tell (them)

~

即便全国警察都来了也救不了死去的人质了 (Even if) the police of the whole country were here, the dead hostages could not be saved.


Why is 相 pronounced with a fourth tone in some cases? I notice that 相 is pronounced xiang1 in most cases, but xiang4 in a few, mostly less-common words and phrases. The most commonly-used examples seem to be 照相 zhàoxiàng 'photo'; 照相机 zhàoxiàngjī 'camera'; 相片儿 xiàngpiān(r) 'photo'; 相声(儿) xiàngsheng(r) 'comic dialogue' (see this question); and 相 xiàng 'elephant' (the piece in Chinese chess).

Usually (sometimes?) in Chinese a change in tone tracks some differentiation in meaning - is there any such here that might help me to remember which pronunciation is which?

相

[Xiang1]
surname Xiang

[xiang1]
each other,
one another,
mutually

[xiang4]
appearance,
portrait,
picture

You should look into getting a Chinese reader. http://www.loqu8.com has one for free that is really good. It uses the CC-CEDICT dictionary which is really good. If you would like more concrete examples, they're all going to be in Chinese, but there they are nontheless. http://stroke-order.learningweb.moe.edu.tw/advExplain1.do?big5=ACDB

Enjoy.^^


What does 有一千零一种用处 mean? In the following sentence:

西藏人之所以能适应这样的环境，是因为他们从小父母就要用牛油（据说，这种东西可以有一千零一种用处）给他们擦身，并想方设法让他们接受烈日和狂风的锻炼。

The verb on the sentence should be 有, but I don't understand what it means after that.
I first thought that 零 here has a function of the following (according to Pleco):

[in expressions of time, age, money, weight, etc..., used between two different denomination]

一年零三天

one year and three days

So it concatenates 一千 and 一, and turn to 1001.
But then the meaning would result in something like:

It is said that these things can be used in 1001 different ways.

Or

It is said that you can use these things in 1001 ways.

But then I don't understand why it is 1001. It this kind of expressions frequently used in Chinese? Does 1001 have any special meaning in Chinese? Is it used to emphasize the degree of amount is very large?
Or does my grammatical understanding of 零 here correct in the first place?

It does indeed mean 1001.

The key word here is 據說, which means according to legends/wisdom/tradition, and thus 1001 is probably a local expression (whether Tibetan or their local variety of Chinese) for a large amount or a wide variety.


Is there any website of where I can look up the origins of a Chinese character? Possible Duplicate:
  What etymology dictionaries are available?
  What was this online dictionary's name with ancient traditional and simplified characters and etymology?

I always wanted to see where some Chinese characters originated from. Are there any websites that will show me how a Chinese character came into being?

For example, I'm interested on how 讀 has 賣 on its right yet sounds nothing like each other, nor have any similar meaning.

Yes, almost certainly a duplicate question.

But you raise an interesting question: why does 讀 have 賣 (mai4) on its right hand side?

In actual fact, the right hand side is a character pronounced yu4 (which looks similar to 竇 but which I cannot find in my IME) which was simplified to 賣 in the clerical script. Why does yu4 not sound much like du2? Well, according to Baxter's reconstruction of Old Chinese, they did: 讀 (*lôk), 賣 (*luk).


Place of 了 particle for the past tense? Ok, I saw explanation that:

我去了商店。（means: I have gone to the shop already）
我去商店了。（means: I am going to the shop now）

So I expected to meet 了 for the past tense only right after the verb:

  昨天我去了商店。

But actually I saw that this is also possible:

  昨天我去商店了。/ 昨天我们去长城了。

So is it correct for the past tense to separate 了 with the verb? Is there any difference in meaning?

Both are correct for past tense. They have the same meaning, with subtle difference on the point of emphasis.

"我去了商店" lays emphasis on the action "went to the shop", while "我去商店了" lays emphasis on the destination of the action, i.e. "the shop".

So it'll be more natural to use "我去了商店" as the answer to the question asking "what did you do" (你做什么去了), and use "我去商店了" as the answer to the question asking "where did you go" (你去哪儿了). (Note that they are just more targeted and straightforward to the answer, using another one as the answer is fine too.)


How can I use 有点 or 一点 to add "a little" to a verb? According to Chinese Language grammar wiki:

Used with Nouns
一点 (yīdiǎn) can be placed before a noun to mean "small quantity," like 一点水，一点钱 while 有点 (yǒudiǎn) can't be used this way.
Used with Adjectives
有点 (also 有点儿) is placed before an adjective, and it usually expresses something that the speaker doesn't want or his own negative feelings about something.

一点 (also 一点儿) cannot be placed before an adjective. Instead, it is placed after adjectives. The adjectives that can be used are particularly limited. 一点 is often used when comparing, or expressing speaker’s wish or expectation.
However, how can you use these words when you want to use it on verbs? For example, in order to add a little to the following sentence:

我会说汉语。

Which is the correct adverb and in what position should it be placed?

If asked

  你会说汉语吗？

On the positive side, you can say:

  会一点。

or

  我会一点。

or

  我会说一点。

or

  我会说一点汉语。

They are the same meaning.

On the negative side, you can say:

  (我)一点也不会。

These mean you know nothing.


how to translate 大脑迅速转动起来? When I first came across the phrase "head starts spinning", I thought it meant 大脑迅速转动起来 in Chinese, which means "you start processing a lot info in your head in order to figure out something quickly". But I was shocked when seeing in a dict that "someone's head is spinning" means "that person feels as if she(he) might faint".

So how to say 大脑迅速转动起来 in English?

Figuring things out
There is a very similar metaphor in English, but usage is much more restricted:

When I told John the money was gone, I could see the wheels turning (in his head).

Very often the use is:

A person learns some new or surprising information.
This information causes the person to think, and they slowly start figuring out the implications of it.
They look like they're staring into space, eyes sort of glazed over.

An expression with almost the exact same use as "see the wheels turning (in X's head)" is "(X started to) put the pieces together". To continue with the tale of deception and treachery above:

By the time he had put the pieces together, it was too late--Bill had already fled the country with all of the cash.

Concentrating deeply
I don't think there are any rotation-oriented metaphors for the scenario where you are actively trying to think about something (rather than being spurred into thought by the information). A common enough, if somewhat silly idiom is "Put on your thinking cap":

Hey class, let's put on our thinking caps and try to solve this problem!

I'm open for alternative suggestions (that are less suited to elementary school).


Help me please to identify this Chinese plant/dish? Can you kindly help me translate and/or identify english name for this plant/dish

http://www.foodreport.cn/nutrition.php?action=view&id=228
http://www.nipic.com/show/1/55/5740675k344c9c09.html

It's difficult to translate names of Chinese dishes into English, because of the huge differences between Chinese and Western cuisine.

The dish featured on the page is called:

凉拌贡菜 (liangban gongcai),
character by character:

凉 cold
拌 to toss (salad)
贡 to tribute
菜 dish

So it's basically a salad that is served cold.

The main ingredient is known as 贡菜 (gong cai) in Chinese, which is sometimes also written as 'gong choi' or 'yamakurage' (Japanese name).

If I am wrong, do correct me.

EDIT: There are some nice photos out there on the dish (gongcai salad) and on the cultivation of gongcai, as well.


When should 之 be used as a particle? When should 之 be used as a particle? There doesn't seem to be a straightforward answer on Nciku. On Wiktionary, the entry states:

  Indicates that the previous word has possession of the next one. In
  English it functions like 's or like the word "of" but with the
  position of possessor and possessee switched. 的 (de) is more common
  but 之 is used in many set expressions.

However, in the contexts I've seen so far, the 之 particle is used more like 的 in some sense (rather like the Japanese の perhaps) - for isntance, 银之匙 as a translation of a manga title - so the usage seems to be more of a "link" between two different words as some sort of descriptor or identifier (in terms of a quality of the second word, in a sense).

That said, the purpose of the 之 in 之前 or 之後 seems to be slightly different than in the other example I gave. Taking all this into account, when should I should 之, outside of expressions that have it already (such as 之前), and what makes in different from 的 in phrases such as "银之匙"?

之 is the wenyan equivalent of Mandarin 的.  Here are some examples from a Classical Chinese textbook:

鄰人之父 >    鄰居的老人       ‘an old man who lived next door’
衛國之法   >  衛國的法律       ‘the laws of Wei’
仁義 之 道  >  仁義的 道理      ‘the doctrine of benevolence and righteousness’

Because parts of speech in wenyan are quite flexible, using 之 to link two terms can have the effect of nominalizing the second one, like this:

王來      ‘the king comes’  >>   王之來    ‘the king’s coming/the arrival of the king’

之 has other meanings in wenyan, too.  The most important of these is probably its use as a third person pronoun he/she/it.
In formal written Mandarin, 之 can appear in either of these functions.  It would be interesting to hear from a native speaker about usage here.  I consulted a book called ‘A Learners’ Handbook of Modern Chinese Written Expressions’ by Yu Feng (Chinese U. of Hong Kong Press).  He suggests a couple of uses:

In idioms like 之後, 之中  etc.  For example:

美國總統的中東之行     ‘the US President’s Middle East visit’

Notice both ‘de’ and ‘zhi’ occur in this phrase – clearly you can’t simply replace the one with the other to achieve a formal style.

In a pattern ‘2-character noun + 之 + 1-character adjective’.  This also creates a noun phrase, i.e. nominalizes like in the ‘king’s coming’ example.

品種之多  ‘a large quantity' [of goods at an exhibition]

There are also some set expressions with this pattern that you might use in writing, like 十天之內  ‘within ten days’.

As a third person pronoun, according to Yu Feng mainly in idioms:

等閑視之     ‘regard it as unimportant’
受之有愧     ‘to feel shame in accepting it’

So, if you encounter 之 in titles like in the example you gave, I would read it as meaning 的 but also as indicating some sort of formal/classical/literary/archaic quality.  Personally I would avoid using it except in set phrases.  Unless you do a lot of formal writing at an advanced level, in which case it wouldn’t hurt to go to the source and learn a bit of wenyan!


Three words for "test": differences? I just stumbled upon the three words 實驗 (shíyàn), 測驗 (cèyàn), and 試驗 (shìyàn). Looking them up on mdbg.net and on Google Translate, they all translate to "test/experiment". So I was wondering: what (if any) is the difference between them? Are they exact synonyms or is there a subtle difference in meaning?

PS I wss looking for word-usage but it doesn't exist. I'm not sure if there are better tags for this post. If you know any, feel free to edit.

Here are the common definitions for these words:

實驗 - experiment (lit: practical test)
e.g. 物理實驗 - physics experiment

測驗 - test as in exam (lit: test/measure test)
e.g. 英語能力測驗 - English skill test

試驗 - test as in tryout/trial (lit: try test)
e.g. 臨床試驗 - Clinical trial

By the way, I suggest don't use any translation engine if you want to study that language, use actual dictionaries. I believe translation engines are just to get a grasp of the input. At this point in time, humans are needed to finalize the translated outputs.


Using ＂的＂ with people When I learned the word 太太, I was also told that you would not say "这是我的太太", because using 的 with people would sound too possessive.

Now, the other day I was saying goodbye to a native Chinese chat partner, I wrote "再见，我朋友". And he didn't understand. When I wrote it in English again, he said that it should be "再见，我的朋友". I asked him why and what I had learned, but I wasn't able to really understand his answer.

So, can someone please explain to me when to use 的 with people and when not to?

Your question should be " when can I omit the possessive 的 "

  The adjective suffix 的 cannot be omitted when it is needed. For example: 强大,勇敢的人；身形高大的人; Adjectives that do not need adjective suffix can directly apply to the object. For example 好(good) in  好女儿(good daughter)

The possessive 的 in 这是我的太太; 他是我的女儿；陈先生是我的上司 can be omitted to 这是我太太; 他是我女儿；陈先生是我上司 when there's a verb to act on the object, for example 是 is the verb and 我(的)女儿 is the object.

You cannot omit the possessive 的 when there's no verb to act on the object . That's why you have to say 再见了, 我的朋友 but not 再见了, 我朋友.

Unless you also omit the subject. In this case, 我. Then you can omit the possessive 的 along with the subject and write 再见了, 朋友.

More examples:

In 你打了我的女儿 - 打 is the verb and 我(的)女儿 is the object, therefore, you can omit 的 and write 你打了我女儿
In 你好吗？我的好女儿，there's no verb to act on the object 我的好女儿, therefore, you cannot omit the sentence to 你好吗？我好女儿
In 我(的)上司是陈先生 - 我(的)上司 is the subject, 的 can be omitted'
In 我(的)女儿打了人 - 我(的)女儿 is the subject, 的 can be omitted


Chinese Idiom puzzle 6 Please solve the following puzzle

Simultaneously raise the Combat capability and reduce the number of soldiers of the army

When living is so painful, it is better off being dead

To fight a battle with a river behind the army (cut off their own retreat route, show determination)

Another name for 兵捉賊 game where children play the roles of soldiers and bandits chasing each other

Even grasses and trees seem like the enemy's soldiers. Describe nervousness 出處:《晋书·苻坚载记》

Stay Healthy

Send out the soldiers after the bandits have already gone

Describes that the army is defeated as a mountain collapsed

The military is an ominous instrument, virtuous rule use it only when there's no other choice 出自《道德经》

Travel the world, make where I go to my home

Formula

Saying that the same thing should not be done three times in a row

Four legs pointing at the sky (The appearance of falling on one's back)

Facing a big enemy

Die before the war is won 出自於杜甫的《蜀相》

Military action requires speed 《三國演義．第二六回》

The winner writes the history

Prison guard

Panic and make oneself unprepared to deal with the situation

Show leader quality

Employ risky Military action

A. Be attacked from two sides
B. Complete arduous and great affairs successfully
C. A man's ambition is the whole world (Describe lofty ambitions and ideals)
D. The general who lost a battle
E. War is dangerous
F. Victory and defeat are something that the Military men often encounter. ( Metaphor things can't always be successful)
G. Send troops to fight, encounter difficulties or be frustrated and cannot go smoothly
H. Metaphor for slight movements and changes)
I. Before the army can move, the supply has to be sent first
J. Still a hero even in defeat
K. Allergic words, the next part is 多多益善
L. Original work
M. Beyond the world, becoming a god (describe a god-like level of skill)
N. A commander personally leads his soldiers into battle
O. The soldiers are the bandits
P. Deception is a norm in military strategy 語本《韓非子．難一》
Q. Another word for 自殺
R. A chaotic war situation
S. Time does not wait for us. Metaphor missed the opportunity and regrets it.《文選．嵇康．幽憤詩》
T. Maintain an army for the day when war comes
U. Stepping stone
V. Escape from death
More hints below

Kinda hard to be honest. I had to use the internet for some of them. Note that for L, 著 and 着 are separate in simplified Chinese and are combined into 著 in traditional （着 is considered a variant of 著）. In L, it’s pronounced yuán zhù 原著, but in 21, it’s pronounced bīng xíng xiǎn zhāo 兵行险着
Pardon my handwriting. I did this on my phone.


Existential sentences that used to be but are no longer I'm trying to construct a sentence along the lines of, "There were two hard parts...," where I use the existential 有. The issue I'm having is how I convey the meaning that this 'existence' is confined to the past. Should I be using the perfective aspect 了 like:

有了两不好的部分。。。

Or should I include some clause afterwards to indicate the new state of things:

有了两不好的部分。。。现在都没这部分了。

Or is there some other way to do this that I'm missing?

I'd suggest you adding some time information in the front to emphasis the fact it is in the "past" as that is definitely unambiguous.

以前 有兩個不好的部份...
之前 有兩個不好的部份...

Alternatively, these ones can also be used. They means "originally", which implies "in the past, and now changed"

原本 有兩個不好的部份...
原來 有兩個不好的部份...


What is the meaning of 做一个梳理 I have the following text:

最好在创业之前对你所要做的事情做一个梳理，包括注册公司的流程、选址之类的事情。

What does 做一个梳理 mean?

I think it must be 'make a list'??

梳理 has two basic ideas:
Oxford

VERB
1
TEXTILES
card
将羊毛梳理成毛线
card wool into thread

2 整理 comb
梳理思路
organize one's ideas

In line with the second meaning of comb -or- organize:
KEY

2 {figurative} organize, analyze (data, etc.)

I think organization fits pretty well for your sentence here, especially because later in the sentence it mentions 流程 and 选址.
So basically we have 做一个梳理 = Do some organization