Use of polyphonic characters in transliteration The pronunciation of polyphonic character is usually deduced from the semantic of the context. In a transliterated word, there is no such context, the character only stands for its pronunciation, so it seems not a good idea to use polyphonic characters for that purpose.

However they are used in transliteration. For example 什 is extensively used for Russian names. More interestingly, there seems to be an agreement that in transliteration, its less common pronunciation shi2 is always used instead of the more common shen2.

So my questions are, in transliteration field,

Is there any guidelines around/against using polyphonic characters?
How does one decide which pronunciation is the 'agreed' one to use?
Is there any polyphonic character, of which multiple pronunciations are used for transliteration?

Yes, there are guidelines. We won't get confused in the 什 example because PRC had long contact with Russia, but we may get confused for some unfamiliar countries.

Note that this guideline is only made and followed by authors and editors in mainland China. Taiwan and Hong Kong all have their own standards due to divergence in pronounciation. Whatsmore, Hongkong-neses prefer reading and writing in Cantonese.

From the table, you can see that we use different characters for different syllables according to which language it is.


Can 將 (or 将) only be used for events/actions that will take place in the near future? I have read that 將 is used for actions or events in the near future, but in some other definitions of the word, it is simply used for a future action.

According to Xinhua dictionary, it means the near future.
快要：将要。将至。将来。即将。

E.g. "The winter is coming." is translated to "凛冬将至" is Chinese.

But I think 将来 is simply used for future action.
E.g. 我将来要成为一个科学家.


What does 企業 mean: property of the person or business company? Is (in traditional chinese) "企業" - noun or adjective? Is this menaing closer to "readiness and willingness to take initiative" or to "a company"?

企 refers to an attempt or expectation, and 業 means "industry." So 企業 would best translate into "enterprise." That would refer to an "early stage" company that is trying to make a name for itself but is not fully established.


What is the difference in usage between 似乎 and 宛如? Both 似乎 and 宛如 are translated in the same way ("as if..."). What are some examples where using one would be more appropriate than the other?

似乎(as if; seem like) is more modern and colloquial, 宛如(just like; as if) is very classical and literary

似乎 mainly refer to metaphorical resemblance, 宛如 mainly refers to physical resemblance

Example:

似乎要打仗了 (seem like we will go to war)

似乎忘了自己是誰 (seem like/ as if forgotten who he is)

五座山峰一列排開，宛如五指，故名五指山 (the five mountain peaks stand side by side, just like five fingers in human hand, hence the name 'Five Fingers Mountains'

看他面目猙獰，宛如惡鬼猛獸 (look at his ferocious face, just like a demon or a beast)

The modern/colloquial equivalent of '宛如' is '就像'


Ordering take-out in Taiwan 带走 vs 外帶? This may or may not be Taiwan specific, but on all the order cards the option for take-out is "外帶".

Is this a Taiwanese vs Chinese Mandarin difference, or is this just a noun vs verb difference?

ie. If I'm ordering food to go, should I say "我想要____带走" or "我想要____外帶"?

Thanks!

In Taiwan "外帶" is used. It usually means to order something to-go. The difference between the two is mostly location. If you were in China, you might say the latter.


What is the word in majiang equivalent to suits in cards? With playing cards with French faces, ♣♠♥♦ are collectively called suits in English, Farben ("colours") in German.

With majiang tiles, what is the collective noun in Chinese for 饼、条、万, a property of 序数牌?

The measure word for 饼、条、万 is called 门, which literally means 'department; division; faction'.

Example usage:

  ……序数牌……分“筒子/饼”、“索子/条”、“万子/万”三门，每门有序数从一至九的牌各四张。(from wikipedia)

An alternative measure word is (花)色, which literally means color/pattern. 色 is also widely used.

When talking about the abstract concept of 'suit' in Mahjong, per my own experience 门 is more common, although 色 is perfectly fine too. There might be regional differences though.

When it comes to specific Mahjong terminologies like 清一色 or 一色三步高, those are set phrases in which 色 should not be replaced by 门.


What does 㫬 mean in 唯有中大夫楊元愼、給事中大夫王㫬是中原士族? I recently came across an article where a sinologist complained of not being able to understand the use of the character 㫬 in the following sentence:

彪亦是南人。唯有中大夫楊元愼、給事中大夫王㫬是中原士族。

The article describing the sinologist's troubles identifying the reason for this character being in the sentence follows:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=31859
Ever curious, I wondered if somebody here may be able to answer as to why this character is used in the sentence?  And which of the alternative pronunciations: xuan, shun, xun, or something else would be used to say it?

Here "㫬" is the given name, and "王" is the family name.
So  "彪亦是南人。唯有中大夫楊元愼、給事中大夫王㫬是中原士族。",
中大夫楊元愼  means, someone named  楊元愼 has a job position named "中大夫"
給事中大夫王㫬 means, someone named 王㫬  has a job position named "給事中大夫"
㫬 's pronunciation is:   [xù]  , the same with 续。
For further pronunciation questions, come to http://baidu.com and search this Chinese word. Frankly speaking, I don't know this word either. This word is used only as people's name.  >_<
And, when you are reading 文言文， the context is very important. The job position "给事中大夫" is a guess by me.


衰落：decadence or decline? I'm trying to describe the plot of the work 红楼梦 using the phrase "the 贾 family's decline". The word for decline, though is confusing me. After putting "decline" through a few online translators, I've received the word 衰落. But when I reverse the translation to check it, sometimes I get decline and sometimes decadence, which is not what I'm trying to say. Is there a more appropriate word in this context to say decline without the implication of decadence?

The phrase you are looking for is "come/go down in the world", meaning to lose wealth or high social rank in one's past. It can be translated to Chinese as "家道中落".


"Aren't you both also Americans" in Chinese? Aren't you both also Americans?
  Nǐmen dōu ye bù shì měi guó rén ma?

Is it correct? I am comfortable with this word order. Is it acceptable?

你们（都）也不是美国人吗？你们也（都）不是美国人吗？

  Nǐmén (dōu) yě búshì měiguórén ma? Nǐmén yě (dōu) búshì měiguórén ma?

  Are (both/all of) you also not Americans?

In this case, you're inquiring your targets whether they are also not Americans, just like you or some other people.

  你们不也（都）是美国人吗？

  Nǐmén bu/bú/bù yě (dōu) shì měiguórén ma?

  Aren't you (both/all) also Americans?

This is a rhetorical question to make a point that you're under the impression that both/all your targets are also Americans, like you or some other people.  There are three possible ways to pronounce the 不 with bu being the most casual tone and bù being the most serious.

Gist: 也 is "also", 都 is "both/all".  不也都 signals that the question is rhetorical.  Depending on the exact sentence you wish to construct, you should omit 也 ("also") or 都 ("both/all").

As per the comments by user6065, it's also correct to use the following rhetorical questions if you're addressing exactly two people.

  你俩不也都是美国人吗？
    Nǐliǎ ...

  你们俩不也都是美国人吗？
    Nǐménliǎ ...

  你们两个不也都是美国人吗？
    Nǐmén liǎng'ge ...

  你们两人不也都是美国人吗？
    Nǐmén liǎngrén ...

  你们两个人不也都是美国人吗？
    Nǐmén liǎng'gè rén ...

These five rhetorical questions all share the meaning of "Aren't you two also both Americans?"


What four directions which are not described by 四处 are described by 八方? I have a hunch about the difference between 八方 and 四处.
四处 includes north, south, west and east. 八方 includes these four + up, down, forward, backward.
Three questions:

Is my assumption correct?
Do native speakers really differenciate between these two phrases or they use them interchangibly?
Is there a reason why 八 is connected with 方 and not with 处? Is there a difference in the sense of "direction" given by 方 and 处?

四方 / 四处
现代汉语大词典

东南西北四个方向

四处 (or 四方) = north, south, east and west

八方
古汉语大词典

四方(东、南、西、北)四隅(东南、东北、西南、西北)的总称。

八方 = (north, south, east and west) + southeast,  northeast, southwest and northwest

四方 and 四处 can be used interchangeably. There is also a third one: 四面.
Another word you might want to know:

十面 = ((north, south, east and west) + southeast,  northeast, southwest and northwest) + up and down.

八处 doesn't seem to be a thing, but 八面 does exist.


How to do line breaks when mixing in Simplified Chinese characters and non-Chinese characters? Context:
I am working on a video game with a Simplified Chinese translation. I'm not handling the translation myself, but I am working on importing the translated strings into the game's engine.
I know that there are certain characters that cannot start or end a line in Simplified Chinese, as I have found on this Wikipedia page. However, this page doesn't confirm or deny if this applies to non-Chinese characters mixed with Chinese characters in the same string.
Question:
One of the strings in the game renders like so:

The question I have is about the text below the black line:

被消除后能给予100枚<coin_icon>。

Is it gramatically correct for non-Chinese characters (in this case "100") to be broken up by a line break?
If this is gramatically correct, is it also okay for non-Chinese/non-digit characters to be broken up by a line break? For example:

添加到Steam愿望单！

Would a line break be okay between "St" and "eam" ?
Thanks so much!

It is not acceptable to break up 100 to 1 00 in any language
line break between 一百 is acceptable, but from a graphic designer's standpoint, it doesn't look professional
breaking up non-digit/non-Chinese characters. Such as "Steam" with a line break is also unacceptable


Why does my handwritten 尽 look so ugly? Every time I write 尽 I feel very unsatisfied.  Today's example:

Something about it feel odd or wrong, and I don't know what.  I feel it's ugly.

Question: Why does my handwritten 尽 look so ugly?

1、— is too long.Not out on the left side of the 丿
2、㇏ is too heavy.It should be from heavy to light and sharp at the end
3、The second 丶 is also too long.It should be shorter.It corresponds to the first 丶

Case of 尽


Difference between 正在 and 在? I am a beginner in Chinese (Mandarin), and I am following a phone app to learn.

However I cannot understand what is the difference between 正在 and 在 ? For example:

  你正在干什么？

and

  你在干什么？

The app says that they are interchangeable... is it always the case?

For what you are asking 在 and 正在 are basically interchangeable.

You will rarely hear 正在 in colloquial, normal, conversation - it is quite formal and elaborate. For instance looking up 你正在干什么？ gives a result from Google Books reading:

  此时你正在干什么？

No one would really talk like this unless you're playing a role in an old-timey kind of show or something like that.

在 you could contest is an abbreviation of 正在 in your given scenario and is the most down-to-earth way to express something currently being underway.


Difference between 思想，心思 and 思维 Is there any difference between the words 思想，心思 and 思维? If possible, pls provide some examples on the usage and situation to use it. Thank you!

As user6065 mentioned there are many examples can be found.  I'll try to give them a simple explanation:

思维 - The generalization and indirect reaction process of the human brain by various means to objective things, or, your way of 'learning' or 'reacting' to things.
example: Perceptual figurative thinking, logical thinking, Rational thinking

思想 - The action or process of thinking, or, your thoughts / mindset / organization of ideas.
example: open-minded, great thinker

心思 - The 'application' or 'capability' of your thinking.  It could include your thoughts, your emotions / mood etc.
example: attentiveness, being considerate, carelessness


How to use 仿佛 properly? To give context, this is the sentence:

  永远不能忘记的是北京，因为我在那里住的太久了，仿佛树生了根一样。

I am not sure how to render the last bit. I'm guessing it's saying:

As if I am a tree, the roots are the same as my life, sown in from
birth;
I'm the same as a growing tree and its roots.

Not sure if I'm picking out the right things, I'm reading 仿佛 and 一样 as separate items, or does the sentence construction 仿佛...一样 have a meaning of some kind?

If so, how to use it, what is the difference between saying just 仿佛，or using 仿佛...一样?

仿佛:    seem; as if ; just like

Example1 : 她工作努力，仿佛不知疲倦似的。 She works hard as if she never knew fatigue .
Example2 : 无论我提议什么事，她仿佛都不愿干。She doesn't seem to want to do anything i suggest.
Example3 : 她她如此美丽，仿佛就像个天使。 She so beautiful just like an angel.


Any Phrases About Trees Growing From Peoples Graves? I'm looking for any phrases (成语/俗语/谚语, 等) that talk about the meaning of tress growing out of graves/tombs/resting places (of the dead).

Apparently having a tree growing out of someones grave is  supposed to be good thing for their offspring - just wondering if there are any phrases that talk about this.

I just find 成语, and they're not very good meaning

  墓木已拱\墓木拱矣  [mù mù yǐ gǒng]  【发音】mù mù yǐ gǒng
  【解释】坟墓上的树木已有两手合抱那么粗了。意思是你快要死了。这是骂人的话。后指人死了很久。
  【出处】《左传·僖公三十二年》：“尔何知？中寿，尔墓之木拱亦。”


What is 侧面 doing in ...侧面反映了金融市场在入世以后逐渐与国际接轨? I can't quite see what 侧面 is doing in this sentence; any tips please? I'll include the previous sentence for clarity.

今天，杨先生的银行存款很少，绝大部分都用来投资股市，一年下来，收益远远高出利息。
实际上，市民理财概念的变化，侧面反映了金融市场在入世以后逐渐与国际接轨。

Could I add 他的 or 市民的 or 杨先生的？  Such as in:

实际上，市民理财概念的变化，他的侧面反映了金融市场在入世以后逐渐与国际接轨。

where we have:

他的侧面反映了金融市场在入世以后逐渐与国际接轨。
his profile reflects the gradual integration of the (domestic) financial market into the international arena following China's entry into the WTO.

Or is that all wrong?

In this sentence, 侧面 is not noun but adverb, 侧面反映 = indirectly reflected.


Translation: "To Say The Least" Looking for a colloquial way to translate: to say the least into Chinese.
Hujiang says:

to say the least的意思是： 至少可以这样说,退一步说
至少可以这样说,退一步说

英语句子
The logic of this was weird to say the least.
至少可以说，这个逻辑推理是奇怪的。

...sounds weird to me....
The next example sentence omits the phrase completely:

The chorus is very catchy to say the least.
副歌部分很容易上口。

Most of the examples of 至少可以说 that I found through Baidu just seem to be translations of English.

What colloquial/natural ways are there to express to say the least in Chinese?

Word for word translations are not always available or desirable. 至少/起码可以说 works, but is foreign in scope. What you want is a phrase that catches the essence of it, like 说得好听, or 毫不夸张地说, or perhaps 坦率地说. 退一步说 is fine, too.

Shorter and more to the point equivalents are 说少 and 少言之.

打折扣地说 and 轻描淡写 both mean understatement, which is another way of phrasing it.


Is there a Chinese word for the Japanese 気合 (kiai), the sounds ("Hi-yah!" etc.) made when performing martial arts? I watched 叶问4 (Ip Man 4) last night, and became interested in the sounds they make during fighting:

  Kiai (Japanese: 気合, /ˈkiːaɪ/) is a Japanese term used in martial arts for the short shout uttered when performing an attacking move. ...
  The concept has become a notable part of Asian martial arts in popular culture, especially in martial arts films, in writing often rendered in variants such as Hi-yah!, Aiyah!, Eeee-yah!, or Hyah!.
  Kiai, Wikipedia

See also Why do martial artists “shout” in the execution of a technique? on MartialArts.SE.  I didn't immediately find the Chinese equivalent of this term.

Question: Is there a Chinese word for the Japanese 気合, the sounds ("Hi-yah!" etc.) made when performing martial arts?

I'm not even sure this is real, or just something people do in Asian movies marketed to Westerners.

Here's a Zhihu question about kiai in kendo (劍道). In the realm of Japanese martial arts, it looks like Chinese would just character-transcribe the word as「气合」.

Note that「気合」is specifically a Japanese term, and is used for a host of other meanings in Japanese (breathing, martial spirit, etc.) , so I would say that using「气合」in Chinese in a martial-arts related sense is not appropriate for anything outside of Japanese martial arts. The closest Chinese-language term for martial spirit would be something like「气勢」, and this doesn't necessarily point to any shouting.

  「气合」is also a classical Chinese term meaning agreeable sentiments/inclination.


Questions about the meaning and position of 一下 My textbook gives me the following two examples of 一下, saying that the 一下 in each sentence doesn't mean the same thing:

你去问一下老师 (Just ask your teacher)
我打了孩子一下 (I smacked my child)

Question 1. I'd like to check again with native speakers what the 一下 from 我打了孩子一下 means exactly. Does the 一下 mean how many the speaker smacked her/his child, only one time in this case, or act as an adverb like 'a little bit'?

Question 2. Even though the objects (老师 and 孩子) equally refer to persons, I guess the 一下 conveys different meanings depending on its position. So, I know this question sounds stupid but would there be any difference if I change the place of 一下 as follows?

你去问一下老师 → 你去问老师一下
打孩子一下 → 打一下孩子

Question 1. Does the 一下 mean how many the speaker smacked her/his child, only one time in this case, or act as an adverb like 'a little bit'?

It means only once here.
Note that 一下 might mean a little bit too, depends on the context.

附於動詞後面，有略微的意思。如：「想一下」、「看一下」。亦作「一下子」。

=> Attached after the verb, means a little. (Note: In some instances, depends on the context. --end note)
The other two common meaning of 一下 is in a short while and suddenly.

(1) [in a short while]∶表示短暂的时间
灯一下又亮了
(2) [in one go;at a single stroke;all of a sudden]∶突然间
天一下阴了下来

then

Question 2. would there be any difference if I change the place of 一下 as follows?
你去问一下老师 → 你去问老师一下
打孩子一下 → 打一下孩子

No, there're no difference. In both cases 一下 acts as an adverb modifying the verb, the position won't change the basic meaning. (Except that the object will be emphasized if it's placed at the front.)


Why is the Cangjie code for 海 inconsistent? Here are some Cangjie codes:

母 = WYI

每 = OWYI

海 = EOWY

I understand the first two.  The YI encodes 亠 and 丶 which makes sense.  Shouldn't 海 be EOWI instead of EOWY?  OWI would be the first, second, and last codes for 每 the same way a character like 語 (YRMMR) is decomposed.

There are many rules for the Cangjie input method.
The one you don't understand thoroughly is the rule of omission.

  Omission in enclosed forms: when part of the character to be decomposed and the form is an enclosed form, only the shape of the enclosure is decomposed; the enclosed forms are omitted

Take a look 倉頡輸入法/取碼原則

  2 省略大原則
  2 The rule of omission

  2-2 包含省略：
  2-2 Omission in enclosed forms:

  尾碼被「外框」字根包住，且「外框」尚未被取完時，以「外框」的尾碼取代之。
  When the last code is enclosed by the frame radical and the codes of the frame are not completely taken yet, it is replaced by the last code of the frame.

The left and right ends of the "亠" protrude outward, therefore it is counted in the frame.


How would I say "I will get laughed at"? Was wondering what it would be . My best guess was the following but couldn't figure out the term

我會(____) 笑？

"我會被人笑" - "I will get laughed at "

"我會被人笑話" - "I will be joked at"

“我會被人取笑” - "I will be made fun of"

“我會被人耻笑” - "I will be ridiculed"

Edit:

Add '嘲笑' (to ridicule)(as TXV  suggested) and 譏笑 ( to sneer at; to mock; to ridicule)

“我會被人嘲笑” - "I will be ridiculed"

“我會被人譏笑” - "I will be ridiculed"


Why Does Rosetta Stone Use 打开 With 拉链? I have been trying to figure out what is happening here since I was told by TrainChinese (a Chinese dictionary and flash cards app) that 打卡 is never used with 拉链. They referred me to 拉开. Are they wrong? Is Rosetta Stone using the incorrect phrasing in fact? I sent the screenshot to TrainChinese and they did not respond.
The full phrase in question is 我要打开外套的拉链
I'd also like a good translation included. My own translation would be "I want to unzip my jacket" or more literally "I want to open the zipper of my jacket". This led me to thinking that 打开 would also mean "to unzip" in this context. Maybe Rosetta Stone is wrong?

我要打开外套的拉链 is fine.  打开 has the sense of "open".  "I want to open the zipper of my jacket" is a good interpretation.
拉开(unzip) also works. E. g.  拉开拉链; 把拉链拉开;etc.


Is “商店里也没有一个面包” wrong? 大家好，
I have two sentences.

商店里也没有一个面包。
商店里一个面包也没有。

My friend says that both are right, but their meaning may be different. In writing, only the second sentence is used.
Please explain to me why is the first sentence is grammatically incorrect, because my friend might be wrong!

也 has the meanings of "also; besides; either; too"

When 也 means "even":

[商店里也] = [even in the stores]
[商店里也]没有一个面包 = Don't have a single bun [even in the stores]
[一个面包也] = [even a single bun]
商店里[一个面包也]没有。 = Don't have [even a single bun] in the stores

When 也 means "too":

[商店里也] = [In the stores too/ also/ either]
[商店里也]没有面包 = Don't have bread [in the stores neither]
[面包也] = [bread too]
商店里[面包也]没有了 = Don't have [bread neither] in the stores

Note: using the word "too" imply there's other item that has been sold out


Can I split up time phrases and adverbs? If there is more than one part to a time phrase (e.g. both 今天 and 八点) can I place one of them before the subject and one after? Is there any situation in which this would be okay?

他今天八点要去看电影 (not split)
vs.
今天他八点要去看电影 (split)

On a similar note, if there is both a time expression and another adverb, can I split those up?

电影六点就开始了 (not split)
vs.
六点电影就开始了 (split)

The standard word order is Subject Adverb Verb Object.  Time adverbs are much more fluid in positioning than place adverbs, i.e., can do S time-adverb V O, or time-adv S V O.

The difference is what I call "focus" (I distinguish between "focus" and "emphasis", as there are emphasis words, e.g., 并 to go with 不, emphasizing the negative).

他今天八点要去看电影: sentence starts with 他, so the focus is on 他 (not 我, not 你), i.e., What's he going to do?

今天他八点要去看电影: sentence starts with 今天, so the focus is on 今天 (not yesterday, not tomorrow), i.e., "What's happening today? He is going to see a film at 8 o'clock" (whereas I'm going to do something else, say; implied, not necessarily overt contrast).

Ditto with:
电影六点就开始了: sentence starts with 电影, so focus is on 电影.
六点电影就开始了: sentence starts with 六点, so focus is on 六点.

It's what I call (in my teaching) the linguistic flagging up equivalent of physically holding up 1 of, say, 3 objects.  All eyes will look at the object held up, so when you say, "It is...", they know which of the 3 objects "it" refers to.  So when you start with 今天, they'll focus on 今天, not 昨天 or 明天.  When you start with 他, they'll focus on 他, not 我, not 你.


Can we omit subject or some verbs in Chinese? Could you tell me if we can omit subjects or some verbs in Conversational Chinese? Like these.

叫什么名字？  jiào shénme míngzì? What is your name?

什么?        jiào shénme? What is your name?

叫 A.        jiào A. I’m A.

要去哪里？    yào qù nǎlǐ? where are you going?

吃饱了.       chī bǎole I'm full.

饱了       bǎole I'm full.

Could you check if we can say those sentences above or not?

Yes you can, let me first give the possible short version of the example you gave:

What is your name?
FULL VERSION: 你叫什么名字？/你的名字是什么？(What's your name?)
SHORT VERSION 1: 你叫什么？ (Here we don't usually say 叫什么？ as its tone is more rude or intimidating. To make the tone softer, normally you could add 呀ya/啊ah at the end such as 叫什么呀？And it also could mean "why the yelling" if used in wrong context, so I don't recommend using it)
SHORT VERSION 2: 你叫……? (Your name is...?) actually it's more "you are called...?"
SHORT VERSION 3: 什么名字？(What's the name? Bond) OR 名字？(Name?)
WRONG: 什么? (什么 means "what", it would be too general, the listener would have trouble to understand what you are asking)
WRONG: 叫 This is not a valid short version of "what's your name" because it doesn't give any hit to the listener about what you are asking, and it could be misunderstood as a command to shout or yell.

要去哪里？ yào qù nǎlǐ? where are you going?
SHORT VERSION: 去哪(儿)？

吃饱了. chī bǎole I'm full. [This one is correct]
饱了 bǎole I'm full. [This one is correct] moreover it could be both a question or the answer depending on the tone. I.e. Q: 饱了？(Are you full?) A: 饱了。（I'm full)

When spoken, the grammar of Chinese is very flexible. Except in formal settings (e.g. broadcasting, meetings, court, press conference), you can almost bend the grammar in anyway you want as long as it makes sense.
By making sense, I mean that the listener should be able to understand and fill the omitted part in the meaning with minor effort.
[Below is some additional stuff, if above is enough for you, you can skip the rest]
Actually, as a Chinese, when I was in middle School (sort of 7-9th grade), after learned the grammar, we spent more time focusing on constructing sentences without ambiguity rather than practising the grammar. I mean to eliminate ambiguity, you must know some grammar of the language, but for Chinese, it's more important to avoid ambiguity rather than to construct grammatically correct sentence (sometimes, grammatically correct sentences just doesn't make sense and not so grammatically correct ones just makes so much of it). I guess this is determined by the fact that Chinese is an analytic language.
Moreover, sometimes, ambiguity is preferred in circumstances such as when the speaker want to convey two meanings in one sentence with a tweak of certain words. But if you tried to be clever and failed, people will think you are pretentious.
Anyway, in everyday life, when you want to omit something in Chinese, just make sure it's understandable and there is no ambiguity, you'll be fine.


How do I translate these verbs? I recently saw these phrases (from the song 我要你的爱):
你为什么不走过来 (I think it basically means: Why won't you come here)
你为什么不说出来 (I think it basically means: Why won't you say it)
为什么不肯说 (I think it basically means: Why don't you feel like saying it)
I concluded their meanings from context but am still confused as to what the meaning of their predicate is: What exactly does 走过来, or 说出来, or 肯说 mean? How would they be translated? Are they colloquial expressions?
Thanks

"你为什么不走过来?" --> 你(you) 为什么(why) 不走过来(don't come over) --> "Why you don't come over?"
"你为什么不说出来" --> 你(you) 为什么(why) 不说出来 (not speak out) --> "Why you don't say it?"
"为什么不肯说" --> 为什么(why) 不肯说 (unwilling to say) --> Why do you  unwilling to say?"

  What exactly does 走过来, or 说出来, or 肯说 mean?

'走过来'  means 'come over (by foot)'

'说出来' means 'speak (it) out' = "say it"

'肯说' means 'willing to speak/ say'

Depend on context 肯 could mean 'willing to' or 'agree to'

In English, you must put the question form before the subject. For example, you can't say "you why don't come over?" instead of  " why you don't come over?"

However, in Chinese, question form and the subject can switch place.  e.g. "(你)为什么不走过来?" = "为什么(你)不走过来?"


Chinese equivalent of the English word candid I was just reading this news article and I'm interested to know which word or phrase would have been translated from Chinese to English as "candid":

  China's foreign ministry described Tuesday's talks as "candid" and
  said the two sides agreed to keep discussing the issue, though
  cautioned that responsibility for progress rests with Tokyo.

The Chinese equivalent of "candid" is "坦白"(tǎn bái) or more formally "坦率"(tǎn shuài):

  中国外交部发言人洪磊表示，河相周夫与中国外交部副部长张志军之间的讨论是坦率和深入的。

(source http://www.voachinese.com/content/china-japan-20120925/1514644.html)

  外交部副部长张志军与日本常务副外相河相周夫今早在北京举行钓鱼岛问题磋商，外交部在官方网站上发出新闻稿，以「坦率深入交换了意见」来形容这次会谈。

(source http://en.1688.com.au/site1/news/cn/2012/09/25/369457.shtml)


What does the 月 (moon/month) in the Taiwanese MRT platform's 月台 refer to? On a recent trip to Taiwan, I noticed that the MRT platforms there are labelled 月台 (yuetai / yuètái). Asking a professional tour guide (Taiwanese local, native Chinese speaker) only revealed that he'd never been asked that question, but he didn't have an answer for me.

Googling around, I found the following synonym: zhàntái ( 站台 ) - Han trainer dictionary, which sounds more understandable (platform for standing). However, I don't see any connection between MRT platforms and months or moons. There doesn't seem to even be a link to shape, as the platforms are straight. (The 'queue-up' lines drawn on the ground are often L-shaped - that's closer to a moon shape.)

Here are some links to photos containing the phrase:

Taipei MRT rolling stock at Platform 2, Ximen Station 20080317.jpg
MRT Taipei Main Station Platform 1 20070503.jpg
Taipei Taiwan MRT-Station-Ximen-01.jpg

My question: What does 月 refer to in the Taiwanese phrase for MRT platform, 月台?

None of the references is very authoritative, but all of the search results agree with each other, that 月台 for 'railway platform' is an extended meaning from its original meaning 'moon-watching balcony' which refers to a platform that protrudes from a building.

月台 （建筑样式） 编辑 讨论
在古时建筑上，正房、正殿突出连着前阶的平台叫“月台”，月台是该建筑物的基础，也是它的组成部分。由于此类平台宽敞而通透，一般前无遮拦，故是看月亮的好地方，也就成了赏月之台。而现代的月台通常指进入火车站后方便旅客上火车的一段与火车车门踏步平行的平台。

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%9C%88%E5%8F%B0/871716

https://www.guokr.com/question/543681/

https://www.rrb.gov.tw/07211.aspx?id=652

https://www.zhihu.com/question/29310884


The usage of 醒来 vs. 睡醒, and a little bit about 睡觉。 I was asked to translate the phrase "I wanna wake up where you are".
One of the options that came up was

  我想在你的身边睡醒

which turned out to be not so pleasant to a native Chinese ear.
A better option，

  我想在你的身边醒来

was slightly better.

My question is, in which context would I want to use 睡醒?
And does it express the opposite notion if 睡觉？

As an appendix question, I would be happy to know why do people say "睡了“ when deciding to to to sleep and not ”睡觉了“。 What function does the "觉” provide, conceptually, in this phrase?

Thank you for your thoughts.

醒: wake

醒来: wake up

睡醒: wake from sleep

睡觉: (go) sleep

I am a native Chinese speaker, IMO 我想在你的身边睡醒 and 我想在你的身边醒来 or 我想在你身边醒来 (no的) sound equally fine.  我想在你的身边醒来 is slightly more spoken expression, while 我想在你的身边睡醒 is slightly more written.

睡醒 and 睡觉 do have opposite meanings, but a better antonym for 睡醒 is 睡着，which means "fall asleep".

睡了 and 睡觉了 both sound Ok to me to express "go to sleep".

in 睡觉, 睡 is actually the verb "sleep" while 觉 is the noun "sleep". I think 睡觉 become mainstream just because nowadays the chinese spoken language like to use phrases with two phonemes.


Difference and usage of 听看，听见，听到? What's the difference between 听看，听见，听到? I heard someone use 听看 in reference to a song they would listen to? Does 听看 have a similar meaning to 看看 in that it means to have a quick look/listen?

1, 听看 does not make sense as a word in mandarin, where did this come from?

2, 听见，听到 does not have semantic differences. people will use them interchangeably. follow your heart.


Expressing 'about' in Chinese Please use simplified characters.
In English we sometimes say:

'My teacher taught us about Chinese'
‘My friend was telling me about Chinese'
'You're not intelligent enough to talk about complex Chinese grammar'
'The novel is about dragons'

All of these use the word about. I've wanted to express these kinds of sentences in Chinese for ages. How would I do it?

Please explain how to express the word 'about' in Chinese.

Please translate or create your own example sentences.

[About + adjective phrase]= [有关 + adjective phrase + 的] or [关于 + adjective phrase + 的]

'My teacher taught us (knowledge) about Chinese'
我老师教我们有关中文的 (知识)
'Chinese'(中文) is a part of the adjective phrase '中文的'
The object '知识'(knowledge) can be omitted in English, but cannot be omitted in Chinese.
有关 can also be omitted: 我老师教我们中文的 (知识)

~

‘My friend was telling me (things) about Chinese'
我朋友告诉我有关中国人的(事情)
'Chinese'(中国人) is a part of the adjective phrase '中国人的'
The object '事情'(things) can be omitted in English, but cannot be omitted in Chinese.
有关 can be omitted: 我朋友告诉我中国人的(事情)

~

'You're not intelligent enough to talk about complex Chinese grammar'
你还没聪明到能够谈论有关复杂的中文语法的(程度)
'复杂的中文语法' (complex Chinese grammar) is a part of the adjective phrase '复杂的中文语法的'
The object '程度'(level) can be omitted in English, but cannot be omitted in Chinese.
有关 can be omitted :你还没聪明到能够谈论复杂的中文语法的(程度)

~

'The novel is (a novel) about dragons'
'这小说是关于龙的(小说)'
'龙'(dragons) is a part of the adjective phrase '龙的'
Since the object 'novel'(小说) is the same as the subject, it can be omitted in both English and Chinese.
有关 can not be  omitted here -- because 龙 is a noun that can be either part of the adjective phrase or the subject. '这小说是龙的(小说)' could mean 'it is a novel about dragons' or 'dragons own this novel'


Is it ok to use colour character in name (not surname character)? Is it ok to use colour in mordern Chinese names (I don't mean surname like 黃，白）

For example, there is a name like 叶红鱼，but she seems to be a person from a tale. So I guess is there any mordern names with color in name (not surname).

UPDATE: here is a good guide about names but there is nothing about colours

Color character can be used in names. But be careful, a bad combination will ruin everything. I try to make up some.

葉紅 is better than 葉紅魚. It evokes imagination of leaves turning red in the fall.

(It turned out that it's better if the name matches the surname.)

黃 itself is a surname, so I ve heard of few people's names with it.  I propose a name with it, however, for I like it very much.

懷黃 黃 means gold seal, a tally of official position. 佩紫懷黃是也。懷, hold. So 懷黃 means hold the gold seal, equivalent of take official position.

（懷 itself is a rare surname）

紫 is always a noble color. The uniforms of high rank officers in many dynasties are of 紫. 有言事金紫也。

You may think “佩紫” in “佩紫懷黃” is good （though here 紫 doesn't refer to the color of the uniform）, but it is  phonetically poor to many ears.

紓紫 has a close meaning as in 綰黃紓紫 and sounds good as well.

Unfortunately 綠 is usually the color of low rank officer's uniforms. But if we give good interpretation, it can also means a lot.

沈綠（chen3 lv4）

note：

沈 is not a surname here. For example, 方沈綠 is the full name.

沈 is a variant of 沉, but 沈 looks more poshԅ(¯ㅂ¯ԅ).

Interpretation:

沈綠：dark green. A comfortable, modest color.

Homonymic to 承（cheng3）綠，and 綠 is 籙's original character. So we can interpret it as 承籙.

圖籙，帝王承天命之書也。承籙 is one of the most ambitious, exaggerate words★.

Then 沈綠 is a superficially modest but actually exaggerate name. And if you explain all things to others you will receive awes for the cultural depth (and pretentiousness (don't care this part, COOL is more important than anything eles!))

There are many other colors, such as 朱/紅/緋/彤/丹/赭/茜/絳/栗/橘/翠/緗/蒼/青/皂/杏/漆/皓/黛/玄/ ……………………

As you may perceive, the examples I give are all about bureaucratic ambition but this is just one of the many topics of a name. So you are totally free of coming up with names of different styles with color characters in.

PS. My most self-content name that I propose is 李 嶔彧 (´▽｀)ノ♪

EDIT:

The poem 紅紅白白花臨水，碧碧黃黃麥際天 suddenly comes to my mind. And I think 際黃（Bordered by wheat fields） is a good choice. （Better with a surname of fourth tone, e.g. 宋際黃）


When are semi-colons used in Chinese? I came across the following passage in Press-Ganging Able-Bodied Men:

And the text for reference:

  王保长（笑）这个事情还是我替你办了就是。我先放出个谣言去，说芋子娃在前方打死毬了；再找个人把她的娃娃拐到外县去卖了他，断了她的这几门想法；然后请莫仙娘去劝她一下，那就保险……成功。（作态）

Maybe I'm just a yokel, but I don't believe that I've ever seen a semi-colon used in Chinese texts before. I also don't know if this is how the original text was written or if it is just how the publishers of this edition decided to treat the text.

Is this correct usage?
When are semi-colons used in Chinese?

It is less common, but you will find semicolons used every once in while in Chinese text. The way of using it in Chinese is similar to English, where a comma is not enough but a period is too divisive.

A good example is 开心，就开怀大笑；伤心，就掩脸痛哭。
A comma in between 大笑 and 伤心 would be odd, and a period would fail to show  that the two phrases are related.

The semicolons work for the excerpt from Press-Ganging Able-Bodied Men, because it separates the three steps of how the person would 替你办事. An alternative would be to write out 第一、第二、第三, but then it would be less concise and fluid.


Localization between Mainland China's 姑娘 and Taiwan's 小姐 In Taiwan, we call women 小姐 and this is often used in everyday situations including calling for a waitress or anyone in the service industry.

However, I have heard this is rude to call a woman a 小姐 in China because they use the negative connotation of the word 小姐. Instead, Mainlanders call a woman 姑娘. Is this the same throughout all of China, or is it different in places such as Hong Kong and Macau (which uses mostly Cantonese). If we go to a rural part of China (outside of major cities like Beijing, etc) would calling a waitress 小姐 be considered rude? Would this hold true for other semi-Chinese speaking countries (Singapore, malaysia, indonesia, etc)?

姑娘 is more used in northern China or say the mandarin spoken regions. 小姐 is more often used along the coast especially in south.

小姐 gets the meaning of sex worker in 90s. In formal situation, it's still prefrered to use 小姐 rather than 姑娘, which sounds informal and rural.


What is the relationship 驩 required by the 大略 between husband and wife? In the 大略 荀子 requires：

  君臣不得不尊，父子不得不親，兄弟不得不順，夫婦不得不驩，少者以長，老者以養。故天地生之，聖人成之。

My dictionary says this word 驩 is

a term for horse breeding
A form of 歡

I am thinking, it must be the second meaning implied above. But 歡, too, carries so many meanings! There is:

Happy, merry
Sweetheart, love, as in 另覓新歡

And some dialect meanings are listed as well. I was tempted to think 荀子 means husband and wife must be sweethearts, but it sounds very extroverted for ancient Chinese; I am probably missing the real meaning.

水巷孑蠻 wrote:

there's a remark "不得謂不得聖人之禮法" and "驩與歡同" after the verse "老者以養"

Edit:
聖人之禮法 saint's etiquette
君臣不得不尊，without it, retainer  would not respect the ruler
父子不得不親，without it, father and son would not love each other
兄弟不得不順，without it, brothers would not be agreeable to each other
夫婦不得不驩(歡)，without it, husband and wife would not please each other
In saint's etiquette, both 父 and 子 need to love each other; both older and younger brother need to be agreeable to each other. And it is as much a husband's responsibility to please his wife as a wife's responsibility to please her husband. As for 君臣, it is possible that the demand to respect is on the retainers only.
My original post before knowing there's a remark:

君臣不得不尊，ruler and retainer must respect each other
父子不得不親，father and son must love each other
兄弟不得不順，brothers must be agreeable to each other
夫婦不得不驩(歡)，husband and wife must please each other
少者以長，grow the young
老者以養。take care of the old
故天地生之，that's how the world is formed
聖人成之。saint is created
荀子's words mentioned 'mutually respect, love, follow and please' ; but in practice, a retainer is expected to respect his ruler, a son is expected to love his father, a younger brother is expected to follow his older brother and a wife is expected to please her husband. The expectation on the other end is more often, treated like a suggestion.


Media Source for "Natural" Sounding Mandarin Chinese I've been looking to improve my Chinese pronunciation and listening skills. When looking at most tv dramas and textbook dialogues, however, I can't help but notice that tones and pitches tend to be overpronunced in a way that just sounds very unnatural to me and different from the Mandarin I hear in my daily life. Because these sources sound unnatural, I don't really "believe" in them and don't think it would be productive to try to imitate them.
This might be a good example. Randomly choosing the conversation at 10:50, and comparing it to the conversation at, say, 11:15 here, the former seems theatrical and overpronunced, unlike the more everyday dialogue present in the latter link.
I'm a male speaker, however, and would need a reality TV show or other media genre with a less theatrical mode of pronunciation and articulation with more male speakers. Aside from reality TV, would anyone have suggestions for other genres? Within reality TV, could anyone recommend some programs?
I have linguistics training, and don't mind answers with technical jargon if one wants to comment on the differences between the two modes.

the radio television hong kong has channel in mandarin; in their website, they've archive of past programme, or podcasts.

http://programme.rthk.hk/channel/radio/index.php?c=pth&m=archive

the site design is a little bit "non-standard", just click any links, until you see "收聽 listen" with a headphone icon.

have fun :)


Why do some parents pronounce 妹妹 as měiméi instead of mèimèi or mèimei? I have heard some Taiwan (and maybe Mainland) parents call their daughters měiméi. I'm wondering what is the reason for that.

The pronunciation of 妹妹 (mèimei) could have been mixed up with that of 美眉 (měiméi) due to the popularity of Taiwan TV dramas where the Taiwanese cast tend to pronounce 妹妹 similar to that of 美眉, for example, in shows such as 《星星知我心》.

美眉 (or MM in short) is a term used to describe young and pretty women. This term is to 妹妹 what 葛格 (gége) is to 哥哥 (gēge). The 美眉 article on Baidu explains this:

  现在美眉作为常用语流行起来是因为八九十年代在大陆风靡一时的台湾电视剧（例如《星星知我心》）里面带台湾地区口音的国语“妹妹”的发音和“美眉”的读音十分相似，听起来柔婉可人，给听惯了标准普通话（在台湾地区又称“北京国语”）的大陆观众留下深刻印象，用美眉就能惟妙惟肖地反映出这个发音特点，当时70-80年代生人的年轻人不约而同地使用了这个词指代年轻美女，并借网络和新文学的力量使“美眉”的使用慢慢得到社会主流的认可。当然“美眉”也还同时表示原有的意思：“妹妹”，同理“葛格”就是“哥哥”。


Effective and polite way to end a phone conversation What are some ways that I can let the other speaker know I want to finish a phone conversation and am going to hang up.

I frequently come across as too abrupt. Usually something along the lines of extended pause followed by goodbye.

Leaving the room you can say 我现在要走了，再见！ so there is some lead up to the goodbye. What are some good lead up sentences that I can use for ending a phone conversation?

When talking with friends I generally end with one of the following.

好，就这样吧 = That's it (kind of, hard to translate)
好，我走了啊 = I'm off now
好，下次再聊 = Talk again soon

Or of course, the very simple 好，拜拜！
Looking at that, I guess I like to say 好 a lot!
Hope that helps.


Modern and ancient word choice: 昔人 vs 古人 vs 前妻 Older Chinese folks (古人) love to use 昔人，but they never use 古人 in their poem or lyrics. (OR can someone give me an example where 古人 was actually using 古人 in their writing?) For instance, a favorite poem from the tang dynasty: 昔人已乘黄鹤去，此地空余黄鹤楼。黄鹤一去不复返，白云千载空悠悠。On the other hand, newer Chinese folks now rarely use the word 昔; instead, 古人 (昔人 old folks)，去年 (昔年 last year)，昨天 (昔日 yesterday)，前天 (昔日 the day after yesterday).
Why does the preference of certain word choices shift over time?
And since 昔 means 从前, technically, can we use 昔人 to replace 前妻/前女友？ OR does 昔人 have to be a 死人 (an already deceased person)？

never? you're kidding :) the term "古人" is also used in poem.

just a casual search:

in 通典·卷三十二 (end of p73, and start of 74):

  賦詩曰

  古人云此水﹒一飲重千金

  若使夷齊飲﹒終當不易心

next, 杜工部﹒ 吾宗

  吾宗老孫子﹒質朴古人風﹒耕鑿安時論﹒衣冠與世同

  在家常早起﹒憂國願年豐﹒語及君臣際﹒經書滿腹中

later, 孟宗獻 wrote

  古人借宅亦種竹﹒大是饕竒心未足﹒髙齋聞有萬琅玕﹒坐對懐山飲秋緑﹒

  官閒勝日無一事﹒尊酒不空仍有肉﹒他時剥啄叩君門﹒髙枕矮床容我宿

imo, characters are like fashion, "trendy" today, would out-of-date".

have fun :)


Are Chinese characters taught in school in Vietnam? Vietnamese is a language that used to use Chinese characters, but doesn't use them in everyday language nowadays. Are they still taught in school?

No. At school we only learn the meanings of basic Sino-Vietnamese syllables, not the Chinese logograms. For example we learned that tử means a child or die, but most people don't know that those are different characters (死, 子 and many more), and of course they don't know how those characters are written in Chinese.

As I know before the unification a few characters are actually taught in high school but they're not taught anymore. There are some proposals to introduce about 100 basic Chinese characters to the syllabus again but most people go against it.

You may want to read these

Do most Koreans and Vietnamese know the hanja/hán tự for their own names?

Do Vietnamese still use Hán tự (HanZi/ Hanja /Kanji) besides Quốc ngữ alphabet?


Where are people using the expression 過得 / 过得? MDBG lists 过得, but during my time in China, I have never heard this expression. Where in China is it used and what are the local meanings of it?

  过得    guò dé  How are you getting by? / How's life? / contraction of 過得去|过得去, can get by / tolerably well / not too bad

Both 过得 and 过得去 are common in China, but 过得 and 过得去 can have different meanings.

过得: 生活得(怎么样), how one's life lives; For example, 你过得怎么样？：How are you getting along? or how is your life (you live)?

过得去: to get through or get by; It has literal and metaphorical meaning. The literal meaning is to physically get through and metaphorically, it means to get through a difficult situation. For example, 我过得去 could simple mean 'I can get it through'. 我生活还过得去： 'Things in my life are able to get through.' It implies that your life is okay or not too bad.


Why 看 is used in 我看得目瞪口呆? Going through this sentence.

我看得目瞪口呆。I was stunned/dumbfounded.

看 means see, why see in this sentence?

The English translation is not literal. The idiom 目瞪口呆 means something like 'eyes wide-staring, mouth stiff'. Of course that is a physical description of someone who is dumbfounded.
To be grammatical, you first need the verb 看 'to see; to look' in your sentence, followed by 得 which suffixes an adverb or an adverbial phrase (目瞪口呆) to describe the extent of shock resulting from your looking at something dumbfounding.
Other preceding verbs are also possible, such as 被嚇 'to be scared', as in 被嚇得目瞪口呆 (lit. to be scared, so much so one's eyes become wide-staring and mouth stiff). In this case, the speaker is not looking at anything.


"like" and "to be like" in Mandarin I've been struggling with how to say "like" or "to be like" in mandarin. Other languages I know can do this quite tersely and basically all in the same way. Of course they're all Indo-European, and 3 of them are Romance, so that explains the similarities.

I've asked my teacher and she says 像 xiàng is what I'm after. When I look up this word it's not really clear how it expresses "like" or "be like". It often seems to require extra wording like (一樣 yǐ yàng）or (那麼／么 nàme + adj).

So I'm still not sure how to express certain basic concepts about "similarity", and it feels strange.

Compare:

French: comme moi
Spanish: como yo
English: like me
Italian: come me

French: comme ça
Spanish: así
English: like that
Italian: cosí

F: Il est comme toi, il ne supporte pas ça.
S: El es como tú, no aguanta eso.
E: He's like you, he can't stand that.
....

Could someone help me translate the following sentences/phrases into Mandarin? Please provide pinyin if you can!

Please note these sentences are intentionally vague/ambiguous.

- Like this.
- Like that.
- Not like that.
- Don't do it like that; do it like this.
- We don't say it in Taiwan like they do in China.
- We say it in Taiwan like they do in China.
- Sally is like her mother.

Thanks, any help appreciated...

Ben

Like this. 像这样。 xiang4 zhe4yang4.
Like that. 像那样。 xiang4 na4yang4.
Not like that. 不像那样。 bu2 xiang4 na4yang4.
Don't do it like that; do it like this. 别那么做；这么做。 bie2 na4me zuo4; zhe4me zuo4.
We don't say it in Taiwan like they do in China. 我们台湾人说话和中国人说话不一样。 wo3men Tai2wan1ren2 shuo1hua4 he2 zhong1guo2ren2 shuo1hua4 bu4 yi2yang4.
We say it in Taiwan like they do in China. 我们台湾人像中国人一样这么说。 Wo3men Tai2wan1ren2 xiang4 Zhong1guo2ren2 yi2yang4 zhe4me shuo1.
Sally is like her mother. Sally像她母亲。 Sally xiang4 ta1 mu3qin.

Comment: I think when learning languages that have very different origins, at some point, you'd have to give up trying to pair the words one-to-one to another language... Such a strict correspondence usually does not exist. You need to learn the language itself, not just such correspondences.


How do I say "negging" in Chinese? Perhaps this is not a Chinese thing (and if not, Chinese people are probably best off without it).  However, a vital part of a pick-up artist's (把妹达人) skill set is negging (not nagging, but negging):

  Negging is an act of emotional manipulation whereby a person makes a deliberate backhanded compliment ... to undermine their confidence and increase their need of the manipulator's approval.

A typical instance of negging is where a man deliberately insults a woman in a preconceived subtle way.  Why do this?  To lower her self-esteem and make her susceptible to him.  For example:

  You look like you're on a diet.  That's great!
  XKCD comic 1027: Pickup Artist

Question: How do I say "negging" in Chinese?

The only thing I've found so far is:

  Also a popular phenomenon known as negging or offering a "back-handed" compliment which was meant to make a man look confident and self assured, was more likely to cause her to "run for the hills".
  此外，有一种流行的趋势，就是批评抨击或者讽刺挖苦，能使看起来更加自信，但这更有可能把身旁的女性吓跑。
  YouDao, attributed to bbs.51ielts.com but is no longer available

But it more accurately says:

  In addition, there is one kind of popular trend, it is criticizing or mocking, it can appear more self-confident, but more possibly scares away the woman next to you.

So it's not much help.

(PS. Don't read too much into this question.  I'm writing fiction.)

'Negging' is a specifically coined term by the author of a specific book about methods of picking up girls. I presume the end game is either acquiring a life partner or building a casual romantic relationship with a woman.

Negging is in effect, a code name for a technique, and this technique is using subtle and mild insult to manipulate the target to 1. be curious 2.feels challenged 3. be willing to engage.

The true goal is not to repel but attract her. It is opposite of another  technique pozzing: (whereby one pays a person a compliment in order to gain their affection)

Since it is not a general English term, I think I would treat the translation with more liberty

There's an idiom in Chinese called: 欲擒故縱 (When you try to capture a target, intentionally distance yourself instead of approach closely)

If pozzing (奉丞手法) shows a 欲擒態度, then negging (挑衅手法) would show a 故縱態度 (displaying dismissive sign to attract the girl's attention and get her to engage)

I would translate "to neg" as "挑衅" and "negging" as "挑衅手法"


What are these two questions asking about? 云南石林的风景怎么样？ and 小李为什么想再去云南？ 小王：
你好！
最近我在云南的大森林里工作了五个月，今天才回信，请原谅。、
云南省非常好玩儿！云南菜也很好吃，“过桥面”是我最喜欢的。我最喜欢昆明市，因为那儿的气候很好，四季如春。
在云南人们用大象搬远树木，很有趣！森林里有很多动物：小熊猫、黑熊等等。
云南还有世界闻名的石林。那儿的风景很美，有山有水，像中国的山水画儿一样。我很想再去云南画那里的风景。
请尽快回信！
你的朋友
小李
(transcribed from original photo)

云南石林的风景怎么样？
小李为什么想再去云南？

I know the meaning of every word in these two questions, but struggle to understand them as a whole.
Question: What are these two questions asking about?

云南石林的风景怎么样？

How is the scenery in Shilin, Yunnan?

小李为什么想再去云南？

Why does Xiao Li want to go to Yunnan again?

Is this what you are asking?


Documentation of all hanzi and their stroke order Is there a document of all common hanzi (ideally both traditional and simplified) and their complete stroke orders? I have one for wubihua, but it fails to distinguish between, for example

hs 丁 in reality h.sg
hs 丅 in truth h.s

despite a flick at the bottom of 丁 but not 丅.
I've been looking for such a document so that I can analyse characters en masse, but haven't had any luck so far. Wubihua / Traditional Chinese / Open-source index yieded good answers for wubihua, but taken more generally to all hanzi, does such a document exist with complete stroke order definition?
I'm looking for more of a plaintext document (or excel or similar) with a list. I know there are lots of images for stroke orders for learning characters, but I've been unable to find a file with a list of characters and their stroke "code", so to say

I looked around, and it doesn't seem to be a complete, freely available resource for stroke orders. There is a Wikimedia commons project for creating stroke order for CJK characters, but it is far from finished (please contribute!).

I also found this resource from Dragon Character Training, an old PalmOS application, which seems to contain some character stroke order data, but I had some trouble figuring out how to extract stroke order from the character data. It should be possible, though, since an included script can animate character stroke orders.

I wish you best of luck!


Is the Cantonese diminutive (粒) the same as the Mandarin (子)? Is the Cantonese diminutive (粒) as in 鸡粒炒饭 the same as the Mandarin (子)? Is that the right character to use?

UPDATE: Sorry for the mistake, I really did mean 粒, not 里.

No.

“鸡粒” is common Chinese, means "diced chicken", “粒” means diced small cubes of meat.

“鸡子” is Cantonese, means the kidney, a viscera of chicken.

Actually different things. But “鸡粒”, “鸡籽”, and “鸡子” may all mean the egg of chicken in loosely.


Alternative notations for Cantonese tones What is the list of diacritics used to denote the seven Cantonese tones (in pinyin or similar notation)? Is there a standard (or even, more common) convention?

Common romanization systems for Cantonese are Jyutping, Cantonese Pinyin, and Yale.

In both Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin, tones are represented with numbers.

In Yale, tones are either indicated with tone marks coupled with -h, or with numbers:

1   high-flat   55  sī  sīn     sīk
1   high-fall.  53  sì  sìn
2   mid-rising  35  sí  sín
3   mid-flat    33  si  sin     sik
4   mid-falling 21  sìh sìhn
5   low-rising  13  síh síhn
6   low-flat    22  sih sihn    sihk


The difference between 警察 and 警方? I read the following sentence:

  本月，一对中国姐妹在日本横滨遇害的事件引发了各界关注。据中国驻日本大使馆消息，案件发生后，日本警方以涉嫌非法拘禁罪逮捕一名30多岁的日本男子，7月21日下午，警方以涉嫌遗弃遗体罪再次逮捕该犯罪嫌疑人。目前警方已将最新进展通知遇害者亲属。

At first I didn’t know the word 警方 so I didn’t understand the meaning. Later I found it is police but then what is the difference from 警察? Can I just replace 警方 with 警察 and the sentence still conveys the same meaning?

方 has the meaning of 'side'

警察 can be the collective noun for the entire police force or a singular noun for one policeman.

警方 means '警察方面' (the police side). It can only be a collective noun.

More example:

中國 (China) - 中方 (the Chinese side/ The Chinese government)

日本 (Japan) - 日方 (The Japanese side/ The Japanese government)

中日雙方同意 (Both China's and Japan's government agree)

  In "警方以涉嫌遗弃遗体罪再次逮捕该犯罪嫌疑人。"  '警方' refers to 'the police (department)'


How do we describe a "sophisticated person"? Is there a word for "sophisticated" in Chinese?

"Sophisticated" here will mean of a person or their thoughts, reactions, and understanding, being aware of and able to interpret complex issues:

  Though young and inexperienced, his thoughts are more sophisticated
  than the world's best philosophers...

Google translate has these options:

复杂
尖端
诡辩

Yet neither of which is suitable to be used to describe a "sophisticated" person. What other alternatives are there?

I don't think there is an exact Chinese counterpart for 'sophisticated'. It depends on the context.

世故 (worldly) is the context-agnostic translation but sometimes it has a negative connotation of slyness. When you use it on a 10-year old, it's almost surely negative.

Like the other comment mentioned, (少年)老成 can be used when to say a kid is sophisticated, but 老成 also implies '(psychologically) mature'.

The options Google translation gave you (复杂/尖端/诡辩) are definitely not the common words one would use to say 'sophisticated'. They may serve the purpose only in very specific contexts.

Edit:

For the example you've added to the question, I'd choose 深邃 (deep) which is more idiomatic  than the other words mentioned above to praise a philosopher's thinking ability.

  虽然年轻稚嫩，可是他的思想比世界上最伟大的哲学家还要深邃。

超前 (ahead of time/peers/age/...) mentioned in the other answer, or 领先 (in the lead) is also fine to use, though the meaning is slightly different: 超前/领先 is describing the thoughts, the outcome of thinking, rather than the thinking ability.


Why was 滾 (gǔn) simplified to 滚? Why was the traditional character 滾 simplified to 滚? It's only one stroke less so it seems doubtful that it was done to make the character simpler to write. Does it change the meaning of the character in some way or is there any other logical reason why this character was simplified in this fashion?

"Simplified Chinese" is not the clearest name, because it refers to the entire standard character set of the PRC. Although the majority of characters different in the PRC compared with other regions are indeed "Simpler" (by measure of stroke counts), this is not true of all characters. Some examples where the PRC standard have more strokes, whilst still being called "Simplified Chinese", are「强」and「榨」(other regions tend to use「強」and「搾」, which both have one less stroke).

Formally, a "Simplification" process is an active attempt to cut strokes off characters, by removal, abbreviation, or replacement of components. This is not the only way that characters change, and in fact the vast majority of characters did not change in the direction of "Simplification"; many did not change at all, and among those that did change, the majority became more diversified over the years, with components added to create new characters to express new words or extended meanings.

Choosing variants which just happen to have less strokes, as is done in「滾」vs「滚」, is not "Simplification" -「滚」was merely a variant chosen as part of a standardisation process.

The component「袞/衮」(Emperor's ceremonial robes) is comprised of semantic「衣」and phonetic「公」. However, this does not mean that in「袞」,「厶」was changed to「口」. On the contrary,「公」originally looked like「㕣」.

「公」originally depicted a pottery jar, and this word is now written with variants「瓮」and「甕」.「八」depicted the handles of the jar, and「口」depicted the jar's opening.

商甲甲2546合集30961西周金毛公鼎集成2841

Squares and circles were not the only representation of this opening, and later on,「口」was subject to shape variations, with some becoming triangles or stylised into「厶」.

秦簡睡ㆍ語9　篆說文解字　現代楷


Example of using 吧 in conversation My textbook explains that 吧 is a modal particle, but I'm not a linguist and the "modal particle" article on Wikipedia didn't help. Can you give examples of using 吧 in conversation?

There are many use-cases of 吧. In these 吧 should be placed at the end of the sentence.

First the  吧 is used when making polite suggestions, requests or orders. Its presence will soften the tone of such a request or suggestion.

Some examples:

走吧 (zou3 ba): let's go
帮帮他吧! (bang1 bang1 ta1 ba): help him!
我们赶快去医院看她吧 (wo3 men gan3 kuai4 qu4 yi1 yuan4 kan4 ta1 ba): let's go quickly to the hospital to see her
饭菜凉了，快一点儿吃吧 (fan4 cai4 liang2 le, kuai4 yi4 dianr3 chi1 ba): the food has become cold, please start eating

如果你在英语方面有问题，就问我吧 (ru2 guo3 ni3 zai4 ying1 yu3 fang1 mian4 you3 wen4 ti2, jiu4 wen4 wo3 ba): if you have questions related to
English, ask them

你们快回家去吧 (ni3 men kuai4 hui2 jia1 qu4 ba): you'd beter go back home right away
你就放心吧 (ni3 jiu4 fang4 xin1 ba): you can count on me
咱们喝点什么吧 (za2 men he1 dian3 shen2 me ba): let us drink something

Secondly it is used to express approval. Some examples:

好吧 (hao3 ba): OK
好吧，听你的 (hao3 ba, ting1 ni3 de): all right; whatever you say/we'll do it your way

Thirdly it is used to ask a question (involving a conjecture or to indicate doubt without seeking an answer or to soften the question). Some examples:

你不会不知道吧？ (ni3 bu2 hui4 bu4 zhi1 dao4 ba): How can't you know (you have to know it already)
你有一点儿累了吧？ (ni3 you3 yi4 dianr3 lei4 le ba?): You are a bit tired, aren't you? (This is used for example you can see from the person's face that is tired so it's more a rhetorical question)
他到三十岁了吧？ (ta1 dao4 san1 shi2 sui4 le ba?): has he reached 30?
这是我的吧？ (zhe4 shi wo3 de ba ba): This is mine, right? (instead of 这是我的）

Fourthly when you are not completely certain, you want to indicate uncertainty or supposition.  It will soften the tone. Some examples:

这个汉字不对吧 (zhe4 ge han4 zi bu2 dui4 ba): This Chinese character is wrong, I guess. (Compare this sentence to 这个汉字不对. The tone of the latter is much stronger. It's an authorative statement, while the former expresses doubt).
大概是前天吧 (da4 gai4 shi4 qian2 tian1 ba): It most have been the day before yesterday


What's an effective way of explaining the difference between 思想 and 想法? They both connotate a way of thinking. It is my understanding at 思想 os a more broadly encompassing term, like "mentality", or an overarching mindset, whereas "想法" is an individual idea. But what if you want to express something in between, like "We have lots of similar ideas"? This is a bit different than saying, "we have a similar mindset", but it also seems using the work "想法" would be a bit too limited in this case.

If you want to express "We share quite a few ways of thinking", you can say "We have lots of similar 观念", which is short for "思想观念"。

Or "观点" / "看法", point of view.

"想法" is usually used in a sentence like "I have an idea to do something",
likely to combine with verbs.

"思想" is a general term.


Why is Belarus called "White Russia"? In Chinese Belarus is 白俄罗斯, which literally means White Russia. But I don't understand why it is called as such.

If you get more rigorous with the pronunciation, it is more like be, but since there seems to be no word to be pronunced be in Chinese, maybe bei might be preferrable. So 呗俄罗斯 or something like that.

Also why is it not more direct, such as 被拉入式 or something like that?

Is this related to some historical or political reasons? (Especially because 黑 is considered a bad word)

Because the name is also translated according to its original meaning.

  白俄罗斯在本土语言中是Беларусь，其中前面的Бела是“白“的意思，剩下的是“罗斯”的意思。

白 comes from the front part of the original phrase Беларусь, i.e. Бела, which means white.

and

  白俄罗斯人是东斯拉夫人的一支，根本不属于俄罗斯民族。白俄罗斯人称自己为“别拉罗斯”（音）人，如果完全按照音译国名就是“别拉罗斯”。“别拉罗斯”的俄语翻译是
  Беларусь 由“Бела”（白色）和русь（罗斯）两部分组成。应该翻译为“白罗斯”。

  英语可能是从俄语再译，是 belarussia 。可能是因为当时的翻译者，从英文的russia联想到俄罗斯，又因为俄文中的 Бела
  （白色），再加上对白俄罗斯人的历史没有常识，就想当然地翻译为“白俄罗斯”了。

references:
【风俗文化】其实，每一个“斯坦”国都有自己名字的由来
国名的疑问为什么叫白俄罗斯?因为他的人比俄罗斯还白?
俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、乌克兰等名称的由来及其它


What is the difference between 发货，出货 and 交货？ What is the difference between 发货, 出货, and 交货?

出货: produce goods

发货: ship goods

交货: deliver goods


How to express among in chinese? I've encountered myself quite a few times trying to express the word among in chinese and the meaning that it carries, just like in these two senteces:

He's vey popular among the students.
Quite a few students have passed the exam, and I am among them.

How do I express this idea? For example, for the first one I would say: 他在学生们中很吃香的. Is it correct? Is it the best way to express what I am willing to express?
Thank you

Well, sometimes you won't translate 'among', see your first sentence. Other times, 'among' will translate simply as 中, or a combination of 在 ... 中, like your second sentence. 在 ...  间 is also common, but there are other ways. Of course, exactly if and how 'among' is expressed will depend on the context.

He's very popular among the students.
他很受学生（的）欢迎。
Quite a few students have passed the exam, and I am among them.
相当多的学生通过了考试，我也在其中。

Edit: Reading this morning, I came across this:

国家文物局明确指出，“西市” 是隋唐丝绸之路的起点，要纳入申请世界文化遗产的名录当中。

纳入 ...当中 or just plain 当中, in my opinion, is "among", but I wouldn't translate it that way.


Why is there the character 李 in 行李？ Pleco lists three meanings for the character 李：

plum tree
plum
a surname

None seem related to luggage!

The comments have the right idea.「行李」originally referred to a kind of messenger sent to run an errand, extended to mean the act of delivering a message/running an errand, further extended to mean to travel, and then finally the items taken along a journey; luggage.

「李」was used as a phonetic loan for「理」since the Warring States period, and for whatever reason,「行李」became more popular than「行理」, which is now restricted to meaning messenger.


Resources for learning Cantonese I'd like to learn Cantonese. Does anyone know some good resources (books, websites) that provide a thorough introduction into the language? I know that the pronunciation is a lot harder than in Mandarin, so the resource should contain audios as well.

I agree with others who say you should work with a native speaker to help you with pronunciation. However, having a grammar book will be immensely helpful as well, since many native speakers are often unaware of their own language's grammar (many will often say "that's just how you say it" without knowing why; I've also heard native speakers assert that Cantonese doesn't have grammar).

For this, I recommend the series of books by Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews. Basic Cantonese and Intermediate Cantonese are very good in my opinion. They also have a more comprehensive reference that covers almost any question you may have about the intricacies of Cantonese grammar; it would be an excellent study companion.


How does 飄 + 然 compound to mean 'floating in the air'? ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003). I can't access the "slightly revised through July 2005" ed.

Neither 飄 nor 然 mean 'air'. One can drift or float in water, or mentally in one's mind.

飄's  radical is 風 (wind), and 風 is created by the movent of air
然 is a word particle that indicates "like" (in the manner of)
飄然 = like floating (in the air)


Difference between 妖魔 and 妖怪 as in the title what is the difference between 妖魔 and 妖怪? Also, are there any similar words which have similar meaning?

As I write this, someone already left feedbacks for your second question.

As for the difference between 妖魔 and 妖怪:

妖怪: like a monster, its appearance looks quite different from other normal creatures (at least from what's in our minds).

妖魔: like a demon, having witch kind of looking, who can use the magic power in combat.

In short, 妖魔 has more magic power than 妖怪. 妖怪 is more powerful physically than its magic power.

This is my understanding and impression and might not be that accurate. Just as a reference.


Meaning of the word 腳 According to CC-CEDICT, this means both "foot" and "leg". How does one know when this word refers to either foot or leg? It is difficult to discern when CC-CEDICT does not include sample sentences.

脚 is 'foot', 腿 is 'leg', but in some dialects of Chinese 脚 is used for both foot and leg (I know this is the case in some Sichuan dialects).


How many 行书 semi-cursive handwriting variants In common mandarin chinese, How i wanted to know how many "known" 行书 semi-cursive handwriting variants are they?

I also wanted to ask two questions (the answer could be different although these two questions "seems" to appear the same) :

1) Which of those "known" 行书 semi-cursive handwriting variants are most popular in use nowadays by common Chinese people?

2) Which of those "known" 行书 semi-cursive handwriting variants has the most comprehensive & complete guide (in terms of number of characters which they construct on how to write the charaters in that variant) ?

Regards

If you want to learn 行书 for practical, I can post some styles for you.

荆霄鹏

====

田英章

========

顾仲安

======

卢中南

========

任平

They are the most famous calligraphers modern times, the most populars are 顾仲安 and 田英章, my favourite is 顾仲安.

Here is more from 顾仲安.

楷书

行书

顾仲安 publish many 字帖, and there are video tutorials, groups on line.


Do 之 and 的 come from the same word? In modern Chinese 之 is thought of as the literary genitive particle and 的 as the colloquial. In most reconstructions of Old Chinese 之 looks very similar to the way 的 is pronounced now. For example in Baxter-Sagart's OC reconstruction, 之, OC /*tə/ is similar to 的, Modern /tə/.

Is there any reason to believe that the commonly used genitive particle resisted sound change in colloquial usage which would mean that 之 and 的 come from the same word?

I've heard that 你 and 爾 form a pair like this. Are there any other examples where colloquial speech resisted sound change?

的 in its function as a particle is attested in the 四大名著 Four Great Classical Novels, which are written in a vernacular Mandarin-type language, dating from the Ming dynasty. The particle use of 的 is also attested from the Yuan dynasty, when it seems it was adopted for the grammatical particle of the emerging new literary language. Its earliest attestation is in a Song dynasty source (my reference says Coblin, personal communication); another one can be dated to an inscription of 1238 (ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese, p.208). The consensus is that it is linked to the grammaticalisation of 底 dǐ (root, foundation, bottom), e.g. according to 汉字源 HanZiYuan's entry for 的 (see meaning three).

The use of 底 for the genitive particle / general nominaliser was a slow process which can be observed through diachronic studies of the extant literature. Note that 的 has functions which can be split into several aspects, and these also emerged gradually.

The lexeme 底 (and its cognates 氐、抵 etc., with Baxter-Sagart Old Chinese reconstruction *tˁijʔ and Baxter Middle Chinese reconstruction *tejX) was semantically extended, and then went through semantic bleaching and subsequent grammaticalisation. This actually covers the whole period from pre-Qin sensu stricto Classical Chinese through the Han to the Tang and Song dynasties. Its grammatical uses came to be very varied by the end of the Tang (including a status suffix for proper nouns, a demonstrative, an intensifier, and even a general interrogative).

In the southern Song, its use as a genitive became quite well-established [e.g. 療萬病底藥], and then took on functions as a relative clause marker, and then extended to headless clauses [e.g. 碾損老僧腳底], which approaches its role as a nominaliser. It is also during the Tang/Song period that the character 的 emerged in this role as well. The story is told in the 2010 paper "Delexicalizing di: How a Chinese noun has evolved into an attitudinal nominalizer".

Could 之 then be related to it? The same paper mentions how on phonological grounds that some have postulated that 底 is derived from 之, and others saying it came from 者. But note that there is a fundamental structural difference: Wang Li's work 漢語史稿 states in Chapter 45:

  由此看來，上古漢語這種結構中的動詞（或動詞仂語）近似一種行為名詞 (action noun)，中古以後，在口語中漸漸喪失了這種結構，只有古文作家模仿這種結構寫成書面語言。大約口語重的“的”（“底”）字產生後，這種結構就在口語絕迹了，因為“的”是尾詞（語尾），不是介詞，所以沒有把介詞“之”字這種功能繼承下來。

which, roughly paraphrased, says:

  The verb / verbal phrase in a 之 structure of the Classical age virtually acts as an action noun, but this structure was gradually lost in the oral vernacular of the post-Classical age and was only imitated by scribes in their literary language. After the appearance of 的/底, the structure was lost from the oral language, because 的 is a final particle rather than a preposition, and so could not preserve its structure.

On the other hand, Pulleyblank pulls 者、之 and 底/的 together with the Tibetan demonstrative de, and surmises that the original particle was merely *tV, i.e. the consonant */t/ with any syllabic vowel (Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar, pp.166-7). 之 being *tə, with 者／諸 as *ta, indicates a form of ablaut. It also means that the actual modern pronunciation of 的 is meant to be a relic of the original pronunciation of 之, and that the modern pronunciation of 之 is an evolution of the "reading pronunciation". Hence the ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese states that 的 is:

  thought to be a col. archaism of the classical 'genitive particle' → zhī1 之

So the consensus seems to agree that it has resisted the sound changes of the ages. Whether there are many other such "colloquial archaisms", that remains to be seen. We'd also have to cover lexemes in other Sinitic varieties too (there's the "obvious" archaism of 筷 vs 箸, found in the Min topolects).


What action does “打” in “打酱油” refer to? Lately I found out that 打酱油means “buy soy sauce”, but it becomes “beat soy sauce” when translated literally. I know 打 can mean “beat”, so I’d like to know if this word can mean “buy” in day-to-day speech. Are there any other colloquial words which have varied meanings too?

打 in 打酱油 doesn't intrinsically mean "buy". In the last century, soy sauce was not sold in bottles as today. It was produced by the merchant himself, so you need to go to the shop and ladle it into your container from a big jar. 打 is for the action to lift liquid from a jar or well with long spoon / bucket etc. SO IT DOENSN'T MEAN “BUY” ELSEWHERE.


Chinese modern vocabulary 包饺子 What would be the correct translation for 包饺子 ?
Is it a word of 3 hanzi, or just a sentence wrap...  dumplings ?
包 is used as a verb or a name ?
Many dictionaries give " to wrap meat dumpling ", and 包 is also a measure word!
What about the verb to stuff ?  stuffed dumplings ?

thanking you

包餃子 just means to make (wrap) dumplings - it is not a three character word. Consider the similar phrase

包傷口
To dress wounds (wrap wounds in bandages)

To say to stuff, you can use the verb 塡 (to fill).

把餡料塡進火鷄裏
Put the stuffing in the turkey


Can we omit the 吗 at the end of a 难道 rhetorical question? The Chinese Grammar Wiki writes:

  Note that 难道 can only be used for rhetorical questions which could be answered with yes or no, and generally end with 吗.

And gives examples such as:

  今天是我的生日，难道你不知道吗？

However, none of the examples on 标准教程HSK4上 page 105 include 吗, such as:

  怎么有买了这么多饼干和巧克力？难道你不减肥了？

From the examples I've seen, I'm getting the impression that the 吗 at the end can be included or omitted without changing the meaning.

Question: Can we omit the 吗 at the end of a 难道 rhetorical question?

Yes, definitely you can. However, in some situations, with 吗 it sounds more natural and less rude. And sometimes, with 吗 it might sound less criticizing, such as your first example 今天是我的生日，难道你不知道吗?


促进 vs 提倡 vs 推广 vs 宣传 - to promote So, I'm looking at a number of verbs that all float around the idea of 'to promote sth', however am not too sure where the dividing lines between them lie. Any help beyond my initial attempt below would be greatly appreciated!

促进 vs 提倡 - these both seem to mean 'to promote an (intangible) idea or cause', so for example health, generosity, a charity - so to openly say to other people that x is good and that should encorporate these intangible concepts into their lives. What is the difference between the two though?
推广 - this seems to revolve more around promoting tangible objects, mostly commercial items for sale?
宣传 - this also seems to mean promote but given that, as a noun, it means propaganda, I suppose it must have some kind of negative connotation. Maybe there is less emphasis on the recipient incorporating the intangible item in question into their lives, but just being aware of it?

Many thanks!

促 = to urge; to speed up
进 = to advance
促进 = to promote (something to make it advance).
Example:
(促进)香港旅游业发展 = (to promote/speed up) the development of Hong Kong's tour industry
(促进)血液循环 = (to promote/speed up) blood circulation

~

提 = bring up
倡 = support
提倡 = to promote (an idea by voicing support)
Example:
提倡人人戴口罩 = (Promote/ Voice support for)  everyone wearing a mask)
提倡男女平等 = (Promote/ Voice support for) equality between men and women

~

推 = push
广 = wide
推广 = to promote (to spread an idea to the public)
Example:
推广男女平等 = (Promote/ Spread the idea of) equality between men and women
推广学习中文 = (Promote/ Spread the idea/ benefit of) learning Chinese

~

宣 = to announce
传 = to pass along
宣传 = to promote (to push)
Example:
(宣传)香港旅游业 = (Promote/ Push) Hong Kong's tour industry
(宣传)这个新政策 = (Promote/ Push) this new policy


What is the added benefit of using 所 in 我所认识的人? I found that in Pleco, there is one special usage of 所:

[noun or pronoun + 所 + verb]
a [with 的 to modify a noun]

我所认识的人 // the people I know

大家所提的意见 // the opinions various people put forward

However, I feel that even without the 所, the meaning is the same.

我认识的人

大家提的意见

So what is the added benefits of using 所 in this use case?

This is an advanced question I think.

所 here loans the sense of 所有(的)（owned by）.

The structure 'pronoun + 所 + verb + 的( + noun)' indicates a subject-predicate-object relationship. In my opinion, this could have some exclusive effect or a bit emphasis on subject-predicate-object relationship. For example,

  我所认识的人 // the people I know

我所认识的人 excludes：

Subject 我， not others like 你，他, and etc.
Verb 认识， not other verbs like 信任，尊敬, and etc.
Target 人， not other thing like 东西，事情， and etc.

Compare the two phrases below:

  我所认识的人
  我认识的人

1 shows the preciseness of each component, subject, predicate, and object. 2 is just a casual way to say it. That being said, 1 is used when you are trying to be formal, clear or precise, while 2 is used when you don't have to be that formal and precise.


What are other words worth learning that follow this pattern with 象? Today I realised that:
象 means "elephant" which is the biggest land-dwelling animal,
亻+ 象 = 像 means "statue" which is the biggest person (I mean, a statue is the biggest representation of a human in the world),
木 + 象 = 橡 means "oak" which is the biggest tree.
Are there more of this 象 pattern? I'm sure these are not a coincidence.

The character 象 is a pictograph that depicts the image of an elephant. Its role in 像 and 橡 is as a phonetic component. It doesn't indicate  'size' or 'largest'.
像 (like; resemblance) and 橡(oak) have nothing to do with elephants. (象 means elephant is irrelevant, it is there for the sound)
Side note: 雕像 (statue) can be any size, some can be held in your hand


How to translate 城隍庙 into English? In Chinese folklores, 城隍 often makes an appearance; the temple a 城隍 is worshipped is called 城隍庙. How do we translate into English?

'城隍' is an officer title in the after-world
'城' stand for '城牆'(city wall); '隍' means 'moat'. '城隍爺' means 'officer of city wall and moat'. Therefore, '城隍庙' should be translated as 'Temple of the civic deity'
But I prefer transliterate '城隍' as'Cheng Huang' and '城隍庙' as 'Cheng Huang Temple'
Edit:

civic:
relating to a city or town, especially its administration; municipal
synonyms: municipal, city, town, urban, metropolitan

~

deity:
noun: deity; plural noun: deities
a god or goddess (in a polytheistic religion)

So, I guess "Town god's Temple" is also a correct translation for '城隍庙'. However, Town god sounded more like a description of 土地公 (local god)


What is the purpose of the website zuowen8.com, which contains student essays? I have stumbled upon the following website: http://www.zuowen8.com/.

It seems to contain a daily-updated listing of school students' essays, categorized into groups.

I figured out it would be good language practice. However, I would like to ask more able Chinese speakers about the website - I trust that a language user would be able to grasp things after a modest glance.

What is the purpose of the website? E.g.:

are the essays uploaded by students? Are they error-free?
is this meant to be a student resource, or a system to prevent plagiarism in essays?

What does the website's catchphrase (让写作成为一种习惯) mean? My guess is: Let writing become (something of) a habit. (is 一种 a quantifier here?)

It's called 作文吧。

  What is the purpose of the website? E.g.:
  are the essays uploaded by students? Are they error-free?
  is this meant to be a student resource, or a system to prevent plagiarism in essays?

I think this website is for primary school/secondary school/high school students. The purpose is to provide some good examples to show how to write a good article/essay.

It's a kind of student resource, and usually, make it easy to plagiarize. Not sure if it's bug-free. But it's "high-grade" in exam.

  What does the website's catchphrase (让写作成为一种习惯) mean? My guess is: Let writing become (something of) a habit. (is 一种 a quantifier here?)

It's a slogan. Yes It's "Let writing become a habit".


Difference between 人和 and 仁和 In Lao She's novel Rickshaw Boy, the protagonist works at place called "人和厂“.  To be very literal that is people's unity shop, in contrast to the protagonist's individualism.  But two thirds of the way through he notices the shop has changed its name to the homophone "仁和厂“ and "he wondered why that was."  .The new name could be rendered humane unity shop.

Would most people in China who are not thinking about this particular book say the two names mean about the same thing?  Is there a striking difference between them?  Or would the contrast be up to the author to describe?

Following Wang Dingwei's suggestion I see baike.baidu.com/view/581178.htm just says 天时地利人和 means "opportune" as the necessary time place and people come together.  It seems to me that 仁和 cannot share that meaning, but I am not sure.

Commentators say that when Lao She wrote this novel he rejected his earlier support of Confucian ideals, which he now considered badly individualistic.  The novel also condemns capitalism as individualistic.

Do 人和 and 仁和 relate to political slogans of the 1930s?

They are not quite the same.

人和 is a reference to 天时地利人和, where 和 means "harmony" rather than "unity". So it means "people in harmony".

仁和 is "humane and harmonious", both are good social and personal qualities.

The difference isn't that important if we take it out of context. They are all positive words that fit well for a company name.

Update. In answer to your last question: No.

The naming style is quite common in 1930s. It might serve as a sarcastic device -- A company bearing such a beautiful name are acting so evil. But even this would be an over-interpretation. Every company wants a good name. If I am writing a 1930s novel, no matter what I believe, I would use the same naming styles.


When to use 不是 + adj While I was studying, I came across this sentence.

  如果她不是特别漂亮也没关系。

But I’m confused as to why 是 is there. I thought negation of adjectives should’nt be accompanied by 是. Could someone explain this please? Thank you!

But I’m confused as to why 是 is there. I thought negation of
  adjectives should’nt be accompanied by 是. Could someone explain this
  please?

First think the component as 是[other description] where [other description] is true. 是 is used to denote some description is true. Because [other description] is after 是, [other description] is true.

Second think another component as 不[other description] where [other description] is false. 不 is used to denote some description is false. Because [other description] is after 不, [other description] is false.

First point and second point exist independently. Although they exist independently, they can be used together.

Use "first point" first. think 是特別漂亮 as 是[特別漂亮](是[other description], where [other description] is 特別漂亮)(is especially pretty). 是 is used to denote [other description] is true so 特別漂亮(especially pretty) is true. You get that 是特別漂亮 means is especially pretty.

Then use "second point" , think 不是特別漂亮 as 不[是特别漂亮](不[other description], where [other description] is 是特别漂亮) (is not especially pretty). In this example 不 is used to denote [other description] is false so 是特别漂亮(is especially pretty) is false. You get 不是特別漂亮 means "is not especially pretty".


The most used Chinese dialect on the Web? Do Chinese use different language dialects on the Web?

e.g. Mandarin, Cantonese, Min Chinese, Xiang  Chinese, Hakka Chinese, Gan

Is there difference how people in China are looking for stuff on the web? Do they type it in their local dialect or use standard Chinese?

Thanks,

Jev

On the web, standard Chinese is widely used. Simplified Chinese is used by Mainland china; Traditional Chinese is used more frequently in places like Taiwan. But the two speak the same way, so it doesn't matter.

Another trend is that more and more sentences are created by young guys on the internet, and the sentences are widely spreading on the web, so that only young people often browsing Chinese language internet can know what it means. And these sentences often make old people confused.


is 趁早 the same as saying as soon as possible? Can I use it by itself? is 趁早 the same as saying as soon as possible in English?

The dictionary defines 趁早 as "as soon as possible", but can I use it by itself in a sentence?

For example , if someone asks me "你什么时候想去吃饭?" Can I just respond by saying

"趁早". Or do I have to use an entire sentence like ”我趁早想去."

No, 趁早 does not exactly mean ASAP (as soon as possible).

趁 means to take the opportunity
早 means early
So, 趁早 means take the opportunity while it is still early or at the earliest.

Just to clarify further:

趁早 carries an emphasis on the window of opportunity. There is a deadline when such opportunity will be lost. The urgency of the matter is conditional on the window of opportunity. That is, it can be a very urgent matter that needs to be handled immediately, OR it can be a non-urgent matter that you can take your time as long as the opportunity still exist.

Some examples:

  如果你觉得这份工作不适合你，想要退出，要趁早让我知道。 If you think that this job is not
  suitable for you and want to quit, let me know at the earliest.
  看起来又要下雨了，你还是趁早把晾好的衣服给收起来吧。
  Looks like it is going to rain again soon, better keep all the laundry that you have just hanged out to dry while it is still early.

A better translation for ASAP would be 尽快.

  if someone asks me "你什么时候想去吃饭?

You can say "我想尽快去吃" to mean you would like to have your meal ASAP or "现在" to have your meal now if you are really in a rush.


What is the difference between using 光 vs using 只? What is the gramatical difference between 光 and 只?

光剩下2毛钱 does not have the same meaning/context as 只剩下2毛钱

It seems there is more emphasis to the part that comes after 光. When is the right time to use one over the other.

只 is more limited in grammatical scope: it can only function as an adverb, preceding the verb. 光 has a larger range of related uses, from being a pre-verbal adverb (also called a restrictive adverb) like 只, to a resultative complement used when a verb 'finishes' an associated noun (e.g. in 吃光了), as well its adjectival/adverbial meaning of 'empty' and 'naked'. 光 can also precede nouns and other adverbs (e.g. of time) in the sense of "only" where 只 cannot. However, words that include 只 such as 只要、只是 are used in a greater variety of set constructions (among the most well-known being 只要 X 才 Y).

However, both 只 and 光 can be used as pre-verbal (restrictive) adverbs, as the famous "只/光剩下2毛钱" sentence illustrates. There have been various analyses: 光 being more colloquial and characteristic of the spoken language, while 只 is preferred in the standard written language but is itself neutral with respect to spoken vs written. This is perhaps the most basic distinction in their use as adverbs: see Baidu's explanation. It is also known that 只 adopted its meaning of "only" earlier on (at the latest from the late Han dynasty) whilst 光 in this meaning is not even attested in the Kangxi dictionary (see zdic.net).

There is a claim that a clause with 光 implies a negative clause further on. One further explanation found on that website is that 光 with 有 has a focus on things other than the object of 光有, whilst 只有 shifts the focus onto the object of the clause itself. It uses the example 只/光有口号，是没用的 to make this point.

There is also the idea that 只 with quantitative measures (such as in the 2毛钱) means limited to that quantity, whilst 光 focuses on the object and the fact that it is alone. The modified sentence 口袋里只/光剩下2毛钱 illustrates this potential distinction: 只 may allow the possibilities of other non-money items in the pocket, whilst 光 emphasises that this money is all that exists in the pocket.

For some of these later points, there really aren't many trustworthy sources. It may be an interesting point on which to do some further research! There are also a few other words for "only", such as 单 and 仅 which could be examined.


韵/声 Dictionary Organization: Why? I have a copy of《四川方言词语汇编》published in 1987. Unlike most modern dictionaries organized alphabetically (A-Z) by pinyin, this dictionary is organized:

黑白韵
挥堆韵
湖图韵
堤西韵
狮子韵
青城韵
开排韵
豪陶韵
空同韵
侯头韵
骆驼韵
二耳韵
八大韵
天先韵
堂廊韵

and each 韵 is then split up:

平声
仄声

and those are then split up again:

阴平
阳平

and

上声
去声

respectively.
To complicate matters even more: each sections words are determined by the last word (or pronunciation, for that matter) in a given word/phrase/expression.
For instance:
The first word in 黑白韵/平声/阴平 is:

白白
be2 be1
蛋白。
奶娃儿吃点蛋黄黄算了，吃白白要饤到。（饤，读丁，指积食）

and then the following word is

善人伯伯
san4 ren2 be2 be1
旧时乞丐讨钱时对男性施者的称呼。

Why would a dictionary be organized this way?

Traditional Chinese phonology is organized according to initials (声母), finals (韵母), and tones (声调). This is a satisfactory phonological description of Chinese languages/dialects; it's not that different from a more granular description which broke apart finals into glides, vowels, and codas. I can only speculate as to why they decided to do it this way--perhaps that the scholars were describing the categorical distinctions of a dialect group led them to describe sounds in terms of representative characters for contrastive categories rather than descriptions of the specific phonetic realization. In any event, that's how they did it. The fanqie system for indicating pronunciation is a great example of describing phonetics in terms of characters representative of categories.

Many modern texts on 方言 are directed at linguistically inclined people, and they rely on the background knowledge of that general classification scheme. Also, since most modern 方言 descend from Middle Chinese, using the Guangyun system is pretty convenient at unambiguously talking about the phonology of a given 方言. This is especially common with tones. I have read a whole lot of charts like this.

This background knowledge goes beyond just "linguistically inclined people". I know some school children learn pinyin initial-by-initial and then final-by-final. The 注音 system used mainly in Taiwan (also known as Bopomofo, after the first few initials) is organized into initials and finals, though they also break out the -u- and -i- medials (e.g., huang = (h)(u)(ang)).

Now, to your original question. Why in the hell would a dictionary be organized this way? I can't say I entirely know. A few thoughts:

There isn't a standard romanization for Sichuanese that is taught in schools, the way standard pinyin is for MSM.
方言 books (that don't suck) tend to be written by linguists and use traditional linguistic terminology.
Chinese books are usually aimed at Chinese people, after all, so they tend to use Chinese characters rather than romanizations. I will say that I sure as hell prefer a traditional-Chinese-phonology approach over a "I haphazardly attempt to transcribe a language using Mandarin" one.


Poems/Phrases: Life is meaningful Looking for any sort of story/fable, poem/epic, phrase/chengyu that expresses that life is meaningful.

It can be

the hope that life is meaningful
the conviction that life is actually meaningful
the desire that life will become meaningful
or any variation

Just hoping that it will be something that most people will be familiar with.

What about this:
天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。


Why is 情结 used here? 然后该文作者笔锋一转，接着就指出了中国这种民族主义自豪情节的另一个方面.

But then, the author of this article accurately points out another aspect of this Chinese nationalistic pride.

I thought "自豪" alone is good enough, because it says pride, not "pride plot."

情节 is a common typo here. It should be 情结. It means complex.

In short, 自豪情节 refers to emotions, memories, perceptions, and wishes in the personal unconscious organized around pride.

Other common usage of the word 情结 include:

恋母情结/恋父情结

Oedipus complex. The complex that surrounds the child's desire to have a sexual relationship with the parent of the sex that adheres to their sexual orientation (mother or father)

处女情结/处男情结

The complex that surrounds the desire of dating a virgin, i.e. being the one to take his/her virginity.


遲 vs. 晚 in Mandarin: when to use which one? In Cantonese, you can use 遲 to indicate someone is late (e.g., not punctual) or the time is late (e.g., past midnight so all restaurants are closed).

However, it seems like Mandarin speakers use 晚 in place of 遲 most of the time.

What are the Mandarin guidelines for using 遲 vs. 晚? Should you just always use 晚?

迟(the standard simplified Chinese word, while the Chinese Traditional is 遲) and 晚 both have the meaning of late.

迟 usually means late for the appointed time or a certain time.
example: Party七点开始，你来迟了!—— The party start at 7:00 pm, you came
late!

The word '迟到' is frequently used to describe late for certain time
晚 is more complex

It has the meaning of late for a certain time.
example: Party七点开始，你来晚了!—— The party start at 7:00 pm, you came
late!

It also have the meaning of just being late but not for a
certain time. example: 他很晚到家—— He arrived home very late. example:
他昨晚很晚离开—— He left late last night.

Or it means evening. example:
晚上——evening, example:今晚——tonight, example:昨晚——last night.

Fun fact: to describe public transportation's behind schedule, the word is 晚点, where '点' means the schedule time for public transportation to arrive.


What's the difference between 浪费 and 白费？ I have only used 浪费 to express waste (time, effort, energy, etc) but recently have come across 白费. It seems to be more a waste on intangible items, but I am having trouble differentiating the two.

The crux is in the 白.
浪费 is similar to squander.
Here’s a good example from Oxford:

浪费自然资源
squander natural resources

To understand 白 I think it’s best to look at 白白 check out A Chinese-English Dictionary’s definition:

in vain; to no purpose; for nothing

here are two sample sentences they give:

白白丢掉一次机会
báibái diūdiào yīcì jīhuì
let a chance slip through one’s fingers; miss an opportunity

不要让时光白白过去。
Bùyào ràng shíguāng báibái guòqu.
Don’t let time slip aimlessly by.

So here we’ve got words like slip, miss, aimlessly and that is really what 白费 is made up of: slip/miss and squander - giving us: to do something in vain, to do something to no avail.
Here are two more examples from AC-ED:

白费力气
báifèi lìqi
waste of energy; all for nothing; plough the sand

白费心思
báifèi xīnsi
bother one’s head for nothing


The meanings of 不好意思 In response to kindnesses I sometimes say "不好意思了" and I don't think there has ever been a misunderstanding.  But as an English speaker I feel unsure how this is different from saying "不好意思" for a bad thing.  Can anyone advise on how the two meaning differ in use?

Does 了 occur here only in response to a kindness, and not in describing a bad thing?

Let me give an example.  A friend took me to see a friend of hers who gave me a thoughtful gift.  I said "thank you."  Everyone involved spoke enough English but later I thought "thank you" was not the right thing to say.  In English I could have said "this is too kind of you," or in Mandarin 不好意思了.  My friend confirmed that in her opinion those would have been better.  And I normally do say 不好意思了 at times like this.

It was not a case of any problem either with the gift or my gratitude.  It was just a case where I should have been more modest.  Maybe such things are always clear from context but I wonder if there are points of usage aside from context to distinguish the agreeable sense of 不好意思 from the sense of something wrong.

不好意思 has two meanings which are quite similar but applied differently. Quoting from 汉典 (English translation mine):

  ①表示碍于情面而只能怎样或不便怎样。(to indicate a face-saving compromise)

This is usually used as a form of acknowledgement and indirect acceptance of another person's kindness or generosity when none is expected. The person saying it usually has little choice, either because he is in desperate need for help or it would make the situation embarrassing if he refuses the generosity.

  ②害羞；难为情。(feel shy or embarrassed about the situation)

This is used in situations where one would feel embarrassed for troubling someone else. The level of embarrassment can be quite abysmal though, especially when spoken in sarcasm or when used for very minor things like asking for directions.

  Does 了 occur here only in response to a kindness, and not in
  describing a bad thing?

To answer your question, 了, does not determine the meaning of 不好意思. The reason why you may think so is due to the way you apply the first meaning of 不好意思 at the end of a sentence. Some examples to demonstrate why this is not necessarily the case:

真不好意思，又让您破费了。(without 了 ①)
不好意思，厕所在哪里？(asking for directions ②)
她被夸得不好意思了。(counter example ②)
不好意思了大家，我已经上岸了，你们继续摸石头吧。(counter example with sarcasm ②)


Is the ''a'' in ''ta'' pronounced as the ''a'' in ''tan'' or the ''a'' in ''tang''? It just occurred to me that I've been pronouncing the ''a'' in ba, da, fa, ga, ha, ka, la, ma, na, pa, sa, the same. But I've been pronouncing the ''a'' in ta differently. Like the ''a'' in ''ang''.

I'm not talking about tone here.

Think of the difference between the pronunciation of ''a'' in man and mang, tan and tang, dan and dang.

I checked a few online dictionaries that provide pronunciation and to my surprise both pronunciations exist for ''ta''. But not for the other ba, da, fa, etc. syllables.

Can anyone confirm this or add some info ?

Depending on the speaker, these spellings represent either two or three sounds. The short answer is that for standard pronunciation, you can treat the vowel sound in ta and tan the same way, but the a in tang is further back.
The a in tang is a back open vowel, written [ɑ] in IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet). That means that it's the same as the normal a in ta, except further back. The difference is not very big, but shouldn't be hard to hear. This sound is close to the a in Received Pronunciation, as in words like bath. This means that the word bang in English [bæŋ] is not very close to bang in Chinese [pɑŋ].
The -a in tan is trickier. There is some variation in how this is pronounced, varying from a normal [a] (i.e. the same as in ta) to [æ], which is less open, similar to the vowel sound in English bad [bæd]. The [a] pronunciation is more standard, but it's common to hear sounds approaching [æ] as well. You can find both transcriptions depending on where you look, so either [tʰan] or [tʰæn].
If you listen to the top row (-a, -an and -ang) on the Chinese Pronunciation Wiki, you can clearly hear the three different pronunciations (including something between [æ] and [a] for -an).
So, to answer your question, you can pronounce the -a in ta and tan more or less the same, but you should make sure that the -a in tang is further back.
The same is true for the other initials, of course, not just for t-. It's true that the initial (or any sound) influences the final (or any other sound), but I've never seen anyone claiming there's a significant difference between similar initials that learners need to worry about. These influences are often the result of transitioning from one sound to another and will happen naturally. You can certainly treat the -a in ta, da, ba, pa, ma, na, etc. the same.