Pronunciation of Z and C in Pinyin What is the correct pronunciation of the letters Z and C in Pinyin? Chinese phonology wikipedia says that Z is pronounced /ts/ and C is pronounced /tsʰ/, but several websites and videos say they are pronounced /dz/ and  /ts/, respectively. Examples:

https://chinesepod.com/tools/pronunciation/section/3
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/The_%22c%22_and_%22z%22_sounds
https://youtu.be/GNJYTz_-7vQ

When i hear words with Z and C, I clearly hear the latter pronunciation ( /dz/ and /ts/ ). Why Wikipedia says that Z is pronounced /ts/ ? Why isn't there a consensus about the IPA transcription of these 2 letters?

(Expanding my comment into an answer)

When discussing phonology of Chinese relative to English (or some other language), there are a couple important things to keep in mind:

Sounds (which we try to represent unambiguously with IPA notation) are not the same as letters. The letter "t" in American English can correspond to several different sounds. For example, the "t"s in each of the following words would all be written differently in IPA: "tea", "steam", "beat", and "butter". Perhaps you would consider the "t" in "tea" to be the prototypical "t" sound. How is it written in IPA? Not as [t]! It's actually [tʰ]!
IPA makes a 3-way distinction regarding voicing and aspiration. Some stops are truly voiced (in the sense of having vocal chords vibrating before the stop is even released). For instance [d]. There are unvoiced-unaspirated stops, where the vibration-start and the release are more-or-less simultaneous (e.g., [t]). And there are unvoiced-aspirated stops, where a puff of air comes out after the stop has been released and before the vibration of the vocal chords starts (e.g., [tʰ]).

Chinese, English, and French all make different two way distinctions in voicing/aspiration.

Chinese distinguishes [tʰ] and [t]. [d] is never produced but "sounds like" [t] to a Chinese listener.
French (and Japanese, for that matter) distinguishes [t] and [d]. [tʰ] is never produced but "sounds like" [t] to a French listener.
English distinguishes [tʰ] and [d]. [t] is never produced (in isolation at the front of a syllable, anyway), but (on its own), it "sounds like" [d]. However, for English speakers listening to someone who makes a [t/d] distinction (e.g., someone with a strong French accent), the [t] usually sounds like a [tʰ].

If you are unaware of the above, or you ignore it, it will be very confusing discussing the sounds in Chinese vs those in English. Here is my summary of how "z" and "c" sound, given the above:

Pinyin "z" is pronounced [ts] by Chinese speakers. If English is your native language, you are likely going to perceive it as sounding like [dz]. If you also pronounce it as [dz], that will probably "sound like" [ts] to Chinese listeners, so there won't be any miscommunication.
Pinyin "c" is pronounced [tsʰ] by Chinese speakers. If English is your native language, you will likely hear it as [tsʰ]. Note that the letters "ts" in English--for instance, in the word "tsar", assuming you attempt to pronounce the t in there--are pronounced [tsʰ]! "ts" is not pronounced [ts]!


Advice for Chinese listening exams? I've got an upcoming Chinese listening exam this coming Wednesday but I don't really know what to do apart from repeating the set of ten or so listening tests we have to practice from online. They're all short dialogues some with multiple choice answers and some where you have to fill in blanks in Chinese.

But really I'm seeking some general advice for listening. Does it really just come down to practice? For example is there a technique for those questions where you have a lengthy dialogue and five or so questions to answer (the recording gets played twice, and normally it is impossible at my rather low level to fill all the answers in first time around)?

Sorry if this sounds vague. But I do struggle especially on those types of tests; normally I either get fixated on one line but then don't listen to the rest of the dialogue in that moment. I'm wondering, given it is repeated, it is better to JUST listen on the first time and then answer on the second? But that seems risky too.

Are you learning for the tests, or are you learning for real?

Listen to Chinese radio. Fill your phone with audio books (librivox, tingbook). Watch movies. Immerse yourself, and you will find that those ridiculous tests are too simple for you.


How to write date and number in Chinese? I need to fill a part of a form in Chinese, does anyone here could help me?

I've tried to use google translate, but unfortunately, I know nothing about Chinese and I'm afraid I was wrong, please help me.

How to write the following  in Chinese?

1. "Z53120385"     is this true (Z五三一二零三八)?

2. " 11/03/2010"   is this true (十一 / 三 /二十二)?

"Z53120385"     is

Z五三一二零三八五

And there is a formal version in capital Chinese character:

Z伍叁壹贰零叁捌伍 (usually used as price in contract)

" 11/03/2010"   is

2010年03月11日

Chinese dates use numbers as a custom, there is no need to force translating. Or you can also use

2010/03/11 as Year/Month/day.

If you do need a full Chinese dates in a formal document, it should be

"二零一零年三月十一日".

I don't know what the number means, but in general, I presume there is no need to translate other than using dates in Year/Month/day. Because Chinese used to use letters and Arabic numbers in many situations like serial number, ticket number, dates and so on.


Is it common to call a waiter "朋友"? I'm in China and many staffs at cafes or bars call me "朋友" to get my attention, for example to bring the food to my table or ask me to hand in my AliPay screen. But on the other hand, it seems always "服务员" if a customer calls a staff, not "朋友".

However, I often hear customers call waiters "朋友" to get their attention, but in my experience this is true only when the customers are foreigners.

So I wonder if it is considered acceptable, or even if it is, still sounds awkward or unnatural, to call waiters "朋友" as a custermer. Also, do local Chinese call them "朋友"?

I think 服务员 is just a little bit old, formal and sometimes serious way of calling waiters/waitresses from some people's prospective nowadays. But I don't think it is offensive if you use it, especially if you're a foreigner. I also use it several years ago and even now.

Alternative way maybe 服务生(mostly for male). I guess it's the way from Hong Kong or Taiwan but accepted in mainland. This sounds more modern in some cases.

朋友 is not widely used by local in such cases. Maybe because you're a foreigner, they would like to show more friendly. I think they can call you 先生（Mister）/女士（Mrs.）/小姐（Miss）. However, if this is the cafe/bar's feature or tradition or something like industry rule (though I don't know such rule), then it's OK.

Instead, you can just call waiters (even not only waiters, but any other male you don't know)  as 帅哥、小哥、小哥哥（if he is young）； 兄弟、哥们；叔叔、伯伯、大叔(if he is elder)；大爷（very old）...
The same, call any female you don't know as 美女、小姐姐、小姑娘（if young）;姐姐、姐们儿；大姐、大嫂、阿姨（if elder）; 大妈（very old）...

小哥哥、小姐姐 are just the popular saying recently, we don't even use them maybe 2 years ago. Things are always changing, you know.

Finally, it's simple and proper to say 你好 in order to get the waiter's attention.


Are there common rules about the usage of verb-object compounds? Before jumping into my question, please forgive me if this question has ever been asked by someone else (I didn't find one though),
but could someone please explain to me the rules (or the way) of when we should use "verb only" words and "verb-object" words?
I still find this part confusing. Like, when should we use 睡 instead of 睡觉? Also the others like :
吃 and 吃饭,
学 and 学习,
说 and 说话,
雨 and 下雨，
etc.
Thank you.

A single character verb like 吃, 学 and 说 are typically more general, which mean they generally contain more than one meaning and can create ambiguity if there's not enough context

Two characters verb like 吃饭, 学习, and 说话 are compound words. Compare to single character words, compound words express more specific meanings, which mean you can avoid confusion due to multiple meanings contained in most single character (they can even be interpreted as different word types like noun or adjective).

You can use either single character verb or compound words verb in a sentence as long as there's no ambiguity.

More often than not, a single character verb cannot replace a compound words verb because it lack specificity. For example, 我要吃饭 (I have to/want to eat a meal- dinner or lunch) cannot be replaced with 我要吃 (I have to/ want to eat-- eat what?)

On the other hand, using compound word verb when a single character verb is sufficient is considered wordy or redundant.

Example:

殺這頭豬 (kill/ /murder / slaughter this pig) and 屠宰這頭豬 (slaughter this pig) basically mean the same thing. No one would think you meant 'murder this pig' when you say 殺這頭豬, therefore, there is no need to use the more specific term  屠宰


How does 也 work in 宁愿冻死也不穿? In the following sentence:

很多人因为害怕穿秋裤显胖，宁愿冻死也不穿。

What does 也 mean in the sentence? The entire sentence should mean something like the following:

Because of the fear that wearing one more pants behind the trousers make you look fat, so many people rather want to...

I don't understand the last part of the sentence, especially on the 也 part.
According no Pleco, 也 has the following entry (as an adverb):

[for emphasis, often before a negative expression]

她一天假也没请过。

But then how does it connect 冻死 and 不穿 and what does the sentence mean?
Also, is my understanding that 也 here works as an emphasis correct?

In this sentence 也 should not be understood individually.In Chinese 宁愿...也... is a coordinating conjunction. It means a choose relationship. You choose the option behind 宁愿 and you give up the option behind 也.
I think it seems like rather...than... in English.宁愿冻死也不穿 may be translated to rather be dead than be wearing the long underwear.
More examples about 宁愿...也...could be see in here;
And More examples about coordinating conjunction in Chinese could be see in here


What do 切入点 and 突破口 mean? Today I hear the news on radio that the pollution work in Hebei, China deteriortates when some public officers are involved in the scandal of discharging polluted water. Then an official of the local environmental authority said when interviewed by media that 我们将以XXX为切入点，以治污XX为突破口(sorry, some words are beyond my understanding), I think my script is nearly perfect or accurate, but what they mean really I like to hear what you say.

切入点: starting point, point of view

突破口: point of breakthrough

For example:

我们将以工业排放为切入点, 以污染源头为突破口.

(We will take industrial emission as our starting point, the source of pollution as breakthrough.)

爆米花理论似乎是一个无聊的切入点.

The theory of popcorn might seem a boring view.


Questions about the Taiwanese mandarin accent I recently got into learning mandarin, mainly because I recently travelled to Taiwan and really enjoyed their version of it.
Now I want to learn mandarin, possibly with a Taiwanese accent but I haven't found any helpful resources (like Taiwanese mandarin podcasts) or websites that comprehensively explaining the differences.
To sum up what I've read so far:

ㄓ、ㄔ、ㄕ are pronounced as ㄗ、ㄘ、ㄙ
The ㄦ˙ Sound is generally avoided
There are tonal differences as well as differences in vocabulary like 小姐

Especially troubling for me are the pronunciation of the Zhuyin/Pinyin characters compared to the standard mandarin accent, as well as tonal differences.
Can anyone recommend me some resources that could help me out in my quest to learn Taiwanese mandarin?

also keep in mind that I am an absolute beginner so please correct any mistakes or misconceptions of mine, and also point out any differences I may have missed

Many thanks

Edit: Maybe I should mention that I'm currently using the Practical Audio-Visual Chinese textbook for my studies, however for some reason the audio files were recorded in Beijing accent, so that doesn't help me with pronunciation either.

There actually is a course that distinguishes Taiwan Mandarin from Mainland Chinese Mandarin: Glossika has both split into different courses, much as European and Brazilian Portuguese are distinguished as standard in most courses.

One of the most salient basic phonological differences in standard Taiwan Mandarin 國語 vs standard PRC Mandarin 普通话 is ㄩㄥ vs yong. In Taiwan standard Mandarin it's yu- and -(e)ng, whilst in PRC standard Mandarin it's yi- plus -ong. However there's been some rapprochement happening between the two.

Another ㄥ related pronunciation issue relates to the quality of the vowel of after the labial consonants b-, p-, f-, m-: whereas PRC Mandarin uses a mid-back but relatively unrounded vowel [ɤ], whereas Taiwan Mandarin generally uses a slightly more closed but more rounded vowel [ʊ~u].

The Wikipedia article on Taiwanese Mandarin gives a quick run down. The merging of retroflex into alveolar is mentioned, as is the lack of erhua; additionally in Taiwanese Mandarin there is:

greater syllable-timed isochrony; syllables are regularly spaced, with much less difference between stressed and non-stressed syllables
as a corollary to the above, much less use of neutral tone

Then there are more basilectal forms of Taiwanese Mandarin, where the accent is strongly influenced by either Taiwanese Hokkien (Min Nan) or Taiwanese Hakka. This (the Hokkien version at least) is what is generally parodied as ㄉㄞˇ ㄨㄢ ㄍㄛˊ ㄧˇ (Dǎiwān góyǐ). You can see some of the phonological changes there: specific lexical interference from Hokkien on 臺, lack of certain glides, and the absence of the ㄩ phoneme (converting it consistently to ㄧ).


Does 害虫 and 益虫 cover different types of animals? I’ve been looking into the word “pest”, and the dictionary showed me 害虫, but 虫 means insects, so I wonder whether the word 害虫 only means harmful insects or it also can be used to refer to other pests like snakes or rats?

害虫 and 益虫 can only refer to insects, animals like snakes or rats can be called 有害动物。

But nowadays terms like 害虫 or 有害动物 are getting less and less use.


What do these characters painting mean? I tried to translate these characters but I´m not sure. Am I right?

I have more difficulties for the last 3.

勁直凌霄节傾斜帶兩枝 戊子初春 X子X

It could be something like that, no?

Straight slanting section with two branches
Spring of the Wuzhi year (Which one?)
XXX?

Could you help me?

Be indulgent. I´m a beginner ;-)

Thanks

Simon

The last 3 characters are 柳子谷, an artist's name and the ninth character is 雨. But I am not quite confident about the meanings.

EDIT:

Ah I see: 凌霄 is 凌霄花, 凌霄带雨 is a metaphor for adamancy and bravery.

EDIT 2:

See the comments below (*°∀°)=3


How do you say Difference between? How do you say the difference in this context: the difference between 4 and 6 is 2. It is 区别?

In this context, difference should be translated as 差額 or simply 差.

  四和六的差額為二

But if I have the freedom to not translate difference as noun but verb, I would simply say

  四和六相差二


What is the meaning of 成器 and how do you use it？ this new vocab in my textbook says it means: to make something of one's self.

我感觉绝望，我就想成器.

I feel so hopeless, I just want to make something of my self.
is this the right interpretation?

Thanks

It is a fixed saying, in modern times, it is usually used in negative expressing. i.e. 不成器

我感觉绝望，我就想成器.

People don't use 器 to refer himself, because the criterion is too low, imply that you are not even an ordinary human.

If you really want to use it, use it like this:

他不成器.
一个不成器的家伙.
老话说: 玉不琢不成器, 我要修理修理你.

There is another famous quote from Confucius: 君子不器 which has a totally different meaning, and the view point is not appropriate in modern times.


What is the origin of the proverbial phrase, "Drink the Northwestern winds"? I know of a Chinese proverb that warns against something along the lines of idleness. Translated literally into English, it would be something along the lines of "Drink the Northwestern winds."

What is the origin of the proverbial phrase? And what is so peculiar about the Northwestern winds of China that would have inspired this proverb?

喝西北风，originally as 吸风, from 《庄子·逍遥游》:

  藐姑射之山，有神人居焉……不食五谷，吸风饮露。

Its original meaning is to live with just breathing the air, not eating or drinking anything else. It's a state in Tao.

Nowadays, in oral Chinese, 喝西北风 usually means having nothing to eat because of poverty. For example:

  他工作要是丢了，全家都得去喝西北风。


Questions ending with 么: Do 么 and 吗 have the exact same meaning? I was chatting online with a Chinese person and he sometimes added 么 at the end of questions:

你觉得汉语难么？
是因为声调掌握不好么？

Can 么 and 吗 be used interchangeably? Do they have the exact same meaning?

么 at the end of the sentence can both have the meaning of 吗 or that of 嘛. If you look-up 吗 and 嘛 in 《现代汉语词典》 么 is mentioned as alternative (but the pinyin is still ma!). 吗 and 嘛 seem to be newer variants of 么.
These last years I've seen it used a lot in songs, on QQ and Weibo. Especially young people use it, but they often pronounce it me.
I've found a very interesting (but not always very accurate) "homework" about 么 and 吗.
Apparently at the time 鲁迅 (Luxun) it was used systematically used by most writers.
In the article the author give this example “孔乙已，你当真不识字么？” (but actually this contains an error, 鲁迅 actually wrote "你当真识字么", and in the same story there is the more famous sentence "你读过书么？").
Other famous writers such as 茅盾 and 曹禺 also systematically used 么. New editions of there books still often have 么 instead of 吗 and this usage hasn't completely disappeared.
么 was apparently already used during the Qing and Ming dynasties, but during the Spring Autumn Period they used 乎.


When to use 很 vs 非常？ What is the difference between using 很 and 非常？
For example:
猫和狗都非常可爱 and 猫和狗都很可爱。Is there any difference? Which one should I use with 漂亮？

a). "非常" usually is stronger.
猫和狗都非常可爱 (VERY VERY cute, VERY VERY adorable)
猫和狗都很可爱 (VERY cute, VERY adorable.)
E.g. bmw和benz都是好車，ferrari和lamborghini則是非常好的車。
b). You COULD use 漂亮 for both sentences.
猫和狗都很漂亮
猫和狗都非常漂亮
c). You also can use 漂亮 and 可愛 in one sentence.
猫和狗都很漂亮、很可愛。
猫和狗都非常漂亮、非常可愛。
But sometimes you might not use 可爱 to replcace 漂亮, and vice versa.
E.g
你的貓毛色很可愛(Your cat's fur color is so cute). It's understandable, but sounds a little odd. Use 漂亮 is better than 可愛。


Where can I find Codecademy for Written Chinese? Recently, my wife has been learning to program JavaScript using Codecademy. I like how it walks people through exercises step by step, and builds up concepts, etc. All the marking is automated, and there are hints available so you never get stuck. It allows multiple different answers which have equivalent meaning (so, it's not as simple as just fill in the blank).

I'd like to find something equivalent for learning/practicing written Chinese. Does such a thing exist? If so, where can I find it?

(I'm also hoping for characters [Simplified], rather than Pinyin).

To memorize characters and pronunciation you can use Memrise, which will help you to learn by repeating words you've missed during the previous learning session.

However, you won't learn any grammar or usage, just words. So it is not a complete solution, but a good help to expand your vocabulary.

It is not as feature complete as Codeacademy but I don't think that what you are looking for exists (yet).

If I were you, I would keep an eye on Duolinguo, which does not yet provide Mandarin but should in the future.


looking for a chinese simplified fonts which unable to find under the default fonts in Words are there free fonts for simplified chinese that I can download?  I have some default fonts but not the one I want.  I want to explore more fonts.

You might download Noto Sans CJK and Noto Serif CJK.

https://www.google.com/get/noto/help/cjk/

Choose SC version (SC for simplified Chinese)


Two word verbs with adverb I was just working on a Chinese review app and came across the sentence:

他游泳游得很快。

And I was wondering if the doubling of the first character is unique to certain kinds of verbs or all 2 character verbs.

Or can I also say 他游泳得很快。?

This is mostly just for clarity rather than anything else.

他游泳得很快 is not okay but 他游得很快 is okay. Without any context though who could understand a random 他游得很快? No one, really. Hence we get our doubling up: 他游泳游得很快。


Alternative name for Hong Kong 香港 Just as Mainland China can be referred to as 中国, 大陆 or 内地,

I was wondering whether Hong Kong has any alternative names (official or just as slang).

In English, we refer to Hong Kong in slang as 'the concrete jungle' or more officially, 'Pearl of the Orient'.

So I was wondering if there are any Chinese names other than 'fragrant harbor'.

香江

ABC Canto:

  PLACE WORD
  another name for Hong Kong; refers to especially to Victoria Harbor which resembles a river separating Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon Peninsula

  是次畫展於香江舉辦
  si6 ci3 waa2 zin2 jyu1 hoeng1 gong1 geoi2 baan6
  This time the exhibition of paintings is held in Hong Kong

  Notes: elegant

  See also 本港 bun2 gong2 香港地 hoeng1 gong2 dei2 太平山下 taai3 ping4 saan1 haa6 幻彩詠香江 waan6 coi2 wing6 hoeng1 gong1

Some additions from the above notes:

本港

  NOUN
  another name for Hong Kong

  呢隻藥喺本港冇註冊,間舖頭唔應該賣俾人
  ni1 zek3 joek6 hai2 bun2 gong2 mou5 zyu3 caak3, gaan1 pou3 tau2 m4 jing1 goi1 maai6 bei2 jan4
  This medicine isn't registered in Hong Kong, so the shop shouldn't sell it to people

  本港冇自己嘅空軍,根本冇呢方面嘅人材,結果係航空公司需要請外籍機師
  bun2 gong2 mou5 zi6 gei2 ge3 hung1 gwan1, gan1 bun2 mou5 ni1 fong1 min6 ge3 jan4 coi4, git3 gwo2 hai6 hong4 hung1 gung1 si1 seoi1 jiu3 ceng2 ngoi6 zik6 gei1 si1
  Hong Kong doesn't have its own air force, and basically has no talented people in this area, the result is that airline companies need to hire foreign pilots

  Notes: literally this harbor; figurative

太平山下

  PLACE WORD
  another name for Hong Kong

  NOTES: literally below Victoria Peak which is located on Hong Kong island


没有人不喜欢自己的。 what does 的 imply here? I understand the meaning of this sentence. Nobody doesn't like him/herself. My question is, why is there a 的 at the end? It is not a past tense sentence. And also there isn't any detail so that the 是。。的 structure be used. Then why? :-/
Does anyone of you more such examples where 的 is used like this? Please share if you do. Thank you. :)

@Stan's reference to NS.X's answer gives a good explanation. 是...的 construction doesn't necessarily imply past action. It's just for emphesis. It's easy to give some examples for this usage.

  I will never buy iPhone. I only use Android phone. 我是绝对不会买 iPhone 的。我只用 Android 手机。

NS.X's answer said that the 是 … 的 construction emphasises time, manner or place. In fact, it can also be used to emphasise the action(verb) itself. In 我是绝对不会买 iPhone 的, 的 emphesizes 不会买(won't buy). 是 can be left out here. (You can also say that the 的 emphesizes the whole sentence.)

With regard to没有人不喜欢自己的, the 的 is used here to emphasize on 不喜欢(doesn't like). Its full version is 没有人是不喜欢自己的. 是 is left out here.

Look at the fourth meaning item of 的 from Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, 6th Edition.

Figure 1. Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, 6th Edition, page 272

④用在陈述句的末尾，表示肯定的语气：这件事儿我知道~。
It can be translated as "Used at the end of a declarative sentence, indicating an affirmative tone: I do know this thing."


Why is a "thing" called "东西" and not "南北"? Why is a "thing" called "东西" and not "南北"?

There were two large markets in ancient Chang'an (长安/長安) city of the Tang (唐) dynasty, one called east market (东市/東市) and the other one called west market (西市), gradually people perfer to say to buy east and west (去买东西/買東西) rather than to buy goods in east and west market (去东西市购买商品/去東西市購買商品). The new business district West Market of Great Tang (大唐西市) has reconstructed on the old site of the ancient west market in Xi'an Shaanxi (陝西西安/陕西西安) today.


Is there a term for the noisy bringing up of phlegm in preparation to spit? There's a colloquial term in some regions in English I've seen spelled hoik and hoick to refer to the noisy act of clearing the throat/nasal cavity of mucus/phlegm, usually just before spitting it out. This is different from what would in English normally be meant by the term "to clear one's throat", which is a quieter action a bit like a closed-mouth cough.

Since this doesn't seem to be considered rude or vulgar in Chinese culture as it is in many western countries, it's a lot more common. So I'm wondering there are Chinese terms for it. (Mandarin preferred but all Chinese varieties are of interest.)

You can use 咳 (ke) for the sound of clearing one's throat. It's the same character in 咳嗽, which is "cough". It is also the character used when people clear their throat to draw others attention to themselves. In this case, it is 咳咳.


What is a polite response to 《很高興認識你》？ I usually say 《我也是》， but it feels like an awkward response, and maybe a bit cold.  Is there a common friendly or colloquial response? Thank you!

Use:

我也是很高興認識你。
請多多指教。(I'm not really sure how to translate this phrase.)
能夠認識到你是我的榮幸。 (It's my honour / It's my pleasure to meet you here.) / (I'm delighted to meet you here.)

There's a lot of response for this. Just comment below if you have further problem.


What does "吹" in "她在冷风中吹了好一会儿" mean? I could not determine which one the "吹" in this sentence means.

From what I understand, it generally means "blow" and "fail"

我们吹了= We broke up (fail)

他吹了一声口哨= He whistles (blow)

Then it could also mean "boast" though I can't find the example.

"吹" roughly means "blow" here, as in "the wind blows". However, as the subject in this sentence is "She", not the cold wind ('冷风'), "吹" can be translated into "to be blown" in a more accurate sense. Similarly, "吹风" can mean either "to blow air" ("disclose information" in extension), or "to be blown by wind", depending on the context.
My translation of "她在冷风中吹了好一会儿” would be "She was exposed in the cold wind for quite a while."


Which ma belongs in the phrase 我 "ma" 好的 This may be a SE dialect thing, but plenty of my friends say 我 "ma" 好的 to mean 我很好 or "ma" 好的 to mean good or I agree with you.

Can someone tell me which character (if there is one) is supposed to be used here?

I think you mean "man" instead of "ma"?
If so, it's 蛮.

  我蛮好的.


How is 还 used with adjectives? I've seen cases of 还 being used with adjectives and verbs like in the following examples:

还好
还可以

What connotation does 还 give in these cases?

还 is a polyphone with two pronunciations: hai2 and huan2. Your examples are using the first one.
The idea behind 还 (hai2) in these words is still; yet.

还好 = yet good = fair
还可以 = still acceptable = fair

还 (hai2) has another meaning: in addition; else, as in 还有, 还要.
The meaning backto; return mentioned in the other answer belong to the pronunciation huan2, which IMHO has nothing to do with your examples.


How to translate 渗透渲染？ The Chinese text has 渗透渲染 as a compound noun. This is a bit difficult to render in English. I split it up. Any suggestions on how to keep it as 1 word?

渲染： 画国画时用水墨或淡色涂抹画面以加强艺术效果

泰山位于山东省中部，
Taishan lies in the middle of Shandong Province,
自然景观雄伟高大，
(its) natural scenery is of imposing heights,
有着数千年精神文化的渗透渲染
permeated (渗透) by a backwash (渲染) of millenia of spiritual culture
和人文景观的烘托(offset)。
and offset (烘托) by man-made places of cultural interest.

I think 渗透 and 渲染 are juxtaposed here, so

  permeated (渗透) by a backwash (渲染) of millenia of spiritual culture

should be

  permeated and rendered by millenia of spiritual culture


How to translate game difficulty level terminology: "noob level", "mature level", "mad level" I have a game that has 3 levels of difficulty: "noob level", mature level", "mad level". How can I translate these 3 terms into Chinese? (I don't use "easy", "normal", "hard" in my game because they are popular and trivial words. I want to use some 'special words')

Noob level - 菜鸟级别
Mature level - 成熟级别
Mad level - 疯狂级别

You might want to wait for some other answers as people here are creative~


Is Chinese writing pictorial, ideographic - or neither? Chinese writing - that of Mandarin - does not seem anything like picture language as that is represented by Egyptian hieroglyphs. Nor does it seem ideographic in the sense that each character represents an idea. Is there is an accurate, brief characterisation of the language ? Perhaps there is not. I ask my question from a position of, as you will have realised, very considerable ignorance. But I would appreciate any guidance.

Is there is an accurate, brief characterisation of the language?

Considering it had developed over such a long period of time, it would be a trade-off between these two. The shortest, yet acceptable answer I can give is:

Written Chinese characters started with both pictorial and ideographic ones, but has grown more complex over history: Sometimes two characters that had the same sound would get confused and become the same character. Sometimes new characters are made combining the sound from one and meaning of another. Loanwords from sounds also exist throughout history. But the sounds also changed throughout history.


What is the meaning of the last phrase here? 但上涨的部分又被不断上涨的成本抵消 Can anyone help with the last part of this text. I put the section title and the whole paragraph, so you might be able to decipher it. I can't see what they are saying. 2 other times people here have said 'that is weird text', but it comes direct from my Business Chinese book, it was not written by me! Is it bad Chinese?

促进中国制鞋业成长。

欧盟鞋类反倾销对中国鞋的直接影响

压力主要体现在皮鞋出口数量与金额上。曾有数据统计显示，维持反倾销税的一段时间内，中国对欧盟的鞋类出口增幅明显下降，单价却显著上升，但上涨的部分又被不断上涨的成本抵消。

单价却显著上升，
the unit price however clearly increases, (because of the anti-dumping tax, I suppose)

(I can't figure this part out. How does it relate to the above?)

但上涨的部分又被不断上涨的成本抵消。

but  increase price part again by the non-stop increase of (production) costs equal to/counteracted,

Let's go through this part piece by piece.

压力主要体现在皮鞋出口数量与金额上 = The pressure is mainly seen in the number and price of exports.

曾有数据统计显示 = Statistics have shown clearly that

维持反倾销税的一段时间内，中国对欧盟的鞋类出口增幅明显下降 = after maintaining the anti-dumping law for some time, the growth rate of China's shoe exports has a noticeable decline.

单价却显著上升 = However, the price of the shoes kept increasing.

So up till now, we have one part that is increasing (the shoe price) and one part that is decreasing (the growth rate of the shoe exports).

Now let's look at final part:

There are 2 nouns phrases that we need to figure out.
上涨的部分 = The part that is growing. As we noted above, this is the price of the shoe.

不断上涨的成本 = The ever increasing costs of making/exporting the shoe.

Then it becomes:

但 [上涨的部分] 又被 [不断上涨的成本] 抵消

抵消 means "canceled out" and "又被" means "have been" and 但 means "but."

Then putting all this together it means:
Yet, the growing price is being canceled out by the rising costs of making/exporting the shoes.


What does '麦上' mean in 小蛮腰 song? 三百六十五秒 让你受不了 站在麦上顶你 继续我的小蛮腰

Do I have to literally translate '麦上' as 'standing on the wheat'?

(I'm very sorry to ask about this song, we're learning about modern Chinese song, thanks in advance)

A couther interpretation of 站在麦上顶你 is 站在麦词的立场上顶持你.

麦 is a short form of 麦词.

麦词 are the words of the rap music.

The MC stands the microphone controller.

喊麦 is the corresponding Chinese term in China.
The words are then called 麦词.

顶 means to support, to agree, to say yes, to give a plus (Google+), to give the thumbs up (Facebook) or to give an upvote (here, Stackexchange).
The similar terms are 赞 (Weibo), 推 (Twitter), and so on.

Therefore, 站在麦上顶你 may mean 用麦词支持你.
I support you from the standpoint of the rap words.
I support you with the rap words (so that you can continue ...).


Loan words borrowed from the middle/end of original word? I was thinking about 氡, radon recently. The pronunciation: dōng (dong1) seems to suggest that sound was borrowed from the ending of the English word. Wiktionary corroborates this theory:

Etymology
Borrowed from English radon.

This is quite interesting because most loanwords seem to come from the beginning of words, if anything, and especially not the middle or the end of a word. You might expect some form of: rui, for instance, for radon.
What other loan words exist where the sound was borrowed from the middle/end of the original word?

This article (p. 60-61) provided the reason 氡 (radon) is based on the latter syllable. In summary, this was the result of an argument between Chinese chemists appointed to element naming in the early 20th century. Those that argued radon should not be given a pronunciation similar to 鐳 (radium) so as to avoid confusion won. The lost faction argued  reflects the origin of radon from the alpha decay of radium better.

Wikipedia argues 砷 (arsenic) and 鋁 (aluminium) came from the second syllable of the English equivalent. 碘 (iodine) came from the third.

Another example I can think of is the Taiwanese translation of Al-Qaeda, 蓋達組織 (not a character per se). That is so because 'al-' is an Arabic definite article ('the') and Chinese does not have a grammatical equivalent, therefore omitted. However, the translation 阿爾蓋達組織 is still perfectly valid.


Study abroad in Hong Kong, should I start learning traditional? I am currently learning Mandarin and simplified characters, but as I am studying abroad in Hong Kong next year, should I start learning traditional characters? Or are simplified characters widespread enough now that I should continue focusing on simplified?

I am in my second year of study at university. I will be taking a Cantonese course when I study abroad in addition to a Mandarin course. I will not be studying abroad until the Fall.

simplified characters widespread enough

They're not. Most, if not all, road signs, newspapers are in traditional Chinese, and English.

Web sites are in traditional, simplified Chinese and English.

I would recommend learning traditional Chinese, not for surviving in HK. It's the culture, the literature of yore are recorded in this script. If you need to study further, you need to know it.

By the way, if you know it, you may compare the difference between Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and "that area".

Lastly, learning Cantonese and Mandarin together, well, good luck lah :)


Pinyin of 車 in idioms In Cantonese, 車 has two pronunciations: [ce1] and [geoi1].

In Mandarin, 車 also has two different pinyin: [che1] and [ju1].

[ce1] corresponds to [che1].

[geoi1] corresponds to [ju1].

In most idioms, 車 is pronounced as [geoi1] in Cantonese. For example: 閉門造車, 車水馬龍, 前車可鑒, 螳臂擋車, 學富五車 and 舟車勞頓. All have the character 車 pronounced as [geoi1].

*杯水車薪 is an exception with 車 pronounced as [ce1] (車 is a classifier here. The above mentioned idioms all have 車 as a noun).

It confused me when my friend wrote: "two of the Mainland dictionaries (including 現代漢語詞典) use [che1] to correspond [geoi1]" and list 閉門造車 as [bi4 men2 zao4 che1] instead of [bi4 men2 zao4 ju1], which correctly corresponds to [geoi1] in Cantonese.

Edit:

After reading some forums, apparently dictionaries in Mainland China, are contradicting each others, with some listed 'che1' and others listed 'ju1' for all the idioms I mentioned. It means the opinions on how to pronounce 車 in idioms are not unified in Mainland China.

With that said, the question remains. "Is it acceptable to pronounce 車 in the idioms I listed as [che1] in Mainland China?" I mean, if I said: "bi4 men2 zao4 che1" would some people correct me and tell me that I should pronounce 車 as 'ju1' instead? Most importantly, which one do teachers teach to students?

You can safely prounouce '车' as [che1] in all idioms above in mainland China. Actually if you don't do it, someone might get confused since it seems we only pronounce it as [ju1] when refering the name of a Chinese Chess piece.


What does the `的` mean in `我是九点去上班的`? In the reply to 你是什么时候去上班的?, what does the 的 in 我是九点去上班的 mean? I think that without the 的, the sentence makes sense in and of itself, right?

And the meaning is that I start to work at 9:00 am...., right?

These other answers are good, but they're missing the crucial element, which is why you have the 的 in that sentence. It's because 是, roughly translated into English as is, am, are, is a linking verb that is expecting a noun. If you said 我是九点去上班 that would essentially mean, I am go to work at nine. Which, of course, doesn't make sense.

However, 的 takes whatever is before it and turns it into an adjective, thus making "go to work at nine" an adjective. You're probably thinking, "Where's the noun, then?" Well, the noun is implied. That means that 我是九点去上班的 translates into I am a go-to-work-at-nine-type of (implied noun), or rather, I am a person who goes to work at nine.

Make sense? It sounds a little convoluted, but that's what's going on.


Different terms for money throughout history What different terms for money have there been throughout history?

Like:

孔方兄
上清童子

Time period used too would be nice.

泉     战国
邓通   汉
货泉   汉
白水真人 汉
阿堵物 南北朝
孔方兄 晋
青蚨 -
上清童子 唐
没奈何 宋
不动尊
袁大头 民国
大团结 1949之后
毛爷爷 当代

ref here


Why Is The Color Red Considered Lucky In Chinese Language and Culture? A constant feature in all things Chinese is the color (colour, for those yank-challanged among y'all) red.

As common knowledge goes, it is because red is considered to be lucky.

Why?

Here we have an old tale in China, saying that there is a beast called the "Nian" (年獸), and it will only attack people in spring. But it's afraid of all things red.

That's why Chinese people use many red things in the lunar new year (also in spring). It became a common color represent "lucky" in Chinese culture.

More information about Nian can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nian


How can I find the exact written versions of commonly spoken Cantonese words? I was trying to find the written representation of the Cantonese word "to make", pronounced as "jing", by looking through the alternatives on Google Translate and reading the Mandarin pronunciations.  What better ways are there to find the exact written word for spoken Cantonese words?

There are a lot of Cantonese dictionaries online. The one I often use is CantoDict. It is volunteer-contributed and is pretty comprehensive. I has both characters and words, and has pronunciation for both Cantonese in Jyutping and Mandarin in pinyin, meanings in English. and you can search based on characters, Jyutping, pinyin, or English.

Once you get the hang of Jyutping, that will be the easiest way to search for something you know how to pronounce in Cantonese but don't know the character for.


How does word order work in "作业 他 一点 都 没 做 ？"? In Chinese grammar wiki, I found this sentence:

  作业 他 一点 都 没 做 ？

I'd like to read up on how this word order works and how to correctly apply it. Does it change the meaning or focus?

This is the classic "topic-comment" structure in Chinese sentences. Bring the object of the verb to the beginning of the sentence for focus and emphasis, then comment on it.

作业他一点都没做。

Homework (topic) - he didn't do one bit (comment).

He didn't do one bit of homework.

法語我一句都不會講。

French (topic) - I don't know how to say even one sentence (comment).

I don't speak French at all.

And this structure is not limited to negative sentences either.

芒果蛋糕我最喜歡，巧克力蛋糕沒那麽喜歡。

Mango cake (topic) - I like it the best (comment). Chocolate cake (topic) - I don't like as much (comment).

Mango cake is my favourite, and I like chocolate cake less.

漢語我已經學了三年，還是一句都不會講。

Chinese (topic) - I have learned for three years, still even a single sentence I cannot speak (comment).

I have learned Chinese for three years now, but I still cannot speak a single sentence.


In pinyin, why is there an inconsistency between bo, po, suo, duo etc We have:

  bo, po, mo, fo, wo

But then:

  duo, suo, luo, zuo, ruo, cuo, guo, huo, nuo, tuo

In each, the vowel is pronounced the same, but the creators of pinyin have chosen two different spellings.  It seems that the u could be dropped from the second group without introducing ambiguity. So far, none of my Chinese friends have been able to convincingly explain this apparent inconsistency.  Why does it exist?

EDIT

After some discussion, both here and with native speakers IRL, it seems that I might have been incorrect in my assumption that both groups' vowel sounds are pronounced exactly the same. See jogoloran's and j5shi's answers that suggest a very subtle difference that occurs naturally due to initial position of the lips.

It seems that Pinyin does this to conform to a former phonetic transcription system 注音符号, which drops u (ㄨ) before o (ㄛ) after b p m f.
注音符号 was originally designed to reflect some old (perhaps not even real) phonetic rules and symbols like uo (ㄨㄛ) uan (ㄨㄢ) were used. However, in most Chinese dialects there's no contrast between rounded and unrounded vowels after b p m f. So they decided to remove all u (ㄨ) and yu (ㄩ) after b p m f to simplify this system. [1] In fact (u)o is the only rounded vowel that can appear after b p m f. [2]

Another note: o (ㄛ) and e (ㄜ) are traditionally considered to be a rounded-unrounded pair, that's why 注音符号 deliberately chose similar symbols to represent them. In the Pinyin system, you will find “we” “o” are sometimes used interchangeably. e.g. weng = ong.
[1] 聲韻學：為何ㄅ、ㄆ、ㄇ、ㄈ不能與ㄨ的結合韻相拼？

民國10年（1921年）2月國語統一籌備會訂正、教育部公布之《教改國音字典》（商務印書館本）附〈修正《國音字典》之說明〉一文，云：
又如唇音各聲母與韻母拼合，原案根據韻書，有用開口呼之韻母者，有用合口呼之韻母者，如「剝」「駁」音「ㄅㄛ」，「撥」「鉢」音「ㄅㄨㄛ」；「煩」「繁」音「ㄈㄨㄢ」，「凡」「帆」音「ㄈㄢ」之類；編《字典》時，因唇音聲母本（巳）［已］合口，故遇原案中唇音與合口呼韻母拼合之字，除「ㄨ」韻以外一律改用開口呼韻母。

[2] 唇音字的开合

因此，唇音字没有开合口的对立。赵元任《中古汉语的语音区别》和李荣《切韵音系》中都主张中古汉语唇音字不分开合口。虽然原则上没有对立，但是在开合口分韵而且原来的主要元音是央、后元音的韵部中，唇音声母后有一个介音。
这和现代汉语普通话的情况非常类似。其他位置的声母都有有无介音[u]的对立，如“单”和“端”、“甘”和“关”、“三”和“酸”、“詹”和“砖”、“安”和“湾”，只有唇音原则上没有不分开合的对立。


Translation verification for a notice Hello everyone I hope you can help me with a translation. I am looking for a Cantonese teacher (or speaker for that matter) in my area and I want to post a notice. I have asked and received a translation on a different site but I would really appreciate a second opinion.

  Cantonese Teacher Wanted!

  I am learning Cantonese and I would really need a teacher. I am
  willing to pay. If you know Cantonese and are willing and able to
  teach please contact me. Basic level of English or Romanian required.
  If you need help with either of these two languages I can help you as
  well. Phone Number : xxx...; E-mail : xxx...;

  聘用廣東話教師

  本人正在學習廣東話並且需要一位教師。若果你對廣東話有一定的認識以及懂得教學的話，敬請聯絡本人。
  本人願意付學費。要求教師有基本英文或羅馬尼亞語的智識。若果閣下希望在這兩種語言得到幫助，本人也可以提供幫助。 本人聯絡電話:xxx...;
  本人聯絡電郵:xxx...;

Thanks a lot for your help! I thought I should post the final version of the notice here. Cheers

聘用廣東話教師
本人正在學習廣東話並且需要一位教師。如果你對廣東話有一定的認識以及懂得教學的話，敬請聯絡本人。
本人願意付學費。要求教師有基本英文或羅馬尼亞語的知識。如果閣下希望在這兩種語言得到幫助，本人也可以提供幫助。
本人聯絡電話:xxx
本人聯絡電郵:xxx


General guidelines for learning stroke order A friend asked me for a brief description of the general guidelines for writing Chinese characters. What are the simplest ways to describe those "rules" that apply across most characters?

The best place to start is with the Wikipedia entry on stroke order. It lists these guidelines, along with more detail and some nice animated examples:

  Write from top to bottom, and left to right.
  Horizontal before vertical
  Diagonals right-to-left before diagonals left-to-right
  Center before outside in vertically symmetrical characters
  Enclosures before contents
  Left vertical before enclosing
  Bottom enclosures last
  Dots and minor strokes last

In my experience, you don't need to panic about the details of each character, and there is sometimes disagreement about the "correct" order. If you learn the general guidelines, you won't usually make embarrassing mistakes. If you do want to see the details of a specific character, there are lots of on-line resources. Here are the two I most often use:

MDBG.net - Type the pinyin and press enter, then click on the character you want. Finally, hover over the >> arrow and click on the brush to see a stroke order animation.
zhongwen.com - Use the search page to find the character you want, then scroll to the bottom and click on the "Animated" link to see a different stroke order animation.

Although those are the two I use most often, the stroke order reference I find most beautiful and readable is the Wikimedia Commons Stroke Order Project, specifically, the Black and White images. Here's an example:

They're much easier for me to use than an animation, because they are static images. I can scan back and forth with my eye, instead of waiting for the animation to cycle through. I used them as the inspiration for my Mnemosyne flash card files. Mine aren't quite as pretty, because they are automatically generated, but they have the added feature of a grid to guide your stroke placement.

I just discovered the Stroke Fanning reference. It's very compact (500 characters on a two-page PDF), but I still find the Wikimedia Commons format much more intuitive to read.


Does xiang (third tone) mean "want" or "echo"? I am reading this set of poems for my humanities class. One of the lines is:

Supposedly, the last character is xiang with a third tone and it means to "sound" or "echo".

But I thought this character means "want", as in 想.

Can someone clarify what xiang (third tone) means?

響 (xiang3) is the traditional form of 响, which means to "sound" or to "echo". It is not the same character as 想, which means to "think" or to "want". It is not uncommon for different characters to have the same pronunciation and tone. Examples off the top of my head include:

zhong1: 中 (中国), 钟 (两点钟), 终 (终于)
ying1: 应 (应该), 英 (英雄), 鹰
sha1: 杀 (杀死), 沙 (沙滩), 莎
diao4: 调 (调查), 钓 (钓鱼), 吊 (吊着)

Somewhat tangentially, it can be difficult to determine what character a spoken syllable is supposed to correspond to with absolutely no context. One consequence of this is that people often will indicate the characters for their names when speaking by giving examples of terms or phrases with the component characters (e.g. 谢谢的谢，英雄的英). (Character(s) in "given names" rarely form combinations that would be permissible in normal usage, even in cases where a coherent meaning for the whole name is obvious: e.g. 马英九, 崔世安, 周杰伦, 刘博.)


What is a better way to say the phrase 腳都軟掉? Popular in Japanese anime and cartoons, after someone says something "cringy", you often see people falling down and having their feet in the air. What would be a good way to describe this phenomenon, both in Chinese and English.

I suggest 「翻倒」and  that is "flipped" in English

Example:

「他此言一出，眾人翻倒」; "Once  he said that, everyone flipped"

Also, in this kind of scene, the audience was figuratively "being knocked out" or "floored". I found the idiom "blow someone away" be a good match, and from the example sentence, I found "knock someone off their feet" suit even better.

  http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/blow+away

  Blow somebody away also blow away somebody:

  To cause someone great pleasure or surprise knock somebody off their feet

  "Everyone I tell that story to, I mean everyone, is just blown away."

  Related vocabulary: blow your mind

Example:

"Once he said that. Everyone was blown away!"

"His stupid words knock everybody off their feet!"

"His stupid words floored everyone!"

As for Chinese slang, 「雷倒」http://baike.baidu.com/view/1816380.htm describe the reaction scene  very well.

Example:
「他的蠢話，雷倒眾人」


Why does 負 also mean "minus" and "negative"? The meaning of "negative" contradicts the "Formation Method" of "person carrying a lot of money" in Yellowbridge below. Unquestionably, if a person carries a lot of money, their net worth is NOT negative! So

Above is Yellowbridge. Below is Oxford Chinese Dictionary (2010), p 226.

I think it's a mistake to rely too heavily on the glyph origin to interpret meanings of a Chinese morpheme.

It's easy to confuse the origins of Chinese characters and the origins of Chinese words. One is a question about a writing system; the other is a question about etymology and of (primarily spoken) language. In this particular case, the original word pre-dates the entire Chinese writing system. In fact, it can be traced back to before Chinese and Tibetan split! There is still a cognate word meaning "to carry" in Tibetan today. So, the original meaning was "to carry", and the character was invented to convey that meaning. The use of money in that depiction is presumably incidental.

Even when characters make sense when they're invented, language continues to change. No one goes back and changes the character to match. In this case, I would propose the following chain of meanings:

To (literally) carry something
To (metaphorically) shoulder something, e.g., a burden
To owe, e.g., a debt
Negative number (e.g., a debt on a ledger)

Perhaps that chain of meanings is chronologically incorrect. But if so, the right way to answer the question is to start with the original meaning ("to carry") and trace (through literary sources) when the other usages came about and in which order they did so. The original construction of the character is only really helpful in terms of understanding the original meaning, not the subsequent chain of extended meanings.


How to pronunce "eng" How to pronunce chinese "eng" ?
Is the "en" part of chinese "eng" like the english word "end" or is it like the english part "un" in "trunk" ?

If I understand your question correctly, the answer is no, Mandarin -en is not part of -eng, just like English "sin" is not part of "sing".
Even though "ng" is written with two letters in both Mandarin and English, there is only one sound: [ŋ]. That's the sound at the end of "sing" in English. Pinyin -n is close to the sound at the end of "sin" in English.
I suggest that you play around with these words in English a bit until you realise that "ng" is actually one sound, even if it's written with two letters. The situation is analogous to -n and -ng in Mandarin.
The vowel is the central vowel [ə] in both cases, which is the most common sound in human speech. It's the same as "a" or "the" in English (although it can vary by English dialect, of course).


What's the difference between 确实, 的确, and 实在? I never understand the difference between these three words, and nobody has never been able to explain it to me. I searched about it on many books, and websites, but I just didn't get it. Can you please try to explain it to me? Thank you.

Let's first focus on their usages as adverbs. Adjective meanings are different.

A. As adverbs, 的确 and 确实 are the same. They mean 'indeed': without any question

used in response to a statement that is regarded as doubtful or surprising
used when making a statement that adds to or strengthens a previous statement

For example, "A: 你会给朋友推荐这本书吗？B: 没错，我(的确／确实／真的)会给朋友推荐这本书。" （A: Would you recommend this book to your friends? B: Yes, I will indeed recommend this book to my friends.)

B. As an adverb, 实在 means really/very: — used to refer to what is true or intensive (the latter is not in 的确／确实):

without question or doubt
to a great degree

For example, you can say "实在漂亮". It just means really/very beautiful.

In summary, to say 'in fact or indeed', you can use any of 的确, 确实 and 实在. But to mean 'really / very', you can only use 实在.

For example,
After watching the movie, I think it is indeed a good one. 看完电影以后，我觉这(的确／确实／实在)是部不错的电影。

After I won a free movie ticket, I was really really happy. 赢得了免费的电影票，我实在是太高兴了. (but not 的确／确实)

Hope it helps a bit. As adjectives, they are also different but less subtle.


Standard Chinese translation of "I'm not a bad person" I'm trying to translate "I'm not a bad person" to standard Chinese. I am told the following:

  There are also two ways to say "A isn't B". When B is a noun (things, people, places, etc.), use bú shì.

It seemed to me that B here is "bad", which is an adjective. So I said that the translation would be "wô bú huài-rén". The only other option would have been to add "shì".

But I was told that this is incorrect. It seems to me that I followed the information correctly, no? Did I do something incorrectly, or are the instructions incorrect?

Thank you.

B is person, which is a noun. So you should use 不是. Bad is an adjective and it's used to modify person, so the translation should be

我不是一个坏人。


What is the word to emphasize the 最~ ("by far the best") in Mandarin? I would like to know an equivalent word for "by far" in Mandarin, when it comes to the superlative degree (最～）.

For example:

  有的人之所以不吃早餐是大概为三种理由而划分了。第一个是来不及，第二个是减肥，而第三个是很麻烦。但是第一个理由是最多的。

In this sentence, it just means 最多, while it does not mention the degree of it. It might be 40%, or 25%, or 79%. It is natural to say it is "最多" as it is the first reason here, but it is unclear if it is "by far" or "barely ahead of the second".

But when the first choice consists of 79% while the second one is just 9%, I would rather like to use "by far" or its equivalent word to emphasize it.

The Chinese grammar wiki's section on superlative 最 does not mention the emphasis.

Does this kind of word or expression exist in Mandarin?

In Chinese, the equivalent of  by far could be 远超 or 遥遥领先. You can put in your context:

  但是第一个理由远超 其它(两个)。

Or:

  但是第一个理由(所占比例)遥遥领先.


闭上 pronounced pei-soeng in Cantonese: just Wang Jie in this song or something more? In 能否不想你 (lyrics here), Wang Jie pronounces (or so it seems to my ear)

  门若闭上了 变再会无期

as

  Mun joek pei-soeng-liu    bin zoi-wui mou-kei

Is this just this video or is this pronunciation actually in any way widespread, or even another word perhaps?

It is '门若闭上了 便再会无期'
闭 only has one Cantonese Jyutping /bai3/ , and it is never pronounced as /pei3/ . Wang Jie pronounced it wrong.
譬, 屁, 媲, 嬖 all pronounced as /pei3/,  but none of them carry the meaning of 'close'

上 is pronounced as /soeng6/ when it is used as a noun or an adjective
e.g. upper, superior, previous

~

上 is pronounced as /soeng5/ when it is used as a verb or verb particle indicating direction or achievement

'上' in '闭上' is a verb particle indicating achievement (close shut)
therefore '闭上' is pronounced as /bai3 soeng5/


Is there any difference in pinyin between bia and ba in pronunciation? Is there any difference in pinyin between bia and ba in mandarin?

I noticed that some of the pin yin is the same pronunciation but some pinyin, for instance, bia, never be used in Mandarin

They are different.
ba sounds the same as British "Bar."

bia sounds the same as the last syllable of "Libya."

biaji biaji 的, used to describe the smacking sound of loud eating, e.g. like ducks eating. There is no written character for this word.

有人吃东西为什么嘴老biaji 那么响，让人听着好不舒服. Why do some people always smack their mouths while eating? It makes me very uncomfortable.

Source: http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/27551978.html

Note: Spoken Chinese is much richer than written Chinese. Due to the un-alphabetical nature of the Chinese writing system, it is very difficult to absorb these vivid spoken Chinese words into mainstream writing.


How would you translate The Martian's: "I'm going to science the s*** out of this"? This is China's in theater subtitle version: 我得他妈的想办法活下去

A streaming video version: 只能开动脑筋想办法自救

Can you do better than the above? Namely by incorporating science into it, both of which don't include the science bit.

Why didn't the translations use 科学 as a verb? It seems many words serve as
a noun or a verb.

Something like this -只能开动脑筋用科学想办法自救 ?

科学 could indeed function as a static verb, but it is not recognized as a regular verb. Neither was 和谐, until it became a fad using it to criticize mainland politics (as in 他被和谐了). As in English, you could formally make most nouns verbs, but it only works if people understand the logic behind the transformation.

As for 科学, you could probably use the 化 suffix to accomplish what you want: 要科学化这个该死的问题想个办法。


Is there a more colloquial way of saying “vegan” than “纯素食者”? Like a more laypersons way of understanding what veganism means. Kinda like "我吃素的" as a vegetarian.

in cantonese, you may say 食全齋, sound files:  食
 全
 齋

or, colloquially, say 吃全素, in mandarin.


How to ask in Chinese: What do you want to come to talk to me about? 你想去对我说 means you want to go to speak to me.
How to ask a question: What do you want to come to talk to me about? I don't know where to put the word 什么.
Is 你想去对我说什么 correct?
How to say a normal sentence (not a question): This is what I want to go to speak to you.
Is 這就是 我想去对你说什么 correct?
How to ask a question: Is this what you want to come to speak to me?

O'Connor sounds Irish: maybe you only speak Gaelic?
Perhaps you mean:
What do you want to speak to me about?
你想跟我说什么？
你想跟我聊什么？


What is the function of 甲 in 桂林山水甲天下? What i know:

甲 is used for enumeration of items or persons in a dialogue, it corresponds to western 1. ,  a) ,  I. ,  X.
桂林山水 = Landscape of Guilin
天下 = literary expression for whole china or whole world.

What i do not know:

甲天下
桂林山水甲天下
桂林山水天下 (would it make sense without 甲 ?)

甲is the first stem of Celestial or Heavenly Stems. We use 甲 as 第一(NO.1) or 顶级(top). Hence, 桂林山水甲天下 means 桂林山水天下第一。

甲天下 means best in the world or No.1 in the world

Anohter example, Lega Serie A is the top football league in Italy, which is translated as 意大利甲级联赛。


Where can I get a Chinese language word list? I am looking for as large as possible a Chinese language word list. Does anyone know where I could find one?
I want a list on my computer. I am looking into NLP (Natural language processing)

For NLP, I guess you need Chinese word segmentation. A normal dictionary will probably not suffice. You need to look at specialized tools like https://github.com/fxsjy/jieba or https://github.com/lancopku/pkuseg-python


Question about the usage of 是---的 in Chinese Bible translation I have a very poor grasp of Chinese, being only a beginner learning.

These are two parallel translations of John 1:17.

1) 因為律法是藉著摩西賜下的，

2) 律法本是藉着摩西传的

The best I can make sense of them is:

1) because law is via moses bestow[ed] inferior[ly] clear

2) law source is via moses propagate[d] clear

For proper context, the source text these lines are translating is this:

ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη,
oti o nomos dia moyseos edothi,
for the law via Moses was-given,

What seems to differentiate these two in meaning, is the reading of 下的 that I have come up with. I seem to have, perhaps, made some amatuer error in generating that reading of the characters.

What is a proper rendering of 下的 here, and what is the meaning of 的 in this context in general? How does the 是---的 construction work here, if its wrong to read 的 as "clear"?

As a native speaker, I find the Chinese translation of the bible very hard to read. :)

Here are some tips on understanding sentences ending with 的.

的 as you may or may not know, can be used to create relative clauses. For example, 我看过的电影 (a movie that I have seen). The order is actually the reverse of that in English.

Sometimes, we omit the stuff after 的. Usually, the sentence is in the form "X是Y的". To understand this kind of sentence structure, you just need to add something appropriate after 的. Usually, adding 东西 (thing) works. For example

  这个电影是我看过的

If you add the word 东西 after 的, it becomes:

  这个电影是我看过的东西

Now you can translate it as

  This movie is a thing that I have seen

Then you can make it more natural

  I have seen this movie.

Now let's go back to the sentence in the bible. I will use the second one here because I have no idea what 賜下 means... I am an atheist who knows nothing about christianity...

  律法本是藉着摩西传的

Now we add 东西 after 的 again:

  律法本是藉着摩西传的东西

Now we translate each word:

  律法 - law

  本 - originally

  藉着 - via

  传 - propagate

Great! Now we have the whole sentence:

  The law originally was a thing that is propagated via Moses.


How to translate the following grammar-pattern: 让/叫 N+V —— N还/ 就真 V (呀) I know that this is a pattern that expresses a reverse meaning of what is really expressed (some kind of rhetorical question) - and that the speaker is somehow showing a negative attitude. I suppose the expression is very easy to translate - if I only knew what would be a good equivalent in English. I ll give some examples. Please do help me with suggestions. Thanks a lot.

1) 叫你买彩票，你还真买呀 ?
2) 那是 公家的东西！人家叫你拿，你还真拿呀？ (and which tones should this 人家 have?)
3) 现在刚下午四点，他让你睡觉，你就真睡觉呀？

Would it be correct to translate no.3 this way:

"The time is just four o' clock, and he allows/ lets you go to sleep - will you really go to sleep? "

(I have no clue how to translate well the two first ones - maybe because the difference between 让 and 叫 slightly mess up the translation for me - but maybe there is no big difference? )

As for tones, it is rénjia, as in "people", "somebody".

If talking about a family, it is more stressed: rénjiā.


Can I use 马马虎虎 to describe food, and in what sorts of sentences can I use it? In what kinds of sentences can "马马虎虎" be used? Would I be able to use it to describe how good food tastes, and if so, how would I structure the sentence? Is it usually used by itself as a sentence? I'm never sure if the context is right to use it or not.
I want to describe a food as tasting mediocre.

To express a mediocre taste, I think it's better to say

這道菜［很普通/平淡無奇］。

馬虎 is generally used when we wish to comment on someone’s attitude. It may be used when you wish to criticise someone’s preparation of the dish as sloppy:

這道菜做得馬馬虎虎。
(lit.) This dish is done in a sloppy manner.

The sense 'so-so' (還過得去 in Cihai's definition), as in

這道菜，馬馬虎虎吧。
(lit.) This dish, it's so-so.

, is very colloquial, perhaps regional. It is found in Cihai but not in Taiwan dictionaries.


整日 Vs 整天 Is there any difference? Is there any difference between 整日  and 整天
整日 : whole day refers to only day ?
整天 : whole day refers to day & night?
Dictionary Meaning:
整日 zhěngrì all day along, whole day
整天 zhěngtiān whole day

Actually they're the same, they both mean a whole day. However:

整日 is more formal; it is always used in written language.
整天 is casual, such as when your mom complaining about you:

整天玩游戏
"playing games all day".


What does "兵器谱排行榜第一位" mean/represent? Full sentence:

  你们可真是兵器谱排行榜第一位，够贱

I did some googling, and it seems like "兵器谱" is a leaderboard for fictional weapons? I have absolutely no clue what this means in relation to "够贱".

Source

This is a Chinese pun-like joke known as 歇后语. What they have in common is two parts, where the second part is a homophone of the expected answer to the first.

In this case, "够贱" is supposed to sound like the true answer to "兵器谱排行榜第一位". That may not be obvious at first, and I think this joke was told poorly, but my guess is that "兵器谱排行榜" actually refers to the Eighteen Arms, of which there are four that are considered the "best" (四大兵器), which includes the 剑 or double-edged straight sword. So "够贱" is a homophone of "够剑", or "as good as Jian".

So a proper translation might be:

  You really are the first among the weapons - as good as Jian (so despicable).

With the joke working because "jian" sounds the same as "despicable" in Chinese.

The problems with this joke are:

There's no well-known list known as 兵器谱排行榜
Of the lists that are well known, such as the 四大兵器, although 剑 ranks highly, it doesn't rank first


"Home" translation in "hate has no home here"? I'd like to translate a common sign I've seen around, which says "hate has no home here". My initial thought would be "这里恼恨没有家", confirmed by dictionaries/etc.  However, the character of 家 doesn't seem to express the metaphorical idea of "home" to me, at least. I haven't seen a different word for "home", though. Is this sentence properly translated or is there a better word for "home"?

Try replacing '家' with the idiomatic '容身之所'

仇恨 (hate) 在这里 (in here) 没有 (has no) 容身之所 (place to stay)

仇恨在这里没有容身之所 (hate has no home here)

~
Or '立足之地'

仇恨 (hate) 在这里 (in here) 没有 (has no) 立足之地  (ground to stand on)

仇恨在这里没有立足之地  (hate has no place here)

Edit:
I believe an English slogan should still be a slogan after it was translated into Chinese.
I would translate the slogan “hate has no home here” to "仇恨止步!" (hate, stop!)  - It implies hate is not welcomed, therefore it has no place here.


What grammar makes 同 品 項 第 2 仵 6折 mean "Buy one, get the second at 60% of base price"? So in the convenience store, there were bottles of iced coffee with the slogan:

同  品  項 第 2 仵  6折

I was told that this meant: "Buy the first item, get the second item at 60% of base price."

I was able to find the individual characters in various dictionaries:

同  tong2 be the same

品 pin3 merchandise

項 xiang4 item? expenditure?

第 [dì] number

2

件 [Thanks to wilson and user238264 for the correction]

6

折 [zhé] discount

The hard parts are the last two Mandarin characters.  I couldn't find a translation for 件  and while "lose money" roughly fits "discount" for 折 [zhé], I couldn't see any grammar.

Possibly there isn't any grammar to be found.  Possibly the convenience store is wildly abbreviating its Mandarin because most customers can infer huge amounts of meaning from context.

Any grammar and usage insights are welcome. Thanks.

I am pretty sure that you have the second to last character wrong. It makes much more sense as 件 (item).  Also, 折 should be read as zhé in this context.  The character has a large number of meanings, but in this context it means discount (and the single digit numbers preceding it count by 10%; this is a common idiomatic construction for expressing discounts).  Finally, 第 signifies that the following number is to be read as an ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd, ...)

So, a very literal translation of 同品项第２件６折 would be:
same product, second item, discounted to 60%


help translating art seals I recently received a painting that I am curious about who the artist is. These are the name seals in the lower left hand corner.

At the very least, you need to provide a clearer image. Even a higher resolution one would do. I can't see much from this:

ＸＸ
Ｘ天
家浧
Ｘ國


会计 instead of 收银机，现金出纳机, cash register? Bentley Little, The Summoning has 会计 for original's "cash register":

  苏·温不声不响地站在餐馆会计的后面，越过会计的头顶，她看了看餐馆里仅有的两位客人，他又从会计的头顶上方斜了他们一眼，苏从会计那儿绕出来，走到他们的桌子前，回到会计那里后，苏又继续折叠那些菜单

On the other hand 会计 is universally translated as "accountant" see e.g. Baidu.

In this context, 会计 refers to the person who is doing the accounting job, that is, accountant.

Most of time, 会计 just refers to accountant, as in: 她是个会计.

会计 can also refer to the job for accounting, as in 会计学，会计师，会计协会，etc.


How can I make a two-character Chinese girl's name, perhaps using 静? I'd like to make a chinese name (girl). I wonder if you could help me, since I don't know what wouldn't be weird for a name. If any native speaker could help me, I'd appreciate it.
I want a name that consists of 2 characters. And here are some characters I find beautiful. (But if you know another, that would fit better you can tell me. So I especially like the character: 静，also other characters：智，雪，兰，夜，珍，琰， 玉，徐， or anything you would recommend.
Thank you!

How about 甘静？ It's a character's name in the TV show 好先生.


Does “些” Work As A Suffix (Ever) In Mandarin Similar To “们”? 些

xiē
【名】
[方言]：们〖-s〗——表示复数的词缀。如:婆娘些；娃儿些；老师些

Although marked as dialect (read: topolect), I'm curious to know if this usage is ever acceptable or found in MSM (Modern Standard Mandarin).

I think it's only for some dialects in somewhere SiChuan.

  在表示某类人时，成都人还爱用“些”作词尾，并将其读作[?i44]，音同“西”。例如：老师些，学生些，家长些，娃娃些，娃儿些，大人些，伙子些，姑娘儿些，女娃子些，男娃子些，儿娃子些，大娃娃些，小娃娃些，男人些，婆娘些，老头儿些，婆婆些，孃孃些，姆姆些，演员些，导演些，干部些，代表些，警察些，军官些，兵兵儿些，队员些，运动员些，贼娃子些，歹徒些，等等。

ref : http://www.ct17.com/bbs1/dispbbs.asp?boardid=1&Id=307&page=6


Would it be incorrect to not include 儿 here? For example, what's the difference between 那边儿 and 那边? When writing in Chinese do I need the 儿 because I've heard people say both.

儿 is Pekingese (beijing dialect), like "lah" in singlish (singapore english).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_dialect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish#Lah

in general, you don't need to write it; unless you want to impress readers that it's pekingese.


What character might "lia" [Ĩia⁵³] meaning "lick" be? I have this dictionary entry from《广安方言与民俗词典》:

□
lia3
①指舔、舐的意思，用舌头接触东西或舔吃东西。②也指巴结，讨好。例：他最喜欢lia3有权有势的。“lia3 lia3糖”，指棒棒糖。例：拿颗lia3 lia3糖去让他含倒，哄倒起莫哭。

I have seen lia3 substitued with:

甪

and

While  does share the idea of brown-nosing (巴结，讨好) it's unlikely that it would mean lick.
Maybe a mutation of  would make more sense especially with the whole 湖广填川 thing.
Any ideas?

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/8365/
laai2
lick/lap with tongue
This character is used in Cantonese, not Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

 someone's 鞋 = "to lick someone's boot" = brown-nosing


Usage of 无 compared with 没有 I just stumbled across a new phrase 无消息。

This is the first time I've encountered 无.

How it is used, and how it is different from 没有，as in 没有消息？

It is hard to give a rule on using 无 vs 没有， even they mean the same.

Only 无 is used:

无所谓 （We don't say 没有所谓, but some people say 没所谓）

无线电 （We don't say 没有线电）

无论如何 （We don't say 没有论如何）

无性繁殖 （We don't say 没有性繁殖）

Only 没有 is used:

我没有钱 （We don't say 我无钱）

你没有失败 （We don't say 你无失败）

Both can be used:

没有 消息就是好消息。 or 无 消息就是好消息。

没有 人能猜出这个谜语。 or 无 人能猜出这个谜语。

I think there are still some clues on using 无 vs 没有.

无 is more like 'non-' or "un-"in English, and 无 is used in some Idioms or fixed phrases, like 无所谓, 无论如何, 无土栽培, 无独有偶, 无恶不作 etc. In those words, we don't use 没有.
When 没有 is used for "not" in English to negate something, 没有 can NOT be replaced with 无. For example, 他没有做完作业. We don't say 他无做完作业.
When 没有 is used for "without" in English, it can be replaced with 无. But I am not sure if it is always true. For example, 无人喝彩. We can say 没有人喝彩. But if used as a tile of a book, a story, or a movie, 无人喝彩 is better, but using 没有人喝彩 is also ok.


Expressing existence with 有: Are measure words compulsory? I learn a new structure with 有.

  Place + 有 + Object

I wonder if measure words are compulsory. I see everyone says: 我家有很多花。以前有一座桥。那个商店没有面包。

But nobody says: 我家有花。以前有桥。

So, are measure words compulsory to precede the object in this structure?

Moreover, are these sentences correct?

(1) 宿舍东便有商店，图书馆和食堂。
(2) 宿舍东边有一家商店，一家图书馆和一个食堂。

"我家有花" and "这里以前有桥" are legit sentences. By not having measure word and classifier, it mean "I have flower in my home" and "there used to be bridge here" -- The quantity or number is unspecified. It can be a single flower or a houseful of it; It can be a single bridge or a few of them. It just stated 'there's flower' and 'there's bridge' in general

If you add measure word and classifier, the quantity  or number would become specific

我家有(兩盆)花 = I have (two pot of) flower in my home -- Not one, not three, but two
这里以前有(一座)桥 = "there used to be (a) bridge here" -- Not two, not three, but one

  (1) 宿舍东便有商店，图书馆和食堂。 (2) 宿舍东边有一家商店，一家图书馆和一个食堂。

Both are correct.

Sentence (1) didn't state the number of the objects (there could be any number of stores, libraries and cafeterias)

Sentence (2) specifically stated the number of each object --  (one shop, one library and one cafeteria)


How do you write, "one who does good" in Classical Chinese? This is a practice from Rouzer Paul's book. It says,

PRACTICE: Put the following into literary Chinese:

One who does good leads the heart (away) from disaster.

I think the predicate is ... 導心於禍, but what should the subject be? 聖人 seems appropriate, but it seems like that means "wise person" rather than describing someone who does good. Otherwise, 福 means good, but I don't think 福者 makes any sense.

PRACTICE: Put the following into literary Chinese:

One who does good leads the heart (away) from disaster.

My answer is: 君子修心遠禍
君子(good person) 修心(educates oneself) 離禍 (to get away from
disaster)
You can replace 君子 with 善者; 遠禍 with 避禍  or 離禍


Problem in understanding classical Chinese sentences Recently, a friend asked me about some meaning of several sentences of classical Chinese, which I also can't understand.

对扬王休，用作尊彜。
呜呼！余夙夜维商密，不显，谁和？
汝慎和称五权，维中是以，以长小子于位，实维永宁。
今商孽竞时逋播以辅，余何循？
朕闻维时兆厥工非不显....

In the first sentence, I know it is about a 彜器，but especially the first part I cannot understand(I know 王is king)
In the second sentence, I know what 呜呼 and 夙夜means, but what is meaning of 密 ,显and 和 here?
In the third sentence, I completely cannot understand what is 维中是以，is 维meaningless? And what is 长means here, to extend? And 小子means king?as 小子 means youngsters now(am I correct?)
In the  fourth sentence, from 孽to 播I completely cannot understand what the phrase means. And 余何循 means "how can I follow"?
In the fifth sentence I completely not understand everything after 闻.....
Also in all sentences I know 商 is Shang dynasty.
Can somebody help me in this? This really show me incompetent in classical Chinese. No problem if explaining in Chinese. 先此致谢。
Update:Seems nobody wish to continue the translation, so I try to use my limited knowledge to translate it.

呜呼 is a 叹词 ,no actual meaning
夙夜 day and night
维 no meaning
密 to secret (overthrow)
显 show
和 be with(me)

So the rough meaning is :Ah! I am (trying to) secretly(overthrow) Shang dynasty day and night, I do not show this(to others),who will be with me?
Please correct me if I have done any mistake. Thanks.

對揚王休﹒用作尊彝

this verse come from the inscription on 免尊

對 - 報答, to requite

揚 - 讚揚, to praise

王 - the king, or ruler

休 - 樹蔭 shade of a tree --> 庇蔭 to shield --> 美德 virtue

用作 - ~ use for

尊彝 - 彝 is ritual / sacrificial objects, "尊彝" together is a specialised term of ritual objects, roughly a bronze wine vessel needed two hand to hold ( a big goblet?), see the photo from the above link :)

so, the verse means roughly:

to requite (對) [and] to praise (揚) the virtue (休) of [our] king (王), we make inscription (用作) on this goblet (尊彝).

the norm in ancient china was, when an ritual object (彝器) was made, some text would be inscribed onto it, for the purpose to state the rationale of manufacturing.

  朕聞﹒維時兆厥工﹒非不顯

this verse is from 汲塚周書　大戒解

there's a remark "兆始工官言政治維是始正其官" after "朕實不明", in which roughly "兆" means "始", "工" means "官", 言 (said) 政治 ([good] governing) 維 是 (is) 始 (at the beginning) 正 (correctly [appoint]) 其(ruler's) 官 (official).

so:

朕 - i, a specialised pronoun for ruler / king

聞 - heard

維 - particle

時 - time

兆 - 始也, beginning

厥 - short of

工 - labour, in context, 官也, official / civil servants

非 - not

不顯 - inapparent

the context of this verse is, the 周 dynasty was just founded, there're not enough civil servants to fill the posts, in order to govern the nation.

therefore, i would interpret the verse as:

i (朕, a specialised pronoun) heard (聞) [that]: at the beginning stage (時兆), there's shortage of (厥) labour (工); [such reasoning] is not (非) inapparent (不顯)

if incorporate the context directly:

i (朕, a specialised pronoun) heard (聞) [that]: at the beginning stage (時兆) [of founding a nation], there's lack of (厥) officials (工 aka 官); [such reasoning] is not (非) inapparent (不顯)

  今商孽競時逋播以輔﹒余何循

this verse is from 逸周書﹒成開解

今 - now

商 - 商 dynasty

孽 - 餘孽, ~ rebel party

競時 - race against time, incessantly

逋播 - to flee

以 - by, through

輔 - assist, maybe alliance

余 - i / we

何 - what

循 - 遵循, follow

i would interpret this one as:

now (今), there're rebel party (孽) of previous dynasty (商), fleeing (逋播)  incessantly (競時) with (以) assistance (輔); what can (何) we (余) follow (循) [in this situation]?

  汝慎和稱五權﹒維中是以﹒以長小子於位﹒實維永寧

this verse is from 逸周書　五權解

汝 - you

慎 - cautiously

和 - harmonious, aka "river crab" in that area :(

稱 - to weigh, this one is still used in colloquial cantonese nowadays

五 - five

權 - 權術, art of politics. 權 also has the meaning of steelyard balance (秤錘); that's why "稱" is used.

維 = 唯, only

中 - 中道, middle path

是 - this, maybe "being"

以 - 憑藉, to rely on

以 - thereby

長 - 養育, nurture

小子 - in context, my son, aka 周成王

於 - in

位 - throne

實 - if realise, subjunctive

維 - only

永 - long time

寧 - 安寧, peace

you (汝) [must] weigh (稱) the five (五) art of politics (權) cautiously (慎) and harmoniously (和)

only (維) the middle path (中), this (是) [is] reliable (以)

thereby (以), my son (小子) [could be] nurtured (長) in (於) the throne (位)

if [it's] realised (實), [there would] only (維) [be] peace (寧) for a long time (永)

that's all, i left the second one for others :)

have fun :)


How do you read "11%" aloud when it refers to percentage points? I sometimes read newspapers aloud to practice pronunciation, but encounter the issue of percentage points, e.g. 20% and 31% differ by "11 percentage points" (or just "11 points" for brevity).  For a concrete example, I recently encountered this:

……根据《纽约时报》10月31日的民调，拜登在威斯康星州的支持率超出特朗普约11%。
紧张混乱笼罩美国选举日，环球时报，2020年11月4日

I'm unsure how to pronounce "11%" here.  The obvious thing to say is 百分之十一, but I'm worried that might be incorrect because it's referring to percentage points.
Question: How do you read "11%" aloud when it refers to percentage points?

This is an article introducing the percentages and percentage points from the National Bureau of Statistics: link
Thought it did not explicitly say how they would be written, from the last sentence of the article:

从上述资料中，我们可以说：国内生产总值中，第一产业占的比重，1993年比1992年下降3.6个百分点（18.2－21.8＝－3.6）；但不能说下降3.6％。

We can see that for perctage point, percentage points would not be written with “%”, but with “个百分点” explicitly.
Also, “xx个百分点” is also how percentage points should read in Chinese.


下残 in text on "Jesus-sūtra" (景教) I've been working my way through some Chinese text, I came to this line here:

祝曰 　　清净阿罗诃 清净大威力 清净（下残） 大秦景教宣元至本经

I can make sense of some of it, but what does the 下残 in brackets clarify in the text?

Thank you for your time.

下 means the following content.
残 means incomplete.

下残 means the following content is incomplete.


Explanation of location 一般 My question is regarding the following sentence.

第一印象一般很难改变。

I can currently not figure out why based on the grammar 一般 is placed at the position it is in the sentence above.

Could anybody shortly explain with grammar why it is located there and for example not at the beginning of the sentence (sounds logical to me).

In typical [ topic + opinion/ comment] structure:

「第一印象」(the first impression) is the topic
「一般(是)很難改變(的)」( generally, is hard to be changed) is the opinion/ comment.

If you write 「一般, 第一印象(是)很難改變(的), the adverb (一般) that should be followed by the verb (是) is now followed by a noun (第一印象) instead, and it is grammatically incorrect.

*see comment from Enrico Brasil on your post:

  Adverbs usually are placed before verbs.

The sentence has to be changed to 「一般(來說), 第一印象(是)很難改變(的)」

一般來說 = generally (adv) speaking (v)


Difference between 资料库 and 数据库 Recently, I've come upon two words to say "database" － 资料库 and 数据库.

What is the main difference between two? Which one is used in the context of programming?

Thanks for the help!

They are different translations for the same word "database"

数据库 is used in Chinse mainland

whereas

資料庫 is used in Hongkong, Taiwan etc.

More examples could be found on Wikipedia.


Why/how does 说 mean update in 下次再说? In the app for 百度网盘 I am prompted to 立即更新 or 下次再说. Clearly 说 means update, but I don't see any definition that allows that.

说 does not mean update, it just means talk or discuss.

下次再说 can be directly translated to let us talk about that later.


Character-component "spelling" software I was just reading about China's problem with rare given names and the absence of them in computer databases? For example, there was an individual with the given name pronounced "cheng" composed of 马 3 times horizontally.

Why hasn't software been developed to select a decomposed structure (e.g. 3 radicals event spaced and concatenated horizontally) and then to type the names of the individual radicals in place? If such software was developed, how many rare characters would it take care of?

Seems like it would certainly be a challenge for a developer to create software that scaled all radicals correctly (and the thousands of already extant compound characters as well), but a competent programmer could surely accomplish this at least to some level of satisfactory functionality.

If such software already exists, what is it?

Well, actually many input tools like Sogou and MSpinyin have already had such functions.

I don't know a lot of the database you referred to, but I guess it is the database of China's household registration department. I guess, in that system, not only do you need to register these antediluvian names, but you also have to select these obscure characters from the database, kinda like selecting from the menus.


What Chinese podcasts are available to improve my listening skills? Possible Duplicate:
  Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese

I'm a big podcast fan, and I think listening to Chinese podcasts would be a great way to improve my listening skills. I enjoy listening to 慢速中文, but I've already listen to all the podcasts they put out.

I'm looking for something at the upper intermediate level that covers a range of topics - I really like the way 慢速中文 covers anything they think is interesting, is well produced, and features a selection of great music as well...

Does anyone have good suggestions for Chinese podcasts I should check out? What Chinese podcasts have you found to both good for your listening skills, and interesting to listen to?

I don't know what kind of material is your favorite,but you can try to search "有声小说"，there are a lot of audio novels in the results.I recommend a novel with the name"明朝那些事",it is about the history of Ming dynasty, and it's popular in China.


Measure words for disrespect I know certain measure words convey respect, for example:

  一位客人

Is there something similar I could use to emphatically disrespect someone, as in:

  他是一?饭桶

Or is just using 个 disrespectful enough?

General answer to disrespectful measure words
I can't recall any special disrespectful measure words in Chinese. Such disrespectful phrases are just expressed with simple measure words according to the noun. Like

他是

一个笨蛋 [offensive level: 1]

一个饭桶 [offensive level: 2]

一个贱人 [offensive level: 4]

一个傻逼 [offensive level: 5, with profanity word 屄/逼(cunt)]

一个二逼 [offensive level: 5, with profanity word 屄/逼(cunt)]

or

一坨屎 [offensive level: 3]

一只(个)禽兽 [offensive level: 2]

一条走狗 [offensive level: 2]

Note that the offensive level is my personal feeling: 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest. You'd better not use offensive level >= 3 words when speaking to somebody face to face, or, you'd better be ready for a fight :)
Metaphor of measure words
A few Chinese people use measure words 只/坨 to show emphatic disrespect with metaphor.

他是一只小人。 (the measure word implies he is even not a human.)

But it is rarely heard in daily life. Interestingly, the official editorial often use

一 小撮 不明真相的群众
一 小撮 犯罪分子

to describe some kind of people are really few with a derogatory sense. It's a metaphor too, implying that kind of people are just like a small pinch of dust.
Common ways to emphasize your expression
To emphasize the expression, you can omit the numeral

他是个饭桶。 He is a scalawag.

Or you can also use 就是, 真是

他就是个饭桶。 He is exactly a scalawag.
他真是个饭桶。 He is really a scalawag.

And for shouting, omit the verb 是

他个饭桶。
你个傻逼。


What does my tattoo mean? Sorry if my question is inappropriate, but I really need to know what this tattoo means. Thanks in advance!

乔基, I'm 95% sure it's transliteration for the name George. Also it looks a little bit odd to me since usually the transliteration would written as 乔治, at least in Mainland China. And that's a boy's name.


Is 想必一定 a wrong usage? There are many example sentences (763,000). Such as 你这么成熟懂事,想必一定没人疼你.

Intuitively I think it's fluent.

But think carefully, 想必 means "presumably, most probably," is this wrong?

The meaning can be understood without either 想必 or 一定. But I think using 想必一定 conveys a slightly different nuance from that of either 想必 or 一定.

一定没人疼你: very certain presumption

想必没人疼你: still pretty certain but less so than 一定, and also implies that the speaker has evidence to back his/her view. (since 想必 is usually used with (因为)...想必...)

想必一定没人疼你: conveys both of the connotation above. Very certain and implies that the speaker has evidence.

Therefore, I don't think this is a wrong usage. Consider another case of using two presumption words: 大约的确是死了 (from 《孔乙己》). Neither 大约是死了 nor 的确是死了 can convey the subtle connotation of 大约的确是死了, although 大约 and 的确 seems to be contradicting.


Translation from english into a phonetic Cantonese "Forces of Evil, Come and Obey." I'm a writer. I am trying to get "Forces of Evil, Come and Obey" or something with the same general meaning translated to phonetic Cantonese so I can have a character use it like a chant in a story intended for an English speaking audience.

Like 'Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao' is able to be chanted and understood by an American audience.

Chinese slogans typically come in  idiomatic (four characters) phrase
if "Forces of Evil, Come and Obey" means "we are the forces of Evil, come and obey us" then  I suggest:

"道消魔長，順我者昌"
"(the power of) good has declined and (the power of) evil has grown; those who submit to us flourish"

jyutping: /dou2 siu1 mo1 coeng2 seon6 ngo5 ze2 coeng1/
phonetic: "doe siu mor zhung, Shun wu jer chun"
And it rhymes
If "Forces of Evil, Come and Obey" means "you, the forces of evil, come and obey me' then I suggest:

"道長魔消，逆我者亡" (the power of) evil has declined and (the power of) good has grown; those who resist us perish"

jyutping: /dou2 coeng2 mo1 siu1/, /jik6  ngo5 ze2 mong4/
phonetic: "doe zhung mor siu, yiey wu jer mong"


Is the following text grammatically correct? Would you be so kind as to help me correct this text? I am currently trying to incorporate more 成语 and more complex vocabulary in my writing.
--
首先，你必须试探你的对手，因为他的话靠不住。不要让他的想法弄垮得稀巴烂你的思想。其次，你应该每天选择自己的战斗。如果你有对交战的渴望，请不要冲动地行动，由于交战的成本比仔谨慎的成本高得多。不仅观察别人，还要记得他们的想法。因此，首先了解你自己的难事，然后理解别人的努力。结果，你变得更加熟练，因此将来你超越自己。尽管看起来有些事情超出了你的能力，但别放心，你不是辅助角色，也不是其他人的替罪羊。只要你相信自己，你就可能成功了。最后，其他人可能会欺负你，但尝试忽略他们并你注意你的目标。你可能做不可思议的事情！

Notation

删掉的内容
增加的内容
(注释)

首先，你必须 试探观察 你的对手，因为他的话 靠不住不可信。不要让他的想法弄垮 得稀巴烂 你的思想。其次，你应该每天选择自己的战斗 (not sure what you want to say here)。如果你有对交战的渴望，请不要冲动地行动，由于因为 交战的成本比仔谨慎 思考 的成本高得多。不仅 要 观察别人，还要记得他们的想法。因此，首先了解你自己的 难事难处 ，然后理解别人的努力。结果，最终 你 会 变得更加 熟练成熟，因此并且(因此 and 结果/最终 are duplicated) 将来你会超越自己。尽管看起来有些事情超出了你的能力，但别 放心担心(I don't known what you want to say here, but it should not be 别放心)，你不是辅助角色，也不是其他人的替罪羊。只要你相信自己，你就可能成功 了。最后，其他人可能会欺负你，但 请 尝试忽略他们 ， 并 你 注意专注于 你 自己 的目标。你可能做 到 不可思议的事情！
Note: I still don't get what you want to say. When I made the corrections, I treated each sentence as a standalone sentence.


What does "&" (Ampersand) means in Chinese language? While visiting Dr. Sun Yat-sun Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver, B.C. I noticed the sign "&" (Ampersand) is posted everywhere. The tour guide said that "&" means money in Chinese, it is the most important sign in Chinese language. I never heard about that before, is it true?

maybe you want to check this: http://vancouverchinesegarden.com/calendar/iain-baxter/


Is there a Mandarin equivalent of the Cantonese term "手尾"? 手尾 is a very common Cantonese term, I would like to know what Mandarin term can be the equivalent of it.
The following are from CantoDict dictionary:

手尾: (to tie up) loose ends
冇手尾: fail to finish what one has started; not cleaning up after oneself
跟手尾: to fix sb else's screwed-up work; to pick up someone's unfinished job
執手尾: to put things in order; to clean up [華]: 收拾
手尾長: a problem likely to drag on

Example sentences:
唔好咁冇手尾: Don't leave behind loose ends/ unfinished job like this
唔好要人跟(你)手尾: Don't make people fix (your) screwed-up work
你走先啦，我執埋手尾就會走㗎啦 : You can leave now, I'll leave after I've put every things in order
整傷脊椎骨就手尾長啦: The problem would likely to drag on if you injury your spine
I have no problem translating the examples above to Mandarin (first to English, then to Mandarin), But I have problem pinpointing a single equivalent term in Mandarin. Is there one?
Or maybe 手尾 is so uniquely Cantonese, it cannot be translated to Mandarin as a single term, and have to be translated differently depend on the context?
Edit:

手= hand ; 尾 = the last of
"手尾" literally means "remaining work on hand"

唔好咁冇手尾: Don't be so disregarding to the remaining work on hand

你走先啦，我執埋手尾就會走㗎啦: You can leave now, I'll leave after I've finished the remaining work on hand

唔好要人跟(你)手尾: Don't make people follow up on (your) remaining work on hand

整傷脊椎骨就手尾長啦: if you injury your spine, your remaining work on hand will last a long time

To express “finish remaining work on hand” can use 收尾 in mandarin. And I think this is the word sounds closest to 手尾。So for 我執埋手尾就會走㗎啦, you can say 我做完收尾工作就走啦

唔好咁冇手尾 can be expressed as （做事）不要有头无尾

唔好要人跟(你)手尾 can be expressed as （做事）不要让别人帮你善后（or “擦屁股” ）

整傷脊椎骨就手尾長啦 probably has no similar expression.


What's the difference between 恭喜發財 and 恭禧發財? Today I visited a house that had Chinese New Year banners all over. On the stairs, one banner reads 「恭禧發財」, and above a door, another banner reads 「恭喜發財」. Both of these are pronounced exactly the same in Cantonese and Mandarin.

Questions:

What are their differences in terms of meaning?
Which is 'correct'? (i.e. Which is the canonical or most popular version?)
When people say 「gung1 hei2 faat3 coi4」 / 「gōng xǐ fā cái」 during Chinese New Year, do they mean 「恭喜發財」or do they mean 「恭禧發財」?

The correct way to write the phrase is「恭喜發財」. This phrase is made up of two words:

「恭喜」, meaning congratulations;
「發財」, meaning to make a fortune.

In contrast,「恭禧」is not actually a word. At most,「恭禧發財」can be viewed as a pun which emphasises the fortune aspect of the phrase, as「禧」(good fortune) is a homophone with「喜」.


Where can I find old HSK tests? I'd like to practice HSK based on tests from previous years, but have trouble finding them. Is there a place where those were collected for the general public?

The Internet is full of them, starting from https://www.confuciusinstitute.manchester.ac.uk/study/testing/hsk/hsk-learning-resources/


Referring to great-grandparents How do you refer to a specific great-grandparent?
Does Chinese language has all 8 relationship titles to refer to one of them?

The answer is yes.

曾 is for paternal paternal ancestors, 曾外 for paternal maternal ancestors, 外曾 for maternal paternal ancestors, and 外曾外 for maternal maternal ancestors.


In these 2 sentences does 得 have the same function? Is this 得 doing the same job in both sentences? Maybe in 2. they should have used 地？ （I don't really think so, but maybe.)

把自己梳理得漂亮而迷人。
会不会忧郁得生病？

In 1. I have 得[漂亮]而[迷人] [形容词]
In 2. I have 得(生病) (动词）

忧郁： sullen, depressed

Is this 得 doing the same job in both sentences?

Yes. Both 得 are 'verb particle'

In both sentences, 得 are following a verb. It is a [verb particle] of the verb before it.

  '漂亮而迷人' is the 'result/ degree' of the action '把自己梳理'

  [把自己梳理] is the [verb phrase]; [得] is a [verb particle] (*used to express possibility or capability; to indicate the result or degree. Similar to English 'to' / 'to the point of' *)

  [漂亮而迷人] here is an [adjective phrase]. It is the[result/degree] of the verb phrase [把自己梳理].

~

  '生病' is the result/ degree of '忧郁'

  [忧郁] is the main verb; [得] is a [verb particle] (*used to express possibility or capability; to indicate the result or degree. Similar to English 'to' / 'to the point of' *)

  [生病] is the auxiliary verb. It is the [result/degree] caused by the main verb [忧郁].


Do 和 and 及 refer to two different kinds of "ands?" At one level, they both mean "and." At another level, 和 also means "peace," while 及 means "to extend." This suggests different usages.

Is one used to connect nouns, while the other is used to connect predicates, for example? And which one (both, or a third) would take the place of "and" in 和 "and" 及?

Both “和” and “及” are conjunctions for connecting two words or phrases.

和 [hé] : To connect nouns, verbs or phrases, not necessarily expressing a relationship and often informally. E.g. 汽车和现金 (car and cash),
蓝宝石和翡翠 (sapphire and jade).
及 [jí] : Mostly used in writing to connect nouns, with greater emphasis on the items preceding it. E.g. “囧”字的读音、意思及其常用表现手法

Example of combined usage adapted from Google's policy:

  我们的目标是不断超越，为您提供一流的服务和易于使用的安全及隐私权工具。

Note the order and how “和” is used to join the larger phrases together.

See also:
Difference between 与，和 and 跟?

There are a lot characters meaning "and": 和/及/与/而/又/并/同/亦/且/兼/跟"

  面包 和 黄油 bread and butter
       一个女人﹑ 两个男人 及 三个孩子 one woman, two men and three children
      《儿子 与 情人》 Sons and Lovers
      缓慢 而 仔细地 slowly and carefully
      能读 又 能写 able to read and write
      他为她感到难过， 并 试图使她振作起来。 He was sorry for her and tried to cheer her up.
      你 同 他一起去。You and he go together.
      他生 亦 穷来死 亦 穷。He was born poor and died poor.
      一个优雅 且 和蔼的女人 a graceful and gentle woman
      他担任教练 兼 队长。He doubled as coach and captain of the team.
      你 跟 他一块儿来。You and he come togther.

It is very hard to give specific rules on how to use them. You need to read a lot Chinese text to build up your language sense on those characters. But one rule seems holding the water all the time: if there are mutliple level things in the same sentence to be joined by "and", then you will need to use different characters.


Why is the penis, a male organ, "阴茎"? The penis is translated as "阴茎" (literally "yin stem"), but it is a male organ. In the traditional concepts of yin and yang, "阴" is generally associated with the female sex.

To support the idea, the term "阳具" (literally "yang tool") is also used to describe the penis (and scrotum).

Why is the penis, a male reproductive organ, associated with the word "阴"?

According to this fengshui expert, the penis and the vagina are both named not because of the gender of the bearer, but via Western medical terminology because they originate from the perineum (会阴).

  “阴茎”这个称呼不是中国人发明的。它属于从西方医学中翻译过来的外来语，与我们中国的阴阳学说无关。从解剖学角度来讲，耻骨至肛门之前的区域叫会阴区。在这个区域的内在“通道”称作“阴道”，外在如茎之物称作“阴茎”，想一想也是很形象的。而以阴阳学说为基础的中国古典医学并不把男性生殖器叫阴茎，而是称为阳根、阳具或者阳物。


What does the word 'field' mean in this context? I edit a manuscript for non-chinese-speakers. The writer was an expert in Chinese language and literature. I want to learn, but I am not a native speaker. So, I have difficulty in interpreting how does the word 'field' relate to tense (as in present tense, past tense, etc.) in the following sentence:

  In the Chinese language "we can find out the tense of a verb or event from the inner and
  outer fields, or - in the  case of contemporary spoken/written
  Chinese - from the particulate that denotes the degree of completeness
  [as in perfect or participle version] of the tense."

What would be your take on it? Could he have meant 'character field' or something else? And if it is about a field relating to how characters are written individually or in a sequence, what 'inner' and 'outer' fields mean do you think? Thanks heaps.

I'm not sure if this is the case here, but in some theories of linguistics, 'field' is a technical term that refers to the way a text represents reality (or our experience of reality). I don't know what 'inner' and 'outer' fields would be, unless they could be referring to 'within the clause' and 'outside the clause'. If this is the case, the general idea is 'context', i.e. you can work out the tense from the context (e.g. 明天，昨天）

Who is the original author of the text? Knowing their background could be helpful in understanding what framework they were using.

Okay, based on further info it looks like this answer is completely off-base.


How to express 踏实 accurately? What I want to say is "我是一个踏实的人", but I am not able to think out an accurate word or phrase to say that, thank you!

踏实 seems to have two groups of meanings:

[1]

dependable; sure and steady
at ease; free from anxiety; having peace
of mind

[2]

practical; realistic; pragmatic
down-to-earth

When it comes to describing people, I'd choose "dependable" or "down-to-earth" depending on which meaning you need. If you could provide some more context, it would help in choosing the best word.


Is 多早晚 wrong or right In that site it says 多早晚 means "When". I asked a friend from Singapore, she told me that no one uses that, and it's a mistake. I would like to know if you use it, and in which context.

https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=zao+wan

Looks like classical Chinese.
zdic

◎ 多早晚 duōzǎowǎn
[when] 多咱,什么时候(“多咱”来于“多早晚”)

多早晚
什麼時候。紅樓夢．第十四回：「我且問你，你們這夜書多早晚纔念呢？」或作「多早」、「多咱」、「多咱晚」、「多偺」、「多喒」。
甚晚、很晚。

百度百科

中文名 多早晚
外文名 Much sooner or later
性质 词语
来源 红楼梦
多早晚 duōzǎowǎn [when] 多咱，什么时候(“多咱”来于“多早晚”)
《红楼梦》第六四回：“黛玉道：‘可是你没的说了！好好的，我多早晚又伤心了？’”
茅盾《霜叶红似二月花》：“我早就想过，多早晚，我们村子里一人一股香，大家上县里去，一步一拜，打伙儿跪在王伯申大门前，求他高抬贵手。”

As the encyclopedia entry mentions 多咱 comes from 多早晚 and is in common usage in Northern China. You might be hard pressed to find usage of 多早晚 outside of 红楼梦 though.


How do you say the noun form of "Campaign" I know that in Chinese we can say "竞选” for campaigning （as in a verb). But, if I wanted to say "campaign" as in "Obama's Campaign" how would I say that? I've seen 竞选活动 in dictionaries。 But， would people say  奥巴马的“竞选活动“？

We use 竞选 as noun in your case. 在这次奥巴马的竞选中。The local media prefer using 竞选 than 竞选活动 though both are okay.


What is the first attested use of 美國/美国 in the sense of 'America' in Chinese? The beginnings of Sino-American relations date back to the late 18th century (e.g. the Old China Trade). When did the Chinese begin to refer to America (or the US) as 美國/美国? Were there alternative names referring to America/US?

There were more than 10 names for USA in history.

亚墨利加国, after 1776;
花旗国, after 1784;
咪唎坚国, after 1784;
咩哩干国, after 1820;
亚美利加兼合国, after 1833;
弥利坚国，即育奈士迭国, after 1836;
美理哥国, 美理哥合省国, 美理哥兼摄邦国, 1838;
亚美利格合省国, 1844;
亚美理驾会邦国, 1844;
亚美理驾合众国, 1844；
米利坚合众国, 1848;
大亚美理驾合众国, 1858;
大美联邦, 1861;
大美国, 1901;
美利坚合众国(美国), after 1902;
美利坚合众国, determined in 1913;

Reference: “美利坚合众国”译名的由来


What is the most efficient method in memorising written characters so as to expand written vocabulary? I have noticed that my reading and listening skills far exceed that of my writing capabilities. What is the most practical method to learn to write characters quickly, but also be able to use them in a sentence properly? Currently I just rote memorise, and this is what I assumed most people do, but find that it does not help me actually use it in a piece of writing. Thanks.

The only thing I found valuable when I was studying Japanese 30 years ago was write small sentences until I was able to memorize them. I'm trying that with Chinese now and that's also very efficient.