Why isn't the Vietnam War called e.g. 抗美战争 ("Resistance War Against America") like in Vietnamese? The Vietnam War is considered by some (most?) Vietnamese people as a fight against US-led invasion of Vietnam.  Hence...

  The Vietnam War (Vietnamese: Chiến tranh Việt Nam), also known ... in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America (Vietnamese: Kháng chiến chống Mỹ) or simply the American War ...

In contrast, the USA were trying to inhibit the spread of communism, i.e., it was an anti-communism war.  So communist China entered to support the North Vietnamese.

In Chinese the Vietnam War is called 越南战争 (literally Vietnam [越南] War [战争], the same as in English).  I find this historically and etymologically curious: there is the phrase 抗日战争 ("Resistance War Against the Japanese") which could be easily adapted to 抗美战争, but wasn't.

Question: Why isn't the Vietnam War called e.g. 抗美战争 ("Resistance War Against America") like in Vietnamese?

Here I come!

The formal name of 抗日战争 is War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, that involved Chinese themselves, so we(Chinese) have to resist(抗) them(日).

However we are not imediatelly involved in 越南战争, which is an affair of another country, so we would not to use 抗美战争 which literally seems like who resist American are Chinese rather than Vietnamese, because, I conjecture, generally if we see a noun which lacks a subject, we may suggest the missing subject is ourselves.


(n.) 的大預言 having trouble making sense of this construct So I have a person's name in place of the noun and I am trying to get a better handle on how to interpret this sentence. Would it be for example, Tommie's people predicted? The full context is that this is a chapter in a book:

Google translate gives me:

"...of people predicted"

Or could it be:

Predicted (n.) ?

Context: A Chapter title in the book I am reading:
哆啦 A 梦的大預言
Where the first part is just a name of the person in the book..

Based on comment's; it seems this would then be (n.) predictions.

The variations of the possessive do not seem to make sense to me in this context. Thanks in advance for any assistance resolving how to interpret this structure.

的大预言

预言 means prophecy

大 means big

预言 here most likely is not plural - hence the whole 的大

edit: found this:

http://doraemon.wikia.com/wiki/Chapter_2:Prophecy_of_Doraemon

a chapter called "Prophecy of Doraemon" maybe it matches up to what you are reading...


Windows 8 Chinese Input: Trackpad and Stylus When using a laptop touchpad to input Chinese via handwriting on Windows 8, I either have to double tap or press down in order to write. On a MacBook, I just write without needing an initial double tap or pressing down while writing. Is there a way to do the same in Windows 8? I read through some of Pinyin Joes pieces on Windows 8, he doesn't seem to have any info on this.

Also, I tried using an iPad/iPhone stylus on a Windows 8 laptop touchscreen, it doesn't seem to be as receptive as on iOS devices. For example, if I write 我, it will miss every other or every third stroke. Is this a function of the touchscreen as it is a budget laptop or the stylus? Are styluses for Windows 8 different than those for Apple?

Mainly two ways for you to input Chinese:

1) Use a Free PinYin inputter such as Sogou:http://pinyin.sogou.com/

2) After installing, you can do writing with TouchPad on your notepad：


Meaning of the headline 超流量平台 The 平台 is usually rendered as 'platform', but what is the 超流量?

The total context of the phrase is as follows:

是俄罗斯及市场最新颖的垂直跨境电商零售批发网站。未来平台注册用户数将超过1000万+，日均访问UV超过100万+，PV超过0.5亿+，最大化展现平台流量价值.

So would it be 'a site / a platform / an Internet space (Russian 'ploshchadka') with highest [Internet] traffic'?

Your understanding (highest [Internet] traffic) seems correct, given that it is used on an e-commerce site.

But I want to point it out that it is not a standard/correct word. Chinese have a lot of freedom in coining new words but not all of them are fine ones. Of most IT-related idioms, 超 is translated from hyper, so we have 超链接(hyperlink), 超文本传输协议(HyperText Transfer Protocol), etc.

Nobody can give an exact meaning of 超流量平台 because it is not a standard IT idiom published by 全国科学技术名词审定委员会（China National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies ）. That's why I said in my previous answer, it is just an ill-devised fancy word.


Does 一屁股坐下来 just mean 'sit down' or is there some other meaning in there? 一屁股坐下来 seems a bit of a strange thing to say. Does it just mean 'sit down'?

Can I say to you '一屁股坐下来' to you to invite you to sit?

In English, as a command, I might say 'sit your arse down!' (stay there, don't move)

The literal meaning of 一屁股坐下来 is "sit down with one move of one's butt". It is a description of a manner which implies "abruptly with no hesitation"

There are similar adverbial phrases:

一手 (with one move of one's hand)

一手搶過我手中的香煙 (with one move of his hand, he grabs the cigarette off my hand = he takes the cigarette off my hand with one move of his hand)

一腳 (with one move of one's foot)

一腳把球射入龍門 (with one strike of his foot, he kicked the ball into the goal = he kicks the ball into the goal with a single strike)

"一屁股坐下来" would mean "he sits down with one move of his butt ", therefore it can be described simply as "sit down abruptly (with no hesitation)"

"One move" implies "one(quick/sudden)move"


Rule: erhua (儿化) in topolectical dictionaries I'm looking for a rule or a guideline.

Dictionaries dealing with MSM (Modern Standard Mandarin) would never morph erhua into the pinyin 头儿 would just simply be tou + r = tour. Some topolectical dictionaries that I have seen actually combine the two (头儿) into a nice little: ter.

Are there any rules or guidelines regarding whether or not to combine erhua with pinyin in topolectical dictionaries?

As you are talking about topolectal dictionaries, which are not based on the ISO that Hànyǔ Pīnyīn has, there is no single standard. The ISO standard for Hànyǔ Pīnyīn of course just appends the -r, without visually indicating any vowel or nasal consonant changes, just as the standard also rules against visually indicating the tone sandhi in consecutive tone three syllables.

I would presume as a trend though that phonological adaptations are useful in a topolect dictionary, and so any one that uses an orthography based on notating the sound (whether it is a custom romanisation system or an IPA-based system) would try to present sound changes in the surface representation and not only the underlying morpheme structure. Hence the unrounding of -o to -e in 头儿 that you see.

For more complicated instances of vowel change, I think it's pretty much required. Fuzhounese, as one of the varieties of Chinese that has morpho-semantically-motivated vowel tensing, really needs the vowel changes to be notated.


How is "按揭" a Cantonese loanword of Mortgage from English? I've seen a few claims that 按揭 is a loanword from English.

This article on cnki says:

  【摘要】 <正> 《咬文嚼字》1997年第1期《试说“按揭”》一文说:“‘按揭’源于英语的mortgage。该词的后一半,gage的发音和广州话‘揭’的发音(kit)相近。可以肯定,‘揭’是音译。而‘按’却是意译。广州话的‘按’也有押、抵押的意思。……‘按揭’是一个半意译半音译的外来词。”

This comment on iask goes a step further to say that it is a transliteration.

  “按揭”是粤语的音译。“按揭”这个音译词要比意译简单,颇有新意和广告效应,并且国际通用,所以就比较盛行。我们传统的民族文化心理在吸收外来词时始终表现出一种倾向,即拒绝纯音译词,而乐于接受意译或部分意译。但是在新的历史条件下,人们的传统观念日益更新,更趋向于接受纯音译词,因此音译词的数量迅速增加。

The ending "-gage" in "mortgage" sounds nothing like ‘揭’ (kit) to me. 按 as "on" seems even less convincing, although it seems like a case could be made for "ngon."

Maybe something in the sounds is getting lost on me. Any ideas?

Wiktionary [1] claims that among the explanations, none claims that 按 is a transcription for mort-. Seemingly there is a version that the original first character was 摸 /mo2/, which makes more sense, and it was replaced by 按 by meaning.

/mo2kit3/ is a MUCH better match than /on3kit3/, and with what other final could English [gɪdʒ] be approximated, if Cantonese allows only -p, -t, -k outside of nasals? [t̚] and [dʒ] are both approximately dental as opposed to labial or velar, and, as any Korean would confirm, when finally unreleased [tɕ~dʑ] defaults to [t̚], so transcription appears flawless. As soon as English card goes to /kaat1/ [2], the behaviour of [dʒ]should not be surprising.

References:

[1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%8C%89%E6%8F%AD

[2] https://wenlin.co/wow/Special:Wenlin/QQs%3Fs%3Dkaat1


Empathy and Sympathy use same characters in Chinese 同情? Any alternative characters to clarify the difference, as the English words and their Greek roots have different meaning. Thanks!

From Wiki

  Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position.

~

  Sympathy is the perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. This empathic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint, from a personal perspective to the perspective of another group or individual who is in need

Base on the definitions, translate 'sympathy' to 同情 is correct, but the meaning of 'empathy' should be 體諒

"同情" means "pity" or "sympathy"

"體諒" means "considerate/ understanding" , notice the components of "體諒" are 體(experience) + 諒(understand)-- To 體諒 means "you put yourself in another's position and understand how the other feels"

"體諒" is not the same as "同情"

"同情" someone, means you are pitying, feeling sorry for that someone
When you say you have empathy (體諒) for someone, it doesn't necessary mean you feel sorry for that someone.

For example:

我能[體諒]美國一部分白人要保自己的特權階級地位而投川普的票，但我並[不同情]他們

I can [have empathy] for those white Americans who wanted to protect their privileged class status and voted for Trump, but I [have no sympathy] for them.

Of course if you have empathy for someone, you are much more likely to have sympathy toward that someone as well


What is the best way to memorize Chinese characters? I think the best way to memorize Chinese characters is learning Chinese character decomposition!

See how it is easy to remember Chinese characters with the help of a simple analysis of the character components:

Decomposition of the Chinese character  会 huì ‘can’
  rén man
云  yún cloud
二  èr two
厶  sī private

 云 二厶

It depends on what you mean by memorizing Chinese characters.

Reading : No decomposition needed.
Writing :

2.1. Handwriting: No decomposition needed.

2.2. Pinyin input: No decomposition needed.

2.3. Wubihua method: No decomposition needed.

2.4. Wubi method: Need to know radicals.

As you can see, only Wubi method requires decomposition of Chinese characters. Since most of Chinese people are not able to use Wubi and not willing to learn it, because of its complexity, we can conclude that decomposition of Chinese characters is not necessary to memorize them.


Why is China National Highway called "国道", instead of "国路"? I know both 道 and 路 mean "road, highway", but I am always confused which one to use in a certain condition.

For example, since "highway" in Chinese language is 公路. Is it more logical to call "National Highway" "国路"? Maybe I am missing something here.

The common term is 国道 for national highway, which would be across the provinces or cities. another term is 高速 short for 高速公路， which is also highway across the provinces. The difference between 国道 and 高速 is the speed limit, speed limit on 高速 is typical 120km/hour, and 国道 typical 80 or 100km/hour. 国道 has traffic lights, while 高速 doesn't have it. You have to pay money for driving on 高速, while you won't pay money for 国道.

As for ‘why not 国路’, I don't have a good reason for it. It's just a convention I think.

Within the city, we call it "高架" or "高架桥"， for example, 沪闵高架 in Shanghai.


Meaning of 又把聚会当做一次分手 Hi I'm trying to figure out what the lyrics of mean of 思 念.

The last sentence is

又把聚会当做一次分手

However, the grammar is a tad difficult and I'm struggling to make sense of it.

My interpretations:
Again, treat our meeting as goodbye?
As soon as we met again, it's goodbye?

Can someone explain it to me

Your interpretations is quite right.

The lyrics means:

Even though we met again, but soon we separate again.
It should be treated as a goodbye, rather than a meeting.


How to express words variants in Chinese? Variant characters are often called 异体字.

How about words? E.g.:

歺厅 is a variant of 餐厅

歺厅:

餐厅的异体词?

餐厅的变体?

[Specifically looking for XX的XX, i.e.: 餐厅的XX]

Words variants in Chinese are 异形词.

For example, there is a document published by the govenment of PRC, 《第一批异形词整理表》(The First Series of Standardized Forms of Words with Non-standardized Variant Forms).

However, I think 歺厅/餐厅 is not a typical example of “异形词”.

In fact, 歺 is one of the second round of simplified Chinese characters (第二批简化字, 二简字), which is obsolete and non-standard now. The different between 歺厅 and 餐厅 is on the character, not the word. So in this example we may say:

  歺厅的“歺”字是“餐”的二简字。

Better examples of “异形词” can be:

树阴 vs 树荫
唯一 vs 惟一


How to spot (if possible) if a final 了 is part of an omitted 要 in a 要...了 construction or simply a past information? There are some examples of sentence 了 that indicate future action which (seems to) have a 要 omitted:

我（要）走了，拜！ - I am going to leave, bye!

I know context usually helps with the issue of time and, apart from that, 我走了 is a pretty common sentence that everyone knows it's an about-to-happen action.

My question is:
If I have any other sentence 了 without any context, for example, "我去中国了", is there a chance that a native listener can think it's a future action with an omitted 要 as in "我(要)去中国了" or does the listener definitely knows it's always a past action?

Thanks in advance!

了 in "我去中国了" does not emphasize it is a past or future action in absent of context.  Consider the following:

我去年去中国了  - I went to China last year
我明年去中国了  - I will go to China next year

Both are legit and 了 changes depend on the content, althought a native speaker will say:

我去年去了中国  - I have been to China last year
我明年(要)去中国了 - I have to go to China next year


How to say "I prefer x over y"? For example:

  I prefer eating fried rice over fried chicken.

How to say that in chinese?

How about this?

我较喜欢吃炒饭比炸鸡
我炒饭比炸鸡较喜欢吃

I prefer X to Y can be translated as:

我喜欢X甚于Y
比起Y来，我更加喜欢X
我喜欢X的程度要超过Y
我喜欢Y，更加喜欢X

So,

  I prefer eating fried rice over eating fried chicken. 我喜欢炒饭胜过炸鸡


What are these tonal markings called? Below are four tonal markings for 四川话:

 with a tone value of 55 (first tone)
 with a tone value of 21 (second tone)
 with a tone value of 53 (third tone)
 with a tone value of 213 (fourth tone)

I believe these are an older form of the tonal markings that can be found today, i.e:

first tone: ˥ (55)
second tone: ˨˩ (21)
third tone: ˥˧ (53)
fourth tone: ˨˩˧ (213)

which have probably been made obsolete. Is my assumption correct?

If not what are the differences between these two different tonal markers?

What are these tonal markings called?

Can the first type of tonal markings be typed? (above are all pngs)

edit: the second type seem to be called tone letters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_letter

but they are individually built - unlike the first kind which are morphed into one single "letter", if you will.

edit 2: these are definitely tone letters of some sort...

I searched ˨˩ in bing and look what get's displayed in the search bar above!

it's exactly the same as the second tone picture from above:

must be some sort of font thing going on to display this, in this way...

third tone works aswell:

and first tone:

but fourth tone doesn't really get the same results...
so what's going on here?

This a well-known issue to do with the rendering of contour tones in certain computer fonts. The Wikipedia article for tone letter states that:

  The contour-tone letters are composed as sequences

In the "Modifier Tone Letters" block in the Unicode standard (A700-A71F in Unicode 7.0), only the level tone letters are provided. Hence any non-level tone letter is created by "smart rendering" capabilities within the program and within the font; it is usually classed as a type of ligature. However, many (or most?) browsers cannot handle them, or only provide some of the ligatures.


Breaking a single line Chinese sentence into multiple lines for design purpose I don't speak or write Chinese, but currently working on web project for my client. The site is available in four languages. The translated content for Chinese is given to me in word doc.

The question is very simple,

Is it OK if I break a single line Chinese sentence into two for design purpose?

Below is brief of why I'm asking this question. tl;dr

In a banner I'm designing for, I have some space issues. Wanted to know if it is OK to break a single line into two lines? When trying out google translator I got a bit confused when I break lines because there was a change in word and auto capitalization. Would be great if some one could clear my doubts, because I do not want the viewers to get annoyed seeing random capitalization and poor language. Also do not want to piss off my client.

A small example is given below

English: User's skin becomes Brighter

What my clients translator gave me: 用户的肌肤变得更亮白

What google translated(when in single line): User's skin becomes more white

With the help of google translator I tried breaking the lines as below.

用户的肌肤变
得更亮白

Google gave me

User's skin becomes
More Brightening

but I found that google captilises the first letter of second line. Does a new line mean a new sentence in Chinese?

In terms of grammar, Chinese also uses punctuation marks to delimit fragments and sentences, so a line break usually doesn't indicate a new sentence. The only hard rule is that most punctuation marks should not begin lines. Most word processing software should enforce this for you.
After this it's a stylistic question. It's true in Chinese, just as it is in English, that line breaks introduces a pause. It's an effect that poetry often takes advantage of. Usually it's bad to pause in the middle of a word, and since Chinese words are made up of one to many characters, you need someone that understands Chinese to identify the words and avoid breaking them. In your example sentence, they are:

用户 - 的 - 肌肤 - 变得 - 更 - 亮白

Line breaks emphasise the first word of a line, so maybe you want to do it to emphasise certain words. This emphasises the "becomes":

用户的肌肤
变得更亮白

This emphasises the "more"

用户的肌肤变得
更亮白

Or you can really overdo the line breaks and make it seem like shouting

用户的肌肤变得
更!
亮!
白!

But really, these are all design decisions, which don't occur in a vacuum. You need to go back to your client and ask what they would like. Maybe they value the shape of the text, even if it means breaking in the middle of a word. Maybe they don't want line breaks at all, even if the text must be resized. Maybe they just don't care.


Using a one-character vs two-character word One of the difficulties I have in Chinese is I feel there is a disconnect between learning the words and using them/reading them in formal texts.
For example, I have learnt that 年 means years, and that 父 means father. So when I reading a newspaper article, I feel confused when the writer uses 父親, which also means father. It also uses 年華, which also means years.
I am referring to this phrase which I recently read: 追憶皮帶匠父親的年華.
This is a common difficulty I have, why not use the one character versions? And when do you know how to use the two character versions? Are these different contextually?

Tl;dr: You may think of 年 as bearing the concept of 'year', and 父 bearing the concept of 'father' (in the usually bisyllabic modern Chinese).

Put simply, modern Chinese uses bisyllabic words (雙音節詞) pervasively. Monosyllabic words (單音節詞) are much rarer. It is precisely for this reason that we only parse individual characters in classical Chinese (and also idioms in modern Chinese!), but not modern Chinese in general:

Modern Chinese: 妻子 ‘wife’
Classical Chinese: 妻 子 ‘wife and son’

In modern Chinese, we use a plethora of bisyllabic words to express different nuances:

請填寫您的出生年分。 Please write your year of birth.
《追憶逝水年華》 In Search of Lost Time

年分 is neutral; it also refers to a particular year. But 年華 is much more literary and refers to many years, or more accurately speaking, the passing of time.

父親節快樂！ Happy Fathers' Day!
為子慶生慈父扮鹹蛋超人 Loving father pretends to be Ultraman to celebrate son's birthday
Adele生父Mark Evans傳癌症病逝 Adele's biological father Mark Evans rumoured to have died of cancer

父親 is again a neutral saying; 慈父 meanwhile is very approving of the father. 生父, like English, emphasises on the biological relationship between the father and the offspring.

That does not mean we do not use monosyllabic words in modern Chinese. 年 can be a counter in

一年 one year
那些年 those (bygone) years,

and 父 alone is perfectly understood and may be used in newspaper headlines out of concision:

子稱被父奪走公司 Son claims company usurped by father

We do not say it like this in speech or normal writing.


How should I understand the pronunciation of 驾驶证 (jiàshǐ zhèng) as 酱汁儿 (jiàng zhī er)? I was reading this website ( https://pinyin.sogou.com/zimeiti/article/1255 ) to understand colloquial Beijing Mandarin and came across this pronunciation for 驾驶证

驾驶证 > "酱汁儿", i.e Jiàshǐ zhèng > jiàng zhī er

How should I understand these changes?

Is it something like 驾驶证儿, with shi disappearing in the middle (jia > jiang, shi> 0, zhengr > zhir), or is it 驾驶证 with shi becoming zhi and zheng becoming r (jia > jiang, shi> zhi, zheng > r)? I know ch, sh, and zh become r a lot but I also know whole syllables can disappear.

Your 1st interpretation is correct. In a three-character word the middle character tends to be ommitted.

驾驶证     jia shi zheng ->
驾驶证儿   jia shi zh-r  ->
驾儿证儿   jia r zh-r    ->
驾(儿)证儿 jia-r zh-r    ->
酱汁儿     jiang zh-r

This is the same for 派出所 becoming 派儿所 (盼儿锁 in the article).


如何了解「喜欢你，我也是」里写这个替代“秒怂”的词？ 我在看着书时遇到了下面不认识的字：

“呃，那个……”张侃侃听到“学姐”二字，秒～。她舔舔嘴唇尴尬地说，……
喜欢你，我也是，12页

我无法输入这个词：除了我的手机，我也尝试用QHanzi和Chinese Input，可是都不能识别“秒”右边的那个字。
为了对比，下面是Kindle版的相同部分。奇怪的是，那两词不一样。

“呃，那个……”张侃侃听到“学姐”二字，秒怂。她舔舔嘴唇尴尬地说，……
喜欢你，我也是，Kindle版

鉴于书里的语境，我猜这个词是“目瞪口呆”类似的意思，可是我根本不知道为什么出现不同。我也不知道“秒怂”是不是正确的词：在词典上我找不到这个词。
问题：如何了解「喜欢你，我也是」里写这个替代“秒怂”的词？

I know you're not going to be happy with this, but I'm going to write up an answer in English. First, at least.

First about digitization:
Amazon has the same problem you do. They don't know how to render the character. I haven't looked into it very deeply but it looks like they have issues with CJKV extensions. (Perhaps CJK Ext. A is more doable, but I'm not sure about B-G.)
 (⿸尸从) is a CJK Ext. C character.
CJK Ext. characters usually need special font support and that clearly hasn't been implemented into Amazon or Kindle products.

 can be found in Mandarin dictionaries:
Pleco

weak and incompetent

Oxford

weak by nature

CC-CEDICT

weak and incompetent

Perhaps the most well known word with this character is: 包.

For the sake of understanding you can consider 秒 two "words," instead of one single word.
MDBG

秒
(coll.) instantly

"秒 + verb" has become a trend in neologisms. There are quite a few of these combinations, think: 秒懂，秒回，秒赞，秒睡，秒删, etc. 秒 is a combination of "instant" + "cower."


Why is 英语和汉语我都会说 correct and 我会说都英语和汉语 incorrect? While studying today's lesson I came across this sentence:

英语和汉语我都会说。

The lesson also says that I cannot say:

我会说都英语和汉语。

I imagine it's because of 都, so if I omit it, would it be correct to say 我会说英语和汉语?

Yes, without 都, you can say "我会说英语和汉语" The reason is unlike the English word "both" which is placed before the objects,  "都" must be placed after the objects

I can speak [English and Chinese]
I can speak [both] [English and Chinese]
我会说[英语和汉语]
[英语和汉语]我[都]会说
我[英语和汉语][都]会说

Notice in #4 and #5 the object [英语和汉语] is placed before 都

"我会[都]说 [英语和汉语]" and "我会说[都][英语和汉语]" violated this rule.

Note:

"都" in "我都会说英语和汉语" (I too, can speak English and Chinese) means "also" or "too". It is different usage of "都"


Asking "what are your dreams for the future" How does one ask in Mandarin, "what are your dreams" (i.e. future ambitions)
I know that 打算 can be used for if you're planning to do something e.g. 我打算明天去看医生 so am not sure if the phrase would use this or something entirely different like a set phrase
Thanks

The term 'dream' can be a metaphor for 'goal, hope, or desire' in English. It is the same in Chinese. Therefore, translate 'What are your dreams?' as “你的梦想是什么？” is perfectly appropriate.
梦想 = dream and hope


Sites with big collection of ebooks in chinese language, but western titles mostly Want to know sites where one can download ebook in different formats in chinese. Interested in those resources with western titles (chinese editions) mostly. Out-of-copyright edition of western classic and modern chinese literature will be much appreciated. Thanks.

If you are not restricted to "free ebooks only", some online ebook stores are available, like amazon.cn, book.jd.com, and book.douban.com.

As for free ebooks, it is highly unlikely to get free legal copies of the ebooks you mentioned, especially the western titles with Chinese translation. After all, China does not have a long history of EN to CN literate translation, and many of these venerated translators are still alive.


How to pronounce '蒙古' correctly? The word '蒙古' seems to be read as 'měng gu'. But when I listen to others, it seems to be pronounced 'méng gu'. Which is the correct one? And I found it hard to tell the difference between 'měng gu' and 'méng gu'. Is it because the word itself or some pronunciation mistake?

The Pinyin for 蒙古 is written like this in ABC:

Mẹ̌nggǔ

Notice the dot under the letter E, this is an indicator that this word is read with tone sandhi. The tone sandhi rules dictate that meng3 gu3 be read:

meng2 gu3 (méng gǔ)

Another factor that may add to your confusion is the fact that the standard pronunciation in Taiwanese Mandarin is different. For instance, if you check MoE's entry for 蒙古族 the pinyin for 蒙 is clearly written as:

méng

蒙 is never read měng in TW.


What is the difference between 费电 and 耗电? In the context of phone apps, is there a difference between these words? How about in other contexts?

Simply, 费电 means waste the electricity, 耗电 means consume the electricity.


Should Pinyin be written as it is (collectively) pronounced or in terms of the individual syllables? As in the title, should something like 不对 be written as bù duì (as in the individual characters) or as bú duì (the way it's actually spoken)?

I know that my teacher writes e.g. 你好 as nǐ hǎo (i.e. despite the ní hǎo pronunciation).  Google Translate seems to stick to writing it according to the individual character tones too.  Is this the standard way?  I'm confused because I thought of Pinyin as 'just' a pronunciation guide, so why not write everything exactly as it is spoken?

I want to emphasize what @user3306356 says in a comment.  Hanyu Pinyin (漢語拼音) is an officially established system and has explicit rules which you can see  here. As @jdods remarks in a comment to this answer, that means tones are written as assigned and not as pronounced, while syllables are grouped as pronounced.

This is important because Hanyu Pinyin is not only a way to teach children in China to read, or a way to help foreign learners of Chinese.  It is also an international standard for rendering Chinese texts in a western alphabet.

You should probably try to learn the actual international standard -- especially if you think you might later use Pinyin in transcribing anything for other people to read.

As to the question "why not write everything exactly as it is spoken?" Here are three answers.  But in fact Hanyu Pinyin is the outcome of nearly a century of efforts by many scholars and linguists, and I am probably missing many of their reasons.

First, so far as two or three third tones in a row are concerned, Hanyu Pinyin does tell you exactly how they are normally spoken because you know the Hanyu Pinyin rules.  What you really meant was "why not write each individual syllable exactly as spoken without relying on context?"

So, second, context is a very complex issue: As @michealyus notes, third tone sandhi on more than three successive third tones depends on how the sentence is meant to be broken into phrases.  More: the tone on a word may turn neutral at the end of a phrase, or may not if you want to emphasize that word for some reason (indeed even so common a phrase as 你好 can be spoken as ni3 hao3 in a context that calls for for special emphasis).  And the exact way a neutral tone is pronounced depends on the tone before it (see  this link).  Thus, many words would have at least three spellings.  Now suppose you as writer want to quote something someone said.  You would have to choose how to spell each sentence by deciding how the sentence would have been broken into phrases (this is often ambiguous) and how much emphasis was intended (ditto).

Third, from the reader's viewpoint, consider the writer whose pseudonym is spoken lao2 she3.  Is the first word there a second tone word?  Or is it a third tone word being written as second?  Better to write it as Lao3 She3, and use the rule for third tone sandhi.  The ambiguities of phonetic representation of Mandarin are bad enough intrinsically.  Let's not make them worse by giving single words multiple spellings.


What is the purpose of 制 in this sentence 夏时制开始 Just received this in a message from a friend trying to determine what time we meet this coming Sunday.

  星期天几点开踢? 夏时制开始

Daylight savings starts early this Sunday at 2am.

So what is the purpose of 制 in the phrase 夏时制开始?

I see from wiktionary that 制 can have the meaning of "establish" so is 制 included to indicate that daylight savings is starting on that particular day (which is Sunday by context of the previous sentence)?

From speaking to many mainland Chinese, 夏时 means daylight savings. If a Chinese speaker knows about daylight savings, 夏时 is quite clear. 夏时制 is more clear especially for Chinese who aren't familiar with daylight savings. The three words together express "system of daylight saving" loose translation.

Honestly, would a non-American English speaker be able to know what daylight savings is without previous knowledge of the concept? I don't think so. I can imagine less worldly Chinese not understanding either of the two above phrases unless the concept was carefully explained to them.


Why is 景 written "wrong" on the Nestorian Stele? I noticed that 景 is written on the Tang-era Nestorian Stele with the "boxes" switched, ie. the 口 is above and 日 is below. Would this be a standard way to write the character during that time, or is it an intentional variation?

This is a 隸書 form of 景. According to the references cited in the 教育部異體字字典, it occurs on steles from the Tang dynasty.

Sometimes these variations are done for ease of cutting, or because certain forms tend to break or wear away very easily; I don't know if this is the case here. Another form that also seems to appear a lot is with two 日, a 日 on top and a second one in 京 (= 日/小).


What Chinese languages are spoken in South East Asia? With the abundance of immigration and emigration in Asia it would be interesting to know where the Chinese languages moved to as well.

The effect of Chinese characters on Japan and Korea goes without saying, but how about South East Asia?

Wikipedia's page Language and overseas Chinese communities mentions the subject a little but mostly in gloss.

Any ideas?

Page 2 of《泰国的西南官话》by 肖自辉 has this little little insert, which is quite nice:

Malaysia speaks: Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka.
Singapore speaks: Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew and Hainanese
Indonesia speaks: Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Teochew.
Brunei speaks: Amoy and Hakka.
Philippines speaks: Hokkien and Cantonese.
Vietnam speaks: Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, Southwestern Mandarin, Hokkien and Hainanese.
Laos speaks: Teochew and Southwestern Mandarin.
Cambodia speaks: Teochew.
Thailand speaks: Teochew, Hakka, Cantonese and Southwestern Mandarin.
Myanmar speaks: Southwestern Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese and Hakka.

It's not that surprising to see Cantonese and Min, along with its other branches, getting big representation. Southwestern Mandarin on the other hand is a bit of a shock.


How to translate Session? In a workshop context, I am trying to verblly translate "Session 1", "Session 2" into Chinese. The first word coming to my mind is 第一课,第二课, but we are trying to avoid the implication that the workshop is a course, it is rather a gathering where the moderator leads people to share their experiences of certain things with each other. 会话一,会话二 are too formal and not very Chinese. Is there any better translation?

My suggestion:
第一節, 第二節 /jie2/...
Cantonese pronunication /jit3/
Literally a part, or a section of a whole.
课 "lesson" - sounds too much like a class, where a (group of) student(s) learn(s) from a teacher.
会话 "dialogue" - is not the same as a workshop session.


What does this mean? Colloquial interviews I was watching a local hong kong show when an interviewer (I) asked a lady (L):
I: 40歲未呀？
L: 點止呀！三個嫲嫲⋯⋯
What did the lady answer? The subtitle was in standard written Chinese and i couldn’t make out what was being said. Furthermore, the lady’s response was lightning fast and there might have been some words, particles, or expressions that I have missed out. I could only make out the ones I typed.

It is in Cantonese
40歲未呀？ =　(Are you) 40 years old yet? = (你今年) 有40歲了嗎？
點止呀！ = how could (I am) only (40) = (我) 怎么可能只有 (40岁)？
三個嫲嫲⋯⋯ = (I am ) three (grandchildren's) grandma... = (我已經是) 三個 (孫子的) 奶奶了


How does 翻's 2021 meanings appertain to 羽? I don't understand how 羽 (wings) relate to the 8 definitions of 翻 below. What's the semantic field of 翻? How does 羽 (wings) relate to 翻's semantic field?

Above is Yellowbridge. Below is Oxford Chinese Dictionary (2010) p 199.

Flying birds can easily roll (翻) in the air. 羽 is related to both bird and flying
翻飛 = flying and rolling (in the air)
roll--> turn/flip


Is there a word for 1/3? So I know that in Mandarin, 1/2 is 二分之一 or 一半. Is there a similar word to 一半 for 1/3? I mean, instead of 三分之一, something like 一——？

因為十進制在中國已被使用了很長的時間，故比較少分數字詞；其中只有「半」作為單字詞，於中國古代應用如下。
Because the decimal system has been used for a long time in China, there are fewer fractional words.
半 is the only single word, which was used as follows in ancient China.

1/2 one-half 半、中半
1/3 one-third 少半、小半
2/3 two-thirds 太半、大半
1/4 one-fourth, a quarter 弱半
3/4 three-fourths, three quarters 強半

中國數字分數系統中，稱呼分數時，先稱呼分母，後稱呼分子。
In Chinese fractional system, the denominator is addressed first, and then the numerator.

例如：其亡者三二 (Two-thirds people died)。

Source: 中文數字


To describe a man acting creepily towards a woman, is there a word that means 害怕 (afraid) but less strong? Imagine a scenario where a man is acting creepily towards a woman.  Writing from her perspective, she might say something like

  他让我感到害怕
  He makes me feel afraid

but 害怕 seems too strong here.  She's not fearing for her life: she's fearing that the man will do something unpredictable and weird.

While I believe it's correct, it feels childish and imprecise to simply add 有点儿:

  他让我感到有点儿害怕
  He makes me feel a little afraid

Basically, I'm looking for a more suitable word here.

Question: Is there a word that means 害怕 (afraid) but less strong?

I found some examples 不安 or 忧虑, but it's unclear to me if these are suitable in this context.

I suggest:

心里发毛
feel nervous · be panic-stricken
Example: 他让我感到心里发毛 (he creeps me out)

Basically 心里发毛 describes "you have a dread that you can't put your finger on"

dread : anticipate with great apprehension or fear.

can't put your finger on: not be able to say exactly what is wrong or different about a particular situation


What does the term '死人不偿命' mean? From HiNative it's something like:

The food I give you is very sweet, if you died from the sweetness don't blame me...

But I still don't get what the phrase refer to

Is it something like 'you personally search for trouble'?

First, you should discern whether it's used as its literary meaning or metaphorical meaning from a given context.

Literally, '死人不偿命' means one wouldn't compensate for other's death.

Metaphorically, don't come to me (for reasoning) if you would 'die' of it. The typical example is 笑死人不偿命，for example 笑死人不偿命的笑话.  The similar phrase in English could be 'something that could laugh your ass-off'.

On the other hand, 笑死人不偿命的笑话 sometimes could be a way of tempting, in which they suggest you not taking a shot of it otherwise it would 'kill' you by too much without any compensation. This could have the effect of the psychological inversion, and finally you wouldn't wait to take a shot of it.

There are some other similar phrases in our daily usage, like 笑死人了，笑死了， 吵死了， 烦死了, ... . You could say 我最近烦死了！（I've been bored to death recently.）.


What does 自个 mean: "since a" or "onself" As a title, I have found to meanings for 自个:  "since a" or "oneself", what is correct and how to translate it?

自个儿 zìgěr
pronoun colloquial
oneself, by oneself
不要只顾自个儿。Don’t just think about yourself.

自个儿 is the a colloquial way to say 自己. On top of my head, I couldn't see any example where they are not interchangeable. The only difference between them perhaps is just that 自己 can be used in formal context while 自个儿 is rather colloquial.
Literally the word is composed with "self" "one" (儿 is just there to mimic the colloquial adjustment of pronunciation). So it's simply means self and one which could be understood as oneself, by oneself, oneself's etc. depending on the context.
It's can be used as a pronoun alone like the example given above.
More than often it would follow another noun part, subject or object and etc, to stress that it's object carry out the action alone. This can also make the reference more clear since 自个儿 itself only means oneself buy doesn't specify who the one is.
For example:
你自个儿 means "you and oneself", which in turn means "yourself".
So when you encountered 自个儿, just keep in mind it means that the object it refers to is finishing the sentence by itself and add appropriate adverb (by adding alone, by oneself) or change the pronoun (you->yourself) that fits other parts in your translation.


What's the difference between shǐ yòng 使用 and yòng 用？ Both mean to use. However, sometimes you need both and sometimes you can simply say yòng 用.

Examples:

謝謝你使用拼音 , thank you for using pinyin

謝謝你用鉛筆 , thank you for using a pencil

Actually they are almost the same just like in order to vs to have same effect.
But 用 can only be verb , can a little bit simplify the sentence .
使用 and 用 have same mean in below block

用水 用工具 用他的東西 用電腦
使用水 使用工具 使用他的東西 使用電腦
use water ,use tools, use his stuff , use computer

使用 has more way to use.

使用手冊 使用時間 使用地點
Operation Manual , usage time , Use location


When Chinese speakers read Arabic numbers, do they still read them in Chinese? Often you see Arabic numbers among Chinese texts for example: 我想要321餃子
would that be read as "three hundred" or as "三百二十一"?

This may seem obvious but thought I'd seek clarification.  Learning the numbers has been a challenge, due to the different decimal places, so for large numbers in particular I was wondering how it works when written like e.g. 1,542,800.

I'm a native speaker. I'll read "我(wo) 想(xiang) 要(yao) 三(san) 百(bai) 二(er) 十(shi) 一(yi) 個(ge) 餃(jiao) 子(zi)".

BTW "321餃子" doesn't make sense. "321個餃子" would be correct because you need the unit "個".


What is the grammar pattern in "藏语呢我是略知一二"？ I was watching a show and one guy said "藏语呢我是略知一二". Now I'm having a little bit of trouble understanding the grammar pattern for this sentence, especially with the use of the "是". I'm not entirely sure why the "是" is place where it is, as I would assume the subject would be the idiom "略知一二", which I've only ever watched or read them to be used as an adjective- so wouldn't that mean you would have to use an adverb like "很"?
So my question is: What is the grammar pattern in this sentence?
Thanks everyone

It is a [topic + comment] sentence
Topic: '藏语呢' -- 'about the Tibetan language'
Comment: '我是略知一二(的)' -- 'I am slightly familiar with'
我是略知一二(的) is a relative phrase that gives a description/ comment on the topic/ object 藏语
SVO: '我對藏语略知一二' -- ''I am slightly familiar with the Tibetan language'
More example:

SVO: 我是不会再去这间餐厅的

T/P: 这间餐厅 我是不会再去的

in "我 是 (XXX) 的", (XXX) describes "我"

SVO: 我不会再去这间餐厅了

T/P: 这间餐厅 我不会再去了

"了" is a final particle


How would you say, "Don't let price interfere with your happiness" in Cantonese? How would you say, "Don't let price interfere with your happiness" in Cantonese?

After asking a few Cantonese speakers, there were still no conclusive answers but a few suggestions:

1)冇俾價錢影響你快樂

2)冇俾價錢影響你選擇

3)冇俾價錢影響你情緒

None of these seem right. What's the right way to say this?

The context: we were eating dinner with a friend, and she wanted to order something at the restaurant, but it cost $1 more than normal. Even though she really was craving the dish, she chose something cheaper in order to save $1.

"咪俾個價錢掃你興啦!"

咪 = 唔好 = Don't
俾 = allow / let
"個" .... It sounds more natural with this quantifier
價錢 = price
掃你興 ~= 減低你嘅樂趣 ~= 影響你嘅樂趣 = interfere with your happiness
"啦" .... It sounds more natural with this interjection


What does 臉盆 "washbasin" mean when it's part of the names of dishes in Taiwan? A restaurant just up the road from my hostel here in Taichung, Taiwan has some dishes including the characters  臉盆. When I looked them up I could only find the meaning "washbasin". Even hunting the internet afterwards I couldn't find any other meaning or useful reference to food.

What could 臉盆 mean in this context?

臉盆 still means washbasin here, it's just that this washbasin is a very large bowl used for food.

A tonne more noodles and a lot more soup.


How to say "What am I going to do with you" in Chinese? There is an expression in English of sort of dramatic frustration, but in a very familiar, and almost endearing way.  So, for example, if your girlfriend/boyfriend does something that is kind of unique or strange, but it is very specific to them, you can exclaim, "What am I going to do with you!"

It is hard for me to explain this expression, and I cannot find a good webpage for it.  But I am looking for a way in Chinese to sort of "mock complain" about something slightly weird that someone you care about does.  Do you have any thoughts?

Yes, there is a Chinese expression that almost perfectly matches the English one:

我该拿你怎么办

And it is used endearingly, or critically by superiors on inferiors. This also seems to match the English usage.

I don't know about its etymology; from its close match against English and its contemporaneity (Ngram Viewer shows it appeared in the 80's and began to spike from the 90's) I suspect it is highly influenced by the English expression.


Using those characters only/with out adding, replacing, or removing is my sentence structure and grammar correct? Can someone please help me? I suck at forming sentences in Chinese. I know if I practice I would get better but I have no one to check if my sentence structure is correct. Hopefully, it is!
一）我请你和我想一起听音乐。
二）我和我的好朋友昨天晚上去图书馆看书。
三）哪里哪里，我写字写得很慢。
四）我的妈妈常常说别看电影。
五）白安觉得他来念书念得不错。
六）他没听录音可是有课文预习。

一）我请你和我想一起听音乐。 incorrect - (it is either 请你和我一起听音乐 or 我想和你一起听音乐, )

二）我和我的好朋友昨天晚上去图书馆看书。 correct

三）哪里哪里，我写字写得很慢。 correct

四）我的妈妈常常说别看电影。 correct

五）白安觉得他来念书念得不错。 incorrect - (it should be "白安觉得他念书念得不错"

'他来'念书' implies a 'suggestion' ; '念书念得不错' is a 'statement', the two don't mix )

六）他没听录音可是有课文预习。incorrect - (it should be 他没听录音可是有预习课文, [没听] is a verb, if it is followed by "可是有 but have" then the following must be another verb [预习], not a noun [课文预习])


Why it is called 没大没小? It is a commonly used idiom that means rude; no respect for one's elders.

However, I wonder why it is called 没大没小. I would like to know its origin.

大小 means the seniority or generation.

沒大沒小/没大没小

謂不顧長幼之分。
Regardless of seniority or generation.

不顧長幼之分。形容欠缺禮數，不懂規矩。
Regardless of seniority or generation.
To describe a lack of propriety and ignorance of rules.

典故出處 Origin: 《Journey to the West》
明·吳承恩《西遊記》第23回：“好女婿呀！這等沒大沒小的，連丈母也都要了！”
Good son-in-law!
So impolite!
Even want your mother-in-law too.


What is the Difference Between 讲解 and 解释? I've seen both of them used as "to explain" or "to interpret", but I am not sure if there are differences in connotation or anything else?

Both can function as noun or verb. The basic difference is that 讲解 is "oral explanation", or "to explain orally", whereas 解释 simply means "explanation" or "to explain", and can be oral or written.

老師在課堂上講解得很清楚。 “The teacher explained (it) very clearly in class." (orally)

老師在課堂上解釋得很清楚。 “The teacher explained (it) very clearly in class." (presumably orally, but not spelt out)

課本第十頁解釋得很清楚。 ”Page 10 in the text book explains (it) very clearly."


Why is 刻 used to mean ''a quarter of an hour''? 刻 means ''to carve'' but my dictionary also says it means ''to set a time limit''.

What is the connection between 刻 and a quarter of an hour ?

刻 means ''to carve'' but my dictionary also says it means ''to set a time limit''.

well, you need a better dictionary

in 國語辭典, the first explanation of the entry “刻”, as noun is:

  古代計時的名稱，一晝夜共分一百刻。今以十五分鐘為一刻。《周禮．夏官司馬．挈壺氏》：「縣壺」漢．鄭玄．注：「漏之箭晝夜共百刻，冬夏之間有長短焉，大史立成法，有四十八箭。」

http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=W00000004456

some chinese astronomy background:

in the past, time is divided into year, month, day, and hour (“辰” / “時“)

in 商 dynasty a day was divided into 8 periods, and evolved to 10 periods.

then, in 周 dynasty, a day was divided into 12 periods; afterward, in 漢 dynasty, people used 十二辰 (子，丑 . . 亥) to name these periods.

to know time unit shorter than a day, people relied on sundial (日晷) & water clock (漏壺)

the vertical ruler in the bottom bucket is called “箭”, that, marks are craved onto, to indicate 100 equal divisions. together, in one operation (24 hours), the ruler (箭) would flow upward continuously, one just read the mark on the ruler, one can know the approximately which hundredth of a day.

the history is, most dynasties in the past used 100 periods (刻) for 24 hours, which means 1 刻 is 14 minutes 24 seconds.

it’s till 1640s, the first emperor (順治) of 清 dynasty adopted jesuit ferdinand verbiest’s (南懷仁) recommendations; both the definitions & methods of chinese astronomy were changed / improved. one of these “improvements” is, one day (24 hours) is divided into 96 刻.

therefore,

1 day = 12 辰 / 大時 = 24 hours (小時)

1 辰 / 大時 is divided into “初” & “正”

24 hours = 96 刻 —-> 1 刻 = 15 minutes

such definition is valid since 1640s, and certain dynasties in the past.

info added.

for anyone who is interested in this topic, the internet archive has the complete collection of joseph needham’s book “science and civilisation in china”, a download of 12 files.

https://archive.org/details/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/page/n4/mode/2up

the water clock (aka clepsydra) is in volume 3, page 379-399 of the pdf

https://archive.org/download/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Needham_Joseph_Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_3_Mathematics_and_the_Sciences_of_the_Heavens_and_the_Earth.pdf

not a leisure read, you’re reminded


What does "青年文明号" mean? Usually you can see in China, some buses, banks, hospitals and other service outlets have a sign attached to them, reading 青年文明号, that is quite beyond me. Especially the word 号 what does it mean here? Is it something like the name of a ship or an aeroplane?

号 is a common designation word for naming man-made vehicles like  ships, planes and trains.

For example:

Ronald Reagan = 罗纳德·里根

USS Ronald Reagan = 罗纳德·里根号 (super-carrier named after Ronald Reagan)

“青年文明号" is a youth organization that emphasize on "Youth movement " And the word 号 in the organization's name signified this fact.

It is in fact, comparing itself to a ship or train (Something that move purposefully ; a vehicle for advancing development )


What semantic notions underlie 頁 ('page') with '預' ('beforehand')? I'm especially baffled because 'page' is physical, but 'beforehand' isn't physical. I screenshot Yellowbridge

and quote 預 - Wiktionary.

  Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *las): phonetic 予 (OC *la, *laʔ) + semantic 頁.

  Definitions

  † beforehand
  † to take part in
  (Xiamen, Zhangzhou Min Nan) to participate in an activity
  (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taiwanese Hokkien) to play (chess, cards, mahjong, hide-and-seek, etc.)
  (Xiamen, Zhangzhou Min Nan, of an activity) to start
  (Cantonese, Teochew) to foresee; to expect; to anticipate

  我預咗佢會遲到㗎啦。 [Cantonese, trad.]
  我预咗佢会迟到㗎啦。 [Cantonese, simp.]

  Ngo5 jyu6 zo2 keoi5 wui5 ci4 dou3 gaa3 laa1. [Jyutping]

  I knew he was going to be late.
  (Cantonese, Teochew) to prepare; to plan for; to estimate

  今晚有朋友上嚟食飯，你預多啲飯餸喇喎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
  今晚有朋友上嚟食饭，你预多啲饭喇㖞。 [Cantonese, simp.]

  Gam1 maan5-1 jau5 pang4 jau5 soeng6 lai4 sik6 faan6, nei5 jyu6 do1 di1 faan6 sung3 laa3 wo3. [Jyutping]

  A friend is coming over for dinner tonight, so prepare more food.
  (Cantonese) to reserve a place; to count someone in

「預」 (Zhengzhang OC: /*las/, ahead/beforehand) is comprised of semantic 「頁」 (head) and phonetic 「予」 (/*laʔ/).

The components of a character contribute hints to the character based on what the components meant and/or sounded like at the time of the character's first appearance. 「頁」 (/*leb/) did not originally mean page; that meaning is a phonetic loan from 「葉」 (/*leb/, leaf > flat sheet > page).
「頁」 (head) was originally a picture of a kneeling person 「卩」 drawn with an emphasised head 「」 (now written 「首」). The legs of the kneeling person 「卩」 was later replaced with the legs of  「人」.

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Forms 1, 2, 4, 5 refer to 「頁」. Form 3 refers to 「項」.

When it is found in other characters, 「頁」 holds the meaning head (anatomy from the shoulders upwards) as a semantic hint. For example,

頭 head (+ phonetic 豆)

頸 neck (+ phonetic 巠)

領 neck > collar (+ phonetic 令)

題 head > main topic (+ phonetic 是)

額 forehead (+ phonetic 客)

頂 summit (+ phonetic 丁)


Understanding how to use 以後 This grammar article says 以後 must modify some time, action, or event.

However, one of the examples is: 以后再也不来这里吃饭了，又贵又难吃.

1) In the above example, 以後 starts the sentence and modifies nothing. Why is it okay for the first example but not this one: 我六点下班，以后，我去跟朋友吃饭?

2) Would removing the commas for the second example make it grammatically correct since 以后 would be then modifying 我六点下班? In other words, would this sentence -- without commas -- be correct: 我六点下班以后我去跟朋友吃饭. Would removing the comma here also make 以后 correct: 我们先复习一下，以后上新课?

"以后再也不来这里吃饭了，又贵又难吃" is grammatically correct because it does modify an event, and the event is 'from now on not come here for dinner'.
This sentence implies "從今(from now on)以后再也不来这里吃饭了，又贵又难吃"
'從今'(from now on) is omitted because we know '以后'(hereafter) is referring to 'from now, hereafter'
Just like if you wrote "(昨天在这里吃了一餐)以后，再也不會来这里吃饭了，又贵又难吃" 以后 modifies the event "昨天在这里吃了一餐".

2) Would removing the commas for the second example make it grammatically correct

我六点下班以后，我去跟朋友吃饭 is technically correct, but it should be a single sentence: "我六点下班(之后)去跟朋友吃饭"
Use 之后 instead of 以后 because 以后 is usually followed by a unique event
Example to illustrate my point:

清朝灭亡(以后), 中国再没有皇帝了 (correct)
清朝灭亡(之后), 中国再没有皇帝了 (correct)

'The demise of the Qing Dynasty; no more emperor' is a unique event, you cannot have this event again

雨停(以后)才能出外 (incorrect)
雨停(之后)才能出外 (correct)

'after the rain stop; going out' is not a unique event, it will happen again and again
Best way is to simply write: "我六点下班(后)去跟朋友吃饭"


Should I use "闷声发大财" or "闷声大发财"？ 闷声发大财
闷声大发财

Both are widely used among the Chinese people, which one is the correct one?

Here is the summary of google hits on each term, including both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Blue is for 发大财, and red is for 大发财:

So apparently 闷声发大财 is more ubiquitous, both in Simp. and Trad. Chinese.
But it is not a problem of correctness. Nothing is grammatically wrong in either form. There might be something slightly off for 大发财 because it doesn't conform to similar phrases like 吃大亏, 撞大运, etc., but it's not that important. The thing is, even if 大发财 was indeed the original form, 发大财 has already become an internet meme, and there is no way to stop that.
After careful listening, I think there is not doubt that the Chairman did say 闷声大发财. The pronunciation of 发 is hard to dismiss if you know how 入声 works.
However, there are like 1 billion native 官话(Mandarin in the broader sense) speakers who can't distinguish 入声. Also verb + 大 + object has always been a prevalent form. These could be why the 闷声发大财 version gained it's popularity.


Usage of 的 to refer to a generic class of things I'm wondering if this idea is correct: that 的 can generally be appended to and adjective in order to refer to the entire class of objects satisfying that adjective.

Example:
好吃的 (delicious things); 我喜欢好吃的 (I like delicious things.)
漂亮的 (pretty things); 我喜欢漂亮的 (I like pretty things.)

What are the limitations of this idea, if it is even correct? How about 大的 (big things)? Can I say 我不喜欢大的 (I do not like big things.)? I guess that's a little vague more possibly, since 'delicious' (example above) obviously refers to food. I can imagine a casual conversation in English, where it would be appropriate to say "I like pretty things", and thus I'm wondering how people might say such things in Chinese, both formally and informally/casually/colloquially.

What if you told a friend to go purchase an item for you, and you wanted to colloquially say you don't want the "big one" (assuming the item has several size choices), could you say "不要大的", "不是大的", or just "不大的" or "不大"?

I'm most interested in what feels most natural to a native speaker. If I said either of the last four phrases above, would a native speaker know that I am stating a preference of not wanting the 'large size item'?

Short answer: yes. Your understanding is mostly correct.
Long answer: what happens in a sentence like

  我喜欢吃好吃的
  I like to eat delicious things

is that you are omitting something that would otherwise appear after 的. In the example above I omitted 东西。
This omission is fine with very generic nouns. I can come up with the following:

东西 (material thing): 我喜欢吃好吃的[东西] I like to eat delicious [things]
事情 (immaterial thing): 我不喜欢复杂的[事情] I don't like complicated [matters/stuff]

You can then omit any other non-generic noun provided that what you are referring to is known from the context.

  你回来的路上能帮我买一些苹果呢？我不要大的。
  Can you buy me some apples on your way back? I don't want the big ones.

If it is not easily understood from context, than you should specify the noun, as in:

  我喜欢可爱的东西
  I like pretty things.

To make up a rule of thumb, just remember that you are omitting something. If you can convince yourself of this, it's easier to distinguish between noun phrases with an omitted noun and regular adjectives.
In your examples above:

不要大的 -- noun phrase with omission -- I don't want the big one(s)
不是大的 -- adjective, with 是 for emphasis -- It's not big!
不大的 -- adjective with end-of-sentence 的 particle (expresses certainty) -- It's definitely not big!
不大 -- negated adjective -- not big

Therefore, the correct way to colloquially express the adjective + omitted noun is by preceding it with a verb, just as if it were a normal sentence.


Homonyms in the context of humor or satire Because my study of Chinese is mostly based on intermediate videos I think I am missing something. Now that I have a sense of the large number of homophones in Chinese, the potential for double-entendres and word play seems obvious; but it is not the sort of thing one would put into intermediate material.

  I wonder if there are some examples of humorous or satirical ambiguity that convey a sense of how these commonly come up?

This can happen in English when a word has two distinct meanings. For example, in an agricultural context we speak of a bull "servicing" a cow; this usage injects an element of humor into the notion that a phone company "services" a customer.

Homophones are often used humorously in Chinese. Some examples:

Many jokes use the topic of people confusing similar-sounding phrases:

  把一个卖糖葫芦的被揍了，到警察局，警察问理发师：“你为什么揍卖糖葫芦的？”理发师说：“我在屋里烫头发，他在外面喊‘烫糊喽’！”
  A man selling candy fruit (Tanghulu) was beaten up. At the police office,
  the police officer asked the haidresser: "Why did you beat up the
  candy fruit seller?" The hairdresser answered: "I was in my shop
  applying perms (烫头发)， and he stood outside yelling 'he burned [my
  hair] to a paste!' (tang hu lou)!"

There are also more satirical uses of word substitution and homophones. For example, in mainland Chinese online communication, it's common to refer to China's government as the 天朝 (heavenly court), to mockingly compare it to the imperial court of times past. There are many examples of this type.

An example that may be unique to Chinese is the 同音文章 (One syllable article), where a short story is composed only of characters that are pronounced as the same syllable (but not necessarily the same tone). These are often humorous, just because the form constraints enforce absurd content. From a famous example:

  石室詩士施氏，嗜獅，誓食十獅。
  The "Stone-house poetry master" from family Shi liked lions
  and swore to eat ten lions [...]

There are many other examples from many different types of Chinese humor. In conclusion: Yes, both homophones and words with multiple meanings are used in Chinese humor, both in satire and vulgar humor.


Do I have to include 是 in 你的生日(是)什么时候？ I would like to know if the verb 是 (shi) is optional?

你的生日是什么时候？ (Ni de shengri shi shen me shi hou?)
你的生日什么时候？ (Ni de shengri shen me shi hou?)

Which of those two sentence used more?

你的生日是什麼時候?
(When is your birthday?) is the proper way to propose a question.
你(的)生日什麼時候? is gramatically incorrect but seldom heard when speaking for shortness

Also,
你(的)生日是哪一天?
(What day is your birthday?)
and, 你什麼時候生日?
are frequently used for asking about birthdays.

These can also be used in many other occations. For example:

你什麼時候出去的? (When did you get out?)
你們什麼時候要走(=離開,出發)? (When are you guys going to leave?)

These are really colloquial way to speak

I'll take the last one when speaking :-)


What's chinese for "layer" in the Photoshop sense of the word? I want to say "Do not print this layer" in Chinese, as past of a photoshop file. How does one say "Layer" in the photoshop sense of the word in Chinese?

Google translate thinks the translation of "Do not print this layer" is: 不打印這一層

But I expect that there's a specific word used for photoshop that's not a literal translation of the English word "Layer".

层 is right. to be specified for layers in photoshop, it has the term 图层.


Which memorization techniques are useful for remembering characters? There are some other posts with similar questions, like Techniques for learning and retaining characters, but I'm looking for an answer that particularly focus on which memorization techniques can be used to remember characters better. E.g. repetition, that is of course crucial to learning anything, is not a memorization technique in this sense.
So, which memorization techniques are useful when learning chinese characters?

For example, would a mnemonic peg system be useful in any case?

I used memrise.com

I found it helpful to hear and see characters / pinyin at the same time. Memrise uses a technique to build upon what you've learned in earlier courses to build upon your foundation. Also, learning radicals (character building blocks) is helpful to figure out meaning of more advanced characters.


Which tone is it (in pinyin)? Following on from this question Asking "what's the pinyin/character for X?".

I've had difficulty previously asking native speakers which tone I should use for a particular character if I can't pick it by just listening.

The problem is they don't understand what I'm asking in most instances.

How do I say "Which tone should I use for this character?"

In the past I've used "第几声" for which tone, but this doesn't seem to be commonly understood.

这个字/词怎么念? = How do you pronounce this character/word?

这个字的发音是第几声? = Which tone should I use for this character?


What is the etymology and usage of 爱不释手 爱不释手

be so fond of something that one will not let it out of one's hand

So I'm guessing 爱 would be the being fond of something and the 不释手 would be the not letting go. I feel like it's missing structure like it should be something like 他爱他的{Object}不释手

Is there anything more to this saying and how would it be used in practical speech?

爱不释手 is idiom in Chinese. You cannot split and use it. In most time, we use it as adjective or adverb to describe that you love something very much.

Common Usage:

爱不释手的{Object}
他对他的{Object}爱不释手
{Object}让我爱不释手

Sorry ,I miss the etymology:

南朝·梁·萧统《陶渊明集序》：“余爱嗜其文，不能释手。”


How did 鳥 end up a Kangxi radical but not 烏? 烏, wū, crow, 10 strokes, 灬 radical
鳥, niǎo, bird, 11 strokes, 鳥 radical

All the way since at least seal script, 鳥 seems like just 烏 with an additional stroke. They both describe birds in one way or another. Why was 烏 not used as the building block, as a separate radical, or even as a –1 stroke variant of 鳥?

Radicals are not building blocks of characters, they're dictionary entry organisation headers. They're equivalent to the first letter in an English word. The radicals are chosen so that some characters are easily and obviously grouped under these headers, but some radicals are very arbitrary (see e.g. Radical 4 and the characters grouped under it).

The optimisation of a Chinese dictionary (at least the Kangxi dictionary) is concerned about how to organise 50,000 characters whilst choosing the number of appropriate dictionary headings (radicals) to split these 50,000 characters under.

In this light,「烏」is less suitable than「鳥」as a header, because many more characters are clearly grouped under「鳥」rather than「烏」. However, if one looks at Shuowen Jiezi, which has 540 radicals (as opposed to Kangxi's 214), one has more leeway in including radicals; indeed, Shuowen has「烏」as a radical.


Difference between 好点儿了吗 and 好些了吗? Hi I came across both sentences, in both cases meaning "Is STH any better?".
So are they interchangeable and have the same meaning and usage?
I thought 些 is only used with countable words, but in the example I found it was used with 心情, which defintely isn't countable.
Many thanks!!

好點兒了嗎 and 好些了嗎 can be used interchangeably. They are used to ask if something get better. Because 好點 and 好些 share the similar meaning so 好點兒了嗎 and 好些了嗎 can be used interchangeably. Both 好點 and 好些 are used to denote something get better. You can imagine them as if 好點 and 好些 are 變好一點 and 變好一些 respectively. And 一點 and 一些 are used to denote a little amount of quality.


Cant find the characters to a phrase I heard growing up, "Gen Men", used as "totally" or "definitely" like let's say you're full, you could say
"gen men 没办法吃饭“
I think similarly gen men would be used as 完全
"完全没办法吃饭"
But I can't find the characters for "Gen Men". I think I have the pinyin wrong? does anybody know what I"m talking about?

You are probably looking for the word 根本 (gen1 ben3) which means "completely" in your context.


Difference between 实际, 现实, 确实, and 实在 These 4 words (实际, 现实, 确实, and 实在) all mean different combinations of 'real', 'indeed', 'practical', 'really', and 'reality'. Is there any easy way to distinguish, remember and understand the differences between these 4 words? Thank you!

I'm going to try and make this as clear and simple as I can:

实际：practical/actual(ality)
实际上："in fact,...."
很实际：very practical

现实：real/reality
现实生活中：in real life
成为现实：to be realized

确实：indeed/really
确实好：it really is good

实在：really/honestly/truly
实在对不起：truly sorry
这个人很实在：he's really down to earth

As far as remembering I would highly suggest you understand what each individual character means...most Chinese words are compounds (two words put together) - for instance if we look at 确实 we have: (确 certain + 实 substantial = verified to be true, indeed). This kind of understanding will give you a huge advantage to learning Chinese.


Where to find graduated text/books? Where can I find texts/books with a lower vocabulary range (1000 words) for preparing an HSK exam or see more often the most used words.

I would highly recommend  the “汉语教程“ or Hsk标准教程“.
Or just go to google and look for : " hsk sample paper /hsk mock test". You will find plenty of pages that provide previous exam papers with the vocabulary list attached to them. I assume that you are preparing for the hsk3, which the vocab requirement is 600 words right? If I am right, and you prefer to follow textbooks then go for the 汉语教程第一上 and 汉语教程第一下 or simply check out the hsk标准教程3. Those books were published by the Beijing language and culture University press. You can check out their website to get the book that I've listed above.

  http://www.blcup.com/en


How do you describe a vegetarian item? As in a vegetarian burrito? So, in english when describing whether something is friendly for vegetarians or not we say "vegetarian object_____". Is there an equivalent in Chinese?
For example could you say "素的墨西哥卷“？

In Mandarin, we use the prefix "素".

In Cantonese, we use the prefix "齋"

And the order is significant too:

"素墨西哥卷" implies that the original burrito contains meat and this one is a customized version for vegetarian.
"墨西哥素卷" implies that this vegetarian burrito is original Mexico food.

On the other hand, as wuyefeibao mentioned, you can add "的" in the phrase; and it is quite interesting in this case:

"墨西哥的素卷" == "墨西哥素卷"
"素的墨西哥卷" .... It can be both.  ^_^


Can 窝 be used for grouping any zodiac animal? I have heard the saying 一窝猪 yī wō zhū when describing a family or group of people who are all 属猪 (have pig as their zodiac sign).
Is this something that can be applied to other animals e.g. 一窝龙 or 一窝虎?
Just an update to address some of the answers: This has always been said either jokingly or in a self-deprecating way as a joke and amongst good company. Not something that has been said in a sarcastic or insulting way.

To answer your question, I think it's good to understand the meanings of "窝" mentioned here.

Three possible meanings of “窝" used in this case:

to refer to several animal's babies who are born at the same time.
This could happen to the mouse,pig, rabit，chicken ,etc. For these animals, the mother animal usually can give birth to(or brood, as a hen does) several babies at a time; but for animals like the cattle and tiger, the mother animal usually(exceptions are rare to see) can give birth to only one baby, so it sounds very strange to say "一窝牛" or "一窝虎", but sounds good to say"一窝兔子”,"一窝小鸡".

In this case, because it's used for animials, and more importantly, parents and children always can't be born at the same time, by the same mother. You should not use 窝 to refer to a family, even in a figurative way.
to refer to a group of bad people or things.

  一窝土匪   a group of bandits

Remeber,  Bad people and things, so 窝 is also not acceptable in this case.
animal's burrow or nest
In this case, 窝 seems accpetable to mean "house, the place where a man lives ", and could be used to refer to a family since all the members are in the same house.but as previous answers pointed out, it may offend someone. Don't risk saying that way!

I have never spoken that way or heard of someone saying that way in the real life.

So how to describe a family when all the family members are of the same zodiac animal?

I would like to say"他们一家都属[X]" or "他们一家都是属[X]的". Here, X is the name of the animal, 鼠，牛，虎，兔，etc.


How to know "了...就" indicating completed actions I just find out two circumstances that "了...就" construction is used.

(1) 昨天，我买了书就回家。(Yesterday, after I had bought the book, I came back home) - COMPLETED ACTIONS
(2) 我买了书就回家。(After buying the book, immediately I will come home) - ABOUT-TO-HAPPEN ACTIONS

What I wonder is, in the first situation:

(1) Without time nouns (e.g: 昨天) how can I know these are completed actions?

(2) Can I put another 了 at the end of sentence to point out completed actions?

In Chinese language, we don't have the concept of tense. You can find that our verb don't have variation according to different time. We have to use time or other component to indicate whether things are completed or when things are done. For example 我做這件事, 我做完了這件事. We use 了 to indicate that the action is completed. Note that we use the same verb 做 in both of the sentence. In English, you can use did or have done to indicate tense. While It don't happened on Chinese we don't have past tense form of verb 做. So we still use 做 and add other component to indicate time or whether things are completed or not.

If you don't want to indicate time explicitly, you can use 了 to indicate you have completed the action. In this example, you can say 我買了書就回家了. This example exhibit the usage 了. 了 is used indicate 回家 is completed.

完 can be used on this purpose too. You can say 我買完書就回家了.


How to say "self-fulfilling prophecy" in Mandarin/Cantonese? This dictionary lists prophecy as 預言, but it doesn't list an entry for self-fulfilling prophecy

Example sentence:

If you remain this negative, your thoughts will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What's the right translation for Cantonese/Mandarin?

self-fulfilling = 自证

Here, self = 自. You might see other place translate self to 自己。 That's because, in ancient Chinese, every word has only one character. In current Chinese, most words contain more than one character, such as 自+己 -> 自己。 But when in words that format as combinations, every word only use their original character. That is 自 here.

Fulfilling has no exact translation in chinese. So 证, which means proven, is used here.

Here is something more.

"If you remain this negative, your thoughts will become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

You can translate it word by word：如果你继续这么悲观，你的思想会陷入自证预言.

If this is a conversation between native speakers, a more common way is using idioms, something like 智子疑邻 or 杯弓蛇影。


Where did the phrase, 太牛了 come from? Where did the phrase, 太牛了 come from?
I'm guessing it doesn't have anything to do with cows...

It came from 牛逼. 牛逼 means cow's genital orginally and it is derivatized into impressive due to it's wide. Many people are saying it even it's bad meaning. You can both use 太牛了 and 太牛逼了 though.


How do I say "part time study"? I'm having trouble finding out how to say 'part time study' in Chinese. Or anything like that e.g. part time degree etc. There doesn't seem to be any generic word for 'part time' and there isn't a specific word for it in this case either. You can say 'part time work' using 兼职 but that contains the meaning for job in it so can't be used with study.

I used to study part time but I literally can't talk about it in Chinese since there is no word for it...save for explaining the whole concept every time I want to mention it.

In China they don't seem to do this and don't really study at all beyond early 20s. There don't seem to be any mature students either..you won't see anyone 30,40 or older in their universities. They just study full time up until this age, then stop for life and get a job.

I guess since there are no mature students, anyone who is working part time would not spend the rest of their week studying so no need for the word.

全日制 = full-time (something)

非全日制 = part-time (something)

非全日制的学生 = part-time student (implies part-time study)


"Eh?!" in Chinese and How Native Speakers React to It I have a friend who is fond of including "eh?!" in his corresponding, including to native Chinese speakers.  An example would be "That's quite a story, eh?!"  So my question has several parts:

Is there a Chinese equivalent to "eh?!"

How do native speakers perceive that Chinese equivalent?

How do native speakers perceive the English "eh?!" ?

I am a native English speaker and "eh?!" rubs me the wrong way in English so I'm interested in how native Chinese speakers perceive it.

The role of 'eh?' at the end of a statement is similar to the rhetorical 'isn't it?' or the confirmatory 'right?'

In Cantonese, final particles '呵？'/ho2/  functions the same.

Example :

'呵？'/ho2/  Cantonese only

'he really is a good man.' -- '佢真係個好人.'

'he really is a good man, eh?' -- '佢真係個好人,呵？'(呵?= isn't he? / right?)

'嗯?'/ng2/ for Mandarin and Cantonese also functions the same.

Example :

'he really is a good man.' -- '他真的是個好人'

'he really is a good man, eh? '--  '他真的是個好人, 嗯?'(嗯?= isn't he? / right?)

  How do native speakers perceive that Chinese equivalent?

eh? 嗯? and 呵？ are just part of a sentence, it is there for good reason.

  How do native speakers perceive the English "eh?!" ?

We just interpret 'eh?' as 'isn't it?' or 'right?' which mean the speaker is seeking approval or confirmation about his statement from the listener. That would make the statement sound more asserted


What is the difference between 比如 and 例如 I know both can mean "for example/such as/for instance". They are most likely synonyms but even synonyms have slight subtle differences in precise meaning and usage.
I know that 例 can be used alone: (例句 -- example sentence; 例语 -- example word/phrase) and 比 cannot (比句 and 比语 don't exactly make much sense).
What I don't know are the specific semantic differences between 例如 and 比如.
Any help would be appreciated!

比如 used for similar but have different things;

例如 used for many of the same things, and take a typical example, using the example to illustrate the general of many things

Also, 比如 may not exist, but 例如 is must really exist.

  比如和例如最重要的区别在“比”“例”的不同上。两词共有的“如”都是“象”的意思。但是，“比如”是用两个有些相似但是根本不同事物间的形容。例如说，“说话就比如是骑自行车样，要练习。”这里就不能用“例如”。“例如”是在说明很多相同的事物时，从中拿出一个典型的例子，用这个例子来说明众多的一般的事物。例如：“大家都很无私，例如小李就捐了一万块。”这里用比如好像可以，但是准确的应该是“例如”。

See here


How to say "Don't count on me" in Cantonese? The context:

A: Want to get lunch on Saturday?

B: Don't count on me. My game may last until 1 PM.

Several suggestions were offered for how to say, "Don't count on me" in Cantonese, but none seemed right.

Here were three suggestions, but none had the right connotation:

無遇我
無依賴我
無問我

What's the right way to say, "Don't count on me" in Cantonese?

Thanks!

In your situation, the most colloquial and natural expression that I can think of is "我嚟得就嚟” （If I can come, I will.) The speaker is not committing, nor is s/he ruling out coming.

Another expression closer to "don't count on me/ don't rely on me (to do something, not necessarily joining the speaker for lunch)" is "唔好旨意嗮我。”


Thought Experiment: Twitter Character Limits This is hopefully a fun question that is a little bit off the standard path. It's meant to elicit a light conversation but nevertheless one that illuminates fundamental characteristics of Chinese as a written language.

Question: Twitter, which was designed with English speaking users in mind, has a limit of 140 characters per tweet, to enforce a certain brevity and effectively encourage the development of a continuous stream of new content. One advantage of Chinese is that, in Twitter, you can convey a LOT more information in 140 characters than you can in English! But just how much more? My question, and again of course this is purely in the realm of hypothetical, is: How many characters would Twitter have allow if it wanted to let English-language users convey as much information as Chinese speaking users now enjoy?

To go back to my earlier thread about the Hong Kong subway's warning about not standing in the way of a train's closing doors, in Chinese (Cantonese), it is: "請勿靠近車門" and in English is: "Please stand back from the doors." Almost magically, the two spoken languages, independently developed over the course of centuries on opposite sides of the planet, share precisely the same level of economy: Each announcement is just six syllables long. But there is a big disparity in the economy of the written languages. English consumes 27 written characters (and five spaces) to convey what Chinese says with just six characters.

So to extend this one random example into the world of Twitter character limits, where spaces between words do count against your limit, that's roughly five times more characters in English than in Chinese. Therefore, Twitter would have to raise its character limit to 700 characters for English language tweets to match a 140 character limit on Chinese language tweets. Or, looked at another way, Twitter would have to reduce the limit on Chinese language tweets to 28 characters to match the existing 140 character limit on English language tweets. Obviously this is not scientific or even remotely rigorous. Perhaps studies have been done on this question.

As a final disclaimer, I hope it is clear from this question that I am making NO normative judgment about whether one writing system is in some way "better" than another. All written languages have their inherent beauty, and all should be celebrated for that. I'm shedding those thoughts here for a focus purely on the mathematics of information-conveyed-per-character, and nothing more. Also, I'm not suggesting that Twitter ever would, should, or even could have separate limits for separate tweets based on the type of language being used, especially since any one tweet can draw from multiple languages. The thing about Twitter is just meant to serve as a proxy for the underlying question of how many characters Chinese generally uses in comparison to English.

Actually, if Twitter were to play fair, I think they would restrict Chinese users to 46 characters, since there are 3 bytes / UTF-8 encoded Chinese character, and only 1 byte / English letter.  Alternately, in terms of number of bytes, the right comparison is probably between 140 characters of Chinese and 420 characters of English.

Consider the differences in the three:

"Please stand back from the doors"  (English) (1)

請勿靠近車門                             (Modern Chinese) (2)

勿近車門                                  (Classical Chinese) (3)

It's interesting to think about these things in terms of the Shannon Entropy, the basic concept in information theory.  You might want to read up on the theory if you're interested in exploring the observation more deeply.  If you take a "symbol" to refer to a byte (256 possible values or "meanings") of data and assume UTF-8 encoding for (2) and (3), then E(1) = 3.8 , E(2) = 3.5 , and E(3) = 3.3: so "information content" of a series of bytes-as-symbols actually drops as you move from English to Classical Chinese.

However, as you note, a character in Chinese maps to a meaning. So let's map each of the meanings to a series of symbols and calculate the entropies.  Also rewrite (1) as "Please don't move near the car doors" to make it easier to compare the mappings across languages (byte-wise E for this rewrite is 3.7):

"Please don't move near the car doors." -> "A B C D E F G"   (1) = 2.5

"請勿靠近車門" -> "ABCDFG" (2) = 2.6

"勿近車門"      -> "BDFG" (3) = 2.0

So in this case the information content of (2) increases over (1), due to the repeated inclusion of spaces in (1). (3) remains lowest, but I think this would change using less formal MC: actual sentences, instead of terse "sign language".  These trends would accelerate with longer texts and almost certainly the classical Chinese version would quickly become the most "entropic."

Why would it do so?  Because I believe a statistical analysis of English v Modern Chinese v Classical Chinese would find that the first two incorporate far more repeated semantic symbols than Classical Chinese.  An interesting thing to consider is the problem of error correction, which becomes a concern when concerning codings.  You might want to think about how much repetition is present in English versus modern Chinese versus classical Chinese, and why that is: I would argue that Classical Chinese is minimally repetitive and maximally entropic, in the sense that Classical Chinese uses the bare minimum of symbols necessary to convey a thought. Contrast with English or even Modern Chinese, both of which have repetitive characters (spaces in English and words like "the"/"an", symbols like 的/个 in Modern Chinese , the far greater frequency of compound-character words in MC ex 绵羊／山羊 instead of 羊) that help preserve the meaning of a message in transmission. It would be interesting to consider any connection between this minimal repetitiveness might have with the thesis that comes up from time to time about how it's impossible to be "precise" (or "scientific") in Classical Chinese.  Anyways, in human languages, preservation of the message entails the addition of extra words (just think how verbose English law is - there's a reason for that); in formal codings, preservation of the message entails the addition of extra bits.

These are just some random thoughts that might help you think of ways to begin quantifying the differences in "consumption of symbols" you note in Twitter feed.


Difference between 公告 and 通知? 通知 and 公告 both mean a notification from the authority.

But any difference? Could somebody help me figure out the difference with some concrete examples?

公告

  announcement, public announcement, proclamation, public notice

通知

  notice, inform, notify

A 公告 is a 通知 to the public.

A 通知 can be private or public.

公告 =  通知 + publicity


Chinese word for "passed" in the sense of "the test was successful" I am hoping for a word that, when spoken, is short in duration.  In English, I would say "success" or "passed" or "good".  In Chinese, I would say....?

When I say, "Chinese", I realize there are multiple dialects.  Mandarin is probably a safe bet, except I understand the region where I'll be using the phrase is (according to Google) predominantly Cantonese.  A word that is the same in both would be awesome, if possible.

Of course I can find Google's translations and spoken tools exist for those translations, but I have no idea if the literal translations work in context.

Thanks.

Speaking as both a Mandarin and Cantonese speaker, I've seen 合格 used before (in some description of drug testing results, literally labelled as 检验结果) to describe successful outcomes, when there is presumably an issue of passing a specific standard. Such a scenario would be similar to what you are looking for, since I am getting the impression that you are looking for something that conveys a successful result (rather than passing in the sense of passing an exam, where "success" is poorly defined).

合格 is also used more generally generally to mean "pass" (in the sense of exceeding some "mark"), for instance, in 他这次考试终于合格 (loosely translated as This round of exams, he finally achieved a passing mark.). This would be the most obvious word that comes to mind. However, do note that 合格 only means something equivalent to "pass" in the relevant contexts. 合格 isn't a transitive verb; rather, it's normally classified as an adjective (and one that can also take on other meanings, such as "eligible" or "qualified" -- see here). So it works, but the exact wording of the sentence it's used in won't be a word-for-word translation of the English equivalent.

There are other words that could be used, albeit with different connotations. For instance, 达到 means "to reach", so it can be used, for example in 达到我们的标准 (to reach our standards). However, it is not as concise, in that you need additional information to quality your statement to make sense, and alone (without our standards or the such), it doesn't mean "pass" per se.

My usual Cantonese-focused Chinese dictionary also lists a couple other choices, such as 過關 (in simplified characters, 过关). However, these aren't as appropriate: many of the other choices were either focused on exam-type scenarios, which are generally inappropriate in the context of the tests you speak of, and the most relevant meaning of 過關 is to pass a certain stage, which is also inappropriate (since it assumes some sort of passage of time and sequence of trials).


Are 改正 and 纠正 interchangeable? Both 改正 and 纠正 mean "to correct" or "to make right."

What is the difference between these words? Do they have different connotations? Are both words acceptable in sentences like the following?

  错误一经发现，就应立即（改正、纠正）。
  Mistakes should be corrected as soon as they are discovered.

The grammar is the same for both, but 纠正 often has a stronger meaning. It is often used when a lot needs to be changed or the errors are more serious, and 改正 is often for smaller changes, when not that much needs to be changed. Also 改正 is more used when you want to correct your own errors, instead of other people's errors.

The are both typically used for 缺点 (shortcomings) and 错误 (errors).

In 《现代汉语规范词典》 I found this: "改正"是主体的自觉行为；"纠正"可以含有强制意味

I think 纠正 is slightly better in your sentence, since these errors need to be immediately corrected, they are probably a little bit more serious.


what does 革去功名 mean? I am watching 天下一碗 , in this link, ChengXi says that his friend HuaQiang 革去功名

Does it mean that he got famous in a revolution or reformist group? as he got involved in a political movement? and that he will always be in trouble?

Or does it mean he lost his honor and name? and became considered a traitor?

I searched but did not find any explanation online.

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1072/

  革: [3] [v] get rid of; dismiss; abolish

革 = remove (verb)

去 = away (result complement)

功名 = scholarly honour plus official position (noun)

革去功名 means "strip away all titles and government positions


Why is the traditional character for 你 also 你 and not 儞 when the traditional character for 尔 is 爾? I found an interesting question posted on Reddit's /r/ChineseLanguage: If 你 is 亻（人） ＋ 尔 , but 尔’s tradicional version is 爾 , shouldn’t 你’s traditional version be 儞 ??  I don't know the answer so I thought I'd re-ask it here.  Some answers given there were:

marktwainbrain: According to Pleco, 儞 does exist and it is an old variant of 你.
catoncurtain: Well actually you are right, 儞
CosmicBioHazard: basically 儞 simplified down to 你 ages and ages before "simplified Chinese" was introduced.

I'm not sure if any of these are correct, although CosmicBioHazard's answer seems reasonable.  The Pleco entry is actually the CC-CEDICT entry:

儞 儞 [ni3] /old variant of 你[ni3]/

Question: Why is the traditional character for 你 also 你 and not 儞 when the traditional character for 尔 is 爾?
Edit: It was brought to my attention that Quora has a similar question: Why do all of the Traditional Chinese standards use 你 (with the Simplified 尔) but keep 爾? likely posted recently (prior to this question).  I was not aware of this at the time of writing this question.

in the book 類篇　卷二十二 (page 87 of the liked pdf), there was an entry:

伲儞你乃倚切汝也或作儞你你又乃里切文三重音一

that, 伲　儞　你 ・[these three characters are pronounced as] 乃倚切・[have the meaning of] 汝 (you)
the book “類篇” is edited between 1039-1066, in 宋 dynasty.
i would say that 儞 / 你 existed in the past, just not commonly used as 汝
have fun :)


Anaphrodisiac in Chinese? I have been searching the web and tried using Google Translate and have been unable to find the term for Anaphrodisiac.

According to Wikipedia Anaphrodisiac is something that reduces "sexual desire."

anaphrodisiac [ænˏæfrә`dIzIæk; ænˏæfrәˋdiziæk]

  <<形容詞>>adjective
  抑制性慾(欲)的; 鎮慾(欲)的

  <<名詞>>noun
  鎮慾(欲)藥; 制慾(欲)劑


Characters which have several different shapes For those who might not read the question fully: this not about simplified vs traditional characters.  While the traditional and simplified version of a character can be considered the same, they at least have different code points, and I am well aware of the existence of traditional forms, so I won't get confused by them.

First, some explanation:

I noticed that my browser was displaying some Chinese characters in a way that's unfamiliar to me (I'm a beginner learner).  To cut a long story short: the reason is that the same character (with the same Unicode code point) may look different in a Japanese and a Chinese font.  English-language operating systems will typically choose a Japanese substitute font in almost any program when the main font doesn't include CJK glyphs.

Here's an example of several characters that will typically appear markedly differently in a Japanese or Simplified Chinese font (Meiryo and YaHei on Windows):

Note that sometimes even the stroke count differs, e.g. in 直!  Traditional Chinese fonts can be slightly different from Simplified Chinese ones too.  This is quite frustrating for me as a beginner because as you know sometimes the visual difference between truly different characters (like 八人入) is even smaller than the visual difference between these stylistic variants of identical characters on the image above.

Now, the questions:

Are all of these different styles of the same characters used in China as well, or are they specific to Japan?  Is it important for me to learn about them (i.e. learn both shapes of 令 or 直)?  Note that Traditional Chinese fonts (like MingLiu) will often have different versions from Simplified Chinese ones for the same Unicode code point (though not as extremely different as the Japanese one).
What other common characters are there which may look significantly different in different-language fonts?
Should I just think of these differences as similar to the common stylistic differences in the small Roman letter 'a' and 'g', like in the image below?

Of course I'm aware that there are several calligraphy styles, but note that I'm a beginner (i.e. I definitely won't try to read 草书) and this is about common print styles I came across on a computer.

Interesting reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unihan#Examples_of_language_dependent_characters

(Note: Doesn't work in WebKit.  It will work in Mozilla browsers or IE on Windows.  It's unlikely to work on Linux due to bad font support.  I don't know about Mac.)

The Unicode standard put one character into one code point, but the character can be written differently in simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Japanese or Korean(oh, they don't use characters now, only Hangul). From the Unicode website, you can download a list of all characters, with their origin local standard and shape. A example for character "直" is shown below.

The number under the character shows the original local standard (and code point in the standard). The local standard from mainland China are listed here. In short, it begins with "G". And "G0" through "G9" (excluding "G4k") should be the characters more often used.

The shape from the mainland standard is used in simplified Chinese.

EDIT:

In some cases, purely typographical variants are assigned different code points. These are referred to as z-variants.


Can you please help me identify this type of tea? I would like to identify the type of tea contained in this package:

I already identified the character "cha" on the label (circled in blue on the pictures above), but I have a hard time translating the sinograms adjacent to this character.

I already checked out the answers to this related question, but these did not help me translate the label.

(SC: Simplified Chinese;
TC: Traditional Chinese)

景谷 (SC and TC)

生态大树茶 (SC)

中國雲南勐河茶廠出品 (TC)

中國雲南省景谷縣
勐河茶廠出品
Jinggu County, Yunnan Province, China
Meng-he Tea Factory produced

生态 ecological
大树茶 big-tree tea


What is the meaning of 送上 here? In this sentence 送上 means what?? I think is means 'send = 送 to attend = 上(a series of lectures) = 一场讲座' but maybe it is just 送给？？

据报道，某石油化工公司前不久举办了一场心理知识讲座，为近百名员工送上了一把找到工作快乐和取得成功的“心灵钥匙“。

送上，送给 both means send.

Two differences：

1.送上 is more polite。

in different sentence structure。

a.   为 someone 送上 something。

b.   送给 someone  something。

This sentence equals to ... ... 送给近百名员工一把找到工作快乐和取得成功的“心灵钥匙“。

reply to the comments.

心灵钥匙 is a description of 讲座，it is a metaphor.
This lecture is the 心灵钥匙。

examle
学校组织了一次军训活动，为广大师生送上了一次军旅体验。

军训活动 is the 军旅体验。


Are there standard dictionaries for Chinese? Standard dictionaries have had a profound effect on languages like English. They've helped normalize spelling and pronunciation and provide reference for meanings and disambiguation.

When thinking of English dictionaries, Oxford and Merriam-Webster immediately come to mind.

Are there standard, popular dictionaries for Mandarin and Cantonese?

Yes. For Mandarin (Simplified Chinese):

The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语词典): This one is for words and phrases. They have a version in both Chinese and English.

Xinhua Dictionary (新华字典): this is for Chinese characters. Also available in both English and Chinese.

I'm not too familiar with traditional dictionaries. But 國語日報辭典 seems pretty popular from googling around.


What's origin of the Chinese word for "time" (时间)? I believe the Chinese word for time is 时间.
Does anybody know how to find out its origin? If there is a place where it is possible to know the origin of Chinese characters please share. Thank you

The '日' radical of '時' indicates it is related to 'sun; day'
The '寺' /si4/ part in '時'/shi2/ is the phonics component
(寺 means 'temple'.  As the phonics component of 時, the 'temple' meaning is irrelevant)

時 means 'time; hour'
四時也; 本春秋冬夏之稱。引伸之爲凡嵗月日刻之用
Originally meant four seasons (四時), extended to mean 'years, months, days and hours' (time)

~

間 means 'space between; interval'

~

時間 means 'time' (intervals of days, hours)

There are other time related words in Chinese:

光= light; 陰= shade
光陰= light and shade= day and night= time (cycle of days and nights)

~

寒= cold; 暑= hot
寒暑= cold and hot= winter and summer= time (cycle of seasons)

~

歲= year; 月= month
歲月= year and month= time (passing of years and months)

Jeremy wrote:

if there is a place where it is possible to know the origin of Chinese characters please share

You can find the origins of many Chinese characters in 說文解字 or just wiki it


What does "过SOR了吗" mean? It appears in a WeChat sticker with a megaphone yelling "过SOR了吗" at a cartoon character. The cartoon character is holding a laptop and flinching and sweating because of the loud megaphone.
I understand the 过 + 了 pattern but the "SOR" piece confuses me.
Here's what the sticker looks like:

It's maybe "Specification of Requirements". I imagine that the character holding the megaphone is the team manager, while the one being yelled at is a software engineer. It would be nice to have a screenshot of that sticker to illustrate the question.


A: 周末愉快！ B: 你呢！ What does 你呢！mean? What does "你呢！" mean? Can it be used as "You too", for example:

Person A: 周末愉快！

Person B: 你呢！

Google translate says that "你呢！" means You too, but this dictionary doesn't. My current guess is that it probably is appropriate, but is relatively informal.

你呢 translates to "how about you" and is usually followed by question mark not exclamation mark. 呢 is used as a way to express question.

Google translate sometimes does funny things. Cross check with other sources before trusting it.

If someone says 周末愉快! to you, reply to them with 周末愉快! is a safe bet. Or you can say Thank You.

Followup:

If the example conversation actually happened, it could be that when A says 周末愉快 and B interprets it as a question for how was/will be for your weekends. So B response with a nod and asking A about his/hers. Though even under this circumstance it still seems pretty strange. We don't usually speak in this manner.


Could you correct me if I'm wrong Is it natural to say:

我不知道你为什么不常回我信息 (I don't know why you take so long to text me back).

Your sentence is fine. 我不知道你为什么不常回我信息. However, your English translation doesn't match with your Chinese sentence.

  I don't know why you take so long to text me back.

我不知道你为什么不常回我信息. means I don't know why you don't text me back usually.

The neat way to say "why you don't text me back usually":

你怎么总不回我信息呢？
你怎么老不回我信息呢？
你为啥经常不回我信息？
你为啥总不回我信息？

The way to say "I don't know why you take so long to text me back":

你为什么信息回得这么慢！
the one like Pedroski suggested: 我想不通为什么你回复我的信息要这么久！


What's the difference between 只 and 才？ What's the difference between 只 and 才?  When should I use 只 and when 才?
Can you give me some examples please?

只 is equivalent to "only", a small amount. You would use it to say something like "I have only five bucks", "he's only two years old".

才 is used if you have to have a minimum amount. Examples: "you must be this tall (or taller) to ride", "you have to wait three minutes (or longer)".


When is it necessary to use 来 to convey the meaning "in order to" In Mandarin, if we have two VO in order the second one indicates the purpose of the first action, something like "in order to" or just "to" in English, as in:

  我回家学习中文 - I'll go back home (in order) TO study Chinese.

But I've seen many times a 来 appearing to convey that role, as in:

  有些作业老师让学生拿回家来做 - There are some homeworks the teacher let the students take back home TO do.

So, my question is:
Can I always use 来 when I want to convey that meaning or does it have some specific cases?

Thanks

Simple rule: If you've got another verb after 他， translate 来 as to.

Of course, things are a bit more complex!

把杯子拿到这里来。(来 corresponds with hither)
把杯子拿到那里去。(来 corresponds with hence)
他用水来浇花。(来 corresponds with to)
他用铅笔来画画 (来 corresponds with to)
他明天来看你。(来 corresponds with ? He tomorrow to see you ?)
他马上来和我们一起吃饭。(来 corresponds with ? come? to?)

Nothing ever 'to' but it also 'come', just depends where you're standing!

You can't really use English to make sense of Chinese! Chinese makes sense!


Is there a generic way to say "weekday" without the concept of "work/business/school day"? The most common translation of weekday is: 工作日

Google Translate suggests 工作日 and 平常日 for weekday.

Is 平常日 commonly used?

How would a native speaker normally say weekday?

Would it be odd for a young child use 工作日 as weekday? Would a be more normal for a child to use 学习日? What about during school holidays?

In fact we usually say 平日 as weekday, but more frequent we just say 周一到周五. Maybe it is because we just distinguish weekend is 周末,and every weekday is regarded as a normal day.

During the holiday, children usually have no sense of days(LOL,at least me), so they just know today is 周几,like 周一 or 周五.

I'm new here, hope my answer can help you.