Where can I find Cantonese poetry? I would like to identify some Cantonese poetry to study, and I'm looking for the kind of poetry that follows a recognized style and is bound by certain rules (even Cantonese haiku or limericks would do).

Now obviously there is lots of classical Chinese poetry which can all be read in Cantonese. However this might sometimes not sound very natural, and I'm looking for poems that sound natural, not awkward, when read in Cantonese.

I'm aware that written Cantonese is a very recent thing, and that classical written Chinese was sort of separated from spoken language; that "traditional Cantonese poetry" might be a self-contradictory term to some extent. Even so, I think some Cantonese poets would have had their own native pronunciation in mind, when supposedly writing the same non-verbal, classical written Chinese as everyone else, to a greater extent than someone from the other side of the country would have. My theory is that poetry by such poets might sound more natural in Cantonese, and it would qualify as "Cantonese poetry" for me.

My question(s):

Is there any famous traditional Chinese poet who lived in Guangdong and/or is known to or can be assumed to have written poetry with Cantonese in mind?
Are there any collections of modern Cantonese poetry following any recognized style (also non-Chinese styles)?
Are there any other sources one should know about?

EDIT: I keep updating this as I think of ways to make more sense.

Google 粵詩.
This article (PDF Download from Cantonese Association) in 趣味詩文 gives a few examples.


Meaning of 用光 in context of photography One of my textbooks for Chinese contains a lesson entitled "拍照". The lesson contains an exercise with questions that need to be answered using vocabulary and constructions from the lesson. The last question is:

  你拍照片儿的时候怎样用光？

The lesson's vocabulary lists contains words such as 光线 and 闪光灯，but not 用光, which MDBG translates as "out of (supply) / spent / exhausted (used up) / depleted". MDBG's translation does not make sense to me in this context. So what does the sentence mean? “How do you use the light when making photos?”

"用光" always means use and exhaust something. It is inappropriate to use that verb in photography, no matter it is HK, Taiwan or China, nobody use that word for photography or film making.
Mandarin has a special jargon for taking flash/lighting adjustment .

打光  or   打光线  or 用闪光灯

In case of "make use of light". Without flash, mean make use of natural light for composition.

运用光线 / 运用光线构图

for metering

测光

In filming and photo shooting , when you run out of battery or memory storage/ film

用光电池 / 用光记忆卡/用光菲林

So you can see it is bad attempt to associate  用光 with the use/preparation of light.
Imagine the camera man told the director, "Too dim, need more light"

太暗了， 需要用光 <-- The director will ask what the cameraman need due to  (battery, film, data storage) exhaust/deplete/used up, or perhaps get a smack.
太暗了， 需要打光 <== this is something everyone understand clearly


Can 得 be used as a stand alone answer? The following question/answer combinations are correct to my knowledge.

他能去吗？能。

他会去吗？会。

他可以去吗？可以。

What about the following question/answer combinations ?

他应该去吗？应该。

他该去吗？该。

他必须去吗？必须。

他得去吗？得。

These examples just sound a bit strange to me. Are they incorrect ? If so then why are they incorrect ?
 And if they are incorrect, how would you answer those questions ? Would you have to repeat the whole statement ? 他应该去吗？他应该去。

It really depends on the context. In literature, all above examples could make perfect sense with the right setting (where the character is from, what situation the speaker finds himself in, even a specific piece of information the author is trying to send, etc). There still are rules but you can really play with it if you’re writing a creative piece.

However, in everyday use, it gets tricky (People of different socioeconomic status talk differently; a language changes in most subtle ways over time).

The first three examples are perfectly fine, and

“该 (more natural to the question ‘该不该？’)”,
“应该。（more natural to the question ‘应不应该？’）”
“必须（more natural to the question ‘必须吗？【note that ‘必不必须’ isn’t common】’）”

aren’t necessarily wrong either, though they do sound a bit odd to my ear.

I would use “（他）应该去。/（他）必须去。/（他）该去。” instead. The subject could hide itself but the verb should not, in this case. But again, this is not a final conclusion, and you may find yourself in different situations where the usage of all three of them is acceptable.

As to the ultra tricky “得”，I also find “（他）得去” more natural. However, because “得” feels so northern, I have no problem picturing an old-fashioned northerner using the word alone as an answer, when the speaker really wants to stress it.

I hope this is helpful, and I strongly suggest you look up words/phrases in dictionaries or classic literature (or a reliable grammar book, the state news broadcasting, things like that). The Internet while providing good examples of slangs could be misleading as it’s filled with grammar mistakes. And please do not trust all tv shows...


Female equivalent of 兄台 In ancient China,  among males there was the polite appellation 兄台。 Was there an equivalent term for women, or did it not develop due to 男女授受不親？

Among the time when boys call each other 兄台, which should be around 唐宋年间, you can call girls 娘子/姑娘 in the same conversation context.

Another term similar is to call girls 小姐, which refers to young girls who usually have been properly educated and have a decent family. However, the corresponding word for 小姐 for males is 公子.


How do the terms in 千里之行，始于足下 modify its meaning? I came across the phrase

  千里之行，始于足下

on the Internet. Per consensus from native speakers, it appears it can be loosely translated as 'the journey of a thousand miles begins at your feet'.

I'm able to understand what the nouns 千里, 足, as well as what the verb 始, are all doing in this sentence. However, what are the characters 之行 and 于，下 doing? Are they acting as adjectives, prepositions, adverbs, or something else? How does each character modify the preceding characters to arrive at the full meaning?

Actually your translation is a pretty verbatim one. I will give the word for word translations for each phrase and let you feel what parts they play.

千=thousand

里=miles

之=of

行=journey

始=start, begin

于=at, from

足=feet

下=under

Something to comment on: in chinese, “A之B” is somewhat equivalent to "B of A", meaning B is part of A, or B is described by A.


Site for reading the same news article in English and Chinese (简体中文） Previously I used to regularly go to a news site that had articles in English that allowed you to immediately switch to Chinese for the same article.

It also had good information on the Chinese side for English readers to introduce when difficult grammer or idioms were used.

I'm hoping someone knows of this site or something similar.

This site was awesome for building vocabulary.

I know two great sites just like you said. Hope you like it.

东西网 and 译言网.


Difference between 沒轍, 莫可奈何，沒辦法 Can anyone help me with any differences between those words? C-E dictionaries say "there's no way out" or "nothing can be done" for all of them, C-C dictionaries say about the same.

However, I was corrected using 莫可奈何 and 沒轍 wrong in these examples:

B: 還不就是我媽，三天兩頭就幫我安排相親，他明知道我最排斥相親這件事！唉！別人我還可以不理，偏偏他是我老媽，我也【莫可奈何】。

A: 都什麼時代了，你買還來相親這一套啊？！不過話是回來，天下父母心，做父母的總是為子女的終身大事，我也 【沒轍】，沒法幫你。真是難為你了。

I put 沒轍 for 莫可奈何 and vice versa. Can anyone explain the different notions of these two words? I added 沒辦法 as well, because maybe there are some similarities.

Thanks for all the help.

These three phrases differ in register, which affects how and when they will be used.

méi bànfǎ 沒辦法 is basic Mandarin and can be used in ordinary speech and writing without any issues arising.

mò kě nàihé 莫可奈何 is a highly learnèd idiom; a more common form is wú kě nàihé  無可奈何. As four-character Classical idioms, they have a certain formal "air" to them, even though 無可奈何 is pretty common. But it is a less basic expression than 沒辦法 — I would use 沒辦法 nine times out of ten, at least. I have never used 莫可奈何.

méizhé 沒轍 is highly colloquial and has a regional flavor. I wouldn't use it unless it's part of your normal regional accent.


Changing order of a phrase So I watched a movie.  I thought would be fun to see if I could re-order the phrase.
Phrase 1 original:  不能说的就不要说.  To: 就不要说不能说的.
Phrase 2 original: 阻止他说不该说的话. To:  不该说的话阻止他说.
Are the two re-order correct?

This is indeed a fun practice!
The first one is a little strange because 就 can't be used in the beginning of the sentence in this way. Get rid of 就 and it's fine.
The second one is correct (with a different emphasis).


How did 甚 + 至 compound to mean "even"? Collins translates 'even' as 甚至, as can be substantiated on ZDIC.net. But what semantic notions underlie 甚, 至 with "even"?
ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003).  I can't access the "slightly revised through July 2005" ed.

甚 = extent

至 = to

甚至 = to the extent of (literal meaning)

(甚至)殺人(也)做得出來 = (to the extent that) he will do killing (too) = (even) killing (too) he would do

The extended meaning of "even" in 甚至 is implied from the implied 也(too) in the [甚至 ... 也] structure
Note: the literal meaning of 甚至 (to the extent of) is as commonly used as "even". e.g. 甚至不吃不喝 (to the extent of not eating or drinking)


乘 vs 承 - are they related? Just learnt a few verbs which use 乘 and 承 and was thinking that, not only do they look and sound mighty similar, but their ultimate meanings are both related to 'transfering' something. 乘 with vehicles from one place to another and 承 with transferring responsibility (承担) or transferring guilt (承认).
Anyone know if they stem from the same root? If so, how did they come to be different?
Hashamyim

「乘」and「承」do indeed sound similar, but an etymological relation (if any) would be before the time of Old Chinese. They are unrelated, as far as usage or glyph origins is concerned.

乘
「乘」was originally a picture of a person「大」climbing on top of a tree「木」; feet「舛」were added on to the person later (Shape #2 onwards).
商甲粹1109合集6491西周金公臣簋集成4186篆說文解字　現代楷
The original meanings were to ascend, to ride an object, extended to mean to take advantage of [a situation]. It does not mean to transfer, which is a coincidence due to its meaning of ride.

承
「承」was originally a picture of two hands「」and「又」holding up a kneeling person「卩」. The kneeling person's legs were straightened (Shape #2), then replaced with another hand「手」to emphasise the meaning of holding up, leaving behind a small shape representing the rest of the person (Shape #3 onwards).
商甲後2.30.12合集9175戰國金令狐君嗣子集成9719篆說文解字　現代楷
The original meaning was to hold up, extended to mean to carry responsibility > to inherit, carry on, continue. To transfer may give a wrong impression if used incorrectly; it is only related in the sense of to inherit, carry on, continue.

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂
國學大師


How salient is the graphic similarity of 戲, 謔, 虐 to readers? The last two lines of 淇奧 - Qi Yu, in the Shijing as it is printed today are 善戲謔兮, 不為虐兮.  Will an ordinary Chinese reader today notice the etymological connection between  戲, 謔, and 虐?  It seems to me very likely, especially since 虐 is expressly contrasted to 戲, 謔 in the song.

In short, 虐 and 戲 are related to the character 虍/虎 in different ways, the former ideographically, the latter phonologically. According to Shuowen, 虐 in 謔 is but a phonogram.1 Shijing equating 善戲 with 謔 despite their derivational differences may thus well be a literary deliberation, which leads to Shuowen defining 謔 as 戲.1
虐 is a compound ideograph comprising 虎 (tiger) and 人 (man). Shuowen duly explains its origin as a tiger injuring a man with its claws. 2 虎 itself is a simple pictogram of a tiger.
戲, however, is a phono-semantogram. It comprises the phonogram 䖒 and the semantogram 戈, originally meaning 'secondary forces of an army'.3 䖒 is a type of ancient pottery that comprises the phonogram 虍 and the semantogram 豆.4 虍 is an abbreviated form of 虎.5
(Regarding how 戲 evolves to mean 'play; jest', there is debate. Perhaps it also means 'wrestle; fistfight' which then esoterically evolves to its current meaning. Perhaps there is loaning between 戲 and 嬉, but Jao Tsung-I argues 嬉 in the oracle bone script is a separate entity from 'play'. By Confucian times 戲 already possesses its current meaning.)
Consider a third character, 獻. Originally meaning 'a sacrifice dog', it comprises the phonogram 鬳 and semantogram 犬. 6 鬳 is a type of vessel that comprises the phonogram 虍 and the semantogram 鬲. 7
Oracle bone script of 虍:
Oracle bone script of 虎:
In fact, 虍 is a Kangxi radical. A cursory read at the characters sorted under 虍 convinces me that many of them are phono-semantograms that share the same phonogram 虍/虎. A notable exception is 虞, originally indicating a hypothetical tiger-esque beast, now meaning danger (a derived meaning). Obviously  虍/虎 now becomes the semantogram, and 吳 the phonogram. 8
Shuowen entries cited:
1. 謔：戲也。从言，虐聲。《詩》曰：善戲謔兮。
2. 虐：殘也。从虍，虎足反爪人也。
3. 戲：三軍之偏也。一曰：兵也。从戈，䖒聲。
4. 䖒：古陶器也。从豆，虍聲。
5. 虍：虎文也。象形。凡虍之屬皆从虍。
6. 獻：宗廟犬，名羹獻，犬肥者以獻之。从犬，鬳聲。
7. 鬳：鬲屬。从鬲，虍聲。
8. 虞：騶虞也。白虎，黑文，尾長於身，仁獸，食自死之肉。从虍，吳聲。

Edit

The etymological 'connection' between 戲, 謔, and 虐 does not matter much to the modern reader.

Above, I posited that the apparent connection between these three characters, if any, is at most coincidental, given 虍 acts as an ideogram in 虐 (tiger), but a phonogram in 謔 and 戲. The sole purpose for 虍 to exist in the latter case is to provide pronunciation, not meaning.

Many modern readers use the convenient (but often erroneous) strategy 有邊讀邊 (lit. to read one side of the character) when encountering a difficult character. 謔 I believe is no different; in fact the pronunciations of 謔 and 虐 are indistinguishable in Cantonese. However, that does not hinder the average reader from realising there exists a difference in meaning between them. Let us assume one does not know the character 銅 for 'bronze'; should they know how to read 同, they still will not jump to the conclusion that 銅 must share a semantic similarity with 同 for 'same'.

Hence my emphatic refutation of your statement; 謔 and 虐 should be seen as characters different in meaning. Of course there are a limited subset of characters where their phonogram is also their second semantogram (e.g. 坪), but I do not think 謔 is the case, nor does Shuowen.

Despite the marked difference in etymology between 謔 and 虐, I do concur with you that their immediate juxtaposition in the verse is intended to be appreciated, out of character similarity or pronunciational similarity. It just so happens that semantically the verse makes sense as well - a joke (戲謔) is good if it is not too far or 'cruel' (虐). This to me is, in a sense, a word play, or a literary tactic to attract the attention of the reader.

As a hypothesis, I do think 戲 and 謔 have evolved to be 連綿詞 despite their very different origins, so in that sense one may consider them 'connected'. No native speaker will, however, appreciate their graphical similarity (especially so if in simplified characters, sadly) - they each have their own meanings with which the phonogram 虍 does not associate; even if one does not realise 虍 serves such a function, it will still be conveniently ignored because it does not help in understanding the characters, let alone an ancient verse. That is to say, it has an almost fossil-like existence.

If by salient you mean overt, then yes, a reasonably educated reader will notice they share 虍, but that is a useless finding to most; if you mean noteworthy, then no, it is not, for reasons stated in points 3 and 6, and for the fact that this is a false proposition itself - there is no noteworthy etymological similarity between the three characters. Even if there were, the connection is very, very abstruse.


Why was 異 (uncommon; to distinguish) adopted to mean the chemistry prefix of iso- (equal)? Doubtless the non-chemical meanings of 異 are  the polar opposite of iso- in chemistry, as in isomers.
Taiwan's National Academy of Education Research and Wiktionary blazon this meaning.
CUHK and ZDIC omitted this chemistry meaning. So did ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003), p 1134.  I can't access the "slightly revised through July 2005" ed.

Isomer is "同分异构体", which briefly written as "异构体".
"异" emphasizes the "slightly difference" of the arrangement of the atoms.
"同分"(same number/type of atoms, and majorityly same arrangement) is often omitted, so "iso-" is "异(異)-". For more types there is "新-".
Some other examples like "顺(順)-" and "反-": 順-2-戊烯/反-2-戊烯, 順式脂肪/反式脂肪.


Why are 成语 (idioms) four characters long? Are there 成语 with more or less than four characters? I really enjoying learning 成语 (chéng yǔ) in Chinese, and I'm curious to know why they are often or always four characters long? Where does this tradition stem from?

And are there 成语 with more or less than four characters?

Taken from my.chinese.cn:

  成语为什么四字者为多？这大概是因为四字容易上口。如我国古代的诗歌总集《诗经》，就以四字句为多，古代历史《尚书》，其中四字句也有一些。后来初学读的三、百、千《三字经》《百家姓》《千字文》，其中后两种即全为四字句。《四言杂字》《龙文鞭影》初、二、三集，都是四言。这虽然是训蒙书，也足以说明四字句之为人所喜爱、所乐诵。

Why are idioms mostly four characters? This is basically because four words are catchy. Our country's famous book of poetry, 《诗经》, mostly uses four-character sentences, and the historical book 《尚书》 also has many four-character sentences. Then there are the (三、百、千) 《三字经》《百家姓》《千字文》, the latter two of which use four-character sentences. 《四言杂字》《龙文鞭影》 1st, 2nd and 3rd collections all have four words. Although these are books for educating small children they also illustrate people's enjoyment of four-character sentences.

You can find some examples of longer idioms at Wikiquote:

  天高皇帝遠。
  Tiān gaō huáng dì yuǎn.
  "The sky is high and the emperor is far away" — used as in carefree (lawlessness).
  自助者天助。
  Zì zhù zhě tiān zhù
  Literally: Those who help themselves, God will help. Meaning: God will help those who help themselves.

You can find some 3 character idioms (in Chinese) at chengyu.itlearner.com.


meaning: 辱=辰+寸, why? What does it mean? Chinese Etymology (dot org) says:

  From hand 寸 and plow 辰. Meaning humiliate. (possibly from low level work)

This explanation seems very 牵强 - plowing wouldn't been seen as low level work until very recently one would imagine...and doing plow work is not exactly humliating...

Any reasonable explanations for 辰+寸=辱?

Han Dynasty linguist Hsu Shen's explanation in Shuo-wen Chieh-Tzu:

  【清·陳昌治刻本·說文解字】辱：恥也。从寸在辰下。失耕時，於封畺上戮之也。辰者，農之時也。故房星為辰，田候也。

  【清·段玉裁·說文解字注】恥也。心部曰。恥，辱也。此之謂轉注。儀禮注曰。以白造緇曰辱。从寸在辰下。會意。寸者，法度也。而蜀切。三部。失耕時。故从辰。於封畺上戮之也。故从寸。辰者，農之時也。故房星爲辰。說从辰之意。

According to him, 辰 refers to date/time, i.e. for farming; and 寸 refers to laws and the judicial system. This explanation draws upon the fact that ancient China, especially under the Chou Dynasty was heavily focused on agriculture. Because various stages of farming (planting, harvesting, etc) was time critical, those who messed up the dates were disgraced.

Thus 辱 comes from the judicial humiliation 寸 for missing the correct times for farming 辰. This meaning of "to humiliate" came into currency during the mid-late Chou Dynasty. In the bronze script, this character had a radical 言, denoting the verbal nature of the humiliation.

However, it might not have been the original meaning for that character.

By this I mean we are discussing the ancestor of the ancestor of the clerical script character 辱. When traced all the way back to oracle bone scripts, the character 辱 (or rather, its ancestor) meant "to weed". Modern scholars have argued that this came from a farming tool (seashell) 辰 being used by the right hand 又. The radical 又 later mutated into 寸 in the seal script.

This original bone script meaning developed into the clerical script character 耨. Also, that is where the explanation cited in the question came from. I would guess that at some point, @user3306356's source mixed up the two different lineages.


How does inserting 起来 into 请客 as in 请起客来 changes the meaning? 请客 is a verb-object-verbal phrase (联合词), therefore it is able to seperate both parts and put further structures in between.
I read I could put 起 in between together with 来 at the end to form a so called "complement".

Now, all i know that i can build such a structure, for instance:

-分类 --> 分起类来

-吃惊 --> 吃起惊来

-贬值 --> 贬起值来

-游泳 --> 游起泳来

the problem is, i only know how to build this structure, but i can not find any explanation how the meaning is changed by it.

This infix -起-来 is usually considered a variation of the suffix -起来, and analysed as having an inceptive aspect, also called the inchoative aspect. The sense that it produces is "starting to do", "to begin to" etc.

起来 often interacts with 了 to form a particular viewpoint of an "accomplishment" action as having starting in the past, with the focus on the start point rather than as a whole.

It should be contrasted with 着, which does not emphasise the start of the action, but presents the action as one continuous state. Additionally, 起来 is different again from 下去, the latter of which is often called a continuative.


What does 我是足不出户的半宅体 mean? Can somebody help me translate this sentence?

  我是足不出户的半宅体

Using a dictionary, I guess it describes a person who doesn't want to leave his house. But I am not sure what is the exact meaning of it.

Look up 宅男，宅女， that will point you in the right direction.

我是足不出户的半宅体?
I'm a never-goes-out kind of half a nerd.


Taking medicine off the shelves From pleco I see that both 回收 and 收回  might be appropriate. Using google I found:

過期藥品回收站 this seems to be the place to give back expired medicine
上海市食品药品监督管理局收回药品GMP证书公告

If I understand correctly the second one is about recalling the permit for some medications. Should I use the second one, when referring to medicine that doctors are no longer allowed to prescribe?
Should I write:

你知道政府每年收回多少藥品嗎？

回收 means recycle, things have nothing wrong, they just become old or outdated so they are recycled (to make new stuffs).

收回 means take back.

召回 means recall, products shouldn't exist in the market because of flaws, the producer want them back so that no further disasters will happen.


What are the corresponding titles for "Dr." (in the sense of MD and PhD) in Chinese? The prefix Dr. in English refers to both medical doctors, and PhD graduates. What are the correct titles for these in Chinese? I believe that 医生 is correct to use as a title for a medical doctor, but I don't know if it can be used for a PhD.

All the information is taken straight from Wiktionary's English entries and the Chinese/Mandarin translations thereof. You don't really need to know any Chinese to find the information:

Doctor (physician): 医生, 大夫.
Doctor (person with a doctorate): 博士
Doctor (vet): 兽医

Doctor of Philosophy: 哲学博士

Graduate (from a university): 毕业生

博士 can be used as a title. For example you'd call me 焦博士 if I was an academic doctor (I wish).

毕业生 is usually used without a name attached; however, if you have to use it as a title (which is really unusual in either English or Chinese), then you can append the name of the person at the end of it: 毕业生James or 毕业生小焦.


Isn't it ironic that 淡 uses 炎, duplication of 火, as its phonetic component? Does the phonetic component for 淡    bemuse anyone else? Why not develop or embrace some other phonetic component that isn't semantically antonymous to 淡? Doubtless, water ( 氵) is 淡, but 火, let alone 炎 (duplication of 火), isn't 淡.

The phonetic component can not be used to explain the meaning of characters. It is used for the guidance of pronunciation. There are a lot of characters with 炎(tan) as the phonetic component such as 氮，谈、痰、毯, etc. I think none of these is related to fire.


What does it say in gigantic characters on this building labelled "Treasure Trove of Royal Chinese Cuisine"? (Characters identified: 中華皇家御膳之寶) There's this restaurant in Beijing (approximate location: Baidu Ditu; I think it's called 御仙楼) which has gigantic letters on the front.  The letters are around 3 people high.

  (Imgur version.)

Question: What does it say in gigantic characters on this building?

My guesses

膳 家 乍
山 御 坐
？ ？ 皇

The bottom-left looks similar to characters 64011 65188 65194 on http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/ccdb using the method described by dROOOze.  The first three components appear to be 宀王貝.

Using an excessive number of clericalified variants (隸定字), I would say that the closest characters are

蕐皇家御膳*寶

In the Shuowen Jiezi lesser seal standard, the closest characters are

中家御膳*寶

*Actually, the older structure of 「善」 is 「」 (⿱羊言), and that is what the photo and Shuowen seal form both are

In a more modern orthography,

中華皇家御膳之寶
Treasure Trove (寶) of (之) Royal (皇家御) Chinese (中華) Cuisine (膳)

There is no character where the doorway is, so there are eight characters in total. The rest of this answer will focus on the more difficult to identify characters.

中
商甲甲398合集32500商金中且觶集成6213西周金七年趞曹鼎集成2783秦簡秦197睡虎地秦簡漢隸唐公房碑　今楷
「中」 depicts a military flag with flowing streamers. This was later extended to mean authority (中央), then centre, middle.
The streamers stopped being written as part of the character very early on, but sometimes they were added back in decorative scripts as horizontal lines protruding from 「中」 (, , etc.)

In contrast, 「乍」 looked incredibly different in early scripts.

華
西周金不栺方鼎集成2735秦簡編年紀34睡虎地秦簡東漢隸禮器碑　今楷
「華」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*qʷʰˤra/) originally depicted a flower, now written as 「花」. The petals of the flower would be stroke-transcribed as 「」 in regular script (e.g. in the clericalified Shuowen lesser seal variant 「」). The bottom of the stalk was drawn in the shape of 「于」, which doubled as a phonetic hint (/*ɢʷ(r)a/).
Semantic 「艸・艹」 (grass) was added on later (see second form above).
「華」 was also overwhelmingly used for the meaning flourishing > magnificent, splendid (/*N-qʷʰˤra/) very early on via semantic extension from flower. The character 「花」 was invented later to represent the original sense of 「華」.

之
You're basically looking at a branch evolution here:

Series A:
商甲鐵16.1合集11654春秋金秦公簋集成4315春秋金姑馮同集成424篆之部說文解字隸定

Series B:
商甲鐵16.1合集11654戰國・晉金兆域圖銅版集成10478戰國・楚簡12包山楚簡戰國・楚簡129包山楚簡秦簡法141睡虎地秦簡今楷

「之」 (/*tə/) originally depicted a foot 「止」 pointing away from an abstract place represented as a horizontal line 「一」, indicating the meaning to go. 「止」 (/*təʔ/) simultaneously hinted at the sound.

「之」 (to go) and 「止」 (foot) are cognate.
Foot is now written using the derivative 「趾」.

The shape 「」 is what you find as a character component in other characters, e.g. in 「寺」 or 「志」. Normally, it is further corrupted into 「土」 or 「士」 in the modern form.

「之」 is the stand-alone character.

寶
商金作父癸集成5360西周金父乙簋集成3862西周金鄭虢仲簋集成4025春秋金國差集成10361戰國・楚簡221包山楚簡今楷
「寶」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*pˤuʔ/, treasure/valuables) actually had about a million variants, mainly because Chinese characters weren't standardised back then and about 90% of bronzeware had the character 「寶」 inscribed somewhere. These variants do share about half their components with 「寶」, however.
The structure which survives today contains semantic 「宀」 (building), semantic 「玉」 (jade), semantic 「貝」 (cowrie shell > money), and doubly semantic and phonetic 「缶」 (/*p(r)uʔ/, jar). The whole character indicates valuables (玉, 貝, 缶) stored inside a building (宀). If you see two or three components out of 「宀」, 「玉」, 「貝」, 「缶」 in a character, you're very likely looking at 「寶」.
The non-standardisation back then affects not only the components' presence, but the location of the components. On a component-transcription basis, the forms displayed here (listed from left to right) are, using ideographic description sequences,

寶 (same structure as the modern form)
⿱宀⿰⿱玉貝缶
⿱宀⿰缶⿱玉貝
Same as 2.
Same as 1.

「王」 and 「玉」 had different histories, but converged in shape later. As a character component, the shape 「王」 almost always represents 「玉」 (e.g. 弄, 玻). The times where the shape 「王」 actually represents 「王」 is mostly on the right hand side or the bottom of the character (汪, 皇), and these characters are pretty rare.

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂
國學大師

郭沫若《甲骨文合集》
中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》

漢字源流
中國哲學書電子化計劃

宋・徐鉉等奉敕校定　漢・許慎《說文解字》


Definitive list of ABB colors I'm looking for a definitive list of ABB colors, like:

绿茵茵
红彤彤

I'm sure there's tons of these, green has, for instance, apart from the 绿茵茵 written above, 绿油油 as well as many others (I would assume).

The lists I've found online are usually pretty poor, i.e.:

  绿油油、黄澄澄、白茫茫、紫盈盈、黑乎乎、红通通、亮晶晶

and that's about it...

Is there a definitive list of ABB colors?

As a small research project, we can combine a few of those lists and then expand the result in collaboration. This then becomes the definitive list of ABB colors.

红扑扑, 红彤彤, 红通通, 红艳艳, 红通通, 红赤赤, 红光光, 红灿灿, 红殷殷
绿油油, 绿莹莹, 绿生生, 绿茸茸, 绿汪汪, 绿茵茵, 绿森森
白皑皑, 白花花, 白茫茫, 白蒙蒙, 白生生, 白嫩嫩
灰沉沉, 灰溜溜, 灰蒙蒙
黑沉沉, 黑洞洞, 黑糊糊, 黑茫茫, 黑蒙蒙, 黑黢黢, 黑黝黝, 黑压压, 黑漆漆, 黑生生
乌溜溜
青幽幽
碧澄澄
黄灿灿, 黄澄澄, 黄乎乎
金灿灿, 金煌煌, 金闪闪, 金亮亮, 金晃晃
蓝晶晶, 蓝盈盈, 蓝幽幽, 蓝湛湛, 蓝隐隐, 蓝莹莹, 蓝汪汪
紫乌乌, 紫莹莹, 紫茵茵, 紫盈盈, 紫通通, 紫微微, 紫灿灿, 紫葳葳
粉扑扑, 粉嘟嘟

My small contribution:

绿葱葱
红呼呼, 红润润
灰渌渌, 灰塌塌
碧油油
蓝瓦瓦


Why is 走 distinguished from 辵? Why is 走 distinguished from 辵? They both mean to go/walk, according to the dictionary. Why weren't they merged during simplification?

The simplification has a practical purpose, that is to ease learning and daily use. 辵 is an archaic form that's not used in any modern context. There is no point simplifying it anyway. I doubt that the 简化字小组 ever looked beyond the 4000 most frequently used characters.

There are over 50,000 characters that have ever existed, only about 2000 get a simplified version in 《简化字总表》, if you don't count the radicals and derivatives, the simplified character count wouldn't exceed 400.

For the sake of argument, there could be a few other reasons.

They usually take an existing homophone character to substitute the complex one, 後 to 后 for example. 走 and 辵 sounds nothing similar.
There is this principle called 述而不作, which means they try to find existing simplifications and make them standard instead of inventing their own (though in many cases the simplified form is rather obscure). The 辵 to 走 simplification never existed.
辵 is already simple!


Help me understand why 我艹你 means i f*** you? This might seem as an unserious question but i was really stunned the first time I had an argument with a Chinese guy in League of Legends and he said: "我艹你".

my first thought ofcourse was WTF!?! I grass you? what is he trying to tell me?

so my question is how does i grass you relate to i f*** you? :D

艹 -> 草 -> 操 -> 肏 all with pinyin "cao"

They're all Internet variants on the same word that proliferated through use of computer IMEs. 肏 (the proper character) didn't show up on some earlier IMEs, so 操 was chosen as an alternative for it. From there, 草 became used because it is often the first option that shows up on an IME when people are typing quickly (as is often the case especially in online gaming). From there, 艹 was chosen as a form of self-censorship that is somewhat common on Chinese Internet media.

There are other variants such as 卧槽.


Is there something wrong with saying 千万不喜欢 to mean I absolutely do not like something? This sentence seems unproblematic:

  我不喜欢抽烟。
  I don't like smoking.

But I want to emphasize the strength of my dislike:

  我千万不喜欢抽烟。

However, searching for "千万不喜欢" on Baidu doesn't give many hits, so it seems like is very unusual.  However there seems to be plenty of hits for "千万不要".  I don't really see the distinction.

Question: Is there something wrong with saying 千万不喜欢 to mean I absolutely do not like something?

As other answers pointed out, 千万 is usually used as a warning. 千万 typically implies a reason why you should or should not do something (Otherwise you would suffer a certain consequence). E.g. 你走路时千万要小心 (否则很容易摔倒).

If you want to emphasize the strength of your dislike in your example, you can say: 我真不喜欢抽烟。// I really don't like smoking.

You can use other words to express your dislike too, such as 讨厌. E.g. 我讨厌抽烟。 Add more emphasis: 我很讨厌抽烟。 ,  我非常讨厌抽烟。 or 我特别讨厌抽烟。 The extremest could be 我真的是非常，非常，非常讨厌抽烟!!!

P.S. In English, "I absolutely do not like something" is probably an idiomatic way. But when it's translated into Chinese, it might not be idiomatic any more because both languages expresses things in different manners. In this case, a direct translation would be: 我绝对不喜欢抽烟. But the sentence's rarely been said in practice. You are more likely to hear 我一点都不喜欢抽烟 from a Chinese speaker.


Is there any font encoding the second stage of simplification? Of course, it should not even be mapped to their original Unicode positions, they could be sent to Private Use Area planes, but is there any way to typeset the extra-simplified characters as delineated, say, in http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3695.pdf?

I understand from the author of that proposal that these characters will be in Unicode when CJK Extension G is adopted sometime next year.  In the meantime, they are available in his font Babelstone Han PUA.


What is the purpose of 赴 ("to visit") within 全力以赴 ("to make an all-out effort")? 全力以赴 (quánlìyǐfù)
CC-CEDICT: to do at all costs / to make an all-out effort

Breaking apart this chengyu, we find:

全力: "with all one's strength / full strength / all-out (effort) / fully (support)"
以: "to use / by means of / according to / in order to / because of / at (a certain date or place)"
赴: "to go / to visit (e.g. another country) / to attend (a banquet etc)"

In particular, 赴 seems out of place here: it doesn't seem related to "making an all-out effort".  I don't see any logic here.
Question: What is the purpose of 赴 within 全力以赴?

This involves inversion (倒裝) in classical Chinese. The most sensible arrangement in modern Chinese is

以全力赴（之）
To go towards / approach (sth.) with all one's might,

which obviously suggests the meaning 'trying one's best in doing something'. The grammatical object is the target but is omitted (perhaps understood) in the idiom.

While 赴 is transitive, 全力以赴 has more or less become intransitive (see the following example) because it is idiomatic to consider it as a whole that describes a state of being, rather than an approach towards any specific problem (the object) when we parse the idiom.

我會全力以赴的。 I will try my best.


你老竇個仔, is it a minced oath in this case? If so what would be the original meaning? I'm talking specifically about this scene. I'm trying to translate this to english but as of now I don't know where to start.

Yes, it is. Cantonese swearing can be very vicious and graphic sometimes.

The most common Cantonese swearing is 「我(F)你老母」and one of a variants is 「我 (F) 你老母個 臭化(C)」; 臭化 means smelly and rotten.

  「你老竇個仔」 is a minced oath for 「你老母個 (C) 」, short for 「我(F)你老母個 (C)」

Replacing "老母" (mother) with "老竇" (father), and replacing the Cantonese "C" word with a similar sounding word "仔"

To translate it into English, you can use any minced oat, as long as it expresses strong disapproval.

For example: "Gat Dangit" --> "God damn it"


What is the difference between 别人 and 别的人? What is there difference between these two expressions, or are they synonmyous?

There are, in fact, two different words written 别人.

The first is pronounced "biérén" and is a noun. It means "other person (other people)" (另外的人). An example of its use is a sentence like

  屋子里只有我和他，没有别人。 Only he and I are in the room, no one else.

The second is pronounced "biéren" (note the neutral tone on the second syllable) and is a personal pronoun. It is used to refer to people other than oneself or the person in question. Dan provides a good example (though I would have used 扔 instead of 丢 -- a native speaker will have to weigh in here); in "是别人丢的", 别人 is a pronoun.

As far as I know, 别的人 can be used in place of 别人 in both cases. Nevertheless, I think 别人 is more common in general, and for some reason I tend to think that 别的人 is more naturally a noun than it is a pronoun.


Is there a difference between 凡事 and 所有？ Recently, I've been reading a bit of 鲁迅 and I've run into the word 凡事 a number of times. Everytime, I see it translated it seems to  mean 所有。 It seems to me that 凡事 is either an older usage or is much more formal - is that correct? As well, are there any ways in which they are used differently
Ex. Could I say
"凡事（的）学生都很乖“？

First, a little background: Most of 鲁迅's writings  were done in the middle of 白话文运动--to write with plain Chinese instead of arcane literary Chinese. Unfortunately, 鲁迅's way of using plain Chinese was not as influential as chairman Mao's, most of which actually have Huananese origin. From today's point of view, 鲁迅's "plain Chinese" is rather idiosyncratic.

凡事: Under most/all circumstances.

凡事，指不论什么事；所有的事。语出前蜀 魏承班 《谒金门》词之二：“愁倚画屏凡事懒，泪沾金缕线。”

Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/3066308.htm

所有: 整个;全部；一切。有时也指一定范围内的。All, all within a scope.

Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/1006583.htm


Character to use for the onomotapoeic sound "choong!" "Choong!" is the sound of something taking off or being launched. I'm trying to find out if there is a character for this sound as "choong" is not used for any regular character.

Not to be confused with 冲, the oo sound is long and more like the "u" in put rather than "oo" in spoon.

I believe you are looking for 噌, or cēnɡ (the equivalent of "whoosh").

As in:

  “噌”的一聲，火柴劃着了.


Word count in Classical Chinese vs English Apologies if the title isn't clear, I'm not sure how to express this.

I'm trying to establish roughly how many words a Classical Chinese text results in, once translated into English. Classical Chinese being an extremely concise language, I imagine a translation into English should render at least twice as many words--but is there an approximation?

For example, if I take the first sentence of the classical Chinese-language Wikipedia entry for "Classical Chinese" ("文言"):

  文言者，華夏、四裔所以書其言，而述志表情也。

A fairly liberal English translation (my own) might render this:

  Classical Chinese is how China and [its] frontier lands wrote their
  language, stated their ideals, and expressed their feelings.

This yields a Classical Chinese to English word count ratio of nearly 1:1 (here, it's 18:19), which is suspect, in that the brevity of the former is underrepresented; I'd expect something closer to 1:2.

At a stretch, everything after the last comma in the original sentence could be translated simply as "and expressed themselves", giving a ratio of 6:5, which is absurd, because any beginning student of Classical Chinese knows that it isn't wordier than English!

Also, it doesn't strike me as meaningful to attempt to generate a heuristic from a sole example.

Is there a rule of thumb?

have a look of this topic: Word count in Classical Chinese vs English

now, be calm; please. the quoted wikipedia entry is, imo, unacceptable, in classical / literary chinese. so, your translation and comparison is, invalid. remember:

"garbage in, garbage out"

i assumed your understand the difference between classical chinese and literary chinese. the internet archive have books printed in chinese and english; that you might do a empirical research.

華英對照四書

註釋校正華英四書

james legge's english translation is quite good, you can depend on it. e.g.:

孟子　盡心上 chapter 6

  孟子曰．人不可以無恥．無恥之恥．無恥矣

mencius said, "a man may not be without shame. when one is ashamed of having been without shame, he will afterwards not have occasion for shame."

16 chinese words vs 26 english words.

孟子　盡心上 chapter 7

  孟子曰．恥之於人大矣．為機變之巧者．無所用恥焉．不恥不若人．何若人有

mencius said, "the sense of shame is to a man of great importance."

"those who form contrivances and versatile schemes distinguished for their artfulness, do not allow their sense of shame to come into action."

"when one differs from other men in not having this sense of shame, what will he have in common with them?"

30 chinese words vs 56 english words.

last,

  Is there a rule of thumb?

no. i don't think so.

ps, just curious, where and why students need to learn classical chinese in english?


In "会很  的"， is 很 meaningless? 会~的 explains the future event that will happen.

她肯定会很高兴的。
She will be (very) happy.

Is that 的 a collaboration of 会~的?(很 does NOT mean 'very', like 我很好)or just associated with the adjective 高兴？ (很 does mean 'very')

Thank you so much in advance.

I don't know exactly what do you mean by "meaningless", but the sentence would definitely sound weird without “很”. (I wouldn't really use the word "meaningless", because basically every character in Chinese comes with a certain "meaning", no?)

“的” is necessary in this constellation with “会”.

她肯定很高兴。
She is for sure very happy.

or

她肯定会很高兴的。
She would for sure be very happy.

I'd say the first sentence is less common compared to the latter.


Since Putonghua is a standard English word, why do people use Mandarin for standard Chinese? https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/putonghua

putonghua
mass noun
The standard spoken form of modern Chinese, based on the dialect of Beijing.

Why should they? People don't rely on dictionaries when they speak. “Putonghua” may be in dictionaries, but it is still not a commonly used word.
As for why “Mandarin” is used and not “Putonghua”, I believe that “Putonghua” was only recently included in English dictionaries. In China, 普通话 only became a commonly used term during the 20th century. (This is confirmed by Wikipedia.) So it seems likely that one reason “Putonghua”is not commonly used is that it hasn't had enough time to become adopted in English. I also think that another reason “Putonghua” isn't used much is because of phonetics: it doesn't sound like an English word, so people may find it hard to remember and to use.
It could be argued that it is more correct to use “Putonghua” rather than “Mandarin” when referring to standard Chinese. It is conceivable that changes in culture, geopolitics and education may lead to the term “Putonghua” eventually becoming the standard, commonly used term in English for “standard Chinese”. But I don't think it will happen soon. Not before at least a decade I think.
The majority of English speakers do not have much knowledge about the different Chinese languages.
Here are some comments on the usage of the terms Mandarin, Chinese and Putonghua.
Chinese: noun in common use in spoken English. It usually means standard Chinese, i.e. Putonghua. (口语)
Mandarin: noun also used by the general public, but seems a little more formal. (书面语)
Putonghua: not in common use. In general it is only used by someone with a little specialised knowledge of China and/or Chinese languages. Interestingly, in Wikipedia “Putonghua” is a "redirect" to the "Standard Chinese" entry. The article is well worth a look.


Question about how to say "sounds like" "looks like" "tastes like" "smells like" "feels like (referring to touch)"? My question is not really about comparing things. My question is about expressing the quality of things, like characteristics.

For example, how do you say:
1. "it sounds like your work is very interesting!"
2. "he looks like he is very tired"
3. "this book looks like a hard read"
4. "this vase looks really heavy"
5. "this soup tastes like it took a lot of work"
6. "this flower smells like it should cost 1,000 dollars"
7. "this blanket feels like it has never been used"

I've heard 着 should be used in this case. Is this true? Can someone elaboration?

谢谢！

Some of the direct translation:

"it sounds like your work is very interesting!"
听起来你的工作非常有意思!
"he looks like he is very tired"
他看起来非常累。
"this book looks like a hard read"
这书想必是很难读的。
"this vase looks really heavy"
这花瓶看起来很重。
"this soup tastes like it took a lot of work"
这汤尝着感觉下了很大功夫。
"this flower smells like it should cost 1,000 dollars"
这些花闻起来像是它们值1000美元。
"this blanket feels like it has never been used"
这条毯子感觉从来没用过。

Above are the so called direct answers, however as you said you want the characteristics, it is a bit harder.

A verb representing a feel can be in front of "着" or "起来", like “看着”，“看起来”，“听着”，“听起来”... and your actual feel, some adjective words can be after that, to express your idea on such thing through an action or interact or motion, like “听起来很悦耳(sounds very melodious) ”，“闻起来很香(smells good)”.

But to make this more beautiful, that's literature. An idea would be punch in enormous adjective words and imagination, or quote old literature, etc.


How is aZn written in Chinese? What is the Chinese word for "aZn"? (Not "Asian-American" but specifically the Chinese name for the subculture of Asian-Americans that refers to itself as "aZn".)

When translating from aZn to Chinese, how does one render the effect of the alternating capitals and lowercases, i.e. translating specifically "aZn PrYdE" and not "Asian[-American cultural] pride"? Does one alternate between using traditional and simplified characters, or using Han and non-Han scripts?

Writing in all caps in on line chat or forums is akin to shouting in everyone's ears in real life. It is quite annoying.

Typing capital alphabets in odd positions in a word emphasize a higher volume or higher tone for its reading. For example "aZn" = aSIan and it is even more annoying than all caps.

It is considered rude, cheeky and juvenile behavior to type like that: "hEy bRO!"

  how does one render the effect of the alternating capitals and lower cases?

You can imagine using bigger font size or bolder font style for a selected few characters in an otherwise simple phrase, would create this "volume up/ raising tone" effect.

As for using different alphabets to replace the actual one, like "prYde" instead of "Pride". You can do the same in Chinese by using a sound alike character to replace the correct one just for the fun of it.  For example:  "神馬？" instead of "什麼？"; "魂淡" instead of "混蛋" .


What is the polite way to say a grandparent has passed away? I've been trying to find out what is the polite way of telling someone that someone, specifically a relative, has passed away? I'm pretty sure it's not very nice to say someone died （死）。 Google translate suggests 他去世了。But is that right? Is it different for Cantonese?

The common polite terms for 「死了」(died):

過身 (passed away)
去世 (left this world)
逝世 (departed from this world)
仙逝 (departed to the spiritual world)
走了 (had gone)

Example sentences:

他過身了
他已經去世了
曹操在 220 AD 逝世
我祖父早已仙逝
我父母都走了

走咗(走了) is the most popular one among Cantonese speakers  because of the vagueness ( as if the dead person was just gone for a trip)

  What is the polite way to say a grandparent has passed away?

"祖父過身了"

  could you provide the jyutping?

90% of the time Cantonese would use the two below:

我祖父過咗身 ngo5 zou2 fu6 gwo3 zo2 san1

我祖父走咗嘞 ngo5 zou2 fu6 zau2 zo2 lak6


What do you do when the dictionary doesn't give you a meaning that fits your sentence? For example, in a dialogue about global warming, this sentence fragment:
这个在中文就特别的直接...

I would translate to, "In Chinese, this is especially relevant". But 直接 translates to immediate/straightforward in mdbg and other dictionaries.

So I...

Google/Baidu "直接" and a meaning that I think it is, "直接" and
"relevant"
Look it up in a Chinese only dictionary.
Google Translate

What other steps do you recommend?

If dictionaries give various meanings, I always return to breaking down the word/phrase into its components and see if they make sense given your context:

  直 Zhí = straight, direct

  接 Jiē = meet, connect, join

So, it would seem that 直接 (direct connect) could mean both straightforward and relevant (hence why dictionaries give both as results).

But to remove all ambiguity, I would try searching other better fitting words... In this case, I would use 相关 xiāng guān = interrelated

Again,

  相 xiāng = mutually

  关 guān ＝　to involve, to concern

Some examples:

这些事情是特别相关 (Zhèxiē shìqíng shì tèbié xiāngguān) - These things are particularly relevant
相关任务间的重叠时间 (Xiāngguān rènwù jiān de chóngdié shíjiān) - Related tasks overlap time

More examples here


Why does Montevideo has a specific translation in Taiwanese? Translation of Montevideo in most dictionaries appears to be: 蒙得維的亞 (Méng dé wéi de yà) but in Pleco's dictionary it also says that in Taiwan is used: 蒙特维多.

As far as I am concerned, in Taiwan it should be used the same translation but with traditional characters, why does it have another translation?

It is a fact that different countries and areas can have different translations or transliterations of a foreign word or name. It can only be resolved by the name's owner to give official translation or transliteration for other countries.

Take Google for example, Google itself decided it would be '谷歌' in Chinese. That makes it official and universal in all countries and areas that use Chinese as their written language.

Another example  is the name of a Canadian city, Montreal. It was transliterated as 蒙特利尔 in China but Cantonese transliterated it as 滿地可.  Since the early Chinese immigrants to Canada were mostly Cantonese, 滿地可 is the accepted name for Montreal among Chinese Canadian.

The Canadian government just transliterate Montreal as 蒙特利尔 in Mandarin and  滿地可 in Cantonese.


Negative sentiment for text Could someone please explain why would the following text have negative sentiment? Is there any specific word or hidden semantics that makes it negative? Is completely subjective?

Text:

你那个城市十一银行还上班啊

Title:

【壕卡信用卡11-06】人生首卡，求卡神指教

The negative sentiment can be found in:
1.那个
2. "还上班啊"
This is an exclamation sentence. The speaker who said it was kind of shocked because the person he/she was talking to have to deal with a situation that was supposed not to happen which is working during the national day.


What does 酿 mean in 苹果iPhone 5酿致命意外? Taken from this news article

What does "酿" mean in this sentence:

  苹果iPhone 5酿致命意外

酿 means lead to/result in in that sentence.

As the original meaning of 酿 is "the process of making wine", the sentence

  A + 酿(成) + B

is a metaphor for "A leads to B (in a gradual/long-term process)", 喻事情积渐而成.

Issue of the causality

Personally, I think the sentence

  苹果 iPhone 5 酿致命意外。 Apple iPhone 5 leads to a fatal accident.

is not rigorous enough. Though it is acceptable, and one may complete the sentence in mind as

  苹果 iPhone 5 (的设计缺陷) 酿致命意外。 (The design flaw of) Apple iPhone 5 leads to a fatal accident.

So, a more logical sample sentence would be

  疏忽酿大错。 Carelessness leads to serious blunders.


察尔汗: Mongolian and Tibetan transcription into Chinese Apologies that this is a bit off the main focus of the forum, but there aren't any Mongolian or Tibetan stacks yet.

There are dozens to hundreds of Chinese sites repeating each other that Qarhan (察尔汗)—an important playa in Qinghai that gets called a 盐湖 apparently because Chinese doesn't distinguish between salt flats and salt lakes—is a transcription of a Mongolian name meaning "world of salt" (盐的世界) or "salt pond" or "salt marsh" (盐泽). None of those sites offer the supposed Mongolian word and apparently none can, since there's no Mongolian word for "salt" (let alone "world" or "lake") that sounds even vaguely similar.

The larger Qaidam Basin (柴达木盆地) around Qarhan also gets glossed—also incorrectly—as a transcription of a Mongolian name about salt, which shows what's probably going on with Qarhan. The Tibetan word for salt is ཚྭ (Wylie: ''tshwa'') which would get transcribed ca in Tibetan Pinyin if it were coming over directly. It gets turned into ᠴᠠ (''ča'') or ца ("tsa"), however, in Mongolian which the Chinese system romanizes as qa.

So it looks like Qarhan should be from a Tibetan word about salt.

There's nothing "world" or "pond" or "marsh" that even remotely fits, but the Tibetan word for "plain" or "flatland" seems to be ཐང (''thang'') so maybe the original name was something like "salt flat" and and was written ཚྭ་ཐང་ or ཚྭ་ཐང་།... Maybe?

But do any of y'all know enough about Tibetan, Mongolian, Chinese transcriptions, or Chinese Baidufu to be able to find out what actually happened there? Default Google just keeps washing up more sites repeating the obviously wrong and obviously copied-from-others'-work story about it being directly from Mongolian.

in brief, 察爾汗 is derived from mongolian.

the long explanation:

about 1763, there was a large-scale standardisation of names from mongolian, tibetan and various languages used by muslim into han chinese and manchurian. the result was the 24-volume book "欽定西域同文志" (~ made by imperial order 欽定, western region 西域, same language 同文, record 志).

the internet archive (which is blocked in "that area") has a copy:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=欽定西域同文志&and[]=subject%3A%22四庫全書薈要%22

volume 1 has the rationale, guidelines (p1-p42) and table of contents (p43-p57), volume 14-17 are kokonur related

https://archive.org/details/06078133.cn

my interpretation is, the mongolian character "цагаан" "tsagaan" ("white" colour) is transliterated to "察罕" (older version) or 察爾汗 (modern version) in chinese and "qarhan" in english.

in the above mentioned book, volume 14, there're several places starting with "察罕"

"察罕鄂博" https://archive.org/details/06078140.cn/page/n72

"察罕哈達" https://archive.org/details/06078140.cn/page/n78

"察罕托輝烏魯" https://archive.org/details/06078140.cn/page/n88

"察罕托羅海" https://archive.org/details/06078140.cn/page/n106

all of them mentioned "蒙古語察罕白色" (~in mongolian, "qarhan" means white colour). most likely, "qarhan" / "tsagaan" (察罕) referred to the color of salt, not the salt itself.

further description of playa, or salt lake are modern suffix.

have fun :)


What is the meaning of 庸 in 利之而不庸? A random passage from Mencius is:

  殺之而不怨，利之而不庸，民日遷善而不知為之者

The first two lines have the same structure V1 之而不 V2, wherein V1 is expressing someone doing something to another and V2 how this one reacts to it.
I think I understand the first line 殺之而不怨: someone kills (some people from a group) and they (the group) don't begrudge it.

As for 利之而不庸 I only understand so far that: someone makes the group benefit from something yet the group 庸, of which I don't know the meaning. The meanings I found in different online dictionaries do not make any sense to me in this context. 庸 is translated as "common, unspecial, mean, low".

庸 means 酬谢 (reward) here.

  (10) 酬其功劳 [reward]
  (11) 又如:庸勋(酬劳有功的人)

And,

  6.酬其功劳。
  《书·益稷》：“明庶以功，车服以庸。”
  　孔颖达疏：“赐车服以旌别其人功能事用。”
  《左传·僖公二十四年》：“庸勳、亲亲、暱近、尊贤，德之大者也。”
  《孟子·尽心上》：“杀之而不怨，利之而不庸，民日迁善而不知为之者。”

So 利之而不庸 means benefit them (the civilians), and they won't reward (someone).


What does 这样才不白来世上一回 mean? In the following sentence:

  他说：“人往高处走，水往低处流。我没有满足的时候。没见识过的东西还多着呢。我什么都想试试，这样才不白来世上一回。”

I think the sentence means:

  He says: "People go higher, water flows into lower. I don't feel satisfied, have not seen everything yet. I want to see everything, ..."

But I don't understand the last part. Judged by the context, it might be something like the following:

  These could be experienced only once in the next life (...?)

Especially I don't understand what 白 means here. It might be "clear" (verb), but then the meaning would be:

  These could not be clear once in the next life (...?)

So what does it mean?

我什么都想试试，这样才不白来世上一回。

  I want to experience/try many things, only then will I feel like my life hasn't been wasted.

That is the general meaning. As for the bolded part:

這樣才 - only like/by doing this, referring to 我什麽都想試試
白X - a waste of effort to X
來世上 - be born into the world
一回 - one time

來世上一回 is a figure of speech culturally referring to the possibility of reincarnation (being born multiple times). The idea is that coming into this world is a journey that takes effort, and while being here this person wants to experience as many things as possible.


What's the difference between 让, 令 and 使? I am in doubt whether 让, 令 and 使 are interchangeable, and if not, how to differentiate their use.
What I understood so far:
让 tends to be used in spoken language and it's pretty universal, meaning to let, to enable or to make (also with feelings), as per examples below. Is that right?

让我更理解书本上的知识
让他在外面等
让我看一看
让他在外面等
让不可能成为可能
这辈子让我操心的事可太多了
让我想起
请把车停到里面，好让别人走路

令 is used mainly in written language and is mainly about making somebody feel something. Is that right?

令生活变得复杂
令我感到悲伤

使 I thought it's similar to 令 but then I see it has some uses similar to 让

它使人们更加关心世界气候变化的问题了
这样使得学习中文变得更加有趣
工能使人成长

Can you help me understand the different nuances and in which context each of them can/should be used?
Thank you so much!

让 is frequently used in speech, usually translated with "to make somebody do something" or "to let". Your other examples illustrate it nicely.

让我想一想 (= let me think a bit)

The most fundamental difference between 让 and 使 is that 使 means basically "cause to", therefore it's used mostly when it refers to inanimate entities or when there is no intention.

山火使空气严重污染 (= wildfires cause the air to become heavily polluted)
中国经济增长使新西兰获益 (= China's economic growth causes New Zealand to profit)

You can of course translate that more liberally, but the basic meaning remains.
Note that 让 can some times be used with inanimate subjects too. I see that as a colloquialism.
令 is more formal, but used in speech as well, mostly in constructions like 令人X where X is some phrase denoting feelings. Your understanding is correct.

令人吃惊
令人愤怒
令人印象深刻


Can you use 丰富 to describe a day? So, I'm trying to figure out how to use 丰富 most correctly. I know that youcan say 今天的晚餐很丰富。  But how else could it be used? Could I say “今天过得好丰富？“ in say a written diary?

Thanks for the help guys!

丰富的一天 - an eventful day with plenty activities but you may not get anything positive out of them.

充实的一天 - perhaps not as many activities as in 丰富的一天 but you actually get something positive from part-taking in the day's activities.

It does sound a bit odd to say “今天过得好丰富？“. Perhaps "今天是丰富的一天" sounds better.


Is there any specifically masculine character for 他 The pronoun 他 (ta1) for he/she/it has been used since at least the Ming dynasty and has had a number of variants, such as 牠 for animals and 祂 for deities. In the 20th century the feminine version 她 was introduced to imitate western languages, and is now used to refer to female persons in almost all Chinese publications.

Since 他 was originally gender-neutral and uses the generic "human" radical 人, while 她 is explicitly gendered, this seems somewhat asymmetrical. I'd like to know if there has ever been a character proposed that would represent the pronoun "ta1" only when talking about male persons.

I know that the Chinese language has other 3rd person pronouns, some of which are gendered, but I'm interested in ta1 specifically.

I would suggest that there is no sense of gender in the Chinese languages since the very beginning; nor even today. We all know that the Chinese languages are very isolated and very analytic. The idea of gender, number, and case, in Romance languages may not be brought to the learning and using of the Chinese languages. Though I'm not perfectly confident, in the context of learning and using the Chinese languages, it might be a good practice to abandon the subconscious paradigm of fusing additional information into a word. If necessary, specify specifically.

As another user already mentioned, the invention of "她" was only a very recent activity (around 1900) by intelligentsia from English or Deutsch, and observable objections against it have arose recently (5-10 years) when the proposal of the abolition of gendered pronouns in the anglophone communities became popular.


Does Chinese have a phrase equivalent to "For all I know"? There is an expression in English:

"For all I know, ...."

The following clause often has a modal expressing uncertainty or the hypothetical nature of the assertion, like "might", "may", "could", or "would".

For all I know, he might have gone abroad.
For all I know, she doesn't even work there anymore.
For all I know, the test hasn't even been written yet.

The usage is usually something like this. You are talking about some topic. You disavow even a basic level of certainty about the topic by saying "For all I know, X", meaning something like "I can't even be sure that X isn't true. How can I say anything useful about the topic, if I can't even rule out possibility X?"
This is not the same as "To the best of my knowledge, X" (which means you really think X, you are just saying you are unsure). I think that "As far as I know" is more like "To the best of my knowledge" than "For all I know", but I think it might have some flexibility. I don't know.
=======================
So, my question is whether Chinese has any equivalent phrases or ways to express "For all I know"? I've seen a few instances of 据我所知, but I don't know whether that's idiomatic Chinese or just a stilted and academic translation. Also, I don't know whether it really has any of the same implications that "For all I know" has. For all I know, 据我所知 is just a neutral statement like "To the best of my knowledge"!

I can only give some possible translations based on your explanation of "For all I know":

  For all I know, he might have gone abroad.

  他说不准出国了呢。

  For all I know, she doesn't even work there anymore.

  她没准已经不在哪工作了呢。

  For all I know, the test hasn't even been written yet.

  测试题说不准还没出呢。

We would use "说不准" "没准" and things like that to express the uncertainty. I can't think of one phrase that would have the same meaning of "For all I know" as your explained.


Understanding 年頭 in context As part of my efforts to improve my Chinese, I read various books. I just started one. In the first sentences, the author uses 年頭 instead of 時期。I searched the dictionary and found various meanings:

start of the year
period
epoch
days
year's harvest

Do I understand correctly, that here it means period?

  This is the first of the periods I spent in France for advanced studies.

Does it differ from other "periods", such as 時間，時期？

年头 just means year in this sentence。

I think this online dictionary will help you.

http://www.zdic.net/c/4/4/8606.htm

◎ 年头，年头儿 niántóu,niántóur

(1) [year]∶年份

我到北京已经三个年头了。

(2) [years]∶时代;年月

这年头工人农民的生活好起来了。

(3) [harvest]∶年成;年景

今年又是丰收的好年头。


How is adding oil going to beneficial to the situation? 加油 Is anyone able to explain the history behind this cheer?

At the face of it I'm unsure how this could be a cheer as 加 translate to add/plus/apply and 油 translates to oil/fat/grease you would think that 加油 would translate to Add oil

Most of my research showed that 加油 means a cheer or add oil but I've been unable to find any information as to how it translate into a cheer

In a literal sense, 加油 means to step on the gas pedal when you drive a car.

Imagine what happens when you step on the gas pedal? More gasoline is added to the engine. What happens when more gasoline is added to the engine? The engine roarsssss!

If someone is having a hard time, they are like a car being stuck in the mud or a similar situation and unable to move forward. You would encourage them to "add in some gasoline"  加油!


If I was fat, and now I'm not, which is better: 我长胖 or 我长胖了 or 我长了胖 or 我长了胖了? Suppose in the past I was fat, and now I'm no longer fat.  I'm wondering which 了 is appropriate:

我长胖
我长胖了
我长了胖
我长了胖了

I don't think we can just leave off the 了.  It makes sense to put 了 at the end as a change-of-state 了.  However, it also seems to make sense to use a completion 了 after the verb (which I believe is 长).  Yet the double 了 doesn't seem to apply here.

Baidu results indicate both 我长了胖 and 我长了胖了 are plain wrong (but suggests 我长了肥胖 is possible).  I don't understand why.

Question: If I was fat, and now I'm not, which is better: 我长胖 or 我长胖了 or 我长了胖 or 我长了胖了?

Neither.

If you used to be x and you're not any more you'd just use a construct like:

  以前很x

like:

  (我)以前很胖

Of course, 很 doesn't necessarily mean really or very, but if you want to change it to 有点 that's cool too:

  (我)以前有点(儿)胖


How to say the following phrase in Mandarin? I'm preparing a presentation for my Mandarin class. The idea is to stage a situation. Basically the point is to create a situation which begins with a Chinese person asking for two foreigners to take a picture for him. Since the situation is to happen in China, this seems very unrealistic, so I decided to start the stage with the Chinese person talking to himself:

  I'd like to take a picture of me and my family, but there is no one around except those two foreigners. I will ask them.

How do I say that in Mandarin?

"I'd like to take a picture of me and my family, but there is no one around execpt those two foreigners. I will ask them."

我想找人帮我们拍一张全家福，但周围除了两个外国人就没有别人了。我去问问他们。


How do you say "preferences" as opposed to "demands"? I encounter many situations where I want to ask someone what they would like as opposed to what they need. For example, I wanted to find a restaurant for our class to have an end of the semester celebration. I wanted to ask my friend if she had any preferences (i.e. western-style food, chinese style food, other style food, location, cost, etc).

I didn't want to say: 你有什么要求？ I also didn't want to say 你喜欢什么样的饭馆？ How do you ask someone what kind of preferences they have for something?

Here's a better example. I want to rent a flat (i.e. apartment). My friend, a Chinese national, is helping me. He asks me: "你要租什么样的房间?". So at this point there are three classes (at least to my Western mind) of features that I could describe:

What I must-have (我的要求)
What I like (我喜欢的)
What I'd prefer (?)

So I don't want to just say what I "like" because I'm not sure how my friend will interpret that (i.e. I think he will interpret that as a must-have) when in reality I have a list of prioritized preferences where I'm willing to give some up because I know that finding the perfect place isn't possible (for the amount of money that I have). Also, I don't feel that 'like' (i.e. 喜欢） really describes the categorization. For example I like vanilla ice cream, the Golden State Warriors, and comic books. There's nothing that I "like" when it comes to searching for a flat.

When asking for preference, you can use 愿意 to indicate what you are willing/prefer to do, or ask what he is willing/prefers to do. You can also use 想 to ask/indicate what he/you wish(es) or is thinking of (doing/wanting).

E.g., 你愿意租什么样的公寓(呀)? 我愿意找个有两层的公寓. (What kind of apartment/flat would you like to rent? I would like to find a two-story apartment/flat.)

You can use 必须 indicate what you must have or have happen.

E.g., 那桌子必须是红色的. (That table must be red.) / 你必须把他带回来. (You must bring him back.) / 那公寓必须有一个浴缸. (That apartment/flat mush have a bathtub.)

If you want to indicate that an alternative something also good/fine, but not would not be your top choice, you can use 也好, 也可以, or 也行.

E.g., 我喜欢(吃)香草(味的)冰淇淋, 不过草莓(味的)也行. (I like [to eat] vanilla [flavored] ice cream, but strawberry [flavored] is fine as well/also good.)


Meaning of 则是 in 而段剑则是神情严肃地站在聂离的身边 My vocabulary states that 则是 means: "then is".  However I don't understand how to translate the following sentence:

  而段剑则是神情严肃地站在聂离的身边。

I can translate it perfectly fine by omitting 则是, so not sure what does it add.
I was thinking, maybe it is a construct with 而...则是.

Ps: this is a sentence from the novel 妖神记，chapter 177.

You have to look at the whole sentence to understand:
聂离观察了一下各处之后，走回了大厅的上首，坐在了叶修和叶朔的旁边，而段剑则是神情严肃地站在聂离的身边。

则是 contrasts the actions of 聂离 (he sat down next to the two Ye's), and 段剑 (he stood next to 聂离).  English might use a conjunction such as "while", or "on the other hand".

则是 is not really a conjunction, though.  It is more like what is sometimes called a "pseudo-cleft" sentence: "As for Duan Jian, what he did was to stand next to Nie Qin with a stern expression."

I don't think 而 is absolutely necessary here. If you don't use it though, I would probably put a period, rather than a comma.

This is a good example of how English and Chinese have different ways of linking compound sentences to form a narrative structure.


What does 算不上 mean in 算不上太美好的日子? This is from the book 我是马拉拉 (the Chinese version of I am Malala).

I transcribe it to:

  2012年10月9日，星期二那天发生的事情，改变了一切。那天原本要大考，对学生们来说算不上太美好的日子。但和大多数同学不一样，我号称“小书虫”，感觉考试并不是什么大事。

I translate this to:

  Tuesday, 9-th October 2012.  That day's happenings changed everything.  That day, we originally had a test, with students saying [something? 算不上], it's a beautiful day.  But I'm different to most students, I'm known as "bookworm", I feel a test is not at all a big deal.

Question: What does 算不上 mean in this snippet?

Dict.cn translates 算不上 to "be not really", so I'm guessing it negates the "it's a beautiful day", so the students think it's "not really a beautiful day" or something like that.  However, I'm not clear on this.  (I think I understand the rest of the snippet.)

I would translate 算不上 to be "cannot count as", so in your context, it would mean "you can't count today as a beautiful day as there is an exam".


How do you say 黑箱作业 in English? It is literally translated as ”black-box operation(s)”.

It refers to actions within an organization which are not transparent to the general public or the “masses” within the organization, which consequently result in bad things happening. It is a metaphor of the black box, where one knows the input and the output, but doesn’t know the underlying process/transformation that occurred to change the input into the output.

Is there an idiom in English that encapsulates the same idea?

The term "黑箱" was a direct translation of a science term "Black box" from English

"Black box is a device, system or object which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings.
..........
Almost anything might be referred to as a black box: a transistor, an engine, an algorithm, the human brain, an institution or government.

黑箱作业 in English should be ”black-box operation(s)” . (you can see what goes in and what comes out, but you never how the system works). Presuming the English speaker knows what is a 'black box'


What is the difference between 勺子 and 调羹? Which word should I use for "spoon", as a noun or as a measure.

It should be 勺子 (or just 勺 as a measure).

调羹 has similar meaning with 勺子, but is partial to the spoon used for eat soup.
And 调羹 usually used in southern dialect.


chinese bound trisyllabic morphemes I'd like to know whether there're truly bound trisyllabic morphemes in mandarin Chinese.

Thank you so much in advance.

I know from experience that linguists and grammarians absolutely refuse to define the terms they use adequately in order to build their own cloud castles.

Given the definition:

  morpheme:  a speech element having a meaning or grammatical function
  that cannot be subdivided into further such elements

or:

  morpheme: "smallest meaningful unit in a language," 1896, from German morpheme,
  coined 1895 by Polish-born linguist Jan Baudouin de Courtenay
  (1845-1929), from Greek morphe "form, shape"

isn't a bound morpheme a contradiction in terms, since it cannot stand alone? Better to use the word 'affix', because that is what is meant.

If you then say: "But a meaningless morpheme may still have a grammatical function." then any letter is a morpheme, since, if I remove, say, 'o' from 'morpheme' I get 'mrpheme'. Therefore, 'o' has the grammatical function of making 'mrpheme' an interpretable  collection of letters. Thus the smallest morpheme in English is a letter and smaller than a letter you cannot write.

In another thread someone complained about the arrogant insistence that Western grammatical concepts must also be applicable to Chinese. I wholeheartedly agree. Most, if not all, of the precepts of Western Grammar have no scientific definition, but people talk about them as if they were scientific facts which must also be true in Chinese. Can you define 'word' or 'subject' or 'sentence' rigorously? You know what you mean until I ask you to make your definition unequivocal.

Consider the Chinese word: 轿车。

轿jiao4 has 2 or 3 syllables, depending on your point of view.

轿 is made up of: 车 + 乔 （ 夭 + 儿） in Simplified Chinese or 车 + 夭 + 高 in Traditional Chinese.

We could argue 高 is not a morpheme, but I would accept it as such, as a picture of a tall building.

Tang Ho mentioned 们， but this is 人 + 门, so it is not elemental.

I would therefore agree with Tang Ho that Chinese has no bound trisyllabic morphemes and go further and say that neither does English. English has letters and Chinese has Primitives.


无聊 vs 闷 differences in usage I have been trying to figure out if 无聊 and 闷 have some difference in terms of usages. So I have thought of some scenarios below.

"Decribing an activity". If I want to say this activity is very boring. Is the sentence "这个活动很无聊" or "这个活动很闷"?
"Describing a person". If I want to say that person is a boring person. Should it be "他是一个很无聊的人" or "他是一个很闷的人"
"Describing as feeling". If I want to say "I am so bored this few days". Should it be "这几天我很闷" or "这几天我很无聊"?

That's all the scenario I can think of so far. I'm not sure if I constructed the sentences correctly so do correct me if I'm wrong. And do feel free to add more differences in their usages if I missed out some aspects!

无聊 (meaningless; uninteresting; listless)

闷 (bored; boring)

When using 无聊 to describe an event, your opinion on this event is 'it is meaningless' (therefore boring)

When using 闷 to describe an event, your opinion on this event is 'it is boring' (It just describes how you feel, no mention of the reason)

When using 无聊 to describe a person, your opinion on this  person is 'he is uninteresting' (therefore boring)

When using 闷 to describe a person, your opinion on this person is 'he is boring' (It just describes how you feel, no mention of the reason)

When using 无聊 to describe your feeling, you mean you feel listless, nothing interest you (therefore bored)

When using 闷  to describe your feeling, your mean you feel bored (It just describes how you feel, no mention of the reason)

(for event) 无聊 = boring (because it is meaningless in your opinion)
(for event) 闷 = boring (for whatever reason, may be the event is too long, may be things keep repeating and nothing new happen)
(for person) 无聊 = boring (because the person is uninteresting in your opinion)
(for person) 闷 = boring (for whatever reason, may be that person's topics for conversion do not interest you, maybe that person doesn't like to talk at all.)
(for feeling) 无聊 = bored (because you are not interested in anything at the moment)
(for feeling) 闷 = bored (for whatever reason, may be you are at something interesting for too long and the fun wore off, may be you are unable to do the thing that does interest you)

Example sentence:

  别再做这种无聊事了 (Stop doing meaningless things like this)

you cannot replace 无聊 with 闷 because 闷 doesn't contain the meaning of 'meaningless'

  這人很无聊，一天到晚说人事非 (this guy is very uninteresting, he just gossiping about people all day long)

you cannot replace 无聊 with 闷 because 闷 doesn't contain the meaning of 'uninteresting'

  一个人去看戏我会很闷 (I would feel bored if I go to see a movies alone )

you cannot replace 闷 with 无聊 because 无聊 contains the meaning of 'listless' but you do interested in watching movies


When native Chinese refer to China, what's the difference between 大陆, 中国 and 中国大陆? Do they generally mean the same thing? Is one more formal than the other? Both 大陆, 中国 seem to have the same number of hits on Baidu.

When used with certain words, "中国" may be perceived more as a cultural/historical concept that has a vague boundary on what you want to refer to (the people, the land, the culture, etc).

Example: 周杰倫的中國風音樂／周杰伦的中国风音乐. Jay Chou's Chinese style music. (Jay is a popular artist from Taiwan.)

In this particular example, 中國 is similar to 中華 (The cultural concept). I think this is because 中国风 implies the usage of traditional style melodies, musical instruments, and lyrics, which is rooted in the cultural artifacts that have been existing for many centuries. The boundaries of "中国" in “中国风” feels vague, just like the bound of "China Proper" has kept changing over the many past centuries.

Another similar example: “中国话／中國話／中文”， the Chinese Language.

This may also happen in the phrase “中国历史”. The "中国" in this particular example would refer to the China encompassing both Mainland and Taiwan before Taiwan was ceded to Japan during the signing of《馬關條約》in year 1895, and/or the China during the Tang dynasty that did not include today's Tibet.
The word "China" may not even just refer to a particular ethnic group, e.g. the Han ethnic group (that accounts for 95%+ of China's population as of today), and the Han has been practically ruled over several times during history. Examples are the fall of the Song dynasty in the 12th century and the fall of the Ming dynasty in the 17th century when the Manchus ruled. (However, the rulers began to use Chinese characters, which is an evidence that some say would justify that they were "assimilated into China", rather than "they annihilated China".) That is another example the word "China" may refer to a concept that has a vague ethnic boundary.

For "大陆", "中国大陆" and when "中国" is used independently today, there shall be an implied geographic bound in today's world, and the bound is usually much more clearly defined, although it may slightly differ on the person's political viewpoint. "中国大陆" and "大陆" are used (only) to refer to People's Republic of China founded in 1949.

A little digression below:

The word "中国" is said to have gained its new meaning --- a modern "country/sovereignty" in 1912 when Republic of China was established, as an abbreviation of 中華民國 (1). Prior to that, "中国" may more often mean "the central area/district/city" or the capital city. Example:

  “湘娥啼竹素女愁，李憑*中國*彈箜篌" (《李憑箜篌引》， by 李賀, Tang Dynasty) (2)

1) https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B#.E8.AF.8D.E6.BA.90

2) https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/李凭箜篌引


Grammar structure of "你看，Sally 穿上传统服后有多漂亮“ 你看，Sally 穿上传统服后有多漂亮.

My questions are

(1) Is Subject omitted? I think the sentence needs a Subject in "Sally 穿上传统服后 (Subject) 有多漂亮 ".

(2) If 后 is removed, how can I rewrite this sentence?

你看 is a proclamation
Sally is the only subject in "Sally 穿上传统服后(她)有多漂亮." The pronoun '她'(she - referring to Sally)  is omitted. You don't need to repeat the subject in the single sentence

"你看, Sally 穿上传统服后有多漂亮"
Look! How pretty Sally looks after (she) put on a traditional dress.

if 后 is removed, the sentence would become "你看, Sally 穿上传统服有多漂亮"

Look! How pretty Sally looks (when she) puts on a traditional dress.


How to use "whether" in Chinese - do you need to say 如果？ I've always had a bit of difficulty with statements with the term "whether" in Chinese. In this sentence I would like to say "I asked him whether or not he had met Mark." - I translated this in my diary as

"只有我跟一个卢旺达人讲了一下 如果他认识不认识Mark

Should I use 如果 in this instance? In english there is a murky divide between "Whether" and "if" but I'm not sure if this exists in Chinese.

No, you can't use 如果 here. You got the right syntax in there though. What you want is just 我问他有沒有见过马克 - "I asked him whether he has met Mark". Or, since you used 认识 for your translation in the question, 我问他认不认识马克 - "I asked him whether he knows Mark"

There's no single "whether" in Chinese; you have to create the appropriate term based on the situation. One way to do this is using the structure "(verb) 不 (same verb)". For example, repeating 有 to form 有沒有, meaning "whether (subject) has". When the verb is composed of two characters, such as 認識, normally only the first character is used before 不, hence 認不認識 for "whether (subject) knows".

Alternatively, another way of saying "whether is to use "是否 (verb)". For example, using this format, "I asked him whether he has met Mark" becomes 我问他是否见过马克. Similarly, "whether (subject) has" becomes 是否有, and "whether (subject) knows" is 是否認識. Saying "whether" in this style is somewhat more restricted to written forms of communication, but remains quite current.


上的: What is it function in 中国历史学上的夏、商、周属于考古学上的青铜时代? In the following sentence, what does 上的 mean?

中国历史学上的夏、商、周属于考古学上的青铜时代。

I translated it as "Archaeologists know the Xia, Shang and Zhou collectively as the Bronze Age."  I think I have the gist of it, but I don't understand how 上的 is functioning.

You have made a wrong pause in the sentence……

It should be "中国历史学上的|夏、商、周|属于|考古学上的|青铜时代。".

It is "in Chinese history". "in Chinese history" = "中国历史学上的"


中文 vs. 汉语: What's the difference? Apparently, both of these mean Chinese, and the Chinese language. I gather that 中文 is maybe more like "written Chinese," and 汉语 is "spoken Chinese." Is this correct?

I've often looked at BBC zhongwen, so it makes sense that that's "written". If a movie was in Chinese, would you say 汉语 for that?

Can you give more examples of each, particularly when you could only use one or the other? Are there any examples in which you could potentially use either, with a slightly different meaning?

I gather that 中文 is maybe more like "written Chinese," and 汉语 is "spoken Chinese."

This is correct as you would expect, however there are subtle nuances caused by the different spoken Chinese languages and issues of cultural identity, and that Mandarin is often considered the standard spoken Chinese language.

Before I digress here are some examples where you'd use one or the other:

Chinese subtitles = 中文字幕. When referring to only the written language, use 中文. Note that for practical reasons, you may need to disambiguate further: 简体字幕 or 繁体字幕.
Chinese dictionary = 汉语字典. For dictionaries, use 汉语 because they often relate to the entire language, both spoken and written, for example including pronunciation. To keep with convention though, all dictionaries use "汉语", even if they don't deal with the spoken form, for example an English-Chinese dictionary would be called a 英汉词典.
I can speak Chinese = 我会说中文/汉语. Here the two terms are interchangeable, if you are referring to Mandarin, which is confusing at first. This is because of the status of Mandarin as the standard Chinese spoken language. Sometimes you want to be more specific by referring to the specific Chinese language, e.g. 我会说普通话 or 我会说广东话. (I'm not sure here, but in situations where a spoken Chinese language other than Mandarin is standard, 中文 also means that language. For example in Hong Kong saying 我会说中文 could mean "I can speak Cantonese", especially if you were contrasting it with a non-Chinese language)
I can write Chinese = 我会写中文. It would be improper in this case to use "汉语". You can also say "I can write Chinese characters" though, by unambiguously saying 我会写汉字.

Here's some background information:

There is "one" Chinese written language, and "many" Chinese spoken languages

The reason I've used scare quotes is that the answer varies depending on how strict you are or what your political/ideological views are. The Wikipedia article explains all, but here are the basics:

Linguistically, there are many Chinese spoken languages as they are mutually unintelligible. This is different from most other languages, where dialects are intelligible, but what's translated as Chinese "dialects" or 方言 can range from easily understood (between 北京话 and 东北话) to completely unintelligible (e.g. 客家話).
Despite this, many Chinese prefer to treat the different spoken languages as "dialects" of one language. This is due to a shared cultural identity; China experienced prolonged unified rule, in other words, many Chinese are historically accustomed to speaking mutually unintelligible languages but still being part of the same national identity. Do note that this is a politically charged topic though.
There are two scripts used for written Chinese, Simplified and Traditional (简体 and 繁体). Some Chinese "dialects" even have their own unique characters (e.g. 冇 and 係) and grammars which are considered informal or archaic and you don't often encounter them in formal written contexts. For practical reasons though, you can consider there to be only one written Chinese language. This is also a controversial topic though, which I would rather only acknowledge without exploring further.


What does it mean by "失敗就懷孕"? I'm reading a web novel, and it states:

“大約是失敗就懷孕之類的任務吧……”

What does "懷孕" mean or represent in this context?

之類 = this kind/this type

就 = clause: if xxx 就 (then) xxx

失敗 = fail / failure

懷孕 = pregnant

任務 = task

the kind of task where failure results in pregnancy = if we fail we're screwed


What semantic notions underlie 女 (woman) with 妖 (goblin, fradulent, gorgeous)? p 1122, ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003). I can't access the "slightly revised through July 2005" ed.

CUHK doesn't expound. I quote Yellowbridge.

Did misogyny or foot binding beget this semantic shift?

I'm fascinated that a compound like 男 + 天  doesn't exist. So why did 女 become the semantic component? Why not some gender-neutral left radical?

Here is the entry for 妖 from the Outlier dictionary:

FORM
妖 yāo is composed of 夭 yāo (also yǎo) and 女 “woman; female; people in general,” pointing to the original meaning “gorgeous, lovely.” 夭 gives the sound.
COMPONENTS
女
In 妖, 女 “woman; female; people in general” is a meaning component, pointing to the original meaning “gorgeous, lovely.”
夭
In 妖 yāo, 夭 yāo (also yǎo) is a sound component.
MEANINGS
Character meanings
yāo
1 (orig.) gorgeous, lovely
2 → seductive, bewitching
　3 ⇒ witch
　　4 ⇛ devil, demon
　　5 ⇛ weird, strange

The meaning tree is especially helpful for seeing how word meanings evolved over time. They also cite a reference for this work:

王力 主編，2000《王力古漢語字典》，北京：中華書局，2007年重印。p. 189

The reference might have more of the same if that is what you are looking for.
To answer your other question: 男 is very rarely used as a character component; if something were related to men, you’d more than likely see a 亻component instead. ⿰亻夭 does have its own character: 仸.


How does 唔 + 通 compound to mean the rhetorical question of "is it possible that"? I can't find 唔通 in ABC Chinese–English Comprehensive Dictionary (2003), probably for it's  Cantonese. 唔通 (m4 tung1 | ) : could it be that ...? - CantoDict

唔  m4  -  not; no
通  tung1  -  through; notify; general; know

"is it possible that?" has no negation, so what does 唔 mean?

What exactly does 通 mean here?

Don't we need more characters to signify "possibility in either a dynamic, deontic, or epistemic sense"? Something feels missing!

通 means nothing is blocking and we can go through it. It applies to thinking as well. Such as 諗得通, 講得通, 睇得通 meaning there is no longer blockages in thinking and everything piece of a puzzle is solved and we know the answer and the reason.
唔通 is the opposite. There are some blockages in thinking and the puzzle is remained unsolved.
Using negation to ask a question is nothing uncommon. It is just like "Isn't it that ... ?" in English. It is the same for 唔通.
When one asks with "唔通", he is in a situation with some evidences and he realizes something but not so sure.
個天突然間黑晒。唔通會落大雨？ The sky turns dark suddenly. Could it be heavy rain soon?
Or he meets a ridiculous situation and he thinks of a ridiculous reason and ask in rhetoric tone.
佢殺咗人都無事。唔通依度無王法嘅？ He killed a man but he got no penalty. Isn't it that law doesn't exist here?
Both involves of reasoning with an answer. That is 通.


How do I translate the definition of the mathematical term "Latinity" into Chinese? I'm going to try giving another mathematics talk in Chinese.  I'm struggling with this sentence:

Definition: The Latinity lambda(G) of a graph G is the smallest d for which there exists a d-dimensional PLH with PLH graph isomorphic to G.

("Latinity" is a mathematical term which I coined as part of my research.)
These are my attempts:

定义：图G的拉丁度lambda(G)是存在具有d维PLH图和G同构最小的d。
定义：图G的拉丁度lambda(G)是最小的d，这样存在d维PLH其中和G同构的PLH图。

They seem very clunky.  My main problem is that "for which" doesn't seem to naturally translate into Chinese.
Question: How do I translate the definition of "Latinity" into Chinese?

定义：图G的拉丁度lambda(G) = d，
d是使与G同构的d维PLH图存在的最小值。


Are 民谣 Songs? Or are they saying? Recently, I was trying to understanding what 民谣 exactly means. I know that it is often translated as "Folk Rhyme or Ballad". This implies to me that it is an old, traditional song.

I recently saw a sentence, however,  that confused me. It was

"至今南阳仍有“冬至不端饺子碗，冻掉耳朵没人管”的民谣。"

Does this mean that that sentence is part of a song?
What does 民谣 actually mean?

民谣 could be the following things:

民间歌谣 or rhymes of the folks. Chinese 歌谣s don't have to carry tunes, but they usually do rhyme, or at least carry some tonal quality which makes them sound good. They usually carry some sort of folk wisdom. Sometimes they are also called 民谚 or 谚语.
Regional folk songs. They are created and sung by common folks, and they do carry tunes. More often they are called 民歌.
Short for 独立民谣 or Indie Folk, the music genre becoming popular since 1990s. It's probably the most common usage nowadays.

Somewhat related: 儿歌 and 童谣 are 歌谣 for kids, they don't have to carry tunes, either.

As for your example, it's clearly just a saying, not part of a song.


一张网页 or 一个网页 ("a webpage"): which is the better choice of measure word, and why? I just want to say "a webpage", and the two natural options are

  一个网页
  一张网页

It's not hard to find examples of both:

  访问一个网页的全过程[src]
  我的第一张网页范例[src]

It seems natural to use the measure word 张 in conjunction with 页 (page), but the situation might be different with a 网页 (webpage), so I guess I should go with 个.

It's also possible there's a distinction I'm unaware of.  It's also possible there's another, more suitable measure word I'm unaware of.

Question: Which is the better choice of measure word, and why?

What I'm trying to write is:

  比如一「个/张」网页建议...
  For example, one webpage suggests...

A "web page" (网页) is not actually a sheet of paper but a section of a web site (网站).

On any 'web page' of a site, you can access all other pages within the site,  therefore 个 is the correct classifier for 网页

However, if you print a web page, you'd get "a web page print out" (一张网页的打印输出)


How to translate "note:" into Chinese? How is the word "note:" translated into Chinese within the following example?

Summary of Findings

Finding 1
Finding 2
Finding 3

Note: these findings were based on a first draft and may be updated later.

In this context, 'note' means "註". More precisely, it is a "附註" in the example

附註
appended note; annotation
[synonym] 註解 (comment)

Note: these findings were based on a first draft and may be updated later.

註: 这些调查结果基于初稿，可能会在以后更新

附註: 这些调查结果基于初稿，可能会在以后更新


How to say "it's a function of ..." in Chinese? The algebra analogy "it's a function of X" seems commonly used in daily conversations in English but it's rare to say "X是Y的函数" in non-mathematics context in Chinese. What would be an idiomatic translation?
For example, how would you translate this sentence said by the former Bulls coach Phil Jackson, in respond to the question what made him more nervous, as a coach or as a player:

"Definitely as a coach. ... your energy is a function of what you are doing. As a coach, you are just participating through your mind."

Instead of X是Y的函数/X是Y1,Y2,Y3的函数, would it be a good option to say Y决定了X/Y1,Y2,Y3共同决定了X?

Full context:

Jackson was asked what made him more nervous, his first Finals as a player or as a coach?
“Definitely as a coach,” he said. “I was much more nervous as a coach. When you play, your body is involved. You’re running. You’re energized. You’re playing the game. You may lose focus or track on the floor, but your energy is a function of what you are doing. As a coach, you are just participating through your mind.”

In daily conversations, we do not use "甲是乙的函数", instead, we do use "甲取決於乙" for something that we think is crucial.

在日常口語中，的確不常使用"甲是乙的函数"這種用法，可以考慮使用"甲取決於乙"這種翻法來表達某個關鍵因素。

Translation of the sentence said by the former Bulls coach Phil Jackson:

  肯定是教練... 你的精力取決於你做什麼。當教練時，你是透過腦力參與比賽。


Is there a difference between 近几年 and 这几年？ Does anyone have an idea whether there is a difference in meaning between  近几年  and 这几年？  I have the feeling that  近几年 is more formal - but correct me if I'm wrong!

As a native Chinese speaker, I would say that your feeling is correct.
Usually, "近几年" is used in the news - like in newspapers and on the news on TV or  in broadcasts.
Anyway, they are interchangeable, so don't worry about the usage of them. They have the complete same meaning.


What is the difference between these two words 叫做 and 叫作? What is the difference between these two words 叫做 and 叫作? The dictionary definition is quite similar and when I use this term in conversation I am unaware of which character combination I am using.

They have same meaning, same usage and same pronunciation, basically you don't need to figure out them consciously especially in spoken Chinese.

  但实际上两者并没有什么区别，也就是说“叫作”同“叫做”，而“叫做”同“叫作”。

And here're some more clarifications; it seems 叫做 is the standard usage formerly, but 叫作 is recommended more now.

  而我又翻看了现在的一些教材，发现现在版本教材上写的都是“叫作”。

  上网查了下之后，发现2011年时全国科学技术名词审定委会和国家语言文字工作委员会推荐的是使用“叫作”。

  而《现代汉语规范词典》每一版对于“叫作”和“叫做”的记载也都不同。

  在大体上理解，曾经是以“叫做”为标准，但是现在更推荐的都是“叫作”。

  简单的说这俩词是互用互通的，而也有些资料上显示“叫作”本身就是错误用法，但现在与“叫做”混用。

Reference: 叫做还是叫作？


好客 vs 亲切 - both mean hospitable? So, I am trying to establish the difference in usage between these two words: 好客 and 亲切.

好客 comes out as 'hospitable, friendly'

亲切 as comes out as 'hospitable, friendly' but with an added portion of 'amicable'

Is there an obvious difference in usage between the two or are they interchangeable?

They are actually quite different.

『好客』means someone is willing to be visited by guests, so hospitable is correct understanding. It's more focused on visiting related stuff.

『亲切』basically means kind and warm. You don't need to be 『好客』 to be 『亲切』. You often use it when you feel someone is generally kind in his/her interaction with you.


一只 or 一支 meaning only or a unit 一只给你的视频。
That line was from an author on YouTube.  One commenter posted that for video it is not 一只 but 一支.
My thinking was that the author meant:  A  (or one) video for you only.
Question:  Can that line be understood as my interpretation above?  Could that be what the author meant?

When 只 is used after 一，it is always interpreted as a measure word.
If you want to say "A video for you only", it will be "一段只给你的视频", or "只给你的视频".
Also the character 只 as a measure word evolves from the action of catching a bird:
 Source:http://qiyuan.chaziwang.com/etymology-14538.html
Therefore it is mostly used on animals:
一只鸟 a bird
一只狗 a dog
一只老鼠 a mouse
or body part:
一只手 a hand
一只脚 a foot


How did 革 get the meaning "change" 變革？ I wondered how a character originally representing animal skin could appear in words such as 沿革、革命、變革.
Ripping off the skin from an animal, thereby "removing the old and getting the new" seems a little far-fetched.
Or was there just a mechanism as profane as sound loan at work?

All ideas are much appreciated!

说文解字:

  革、更也。二字雙聲。治去其毛。是更改之義。故引伸爲凡更新之用。

According to 说文解字, that is truely how it works.


What does 我三谁了 mean in 我也不知道，我刷四绝朋友告诉我有人刷喇叭骂我小三，我不知道我怎么就小三了，我三谁了? Could anyone explain to what 我三谁了 mean in

我也不知道，我刷四绝朋友告诉我有人刷喇叭骂我小三，我不知道我怎么就小三了，我三谁了?!

I know that the whole sentence more or less means "I don’t know, my best friend told me that someone used the world speaker to scold me as a mistress, to scold me as a mistress, .......?!
What does 我三谁了 exactly mean?
It seems to be a very easy to understand sentence but I just cannot understand the 三 there.  If I'm I'm taking a guess I would say that it's "Who is the third?" but if it's that then I have a hard time understanding it inside the sentence.

This sentence is not grammatically correct, and will not be understood without context. However, with the full context, I think most natives would be able to understand it.
Here it means "to whom I became a mistress?"


How is the Kanji character 豚 related to the chinese 猪 / 豬 The Chinese character for pig is 猪 / 豬 (zhu1)

In many Japanese restaurants around Hong Kong I've seen this somewhat different character 豚 which appears to also mean pig.

How would you say it in Mandarin, and how did the japanese come to use this different character?

豚 is pronounced tun2 in Mandarin and tyun4 in Cantonese.

The only word I know which still uses it is 海豚 hai3tun2 "dolphin". The Japanese reading is ton (on), buta (kun), as I'm sure you know.

豚 was the original character (with the meat radical on the left hand side), while 猪 meant a wild pig (which is suggested by its radical). Japanese borrowings from Chinese happened in waves, as the Chinese language itself changed. Characters which were later supplanted in Chinese were fossilised in Japanese, because they were still current at the time they were borrowed.

This is why Japanese uses characters like 足, 食 and 寝 which have fallen into disuse in modern Mandarin, or lost their identity as free morphemes, or have gained different meanings.

Semantic and lexical divergence from Mandarin is of course also present in Chinese topolects. Hokkien for example, preserves the classical character for chopsticks, 箸, which is also still the preferred form in Japanese rather than 筷. Also, see on the same page that 册, whence chaek in Korean, is still current in Hokkien too.

[1] http://weizhoushiwang.blogbus.com/logs/418660.html


What professions can be uncle & aunty-ized? Kids like to call grown-ups Uncle & Aunty. Professions can even be uncle & aunty-ized:

警察叔叔

  “一个人在家害怕,警察叔叔帮我找爸妈”

In Sichuan there is even 护士娘娘

  护士娘娘,我嘴巴干的很,可不可以给我倒杯水啊!

What other professions can be uncle & aunty-ized?

It is mostly for jobs that require wearing a uniform. The uniform provides a visual cue for children that these are special people who may be able to help them when needed. Note that 司机叔叔/司机阿姨 are for professional drivers, not any driver of a private car.


How to say 热闹 in English How does one say 热闹i in English? I did some google search and the possible candidates are  lively, busy, and noisy. The connotation of 热闹  is crowdness, happy, noise, and excitment. Busy street in my opinion lacks the element of excitment. Is it? Also, busy club should be improper to describe the scenario. Somehow I feel coldness about busy street where people wear suits and walk quickly to work with apathy.

Vibrant, as in:

  adj. Pulsing or throbbing with energy or activity: the vibrant streets of a big city.

https://www.wordnik.com/words/vibrant

In urban planning, the idea of having vibrant streets, neighborhoods, communities can often be seen as a goal to work towards:

  Vibrant Markets & Streets

http://www.inclusivecities.org/policy-planning/vibrant-markets-streets/

If you are in the market for associative housing such as Condo developments, look at the area amenities section in the sales brochure. You may notice the use of vibrant to describe the street, neighborhood or the community development in order to make you feel attracted to buy there.


Does anyone know origins of 万一? Does anyone knows how 万一 became a phrase with "just in case" meaning?
Is it a shorthand of a longer phrase or chengyu?

http://baike.baidu.com/subview/199191/8163691.htm gives a plausible answer: it refers to a remote possibility of a thing X happening.  Sort of "among the ten thousand and one things that could happen, one is X."  Far back in ancient and classical Chinese,  the ten thousand things are a proverbial way to express all that happens in this world.  But I did not find sources giving any specific classical source for 万一 meaning "just in case."