How to translate “折腾” to English? I don't think the official translation "zhe teng" is a best answer, but I don't know how to translate this word properly.

First off "zhe teng" can not be considered a translation of 折腾, and certainly not the official translation - it is simply just the pronunciation.
A translation of 折腾 really depends on the context, and since you didn't provide any context then you can consider the following definitions and sample sentences and see which fits best:
A Chinese-English Dictionary

INFORMAL
1 turn from side to side; toss about
他折腾了好几个钟头才睡着。
Tā zhēteng le hǎojǐ ge zhōngtóu cái shuìzháo.
He tossed about in bed for hours before he got to sleep.
2 do sth. over and over again
徒工把旧机器拆了又安, 安了又拆, 折腾了好多回。
Túgōng bǎ jiù jīqì chāi le yòu ān, ān le yòu chāi, zhēteng le hǎoduō huí.
The young apprentice again and again took the old machine apart and then put it together.
3 cause physical or mental suffering; get sb. down
牙疼真折腾人。
Yá téng zhēn zhēteng rén.
A toothache can get you down.
4 spend freely; squander
没多久他就把那份家产折腾光了。
Méi duōjiǔ tā jiù bǎ nà fèn jiāchǎn zhēteng guāng le.
It didn't take him long to squander away his family fortune.


Structure: X is the most Y of Z I have come across the following sentence: 波兰是欧洲最漂亮的国家。I reckon it means "Poland is the most beautiful country in Europe".

Is this how sentences of such type are normally made? Is 的 here "of" or part of 最...的? Note that I am absolute beginner level student.

Now let's begin with the syntax analyzes:

波兰(Subject) 是(Prediate) 欧洲最漂亮的(Adjective) 国家 (Object).

The whole statement is structured by:

S+P+Object. But there comes a short pharse to modify the Object：欧洲最漂亮的.

最：means "most" in English, used as an adverb to modify the adjective 漂亮 (beautiful).

And let's come to "……的", it REALLY has many usages, according to your descriptions, "最...的" is a fixed phrase, yes, that's right.

Besides, a verb/adjective + 的 = someone who is doing the job/relying on sth.

E.g：

 卖鱼(selling fishes) <=> 卖鱼的 (fish-selling men).

 卖花(selling flowers) <=> 卖花的 (flower-selling men).

And what's more——For MOST CASES, We add "的" at the back of an adjective to modify a noun:

漂亮 is an adjective, but we don't say：他是一个漂亮人 but 他是一个漂亮的人

Another example: 这是一个木头的船。

Sometimes "的" means "A belonging to B,part of B"：

我的苹果(My apple), this apple belongs to me.

牛的眼睛（An Ox's eye）, this eye belongs to the ox.


Toponims of China limitrophing countries After studying Chinese for extended period of time, I stay perplexed with names of countries surrounding continental China: 蒙古 （menggu, Mongolia), 越南 (yuenan, Vietnam)，印度 (yindu, India)，印尼 (yinni, Indonesia), 馬來西亞 (malaixiya, Malaisia). As you can see, the chinese spelling of these toponims is almost equal to western one. From the historical point of view ancient Chinese absolutely must have special names for all these countries (or at least the kingdoms). However, the similarity between chinese and western spelling suggests that these toponims came to modern Chinese from western languages which replaced old names. If I am right in my theory, what is was the reason of such a substitution? And if any special name for ancient limitrophing countries existed (like, for example, 梵 for India), is it still relevant to use it in a modern language? Let's say, sometimes Korea is referred as 朝鮮, China itself as 天下 (these are more like epithets). Is there any special name for, say, Indochina, Philippines, Malaisia and Indonesia?

I have heard that it is China's policy to choose names for foreign countries in accordance with the wishes of the foreign country, and they usually either transliterate or calque the country's endonym†. Insofar as English-speaking countries do this, the names will be similar. Insofar as they don't, they will diverge.

Let me address several examples to demonstrate that China sticks with endonyms of the modern state most of the time, rather than imposing a historical exonym:

Mongolia calls itself Монгол Улс (mongol uls). 蒙古 is both the historical and modern Chinese term for Mongolia, and (like "Mongolia" in English) it obviously comes from the endonym.
The Republic of Korea calls itself 한국 (hanguk), which is exactly cognate to 韩国. "Han" was a traditional name for some Korean states, but the ROK explicitly chose their name to make reference to that. It was not simply China deciding to attach one of their old names to the modern country arbitrarily. Japan calls the ROK 韩国 too--English is the weird language here (and is attaching a historical name arbitrarily)!
The DPRK calls itself 조선 (chosŏn), also cognate to 朝鲜. Again, this is a historical term for a Korean kingdom, and the DPRK intentionally chose to associate themselves with that name. Japan calls them 朝鮮 too (actually 北朝鮮, which pisses them off), and English is the weird case.
Laos calls itself ລາວ (lao), and the modern Chinese transliteration of that is 老挝 (not 辽国!). There were a variety of different transliterations that China used to use, and the current choice wasn't official until the 50's. The English is also a transliteration of the endonym.
Myanmar (no longer called Burma in English) calls itself မြန်မာ (myăma). 缅甸 is clearly derived in part from that endonym. I don't know where the 甸 comes from, but I think 缅甸 is a long-standing historical term.
Cambodia calls itself កម្ពុជា (kampuciə), and China transliterates that as 柬埔寨 (if you speak a southern dialect, the 柬 makes more sense for "kam"). The English is also a transliteration, although not particularly accurate. I assume that China doesn't call them 真腊 for the same reason that no one calls Germany "The Holy Roman Empire" or "Prussia"--真腊 was a state that ceased to exist over a thousand years ago, and the modern Cambodian state doesn't call themselves that.
India calls itself India in English and भारत (Bhārat) in Hindi. India has many other languages, but most of its endonyms are related to Bhārat, and a few are related to India (e.g., இந்தியா = Indhiya). China has called India many names over the years. Currently it uses 印度 (obviously related to India), which has been in use since at least when Xuanzang traveled there. Another historical name is 天竺, but guess what? That's a transliteration of the same thing, except via Persian (Hinduka). This is arguably a case where China is not closely following the current endonym, but it's definitely not borrowing the name from English.

Anyhow, I hope these examples drive home the point that modern Chinese names for foreign countries are mostly chosen based on that country's endonym. They don't necessarily follow historical terminology in Chinese, nor do they borrow much from "western" naming.

† I don't have any citation for this, but here's an example for a city: Seoul used to be called 汉城 but, at the request of the ROK government, is now called 首尔 (to better reflect the endonym).


Learning resources for ZhengMa input method? I've been for some time learning chinese characters along with the Zheng Ma input method. I found it convenient for coming with Windows and being able to easily convert to my Dvorak touch-typing, as opposed to Wubi.

The only resource I ever found in english, and have been using extensively, is this pdf guide on scribd (thanks MEGATRON COOKIE whoever and wherever you are). Especially the table at the end. But sometimes I find it incomplete and I then have to spend minutes on end trying every possible alternate combination to get to my character. Some characters have provided me with at least half an hour of frustration and I recall one which I never got to type and just gave up.

I have always thought more material on Zheng Ma should exist in chinese (or in english, who knows), but alas, I have to get up to baidu searching skill-level first. So the chinese.SE proves the perfect opportunity to find out what's out there.

If you use Windows 7, there should be a text document within the Program Files that contains a comprehensive list of Chinese characters and their ZhengMa codes. On my computer it is found at C:\Program Files(x86)\Windows NT\TableTextService; it is called TableTextServiceSimplifiedZhengMa.txt

I don't know if this exists on other operating systems.
Hope it helps!


Is 青少年自殺越來越嚴重這問題完全失控 grammatically correct? Change this sentence into a more grammatically correct version?

青少年自殺越來越嚴重這問題完全失控。

[1/青少年] [2/自殺] [3/越來越] [4/嚴重] [5/這問題] [6/完全] [7/失控]。

[1/Young people] [2/commit suicide] [3/became more and more] [4/serious] [5/this problem] [6/completely] [7/out of control]。

The phrase "自殺越來越嚴重" (commit suicide become more and more serious)  itself is awkward, because commit suicide is a verb phrase; 嚴重 is an adjective. Adjective cannot modify verb.

The correct phrasing is:

[1/青少年][2/自殺][3/這問題][4/越來越][5/嚴重],[6/已經][7/完全失控]。

[1/Young people][2/commit suicide][3/this problem of][4/become more and more ][5/serious],[6/already][7/out of control]。

notice:

[1/Young people] [2/commit suicide] [3/this problem of]

"** problem**" is the head noun,  "young people suicide" is the relative clause. In English grammar, the head noun is placed in front of the relative clause like so: "This problem of young people commit suicide" but in Chinese grammar, the head noun is placed after the relative clause like so: "青少年自殺這問題"

已經 (already)ties " this problem of young people commit suicide" to the follow up statement " completely out of control" together.

if you don't add 已經. the sentence will be split in two.

青少年自殺這問題越來越嚴重. (這問題)完全失控。

-subject (這問題), is omitted, because it is stated in the previous related sentence.

A final grammatically correct edition would be:

"青少年自殺這問題越來越嚴重, 已經完全失控。

" This problem of young people commit suicide became more and more serious, already out of control."


How do you say weekend in Chinese using the 星期 form? I know that weekend in Chinese is generally translated as 周末.

Is there a way to say weekend by adding something to 星期 like 星期末? Or the only phrase for weekend is 周末?

How about 星期六、日？
Weekdays can be combined like 星期一、三、五. It might be an alternative to 周末?
Looking forward to other input from members.


Who cook the soup? Confusion [我煮汤 = I cook soup, this has confused who cook the soup..can you tell me grammer points how not to confuse with subject and object in this scenario:]
I am translating this sentence,
他第一次为我煮汤，是在妈妈离家的那一天
“he first time do I cook soup.” My literal translation
But actual translation is “he made soup for me for the first time ....”
Text as below for context:
爸爸有一个星期没有来送汤了。真搞不懂他，已经退休了，又没事做，煮点汤有什么难的？好不容易等到他给我送汤，却不是熬出来的“好东西”。有时连肉块都省了，和以前那醇厚的味道比起来，真是天渊之别！我已经喝惯了爸爸煮的汤。他第一次为我煮汤，是在妈妈离家的那一天。我当时不知道妈妈为何要离家出走，后来才明白她是认为爸爸没出息。为什么她这么残忍，她可以不要爸爸，怎么可以不要我呢？

The fundamental sentence is 他煮湯 (he cooks soup). The subject is 他 and the object is 湯, or the thing that is cooked.

You may consider 第一次 (the first time) and 為我 (for me) as adverbial phrases. They describe how the soup was cooked by Father.

為+sb, 替+sb, and 幫+sb indicate the action is done on behalf of someone. They behave like 給+sb. E.g.:

我為你打掃了房間 I cleaned the room for you.
他替我做功課 He does homework for me.
我幫她買了雞蛋 I bought eggs for her.


How would you translate the line 我在寻人启事上看见我身份证办好 from the movie 地久天长 I'm having trouble understanding what 我在寻人启事上看见我身份证办好 means in the following dialogue. Here is some context:
A young guy gets mad at his parents and decides to go away leaving no traces (he goes missing). His parents then write a "missing person notice". Long after the guy shows again and in this particular scene he's at home with his parents and a group of new friends. While the young guy is talking with his friends his mom asks him to come over for a moment and the following dialogue goes on:

Mom: Xingxing, are they from your school?
Xingxing: No.
Mom: Then who are they?
Xingxing: Friends.
Mom: Friends? They don't go to school?
Xingxing: No. Just like me.
Mom: Xingxing, do you know how long  we've been looking for you? Can't you see you're letting everyone down?
Xingxing: What do I care? 我在寻人启事上看见我身份证办好 [He walks away]

The English subtitles translate it as "The missing person notice said I have an ID card now.", but what does that mean? I think the translation is not correct cause I can't make a sense of it.
This is the missing person notice:

The 2nd last sentence in the photo saying that "你的身份证已经给你办理好，希望你早日回家." "We have applied the ID card for you and now it is ready. Hope you come back home soon." Looks like the ID card is what the kid wants. Parents are using it to attract him. Later on, he did come home, but just to pick it up. He says "我在寻人启事上看见我身份证办好." It is confusing if you see the sentence without context. This sentence missed several parts it should be:
我在寻人启事上看见我（的）身份证（已经）办好（了）


Difference between 顺顺当当 and 顺顺溜溜? Both 顺顺溜溜 and 顺顺当当 seem to be translated in the same way ("smoothly"). Is there any difference in usage?

bkrs： 顺顺溜溜 smoothly and obediently 顺利不受阻挠。
红楼梦．第三十六回：「先时在外头关，那个月不打饥荒，何曾顺顺溜溜的得过一遭儿。」no frequency rank, 1 usage example at https://dict.naver.com/linedict/zhendict/#/cnen/example?query=%E9%A1%BA%E9%A1%BA%E6%BA%9C%E6%BA%9C

bkrs: 顺顺当当#35152 by a happy chance; win in a canter; smoothly; easily，smooth and easy (of tasks/etc.)顺顺当当过日子 many more example phrases at bkrs, 10 usage examples at https://dict.naver.com/linedict/zhendict/#/cnen/example?query=%E9%A1%BA%E9%A1%BA%E5%BD%93%E5%BD%93 users can draw their own conclusions which is the more common more modern term


Is /ʑ/ stigmatized in Wu? The voiced alveolo-palatal sibilant fricative /ʑ/ can be found in Wu words like: thank you. 谢谢 is said to be read:

ʑia ʑia

I'm seeing many resources online claiming that the reading can just be:

谢谢! Yá yà! Thank you!

This gives me the feeling that the inital /ʑ/ might be somewhat stigmatized, perhaps out of convenience or for other reasons.

DEfinitely not "ya" sound, in 江浙话 (we seldon use 吴 Wu any more), "ya ya nong" will be childish way of speaking.  The closest I can think of is more on "Xia Xia Nong" side.  The headache is, like most of the major dialects in China, Wu 江浙话 also varies in pronunciation and accent from area to area, to the degree that Shanghai people do not admit 温州 dialect is part of 江浙话。  "They are villagers."


Why is stroke order important when writing Chinese characters? I often see people having a big focus on correct stroke order for writing Chinese characters.

My question is, for most learners, is it important to know the stroke order, and if so, why is it important? Where does the rigid adherence to stroke order stem from?

The stroke order is important, yes. The main reason that explains why the stroke order is so important is that the it helps to write the character correctly, with better speed and in an easier way.

Pick a character, and try to write it with the official stroke order, and then with another one: you'll find out that in the second case it will be sometimes harder to write it and mostly it will come out with a different shape, i.e. incorrect shape, and also ugly sometimes. This is because when using the official stroke order, the character will appear with more harmonious proportions and therefore, more beautiful.

Also, I'm not sure the following are "official reasons", but I suppose that:

it helps to memorize the character and retain it too, because your muscles "remember" the movements and so does your brain;
when reading someone else's handwriting, the shape changes a lot and the movement of the pen/brush can help you to read since you know the stroke order.


Why were some letters like Q, X, C, chosen for Pinyin which confuse non-Chinese speakers? A romanization system is basically a system in which roman (latin) letters are used for languages that use non-roman scripts. This has the obvious benefit that people who can (maybe only) read roman letters (a great part of the world's population) will be able to read it. But people who don't know the language being romanized will pronounce roman letters as they pronounce them in their language or in a general common pronunciation shared by romance languages and english, mainly.
So I've heard people pronounce Chinese names wrong each and every time, when those names have letters like B, D, ZH, C, Q, X and G. This letters are obviously pronounced very different in Pinyin than in any other language, so why were they chosen?
I know that if one were to choose roman letters that sound like Chinese phonemes and not repeating those letters, the roman alphabet just isn't large enough for all Chinese phonemes, but anyway, a foreign speaker shouldn't need to distinguish Q from CH and ZH, especially if they were not to learn the language, but just to pronounce some Chinese names right.
What I think is, Pinyin is great for Chinese learners, who need to tell apart sounds like G & K; Q, CH & ZH; and SH & X, but for foreign readers, a simplified Pinyin should be used.
So if someone who doesn't know chinese, reads "qing xin", they would pronounce "king ksin", but rather, if it was written "ching shin" they would read it right, at least the best way a non-Chinese speaker can.
TL;DR: Sorry for the long post, but the question would be, do you know why this foreigner-confusing letters as Q, X and C were chosen for Pinyin instead of making it more readable for non-chinese speakers?
Edit:
This would be a Relaxed Pinyin which would just allow a better pronunciation of Chinese names for people that don't know Pinyin:

Pinyin - Relaxed Pinyin
B        P
C        TS
CH       CH
D        T
G        K
K        K
P        P
Q        CH
SH       SH
T        T
X        SH
Z        TS
ZH       CH
J        J

Of course, you can't go back from this to Pinyin because some letters represent more than one Piyin letter.
So, for example, the Pinyin qīng xiāo which would be incorrectly pronounced by someone who doesn't know Pinyin, would be written ching shiao in a Relaxed Pinyin, which would allow them to pronunce Chinese in the most possibly correct way they could, without having to learn anything they don't already know.

Pinyin, like other written systems, is an arbitrary system, and the corresponding sounds were expressly decided. It seems it was based on preexisting systems: Gwoyeu Romatzyh of 1928, Latinxua Sin Wenz of 1931, and the diacritic markings from Zhuyin (also known as Bopomofo).

But the same problem you highlight in your question happens when learning any other language. For example, I'm Italian and when learning English I had to learn that:

"th" can have different pronunciations, that vs thick;
"ou" has several pronunciations according to the word: though, foul, through;
"c" is not just "tch" or "k" sound but also "s": center;
etc...

With Spanish, other sounds, such as "j" in joven, or with french, with "ç" in "ça va?", etc.

So why pinyin with Chinese should be different? A certain system has been decided, all that is left to do is for you to learn that system and learn to distinguish the sounds described in Pinyin from those in your language.

I think the "confusion" is for anyone that decides to learn Chinese (and therefore, Pinyin) regardless of your mother tongue (if not from asian countries): some sounds correspond to a certain language, others to another language and so on, so everyone has some advantage. The sounds that really differ are a few, and you have the same chance of finding them when learning other languages too.


In what contexts would someone say 她说话很刻 (tā shuōhuà hěn kè) ("she's got a sharp tongue")? A jukuu.com example sentence for 刻 is:

  她说话很刻
  She's got a sharp tongue
  (Tā shuōhuà hěn kè)

I haven't encountered this usage of 刻 before, so I'm wondering how it might be used.

Question: In what contexts would someone say 她说话很刻?

I would guess it could be used to describe a particularly strict teacher, perhaps.  Just a guess though.

To be honest, 她说话很刻 is hard to understand; I think 她说话很刻薄 would be more natural. Basically it means saying something unkind/acerb/acrid etc.

Here's an explanation about 刻薄.

◎ 刻薄 kèbó
(1) [cutting;harsh;caustic;mean;acrimony]∶待人处事挑剔、无情
那个人为人奸狡诡谲,残忍刻薄
刻薄话


Explanation of character decomposition for 缺 https://hanziyuan.net/#%E7%BC%BA
Scrolling down to the "Character decomposition 字形分解" section, we see

Compound 缺
from container 缶 fǒu and
phonetic foot-hand 夬叏 guài.

I don't understand what "夬叏" is. It seems from LINE Dict that they mean the same thing, but regardless of their meaning, it's supposed to be a phonetic component according to the explanatory page. But how could it be a phonetic component if they're pronounced "guài" and 缺 is pronounced "que"? It doesn't seem that the alternate pronunciation on that page is similar either. So, what does "phonetic-foot-hand" mean, and why is "guài" the phonetic component?

「缺」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*Nə-[k]ʷʰˤet/, to damage/break vessels [pots, dishes, urns, etc.] > flawed, deficient, lacking) is comprised of semantic 「缶」 (clay jar) and phonetic 「夬」 (/*[k]ʷˤret-s/). That is, the phonetic component 「夬」 originally matched the pronunciation of 「缺」 much better, and this match occasionally survives in other characters like 「決」.
「夬」 itself now sounds much more like 「快」.

I don't understand what "夬叏" is

Confusing annotation by Hanziyuan #1: Randomly listing variant characters with absolutely no explanation.
「叏」 is the component-transcribed older form of 「夬」.
商甲前4.1.2合集21367戰國・楚簡2.260包山竹簡戰國・楚簡2.2望山竹簡秦簡18.158睡虎地秦簡西漢隸老子・甲43馬王堆帛書隸定
「叏」 originally depicted a hand 「又」 sporting a thumb ring (the archery accessory). The thumb was later emphasised as a vertical line and then detached to be part of the ring.
東漢隸易經熹平石經楷
Later on, the hand merged back with the emphasised thumb, but the middle finger of the hand became less emphasised and obscured, forming 「夬」.

what does "phonetic-foot-hand" mean

Confusing annotation by Hanziyuan #2: Attempting to list a meaning alongside a component whose purpose is phonetic, and also getting the meaning wrong through a misunderstanding of the decomposition.
Foot-hand is what Hanziyuan thinks the meaning of 「叏」 is, and phonetic indicates that 「叏」 is the phonetic component of 「缺」. The interpretation of 「叏」 as foot-hand comes from an incorrect decomposition of 「叏」 as 「夊」 (foot) and 「又」 (hand).

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂字形演變
郭沫若《甲骨文合集》


他们俩的性格差不多,挺像双胞胎一样: Can we use 挺 in this manner? I am trying to construct a sentence and I would like to know if this correct form of writing.

  他们俩的性格差不多,挺像双胞胎一样.

Is this sentence alright? Can we use 挺 in this manner?

'挺像 X' means  'quite like X'

'像 X 一样' means 'as same as X'

Either "他们俩的性格差不多, 挺像双胞胎的."  or  "他们俩的性格差不多, 就像双胞胎一样". would make better sentence

就 implies 'exactly'. It is a more suitable adverb for 一样 (the same) than  挺 (quite)

Note:

"他们俩的性格差不多" is grammatically correct , but logically, personality has nothing to do with being twin or not.


Usage: analogically simplified (类推简体) vs. original characters Are there any (style(?)) guidelines as to using analogically simplified versus its original (traditional(?)) character?

Any rules as to using analogically simplified Chinese characters?

The latest standard is 《通用规范汉字表》 (List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters) formally released in 2013. In practice, 226 analogically simplified characters are identified as 规范字 by the authority; other traditional characters that are not included in 通用规范汉字表 should not be analogically simplified and should keep their original forms.

Related information is quoted as follows:

What the standard says

  《通用规范汉字表》p. 9, 说明

  六、本表对社会上出现的在《简化字总表》和《现代汉语通用字表》之外的类推简化字进行了严格甄别，仅收录了符合本表收字原则且已在社会语言生活中广泛使用的“闫、(钅仑, U+2CB2D in CJK EXT-E)、(兆页, U+2B5AF in CJK EXT-C)”等226个简化字。

    This list has strictly examined and assessed the analogically simplified characters that apprear in society but are excluded in 《简化字总表》 (Complete List of Simplified Characters) or 《现代汉语通用字表》 (List of Commonly Used Modern Chinese Characters), and includes only 226 analogically simplified characters, such as 闫, (钅仑, U+2CB2D in CJK EXT-E), and (兆页, U+2B5AF in CJK EXT-C), which are consistent with the inclusion principle of the List and have been widely used in social life.

How the authority interprets the regulation for analogically simplified characters. It's a controversial topic in the academic circle (FYI, read these two articles 1 & 2), but the opinion in 《〈通用规范汉字表〉解读》 should be considered as the current practical standard – Keep the traditional characters unchanged if they are not in 通用规范汉字表.

  原征求意见稿说明中曾有“根据国务院1986年'今后对汉字的简化应持谨慎态度，使汉字的形体在一个时期内保持相对稳定'的指示精神，本字表以外的字，不再类推简化。”此字句于正式版中消失，即字表本身没有提及字表以外的汉字如何使用[11]。但是《〈通用规范汉字表〉解读》中提到，无限制的类推「实际上使汉字的总体系统繁化甚至混乱……违背了辞书存储汉字的历史真实性原则，拉大了汉字应用的古今差异和两岸差异」，并说明「……收录了少数已经被社会所习用，并符合《简化字总表》规定的类推简化字。今后表外字不再类推简化。」 [12]

    The explanation in the former draft for soliciting opinions once said "According to the instructions of the State Council in 1986 From now on further simplification of Chinese characters should be prudent. Let the forms of Chinese characters be relatively stable in a period., characters excluded from this list will not be analogically simplified." However, this sentence disappears in the formal version – It indicates the List itself does not mention how to use the characters that are not included within the List.[11] Yet, 《〈通用规范汉字表〉解读》 (Interpretation of the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters) mentions, an unlimitedly analogical simplification "actually makes the whole system of Chinese characters complicated and even chaotic ... which violates 'the principle that dictionaries should reflect the historical genuineness of the usage of Chinese characters', and increases the divergences between ancient and modern Chinese and between Mainland and Taiwan", and further says "... (the List) now includes a few analogically simplified characters that are consistent with the principle of the List and have been widely used in social life. From now on, characters that are not included in the List will not be analogically simplified."

  [11] 《通用规范汉字表》以外的字应准许类推简化. 光明网《光明日报》. 2013-12-14.

  [12] 教育部语言文字信息管理司组 编，王宁 主编. 3.3 《通用规范汉字表》对待类推简化的态度. 《〈通用规范汉字表〉解读》. 商務印書館. ISBN 9787100100939 （中文（中国大陆））.

These 226 analogically simplified characters are

PS: The voices from the academia against "characters that are not included in the List should not be analogically simplified" are strong. In my opinion, both sides have got a point: For the positive side, it largely simplifies the Unicode encoding for Chinese characters and is very pragmatic – just consider the difficulty and trouble when people try to input rare Chinese characters on a computer (some analogically simplified characters don't even exist in Unicode!); For the opposing side, it does make some paragraphs extremely ugly when the simplified are mixed with the traditional – in the aesthetic and purist view point.


How do you say "You mean ...?" to respond to what you don't understand enough? In English, it is common to ask "You mean XXX...?" when a person does not understand enough what the conversation opponent said. I'm now in China, and to express the same thing I usually say the following:

X: 和啊你呢啊哈你哈看明日开幕韩人口日民哦那人口仍然要卖烤肉日日易容让粑粑你和那会让扣扣密码全牛皮光荣日光浴热卖款日日
I: 你的意思是XXX？

Or

I: 你意味着XXX？

However, I feel this is quite awkward and just a silly translation from the equivalent English. In fact I have never seen any Chinese to say in the same way, although I should have rarely seen any Chinese are in these situations, so actually I'm not sure if my impression is correct or not.
So how can I express "You mean ...?" in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?

So how can I express "You mean ...?" in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?

"你的意思是XXX？" means you are making a guess, and asking for a confirmation

If you don't understand a person's single statement, the simplest way to ask for clarification is "你的意思是...?" (you meant....?) and let that person explain. or you can say "这是什么意思？" (what does it mean?)

If you don't understand a person's speech, you can just say "我不知道你在说什么" (I don't know what are you saying)  , "我不明白你在说什么" or 我听不懂你在说什么" (I don't understand what you are saying)

It is the perfect response to the speech in your example

  Come back to "你的意思是XXX？" (you meant XXX?)

The usage are the same in Chinese and English

Example:

A: "我讨厌生鱼!" (I hate raw fish!)

B: "你的意思是你讨厌吃鱼生?" (you meant you hate eating Sashimi?)

It can't be you hate living fish, right?

  "你的意思是XXX?" can be replaced with  "你是指XXX" (are you referring to XXX?)


Do 向 and 学 or 学习 work together here？ I'm not sure how to interpret 向学 in these 2 sentences。I think that 向 and 学/学习 work together.

1) 小张一心向学,厉志要成为一名科学家。'一心向学' = 1 mind to study = single-mindedly (to) study??

1) is from iciba and they give the translation as: Xiao Zhang works very hard to be a scientist.

2) 最后搬到了学校附近，看到孟子向有礼貌的人学习礼仪，他的妈妈才满意。

看到孟子向有礼貌的人学习礼仪 = see Mengzi from have manners people learn etiquette = saw that Mengzi was learning etiquette from people with good manners

Do 向, 学习 work together?

I seem to have 2 different meanings in English 1) to study and in 2) learn from.

1) 一心向学, means single-mindedly study. Here, 向 means 'towards', or 'head for', or 'point to'. 学 is a noun here, means 'study'. The phrase is a Chinese Idiom (成语), and the usage is kind of classic Chinese (文言), a little different and simplified from the modern usage.

2) 向有礼貌的人学习礼仪. 向 somebody 学习 something, means learn something from somebody. 向 means 'towards' here too. The meaning is like, turn to somebody, and you learn something (from him).

Sorry for my poor English and I wish I made that clear.


Help translating 块子 and 还看到了小时候才看到“块子” Can you please help me translate this in English. I tried using Google Translate and it seems inaccurate. Can you also emphasise what the meaning of 块子 and 还看到了小时候才看到“块子” is? Thanks.

This is the message: 回来那么久还是第一次来"五一路"还看到了小时候才看到的"块子".

It's about a Chinese restaurant and food I think.

块子
There are two possibilities, 炒面块子 and 大酱块子.

炒面块子

用炒过的糠粃，加在煮熟的红薯里捣烂和匀，压成块状晒干制成的食品。常为北方穷人家过冬的粮食。

The bran/chaff (糠 kāng) and unripe grains (粃=秕 bǐ) are stir-fried.
The red sweet potatoes are cooked and smashed.
Mix together evenly and then press into blocks (块子).
Insolate.

It is often the winter food for the northern poor people.

东北大酱

(November/December) The soybeans are cooked with water for two to three hours.
Crush and make into blocks (大酱块子).
Wrap with paper.
Ferment.

(May) Clean the surfaces with brush.
Cut into small pieces and put them in a big container.
Add water and salt.
Cover with cloth.
Ferment.
Stir every day for more than a month.

BTW
Korea has the doenjang (韩国大酱).
Japan has the miso (味噌).
They are all made out of the soybeans, the paste and fermentation.

（我）还看到了小时候才看到（的）块子
I also saw the chunks that I saw when I was a child.


Difference between “当…时”, “…的时候”, and “当…的时候”? What is the difference between :

“当…时”

and

“…的时候”

and

“当…的时候”

when referring to "when" in Chinese?
I have tried to look for an answer but I couldn't find a clear one. When should you use each option?

"当(~~~)时” is the shortened form of  “当(~~~)的时候"

  "(~~~)时” is the shortened form of  “(~~~)的时候"

“当(~~~)时” = “当(~~~)的时候” = "At the time when (~~~)"

当 = at/ during
的时候 = the time when/ of

Example:

"当(没有其他选择)时" = "当(没有其他选择)的时候" = "At the time when (there's no other choice)"

you can replace '当' with '在' and write "在(没有其他选择)时"

"(~~~)时” = "(~~~)的时候” = "when(~~~)"

Example:

"(没有其他选择)时" = "(没有其他选择)的时候" = "when (there is no other choice)"


Do people make puns out of the Earthly Branches in Chinese culture? For example, the earthly branches represent divisions of time and also directions.

Are these multiple meanings used in puns?
The individual branches can also have separate meanings from the branch system itself. For example, 丑 can also mean clown.

Do these second set of non-branch meanings get mixed or played off or punned with the branch meanings? (e.g. The year of the Ox being called the year of the clown, it being clown o'clock etc.)

丑 can also mean clown

No, 丑 usually means ugly in Simplified Chinese. 小丑 means clown.

We usually don't say 丑年. We say 牛年.

I guess you could play with puns if you try to, but in a normal conversation people won't mix the meanings.


Why is “Jung” translated 荣格? I feel like this might be another “Holmes”-type translation.

How did “Jung” as in Carl Gustav Jung get translated as 荣格?

I can’t hear the transliteration at all, myself.

How did it turn out to be translated this way?

Carl Jung was Swiss German. Jung is pronounced /jʊŋ/ (IPA), so I'd say 荣格 is pretty close, and a perfectly acceptable transliteration.


Examples of Epenthesis in Chinese Epenthesis is a process that inserts a syllabic or non-syllabic segment within an existing string of segments. For example, it is common in casual speech for English speakers to insert a (p) in between [m] and [θ] when pronouncing "warmth" /morm(p)θ/. I am wondering if Mandarin has epenthetic sounds as well, and hopefully someone can give me some examples and reference.

I cannot think of any epenthesis (增音) examples in Mandarin, but it exists in some dialects of Chinese. Here are some examples in Beijing dialect, from this webpage: 教育部语言文字应用研究所 - 普通话语音和北京语音的界限.

1) 增加声母：

  这儿 “儿” er-her
  女儿 nǚ'er-nǚher （或变为nǚhuor）

2) 增加韵尾：

  把水倒净 “把” bǎ-bǎi
  闭上嘴 “闭” bì-bìn
  枳棘 “棘” ji-jin
  八下里（各方面） “下”xià-xiàn
  告诉 “诉” su-song

3) 增加介音：

  一般儿大（同样大） “般” bān-biān
  动撼（动） “撼” han-huan（或更变hun）
  凑合 “合” he-huo

I think the third case is close to what you are looking for (though it's a dialect but not Mandarin), where additional segments are inserted between initials and finals.

Relevant experiences

I've met many people who will possibly do a similar thing due to they find it hard to pronounce some particular words in a standard way. However, even they know they are inserting syllables, some of them still think that they are speaking Mandarin rather than a dialect. But who can tell? I have no idea how to clearly draw the line.


Is this 肠 a mistaken character? Is this 肠 a typo in my book？

这次探明了大石围天坑是集地下溶洞、地下原始森林、珍稀动植物以及地下暗河于一体的世界第二大天坑。 短肠蕨类植物比恐龙时期的桫椤还要古老。

短肠蕨类 ： short intestined fern

Can 肠 refer to the trunk of a tree, the stem of a plant or somehow the length of the leaves??

No, it's not a typo, surely there is a kind of plant called 短肠蕨, the latin name of which is Allantodia.

Details can be found at: http://www.eflora.cn/sp/Allantodia


Why does 他没看书 use 没 and not 不 in this dialogue? I was reviewing some old Anki cards that I created from HSK Standard Course 1 by Jiang Liping and I came across this dialogue:

A: 喂你在做什么呢
B: 我在看书呢
A: 大卫也在看书吗
B: 他没看书。他在学做中国菜呢

A: Hello, what are you doing?
B: I'm reading
A: Is David also reading?
B: He isn't reading. He's learning to cook Chinese food.

I am unclear on the use of 没 in the sentence 他没看书.

I had previously been taught that when it comes to verbs, 没 only negates 有 and 不 negates all other verbs. See for example this answer which makes the same claim.

Being aware that 没 can also be used in other situations I consulted Comparing "bu" and "mei" on Chinese Grammar Wiki, but could not seem to find a rule there that covers the use of 没 in this scenario in a way that is consistent with the dialogue.

Finally, I turned to Google Translate and got the following results:

他没看书 - He did not read books

他不看书 - He does not read books

This would seem to suggest that the book is wrong and that their version indicates past tense, whereas the English translation indicates present continuous (which is consistent with the rest of the dialogue).

What is going on? Is the book incorrect, or is there a legitimate reason that 没 is used here instead of 不?

The opposite of "他没看书" (he did not/has not read books) is "他有看书" (he did/ has read books)- 没(has not) here replaces the adverb 有(has)- to indicate 'absent' of the action
The opposite of "他不看书" (he does not read) is "他看书" (he does read)- 不 here modifies the verb 看书 (read) into its negative form 不看书 (does not read) - to indicate 'refusal' of the action
Edit:

A: 喂你在做什么呢
B: 我在看书呢
A: 大卫也在看书吗
B: 他没看书。他在学做中国菜呢

Since A asked B "what are you doing" and B replied " I am reading" and then A asked "is David also reading book (implying 'now')?" we can conclude B's answer of what David is doing should be in the same tense as the answer on what B himself is doing, and that was 'present progressive'

The correct answer should be "他没(在)看书。他在学做中国菜呢"*

"他没看书" doesn't indicate specific tense (it can be past or present because 他没看书 only states the absent of the action), while 他没在看书 also only indicates a progressive/ continuous tense.
One thing I stated many times, Chinese verbs do not have tense, 没看 and 不看 do not indicate any tense, while 没有看 indicate 'perfect tense'; 没在看 indicates 'progressive tense'
The reason we know it is in present progressive tense, is we learned it in the context that A is asking B in present tense.
If B answered "他不看书"(he doesn't read - refusal of the action) then it would mean David never read book, and the sentence would be in present tense.


Is it legitimate to write 男 merging the two vertical strokes? Wiktionary gives the stroke order for 男 as:

I'm wondering if it's wrong to merge the two vertical strokes like this:

Question: Is it legitimate to write 男 merging the two vertical strokes?

The simple answer is 'wrong'. 男 is 田 + 力.

It might be ok for daily writing, but it would be wrong for any type of exams.


Different nuances of words such as 进行, 实施, 执行, etc Chinese has a number of words with meanings like 'implement, execute, carry out', etc. These include 进行, 实行, 实施, 行使, 落实, 执行, and possibly a few others. These words are commonly used in bureaucratic, official, or journalistic prose, but it is difficult to get a handle on their usage and meaning.

My question is: How are these different words used, and what differences of nuance do they have, if any?

Good question. In fact, you can hardly precisely distinguish them by only looking at their definitions. Some are even used to define each other in the dictionary. The best way is to remember some very common collocations containing them. This is actually how native Chinese speakers use these words. Usually they are used only in particular collocations.

进行

This is used to describe that something is currently happening, or is used as a transitive verb followed by formal activities.

  会议正在进行中 = The meeting is going on right now.

  进行科学实验 = conduct scientific experiment

实行，实施

This usually means that you already have a plan or a theory for something and now you need to implement it or carry it out. I think they are interchangeable in most cases.

  实施办法、方案、计划、政策

  实行道路管制 = traffic control (I can't find a verb in English)

行使

This is pretty much only used for legal rights.

  行使权力，行使职权

落实

This is similar to 实施. Literally it means you want your plan to REALLY happen. 落实 compared to 实施 is like "fulfill" compared to “implement, carry out". There is a phrase 落到实处，where 落到 literally means "to fall into (somewhere)" and 实处 means "a real, tangible place" (as opposed to "in vain"). Some examples:

  落实政策

落实 can also mean "determine" or "make sure", but that's another story.
执行

This refers to the actual action of 实施 something. Loosely speaking 执行 refers to a more concrete, specific action.

  我们打算明年实施这个政策，在具体的执行过程中遇到的问题要及时向我汇报 = We plan to carry out this policy the next year. During the execution phase if any problem comes up you need to keep me posted.

  执行任务、命令

You may want to know that:

This is not a comprehensive list.
By providing the list I am not saying that you have to stick to it or stick to existing collocations. But if there is already a collocation that fits what you have in mind, using it can minimize your chance of sounding unnatural.
To find more such collocations you can download a Chinese input method and turn on the collocation option.


Difference between 觉得 and 认为 I know both 觉得 and 认为 can be used to mean "to think", like:

你认为这篇文章怎么样？
你觉得这篇文章怎么样？

But most people would translate 觉得 to "to feel". Does 觉得 express more of what someone thinks based on just feeling, are there any cases where these two words are not interchangeable?

Yes, 觉得 expresses more of what someone thinks based on feeling. 认为 expresses more of a person's opinion based on considerations and beliefs. As such, 认为 is always stronger than 觉得 when communicating thoughts. There are cases where the two words are not interchangeable:

When expressing a strong belief:

  在过去，人们认为喜欢抛头露面的妇女是不守妇道的。 In the past, people considered women who
  appear in public to be lacking in virtue.

When expressing a feeling:

  我觉得很遗憾，这件事不该发生的。
  I feel very sorry. This incident should not have happened.

Where they are meant to communicate thoughts, although interchangeable, there is always a preference of one over the other:

When expressing a casual thought without a line of reasoning:

  我觉得这篇文章太深奥了，就算让我再读几遍我也读不懂。 I feel that this article is too
  profound. I wouldn't be able to comprehend even if I read it a dozen
  times.

When expressing an opinion with a clear line of reasoning:

  我认为这篇文章太深奥了，使用的词汇不是一般人都能看懂的。 I opine that this article is too
  profound. The vocabulary used is not what an ordinary person can understand.


So technically, the correct usage of 得 for run very fast is 跑得很快 - why are there so many Baidu hits for 跑的很快 and 跑地很快? Is there 的, 地 and 得 confusion among native speakers as well or am I missing some subtleties of the language?

The correct word to use in this context is indeed 得; however, because all three of these characters have the same pronunciation in Mandarin (de), they are very often confused by native speakers. This is similar to how some English speakers often confuse "there", "their", and "they're".

For more information on the grammatical differences among the three, refer to this previous question: 的-地-得, when do you use which?

[As an aside, while these three characters have the same pronunciation in Mandarin, they differ in other Chinese varieties such as Cantonese (的 dik、地 dei、得 dak), so this mistake does not occur as often with speakers of those topolects and replacing one with the other would end up sounding obviously wrong.]


Is there really no unicode for "扌"? （扌+方）的释义--字海网（叶典网）

Getting 非unicode but it's kind of hard to believe.

Is there really no unicode for "扌"?

Fear no more, for there is now:
「」
(Unicode: U+2D865)


Why is the meaning of 不是要求以小组为单位做报告吗?? (...以...为...) 不是要求以小组为单位做报告吗?

Context: a conversation about an economics class in high school.

The Chinese Grammar Wiki says "以 A 为 B" means "using/taking A as B", but it still doesn't make sense to me.

IMO, when 以...为... is used as a verb phrase, it should be translated to "using/taking A as B". For example, 他们以胖为美。== They take fat as beauty.

When it is used as a prepositional phrase, we could use the prepositional word by to interpret.

For example, 以小时为单位 could be simply translated to "by the hour". We are paid by the hour. == 我们以小时(为单位)计费。为单位 could be omitted in this case.

Apparently, in this context, it's a prepositional phrase. So,

不是要求以小组为单位做报告吗?

one possible translation:

  Isn't the demand/request to do the reporting by group?

Here 以小组为单位 could be interpreted as "by group".


What is the difference in usage between the pairs 依然/仍然 and 依旧/仍旧? As in the ones with 然 and 旧

Very hard to tell from example sentences

他仍旧住在那老房子里。 He still lived in the old house.
他仍然住在那条街上。 He is still living on that street.

有些问题仍旧没有解决。 Some problems remain to be solved.
我仍然相信他是无辜的。 I still believe he's innocent.

etc...

Is it that one is relative to a shorter time and one is relative to a longer time?

仍旧 means 'still (as always/ same as the past)'
依旧/仍旧 is more specific term for 'still'. It express something 'stay the same despite passing of time '

Example 1 : 五十年过去了, 他仍旧住在那条街上 (fifty years is a long time)
Example 2 : 三年过去了, 我仍旧相信他是无辜的 (three years have passed, nothing changed, I still believe he is innocent)

仍然 means 'still (despite of)'
依然/仍然 is more general term for 'still'. It express something 'stay the same despite any opposing force or reason'

Example 3 : 五十年过去了, 他仍然住在那条街上 (despite the fact that many things would had been changed in 50 years)
Example 4 : 尽管有这么多证据,我仍然相信他是无辜的 (despite the fact that all the evidences are against him, I still believe he is innocent)

*仍旧/依旧 is actually a shortened form of 依然如旧 / 仍然如旧(still like always/ still like before/ still like in the past)

Although they can be used interchangeably sometimes, they are not synonyms.


Is there a single word for "無用" I wish to know is there in Chinese language a single word for "無用"?

if by 无用 you mean useless and by one word you mean one character then I would recommend:

废 it has a lot of meanings but specifically here it contains the meaning:

  waste; useless; disused; superfluous in ²fèizhǐ -ABC


Definite and indefinite noun after 找 What's the proper translation for

"I'm looking for a phone charger" (any charger, I just need to charge my phone)
"I'm looking for the phone charger" (the specific charger, I seem to have misplaced it)

Is 我找充電器 likely to be understood as 1) or 2)?

Generally speaking, there isn't much of a direct, one-to-one mapping of phrases to English phrases with determiners, particularly when "the" is used in more general ways. Examples abound in constructions like The Flowers of Evil (恶之花) or "The Brothers Grimm" (格林兄弟). However, these have additional qualifiers "恶之" or "格林" that specify which flowers or which brothers we are talking about, so naturally we would use "the".

Let's look at an example without any qualifiers then:

  我今天去了便利店。

Since different convenience stores abound, I wouldn't expect the speaker to necessarily be referring to a specific one (particularly without the addition of 那) or alternatively, to any one (without 一间). I would assume "a convenience store" if the speaker was recounting his afternoon in another district, whereas I would assume "the convenience store" if the speaker was talking about walking around the block around his apartment. So context really matters.

Similarly, in the case with 找充電器, it's a bit unclear without context. At your home, I would expect 我找充电器 to indicate that you are looking for your phone charger (so "the charger"). At someone else's home or in say, a shopping mall or cafe, I might expect this more to mean "I'm looking for a charger." unless there is only one charger and you've misplaced it, because I'd be more likely to assume that you want to borrow a charger. In such a setting, I would expect something like "我的充电器" or "你借给的充电器" to indicate that you are looking for the charger.


How to translate 超然物外? I was looking up the saying:

登东山而小鲁，登泰山而小天下。

Part of the explanation says:

用超然物外的心境来观看世间的变幻纷扰。

Can someone please expand 超然物外?

Maybe: 超过自然，物质外边 ？？

ABC

hold aloof from the world

A Chinese-English Dictionary

hold oneself aloof from the world; be above worldly considerations; stay away from scenes of contention

Oxford

1 置身事外 be above worldly considerations
2 超脱于社会 shun social disputes

KEY

1 be above all material desires
2 be detached
3 be above the fray

Duogongneng Chengyu Cidian

解释 超然:不站在对立各方的任何一方;物:指客观世界｡超脱于尘事之外｡也指置身事外｡
语见 宋·叶梦得《石林诗话》卷下:“渊明正以脱略世故､超然物外意,顾区区在位者何足累其心哉!"
例句 这一种仪式既经举行,即倘有后患,各部都该负责,不能超然物外,说风凉话了｡(鲁迅《而已集·谈所谓“大内档案"》)
近义 置身事外
反义 同流合污
辨析〔参见〕置身事外

超然 is just "independent"

物 is the "objective world"

外 is "outside of"


what are 词 whose whole word meaning is different from meaning of its components called? I'm thinking of 词 such as

  天真 = naive, but 天 = sky, 真 = real
  马上 = immediately, but 马 = horse, 上=up

also, if you could please provide any resource or insight on why these 词 are the way that they are. There's also 成语, which functions similarly, but that's probably going to lead to another question.

They are compound words

Most characters have multiple meanings, in many cases an individual character in a compound word can also be a short form for another word

Example:

"天真" is combination of two adjectives

天 means 天然 (natural)
真 is short for 純真 (pure/ innocent)
"天真" = natural + innocent = naive

As for "馬上", it is a combination of a noun and a  preposition

"馬上" literally means "on the horse" . To get to the meaning of immediately, you have to use some extension of logic. When a rider mounted his horse, the departure is immediate, therefore,  "馬上" is used for the meaning of immediately.

There are many ways compound words are coined, you just have to memorize every individual compound word, like you would memorize every individual English word


What's the difference between 大哥 and 大哥哥? I know them both means big bother. Though there are differences somehow.

  小明，谢谢这位给你让座的大哥哥。

Referring someone as 大哥哥 (big brother) to a kid is not unlike referring a "狗" (dog) as "狗狗" (doggy) to a child. It is a kind of 'baby/ kid talk'

大哥 is a proper term for "big brother". Just like in English, depend on context, 大哥 (big brother) can mean your own elder brother, your lover, a stranger who is older than you or about  the same age as you and so on


Translating song lyrics: SHE Starlight 2 verses I'm working on translating song lyrics, and trying to understand the meaning behind the song 星光 by S.H.E.

The lyrics I'm struggling with are:

也許是你笑的弧度和我很像

Translation guess: Perhaps its the shape of your smile [that] I really like(像??).

and later:

才會背靠著背一起等天亮

Translation guess: Until then we lie side by side waiting for dawn.

Missing or omitted:

Line 1: "也許是你笑的弧度和我(的)很像 "

**the possessive marker 的 is omitted,

我= I /  我的 (with object)= my / 我的 (without object)= mine

Line 2: "(我們)才會背靠著背一起等天光"

** The subject pronoun "我們"(us) is omitted,
In Chinese, we omit pronoun whenever possible.

Break down:

[1.也許是] [2. 你笑的弧度] [3. 和我(的)很像]

[1.may be it is because] [2. the curvature of your (mouth) (when you) smile] [3.is very similar to mine ]

** they simile like each other, imply their personalities are similar too.

[4.(我們) 才會] [5.背靠著背] [6.一起] [7.等天光]

[4. that made us] [ 5.back pressing against each others back] [6.together] [7.waiting for dawn]

** It is a graphic description of a couple sit closely together in darkness and just let time pass. (supposedly a romantic scene.)


How to come from 二百五 to 二百九? I know 二百五 stands for foolish/stupid and I assume I have to add up 二百五, 三八 and 二 to it to obtain 二百九. Is this right and if so, what does 二 mean and where did it get it's meaning?

三八

Comes from "March" (3, 三) "Eighth" (8, 八):

KEY:

  March Eighth (International Working Women's Day)

and then evolved into what it means today (stupid, foolish, batty, gossipy, bitchy). It has no relation to 二百五.

二百五

规范

  过去银子五百两为一封, 二百五十两为半封, 谐音“半疯”。借指带有傻气、做事鲁莽的人。

Basically 250 = 半封 which sounds like 半疯 or half-crazy.

二

百度知道

  “二”是河南一带的方言俚语，其来源是“二蛋”简称，“二蛋”的同义语有“二球”、“二杆子”、“二性（这里的“性”读轻声）”，意思均指某人鲁莽爱拼命，或指稍微冒犯即给对方以极不相称的极不必要的数十倍的攻击。一般人们通常会说，“这个人‘二’的很，别惹他”；“那家伙真‘二’，就说他一句掂砖头朝头上砸过去了”。
  河南方言形容这类行为的说法是“脑子一热，不顾一切”（用河南话念，很押韵合辙）。

  　　我再补充一点，三楼的第二点：“应该是做形容词用。 比如东北常说，你咋那么“二”呢！等等
  ”之意思正是“二蛋”之意，你咋那么“二”呢！是避讳不雅字眼，完整的应该说“你咋那么二蛋（或二球、二性、二杆子）呢！”也就是出傻气的意思。

  　　“二性”用来描述人时有时候也可重叠，作“二二性性”，如“那家伙二二性性的，别理他，别跟他一般见识。”

  　　“二”以及它的那些全称词组还有引申义，指某人说话缺乏考虑，口无遮拦，胡扯八道，或满嘴脏话（不分场合的讲脏话），此时有一个专门的词叫“二驣（音”teng，第三声），属于“专有名词”，专用来指说话。如：那家伙是个二驣，说话没边，云天雾地的（这个意思时还有个专门的比喻词叫“老鸹屁”）。再如：她真是个二驣，跟一帮男的说话屌啊屌的，不像个女的。

  　　2.　　2据说是原来人们称呼的250的简称。人们后来觉得叫人家250有些直接了当的辱骂，显得自己多么不文明，没素质，就简化成2了。

  　　二百五的来历

  　　二百五的来历日常生活中，人们常把傻瓜或说话不正经、办事不认真、处事随便、好出洋相的人叫做“二百五”。

  　　一说来源于战国故事。苏秦是战国时的一个说客，他身佩六国相印，一时很是威风，但也结下了很多仇人。后来，他终于在齐国被人杀了，齐王很恼怒，要为苏秦报仇。可一时拿不到凶手，于是，他想了一条计策，让人把苏泰的头从尸体上割下来，悬挂在城门上，旁边贴着一道榜文说：“苏秦是个内*，杀了他黄金千两，望来领赏。”榜文一贴出，就有四个人声称是自己杀了苏秦。齐王说：“这可不许冒充呀！”四个人又都咬定说自己干的。齐王说：“一千两黄金，你们四个人各分得多少？”四个齐声回答：“一人二百五。”齐王拍案大怒道：“来人，把这四个‘二百五’推出去斩了！”“二百五”一词就这样流传下来。

  　　还有另一种说法，与推牌九有点关系。

  　　原来，牌九（旧时一种赌具）中有“二板”（四个点）和“么五”（六个点）两张牌，这两张牌配在一起就是十个点，在推牌九这一赌博活动中，被称为“毙十”。它在牌九里是最小的点，谁都比它大，它什么牌也“吃”不了，所以人们就用“二板五”（二板和么五的简称）这个词来戏称什么事也做不好也管不了的人。时间久了，就把“二板五”叫成了“二百五”。在香港，习惯上又称为“二五仔”。

  　　a:东北方言，常用于形容人或事物愚笨，口语中拥有独特的语意。

  　　b:陕西方言，常用于形容一个人分不清场合，掂不来轻重，说话不过大脑，做事不想后果。如“二怂，二锤子”。例，那个人二得很！
  或形容自己听到惊人且不能理解的言论时的心理状况，如“我二了”。

  　　c:天津方言，贬意词。常用用于形容人愚笨，弱智的意思。现在多用于彼此取笑的意思（有很大的玩笑成分）。

tl;dr: or don't understand chinese:
1. came from topolect
2. shortening of 250


Can I take this sign(一) out of these words 一丝不苟 and "不屑一顾 or no? I'd like to know if that's optional take or not this sign, because i'm known that a few idioms are used to have this sign, thus i want to know why do they use this and how does it affect the sentence ?

These are both idioms (成语) with fixed structures, so deleting the 一 (yī) = "one" would change the meaning, and make it nonsensical.  This also holds for Chinese words such as 一起 and 第一.

一丝不苟 basically means "[even] one thread not careless", referring to meticulousness.
不屑一顾 basically means "disdain [even] one consideration", or "disdain even considering it once".  However, here it's possible to just say 不屑 = "disdain".

So ordinarily dropping the 一 is not reasonable, and certainly so among fixed idioms.

However, in some non-idiom cases we can drop the 一, such as:

每一个人 can be shorted to 每个人, and
她是一个医生 can be shorted to 她是个医生, and even further to 她是医生.

In these cases it's different: we have a measure word (个) and it's possible to sometimes drop the 一.


What is the difference between the suffixes 面 and 边? What is the difference between 面 and 边 when they are used as suffixes, e.g. 前面 and 前边? Is one preferred over the other? Please provide examples of their different usages in both written and spoken Chinese.

If solo 边 means the side of something.
Solo 面 means surface of something.

前面 and 前边 has no difference because it comes from different accent like beijing or sichuan accent.

前面 is more hand-writting and 前边 could be used more in some cities like sichuan for accent use . All in all , both are ok in spoken language and writing . Just like 'Hello' and 'Hi' , and a little bit similar to 'old' and 'auld'

Any more questions?


Getting my eyebrows done = 修眉 (xiū méi); how do I use this? Getting your eyebrows done is different in China than in the West.  In China, it involves shaving (rather than waxing or threading), trimming, and plucking.  Consequently, I have been asking for 刮眉毛 (guā méi mao, or "shave eyebrows"), and since I ended up with my eyebrows done, I thought it was correct.

I have recently learned that I instead should ask for 修眉 (xiū méi) or 修眉毛 (xiū méi mao).  However, it's unclear to me how I should use this in a sentence, e.g., what is a grammatically correct way to ask for 修眉.

Question: How should I ask for 修眉?  How should I use 修眉 in a sentence?

刮眉毛 is grammatically identical to 修眉毛. They are both an action. The only difference is in the meaning. Therefore, you can use 修眉毛 in the same way as 刮眉毛. Here is some examples:

你好，我想修眉毛。 (Hello, I want to 修眉毛)
你好，你们这里可以修眉毛吗？ (Hello, do you offer
修眉毛 service?)

The following also make sense grammatically:

你好，我想刮眉毛。 (Hello, I want to 刮眉毛)
你好，你们这里可以刮眉毛吗？ (Hello, do you offer
刮眉毛 service?)


What does 课文放大镜 mean? What exactly does “课文放大镜” mean in English? Can I translate it to 'questions for the lesson'?
Google translates it as 'text magnifying glass'.
After every lesson we have questions for that lesson, and the heading is “课文放大镜”.

課文, lit. 'the text of the class' or 'class text', simply refers to the text you just studied for class.

放大鏡, lit. 'the mirror that magnifies', means magnifying glass.

課文放大鏡 is a compound noun with the first noun behaving like an adjective. That is to say, you can think of this as equivalent to (and more compact than) 課文的放大鏡, meaning 'the magnifying glass of the class text'. (In fact, if you think closely, even 課文 and 放大鏡 themselves are compound nouns.)

You examine something closely with a magnifying glass. 課文放大鏡 therefore is a figurative way of saying 'a close look on the class text'. The questions guide you through the text you just studied, and are thus analytical. More formally, you may say 課文分析 or 文本分析 which means 'textual analysis'.

However, you probably won't find this in dissertations or higher-grade class texts. That is because 課文放大鏡 is a light-hearted, informal saying.


How to learn the correct pronunciation of words with "sh" and "s"? I've been "speaking" Chinese my entire life, and I can hear, understand, and reproduce the different sounds. I've just never paid much attention to it. It hasn't occurred to me much until recently when I type in Chinese that I often put "ch" instead of "c" or vice versa. I'm now starting to worry that my pronunciation isn't as understandable as I thought it to be. So is there a way to relearn the correct pronunciation of all these characters? For the more obviously different words like 四 and 十, I will subconsciously make the difference, but for other more complex words, not so much.
Thanks in advance!

I think the easiest way to handle these two pronunciations is to know the difference in position of the tongue when pronouncing them. The pictures below show the correct positions.
Let's start with the easy one, "s", as in 思, 死, 四. It is the same as the ending sound of "s", or the beginning of a word with "s" be the first letter. The sound is produced with air through the gap of the teeth while the tip of the tongue touches the lower tooth.
The lips are open.
"sh", as in 師, 時, 使, 是, is the more difficult one, it is difficult to even the native speakers, whom, similar to the English, there is no such sound in their's dialogues.
However, luckily, the method to make that sound pronounced correctly is similar to the letter "r", that is the tongue needs to be curled up with the tip of the tongue close to, or barely touches, the upper plate of the mouth. Unlike "r", there is the air that flows out from between the tongue and the upper plate to make the sound. The lips remain open as well. (Note, do not over curl the tongue as in "r", you can keep the tongue slightly tilt up let the tip get close to the front upper plate.)
Once you know the difference, it is quite easy to distinguish the two.
]1


How would a person start translating classical stories from the Han dynasty? Stories like both Confucius's Analects and Ying Shao's Fengsu Tonyi seem to use the characters in different ways than I've encountered so far.

As an example, I'm currently working on translating a part of Chapter 9: Guiashen from Fengsu Tonyi:

世間多有狗作變怪

謹按：桂陽太守汝南李叔堅，少時為從事，在家，狗人立行，家言當殺之。叔堅云：「犬馬諭君子，狗見人行，效之何傷？」叔堅見縣令還，解冠榻上，狗戴持走，家大驚，時復云：「誤觸冠，冠纓挂著之耳。」狗於竈前蓄火，家益怔忪。復云：「兒婢皆在田中，狗助蓄火，幸可不煩鄰里，此有何惡？」里中相罵，不言無狗怪，遂不肯殺。後數日，狗自暴死，卒無纖介之異。叔堅辟太尉椽、固陵長、原武令，終享大位。子條、蜀郡都尉，威龍、司徒掾。

But I'm getting confused after the first sentence because my understanding of the words seems to be very different from what Ying Shao intended. Any tips for translating these types of stories in the future? Or any help getting started on this one?

imo, the story is straightforward, and easy to compenhend.

here's my suggested interpretation:

  世間多有狗作變怪．朴殺之．以血塗門戶．然眾得咎殃

there're many canine monsters in the world (世間多有狗作變怪)

kill a dog (朴殺之), use it's blood to paint the door (以血塗門戶); but, people would have bad luck and disaster (然眾得咎殃).

  謹按．桂陽太守汝南李叔堅．少時為從事

here's a legend (謹按): the administrator (太守) of 桂陽, mr 李叔堅, whose was born in 汝南, was a 從事 (an official position) when he was young.

[name and official title were not translated]

edited.

well, a more precise translation of "謹按" is "cautious note" (謹慎+按語). however, mr 應劭 used this term so often, that; these're always part of the text, not as explanatory note of particular sentences/paragraphs.

my apologies for any confusing caused :(

  在家．狗人立行．家言當殺之．叔堅云．犬馬諭君子．狗見人行．效之何傷

[one day] when he's at home (在家), his dog stand, and walk like a man 狗人立行. his family members said they should kill it (家言當殺之).

he said (叔堅云): "dogs and horses are metaphors of superior person (犬馬諭君子). so, our dog observe human's behaviour (狗見人行), and make replication, what's the problem? (效之何傷)"

  Any tips for translating these types of stories in the future

one need certain level of competence to read classical / literary chinese; prior to make translation. the only method is read more, and more.

have fun :)


Can someone please explain this term/slang “问个P” Is it related to this phrase: 问个屁/問個屁

Yes, it's 问个屁. P -> 屁.

问个屁 means Don't ask!. It indicates that you are annoyed by the questioner. It's a way to block their questions to annoy you any further.

It's a ruder way to say 别问了！


What does this mean in English, very few words (Screenshot inside)? What does this mean in English if you translate it? And what does this mean in pinyin, please tell me its very important!

illusional romance

梦幻：梦是睡觉时的妄想，幻是魔术师的表演。二个都是虚假的。

情缘：情通常指男女爱情，缘是缘分(the fate, the lot, the second cause)。

补充：

'梦幻' also means '美好的'(extraordinary, too good to be true)。
For example: 梦幻音乐。 It means wonderful music instead of fake music.

So, it depends on the whole story.
'梦幻情缘' may be a beautiful love when the story is real and good.


What's this character that looks like 七 with a ～ in the middle? And what's its history? Having a hard time figuring out what this guy is:

The equivalent Wikisource page for the material I'm working with says that it is:

  甚

Perhaps it is

Which zisea says it is:

  同【甚】字。

If it is 七 + 丶 + 丶, where did this character come from?

(It's a pain to search, the character isn't even encoded into Unicode)

Was it shorthand or did it have another history?

The character  is recorded in the following titles:

《漢簡文字類編．甘部》
《中華字海．一部》

The paleographer 季旭昇 analyses it to be a 草書 variant of「甚」.

See the entry of 甚 from the Taiwan Ministry of Education's variants dictionary.

The earliest form of「甚」compounds「匕」(a ladle or spoon) with either「甘」or「口」:

  Note: the difference between「甘」and「口」in this context doesn't make a big
  difference, as「甘」(sweet) was originally「口」with a mark, representing a piece of food in a mouth:

  The meaning of sweet/good flavours is extracted from the idea of tasting the food.

The entire compound form of「甚」meant contentment, happiness, at peace, as a result of being satisfied from being fed.

Later on, decorative marks (飾筆)** were added on to the character, in the shape of「八」:

Since characters weren't standardised back then, sometimes「口」and「八」were switched around:

This last form is the direct ancestor of the modern form of「甚」.

  Note: The Shuowen Jiezi explanation of「甚」comes from the misinterpretation of 「八」and「匕」as merging into「匹」:

  「甚，尤安樂也。从甘，从匹耦也。」

Of course, the above doesn't explain the cursive form that appears in the question. My personal speculation is that  is a result of (1) character corruption (訛變) and (2) character simplification (簡化/省略).

(1) Corruption

  「匕」was commonly corrupted into「七」or「」very early on, as in the
  Eastern Han stele 《曹全碑》:

  What looks like「合七首藥神明膏」should be interpreted
  as「合匕首藥神明膏」(miraculous knife-wound-healing medicine),
  where「匕首」means dagger. Many modern forms have retained this
  corruption, such as in the character「化」, which was originally「⿰亻匕」.
  See, for example, the modern Chinese (left) form vs. the modern
  Japanese (right) form of 「化」:

(2) Simplification

  「口」was simply omitted from the final form in rapid 草書 writing.

Of course, take all this with a grain of salt; I haven't found a detailed academic commentary on the character , and welcome any corrections to this answer by anyone who has.

**The addition of decorative marks is one of the least-known, at least among general knowledge, of Chinese character components. One of the most common characters which was formed as a result of decorative marks is the character「魚」. Compare, for example, some of the earliest forms of the character:

A detailed drawing of a fish in oracle bone script:

Still quite detailed in the middle of the bronze inscription period:

Sometimes, not so detailed and more stylised:

Stylised with addition of decorative marks around the tail:

The shape of the bottom looked very similar to and was later merged with the shape of「火」, eventually turning into「灬」and causing the tail to be detached to the rest of the body. This latter form can be considered as the direct ancestor of the modern form of「魚」:

If these marks weren't added, we might see something like this today:


Pinyin to Chinese characters I'm trying to learn Chinese from books, online tutorials, but mostly from Rosetta Stone. I'm just starting, so there's still a lot I'm probably not understanding - so I don't know if I'm even asking this question right...

I would like to know how to take pinyin text with tone marks, and translate it into either English, or Chinese characters (which I could then Google-translate into English). I have found things like the Google Pinyin Input on Android, but you just type letters without tone marks, and it shows you a bunch of choices.

Since I don't know the Chinese characters at all, I don't know which to pick - and the input doesn't work if I type the tone mark myself.

For example, if I type ma, I get the characters 马 and 吗 - one means "horse", and ones means something else - one of them is mǎ and one is ma, but I have to go through about 4 steps to figure out which is which, so if I'm trying to translate even a simple sentence, it takes forever.

Is there a good tool, app, website, etc., which would help me here? I'm really open to just about any solution on the web, or mobile, or on Windows.

I suggest that you shouldn't do this.
Chinese characters cannot be faithfully constructed backwards from a tone+syllable combination -- the mapping only goes one way (and even then, sometimes characters have multiple pronunciations).
For example, as you know, 馬 is generally pronounced ma3.
However, ma3 could also reference the characters 碼 (number), or 獁 (mammoth). Without context, you do not know to which I am referring if I simply write ma3.
As you amass a vocabulary, you will start to notice patterns that will give you an intuition for which character is meant by the English pinyin, with or without tone markings.
The following two Pinyin sentences are equally comprehensible to someone with a beginning Mandarin level, as the context far dominates tone markings:

ni shi bu shi wo de pengyou
ni3 shi4 bu2 shi4 wo3 de5 peng2you5

The reader would assume:

你是不是我的朋友

Eventually, soon, you will not find it useful to use tone markings when typing Pinyin. Because it is a hassle to type, and any IME worth its salt will give you the contextually correct characters. This is probably the reason such converters don't exist.
I suggest you focus your efforts instead on learning more vocabulary and reading as much as possible. The false answers from your Pinyin IME suggestion will become obviously incorrect in your eyes.


What part of speech are 应答用语? Words like

OK
好的
诶

are often used in response to other people's requests, proposals and the like.

In Chinese they're often referred to as 应答用语.

Is 应答用语 a part of speech? If so what would it be abbreviated as? 答?

Is it more likely to just be an interjection? 感叹词?

I'm not an linguist so here's only my personal opinion.
According to a modern classification described in Wikipedia, words for a short answer should belong to interjections in English. Note that interjections in English are further divided into primary and secondary interjections, with the former serve only as interjections (e.g. "Yes", "Hoorah!"), and the latter may be consist of one or more words that serve as another part of speech in other contexts (e.g. "No", "Bloody hell!"). The same criteria is also valid for Chinese ("哎呀!""呜呜呜……"vs. "我的天!""不!").
The definition of interjection in Chinese is: "Interjections are words that express various emotions. They have no grammatical connections to the context. " Therefore, all the words or phrases you listed as 应答用语 are undoubtedly interjections.


What is the difference between 不由得 and 不得不? I heard that there is a difference between 不由得 and 不得不, but fail to find a relevant page.

At least 不由得 and 由不得 are the synonym, and 不禁 is IIRC practically same.

But is there any difference between 不得不 and 不由得? How can I use it apart?

EDIT

So is the difference on whether the action is executed unconciously? I feel I understand the difference a bit, but could not explain it verbelly.

不得不 = no choice but

不由得 = can't help (e.g. myself)

Example:

不得不屈服 no choice but yield
不由得怀疑我的眼睛 can't help doubting my eyes
(不由得 can be replaced with 不由自主地 in this example)

  At least 不由得 and 由不得 are the synonym

Actually they are two different things

不由得 = can't help (e.g. myself); 由不得 = not up to (e.g. you)

Example:

不由得怀疑 = can't help suspecting (不由得 synonym 不禁)

由不得你作主 = it is not up to you to decide (由不得 synonym 不到)

由不得我选择 = it is not up to me to choose (由不得 synonym 不到)


Are there Chinese spoken language games? (like Ubbi Dubbi) Ubbi dubbi is a language game spoken with the English language. It was popularized by the 1972-1978 PBS children's show Zoom. ... Ubbi dubbi works by adding -ub- /ʌb/ before each vowel sound in a syllable.

I was exposed to this game from Zoom, but didn't actually learn how it worked until early high school.
From the Language Game wiki article, it looks like there is something called Fanqie (反切), but this doesn't really feel like a language game in the same way Ubbi Dubbi does; Ubbi Dubbi is spoken just for fun (or maybe to be slightly secretive, but native speakers can often understand it even if they don't know how it works)

Are there games like Ubbi Dubbi for spoken Chinese (preferable Mandarin, but would be interested in general)? Any audio or video examples?

To my knowledge, I used to play a game called 成语接龙（
Idiom Solitaire， perhaps), which I think it may be similar to the spoken game that you just mentioned.
In the 成语接龙, you are required to say an idiom, and your frind have to say anthor idiom starting with a Chinese character whhose pronunciation is similar to the final Chinese character's pronunciation of your idiom.
Example:


Phrase "to make your bed" in Chinese? How do you say to "make your bed"? I've tried with Google translate but I don't believe it (zuo4 seems very wrong). Also searched this place but seems nobody asked this question yet.

is zhengli (整理) in any way appropirate?

Thanks in advance.

Yes, 整理 is appropriate, usually we say 整理床铺.


How do I look up a graph in 說文通訓定聲? I'd like to look up 䟠 in 說文通訓定聲. My library has at least two versions of this (multi volume) book.

A (poorly) scanned version of it lives here: http://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&res=1866 (it's not fully digitized, no hit for 䟠).

Volume 1 is only introductory. Volume 2 has a kind of index, which I don't fully understand. It starts with a few pages like this:

說文通訓定聲総目

豊部第一
...
臨部第三
...
壮部第十八

http://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=17701&page=2

It continues with a few pages like this:

說文通訓定聲目

東 (4 instances with that element)
重 (idem)
...

http://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=17701&page=4
http://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=17701&page=10

Then the book starts with the entry for 東.

Where should I start looking for 䟠? 豊...壯 are not 部首.

Any help is appreciated.

How to look up an entry in 《說文通訓定聲》?

前言 Introduction

一般中文字典的內容是按部首字形分類排列。
《說文通訓定聲》則是依音韻分類排列。
從內容順序來看，作者 朱駿聲 是假設讀者已熟悉字的音韻。
所以，他先列出自創的「古韻十八部」做為「總目」，然後才是各部的內容。
The contents of common Chinese dictionaries are classified and arranged according to the shapes of radicals.
《說文通訓定聲》 is arranged in accordance with phonology.
Judging from the order of contents, the author, 朱駿聲, assumed that the readers are familiar with the sound of characters.
So, he listed first the self-created "18 classes of classical rhyme" as the "總目錄, Main Contents", and then the contents of each class.

在每一部的前面是「字目」，隨後才是各字的說明。
「字目」是依「聲符」分類。
「聲符」即是形聲字的聲音部分。
Each class begins with the "字目錄, Contents of Characters", followed by the interpretation of each character.
字目 is classified according to the "sound symbol".
聲符 is the sound part of a picto-phonetic character.

註：形聲字的「形符」和「聲符」有很多種英文翻譯。此處暫用直譯的。
Note: There are many English translations of 「形符」 and 「聲符」. The literal translations are used here.

所以，正規的搜尋方式是：
先在「總目」找到「待尋字」是屬於哪一部；
而後到該部的「字目」依「聲符」去找「待尋字」的位置；
最後才向後找「待尋字」的說明。
Therefore, a regular search is as follows.
First, determine which class the target character belongs to in the Main Contents.
Secondly, according to the sound symbol of the target, find its position in the Contents of Characters of that class.
Finally, search the interpretation of the target in the subsequent contents.

此「聲符」是古韻，一般人不清楚全部的發音，所以很難使用這套工具書。
所幸，作者在後面列有索引之類的「韻目」，我們可以利用它來搜尋。
這「韻目」是依部首排列，是我們熟悉的方式，所以應該大家都會用。
The "sound symbols" are in ancient rhyme, which most people don't know all of them, so it is difficult to use this set of reference works.
Fortunately, the author included an index-like "Contents of Rhyme" in the rear volume, and we can use it to search.
This "Contents of Rhyme" is arranged according to radicals, i.e. we are familiar with, so everybody should be able to use it.

以下就用「䟠」做例子詳述查閱的步驟。
The following steps show you how to look up an entry in 《說文通訓定聲》by using 䟠 as an example.

步驟 Steps

⒈ 開啟《說文通訓定聲》網頁。
Open 《說文通訓定聲》 page.

⒉ 點選「說文通訓定聲十九」。
Click 說文通訓定聲十九.

⒊ 「韻目」在第2圖到第6圖。
The images from 2 to 6 show the "音韻目錄 Contents of Rhyme".

「䟠」是七畫的「足」部，在第4圖。
䟠 belongs to 7-stroke 足 radical in Image 4.

⒋ 從第7圖開始，逐一列出各字。
Starting from Image 7, the words are listed one by one.

「足」部從第151圖開始。
「䟠」在第152圖。
The 足 radical starts from Image 151.
䟠 is in Image 152.

如果是書本會比較方便，因為在奇數頁的邊緣印有部首。
掃描的圖片就只能在上方搜尋欄或瀏覽器位址列輸入圖數跳著找。
It is more convenient if using a paper version, because the edges of the odd pages show the radicals.
For the scanned images, we can only jump to a specific image by changing the number in the searching field at the top or in the address bar of the browser.

⒌ 找到「待尋字」後，往上看圓角矩形，其內容說明它是屬於「古韻十八部」中的哪一韻。
After having found the target word, look the rounded rectangle above, which shows the class of the target.

像「䟠」是屬於「泰韻」。
For example, 䟠 belongs to 泰 [ ㄊㄞˋ | tài ] class.

⒍ 回到第1步驟的頁面，點選「說文通訓定聲二」。
Go back to the page in the first step, and click 說文通訓定聲二.

⒎ 「總目」在第2圖和第3圖。
The Main Contents are in Image 2 and Image 3.

「泰部」在第3圖。
The 泰 class is in Image 3.

「分部月」是指音韻為「月」分部。
「轉乾屯」是指轉音為「乾部」和「屯部」。
分部月 means that the sound belongs to 月 [ ㄩㄝˋ | yuè ] subclass.
轉乾屯 means that the sound is changed to 乾 [ ㄑㄧㄢˊ | qián ] class and 屯 [ ㄓㄨㄣ | zhūn ] class.

⒏ 從第4圖開始依「十八部」列出各部。
Starting from Image 4, it shows each class in the sequence of "18 classes".

「豐部弟一」從第2册第4圖開始。
豐部第一 starts from Image 4 of the 2nd volume.
「升部弟二」從第3册第2圖開始。
「臨部弟三」從第3册第60圖開始。
「謙部弟四」從第4册第2圖開始。
「頤部弟五」從第5册第2圖開始。
「孚部弟六」從第6册第2圖開始。
「小部弟七」從第7册第2圖開始。
「需部弟八」從第8册第2圖開始。
「豫部弟九」從第9册第2圖開始。
「隨部弟十」從第10册第2圖開始。
「解部弟十一」從第11册第2圖開始。
「履部弟十二」從第12册第2圖開始。
「泰部弟十三」從第13册第2圖開始。
「乾部弟十四」從第14册第2圖開始。
「屯部弟十五」從第15册第2圖開始。
「坤部弟十六」從第16册第2圖開始。
「鼎部弟十七」從第17册第2圖開始。
「壯部弟十八」從第18册第2圖開始。

「䟠」所屬的「泰部弟十三」在第13册。
也就是第1步驟頁面中的「說文通訓定聲十三」。
泰部第十三 that 䟠 belongs to is in the volume 13.
That is 說文通訓定聲十三 in the front page shown in the first step.

⒐ 每一部先列出「字目」，然後才一一列出各字內容。
「字目」是依「聲符」分類，此等用來分類的「聲符」會被框起來。
此「聲符」是古韻，未必和現今發音相同。
一般人不知道古韻，就只能猜其相似的音。
It shows the "Contents of Characters" first in each class, and then the interpretation of each word.
字目 is classified according to the "sound symbol", and those used to classify the words are framed.
The sound symbols are in ancient rhyme, which may not be the same as today's pronunciation.
Most people nowadays do not know all the ancient rhyme, so we can only guess the similar sound.

以「䟠」為例，左邊的「⻊」是形聲字的「形符」，右邊的「戉」是「聲符」，便以此分類「䟠」字。
「戉」是從「（居月切）」衍生而來，故用「」表示。
Using 䟠 as an example, the left component ⻊ is the "shape symbol" of the pictophonetic character; the right part 戉 is the "sound symbol", which is then used to classify 䟠.
戉 [ ㄩㄝˋ | yuè ] is derived from  [ ㄐㄩㄝˊ | jué ], so  is the indicator.

⒑ 要快速找到一個字的說明，要先知道該字在「字目」中的位置。
然後在上方搜尋欄輸入圖數跳著找。
這個時候瀏覽器要開兩個分頁，一個是「字目」，另一個是正在搜尋的頁面。
用搜尋頁上方的大字去比對「字目」，才能判斷出要向前或向後搜尋。
In order to find the interpretation of a word quickly, we should know its position in the "Contents of Characters" first.
And then we can jump to a particular image by inputing the image number in the searching field.
The browser should open two tabs now, one for the "Contents of Characters" and the other for searching.
We have to use the large characters at the top of the searching page to compare the words in the "Contents of Characters" so that we can determine to search forward or backward.

譬如，「泰部字目」從第2圖到第12圖。
「䟠」在第11圖前面的位置。
此册共191圖。
我們就可以推測出「䟠」的圖數大概在第150到180圖之間。
For example, the "Contents of Characters" of 泰 class span from the second to the twelfth images.
䟠 is in the front part of Image 11.
This volume has 191 images.
We can roughly infer that 䟠 is somewhere between the 150th and the 180th iamges.

我們先跳到第170圖，可以看到上方的一個大字是「茷」。
We jump to the 170th image first, and can see one of the big characters at the top is 茷.

「茷」在「字目」中的第12圖，「䟠」在第11圖前面的位置。
茷 is shown in Image 12 in the "Contents of Characters", and 䟠 in the front part of Image 11.

這樣我們就知道要向前找。
So, we know that we should look up backward.
依此類推，便可找到「䟠」在第156圖。
And so on, we can find 䟠 in the 156th image.

步驟摘要 Summary of Steps

用「說文通訓定聲十九」中的「韻目」查出「待尋字」所屬的韻部。
Find out which class the target word belongs to by using the "Contents of Rhyme" in Volume 19.
用「說文通訓定聲二」的「總目」查出該韻部所在的册數。
Find out the volume number of that class by using the "Main Contents" in Volume 2.
用該册開頭的「字目」查出「待尋字」的位置。
Find out the position of the word in question by using the "Contents of Characters" in the beginning part of that volume.
在後續內容中查閱該字的解釋。
Look up its interpretation in the subsequent contents.

「䟠」的意思 The meaning of 䟠

《說文通訓定聲》對「䟠」的解釋原文如下：
The original interpretation of 䟠 in 《說文通訓定聲》 is as follows.

  輕足也从足戉聲廣雅釋詁一䟠疾也按飛揚發越之意與越畧同

輕足也。
「䟠」是「輕足」的意思。
䟠 means 輕快的 (brisk; nimble) 腳 (feet).

所以，「輕足」的意思是「行走迅捷」。
Therefore, 輕足 means "fast walking".

从足戉聲。
从足：部首是「足」。「⻊」是形聲字的「形」。
从足: The radical is 足. ⻊ is the shape part of a pictophonetic character.
戉聲：「戉」的聲韻。「戉」是形聲字的「聲」。
戉聲: The pronunciation is 戉 [ ㄩㄝˋ | yuè ]. 戉 is the sound part.

《廣雅˙釋詁一》 䟠，疾也。
《廣雅》書中的〈釋詁〉篇第一部分提到：「䟠」是「疾」的意思。
The first part of 釋詁 chapter of the book 廣雅 mentioned that 䟠 means 疾.

「疾」的意思是「快速、急速」。
疾 means "fast or rapid".

按：飛揚發越之意，與越畧同。
作者說明：「䟠」是「飛揚發越」的意思，和「越」大略相同。
Author's Note: 䟠 means 飛揚發越, and is roughly the same as 越.

「飛揚」的意思是「飛騰」。
飛揚 means "flying".
「發越」的意思是「疾速」。
發越 means "fast".

所以，「䟠」是「快速行走」或「健步如飛」的意思。
Therefore, 䟠 means "fast walking" or "walking as if flying".


What does "强横" mean when it is used to describe an inanimate things? 强横实力

From zdic, 强横 means "brutal and unreasonable", which does make sense. However, at the end of the line, it also adds "describes a person like that".

But if it is used as a description for something like strength which isn't something that is living, how would it make sense then? I mean, how can "strength" be "unreasonable"?

If that doesn't work, would something like "overwhelmingly strong" work as well?

EDIT: Somewhat related, but does 強橫 always have a negative implication, similar to perhaps "savage" or "uncontrolled" rather than a neutral "strong"?

zdic says 强横: 骄横跋扈;强硬蛮横。亦指这样的人.

亦指这样的人 is not very clear. I suspect what it means is that in addition to functioning as a modifier (brutal and unreasonable), 强横 can also function as a nominal by itself (a brutal and unreasonable person). It doesn't give an example of this, however.

强横 refers to a type of person, or perhaps actions or policies that people implement.  I don't think it could refer to something inanimate, or even an animal.

zdic glosses 横 as 'unreasonable'. 横 refers to someone who goes straight ahead without following a road or path (reason or morality).

I also don't think 强 really means strong here; it is more like the 强 in 強盜 'robber'.  The MOE 國語辭典 defines this sense of 强 as 橫暴.

In any case, 强横 is never going to be neutral, just like 霸道 or 講理 are not neutral. Someone who is 强横 is a bad guy.


Pronunciation of 这 (ze4 or zen4?) in 天气这么好 Not entirely sure, but a friend (mother tongue 普通话, originally from 沈阳(Shenyang)) recently pronounced 这 as ze4 or maybe zen4 when she said 今天天气这么好.

这 isn't such simple word I find, as it can be zhe4 or zhei4, but I was not aware of any other ways it could be pronounced. Is ze4 or (zen4?) a common alternative?

'zhe4' is the most formal pronunciation. 'zhei4', 'zen4', and 'zhen4' are informal and dialectal.

I grew up in Beijing and local people use these variants frequently. (In contrast, 'zhe4' is actually not often heard in informal speech in the region.) In particular, 'zhei4' is common when people use 这 as a pronoun by itself (e.g., 这位 (this person)、这边儿 (this way)), and 'zen4' and 'zhen4' (less common than 'zen4') appear exclusively in 这么. Compare 怎么 'zen3me'.

The pronunciation of 'ze4' is not heard in the Beijing dialect, but could appear in other dialects of Mandarin.

Related note: When used alone to indicate location, 这儿, 'zher4' in pinyin, sounds more like 'zhar4' in the Beijing dialect - that is about somewhere between jerk sans k and jar in Midwestern American English.

Fun note: In very, very native Beijing dialect, 这儿 is sometimes pronounced like 'zhar4-har'. It might not be completely intelligible to people who grew up in regions in China farther away from Beijing.


What is the function of 當 in 當愛已成往事 ? I think 愛已成往事 is complete chinese sentence, that means: love already turned into sth. of the past.

Well, but how does the meaning changes when 當 is put in front of it to form 當愛已成往事 ?


Where can I find sorted word lists used by native students? I would like to find a sorted list of vocabulary that is studied by native students in primary (elementary) and secondary (middle) school in China, arranged by grade level. Is there any official place to download such a list?

Primary school students use 2 text books per year. Each book is broken down into individual lessons and there is usually about 4 - 8 characters to be learnt for each lesson. At the back of each book it lists all the characters in order from each lesson which are the required characters to be learnt for that half year.

The set of high school (secondary) books I have are slightly out dated so I don't know if this is still how it is done, but the high school books I have are similar to primary school except the texts go across several pages and I can't remember if they list the characters at the end of the books or if it is just at the end of each lesson.

The primary school set of books provides a vocabulary of about 6k characters.

The high school list is much smaller and covers more obscure words.

As well as these standard books that are used in high school, high school students are expected to learn classical literature and poetry.

I just found this site http://www.sanwen8.com/youshengduwu/kwls/ where someone has typed in all of the lessons from 小学, 初中 and 高中 language books.

Although these do not contain the lists of characters required to be learnt from each lesson, I can confirm that these are the lessons that are being used in Chinese schools by native learners (at the time they were typed in) and is in order of complexity.

Disclaimer: Although the site above was fine at the time I went there. I am not responsible for the above site in any way and any crazy pop-ups that may appear or what it may do to your computer. Go to any external site at your own risk.


What characters are these? ⿰食㒼, ⿰兌皮 I encountered two characters I cannot find in any database. They are side-by-side compositions of two characters that I do know, but I have not been able to use the information to find something I can copy and paste into text. I tried radical + stroke look up for the characters at https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=184 and https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?cdqrad=107 using the components as a clue and even drawing them directly into a a handwriting keyboard.
The characters below are shown with their probable homophones. (I found it in Yuen Ren Chao's A Project for General Chinese.) So I also tried looking up the Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations on Unihan database with no luck. They are not found together on Wiktionary's lists of phonetic series either.

瞞 and ⿰食㒼

脫 and ⿰兌皮

it’s time to try the 異體字字典, maintained by the ministry of education, taiwan
https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/home.do
the second character is explained as:

1.表皮剝落、破損。見《玉篇．皮部》。

2.皮壞。見《集韻．入聲．沒韻》。

https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?quote_code=QzA4MTQ2
have fun :)


Cantonese and Thai similarities Is there a similarity between Cantonese and Thai? I've noticed that some words such as the word for chicken is the same.

Cantonese does contain a substrate from the Tai languages, which includes Thai and Zhuang as modern members, so that could be a source of similarities. However, the word for chicken (雞), and most other Cantonese vocabulary, can be traced to Chinese sources, so that's not it.


Could you say what is postposition in chinese and why it's different from preposition I'd like to know more about it and what is its difference from preposition and some examples of this.

I think you are making a fundamental mistake. Your conscious or otherwise presumption is, Western Grammar is correct and it must therefore apply, without reservation, to Chinese. Words are placed in categories such as 'preposition', but words refuse to remain in their categories. This is true in Chinese and English.

And dear old Aunty Wiki blathers on about it, as if she knows by divine right.

What about 前？Is 前 a preposition? Well, that just depends on how it is used and who is translating.

会议向前提了。
meeting to front/forward carried
The meeting has been brought forward.

我只读了前几行。
I only read 了 first/front few lines
I only read the first few lines.

他走前把门关上了。
he go before 把 door close up
He closed the door behind him.

前不久
before not long
not long ago

就在圣诞节前
just in Christmas before
just before Christmas

在后的, 将要在前。在前的, 将要在后。
So the last will be first, and the first will be last. (Matthew 20:16)


Does 下 in 吃不下饭 convey any meaning? 我们着急得吃不下饭，睡不好觉。

I understand that 好 in 睡不好觉 adds the meaning of "well", so "sleep well" instead of "sleep", but does 下 in 吃不下饭 change anything?

Yes it does.
I won't go into the details of your textbook example. It may not be the best one because in that sentence the 下 could probably be replaced by some other result complement and roughly keep the same translation in English.
Generally speaking, 下 as a result complement often has the meaning of fitting or containing (the potential complement as in "V 得 Res." and "V 不 Res." constructions is similar to the result complement).
Some examples:

他车子能坐下5个人 (= his car can accommodate 5 people)

电梯里站得下10个人 (= ten people can fit in the elevator = the elevator can contain ten people)

这个箱子太小了，装不下这么多衣服 (= this box is too small, it can't contain so many clothes)

我吃不下饭 (= I can't eat any more = I can't fit any more food in my stomach, or, my stomach can't contain any more food)

As additional proof of the semantic value of 下 in this construction, you can replace it with another result complement to a different effect:

我吃不了饭 (= I can't eat = meaning that something is preventing you from doing so, instead of your stomach being unable to eat more, e.g. 今天我工作太忙，吃不了饭)


How to say "I got disconnected" and "I'm lagging"? I'm playing an online game on a Chinese server, and I sometimes get disconnected when the VPN gets congested. When this happens, I have to restart the game and re-enter the map, while the rest of my group is probably wondering what I'm doing.

How do I explain to my group that I got disconnected from the server?

I've also seen people complain use 卡 to complain that they're lagging, but I guess it could just as well refer to being stuck. Is there a less ambiguous way to refer to network lag?

"掉线了“ means "I got disconnected" in Chinese,the pronunciation is "diao xian le", and "掉了” in short.
As for "I'm lagging", you can say "网络很卡“，the pronunciation is "wang luo hen ka". Usually a Chinese guy can also easily get your meaning if you express it in "卡”.


Translation of "you cut I choose" I'm trying to give a presentation to my Chinese class on fair division procedures, and I want to describe the simple method of "you cut I choose". I think a literal translation would be something like 你分为我选择, but I wonder if there's a colloquial way to say this or some relevant chengyu.

I think you simply name it "你切我选".

Other names to this method is "我切你选", "分割与选择"(divide and choose), "切蛋糕问题"(cake-cutting problem)


Does 那个公共汽车很红 sounds right? A friend told me all adjectives in Chinese are verbs. I am not so sure if it is right in general, especially when it comes to color. I ask him to give me examples and he said
1 天黑了
2 那个公共汽车很红
I think 1 is fine but 2 is not, but I don't how to explain these.
Can someone explain how you interpret the idea that all adjectives in Chinese are verbs and how you can use colors as verbs? thanks

It is not 'all adjectives in Chinese are verbs' but 'many adjectives in Chinese can also function as verbs' and most of the time you need a correct verb particle
Examples:
黑马 - Black horse (O)
天黑了 - The sky has darkened (O)
把墙黑了 -  to darken the wall (X) - the correct verb is 涂黑(to paint black) or 弄黑 (to make black)
瘦狗 - thin dog (O)
這狗瘦了 - This dog has thinned down (O)
瘦自己 - to thin oneself down (X) - the correct verb is 弄瘦 (to make thin)
強人 - strong person (O)
這人強了 - this man has grown strong (O)
強這攻势 - strengthen this attack (X) - the correct verb is 加強 (to strengthen)
攻势弱 - the attack is weak  (O)
攻势弱下來了 - the attack has weakened down (O)
弱他们的攻势 - to weaken their attack (X) - the correct verb is 減弱 (to weaken)

那个公共汽车很红 sounds right?

红(red) here is still an adjective for the noun 公共汽车 (this bus is very red)

红 (short for 火红 = popular and trendy) could function as a verb with an appropriate verb particle

Example:
那种公共汽车最近红了起來 = Recently, that kind of bus has become popular and trendy


Could you please explain the words in this '一边对着双桅小帆船呶呶嘴'? I found this:
一边对着双桅小帆船呶呶嘴。“他帮我把船从巴拿马开过来。”
I nodded toward the ketch. " He helped me sail her up from Panama. "

What does '桅'mean here?
Does 呶呶嘴 mean 'nod'?

'桅' is short for '桅杆', which is mast. So '双桅' means two-masted.
'呶呶嘴' literaly means 'Pout lips'(no sexual meaning here). It means instead of pointing that sailboat by hand, some one points the lips to the sailboat instead. Some time I do this kind of things when I'm being lazy or my hands are occupied.


Use of 还 in reference to "on top of that, also" I'm just wondering whether I'm allowed to use 还 to mean, "on top of that, also". Here's the context:

在经济方面，新思维能提高生产力,而且还能产生创新和发明。As in, "in the economic sense, new ideas can increase productivity, and (on top of that) can also produce new innovations and inventions.

Is this okay??

Thanks very much in advance to whoever can help with this one!

还 ( hái ㄏㄞˊ )

  (7) 更加 [even more]。
  (9) 不但(不仅,不光)…还… [not only ...... but also]。

In the economic sense, good ideas can increase productivity, and can also produce new innovations and inventions.
在经济方面，好的想法能提高生产力，而且还能产生创新和发明。

Similar words of 还能:

还可以
好的想法可以提高生产力，(而且)还可以产生创新和发明。

也可以、也能
好的想法可以提高生产力，(而且)也可以产生创新和发明。

更可以、更能
好的想法可以提高生产力，(而且)更可以产生创新和发明。

不但(不仅、不光、不只)能……，还能(也能、更能)……
好的想法不但能提高生产力，还能产生创新和发明。


What's the best translation to 「要看两千年的中国，去西安；要看一千年的中国，去北京；要看一百年的中国，去上海；要看十年的中国，去深圳」？ What's the best translation to 「要看两千年的中国，去西安；要看一千年的中国，去北京；要看一百年的中国，去上海；要看十年的中国，去深圳」？

My version is

  To find two thousand years of China, go to Xi'an; To find one thousand years of China, go to Beijing; To find one hundred year of China, go to Shanghai; To find ten years of China, go to Shenzhen.

My second version is

  To have a taste of two thousand years of China, visit Xi'an; One thousand years of China, Beijing; One hundred years of China, Shanghai; And ten years of China, Shenzhen.

Can someone make a better translation?

要看两千年的中国，去西安；
Wanna taste the flavour of China 2000 years ago? Go to Xi An!
要看一千年的中国，去北京；
Wanna taste the flavour of China 1000 years ago? Go to Beijing!
要看一百年的中国，去上海；
Wanna taste the flavour of China 100 years ago? Go to Shanghai!
要看十年的中国，去深圳
Wanna taste the flavour of China 10 years ago? Go to Shen Zhen!

The Chinese is not native, I would say. Is it a back translation from some English language tourist stuff?

Shanghai is rockin' and rollin', has not stopped at 100 years ago!


Notations For Typo Corrections In Chinese Texts English typo corrections work kind of like this:

yeah, it's really food
*good

where an asterisk marks a correction from the above line.

What Notations Are There For Typo Corrections In Chinese Texts?

These are the notations for corrections in text. What you are asking for is No.4.


Not clear what or who the subject of these sentences is My translation:

当你长大，你慢慢学会几件事情；有些人不必理会，无论他说什么做什么，多么幼稚又多么讨厌，真的不需要在乎。有些人永远成不了你的敌人，不必抬举他，这种人太看得起自己了，以为拼命攻击你伤害你，就能够被你所恨。有些人不必等待，你心里其实清楚得很，这个人不必再等了，只是你放不下.
As you grow up, you slowly learn a few things; there are people that (you) don't need to understand/care about, no matter what they say or do, regardless of how naive or annoying he is, don't pay any mind/depend on. There are people that will never become your enemy, don't praise him, this type of person cares too much about himself, will go all out to hurt you, will be hated by you. There are people that (you) don't need to wait on, actually inside you are very clear, don't wait on this person any longer, it's you that can't let go.

How is my translation? Would appreciate your corrections. There are many I dont really understand:

有些人不必理会. Actually there are two translations I thought of:
A.there are people that just don't understand (dont understand what? "You"?).
B. There are people that YOU don't need to understand/care about.
Which one is correct?
有些人永远成不了你的敌人，不必抬举他，这种人太看得起自己了，以为拼命攻击你伤害你，就能够被你所恨。this sentence is talking about someone that can NOT be your enemy, yet this person is doing his worse to hurt "you" and "you" will totally hate him? Is there a double meaning to 敌人 that I don't understand?

Thank you very much

有些人[你]不必理会. 你 is dropped as the context is clear. If you read the sentence again, it starts with:

  当你长大，你慢慢学会几件事情；有些人不必理会...

Chinese is a pro-drop language, you will encounter this quite often. 理会 here does not mean understand, but to bother or care about. So, it is saying, there are some people that you don't need to care about.

  有些人永远成不了你的敌人，[你]不必抬举他，这种人太看得起自己了，以为拼命攻击你伤害你，就能够被你所恨。

Some people will never become your enemy; there is no need to flatter them. This kind of person thinks too highly of himself and assumes that by attacking and harming you relentlessly, he will be hated by you.

There is no double meaning here for 敌人. It is just a philosophical statement advising you not to bear grudge against an unworthy opponent.


When is "了" pronounced "le" and when is it pronounced "liao"? I have noticed that there are two different pronunciations of 了：
- Usually it's pronounced "le".
- in some situations it's pronounced "liǎo"

for example:

我用了很多年才了解什么是武术。

As much as I realized, according to Google Translate, the second "了" is pronounced "liao"

When is "了" pronounced "le" and when is it pronounced "liao" ?

Generally speaking:

if 了 is within a single content word, it should be produnced as "liao".
if 了 acts as an independent auxiliary word indicating a change of state or introducing a new situation (Verbs have no past tense in Chinese, therefore some auxiliary words would be used to indicate it), it should be produnced as "le".

In Chinese sentences, there are no blanks to separate the words. Therefore you must separate them in your mind.

In this sentence, we can separate words like this (just do separation, it is not a correct translation):

我 用 了  很多   年  才  了解      什么  是  武术。
I  used many years to understand  what is  KongFu.

Yeah, 了解 is a single content word (verb) meaning "understand" (we can't separate it into 了 and 解)


What are the markings found on a purple clay teapot? I am trying to find information on this modern? Chinese purple clay tea pot.  Can anyone translate this for me?  Thank you

Actually it's 車寶鍾製. Accidentally found one item selling online with the same seal. https://tw.bid.yahoo.com/item/%E6%97%A9%E6%9C%9F%E8%80%81%E8%8C%B6%E5%A3%BA-%E8%BB%8A%E5%AF%B6%E9%8D%BE%E6%AC%BE-100433885065

車寶鍾 is the name of the person who made this.


What's the meaning of 戒 in 戒指? On a lighter note:
Does 戒 in 戒指 mean: you can stop using your finger now you are married?
With this ring I thee wed.

Baike

如《中国古代服饰风俗》中说：“为什么要把指环这种饰物称之为戒指呢？那就要从‘戒’字的含义说起了。明都 《三馀赘笔》记称：‘今世俗用金银为环，置妇人指间，谓之戒指’。按《诗》注：‘古者后妃群妾，以礼进御于君，女史书其日月，授之以环，以进退之。生子月辰，以金环退之；当御者，以银环进之，着于左手；既御者，着于右手。事无大小，记以成法，则世俗之名“戒指”者，有自来矣。’”《现代汉语词名探源词典》中也引用类似上面的一段，并说“嫔妃月经来潮之日，即戴戒指，表明不可与帝王同房。戒指即‘戒止’”。还有《中文大辞典》中的“戒指”、“指环”项，也引用了上述说法。

Apparently, concubines wore a ring when their period came to let the emperor know coitus wasn't an option and this is where the name came from.


What exactly does 差不多先生 mean? I've been trying to study the song 差不多先生 and am having difficulty  understanding all of the uses of 差不多.

Also if anyone is feeling super inspired, I'd love to have a full translation of the song. A good place to put it would be on Lyrics Translate.

差不多 literally means nearly, just about, or almost.

差不多先生 means the person pertains to the phrase 差不多 a lot, indicating his life style, loose, careless, etc.


Is 微话题 an acceptable translation of “hashtag”? A saw a translation of spoken English saying: hashtag fun to something like:

  微话题 乐趣

I’m not seeing a lot of results for 微话题 online.

As far as I know hashtag is usually translated as 话题 or 标签 or some combination of both.

Assuming people don’t go around saying things like “hashtag [...]” in Chinese & if someone said “话题...” or “标签...” it probably wouldn’t be readily understood - then perhaps 微话题 is a better option.

微话题 could be considered as overly specific, as a weibo topic.

This is all speculation though.

Any ideas?

「微話題」is literally microblog discussion topic, where「微」comes from「微博」(microblog). Note that Weibo is a proper noun also using these two characters, but before Weibo was invented「微博」was just a generic word meaning microblog.

Netizens put the discussion topic (話題) between two hashtags, much the same way the single twitter hashtag is used (possibly because Chinese doesn't use word spacings). In the sense that it is an announcement of a discussion topic on some board/forum/social media then translating it as hashtag is fine, but this translation may be confusing for people coming from the PRC if one uses it to point to "western" apps/media that are possibly banned or relatively unknown/unpopular in the PRC such as Twitter and Facebook.

See also the Baidu article 微话题.