Does the word '攬' in Mandarin carry the meaning of "to loop ~ around"? This question reminded me the different ways Cantonese say "fasten the safety belt"
Cantonese only say:

"攬安全帶" (loop the safety belt around oneself)

"綁安全帶" (tie the safety belt)

"扣安全帶" (buckle up the safety belt)

But we don't say "系安全帶" (fasten the safety belt)
On the other hand, I don't think Mandarin speakers say "綁安全帶" or "攬安全帶"  like Cantonese speakers do.
So my question is : Does the word '攬' in Mandarin carry the meaning of " to loop ~ around" too? Or it is Cantonese only as I suspected?

攬 http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/2151/
[粵] laam6 [國] lan3
loop (scarf, belt, etc) around

Some examples of 攬 /laam6/  as 'loop ~around' in Cantonese :

"佢沖完涼攬條大毛巾喺頸就返房" "She just looped (hung) a bath towel around her neck and went back to her room after taking a bath."

"冬天要攬條頸巾至好出街" = "Need to loop a scarf around the neck before go out in winter."

Explanation from zdic:

  　1. 把持：～持。独～大权。
  　2. 拉到自己这方面或自己身上来：包～。招～。承～。～客。～活儿。
  　3. 搂，捆：把孩子～在怀里。
  　4. 取：～秀。～胜。摘星～月。

From this and some other dictionaries (which may not be online) and my personal experience, I think 揽 in Mandarin does not have the usage you asked in Cantonese.


Why is 又…又 structure used to connect verbs here? I found this example sentence on YellowBridge :

  那对恋人在沙发上又是接吻又是搂抱。

Why is the 又…又 structure used with verbs (both kissed and cuddled) here?

As far as I know, that structure is usually used to connect adjectives instead of verbs.

Then why in that sentence, 又…又 is used to connect verbs?

又…又 can connect adjectives， verbs or nouns!

Here are some examples:

那小伙又脏又臭， 可傻笑时却露出暴雪一般的牙齿。（He is dirty and stinks, but his laugh gave us a glimpse of his snow-white teeth.)

那小伙又小又廋， 还以为是个姑娘。(He is small and skinny, we thought he is a girl.)

着几个月又是台风又是海啸， 像是世界末日。(These few month is full of hurricane and tsunami, as if it were the end of the world.)

他那又是核武器又是生化武器， 却说是为了杀蚂蚁。(He's got nuclear weapons and bio weapon at home and claims it is for killing ants.)

可怜的女神又施法术又耐心等待可是他终究执迷不悟直到她终于觉得他无可救药了。(Poor Goddess used her divine power and patiently waited to make him walk the righteous paths unsuccessfully, long has passed until she thinks that he can no longer be saved)

难过的他又打又叫直到筋疲力尽啦。(the sad young man cursed and fight until he is exhausted.)

Sorry, my translations might not be accurate, but we got examples of 又…又 used with verbs, nouns and adjectives.


Zhuyin: Are both ㄧㄨㄥ and ㄩㄥ correct renderings of "yong"? I use https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/dictionary.php as my primary dictionary. For 用, and any character whose 拼音 would be "yong," the given 注音 on this site is always ㄧㄨㄥ. However, when inputting characters on a 注音 keyboard, it does not accept ㄧㄨㄥ, but rather ㄩㄥ. Additionally, a Taiwanese friend has told me that there is no such thing as ㄧㄨㄥ.
So is ㄧㄨㄥ just a weird alternate (but still correct) rendering of the sound in 注音? Or is this dictionary site in error, and it actually should always be ㄩㄥ?

Duke University hosts a: Character Conversion Table that may be of good reference for you.

ㄧㄨㄥ = yi + weng
ㄩㄥ = yong

I'd highly recommend not using yellowbridge.


How do Chinese people say it when they are proud of someone? This is not a question about the literal translation of the sentence: "I'm proud that you are my dad." The question itself is more like: what do Chinese people say when they want to express their feelings to someone that they are proud of? Like, when children are proud of their dad?

The simplest sentence would be something like:
我为[insert person]骄傲。
So in your case：我为爸爸骄傲。
Slightly more sophisticated:
我为你感到自豪。
@Ha Hae's 我以你为荣 would also work but would translate to something like “You are in my place of honour."


What letters (A-Z) have Chinese counterparts? Some letters (A-Z) have Chinese character counterparts. For instance:

X = 叉
U = 优

What other examples of this phenomenon are there?

Wikipedia has a page entitled, Chinese respelling of the English alphabet


Are there characters in which the radicals are the same but the position changes the meaning? Are there any characters in Chinese that have the same radicals in their formation, but the position of those radicals result in different meanings.

e.g. A character made up of two radicals, AB, and another BA, that is also a valid character.

Traditional or Simplified is fine.

Same meaning:

崕 = 崖 (ㄧㄚˊ / yá) = cliff; precipice

峰 = 峯 (ㄈㄥ / fēng) = peak; summit

毗 = 毘 (ㄆㄧˊ / pí) = to adjoin; to border on

群 = 羣 (ㄑㄩㄣˊ / qún) = group; crowd

飃 = 飄 (ㄆㄧㄠ / piāo) = to float

鄰 = 隣 (ㄌㄧㄣˊ / lín) = neighbor; adjacent

Different meanings:

早 (ㄗㄠˇ / zǎo) = early; morning
旪 (ㄒㄧㄝˊ / xié) = 協 = agreement

吟 (ㄧㄣˊ / yín) = to chant; to recite
含 (ㄏㄢˊ / hán) = to contain; to keep in mouth

旱 (ㄏㄢˋ / hàn) = drought; dry
旰 (ㄍㄢˋ / gàn) = 傍晚 = sunset; dusk

岳 (ㄩㄝˋ/ yuè) = mountain; peak
岴 (ㄑㄩ/ qū) = 嶇 = rugged; rough

星 (ㄒㄧㄥ / xīng) = star
甠 (ㄑㄧㄥˊ / qíng) = 晴 = clear (weather)

啻 (ㄔˋ / chì) = only
啼 (ㄊㄧˊ / tí) = cry; crow

There are many many others.


Appropriate way to reject an offer I have three case scenarios here:

  這是一點心意，請你收下。

Please accept this (gift/money as an) appreciation.

  我請你吃飯吧！

Let me treat you a meal!

  加入我們的團隊吧！

Join our team!

As far as I know, in the first case, rejecting the offer is rude by any mean/for any reason. Nonetheless, in the second and third cases, many factors, other than personal will, can play a significant role in the decision of whether to accept the offer. For instance, one may have already planned out his schedule of the day and cannot allot time for socializing. Yet, it seems to be rude to directly reject the offer regardless of the reason. Is there a proper way to reject these offers, especially when the person who gives the offer is more superior in terms of age or social status? What are some possible replies to these offers?

By the way, if I have any improper cultural statement(s), please point it out!

Thanks in advance.

List your good points.

Meaning instead of outright rejecting this person's offer, you say, "I already have such and such already," you get the picture. Emphasize that you are very well off, no need for gifts and such. So if someone offered a gift to you, you could say, "Thank you, but I have a lot of such and such." And the good ol' "I'm on a diet" works well on Chinese too :)


Why don't all questions have the "ma" 吗 particle at the end? I've been using this site to get my basic foothold in Mandarin. If you scroll down you'll see a section entitled "WHAT", including some questions like "What's the matter?" and "What did you say?" and "What are you doing?"

  shén-me shì
  nǐ shuō shén-me
  nǐ zuò shén-me

An example question which doesn't end in ma is "你再吃什么？", "What are you eating?".

I'm unclear as to why these questions don't end with the "ma" particle. Is that only necessary for turning a declarative statement into a yes/no question? Is it not used for all questions of the forms who, what, why, etc?

Your guess is correct. 吗 (ma) is usually used at the end of a narrative sentence, which without 吗 can become a declarative statement.

吗 has other usages but at this learning stage you shouldn't let them distract you.


What does the phrase “花钱买气受“mean？ I have this text:

购物时，售货员的态度很可能会影响人们的情绪，碰到态度差的售货员，你可以不买，再去别的商店看看。
如果非要在那儿买，可能花钱买气受。

What does "花钱买气受“ mean please？

花錢 - spending money

買 - to buy

氣受 - reverse of 受氣 - to be ill-treated

together, 花錢買氣受 is roughly "spending money to buy ill-treating"

have fun :)


Southwestern Mandarin: what does 欛新床/铺新床/压床 imply? 欛新床

《成都方言》

  喻指小男孩或未婚男青年睡新床：～又叫“压床”。亦作“铺新床”。

Why only boys? or unmarried men? What sort of implications are buried in this word?

What needs to be understood here is that 欛新床 or 铺新床 is not just talking about making a bed or changing the sheets - but is specifically referring to Chinese wedding customs where the "new bed" is made for the newlywed couple.

Baidu 百科 has the following article: 压床（民间婚庆习俗） which explains:

  压床又称压喜床，压新床等，中国汉族婚俗之一。青年男女结婚的头天晚上，新郎家要请儿女双全的老人把床铺好，然后新郎请一个或者两个弟弟和自己一起在新床上就寝。压床的人也有条件限制，不是任何人随便就能压的。首先，压床的人必须是小于新郎的青年，一般都是自己的亲弟弟，或者是叔伯弟弟和姨表弟弟。如果在自己的亲戚范围内没有这样的人选，新郎也可以找同村的朋友和要好的同学。压床人的第二个条件，必须是未婚青年。

The night before the couple-to-be get married, the entire family is supposed to make their bed after which the groom will chose one or two of his younger brothers to have a sleep over. The persons that the groom may choose from is limited, not just anyone can spend the night with him. First, the person must be younger than the groom, usually he will pick his own fleshly younger brother or his younger male cousins. If none of his relatives are applicable, the groom may find a friend or classmate from his town. The second requirement is that the person must be unmarried.

The article also states:

  对娶亲的人来说，压床是一件吉利的事情。

This custom is thought to bring good luck to the new couple.

and don't forget:

  如果男孩儿在压床的时候，不小心尿在了新床上，这是吉利加吉利，人们更是欣喜异常。

If during this custom the boy chosen to stay with the groom accidentally pees on the bed, this is considered luck upon luck and people will be even more delighted.


What does 拼命连比带画 mean? 我根本不会说法语，我当时拼命连比带画，想问画家能否给我再画一张刚才那个女孩的画像，结果他没有听懂。
这世界，缺你不可, p.90.

I translate it to something like:

I fundamentally don't speak French, and at the time I 拼命连比带画 (??), and wanted to ask the painter if he could paint another of the girl just now, but he didn't understand.

Google Translate gives:

I don't speak French at all. I tried desperately to paint, and wanted to ask if the artist could paint me another portrait of the girl just now, but he did not understand it.

The words are:

拼命 = "to do one's utmost"
连比 = "compound ratio" (???)
带 = "to take along"
画 = "painting"

I don't understand how this fits together.
Question: What does 拼命连比带画 mean?

比 = gesture

画 = draw

比画 = gesture (with hand)

Please see 連 verb A 带 verb B

连A带B indicates 'also' or 'both'.

verb A and verb B happen at the same time or alternately.

noun A and noun B are both the objects

Emphasis is on 'about equal in importance'

Using [連 verb A 带 verb B] create mostly idiomatic phrases when the verbs are related
Example:
哄骗 --> 連哄带骗
滚爬 --> 連滚带爬
比画 --> 连比带画 (Here we just break the compound verb 比画 into two individual verbs to emphasize them both and make it idiomatic.)
哄 and 骗 at the same time is 哄骗
比 and 画 at the same time is 比画
拼命 means 'desperately; earnestly'
拼命连比带画 = desperately gesturing


Describing and meaning of the name 楚胜天 My first question is similar to Lil ol' 阮天文's post regarding how to describe my name, 楚胜天. Most native speakers have me repeat myself several times or write it down before understanding me, it would be great to have a good way of explaining the characters.
My 老师 gave me the name 楚胜天 a while back when I was attending university. I was told it had significant meaning and it was from some classic texts, but I don't recall what the real meaning is or from what texts it originated. I understand the literal translation, but I would love to understand what this name means and what native Chinese speakers may think upon hearing it. Also, if anyone knows if this name comes from anywhere I would love to know.

When I hear the name 胜天, the first thing that comes to my mind is the idiom "人定胜天"

人的智慧和力量可以战胜自然 (Human wisdom and strength can overcome nature)

The name 胜天 implies optimism and confidence
~
楚 is a common family name, it means:

clear; neat; in good order

name of a state in the Eastern Zhou period (770-256 BC)

a name for the region of Hubei and Hunan

To describe your name, you can say: 我的名字是楚胜天。楚国的楚，胜利的胜，天空的天。(any common two characters compound word would do)


What does 过得 mean in 过得比较舒服? In the following sentence on this article:

  加拿大是一个很美的国家，领土面积特别大，但是人口才4000万，过得比较舒服，所以现在也有越来越多的人选择留学这裡。

What does 过得 mean here? And how does it work grammatically in this context?

"过得舒服" is "生活 过得舒服" omitted the topic "生活"(life) or  "过生活"(living life)
得 in 过得舒服 is a 'degree/result verb particle' that indicate the degree or result of the verb 过

"过生活 过(得) 舒服" = live life (to the point of) being comfortable
"过生活" can be omitted if it is clearly implied in the context
or you can just remove the first 过 and use 生活 as the topic directly and write "生活 过(得) 舒服"

More example:

"看电影 看(得) 高興" = watch movies (to the degree of) being happy
"看电影" can be omitted if it is clearly implied in the context


Word choice between 推舉 , 推選 , 薦舉 How would one translate the 推舉 , 推選 , 薦舉?

Im pretty sure they all mean something like electing or choosing. Among the three, 推選 is probably the most colloquial and conversational basic use, while 推舉 and 薦舉 are only seen in writing/more advanced level of use.

When would you use 推舉 , 推選 , 薦舉? Please give examples in Chinese with basic English translation.

In 「推舉」,「推」means "to push ", and 「舉」 means "to raise "

「推舉」means to "single out and elevate someone" which means " to recommend"

In 「薦舉」,「薦」means " to recommend"

「薦舉」means " to elevate and recommend someone"

In「推選」, 「選」means " to choose"

「推選」means "to single out and choose someone" / " to nominate and elect someone"

Examples :

我推舉他為經理 ( I recommend him to be the manager)
我薦舉他為經理 ( I recommend him to be the manager)
眾人推舉之下，他成為了經理 ( After everybody recommended him, he became the manager)
眾人薦舉之下，他成為了經理 ( After everybody recommended him, he became the manager)
眾人推選他為經理 ( Everybody recommend and choose him to be the manager)

*「推舉」;「薦舉」;「推選」only apply to people
*「推薦」is the most common term for "to recommend", followed by「推舉」and then「薦舉」
*「推薦」apply to either people or object
Example:
向日本人推薦美國牛肉 ( recommend American beef to Japanese)
我推薦他為經理 ( I recommend him to be the manager)
*「薦舉」is more commonly written as 「舉薦」
*「選舉」(election)


Translation of "this much and no more" I found this sentence and its English translation on tatoeba.org:

我知道的就這麼多了。
Beyond this I know nothing.

Now I'm trying to parse the sentence structure, and I'd like some confirmation or a correction, please. I think that 我知道的 means "what I know" or "the things that I know". Then 就這麼多了 means "just this much". So I might literally translate the sentence as, "What I know is just this much, and no more."
Am I on the right track?

I think you are close.

Basically:

知道 = to know

我知道 = I know

我知道的 = What I know

就 = Just

這麼多 = this much

就這麼多了 = Just this much

I personally wouldn't translate this as "Beyond this I know nothing." It would be closer to "What I know is just this much", however I would translate it as "I only know this much". I don't see where this sentence would insinuate the "and no more" or the "beyond this"; it is not expressed in the sentence.

It's the type of sentence that would benefit from a bit more context to get a more accurate translation.


Identifying mark (Characters identified: 胡窯) Can somebody please tell me what this mark means? I would be so very appreciative.

The characters are 「胡窯」, a maker's mark for Japanese arita ware. Google search 胡窯 to get more information and image hits.


Difference between 小吃 and 零食 Both of these words in the dictionary have themselves defined as “snack” but what are the differences between these 2 words?

小吃: snack. Examples: steam bun, hot dog, baked sweet potato (most street food stall's cooked food are considered 小吃.) There are also cold served 小吃 like cold cut meat or cheese on cracker (mostly served in parties)

零食: snack/ junk food. Examples: chips, candies

Most noticeable difference: We call 零食 junk food but not 小吃


Is there a "Peking Opera dialect"? Peking Opera has a distinct pronunciation, that is at first similar to Mandarin, but to astute listeners, certain characters appear to have alternate or even non-Mandarin pronunciations.
Take certain passages in 三家店 for example (listen for yourself in this video):

将身儿来至在大街口 (jiai)
尊一声过往宾朋听从头 (shen, pong, tin)
一不是响马并贼寇 (bin, ze)
二不是歹人把城偷 (chen)
杨林与我来争斗 (zhen)
因此上发配到登州 (den)
舍不得太爷的恩情厚 (qin)
实难舍街坊四邻与我的好朋友 (jiai, pong)
...

As you can see, the differences in pronunciation seem consistent, as if it is a formal part of Peking Opera instead of embellishments by the singers.
So is this true - there is a formal set of pronunciation rules for Peking Opera, analogous to a dialect? Where did this come from, was it based on one or many dialects, and if so which ones?

Beijing opera was not invented in the capital, but was largely imported from Anhui and other parts of the country, and then it evolved with further influences from other regions.

Certain pieces may therefore retain local accents, like Jiang-Huai (江淮官话) above, although the music itself makes it possible to just twist and distort the syllables.


What is proper way to WRITE "knock-knock"? What is a proper way to write knock-knock (the sound of knocking in the door) in Chinese?

Here're some of them, listed from light sound to heavy:

笃笃
咚咚
嘭嘭/砰砰
咣咣 (usually used with 砸门)


What's the difference between 候 and 等? I've usually seen in my little Mandarin learning experience, that when people express wait, they usually use 等. However, I just noticed the following phrase in Sina Weibo:

请稍候...

I know 请 means please, and I looked up in my dictionary, that 稍 is a little and 候 is wait. So the sentence seems to express please wait a little..., which is fine in the context (I tried reloading the data, for your information).

So what's the difference between 等 and 候?

None. They are synonyms, although they also have separate different meanings.

稍等 = 稍候 = wait a minute.

等候 = 等 = 候, although 候 is rarely used as a single character with this meaning.


Difference between 办法， 方法， and 方式？ From what I know, they all mean similar things (way, method), but 方式 can also mean style which makes it similar to 样式. Is there a difference in the way they are used grammatically or is the difference mainly about preference?

I haven't looked up in the dictionary, so my answer may not be accurate. Just for reference.
方法 means the way that should be followed when doing something. Example: 使用方法 (the way to use something, like washing machine or ointment)
办法 seems to be more colloquial, and mostly refers to the way to solve a problem or achieve a goal. Sometimes it is equivalent to 方法. Example: 我没办法吃这么多。(I can't make it to eat this much. )
方式 refers to the "style" when doing something. However, it is not eqivalent to 样式. The latter refers to what a thing looks like. Example: 传统方式未必是落后的。(Traditional way(style) is not definitely out of date. ) And: 传统的样式是很好看的。(Traditional style is very beautiful. )
Hope this will help you. ^o^


Where to find animation for character 阝? I seel only https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_170 or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_163 with (traditional?) version animated. Many sites don't know this characted at all. And others don't give animated gif.

This animation is on wikimedia commons:

There is also another one here on kanshudo but it's not a gif.


When was punctuation introduced into Chinese? I have seen some old Chinese books. The words flowed from top to bottom on the page and there was no punctuation.

How did readers know when the sentences began and ended?
Were any older forms of punctuation used then?
When was punctuation introduced into books?

There were no punctuation marks such as comma in ancient Chinese writings. It's stated in "Punctuations in Chinese Language" and in this forum's thread, "Punctuation Marks in Ancient Written Chinese", where there are two links to some ancient writings. As it's said there, having no punctuation at all, ancient scholars knew the meaning thanks to some structure and "rhythm" in the writing, but I haven't found any official source for this statement.

Regarding its introduction, according to Wikipedia, it seems that punctuation in Chinese became a part of its system in the 20th Century, so it's very recent.

The first book to be printed with modern punctuation was "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy (中國哲學史大綱)" by Hu Shi (胡適) in 1919.


What is the grammar behind 没四百下不来 Ok so I recently heard the phrase on a tv show

  没四百下不来

I kind of intuitively understand in the context that it meant that not even 400元 could buy the flowers that they were discussing.

However, exactly how this grammar works I'm not sure.What is the construction here and how is it used?

Actually your interpretation is not exactly correct(Although pretty close). The sentence means 400 yuan will be approximately sufficient(still probably a little bit too high or too low) to buy the stuff.

This is quite an oral expression(more commonly seen in northern China). But you can interpret it this way: “拿下来” means "get/fetch/catch something", a connotation which can also be expanded to "buy something"(e.g. get the ownership of something). In this sentence, “下来” can be seen as a shorthand for “拿下来”. And therefore “下不来” is "unable to get", the "不" in the sentence signifying negation(cannot, unable to). And the whole sentence therefore is "Without (at least) 400 yuan you cannot buy it". This should now make sense to you.


How to pronounce 调 in 同调代数? Certainly 同调代数 means the mathematical subject of homological algebra.  But different sources disagree as to whether the first two characters in that sense of the term are pronounced tóngtiáo or tóngdiào.

In fact I have mostly seen the characters with no pinyin, including on zh.wikipedia, and I have not spoken with Chinese mathematicians about it.  The term is not in my paper dictionaries.  Google translate and perapera both give tóngdiào.  But Wenlin (using the ABC dictionary) gives tóngtiáo for "homology" without specifying the mathematical sense.

Which is it?  Since seeing the comments below, I take the Baidu entry with pinyin as authoritative for tóngdiào.

同调 pronounces as: tóng diào, see reference.

(1) [same tone]∶音调相同

(2) [person with same common purpose or taste]∶比喻志趣或主张相同的人


Where can I find a list of chinese characters and their transcription in the 5 stroke classes used in the 五笔画 (wǔ bǐhuà) and Wubixing input method? For a personal project I want to create a (huge) graph that contains some (as many as possible) chinese characters along the paths of their corresponding keyboard input using the 5 stroke classes horizontal(一), vertical (丨), left falling (丿), right falling/dot (丶), and turning (乛/乙). I didn't have a problem to find a database that included a list of some thousand characters transcribed for their use in the Wubihua input method, but in this method only the 4 first strokes plus the last stroke is used, as opposed to a transcript of all the strokes building up that character.

For example, for 毓 you only type 丿一乛乛乛.

However, I am looking for a transcript like this:
果 = 丨乛一一一丨丿丶

The strokes used can be encoded in whatever way, I just need the full information. For example, I found an open source project for the Wubihua method (= exactly the 4+1 way I am not looking for) that encoded them like this:

nmmn. 即
.mmm/ 許
m/nm/ 區
m/m., 報
/nmmm 量
m//mm 基
m/mm/ 打
m//mm 聯
m/n,n 西
.mmm/ 該
m/mmn 指

with ., /, ,, n and m representing the 5 stroke classes mentioned above. I've been searching in GitHub repos for hours, but was only able to find the short 4+1 strokes version used in Wubihua.

I would be very grateful for a hint or link to a free-to-use database containing the necessary information for, say, at least some hundred of the most frequent characters.

Thanks in advance!

The keyword to search for is 筆順編號.
This github respository contains stroke order sequences for 29685 characters, coded as numbers 1-5. From the readme:

仅仅以1、2、3、4、5五个数字分别代表“一丨丿丶”五个笔画，按汉字笔顺进行输入。例如：
“开”字，按笔顺“一、一、丿、丨”，编码为1132； “我”字为31；“向”字为325；“力”为53；
注意“万”为153，“方”为4153，“忄”为442。
其中有些笔画容易被误解： “提”归为“一”：如“氵、扌”中的最后一笔；有些电脑字体繁体字的“雨字头”四点显示为四小横，皆按国标笔顺归为四点；
“亅”一竖往左勾的归为“丨”：如“小”字的第一笔、“扌”提手旁等；“乚”一竖往右勾的归为“”：如“比、民、氏”的左边那一笔；
“点、捺”都归为“丶”：如“文、入、表、厶”的最后一笔；“宀”宝盖头和“冖”秃宝盖的左边那一笔也都是“丶”，不是“丨”；
各种折笔（乛、フ、乚、、⺄、竖弯钩、竖提等）都归为“”：如“为、孔、民”中的笔画。

Bolded parts are easy to misinterpret strokes - but they've grouped it under the same 5 classifications as you've mentioned in the question details, so I guess this wasn't a problem for you.


Generally speaking, is it not possible to indicate 'was' or 'were' on '是‘？ I was listening to this 听力练习 on this beautiful day, staring at the little mountain outside my window.
莉莉：英子，你不是在一家公司工作吗？

I, swift as an eagle, think ‘Yingzi, aren't you working for a company?’

英子：是的。

I, swift as an eagle, think 'Yes'

英子：5年前，我在公司做秘书，工作强度大，时间长，薪水又不高，挺辛苦的。有了孩子以后，我就辞职了。

I, swift as an eagle, think ‘Wait a minute, Lilly just asked if she worked for a company, and Yingzi   said '是的’。 These women are crazy! Yingzi resigned after she had a baby!

Go back, listen again.

莉莉：英子，你不是在一家公司工作吗？, 英子：是的。not 英子：没有啊。
莉莉：英子，你不是在一家公司工作吗？here means ‘Yingzi, weren't you working for a company?’

I have looked for and found instances of '是了‘ and '是过’ but I think that the meaning was not to indicate that the given event was somewhere in the past.

他们过去是好朋友, 但现在已不再是了.
整个儿说起来, 我们的日子是过得挺痛快的.

Generally speaking, is it not possible to indicate 'was' or 'were' on '是‘ or '在‘？？

Think about it like this. Let's say we recap this conversation in English, but omit any tenses:

L: Yingzi, be not you working for a company?
Y: Yes, I be. 5 years ago, I be a sectary blah blah. Then I quit.

You would have no problem inferring the tense of these sentences, right?

Chinese language is just like that. It doesn't depend on using different forms of verbs to indicate tense. You just have to infer that information from the context. And put enough information in your sentences for others to grasp your idea.

You may have seen something like 爱过, 爱了 in Chinese but they are not equivalents of "loved" in English. They are just 爱(love) with additional information 过 or 了 to indicate the action of love happened in the past or have been completed. There's no such a thing as past tense (or any tense) of a verb in Chinese.

This ambiguity makes Chinese language more versatile (and more difficult to learn).


追忆 vs。怀旧 how to say "To reminisce"? For a while, I've been trying to express a good translation for the english "to reminisce". Reminisce means, in general, to spend time with friends/family thinking about happy things that had happened in the past.

I know that 追忆 and  怀旧 are common translations - do they both express this "happy, remembering" meaning? If not, how are they used?

Reminisce doesn't have a "happy remembering" meaning, nor does it imply spending any time with anyone, friends or family or otherwise. Reminisce only means "to remember, talk, or write about the past (in an indulging way)". Thinking about "happy things in the past" as the question wanted is more like "to reminisce fondly".

The closest match in Chinese is 追憶 / 追忆, meaning "to remember past events". It is similar to 回憶, but 追憶 evokes a stronger, more emphatic feel, making it more similar to English's "to reminisce".

In contrast, 懷舊 / 怀旧 conveys a sense of cherishing the memories. Its means "yearning for the past", rather than recalling it, and implies rose-tinted glasses. Note that 懷舊 is also a noun, meaning "nostalgia".

Another suggestion that can't be used for reminisce is 懷緬, or more correctly 緬懷. It actually means "imagining the past (history, not memory)" or "cherishing the memory (typically, of someone who died)". For example, "Commemorating my late mother (緬懷天上的媽媽)". Rather inappropriate for translating reminisce.

What the question really asks for seems to be "to reminisce with friends and family". For this sense of the word, a good Chinese option is 敘舊 / 叙旧 - literally, "to talk about olden days". This word is strictly about reminiscing with people, and works well for situations such as "to reminisce with old friends at the high school reunion (在高中同學會與老友敘舊)". Note that 敘舊 can't be used for general thinking, remembering, or writing.


Translation of "to substitute for"? I'm writing an email to a teacher and I'm trying to say "two weeks ago, you substituted for the teacher of my class". I'm trying to figure out how to say "substituted" and I haven't been able to figure out the right word in the context of a class. I've found 替代，代替，取代, etc., and I can't figure out which one's correct in this context.

'you substituted for the teacher of my class' = 你给我们班代课


Does Chinese distinguish in/on/to the south? Does 在伦敦的南面/南边 is a mixture of in/on/to the south of London?

Well to distinguish the south-side of London (within) and south of London (outside):
在伦敦的南部/南方/南区/城南 The south-part/side/district/ of London.
Note: 城南 is specifically the south side of a city. 在伦敦的城南。
在伦敦的南边/南面 South of London. Outside of London.
I feel 南边/南面 could be used to mean either inside or outside depending on the context.


How do you use "which" as a relative pronoun? How do you use "which" as a preposition relative pronoun in chinese?

For example, I'm trying to translate：
 There is a cozy tea sitting area in our shop which is in front of the Campbell's farmers market on every Sunday

美週末星期天，在於商店裡，有一場舒適（座位／休息區）；我們的店位於農貿Campbell市場前。

My translation uses two complete sentences, but I want to make it a sentence followed by the preposition relative pronoun "which is in front of the Campbell's farmers market on every Sunday".

I am a native Chinese and Linguistic major graduate student, I guess my answer is suitable:

每周末我们位于Campbell农贸市场前面的商店里都会提供一个舒适的茶座。

Or:
每个周末,我们位于Campbell农贸市场前面的商店都会提供一个舒适的茶座。

Either is Ok and I prefer the later one.


Does anyone knows a 'Leo' surname transliterated from the 劉/刘 characters? Grandfather from Macau, China came to the Philippines when he was only 13 years old. His name in my Dad's birth certificate is 'Leo Suening'.
yDNA (paternal test) results points me to the Liu/劉/刘 surname. Leo sounds Liu too.

The Wikipedia page for Liu says:

劉 / 刘 (/ljoʊ/ or /ljuː/;1 romanised as Liu, Lau, Leo, Ryu, Yoo, Lew, Lieu, Liou, Liw) is a Chinese surname. Liu as transcribed in English can represent several different surnames written in different Chinese characters.

As you can see the surname has been Romanized in many different ways, including: Leo. So, 刘 would be the simplified character writing for Leo while 劉 would be the traditional character writing for Leo.


Characters with only horizontal 横 strokes Aside from 一, 二 and 三 are there any other characters made from only horizontal 横 strokes?

亖 there is, also, this alternative character for 四.

 is an alternative form of 上.

 is an alternative form of 下.

 is an alternative form of 二 (and also apparently the Japanese Ditto mark).


Can 会儿 be pronounced 3rd tone? The word 会儿 means "a short amount of time." All dictionaries I have checked say that the correct pronunciation of this word is huìr (i.e., 4th tone). Nevertheless, I am fairly sure that I have heard it pronounced huǐr (i.e., 3rd tone) from time to time. It's especially obvious in constructions like 等会儿, where the speaker will pronounce 等 as déng in accordance with tone sandhi.

Is 会儿 ever pronounced huǐr in casual speech? Am I totally mistaken? If you're a native speaker, how do you pronounce it?

You are right.
会 is the 4th tone in the dictionary (the most official 新华字典) and if you are in a test, you'd better follow that.
However, in daily Chinese, there are a lot of people using the 3rd tone as casual speech.
Actually, 会 is a kind of popular mistake. There are a lot of examples for that.
In the ancient book POEM （诗经；shi jing）, one sentence reads 君子好逑 jun1 zi3 hao3 qiu2. But people tend to read it as jun1 zi3 hao4 qiu2. Upper level Chinese classes in Chinese high school specifically teaches the importance of these terms. But the daily talking is in a kind of casual style.
Anyway, people are able to follow your mind despite one or few pronunciation differences.


Does Shanghainese have a buzzing sound & what does it mean? I overheard a Chinese man speaking over the telephone on the London underground last night. At one point he made a buzzing sound which in the context of his call I understood to be a word or at least a form of communication. If I was to write down the sound it would be a non-pinyin "ZZZZzzzzzZZZ" with the different cases a poor attempt at representing the variation in tone over the length of the sound.

My Chinese (Shandong) wife was with me and she believed that it was a word from what she calls (in English) 'local language' which she means to be any of China's non-standard Mandarin dialects or other languages excluding Cantonese.

After he finished the call we started a conversation because he was surprised to hear me speaking Chinese.  He told us he was from Shanghai. I didn't think at the time to ask him about that sound.

My wife believes it was a word from Shanghainese dialect but doesn't know the meaning. I believe this may be a word because I think I have heard similar sounds in a conversation between 2 Chinese people long ago before I knew any Chinese at all.

So, is this sound actually a word with a meaning from Shanghainese dialect? Or from any dialect at all?

是 (the copula) is pronounced /z̩/ in Shanghainese. The negative (often written as 伐, though for phonetic reasons only) is pronounced like "vah". So one often hears zzzvuhzzz in the middle of Shanghainese conversations.


Help with song lyrics pronunciation （我的新衣）? So I was listening to the song "我的新衣” by Vava, and at a point the rapper Ty sings. And for some reason in this verse走到街上就像一千台进口奔驰 instead of 街 I listen he raps kāi. Can someone please tell me what he raps? Is it maybe some local accent and that's why I'm not hearing him pronouncing 街（jiē）properly? Thanks!

The pronunciation is most likely from a topolectical influence. If you check Wiktionary's entry on「街」, for example:

EDIT: as @user3306356 has noted, the rapper is speaking/rapping/singing in a topolect of Chengdu.


Can someone explain why 玩儿 is used in these sentences? I am someone new to chinese, I am in chinese 3 honors. We are learning about traveling and had some questions about the use of 玩儿 in these sentences and why they are here!
今年夏天我们在西安玩儿了三天，在北京玩儿了一个星期 - This summer we spent three days in Xi'an and one week in Beijing
他们在北京一共玩儿了七天。- They spent a total of seven days in Beijing.
如果你想去中国玩儿，你就要办签证 - You need a visa if you want to go to China
Can someone break down the sentence structure to these sentences :)

As a Chinese, I don't think so we need to play a lot of "玩儿“, the retroflex final is more useful in the north of china.


Can I always write the 艹 (grass radical) with three lines only? The 艹 (grass radical) is present in for example 歡　and 貓 and 喵

In some fonts it's rendered as two separate crosses 十十， in some as one horizontal line with two vertical lines crossing it.

Can I always write the grass radical in either way, or are there certain characters/situations that demand either way of writing it to be correct?

Two notes:

艹 is 4 strokes in Taiwan and Hong Kong only. It is less helpful to think of it as a "traditional"/"simplified" difference, as among other standards which use "traditional characters" (e.g. Korean Hanja), it is also 3 strokes.
歡 does not strictly contain 艹; it is historically written with 卝, commonly known as 羊頭. In modern times, the distinction may be relaxed, and many fonts may display it with 艹. Please refer to this Quora answer detailing what kinds of characters contain 卝 rather than 艹.

To "write things correctly", you need to understand what kind of regional Han character standard you're adhering to and look up the character in their official list. Otherwise, you should stick to the most recent common ancestor of all Han character standards, which is the Kangxi Dictionary standard.


What does 老 mean here? I’m currently watching A Love So Beautiful with Chinese subtitle and there’s a line where the main character, Chen Xiaoxi, said:

“就是走路太快，我老跟不上。”

What does 老 mean here?
Does it mean “我老了，我跟不上”?

The meaning of 老 serving as an adverb is 总是.


How to say "in front of everyone" in Chinese I have 在大家面前 and 在公共场所。It is for the sentence "I don't want to say this in front of everyone."

formal one: 众目睽睽之下
normal one: 在大家面前 / 在大家都在的时候 (If you know the guys around you, else: ) 在这么多人面前 / 在这么多人在的时候

The sentence: 我不想在大家都在的时候说这种话(If you know the guys around you, else: ) 我不想在这么多人面前说这种话


What is the difference between 翼 and 翅膀? As far as I know, both 翼 and 翅膀 mean "wing". I've heard people say "雞翼", "雞翅膀", "固定翼飛機", "鳥翅膀". All of these are wings, so what is the difference between 翼 and 翅膀? When should one be used over the other?

翅膀 is a compound word only refers to actual wing attached to living creatures. Airplane's wing can only be called 機翼

翼 is a general term for wing. Beside describing all kind of wings. It can also be used metaphorically.  For example: '左翼' (left wing) '右翼' (right wing) in politic; '側翼'  (side wing) in military formations;  翼鋒 (left or right side striker) in soccer; 東翼 (East wing), 南翼(South wing), 西翼(West wing), 北翼(North wing) of a building

You cannot replace 翼 with 翅膀 in these examples


Which Chinese dialect group is the surname Kuok from? Which Chinese dialect group is the surname Kuok from?
I assume it's a variant of the Mandarin Guo (郭).

郭 (Kwok, also spelled Kuok) is a Cantonese surname. It is cognate with the Mandarin surname 郭 (Guo, Kuo).


What does "三魂去了两魂半" mean? It's used to describe an expression so I guess it's close to being shocked or frightened from the context it's used in but I don't really understand why it means that.

So a detailed explanation will be much appreciated.

The expression is somewhat similar to English scare the living daylights out of somebody, with many variations. A quick Google search shows

三魂[少/去/嚇飛]了二魂
三魂剩下半魂
三魂去二

and other similar constructions.

三魂 refers to the three hun in Chinese philosophy/folk religion or Daoist belief. The three hun make up a person's "essence" (soul, spirit) when they're alive, and go their separate paths after a person passes away:

One hun returns to the primordial universe from whence it came;
One hun faces judgement for the person's good and bad wordly deeds in hell;
One hun resides at a person's burial place or ancestral tablet, and is the hun that is passed on to a person's descendants.

If the three hun are somehow absent from the body when the body is still alive, then the body becomes a walking corpse (行尸走肉), so the expression 三魂去了兩魂半 means almost frightened to death.


How to congratulate someone on getting a new job? How would I congratulate someone on getting a new job?

In English I would say something like:

Congratulations on your new job!

I've done a bit of research and came up with these:

祝你找到一个好工作

恭喜获得这个工作

你的新工作表示祝贺

But I'm not sure about how 'natural' these sound, or if there is a better alternative?

「祝你找到一个好工作」 means "Wish you find a good job".
It's usually used when somebody is hunting for a (new) job,

「恭喜获得这个工作」and「你的新工作表示祝贺」 are quite natural expression.
But from my point of view:
「恭喜获得这个工作」   --> 「恭喜您获得这个工作」
「你的新工作表示祝贺」 --> 「对你的新工作表示祝贺」
 are a little better.

You can also say 「祝您今后在工作岗位上大展鸿图！」 to wish other people a bright future on their new job.


What could 轰 be a contraction of to mean "what"? 轰 can be found in some dialects, often with a 个 found on the end, to mean what.

This is most definitely a contraction. (Similar dialects also feature a contraction of 哪 and 样 as 孃 niang, also meaning what.)

What could 轰 be a contraction of?

My best guess at the moment is that it is a contraction of something like 何 + 用, but that's a stab in the dark at best.

To answer @dan's questions in the comments:

  What dialects use it?

I believe it is, perhaps too specifically, part of 仁富小片.

  Do you have a specific example?

newssc [dot] org

  “我跟你们说嘛，轰个叫做乡愁……”

Not only in Sichuan. Some Anhui dialects use it too. Probably contracted from 何麽. 哪麽 contracted to be LANG in Chongqing.


What does 我为你们践行。translate to? What does 我为你们践行。 translate to? I’ve looked around the internet, it seems to mean farewell or to fulfill a promise or send you to the door or practice for you? Not too sure here, please enlighten folks!

Judging from the context you may have made a typo. It should be 饯行. 饯行 means to set up a feast to send away someone who is travelling to a place far away. 践行 on the other hand, means to practice, and should not be used here.


Help with Chinese painting marks please Please can anyone help identify what is written on this painting and the accompanying marks / seals please? I’ve tried to research this but the amount of information is overwhelming! Any help Gratefully received! Thank you.
!

the top seal is “張爰㞢印”, you may compare the small seal character:
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=張
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=爰
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=㞢
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=印
roughly, it means the seal of “張爰”
the bottom one is “大千”
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=大
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=千
張大千, a famous artist in the last century
the top five bigger characters are :番女掣厖啚 (last character, actually is a variant not yet have a unicode code point)

https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?quote_code=QTAwNzM5LTAwMQ
the following characters are:
甲x嘉平月蜀郡張爰大千父
“嘉平月” is the last month of the chinese calendar, roughly mid-december to mid-february
“蜀郡” is sichuan
“張爰大千父” is name of the author
甲x, well it must be the one of the sexagenary cycle. unfortunately i can’t recognise the x at this moment


Difference between 持续 and 继续 There is a particular sentence that has raised some questions among my private tutors.

  不管你是快乐还是难过，生活总要___下去。

You're asked to determine whether 持续 or 继续 is correct, or that both are correct.

The correct answer according to the answer model is:

  Both

Both of my private tutors believe it should be:

  继续

They argue that the first clause indicates that your life stops at the moment you're happy or sad, for instance, when you've lost your wife, you will feel terrible, not go to work and only lie in bed. At that time, your friends can say:

  不管你是快乐还是难过，生活总要继续下去。

I know that the main difference between 持续 and 继续 is that 持续 indicates that the action doesn't stop from beginning to end (continuously), while 继续 indicates that there is be a stop during the action (to continue).

Question: What should be the correct answer, backed by reasoning and preferably sources.

I prefer to use 继续 in the context. Here is why :

持续 can be construed as 保持 + 继续. E.g. 会议持续招开了两个小时 means the meeting is in the 召开 state and keep(continue with) that state for two hours. However, 生活 in this context is a generic concept and it doesn't specify what kind of life you want to persist. In other words, it doesn't specify in what way 生活 would be continuing.

持续 would be more accurate if the sentence is put as: 不管你是快乐还是难过，"这样的生活"总是要持续下去。 It's because with 这样的生活, we clearly know how 生活 will be continuing.

So, 不管你是快乐还是难过，生活总要继续下去 is more accurate. It means generally 生活 will 继续/continue no matter the way it is, and no matter how you feel -- happy or sad.


Why are there so many 与 here? In the following passage there are a lot of 与. Please let me know if I understand each of them correctly.

公关人是客户*与*市场受众的纽带， 公关公司职员通过*与*媒体编辑或记者的联系和沟通，将客户的需求软性地传递给目标客户群。

Public Relation are customers' and market audiences' link, PR companies' staff connects with media editor or reporters's connection and links(?), gathers customers' requests (and) softly/subtly reach out to the target market (?? please correct me)

在*与*客户的接洽方面，公关公司一般*与*客户公司的公关部或市场部接口，而他们往往对生活的*具象品质*质比较看重，在个人形象和品味方面会较为在意。

With (?? No idea what 在与 is) customers' side of the matter, PR companies usually connects with customer's company's PR division or marketing division, furthermore they quite care about life's figurative product (?? what is 具象品质?), fairly care about a person's image and interests (?)

By the way do people actually speak like like this in oral conversation?

Thank you very much

I am not commenting on your whole translation here, just the parts relating to 与.

As for the first passage, in the first case 与 is used to show that the link/connection is between the two items connected by 与 (literally it would read like: the A and B connection, i.e. the connection involving both A and B, which we say as between A and B).  As for the second case, we can analyze it as follows: [公关公司职员]通过[[与媒体编辑或记者]的联系和沟通]，[将[客户的需求]]软性地传递给[目标客户群] -> [the PR company's staff] through [[with media editors or reporters]'s relations and connections], [OBJ: [client's demands] gently convey to the target demographic] -> Through connecting with the media, the the PR company's staff gently conveys the client's demands to the target client base[?] (perhaps target demographic? I'm not 100% sure with business jargon).

在与客户的接洽方面 can be dissected as 在[与客户的接洽]方面 -> regarding/on/concerning discussions with customers.  As with the first passage, 与 is bringing together two items that are connected (in this case the two parties involved in the talks), only in this case the first item is omitted.  The next 与 is the same as described for the first passage (the interface between ... and ...)

as for 具象品质, the definition I found for 具象 has it as the opposite of 抽象, so perhaps: practical/effective product quality


脚底抹油－开溜 translate into English Can someone help me to translate 脚底抹油－开溜 because when I'm using google translate the sentence is so weird.

If something bad happened, you can 脚底抹油 (put oil on the sole of foot) , and then 开溜 (start to slip away quickly).

In short, it means expeditious retreat.

BTW: Here's another statement as 脚底抹油 - 溜之大吉, which has a similar meaning.


How does 殳 resemble a hand holding a tool? After reading the etymology of 設, I read that of one of the underlying ideograms: 殳.

  Pictogram (象形) or Ideogrammic compound (會意): 几 + 又 – a hand holding a tool, hence activity.

How does 几 resemble a hand?
How does 又 resemble a tool? What tool is being referred to?

This YouTube video didn't assist.

Slight correction, 「殳」 originally depicted a hand 「又」 holding a spear/rod-like weapon/club.

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Forms 1, 3, 5, 6 are all 「殳」. Form 2 is the character 「㱿」. Form 4 is the character 「毀」. Take note of the right hand side of 「㱿」 and 「毀」, which both have 「殳」 as a component.

「殳」 originally depicted a hand 「又」 holding a spear, rod, or club-like weapon, which now looks like 「几」. The original meaning of 「殳」, a kind of weapon, is now written as 「杸」.

As a character component giving a meaning hint, 「殳」 originally had something to do with attacking or hitting. For example,

「擊」 to attack

「殺」 to kill

「毀」 to destroy, ruin

「役」 enslave > labour

「聲」 sound (ears 耳 hearing stone chimes 声 being struck 殳)

Through semantic extension, it was also used as a marker for verb-like words or morphemes, such as

「發」 (to shoot arrows > emit)

「設」 (to establish)

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂
國學大師

郭沫若《甲骨文合集》
中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》


Are there northern dialects which still preserve velars before front vowels? It's well known that Modern Standard Mandarin has merged what were historically velar stops and alveolar silibants when followed by front vowels. For instance, 京 is "jing" rather than "ging", and 津 is "jin" rather than "zin".

While there are plenty of southern dialects which preserve this distinction, I was under the impression that 北方话 dialects (regardless of whether they are in the north) had this merger.

However in a YouTube video (from the 老饭骨 channel), I heard what seems to be 激 pronounced by one of them as "gi" (the other uses standard "ji"). Is this distinction still a thing in at least some northern dialects? Or perhaps a merger where the velars won?

I'm not sure 北方话 here means mandarin (官话) languages or the Chinese languages in northern China.

If the former, most 桂柳官话, i.e. southwestern mandarins in Guangxi, meet your requirements.

If the latter, some dialects in Shandong preserve the pronunciation somehow between palatal and velar.

A CCP political figure 孙政才, who is from 山东荣成, speaks with an accent with this feature. BTW, he was beaten by Xi, sentenced to life imprisonment.

孙政才讲话


When to use 家 vs 师 vs 员 vs 者 I'm translating my resume into Chinese so I can maybe apply for a Chinese job.

There are a number of items on there where I'm not sure when to use 家, 师, 员, or 者.

Example, I developed a comics website, Hitting Trees with Sticks.com where I was the sole developer, designer, artist, and writer.

I translated it as this, but am not sure if I'm correct:

其他          Hitting Trees with Sticks.com, 漫画与艺术        四月‘12年到至今
        唯一的网站开发人员，设计师，艺术家以及作者

Are there some rules I can use to determine when I should use which?

I'll just talk about my own understanding here.

家 says that someone is so professional and experienced, and may have reputation so that he/she can be regarded as a master or authority in his/her field, e.g. 武术家, which means a martial art master.

师 often emphasizes occupation or job, compare 画家 and 画师.

员 is usually related to staff or crew.

者 is formal, as Mike says, and also general.


How do you say "I know that I don't know"? How would I translate ""I know that I don't know" into Chinese?

I can translate the similar sentence "I know that you don't know" as 我知道你不知道. However, saying 我知道我不知道 sounds strange. What's the best way to translate it? Is there a sensible translation that preserves the grammatical structure in English, which has "I don't know" as the nominalized object of "I know"?

我意识到我不知道. I realize that I don't know.

我知道我不了解情况. I know I don't know the situation.


What is learned by analyzing the component and relationship of 牧野 in regards to The Battle of Muye? In other words, what am I missing by not analyzing the characters?

It seems that 牧 (mù) can be used in a very Chinese sense to connote a benevolent ruler, in that the term is also used for shepherd. (By this I mean to say that it seems to reflect a conception of legitimacy I've have gleaned from the Classical Novels, Three Kingdoms in particular, and the Analects, in regards to the central importance of both the conduct and the humanity of a leader.)

牧 also seems to have a connection to the number 9, in that it was used to connote a ruler of one of the 9 states dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period.  But is this connection merely arbitrary?  (This point is of particular interest as the inquiry relates to an entirely novel game in the same class as Chess and Go, which uses empty Sudoku as gameboards--classic Sudoku has nine regions. The intent is to use the game to commemorate an event of monumental importance in world culture in both the establishment of the new dynasty, and the explication of the Mandate of Heaven, which the game may be said to reflect, particularly in the "west", where this history is little known.)

野 (yě) appears to be simpler, connoting an uncultivated topography, but also has additional meanings related to the general populace, and even coarseness and unofficiality to the point of illicitness.

I'm looking for correction, contextualization, and instruction on these characters individually and in combination.  I'm also interested to know how 牧野 alone might be interpreted differently than 牧野之戰 (Mù Yě zhī Zhàn).

牧野之戰 (Mù Yě zhī Zhàn)
in here,"牧野" is a place name.Don't think too much.


Is there a word for "shadow"? "Shadow" meaning "a person who accompanies someone in their daily activities at work in order to gain experience at or insight into a job."

The term " to shadow "(跟随/跟著) means 'follow (closely like a shadow)'.
Example:

"Today is your first day on the job, you don't have to do anything, just shadowing John and watch how he works."
(今天是你工作的第一天，你不用做任何事情，只要跟著約翰, 看看他是如何工作便可以了.)

For a noun that describes 'someone who does the shadowing'
I suggest '見習生'
Example:

"you would be John's shadow today"
(你今天就當約翰的見習生吧)

~

見習 (v) to watch and learn
見習生(n) a person on job probation (watch and learn)

見習生 is a general term, It can be a student training in actual work place or a new employee starting a job on probation. Different companies have different training methods. Shadowing is one kind of 見習, which trainee can learn by observing, and not hamper the trainer's regular work routine.


What kind of appearance does 丰泽的肌肤 have？ “宝钗生得肌肤丰泽，宝玉看着她雪白的胳膊，不觉动了羡慕之心。”

'丰泽的肌肤' looks like what?? Maybe just like her 雪白的胳膊??

  Edit
    Thanks for the answers. So if we slip into a Yorkshire brogue:

  宝钗生得肌肤丰泽， Bao Chai 'ad become a buxom lass wi' a radiant complexion,

'丰' in '丰泽' means '丰滿' (plump/ full) or '丰富'(rich)

'泽' in '丰泽' means '润泽 (moist) or 光泽' (Shiny)

I would say '肌肤丰泽' means '肌肤丰滿而有光泽' (full body with shiny skin)

宝钗 is a healthy looking lady with shiny skin, while 林黛玉 is a thin and pale girl

'full' here doesn't mean 'fat', it means ' plump and bouncy' (丰满而有弹性)


Are "主题" and "内涵 interchangeable?" The sentence I'd like to say is:

  "Yes, it does involve the idea that the face of death brings out the best and the worst in people, yet other themes are involved."

This translates to:

  “对，它蕴含着死亡会揭示人们的最好和最坏的方面的含义，但是本故事也有别的内涵。”

Can you use "主题" instead of "内涵"?

No.

主题 = 'main topic'

内涵 = 'meaning/connotation'

In English, the topic of a conversation is often very different from the meaning of the same conversation. The same applies to Chinese.


Do any names start with 谦？ A while back, when I first started learning Chinese, I chose my Chinese name to be 谦恭. I chose this because 谦恭 is a loose direct translation of the meaning of my name.

So, a few years later, I found out that 谦恭 cannot be used as a name as it is improper. I did not worry about it so much then, but now I am going to be studying abroad in China in the Fall. So I would like to know if there are any names in China that start with 谦. I am really attached to 谦恭 because I have had it as my name for so long.

My actual legal name has no phonetic similarities with 谦恭 either. Just so you know.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Here's an alternative point of view.

谦恭 is an okay Chinese name, albeit "uncommon."

If you check out this article on zhummzyking的博客 it talks about 谦 as a surname.
Under part two origins the article explains:

二.姓氏渊源：
第一个渊源：源于礼法，出自春秋时期君子之道，属于以儒家礼法为氏。
谦，是春秋时期儒家学派所提倡的礼法，提倡恭谦退让为尚，有心谦和面谦之分，儒家强调以君子之风，面对同等地位之人，应在内心上恭顺谨慎、文良逊让，以显尊敬，其在史籍《史记·乐书》中就有记载：“君子以谦退为礼。”当然，如若社会地位不对等者，儒家就不讲求什么“谦”了。
春秋后期，有一些人以君子自诩，遂改以礼法为姓氏，即称谦氏，后有不少人改回原姓氏，但仍有坚持为谦氏者，世代相传至今，其姓源繁复，不可一论。

Then it talks about a fairly well known monk by the name of:

谦开善.

The page also mentions a second origin but I won't paste that here.

谦 is not a common surname, but it is indeed a last name.

How about 恭 then?
This is where the China Biographical Database (CBDB) comes in handy.
A search for names with 恭 in them provides many names, alternative names and courtesy names.
Names like:

陳彥恭

程嗣恭

孫恭

Multiple people have the posthumous name:

文恭

including 王珪 and 王綯.
If you go through CBDB's name list the number of 恭's is immense.

恭 is a legit name.

You might see some complaints about your name, but Chinese names are diverse and varied and after all you have evidence to back you up.


Difference between 顾客, 客, 客户 and 客人 As in the title what is the difference in word usage/meaning between the following fours words:

客
顾客
客户
客人

?

客, guest, visitor. For a shop, it is customer.

顧客, customer. (顧, look back -> visit and revisit.)

客户, customer account, a customer with account. (户, the front door -> household -> account). Some ignore the concept of account.

客人, 人客. guest / visitor (of human).


Why is there a 地 in (霉)旧地席的气味? From the second chapter in George Orwell's 1984, using the translations at Douban:

  Original: The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats.
  Translation 1: 门厅里有一股熬白菜和旧地席的气味
  Translation 2: 一进门厅就闻到煮卷心菜和霉旧地席的气味

Question: Why is there a 地 in (霉)旧地席的气味?

It seems like it should be a 的, not a 地.  My understanding is that (霉)旧 (old) is an adjective describing the noun 席 (mat), and thus it should be 的.

「地」 is not a particle here. The word for rag mats is translated as the two-character word 「地席」, literally mat (席) for the floor (地).

  ...舊地席的气味

  ...smelt (气味) of (的) ... old (舊) rag mats (地席).


How to ask "Can you still speak Chinese?" in Chinese Mandarin? I think I can say like this 你还能说中文吗 to ask whether someone still can speak Chinese or not. But I doubt about the word can.
It seems like the following words can all mean can:

可
能
会

Which word is the most common use for the word can?

"你还能说中文吗?" = "Can you still speak English?" (have the ability/ able to to speak Chinese)
"你还可说中文吗?" =  "Can you still speak Chinese?" (allowed to speak Chinese)
"你还会说中文吗?" =  1. "Can you still speak Chinese?" (know how to speak Chinese) 2. "Would you still speak Chinese?" (willing to/ would speak Chinese)
Although 会 can mean 'know how to' or 'would', "你还会说中文吗?" is still the most native way to say "Can you still speak Chinese", and "你还能说中文吗?" is also grammatical


Is there any study on the relative difficulty of native Chinese speakers with different dialects learning another dialect? I wonder if there is any research conducted in China, on the relative difficulty of Chinese speakers learning different dialects. I'm looking for something like the research by the Foreign Service Institute (this is the relative difficulty of learning a foreign language for English-speakers).

I'm especially interested in how hard it is for Mandarin speakers to acquire Cantonese.

(This may not be a proper answer.)

I don't know if there is any study about that.

The relative difficulty is based on learners.

For nonnative speakers, they may find learning Cantonese is as difficult as learning Chinese. For Mandarin speakers who were born in the north of China, they may consider Cantonese as difficult as a foreign language. But for people who were born in Fujian Province, they may learn Cantonese easier than others.

There are a wide variety of dialects in China. Usually, people from the same region may understand each other's dialect well. But this is not true in Guangdong Province.

For most Mandarin speakers, they may find Northeast Dialect, Henan Dialect, Tianjin Dialect and Sichuan Dialect most easy to understand.


How do friends use each other's name? How do people (especially in Taiwan) use their names when talking among friends, for example, in University?

I've previously heard that some people always use the complete name when addressing other people - is this true?

For example, let's say that Person A talks to Person B about Person C and they are all friends and know each other. Would Person A use Person C's complete name here? Or only the given name?

Another situation: what if Person A talks directly to Person B and wants to use Person B's name in a sentence?

Additionally, how does the use of English names come into play? I think I've heard some people use their English names in a Chinese sentence before.

Thanks!

From my personal observations from living in Taiwan for years, I found that it really varies, depends on what people are used to in that particular town or area, depends on the level of formality or familiarity, the person's who is calling the name personality and what the named person introduces themselves as.

Calling each other by full 3-character name seems common in some circles even among close friends (my girlfriend often even calls her parents and brother by full name casually, and most of her friends from school exclusively by full name in an affectionate way), completely nonexistent in other circles and in others yet only certain people are called by the full 3 characters, while others are not.

Using the 2-character given name seems to me to be the most common form of address between informal casual acquaintances, ,schoolmates, university students, members of a club, etc., where everyone is roughly of same age or rank and nobody is long-term friends with anyone.

In groups with long-standing relationships I would say most people have a nickname and expect to be addressed by it over their name. Sometimes, especially down south, the nickname is a character of their name prefixed with 阿, such as Awei, Ajie, Ajou, Amin, etc. Sometimes it would be 阿+another random name or word that is unrelated to their real name. The above also applies to using 小 instead of 阿. 小 is often also used with just their surname. Other nicknames seem to be completely random words that people are called (and call themselves) that translate to things like cucumber, chicken, bucket head, whatever. Totally random.

English names are also quite common as nicknames that they are know by over their real names. This is in my experience more common up north, in metropolitan areas and groups where people tend to speak more English, especially the entertainment industry where colleagues wouldn't even know the Chinese name of someone who calls themselves by an English name. Something like 大家好我是Cindy is very common to hear as an introduction, even on the radio.

Edit: Forgot to include another very common nickname type which is used pretty much exclusively by girls: reduplication. Taking one character of their name and doubling it, making that their nickname. Like NingNing, TianTian, JiaJia, HuaHua, etc.


Difference between 家 and 家里? Also 家人 and 家里人? Difference between 家(home) and 家里(home) bcs both also means the same.

Another question is, difference between 家人 and 家里人 bcs both means family members.

Does it 100% means the same? I have search everywhere but still couldn't find the difference. Would be really grateful if you guys can help me out. Thanks!!!

家 = home

家人 = family; family members (See  Different terms for 'family' and 'family member')

家里 = 1. in my home (example: "他家里没有养宠物" ="there's no pet in his house") 2. in the family (example: "我家里有父母和两个姐妹" = "In my home, I have parents and two sisters"  or  " I have parents and two sisters in my family )

家里人 = people in my home = family; family members


Need an API to convert Pinyin to Simplified Chinese characters I need a tool that is like Google's transliterate that will convert Pinyin to Chinese Character. It works like this:

http://shawnwow.com/chineseCharacterHelpr/transliterateTest.htm

But since it is discontinued there isn't much of an API.

An alternative I found early on was this:

http://yuhanz.github.io/chinese-ime.html

But that also didn't have much flexibility to its layout. It was made by a guy over the weekend while he was super kind he doesn't provide support.

Basically what I am looking for is the ability to grab the characters and display them how I want instead of in the box they provide. If you delete transliterateTest.htm from the URL of the first (limited to 2 URLs) and you type a Chinese character and click hint you will have a stronger idea of what I am looking for. What I need is to click a character and have the IME reset and do it all again. I tried to hack at this one but the functionality of the IME is acting funky.

What I would love is one that just goes out and grabs a Character array based on the JSON and gives me complete control on how I want to parse through the array. So far this site is entirely in JavaScript and while we will be getting Python later on I am only helping with the JavaScript phase.

I was asking on the stackoverflow (tech site) but I saw someone asking about Chinese to pinyin translation and having moderate luck.

Disclaimer: I do not speak Chinese. This is for my University's Masters project.

Based on Google  transliteration API:
https://www.google.com/intl/en/inputtools/services/features/transliteration.html

You can use http request "https://www.google.com/inputtools/request?ime=pinyin&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&app=translate&num=10&text=wozaixuezhongwen" to convert text "wozaixuezhongwen" to "我在学中文" (I am learning Chinese)

so you can use any language (Python, JavaScript, Java, ...) to send the http request and read the response, and build you own application flexibility.


What does "想問伊人何處" mean? There's this song in Chinese with these lyrics.

起雲動劍下虎嘯龍吟
誰知成敗早已是天定
想問伊人何處
離愁漸遠漸生
但願人長久情常在
無悔無憾

What does the phrase "想問伊人何處" mean and connote? I understand this song to be sad.

伊人 is lover.

想問伊人何處 means: I want to ask where is my lover.


What is the difference between 款式 and 格式 I know both of them mean "style", but don't know the difference between the two words.

Can somebody tell me the difference? I would appreciate it

The way out of your conundrum is to realize your original assumption I know both of them mean "style" is the source of confusion.

Words can become flexible and have more than one meaning, or "senses of the word". However, usually when asking about the meaning of a word, we are talking about the primary, or most common usage of a word.

In this case, even if both 款式 and 格式 can sometimes be used as "style", only one of them can be considered "style" as its primary use, primary meaning.

款式

Out of the choices, only this would have a primary meaning of "style"

CDICT search for 款式 translates this as:

pattern
style
design

格式

CDICT search for 格式 translates this as:

form
specification
format

On a more technical note, Yellowbridge etymology on the word 格 shows

木 [mù] tree; wood, lumber; wooden
各 [gè] each, individually, every, all

Perhaps one way think of what this word means, is that, at least in ancient times when this word was developed, wood was commonly thought of as a practical material for making, reshaping all kinds of different "forms" or "things"

In Taoism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Feng Shui, within their five elements, 木 or "wood element" is associated with creation/creating.

Conclusion

So, as long as you can let go of the idea that both "mean" style, then you can see that the difference in these terms is:

款式's primary use/meaning/sense is "style"
格式's primary use/meaning/sense is "form"

Unless you are not sure what the difference between the words "style" and "form", that would be new question then.


When someone says 我帮你 (I help you), does it imply they will assist you in doing something, or they will do it for you? My experiences in China suggests that when someone says

  我帮你
  Wǒ bāng nǐ
  I help you

they will not only just "help" you, but do whatever it is for you.  For example, someone might say 我帮你拿着 when they mean they will carry something for you.

Question: When someone says 我帮你, does it imply they will assist you in doing something, or they will do it for you?

I want to clarify whether my experiences are typical.

"帮" in "我帮你" is a shorter form of the verb "帮助" (help)".  "我帮你" means "I help you"

Example:

A: "who will help me?" - "谁会帮(助)我?"

B: "I will help you" - "我会帮(助)你"

  "帮" in [我帮你 + verb phrase] can be an auxiliary verb for "help" or a function word for "for (in behalf of)".

Example:

"我帮你對付他 = "I help you to deal with him" or "I deal with him for you"

"我帮你拿着" = "I help you to carry it" or "I carry it for you"


What does 俗话说的好 mean? In the following sentence:

  俗话说的好，要不不留学要留学就要留出个性。。。。。。这是我编的。。
  我们来看看我们社会主义坚实伙伴的古巴。古巴是西班牙语国家，抽雪茄，晒太阳都是家常便饭。

What does it mean? 俗话 means "proverb" and 俗话说 means "as the saying goes", but I don't understand the 的好 part.

I feel I understand the meaning, which actually doesn't change the meaning of the 俗话说 that much I think, but I would like to grasp it more grammatically. So how does the 的好 work grammatically in this sentence?

俗话说的好 vs 俗话说

俗话说: As the proverb express.

俗话说的好 means what the proverb says is exactly right or exactly fitting the circumstance/setting in the following statement.

From grammar point of view, the form should be 俗话说得好. The structure is verb + 得 + extent/result complement.

Some pedants would argue 俗话说 的 好 is a wrong expression. It looks that it's a common mistake by misplace 得 with 的. Personally, I wouldn't care about it since it's been widely used after all.


Which Harry Potter Translation is better I have two versions of Harry Potter (book 1) in mandarin chinese. Although the translation are mostly the same. There are enough difference to make me wonder if one is better than the other. By better I mean, is one either more accurate to the original or is one more suitable for someone reading their first full novel in mandarin. I can follow them both just fine. But I would if someone could provide insight on which translation is best.  This is the first full novel that I'm reading and I don't want to invest a lot of time into a book that's not considered a good translation.

Original

“Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.
“It was a dream,” he told himself firmly. “I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I’ll be at home in my cupboard.”
There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.
And there’s Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn’t open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“All right,” Harry mumbled, “I’m getting up.”
He sat up and Hagrid’s heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.
Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn’t wake up. “The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid’s coat.
“Don’t do that.”
Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.
“Hagrid!” said Harry loudly. “There’s an owl —”
“Pay him,” Hagrid grunted into the sofa.
“What?”
“He wants payin’ fer deliverin’ the paper. Look in the pockets.”
Hagrid’s coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets ”

Excerpt From: J.K. Rowling. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.” iBooks.

Translation #1

“哈刮第二天早上很早就醒来了，虽然他能感觉到已是天亮了，却仍然把眼睛闭得紧紧的。
"那是个梦，"他非常确定地对自己说，"我梦见了一个名叫哈格力的巨人，他告诉我我将进入一所学校学习魔法，当我睁开眼的时候，我便会呆在家中的橱柜里了。"
突然，有一阵很响的敲击声。
"那是帕尤妮亚姨妈在敲门了。"哈利想。他的心在下沉，但是他仍然紧闭双眼，因为那实在是个太美妙的梦了。
啪、啪、啪。
"好了，"哈利咕哝着，"我就起来了。"
他坐起来，哈格力的大外套从他身上滑落下来。小屋子里立刻充满了阳光，暴风雨已经过去，哈格力自己在一张折叠式的沙发上睡着了，“一只猫头鹰用爪子拍打着窗户，嘴里还叨着一份报纸。
哈利慢慢爬起来。他感到非常开心，就好像有一只大气球在他体内膨胀似的。
他径直走到窗户前面，猛地推开它，窗外那只猫头鹰便扑了进来，把报纸放在了熟睡的哈格力的头上，然后它振动着翅膀，停在地板上，开始啄哈格力的外衣。
"不许这样。"
哈利尽全力想把猫头鹰赶走，但是猫头鹰粗暴疯狂的用它的尖嘴啄哈利，并且不断地啄着那件外套。
"哈格力，"哈利大声叫喊，"这儿有只猫头鹰……"
"付钱给他。"哈格力在沙发里咕嗜着。
"什么？"
"他为我们送了报纸所以要拿报酬，看看口袋里。”

Excerpt From: 罗琳, J.K. “哈利波特与魔法石.” epub掌上书苑, 2010-04-11. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Translation #2

第二天一大早哈利就醒了。他明明知道天已经亮了，可还是把眼睛闭得
 紧紧的。
 “这是一个梦，，，他确定无疑地对自己说，“我梦见一个叫海格的巨人，他来对我说，要我进一所魔法学校。等我一睁眼，我准在家里，在碗柜里。”
 突然传来一阵啪啪的响声。
 “又是佩妮姨妈在捶门了。，，哈利心里想，他的心一沉。可他没有睁开眼，因为那个梦实在太好了。
 啪。啪。啪。
 “好了，”哈利嘟哝说，“我这就起来。”
 他坐了起来，海格的厚外衣从身上滑了下来。小屋里充满了阳光，暴风雨已经过去了。海格睡在坍塌的沙发上。一只猫头鹰正用爪子敲打窗户，嘴里衔着一份报纸。哈利感到特别高兴，仿佛胸中揣着的一个气球渐渐鼓起来，使他飘飘欲仙了。他径直走到窗前，用力推开窗户。猫头鹰飞了进来，把报纸扔到海格身上，但他还是没有醒。猫头鹰扑腾着翅膀飞到地上，开始抓海格的外衣。

抓。” 是猫头鹰用它的利喙朝哈利猛啄过去，之后又
 哈利摆手想让猫头鹰走开，可去抓海格的外衣。 有一只猫头鹰一一，，
 ‘‘海格r哈利大声喊道，‘‘这里 即地说。
 “把钱付给它。”海格在沙发里哼哼唧，
 “什么？” 袋里找找。，，
 ‘‘它要你付送报费。你在外衣
 海格的外社面除了口袋，

no copyright infringement intended. Just asking for educational purposes

Short Answer

Both translations preserved most of the meanings in the original text. (Some by mistake and some deliberately dropped/altered for the smoothness of the overall context)

For learning purposes, I would recommend the first one for its relative formality. If you are just reading for fun, the second one is more relaxing with its colloquial and conversational nature.

Further Explanation

(If I made a incorrect comment on any of the translation, please point it out. Thanks!)

Translation Comparison

Below is a list of some obvious examples sentences, where the left is from the first translation:

  很早就醒来了 vs 一大早哈利就醒了

一大早 is unlike to be seen in academic/professional writing.

  那是个梦 vs 这是一个梦，，，

The use of ellipsis (I am not fond of the commas in place of … though) in a quote is informal yet vivid.

  我便会呆在家中 vs 我准在家里

The word 准 is used in conversations to mean 肯定、一定

  很响的敲击声 vs 啪啪的响声

Again, using 啪啪 to represent the actual sound is more vivid.

(Not-so-important) Error Picking

The two translations have the following errors:

  学校学习魔法

Well, from school for wizards to school to learn magic...魔法學校 is much better.

  折叠式的沙发上睡着了

Collapsed = 坍塌, Foldable = 折叠式. Although this detail is rather trivial to story progression and the plot.

  哈利感到特别高兴 ... 使他飘飘欲仙了

The translator dropped the scrambled to his feet and added these to sentences to emphasize his happiness... Perhaps creativity has been overly presented here.

  抓。” 是猫头鹰... (till the end)

I do not know what happened from here for the second translation. This part on is a bit chaotic, but otherwise it can be a good translation.


The location of my country within Europe: 我先說一下我國在歐洲中的地理位置 I started my essay with:

  我先說一下我國在歐洲中的地理位置,⋯

Apparently, there are a lot of problems with this. It seems that the teacher thought my country was in Central Europe, since he changed 中 to 中部。I wanted to say:

  "I first talk about the geographical location of my country within Europe."

Should I have used 內 or 裡？

Your first try is a correct translation of the English you want to say. 内 or 里 are not as good as 中.

Better still, you can omit it, 我國在歐洲的地理位置. Here "in" is implied.

After your teacher's modification

我先說一下我國在 歐洲中部 的地理位置 = I first talk about the geographical location of my country in Central Europe. (Here 歐洲中部 means Central Europe and "in" is implied. Notice the change in sentence structure.)

user6065's suggestion 我国在欧洲里占有的地理位置 isn't good. If you say that, people will expect you to immediately follow that your country's location is strategically important (which may or may not be what you want, but certainly not reflected in your English expression).


Express"with each other" or "amongst themselve" I'd like to express the idea that the members of a group perform a multi-party action, e.g., conversing, amongst themselves.　E.g., "My co-workers use English when they talk amongst themselves".

The best I can do right now is:

我同事互相交谈用英文。

But I imagine there's a lot of work to be done here, both in expressing the notion of "amongst themselves" and translating the "when X, Y" subordinate structure.

"My co-workers use English when they talk amongst themselves".
我的同事们之间用英语聊天儿。


Adverb review: 有一点儿 vs 不太 So, I am reviewing something which I thought I knew, but - on second thoughts - maybe I don't.

有一点儿 translates as 'a little bit'

And 不太 translated as 'not very'

So far, so good.

But in English, you can only use 'a little bit' with negative adjectives (i.e. you can say 'he is a little bit annoyed' but not 'he is a little bit happy').

And vice versa with 'not very' (i.e. 'he is not very happy' is fine, but 'he is not very annoyed' is not).

Is this the same in Chinese, or can they be used any which way?

Many thanks people!

It is similar in Chinese,

有一点儿 is usually used with negative adjectives

We say 有一点儿笨 but not 有一点儿聰明
We say 有一点儿不足 but not 有一点儿充足
We say 有一点儿軟弱 but not 有一点儿强堅

Similarly:

We say 有点笨 but not 有点聰明
We say 有点不足 but not 有点充足
We say 有点軟弱 but not 有点强堅

不太 can be used with either positive or negative adjectives

不太笨, 不太聰明
不太缺乏, 不太充足
不太軟弱, 不太强堅


How to translate "I hope I didn't embarrass you"? "I hope I didn't embarrass you" 怎么翻译？

是不是：”希望我没让你没脸“ ？

That phrase that you provided means, "I hope I didn't cause you to lose face." However, that is not a common saying.

To say, "I hope I didn't embarrass you" in the context of having accidentally said something inappropriate about another person would be:

希望沒有讓你難為情

Alternatively, you can say

希望沒有讓你覺得難為情


Difference between 还 and 又 Both 还 and 又 may be used to indicate an addition to the preceding information. For example:

我买了香蕉、苹果还买了葡萄。
我们不但要努力学习，还要考得好。
昨天没考好，现在又撞伤了，真倒霉。
他要买肉又要买鱼。

May I exchange both in all above examples? If not, what are the rules involved?

EDIT

Short answer according to what I could understand from Frank Joe's reply:

还 = also
又 = and to make things worse

The difference between 还 and 又 is that 又 expresses a feeling like "Again?".

For example, "I ate spaghetti yesterday and today I ate it again!" You can use "我昨天吃了意面，今天又吃了意面!"

In this sentence, 又 means that you want to emphasize that you ate it 'again'. Maybe you want to express that spaghetti is your favorite, or you want to express that you have nothing left in the refrigerator so you just have to eat it again. When you use 又, you always want to let the other person focus that the action is repeated.

But 还 just means "also". There is no special meaning here. In your example,  我买了香蕉、苹果还买了葡萄, you just want to say that you bought banana, apple and grape. There is no relationship between these three fruits and you don't have other meaning for 还.

More specific for your question, you cannot exchange 还 and 又 in your example.

昨天没考好，现在又撞伤了，真倒霉。

This sentence uses 又 because the fact that the person didn't do well in this exam is already bad news. What's more, he is injured now, which makes this person more unfortunate. You should find that both 没考好 and 撞伤 are negative things. In this sentence, bad things are repeated. We use 又 here because we want to emphasize how unlucky he is in this period of time. 又 deepens the level of unluckiness of this person.

他要买肉又要买鱼。
The speaker tries to emphasize that he needs to buy both meat and fish. You didn't specify the background of this sentence. But if he wants to do this buying, you should use 还 here. If he is not willing to buy these, 又 is more appropriate.

我买了香蕉、苹果还买了葡萄。
I just bought these three fruits. The speaker wants to state this fact and nothing else.

我们不但要努力学习，还要考得好。
For this sentence, the attitude is positive. We need to study hard and get perfect on exams and we really want to reach these goals. If you want to use 又 here, the background should be "our parents ask us to do these and we think these requirements are impossible to do". And you should replace 不但 with 既 because 既...又 is a word group.

All in all, the usage of 又 and 还 really depends on the background of specific sentence.


可怕 and 恐怖 are what kind of "terrible"? Before heading to town to find something to eat, a friend suggested I should be the one driving the 摩托車. I told my passenger it was illegal for me to drive, but they insisted.

I drove fast, ran red lights where appropriate (we live in the middle of nowhere), and performed other little stunts that do not endanger the passengers and are not obnoxious to bystanders (I can't stand it when people make their engines roar in public just to impress themselves), but are nonetheless invigorating.

My passenger described my driving variously as 很恐怖 and 很可怕. When we returned home I checked my dictionary and both of these words were described as "terrible". As you may know, this word carries ambiguity in English. Do I drive very poorly (not necessarily scarily), frighteningly (not necessarily without skill), or both?

Side-note: The passenger clearly enjoyed it and was laughing without a hint of nervousness, if they seemed seriously frightened I would have driven law-abidingly.

It just means frighteningly/terrifying in your situation. Your passenger is just scared by your little stunts (but he/she may be amazed by your moves at the same time).

恐怖 and 可怕 do not have the meaning of poorly.


What semantic notions underlie 妥 (suitable') with 爫 (爪 or claw) and 女? Reading 穩妥's etymology spurred me to read 妥's. I screenshot Yellowbridge. I truly hope this etymology doesn't relate to the inhumane barbarism of foot binding in China!

Translingual
Han character
妥 (radical 38, 女+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 月女 (BV), four-corner 20404, composition ⿱爫女)

satisfactory, appropriate

There are 3 views:

1.At first, it means reassuring a woman with hands, so it also means be stable.-Li Xiaoding

2.At first, it means hold down the woman to let her sit down with a hand, so it also means be stable.("爫" means a hand.)-Xu Zhongshu, Liu Xinglong

3.At first, it means grab a woman by a hand, so it also means capture.("爫" means a hand.)-Wu Qichang, Yu Xingwu, Xu Zaiguo

  甲金文从爪（倒手）从「女」，象以手安抚女子之形，引申有安义（李孝定）。 《集韵》：「妥，安也。 或作绥。 」一说「妥」象以手按抑妇女使之坐下，引伸有安定之义（徐中舒、刘兴隆）。 一说「妥」象以手擒拿、抓取女子之形。 本义是俘掠，后作「绥」。 《书. 武成》，肆予东征，绥厥士女。 」师·马报簋：「孚士女羊牛。 」（吴其昌、于省吾、徐在国）。 「妥」与「孚」（「俘」的初文）的造字原理相同。 吴其昌认为甲骨文「男曰孚，女曰妥。 」

  ——汉语多功能字库，香港中文大学

("妥" in Western Zhou dynasty)


How do I find the rules used to create the simplified version of the characters? OK, some of the characters we know come from the regularization of the cursive form, like the radical 言 became 讠, etc. But how do I find how some really weird characters came from, like 舊->旧, 靈->灵, 異->异 and so on?

EDIT:
To make it more clear, the above character are only examples. I'd like to know where they came up with the rules of EVERY AND EACH of the simplifications. Where do I find those rules?

Thanks!

Before we try to answer the question proper, we need to first clarify that there are many 'simplified versions' of characters throughout the course of history, happening in many different times and under multiple context.

The natural development of a character form would usually be from a simple to more complex structure to differentiate nuances in meaning. There are also various cases in which complex character structure need to be simplified for practical reasons.

Changes in form also result from the transitional history of the Chinese Script from Oracle Bone 甲骨 through the Bronze Script 金文, Seal Script 小篆, Scribe Script 隸書 and Standard Script 楷書 used today. The most significant changes are from Seal to Scribe, so a lot of 'simplification' would be happening at that time.

There is also the independent Cursive Script tradition. There were two, to be precise - the 章草 Zhang1cao3 from the time of the Scribe Script to the 行草 Xing2cao3 which is conventional shorthand for the Standard Script [SS]. These have their own rules for simplification that is to be reckoned with for its own sake.

If what you meant by 'simplified form' were all of the above, you might have to read several phD theses to get all the answers. So, I naturally assumed you were basically concerned with the rationale for creating the corpus of simplified script during the Simplification Movement in PRC in the 1950s.

As you would find out from the answer below, many historical instances have been incorporated into the corpus. Making Simplified Chinese [SC] characters a conglomerate of different principles used in different context at different times, some as recent as the Simplification Movement itself.

The major corpus of the SC characters defined in the Commonly Used Table of Standardized Chinese Characters 《通用規範漢字表》 are actually historical forms of writing, known in Chinese as 傳承字 chuan2 cheng2 zi4 or "passed-down characters".

These come in two categories. One is a historically different way of writing the same word in Standard (block) Script or 楷書 kai3 shu1. We shall call them Standard Script Alt-Forms [SSA]. The other is Cursive Script [CS], adopted in block form as the Simplified Character.

Here's one interesting example for the former case:

於－于　[SSA]

While the two characters have different origins (於 is a bird and 于 is a musical instrument), in most of the early Chinese texts, 于 and 於 are found to be used interchangeably as a preposition with the sound of yu2.

This can be seen in the Zhuangzi, a Pre-Qin text:

  〈齊物論〉Qi2wu4lun4：是以聖人不由，而照之于天。

Translation:

  Therefore the Sage does not abide by (worldly dualistic principles) but rather sheds light into (worldly feuds) from (the perspective of) heaven.

The same book contains prepositional usage of 於, in another of its seven inner chapters:

  〈大宗師〉Da4zong1shi1：夫藏舟於壑，藏山於澤，謂之固矣。

Translation:

  If we were to hide a boat in the valleys, or a mountain in the marshes, it would have been secure enough.

Loan instances aside, the character 于 was actually more consistently used as preposition than 於, which was commonly used as an interjection ("Oh!"), with the sound of wu1.

There is textual evidence that 于 was preferred over 於 as preposition in very early Chinese texts (dating back to the Western Zhou dynasty):

  《詩·大雅·文王》：「文王在上、於昭于天。」

Translation:

  King Wen is on high;
  Oh! bright is he in heaven.

So the adoption of 于 as a simplified character was actually a return to an old form.

Traditional Chinese [TC] could use both interchangeably anyway (as evident from the Classical texts quoted above), so I highly suspect that 於 as the "standard" TC character for preposition was actually a ROC reaction to the Mainland "simplification" of 于. (That awaits further study to confirm.)

A lot of these pre-existing SSA characters are vulgar forms of a single character in history. Eg. 體－体、塵－尘、無－无、靈－灵 (asked above) .

Others are earlier forms of the same character, which often means the simplified character has a more pictographic quality: 采－採 (hand plucking fruit from a tree)、从－從 (one man following another)、网－網 (a net).

A significant number of SSAs come from loan forms: 后－後、里－裏/裡、余－餘. These are often sound loans which may or may not be related in meaning.

For example, 后 means Empress, while 後 is behind. The meanings are related because a good Empress should leave many offspring behind. 《禮．曲禮》：「天子有后。」〔疏〕后，後也，言其後于天子，亦以廣後胤也。

Many traditionalists would criticize these cases as a corruption of the original meaning of words.

As for the latter, 舊－旧 in question would be one of them.

舊－旧 [CS]

As can be seen in the calligraphy below:

The「日」is a shorthand for 「臼」 below, while「|」is an abbreviation of the shorthand for whatever else lies above the 「臼」.

It can be seen in this less cursive script that the「|」lies just to the left of the 「臼」.

Other cursive forms of the same character are:

Other examples of the CS class of simplification are: 車－车、杨－楊、專－专 etc. Most of these are highly recognized, legitimate forms of simplification, crafted by the literati. (As opposed to the vulgar form introduced above.)

Newly-Created Characters

The remaining (the real simplified characters) would be characters with arbitrarily simplified (or, some would say, corrupted) radicals, the 半記號字 Ban4ji4hao4zi4: 对－對、观－觀、鸡－鷄、 聂－聶、轰－轟、区－區、冈－岡.

Characters of abbreviated form, in which only the 'essential' radical(s) is(are) left behind: 开－開、关－關、医－醫、声－聲、時－时.

And characters simplified though the manipulation of its sound component. Many these are actually newly-created characters just for the sake of simplification.

We may swap one for another: 邻－鄰、艺－藝; or create entirely new-looking forms with little to no resemblance of one another: 惊－驚（京 and 敬 swap for sound, 忄 and 馬 for meaning; the traditional form has the specific meaning of startled steed）、护－護 (The 又 in 護 is also symbol for hand, which is swapped for 扌; 戶 is the new sound component that's been created).

Answer to the "How" Question:

For those of you who can read Chinese, a comprehensive account can be found here.

I also highly recommend the expert edition of the etymological dictionary developed by Outlier Linguistics.


Difference between 语言 and 言语? According to line dictionary, both of these mean 'language'. From looking at the examples list, 语言 seems to be a more literal translation of 'language', for example if one wanted to say "Chinese is my favourite language", I think one could write this as 中语是我最喜欢的语言. On the other hand 言语 seems to be used when referring to someone's 'use of language' as opposed to languages from different countries. For instance if one wanted to translate "he used aggressive language" one would use 言语.

Is this the right kind of idea?

言语 is not a frequently used words. It is a spoken word in north(at least Beijing,north-easten).

It means 'talk(talking), speak(speaking)' ,Depending on the context, it can take the place of any words that means 'talk or speak with someone'.

  你需要跟我言语一声儿. (言语 means consult, ask or notify... )

"he used aggressive language"

It is not incorrect to use 言语. But 语言 or 话 is more common.


What is the Chinese equivalent of the English morpheme 'e-' indicating "digitalization"? For instance, "email" (or "e-mail") is one that has been essentially canonized (e.g. it has been added to various canonical dictionaries), but what about other instances of the addition of this morpheme and its Chinese translation? Is there a general heuristic or rule for indicating digitalization in Chinese, analogous to the English 'e-'?

After a few attempts on Google Translate, it seems like the way to go is to preface the word with “电子” (which means "electronic") – this seems right, but are there exceptions I should know about?

As far as I know, there's no exception for translating "e-" to "电子" unless it doesn't indicate "digital" electronic.


Difference between words that mean "take by force": 抢 and 夺 They are defined in a similar way. What is the difference in usage?

抢 -  snatch; vie for: '抢' emphasizes the 'contesting' nature of 'taking by force'

夺 -  seize; compete; deprive; decide: '奪' emphasizes the 'possessing' result of 'taking by force'

  Look at the word 抢夺  (snatch; seize; take by force; steal):

抢 (to snatch) mainly describes the action. If someone is in the process of grabbing money by force, we say it is an act of 抢钱, not 夺钱
夺 (seize) mainly describes the result. If someone completed seizing power from the other, we say it is an act of 夺权, not  抢权 (抢权 imply you are still fighting for the power)

Example with more context:

'意图夺权' means you 'intend to seize power'; '意图抢权' means 'intend to vie for power'


How to say I want to leave colloquially? How to say I want to leave or I want to go home colloquially in the case of we are visiting someone's place?

Let's say I'm visiting my auntie, then when it's the time for me to leave, what should I say to her?

Is it ok to say "姑姑，我先走啊" ?

But I feel 先走 sounds awkward. Is there better colloquial alternative words?

我先走了 is a perfect way to say.
you can also say,我得(děi)走了; 我要走了;我得(děi)回家了;我还有点事,先走了; 好了,我得(děi)走了;不早了,我先走了;行,我先回去了;


Radicals vs glyph origins (specifically for character 肚 in 肚子) I am trying to learn some vocabulary and am looking at the radicals to help me remember.
The problem is, the radicals in some characters don't seem to make sense to me at all. In 肚, the two radicals separately are 月 meaning the moon, and 土 meaning earth. Somehow "moon earth" does not seem all too related to the stomach to me!
I was curious about how the character came about, so I looked up Chinese character etymology. There don't seem to be very good resources on this, but one website did say:

"From meat 月肉 and phonetic 土. Meaning stomach."

I have not seen meat as 月肉 before, only 肉. So if 月肉 is another word for meat, I'm not sure why the moon radical is in there either! And there doesn't seem to be any significance to the 土 part according to the website, but I fail to believe that part of a character was just chosen at random!
My current ideas are that, sometimes 月 seems to be used for round things like in the character for face 脸, which may motivate its use in the character for stomach.
As for 土, perhaps it dates back to some ancient Chinese belief about the stomach 'grounding' you, i.e. the brain/head represents a connection with the heavens, the heart with the emotional realm, and the stomach with earth? I'm only guessing here, but am very much interested if anyone knows.
Also, I'm curious in general if someone can comment on how well radical content reflects character meaning. As my repertoire of characters is rather limited still, I don't have much to go by myself to evaluate this; but I do suppose that in many cases the radical usage would make more sense to someone with a familiarity with ancient China and ancient Chinese beliefs...
Thank you in advance.

Look at the middle parts, they are different.
月 = 月 (moon)
肉 = ⺼ (meat)

⺼ - 肉部首
(俗稱「提肉旁」）：CJK RADICAL MEAT (U+2EBC)
簡體將從此形的字歸入月部。

Simplified Chinese characters merged ⺼radical into 月 radical

The '土' in '肚' is the phonics component


Colloquial Translation: Dynamics It seems that a lot of colloquial English terms are actually seen to be quite formal or academic in Chinese.

In English we have the term dynamics as in: group dynamics, social dynamics, psychodynamics and sociodynamics. While the specific definition of each term might differ the basic idea of dynamics in each is more-or-less the same. Here dynamics can be used in every day speech with out making the speaker seem like he or she is pontificating or being overly showy.

Wikipedia has a few translations for these terms, for example:

group dynamics = 群体动力学 or 团体动力学
sociodynamics = 群聚效应

I wouldn't feel comfortable throwing around xxx动力学 or 群聚效应 in Chinese though, for fear of not being clear enough.

Is there a more basic phrase or terminology that can express this concept without being overly formal/academic?

group dynamics - 群体互动（行为）

social dynamics - 社会互动（行为）

psychodynamics - 心理活动（学）

sociodynamics - 社会动力（学）


Does 外地人 include those who were born outside but grew up inside? Suppose that a Shanghainese husband and Hangzhounese wife gave birth to their child at a hospital in Chengdu, but raised the child in Shanghai (from age 0 to 18).

In this case, is the child still considered 上海人 or 外地人 in Shanghai? Or is the child considered 成都人 since it is the place of the birth, even if he or she didn't come again to 成都 after the birth? And how about the child whose parents are both NOT shanghainese but he or she grew up in Shanghai (e.g. if the husband is Hangzounese is the child also considered Hangzhounese?)

百度百科 doesn't seem to mention it...

Different people may take this differently. Based on my observation, from a traditional Shanghainese perspective, the criteria of 上海本地人 are:

户口 is registered in Shanghai.
Live in Shanghai starting from the very early ages.
Able to communicate in Shanghai dialect.
Understand the tradition of Shanghai.
Your parents are Shanghainese (this criteria may not be that strict. )

It sounds bias, but that's the reality I think.


What's the origin of the Hong Kong colloquialism "I go to school by bus"? I've seen this phrase being used frequently on social media amongst the youth of Hong Kong.

I go to school by bus

Would anyone kindly explain how this phrase came to be and what it means?
From my understanding it's the result of deliberately transliterating the original Chinese phrase in a mocking manner, but I could be wrong. Thanks for your help!

It was a troll response commonly used in the Hong Kong Online Forum "HKGolden". The line was originally from a Primary School Textbook's dialogue and was usually being used as a ridiculous and nonsense reply to English-related questions on the forum.

Check here for the Hong Kong Local Encyclopedia page on this phrase.


Which is the right order 您好，大姐 or 大姐, 您好? A while ago I ran into a friend of a friend on the street I said 您好，大姐. (She is two year older than me, 28). She gave me a strange look like she was taken back by what I said so I was wondering: Should have I said 大姐， 您好 instead?

I am not really sure how to order greetings properly.

Age/gender nuances aside, either is fine. I'd like to point the context you worded you greeting it what got you those looks. You're in part mixing formalities with colloquialism.

Because you are merely an acquaince, calling her 大姐 can be a bit too personal. unless the person you are greeting is in the business heading a gang or mafia (which you might be a member). It's a bit like saying to a person you've just been introduced to as "Pleased to meet you, big sis." This can come off as being overly friendly or as if you are pleading for something by lowering your stature to them (like in a gang).

In my opinion, the true difference between {Greeting} + {Subject} and {Subject} + {Greeting} is what you wish to invoke/acknowledge first. If you want to acknowledge a person you would say their name first, and then follow with a greet. This will come off as being more personal (or overly polite; mockingly). However, if I wanted to emphasize the greeting as if I was pleased/happy to meet them as a person, I would use the greeting first. Think of it as if you forgot the name of the person and still wanted to greet them properly. Of course, this may vary by the region, dialect, and personal preference (of both parties), but you can still use as a starting point.

If you were better acquainted with this 女士 (used like "Ms."), such as if they are you senior in some capacity that you spend sometime with, it might be alright as a sign or respect or as a joke, but it's rarely alright otherwise. If I were to go up to you (haven't just met) and said "heeeey, big bro (大哥), wassup?" How would you feel?

If you wanted to address an audience of your peers you can address them (i.e. asking for a request) as "大哥大姐们." By doing so you would be humbling yourself, making usage in this context appropriate.

To be safe, if you've just recently met them, leaving off the title is fine.

While 小姐 can be acceptable, it's best to avoid using it in mainland China as it can be inferred as a slang term for "prostitute" or a title addressing wait staff (amongst other things), by means of tonal inflections or other indications.


Mixed Simplified-Traditional script on Twins' album cover - why? On the album art for Twins' first album (我們的紀念冊), 紀 and 冊 are written as simplified characters. What's the reason for this (aside from artistic ones), and would people notice this?

Here's the album art in question:

EDIT: Found another mixed script album art (雙生兒). This does not look like sloppy font to me...

A lot of "Simplified" characters existed as short-hand forms of Chinese characters long before the "simplification" of the written language in the PRC. Conversely, the PRC hasn't given up "traditional" characters completely. I wouldn't be surprised to see some mixing here and there.


I found a random file on my desktop, and I need to know what it says in English གྷ艈挡宑ᙽ삂暋ğ㳐฀泬飥

I've tried using internet translators (I know, bad idea) but I needed to know what this text says.

It's mojibake.

Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojibake

In Chinese, the same phenomenon is called 乱码 (Simplified Chinese) / 亂碼 (Traditional Chinese) (pinyin: Luàn mǎ, meaning chaotic code), and can occur when computerised text is encoded in one Chinese character encoding but is displayed using the wrong encoding. When this occurs, it is often possible to fix the issue by switching the character encoding without loss of data. The situation is complicated because of the existence of several Chinese character encoding systems in use, the most common ones being: Unicode, Big5, and Guobiao (with several backward compatible versions), and the possibility of Chinese characters being encoded using Japanese encoding.