4
votes
1answer
151 views
Pronunciation of 和 in Taiwan
This is something that I noticed in Taiwanese Mandarin TV series and films. It seems that they pronounce this character as hàn instead of the commonly accepted hé.
For example, 我和你 is pronounced wǒ ...
3
votes
4answers
274 views
Learning Traditional first with the goal of learning both
I found this in the Mandarin wikibook:
"It is considered easier for people who learn Traditional to read both sets than people who learn Simplified only, but Simplified characters are less ...
3
votes
3answers
149 views
Where can I find Chinese IPA transcriptions?
Since I have some experience of using IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), I thought Standard Chinese transcriptions could be a good resource for practicing my pronunciation. Is such a resource ...
4
votes
4answers
155 views
How do I practise grouping characters into words? At which stage of learning should one expect to be good at this?
I just got the following sentence in a newsletter:
请问我可以跟你借支笔吗？
Being a beginner that I am, I read it as "Can I please get one pay-check in advance?" because I saw this in my dictionary:
借支 = ...
3
votes
2answers
95 views
Differentiating “to do a burnout” and “burning tyres”
"To do a burnout" is 烧胎, so I assume a reasonable sentence would be:
昨天晚上我在停车场烧胎。
How would one distinguish this activity from piling up tyres and setting fire to them, for example in this news ...
5
votes
6answers
422 views
Which fonts show the stroke order of all characters?
For academic purposes, I need to print out some pages of characters with stroke orders shown. Which computer fonts (e.g. TrueType or OpenType) are available which show the stroke order of each ...
1
vote
4answers
147 views
Better translation for 春节联欢晚会 than New Year's Gala
On the night of New Years Eve in China many people watch the annual New Year's Gala. This in Chinese is called 春节联欢晚会 in English this is translated as New Year's Gala.
So what exactly is a 联欢晚会? Can ...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
What's the difference between 蝦 and 鰕?
I found there are two characters for "xia1" (ghra as in Middle Chinese), 蝦 and 鰕.
Could someone explain what the difference is?
4
votes
3answers
117 views
What does 嘞 mean
I actually suspect that this character may be a typo for ”了“, but I'll ask nevertheless. What is the second character in this snippet?:
I managed to write it into my pocket dictionary, it simply ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Is the traditional character for 雪 the same as itself?
Is the traditional character for ?
Or are both and considered the same character (汉字) with simply different font styles?
4
votes
5answers
199 views
What was this online dictionary's name with ancient traditional and simplified characters and etymology?
I once found a Mandarin Chinese dictionary which for each character listed the ancient, the traditional and the simplified Chinese characters. For each it described its meaning and how it developed ...
4
votes
3answers
120 views
Early childhood Chinese language immersion accent exposure
Is it important for young children (4 or 5 years old) in a Chinese language immersion program to be exposed to more than one type of Mandarin accent? If the child only hears one accent (and one that ...
4
votes
2answers
216 views
Who exactly is a 干妈
This dictionary translates 干妈 as "Godmother", and my pocket dictionary also gives "nominal mother".
In English, "Godmother" and "Godfather" are very specific titles - Your Godparents are the people ...
0
votes
3answers
135 views
Chinese tattoo help [closed]
I want a tattoo saying 時間 (time). However I was told this is not suitable for a tattoo. I wanted to know how to say time in chinese with a deep meaning. Is there a way to add a character so that it ...
4
votes
1answer
178 views
What is the etymology of 放我一马？
I've heard this a couple times now and most recently in a movie "钢的琴". It's an idiom that means "cut me some slack"; "let me off the hook". I couldn't make sense of the Baidu encyclopedia so I'm ...
2
votes
2answers
152 views
Advice on Mandarin Chinese passive learning
What are the best Chinese online tv channels with english subtitles for passive Mandarin learning. I find Chinese a rather musical language and would love to watch subbed tv (news, documentaries, ...
5
votes
1answer
94 views
Chinese for “patch” in the sense of “software patch”
The dictionary lists many words for "patch" but none that explicitly state they mean patch in the software sense of the word.
EDIT: Dictionary has now been updated
6
votes
2answers
335 views
How will translate “谁让你” into English?
How will translate "谁让你" into English? For example,
我不得不服从你的安排。 谁让你是我的老板呢？
3
votes
1answer
76 views
馅饼 in Cantonese
In the Dim Sum place I usually go to (in the U.S), they call the pan-fried bun stuffed with Chinese chive and shrimp 韭菜馅饼. I came from Northern China and the shape and size of that bun are, by any ...
3
votes
3answers
237 views
Why is Economic translated to “經濟”?
I know that it's a translation from Japanese, but I do not know why it becomes this. Could someone explain it in detail?
3
votes
1answer
91 views
Is the expression 学识渊博 usually used in a pejorative sense?
For example, as a sarcastic remark in the sense of "pedantic" or "know-it-all"?
2
votes
2answers
103 views
Could 恭喜发财 sound inappropriate?
I sent new year greetings to my Chinese teacher last week, writing "新年快乐! 恭喜发财!". When I saw her today she thanked me, but said I should never write 恭喜发财 to a teacher, because it's a greeting only ...
6
votes
5answers
221 views
What is the meaning of 真是的
What is a meaning of 真是的. I heard for many times in context something like 你真是的！ And yet I have doubts about proper meaning of this expression.
5
votes
2answers
139 views
Is the character 年 (or its etymology) related to the mythical beast in Chinese mythology?
Premise: According to the mythology related to the Chinese New Year, a creature called 年 (also referred to as 年兽 — pinyin: nián shòu — 年獸 in Traditional chinese) was a mythical beast that "lived under ...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Is 级 necessary in 优先级
From the dictionary I gather that 优先 by itself means "priority" and so 优先级 means "level of priority".
In a phrase such as 高优先级，or 最高优先级，is the 级 necessary to sound correct, or is it an optional ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
'Simplification' of 夠
Why did 夠 get 'simplified' into 够?
I'd like to know whether these existed as orthographic variants before simplification (such that the first round simplifications just standardised on one variant) ...
4
votes
2answers
80 views
How to use 凭 as a preposition
I understand 凭 as a verb to mean rely. But I often read it and the seemingly related 凭着 in familiar contexts but still do not know what function it serves. Seeing example sentences doesn't make it any ...
1
vote
4answers
128 views
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
81 views
What greetings or sayings are there that are used during the new year, specific to the Year of the Snake?
At the New Year, there are some sayings or greetings that are lucky or considered "好听", which are especially fitting since they have to do with the upcoming new year.
For example, at the New Year of ...
2
votes
2answers
61 views
山火 vs 野火 vs 丛林大火: Chinese for “bushfire”
I would imagine that 山火 meant "a fire in the mountains", but the dictionary lists "wildfire / forest fire".
Is 山火 then a generic word for an out of control fire? What about 野火? I saw 山火 on the news, ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Origin of the word “娘惹”
I know what 娘惹 means (wikipedia), however, I couldn't find any reference on its origin. Is it a Chinese transliteration of a Malaysian word, a Cantonese/Hokkien word or a Mandarin word? What's the ...
3
votes
2answers
65 views
Is there a list of characters specifically used for western proper nouns?
When learning country/place names or reading about non-Chinese people in the media I see the same characters used for similar phonemes (see these celebrities). What rule or list do the writers follow ...
3
votes
6answers
199 views
Should Chinese text be grid aligned in game dialogs?
Title says it all, should I have my text using a variable width font, or fixed width. I didn't know if it is easier to read if its aligned on a grid?
So here is my dialog with fixed width, one issue ...
1
vote
1answer
89 views
Meaning of 泡
I first encountered this word in the brand of a kid's drink, O泡. When I looked it up I saw that it meant something like "bubble", and was (ironically for the name of a drink) the classifier for ...
1
vote
2answers
85 views
Is there an abbreviation for the 黑海/地中海 combo?
In Chinese, related region names are often abbreviated. For example, Sino-Japanese is known as 中日 and Sino-African is known as 中非.
Does anyone know whether there is a corresponding abbreviation for ...
5
votes
3answers
292 views
Can 下次 mean “again”?
I found a sentence on tatoeba that isn't quite the translation I would expect.
I will not do it again.
Is translated as...
下次我不做了。
I checked mdbg.net to be sure, and 下次 is only translated ...
6
votes
4answers
261 views
What does the expression “孤男寡女” mean?
What does the expression "孤男寡女" (gū nán guǎ nǚ) mean, exactly? Does it have inherently negative connotations?
As an aside, why does Google translate it as "Needing"?
3
votes
2answers
117 views
Is Hakka spoken the same in Guangdong and Taiwan?
In Taiwan Hakka is the 3rd most popular language, and the MRT in Taipei makes all announcements in 4 languages; Mandarin, Minnan, Hakka, and English.
It is also a minority language in Hong Kong and ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
In “我只喜歡你一個” what does the “一個” do?
If I were to translate "I only like you" I'd say
我只喜歡你
Wǒ zhǐ xǐ huan nǐ
However I have seen the following
我只喜歡你一個
Wǒ zhǐ xǐ huan nǐ yī ge
Translated as
I like you alone
...
2
votes
3answers
98 views
做 as the verb “to be”
Can someone please clarify how and when 做 is used to mean "to be" e.g.
不愿做奴隶人们
I am familiar with 做 meaning "to do" or "to make", and I would expect that if I was saying "I am a slave", “我是一个奴隶“ ...
4
votes
4answers
175 views
What is the meaning of 相声?
Today I read a blog post talking about a Canadian guy called Mark Rowswell (aka 大山) that appears on Chinese TV shows and who is able to do 相声. This 相声 is referred to as "the art of language".
What ...
3
votes
5answers
235 views
Another meaning of 同志
Is it true that 同志 have some different meaning. Like gay (as in homosexual) or something. I know that during the XX century in China and communist Russia it was very common to call people 同志(товарищ). ...
2
votes
3answers
628 views
Does 危机 really mean both crisis and opportunity?
A lot of people, mostly those who haven't studied Chinese, like to claim something along the lines of
"In Chinese, the word for crisis 危机, also bears the meaning of opportunity."
This is usually ...
7
votes
11answers
513 views
Techniques for learning and retaining characters
For many of us, memorizing characters is a difficult thing. In Chinese, just because you can speak the word doesn't mean you can read it. Just because you can read it doesn't mean you can write it. At ...
4
votes
3answers
159 views
Why is 土著人 used for Aboriginal people in Australia?
In Australia it is quite common to talk about Aboriginal people as they feature quite often when talking about sports, Olympics or politics.
The word that is used to describe Aboriginal people by ...
3
votes
1answer
62 views
给我站住: Idiom or common meaning
给我站住
I assume this means something like "wait for me!". But I still have a couple of questions.
Google translate gives the meaning "Nothing to say" which implies that 给我站住 may be an idiom.
If ...
2
votes
1answer
106 views
Is there a logical explanation why 非得不 and 非得 means must?
I understand that 非 and 不 have negative meanings by themselves, and 得 means "must"
by itself. So with a double negative, which means affirmative positive. So far so good.
But 非得 by itself is also ...
1
vote
4answers
205 views
Expressing “Fair enough”
The English expression "fair enough" can be used to concede a point in an argument, or acknowledge the other person's position, without expressing complete agreement. To take an example from ...
1
vote
3answers
147 views
How to say incoming president (国家主席)?
Strangely the Wikipedia article for president 中华人民共和国主席 doesn't mention 习近平 anywhere.
I also asked my mother in law just now if she spotted any articles where it mentions him as the incoming ...
4
votes
1answer
132 views
What's the grammatical structure for “<subject> <verbs> like a <noun>” style simile in Chinese
I am fond of the simile structure "I eat like a wolf" or "The light flickered like a candle" in English. I never know how to express these thoughts in Chinese though, even if I know the underlying ...
