Bjorn

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	504 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 5 months
18 badges		location			seen	Nov 16 '12 at 18:15

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22 Comments

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Jan 14	comment	How are new words added to the Chinese language? I'd argue that in the end it's the people who decide. Governments can try to regulate languages but it's almost impossible to tell people what words to use. At best, people may use official government-sanctioned words in official/business communication and the words that are actually popular in their daily lives. Regulation would seem especially difficult for new terms as people will pick their favourites and would find it a bother to use a dry, government-issued new word for the same concept.
Jan 14	comment	Are there any online etymological dictionaries of Mandarin (not for characters but for spoken words) It is an interesting question. However, there may not be a real answer since the Chinese spoken language is difficult to trace back through time owing to the complete lack of a phonetic transcription method. This makes it extremely difficult to determine how any given word or character was pronounced in a given region at a given time (and of course the further back you go the more difficult it becomes). This also makes it difficult to research how sinitic languages interacted with other language groups in the distant past.
Jan 13	comment	When should you use 尽管 (jǐnguǎn) instead of 虽然 (suīrán)? Thanks for the suggestions above. I'm afraid they're not of any help to me (as my English keyboard layout is not a US one and external programs add a step which is rather cumbersome) but they may well be of use to others!
Jan 13	comment	Correct terms for a roadside gutter and gutter on a roof Regional variation could be an explanation. Perhaps it could also be explained by formal/technical versus colloquial use, where people have come to use 屋檐 as a synonym for 檐沟 in daily speech.
Jan 11	comment	Correct terms for a roadside gutter and gutter on a roof Thanks Huang, that perfectly clears up the nuances between the two terms.
Jan 11	comment	Correct terms for a roadside gutter and gutter on a roof I also came across 地沟. Do you know how 地沟 differs from 排水沟? Do they mean the same thing or are there subtle differences between the two?
Jan 11	comment	Correct terms for a roadside gutter and gutter on a roof I googled (image search) for 檐沟 and 天沟; the results show that these words indeed refer to a gutter. An image search for 排水沟 returns all manner of storm drains (also the ones lining streets), which seems to be exactly what the OP is after.
Jan 11	comment	Correct terms for a roadside gutter and gutter on a roof After looking up 屋檐 I get the impression this is not what the OP is after. 屋檐 seems to mean "eaves" rather than "gutter". 阴沟 seems to me best translated as "sewer". Just for your information, the grated inlet on a street you referred to (排水沟) can be called a "storm drain" in English.
Jan 10	comment	What does 糗大 (qiǔdà) mean? @Alenanno - No absolute need but if the OP does make a new post that already includes the definition of 糗大 it could help to keep this site tidy as this post could then potentially become a partial duplicate post. Of course it remains up to the OP as we are still in the beta stage now.
Jan 10	comment	What does 糗大 (qiǔdà) mean? Perhaps you could delete your question and post a new question asking the origin of 糗大 (which would be interesting to know, in my opinion). In the question you could also define the meaning of 糗大 so that beginners will be benefited by reading your question as well. Just my suggestion.
Jan 9	comment	Number two in chinese: 二 vs 两 Yes, it means 14:00. I've edited a bit more to make the numbering internally consistent with the content.
Jan 9	comment	When should you use 尽管 (jǐnguǎn) instead of 虽然 (suīrán)? I usually leave out pinyin since it's such a pain to switch between the different input methods. Do you know of a way to type pinyin (with tones) using Google Pinyin （谷歌拼音输入法 - gǔgē pīnyīn shūrù fǎ）?
Jan 9	comment	What are the differences between 男女, 公母, and 雄雌? Thanks fefe, I have edited the question to include that pair.
Jan 9	comment	Why was 滾 (gǔn) simplified to 滚? As far as guesses go, it's not a bad guess at all. Does make me wonder why 公 was ever even changed to 口 at all. Too bad zhongwen.com has no information on that.
Dec 23	comment	How did 舆论 come to represent Public Opinion? No problem, your answer has already been very enlightening.
Dec 22	comment	How did 舆论 come to represent Public Opinion? Great and colourful answer! Do you happen to know during which dynasties this 10-rank system was in place?
Dec 22	comment	Do 衣服 and 衣饰 carry different connotations or are they synonyms? Do you have a source for this? The context in which I encountered the word strongly implied the meaning of "clothes" and the online dictionaries I checked also don't support your answer.
Dec 21	comment	Do 衣服 and 衣饰 carry different connotations or are they synonyms? @Alenanno - It's about Mandarin (tag added).
Dec 21	comment	How polite is too polite? Personally I find that younger Chinese are more likely to use 谢谢 to thank someone than older people are. Perhaps origin (i.e. more developed areas vs less developed ones) also plays a factor.
Dec 21	comment	How to translate/understand “还不” in “还不是因为爱” Just note that this is simply a mnemonic device as the traditional character (還) does not contain the 不 element nor any other elements that connote negation. I suspect the 不 element in the simplified character is merely a phonetic component.