Timeline for Is it 說 /说 / shuō or 講 / 讲 / jiǎng for "to speak a language"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 2014 at 5:34 | answer | added | charlee | timeline score: 4 | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 3:19 | comment | added | Olle Linge | I think this is entirely region-dependent in this context. Mandarin spoken by southerns contains more 講 and Mandarin spoken by northerners contains more 說. I had (almost) only heard 說 in this situation before arriving in Taiwan. Since, I have almost exclusively heard 講. | |
| Feb 21, 2014 at 10:38 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackChinese/status/436812250842923008 | ||
| Feb 19, 2014 at 18:35 | answer | added | StoneBird | timeline score: 4 | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 16:17 | comment | added | user58955 | Actually I think 講, in various words, conveys a meaning of high-ranked people talking to low-ranked ones. | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 16:01 | comment | added | user58955 | Not necessarily. I was just trying to make a point that 说话 and 讲话 have different meanings. 讲话 is a colloquial term to mean speech, the formal terms could be 演说/演讲 for speech. Also, You only use 说 in 说三道四, 如此说来, etc, while as to 讲 there's only 鸡同鸭讲, which sounds apparently more boorish. 说 is also used in words such as 学说 and 说明书, which renders it a more scholastic flavour. | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 15:29 | comment | added | hrzhu | @user58955, we usually use 讲话 for delivering a speech, doesn't it imply 讲 is more formal? | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 14:11 | answer | added | user3988 | timeline score: 0 | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 13:58 | comment | added | user58955 | Yes, several southern dialects use 讲 (e.g., Wu dialects, Min dialects and Cantonese) | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 13:14 | comment | added | congusbongus | @user58955 probably regional. "Can you speak English", northern mandarin: 你会说英文吗？ cantonese: 你識唔識講英語嗎? | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 12:10 | comment | added | user58955 | There are instances where they are not interchangeable, such as inviting someone to deliver a speech. I think it's always 请xx讲话 not 请xx说话. But in the meaning of 'to speak xx language', I think they are interchangeable | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 12:09 | comment | added | user58955 | I think it's the other way round, 讲 is more informal than 说 | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 11:59 | comment | added | hrzhu | 说 sounds more casual while 讲 sounds more formal to me. I think in most cases they are interchangeable. I can't think of a situation that they are not interchangeable for now. | |
| Feb 19, 2014 at 11:42 | history | asked | hippietrail | CC BY-SA 3.0 |