Unanswered Questions
65 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
5
votes
0answers
97 views
What rhyme groups had “light” labial initials (輕唇音) such as 非 in the Yunjing (韻鏡)?
This page on "ChinaKnowledge" as well as Pulleyblank's Middle Chinese (published 1984, p.86) say that such rhymes were placed in grade 3 hekou (合口三等) in the standard rhyme tables. However ...
5
votes
0answers
137 views
Similarities between Japanese 四字熟語 and Chinese 成语?
I have been learning Japanese 四字熟語 as a paste time for sometime and I would like to know whether most of them can be used verbatim in Chinese or if there are Japanese-made yojijukugo which cannot be ...
4
votes
5answers
617 views
What is the meaning of …不断向产业链的高端提升是发展趋势的要求?
I can't quite get the last part of this
专家：这个问题不能一刀切。对于东部的企业，因为起步较早，有一定产业规模和资金积累，所以调整产业结构，提高技术含量，不断向产业链的高端提升是发展趋势的要求。
Can I rewrite the last bit thus:
不断向产业链的高端提升是发展趋势的要求。= 发展趋势的要求是不断向产业链的高端的提升。
...
3
votes
0answers
70 views
Are there any multi-syllabic words in Chinese without a glottal stop?
Are there any words in Chinese of 2 more syllables where there isn't a glottal stop between the syllables such that each syllable is not pronounced clearly, that a final consonant and initial ...
3
votes
0answers
134 views
Has there ever been an English translation of 《輶軒》“Fangyan”?
《輶軒使者絕代語釋別國方言》has a couple of different names including《方言》and《揚子方言》.
In English it mostly just gets called Fangyan.
The entire Chinese text has been put up on ctext.
As
the first Chinese ...
2
votes
0answers
33 views
Does 䁤=香季切 and 侐=火季切 being separate 小韻s in 廣韻 imply anything?
Link
Is it something related to 重紐? If not, how can I interpret this?
2
votes
0answers
47 views
Which came first? Chinese 蘑菇 or Mongolian мөөг?
Wiktionary isn't certain whether the Chinese 蘑菇 (mógū) is a loanword from Mongolian мөөг (möög) or vice-versa. Both mean "mushroom" and are pronounced very similarly so there's clearly some ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
Translating as Past or Present tense
I am translating an excerpt of a Chinese short story. In general, do any indicators in Chinese grammar exist that would require the usage of past tense (in English) instead of present tense? In this ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
Can the 的 particle ever function without “nominalizing”?
From my answer in What is the meaning of 的 in “有一天你会明白的”? and according to Charles N. Li, Sandra A. Thompson - Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar, I believed the function of the particle ...
2
votes
0answers
53 views
Data on the endangerment of Southwestern Mandarin?
I'm looking for some data on the endangerment of Southwestern Mandarin.
Since it is rather a broad subject, it can be broken down to the Cheng–Yu 成渝 branch as it is quite representative of the ...
2
votes
0answers
218 views
What did Liu Cixin mean here?
In a postscript to the American edition of The Three-Body Problem / 三体, the author says:
In science fiction, humanity is often described as a collective. In
this book, a man named “humanity” ...
2
votes
0answers
131 views
Any evidence for z(h)uang (这么) and luang (那么)?
I keep hearing:
zuang [tsuaŋ]
and
luang [Ĩuaŋ]
for 这么 and 那么, respectively.
I believe it is Minjiang dialect (岷江话, 岷江小片).
I've flipped through a couple of books I have but I haven't been able ...
1
vote
1answer
39 views
Why is there a 零 after 块 when you pronounce 1000.20元? It's 一千块零二毛， but why?
Recently I came across a lesson in a textbook that was about money, numerals, and quantities in general. There was a puzzling entry claiming that 1000.20元 should be pronounced as 一千块零二毛。 Honestly, I ...
1
vote
0answers
87 views
Cantonese Joke About Dealing With Mandarin Elitists?
Came across this on Reddit/Jokes today
An Englishman is hiking in Scotland and he pauses to drink from a stream. A passing shepherd calls out "Dinnae drink frae that, it's all fulla coo piss an ...
1
vote
2answers
40 views
Comparing 到 and 得 to emphasize results
I am trying to understand the usage of 到 and 得 when used to emphasize results. Take, for example, the lyrics from "吻别":
我的世界開始下雪
冷得讓我無法多愛一天
In this adjective + 得 + clause construction, can ...
