Unanswered Questions
91 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
5
votes
0answers
227 views
Similarities between Japanese 四字熟語 and Chinese 成语?
I have been learning Japanese 四字熟語 as a passtime 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
0answers
111 views
Number of phonemic vowels in Middle Chinese
How many phonemic vowels are there in Middle Chinese? I'm interested in this question because Shanghainese has 16 phonological vowel/12 phonemic vowels, and was wondering if it had innovated more ...
4
votes
5answers
644 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
138 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
75 views
Retention of 其 as a modal particle in modern Chinese
There is a recent Chinese Stack Exchange question on the significance of 其 in 尤其, given the meaning of the word is largely contributed by 尤.
I am quite confident that some of the answers in the thread ...
2
votes
0answers
144 views
Trying to translate signature and stamp for Chinese print (Characters identified: 戊午九月石年)
Trying to find the origin of this print and the translation of the signature and seal.
2
votes
0answers
46 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
61 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
109 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
145 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
108 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
57 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
230 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
175 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
60 views
What is the origin of the word 鬻?
The word 鬻 (yù) appears to originate as a joint pictogram from:
粥 depicting the rice and two whirls of steam on the sides
鬲 (pronounced lì?) a cooking vessel
Later 粥 alone came in use to express the ...
