棒棒麵 (bàng bàng miàn)
bodawei
October 26, 2009, 02:20 PM posted in General DiscussionIsn't this a cool character? But is it real? (I got this off Wikipaedia tonight).
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Phonetic substitution
Made up of 57 strokes, the Chinese character "biáng" is one of the most complex Chinese characters in contemporary usage, although the character is not found in modern dictionaries or even in the Kangxi dictionary. Because the Chinese character for "biáng" cannot be entered into computers, phonetic substitutes like 棒棒麵 (bàng bàng miàn) or 梆梆麵 (bāng bāng miàn) are often used.
Mnemonics
There are a number of ditties familiar to Shaanxi residents used as mnemonics to aid recall of how the character is written. One version runs as follows:
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English translation |
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一點上了天 |
一点上了天 |
yì diǎn shàng le tiān |
A dot rises up to heaven, |
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黃河兩道彎 |
黄河两道弯 |
huáng hé liǎng dào wān |
and the yellow river has two bends. |
|
八字大張口 |
八字大张口 |
bā zì dà zhāng kǒu |
The character "eight" (八) opens its mouth, |
|
言字往進走 |
言字往进走 |
yán zì wǎng jìn zǒu |
and the character "speak" (言) walks in. |
|
你一扭 我一扭 |
你一扭 我一扭 |
nǐ yī niǔ, wǒ yī niǔ |
You make a twist, I make a twist, |
|
你一長 我一長 |
你一长 我一长 |
nǐ yī zhǎng, wǒ yī zhǎng |
you grow, I grow, |
|
當中加個馬大王 |
当中加个马大王 |
dāng zhōng jiā ge mǎ dà wáng |
and we add a horse king in between. |
|
心字底 |
心字底 |
xīn zì dǐ |
The character "heart" (心) forms the base, |
|
月字旁 |
月字旁 |
yuè zì páng |
the character "moon" (月) stands at the side, |
|
留個釣搭挂麻糖 |
留个钓搭挂麻糖 |
liú ge diào dā guà má táng |
a hook at the right to hang sesame candies, |
|
坐著車車逛咸陽 |
坐着车车逛咸阳 |
zuò zhe chē chē guàng xián yáng |
and we ride a carriage to tour the streets ofXianyang. |
bodawei
October 26, 2009, 02:29 PM@xiaophil
Well I think the dish is quite common out this way - they sell 棒棒面 at a cheap little place nearby, but they use (I think) this character, 棒球的棒。 Which doesn't even have the same pinyin.
How did you come across the character? Is it like a novelty?
xiaophil
October 26, 2009, 02:32 PMHaha, I came across it the same way as you. I saw it on Wikipedia.
bababardwan
October 27, 2009, 01:15 AMHey,great post bodawei.I love that there needs to be a story to remember how to write the character.I wonder if we can get that on skritter.Looks like fun.Here's that wikipedia article:
chloeheaven
October 27, 2009, 04:49 PMNo , it is not bang2 bang2 , should be biang2 biang2
bodawei
October 28, 2009, 06:26 AM@chloeheaven
I have never heard anyone say biáng biáng, have you?
xiaophil
October 26, 2009, 02:22 PMbodawei
I recently showed about 15 students this character and not one of them had ever seen it before. It seems to be quite local for the most part.