Tone mixups to be avoided at all costs
bababardwan
March 17, 2010, 11:21 AM posted in General DiscussionOk,well we all know how important getting our tones right are and now CPod has given us a trial tool to play with to get feedback on our tones.Most of the time getting our tones wrong will just lead to confusion...something nonsensical or hard to follow.But sometimes the change in meaning can be disastrous.I thought it might be both fun and useful to compile a list of those homophones or even examples of phrases containing them where the mixup in tones still makes sense but could lead to very embarrasing misunderstandings. I think the first I ever learnt was not to call someones 妈妈 a 马马。I have encountered numerous examples both in the lessons and on the boards,but off the top of my head I can't recall them all and it'd be nice to have a list of some important ones here.So poddies,what do you think are some of the more important ones not to mixup?
waiguoren
March 19, 2010, 04:04 AMI'll try to 'bear' that in mind next time...
orangina
March 17, 2010, 02:41 PMok, so just made a label for my favorite pen. I quite like pens, and end up discussing them more often than one would think is reasonable... so I am going to make great efforts to learn this one correctly....
bababardwan
March 18, 2010, 11:13 AMThanks guys [and gal...sorry bodawei,go_manly was right about shielas is considered a bit crass so I'll use an Americanism with an American,hehe].
Of course,recently I posted the old 喜欢 vs 洗碗
but I just remembered a golden oldie:
请问 vs 请吻
小姐，请吻。。
xiaophil
I just told my VIP student that Australians don't say 'gal', haha.
xiao_liang
I guess it depends on the 小姐 :-p
This thread just got facebooked by Cpod. bababardwan triumphs again! :)
bababardwan
hehe,that's right,a very conveniant/innocent slip from 4th down into 3rd...one always has the face saving 老外 poor tones excuse if it all goes muckeyefoot [hmm,how do you spell that old expression?]/pear shaped
顺便，多谢Xiao_liang，不过我不敢当
xiaophil
March 18, 2010, 11:17 AMI just told my VIP student that Australians don't say 'gal', haha.
xiao_liang
March 18, 2010, 11:19 AMI guess it depends on the 小姐 :-p
This thread just got facebooked by Cpod. bababardwan triumphs again! :)
xiaophil
March 18, 2010, 11:04 PMIf a Chinese person has a surname Cao, never, ever mistakenly pronounce it with fourth tone. It may or may not have the same meaning as an English word that rhymes with 'buck'.
xiao_liang
March 17, 2010, 02:12 PMAhh, wasn't there a story a little while ago about someone who asked a pretty young girl if he could borrow her 屄 (bi1 - vulva) rather than her 笔 (bi3 - pen)
I should imagine you wouldn't want to mix that one up.
orangina
ok, so just made a label for my favorite pen. I quite like pens, and end up discussing them more often than one would think is reasonable... so I am going to make great efforts to learn this one correctly....
bababardwan
March 18, 2010, 11:31 PMsure,but I think that particularly at the start of a conversation,context [which I know encompasses a whole range of things] is not always clear.
bodawei
March 19, 2010, 02:21 AMRJ
I was just about to post something along the same lines.. Although a wrong tone can cause embarrassment in practice this happens to me very rarely. (Maybe I don't embarrass easily.] The most common response to a wrong tone is a blank look.
Having said that, Barbs, this is a terrific post and I am going to look out for wrong tones specially to record here.. :-)
bodawei
March 19, 2010, 02:55 AMWhile we're talking about wrong tones it is worth pointing out that native Chinese speakers themselves probably spend more time worrying about them (or making jokes about them) than us foreign learners.
On numerous occasions I have been told stories about how some native speaker has made a 'serious' mistake and how it was so hilarious for the audience. In particular, people love highlighting the shortcomings of the uneducated.
Furthermore, native speakers love making jokes using subtle tonal changes. Although the joke is sometimes difficult for us to understand (it is along the lines of 'our language is so rich'), some of their jokes are more obvious.
Okay I'll give you one example close to home. My name is 柏大伟 bódàwěi but some unkind native speakers like to call me 柏大卫 because 大卫 dàwèi sounds like 大胃 dàwèi (fat stomach.) They think that this is hilarious.
waiguoren
March 19, 2010, 03:36 AMI was talking to a girl in Sichuan, and mentioned that I liked Panda's （我喜欢熊猫）...but after an awkward silence and a little giggle, it was revealed that I said 我喜欢胸猫。。。I like breast cats! Or something to that effect...
熊 (xiong2) - bear
胸 (xiong1) - breast
changye
March 19, 2010, 03:47 AMI'm sure you said "胸毛" (xiong1mao2, chest hair) to the girl then, hehe.
RJ
March 18, 2010, 11:20 PMI have to believe in cases like this, that context would carry much more weight than tones. At least I hope that is the case.
bababardwan
sure,but I think that particularly at the start of a conversation,context [which I know encompasses a whole range of things] is not always clear.
bodawei
RJ
I was just about to post something along the same lines.. Although a wrong tone can cause embarrassment in practice this happens to me very rarely. (Maybe I don't embarrass easily.] The most common response to a wrong tone is a blank look.
Having said that, Barbs, this is a terrific post and I am going to look out for wrong tones specially to record here.. :-)
bababardwan
bodawei,
Maybe I don't embarrass easily
hehe,yeah I'm with you mate.I enjoy a good laugh even if it's at my own expense.
The most common response to a wrong tone is a blank look.
..yeah,followed by a few more attempts and a dawning of what you're on about,and then a correction of your tones which sounds just like what you were saying [where's that rewind button?]...amazing sometimes.Still I think it's great to be corrected.
yeah,I think in the main context will avoid confusion as RJ says as well as it will otherwise just not make sense as you point out,but I think there are a few examples out there that can lead to a misinterpretation and potential embarrassment,even if it's only for the poor sensitive and lovely young xiaojie on the receiving end of one's bad tones....
B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-Bad
B-B-B-Bad
Bad to the tone
[jeepers B-B-B-Bad...is a bit too close to bababardwan for comfort..don't wanna put the mocker on myself]
Tal
March 17, 2010, 01:04 PMI am reminded of this post I made long ago. How time flies!