Amazing lady, confusing Chinese

GreyPhoenix
April 24, 2008, 09:04 PM posted in General Discussion

Hey guys - I am part of a group that uses ESL to help internationals in the US. My primary focus is on Chinese residents in my area, and while I've had students from 8 years of age to, well, old (*grin*), I must say I love working with seniors the most. One lady, however, took the prize for my oldest student ever. I met her last night for the first time, and she's all of 93 years young and healthy as can be.

 

This lady is from Taiwan, and speaks English, Taiwanese, Mandarin, Japanese, and maybe some others as well. When she heard me using some Chinese with a student, however, the conversation she started threw me for a bit of a loop. Here's how it went:

 

Student: 你会中国话吗? (ni3 hui4 zhong1 guo2 hua4 ma1?)

Me (confused): 我会什么? (wo3 hui4 shen2 me?)

Student, patiently repeating herself: 你会中国话吗? (ni3 hui4 zhong1 guo2 hua4 ma1?)

Me: Uh, 一点。 (Uh, yi1 dian3)

 

My problem is this: I've heard people ask ”你会说……?“ (ni3 hui4 shuo1...?), but never just "你会……?“ (ni3 hui4...?). I've also heard people refer to Chinese as 普通话 (pu3 tong1 hua4), 中文 (zhong1 wen2), and 华语 (hua2 yu3), but never 中国话 (zhong1 guo3 hua4). I understand the meaning behind the phrase 中国话, but am wondering if anyone else has heard Chinese referred to as "China language." I'm also wondering if the 说 is necessary or not when asking of someone can speak a language (I always learned it was). Thanks to anyone who can help!

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GreyPhoenix
April 24, 2008, 09:07 PM

Oops... change the pinyin for “国” in the last paragraph to "guo2," not "guo3." Should have proofed it better! Thanks!

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phalaneng
April 24, 2008, 09:41 PM

I once came across this issue and was just as taken aback by it as you are. I found it in two textbooks, not always in the context of languages. I think it is right, my Cantonese landlady says it is correct, too. (well, she would say it differently of course) Google has quite a few hits with this construction. What confuses me about this sentence is the term 中国话, just like you remarked. I have two theories - being from Taiwan, she might be somewhat patriotic; or perhaps she was trying to make it easy or whatever for you. I'm sure I'm way off the mark, as usual.

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excuter
April 24, 2008, 09:41 PM

I heard it in a song in a youtube video...

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wei1xiao4
April 24, 2008, 11:26 PM

Yes, there is a popular song by S.H.E. that uses this phrase and they are also Taiwanese singers, I believe. I think Jenny told us about this song at Chinese New Year.

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changye
April 24, 2008, 11:29 PM

Hi excuter, Let me copy-and-paste one of my recent postings in an interesting thread of Casie’s. I don’t know if “中国话” sounds “patriotic” for Taiwanese, but I think it’s a very intriguing issue. I hope that someone will “butt in” this discussion. By the way, there are several ways to express “I speak Chinese.” 我会汉语,我会说汉语,我会讲汉语,我懂汉语. It seems that “会说” is most commonly used, at least on the Internet (Google), and “讲” sounds more formal than “说”. You might need to be careful when you use “懂”, since I heard somewhere that, for example, “你懂英语吗?” sometimes sounds like “CAN you speak English?” But I’m not so sure anyway. I hope native speakers will help us. ---------------------------------------------------------- You raised a very interesting question. There are several words that mean “Chinese language”, and their nuances are a little different from each other. Of course, some of them are often used interchangeably. 汉语 implies “汉族人’s language”, not “other 少数民族’s (ethnic groups) languages”, therefore, for example, Chinese linguists and historians commonly employ the word “汉语” in their books and writings. On the other hand, 中文 has a nuance of 中国’s language, not foreign countries’ language (外文, 外语), and the word also implies “written Chinese.” Anyway, 汉语 and 中文 are usually interchangeable. 中国话 (hua4) is the more conversational version of 中文. And 中国语 (yu3) is rarely used and is a very formal word. Btw, Mandarin is the transliteration of “满大人 (man3 da4 ren2)”, high-ranking bureaucrats in the Qing dynasty (清朝). http://chinesepod.com/connections/viewpost/casie/connect/Wanna+Challenge+Your+Chinese%3F p.s. I hear that Mandarin spoken in Singapore or Malaysia (or among overseas Chinese ? (华侨) ) is often referred to as “华语”.

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sushan
April 24, 2008, 11:34 PM

re 中国话 、the Australian prime minister uses it in this Media lesson (Amber translates in comments) http://chinesepod.com/lessons/%E6%BE%B3%E6%B4%B2%E6%80%BB%E7%90%86%E7%A7%80%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87/discussion Someone just asked me last week if I could speak it. I think it might actually be analogous to 'Chinese' without specifying an accent but that is just a guess.

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GreyPhoenix
April 25, 2008, 02:03 AM

Wow, thanks guys! You answered my questions wonderfully! @changye - My fiance' is an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia, and he nearly always refers to Chinese as 华语. I also heard some Taiwanese use that phrase a few weeks ago, so it sounds like you could be right. Thanks again, everyone! Will check out the youtube videos as well!

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GreyPhoenix
April 25, 2008, 02:10 AM

Btw, here's the link for the youtube vid: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pEZKP5RNdCI Enjoy!

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John
April 25, 2008, 04:52 AM

In addition to Changye's notes, there is also 国语 (guóyǔ), which you hear almost exclusively in Taiwan, but occasionally on the mainland as well.

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changye
April 25, 2008, 06:32 AM

John, thanks for your supplement. According to one of my 中日辞典, the word “国语” usually indicates the old name of “汉语普通话” here in China. And in Taiwan, it means the official standard Chinese established, based on 北京话, by 中华民国 in 1926. For the record, there is the word “国語”, which usually means 日语, in Japanese too.