User Comments - BillJefferys

Posted on: I Don't Have the Strength (... 不动）

Also, I was wondering when I wrote it, should a person write pinyin using the tone sandhi, or should it be written using the standard form?  I know about the tone change, when speaking, but does a person write pinyin with the tone change?  I assumed that you don't, but it often confuses me when I read a sentence written in pinyin without the tone change.  Thank you for bringing this up.

Also, can you tell me if "bu" spoken with a 4th tone or a 2nd tone prior to the 3rd tone dong3?

Bluejay,

I don't know if there is a standard way to write the tones when tone sandhi is involved. It has been a long, long time since I first studied Chinese (over 45 years!) and at the time we used a strange book from the PRC that did use pinyin. I just don't remember how it handled the issue, and I no longer own the book. For clarity with beginners I would be tempted to indicate the tones as spoken, but I don't teach Chinese. Maybe Jenny, Amber, Ken or John can comment.

'bu' would be spoken with fourth tone before a third tone. It only changes to second tone when it precedes a fourth tone. Thus, '不动' is pronounced "bú dòng" (tone sandhi), whereas '不懂' is pronounced "bù dǒng" (no tone sandhi).

Posted on: I Don't Have the Strength (... 不动）

Bluejay wrote

Oh, now I realize why people have given me funny looks when I say “听不懂”(tíng bù dòng)... I must be getting the tone wrong and I'm saying "I don't have the energy to listen (to you)"  (听不动 （tíng bù dòng))
:^

There is a tone change ("tone sandhi") when '不' 'bù' comes before a fourth tone. In '不动', the '不' shifts from fourth to second tone, so it should be pronounced "bú dòng", not "bù dòng". If you say "bù dòng", especially if you do not clearly articulate the 'dòng' in fourth tone, it will likely be heard as "bù dǒng," which is how '不懂' would be said and heard. Note: '动' is fourth tone, '懂' is third tone (you've got that wrong in your transcription).

Note also that '听' is first tone, not second, as you have it in your transcription. So '听不懂' should be "tīng bù dǒng." 

Tones are very important, as you clearly realize, and tone sandhi is difficult until you internalize the rules.

Posted on: Chinatomy: Medical Treatments and Marriage Registration

Calkins, Amber,

There's a problem with the link. When you click on it, you get a bogus link.

The plaintext link is also wrong, Calkins' question says

"Hi Walt.  Do you need a password to access your photos at www.eng.utoledo.edu\~wolson?  I tried a couple ways to access the photos, in a separate browser, but had no luck.  It says the server can't be found."

That's not a valid URL. URLs never contain backslashes (\). They have to contain normal slashes (/). Try typing in what you see above, but with a normal slash instead of a backslash. (The error exists in Amber's first posting).

http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/~wolson

This gets Walt's home page.

But, this doesn't access the pictures. The link appears to be

www.eng.utoledo.edu/~wolson/acu,

but that link says "no such directory"

However, careful examination of Amber's posting reveals the correct URLs of the two pictures:

http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/~wolson/ACU%201.jpg

fetches one of  the photos, and

http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/~wolson/acu%202%20copy.jpg

fetches the other. Note that unlike some servers, this one is case-sensitive. If you use ACU instead of acu (or vice versa) you'll also get nonworking URLs.

Posted on: Where Do You Live?

My usual take on bu2cuo4 不错 has been "not bad." But in this lesson it is being given a much more positive spin. I would have said (having been to Suzhou with a friend, many years ago) is that it is not just 不错, but actually 美丽. But I now learn that bu2cuo4 不错 is really much more positive that I had thought. So, I have learned something new here.

Posted on: Days of the week

weibwo's comment is very helpful. I have heard that the Greeks had a view of time as looking at what has happened...like looking down a stream as it passed you...rather than (as Westerners usually do) looking up the stream as what is coming towards you. Perhaps this is a way to understand 下 vs. 上 when used to denote time.

Posted on: What is a Chengyu?

Back to ....家: I'm an astronomer, would it be OK (not arrogant) to call myself a 天文学研究员 (astronomy researcher)? Since I am a professor, is it correct to identify myself as a 教授? Or would that be arrogant?

Posted on: Superstitions and Business Trip Tales

Oh, dear! I just learned that I shouldn't say 一路顺风 to someone who is taking the plane. I can't think of how many times I've committed this faux pas! The recipients of the sincerely meant good wish were very polite and never corrected me. Thanks for this very interesting and informative conversation!

Posted on: He's Not In

I had learned 喂？你那儿？ "Wei? Ni Nar?" as the greeting to use when you answered the phone. I means, sort of, "Hi, who's there?" The dialog just says "Wei?" Now, I've noticed a decline in phone etiquette in the US over the years. It used to be that when you called someone, you would say who you were as part of your initial greeting. Now, the young people don't do this, they think I'll just know who they are. I always ask, "Who's this?" So the question is, has Chinese phone etiquette changed since 20-30 years ago? Have young Chinese become just as rude as young Americans have? From an old curmudgeon (how do you say 'curmudgeon' in Chinese?)

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

There's a list of the solar terms and dates on WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calendar#Solar_term

Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day

清明节...I was not aware of the other aspect of this festival, the Tomb-Sweeping aspect. Many thanks. But I agree with ohdannyboy...it would be useful to air these prior to the day. 朱勇谋