User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: I'm Married
June 2, 2008 at 8:13 AMHi henning,
Thanks for your info. Wow, it has 57 strokes, and it seems to be very difficult to order a bowl of noodle in 陕西 (shan3 xi1) without knowing this complicated character! Of course, I couldn’t find this character in 康熙字典 (kang1 xi1 zi4 dian3).
But I think that 中华字海 (zhong1 hua2 zi4 hai3), the dictionary which contains the largest number (85,568) of Chinese characters at present, possibly lists the character. If someone has the dictionary, I want to get it too, please look it up!
Posted on: I'm Married
June 2, 2008 at 7:38 AMHi ancalagon,
You avatar is very cool. I’d like to know how to read it! Did you make it yourself?
As for the pronunciation (nei4) for 那, according to one of my dictionaries, its original form was perhaps “那一” (na-yi), and it later changed (or simplifed) into (nai). Anyway, “nai” is more conversational than “na”, and this kind of change is generally seen in colloquial words. And of course, the same goes for 这 (zhe4, zhei4) and 哪 (na3, nai3, nei3).
By the way, some 多音字 (duo1 yi1 zi4, a multi-reading character) have a couple of pronunciations such as “o, ai”, “e, ei”, and “e, ai”. In these cases, the shorter one is mainly used for literary words, and the longer one for colloquial words. For example, 没 (mo, mei), 得 (de, dei), 色 (se, shai), 勒 (le, lei), 塞 (se, sai), 择 (ze, zhai).
The reason is rather difficult to explain, and anyway it is completely beyond my competence, but let me just tell you one thing. Interestingly, all those characters had “entering tones” (入声, ru4 sheng1) in the past, e.g., 没 (muot), 得 (tok), 色 (siok), 勒 (lok), 塞 (sok), 择 (dak), and they are still preserved in Korean and Japanese.
Posted on: SBTG: Confucius
June 2, 2008 at 6:14 AMHi bankangde,
Thanks for your very educational comment. I also thought, without any doubt, “焉” (yan1) was just an empty word (虚词, xu1 ci2) for emphasizing. I believe that not a few Japanese people among those who know the famous verse from 论语 probably think the same way as me.
As far as I can see on the Internet in China, I did a search hastily today, the “焉” in the phrase “必有我师焉” is actually considered to be “于之 (於之)”, as you pointed out, and it means “其中” (among them) in modern Mandarin, and this fact really came as a refreshing surprise for me!
One thing I don’t understand is why the “焉” follows the noun “师”, because if the “焉” is equal to “于之”, it should be located after a verb or an adjective, like “写于北京” or “重于泰山”. And therefore I thought the “焉” (=于之) should also be only used in phrases such as ～出焉, ～在焉, and ～死焉.
If you, and other guys, have a good answer to this, please kindly let me know! As is always the case with 虚词 in classical Chinese, “焉” also has several meanings and usages, which often throw learners, perhaps sometimes even scholars, into confusion, and at the same time, that makes learning more interesting and exciting.
Posted on: I'm Married
June 2, 2008 at 3:35 AMHi sophie,
I guess that might be partly because a lot of young Chinese couples try “试婚” (to make it safe) before they officially marry. And I imagine that not a few couples experience “divorce” even before they formally marry.
试婚 (shi4 hun1)
a trial marriage, or unmarried cohabitation
Posted on: I'm Married
June 2, 2008 at 3:16 AMHi dldshanghai,
Thank you very much for the informative posting. The word “堂客” is particularly interesting to me! In a sense, a wife is a “guest” in a family, and it suggests that a guest might leave the family some day…..!
The last paragraph in your comment just reminds me of a book titled “汉语亲属称谓研究” I saw at a bookstore the other day. It seems that “family titles” are really a big (and complicated) issue in Chinese.
Posted on: 理想女人
June 1, 2008 at 8:46 AMHi hathat2,
看样子，你至少能够吸引不少男生，就是好事！
关键是如何”挑东西”, 就是说怎样挑出最理想的男人。
多亏了你有很丰富的经验，你已经是个很有眼力的女人。
有人说”没有最好只有更好”，为了美好的未来你好好研究吧！
Hi guolanusa,
Almost! Actually it is “好好学习，天天向上”. I hear this slogan was invented by 毛泽东 more than fifty years ago. Probably it might be one of the most famous slogans, as well as “为人民服务”, “发展才是硬道理”, “爱国无罪”, “造反有理”, and “环境保护人人有责” in China. 我们向毛主席好好学习吧！
Posted on: I'm Married
June 1, 2008 at 8:13 AMHi tucsonmichael,
Congratulations! It looks like that not a few poddies are married to Chinese people. That should be the best incentive to learn Mandarin!
I’ve been to 昆明 (kun1 ming2), but never been to 桂林 (gui4 lin2). I believe that place must be exceptionally beautiful!
桂林风景格外美丽
(gui4 lin2 feng1 jing3 ge2 wai4 mei3 li4)
The scenery of Guilin is exceptionally beautiful.
你们俩去桂林度蜜月，好羡慕啊！
(ni3 men lia qu4 gui4 lin2 du4 mi4 yue4, hao3 xian4 mu4 a)
The two of you are going to Guilin
on your honeymoon, I really envy you!
Posted on: I'm Married
June 1, 2008 at 7:42 AM
Hi wolson,
＞ It is difficult to tell who is married to who in China
＞ as the wife does not take the husmand's name.
Actually, this system is not so bad for women, because they don’t have to change their names every time they marry (and divorce), which makes women’s participation in the working world smoother.
And more importantly, in a sense, “no name-change” would make a divorce “psychologically” easier for women, which might be one of the reasons why so many people divorce in China. Guys, be cautious!!!
Posted on: I'm Married
June 1, 2008 at 6:22 AM
How to Make the Marriage Proposal in Mandarin.
我爱你，跟我结婚吧！
我爱你，和我结婚吧！
我爱你，我们结婚吧！
我爱你，咱们结婚吧！
我爱你，你嫁给我吧！male to female
我爱你，求你娶我吧！female to male
我爱你 (wo3 ai4 ni3), 跟 (gen1), 和 (he2), 我们 (wo3 men), 咱们 (zan2 men), 吧 (ba), 嫁给 (jia4 gei3), 求你 (qiu2 ni3), 娶 (qu3)
Posted on: 理想女人
June 2, 2008 at 12:55 PMHi sushan,
There is no trick. 意中人 (yi4 zhong1 ren2) literally means, "意识中存在的(偷偷爱慕的)人", or something like that. The "中" (zhong1) is "inside", but not a verb 中 (zhong4, hit).
"Soulmate" is translated as "灵魂伴侣" or "心灵伴侣", as far as I can see on the Internet. If you try hard and are lucky enough, 意中人 would later become your 心灵伴侣, perhaps!