Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby linguoboy » 2019-09-25, 16:03

Yasna wrote:This could be completely wrong, but maybe 扎 (za1) is being pushed towards zha1 by 夹 (jia1), which has a pretty similar meaning (to clamp) and is used in phrases related to hair styling.

I think a more likely source of influence is the general tendency of speakers in half of China to confuse the alveolar and retroflex series. I've heard a fair amount of hypercorrection (e.g. 從 pronounced chóng) over the years.
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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Saim » 2019-11-15, 18:52

In the animated series 择天记 they constantly refer to the place they're in for most of the plot as 神都, and this is translated as "the capital" in the English subtitles. According to all the dictionaries I've consulted, 神 means God, whereas capital would be 首都. Is this some sort of play on words or am I missing something here?

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby linguoboy » 2019-11-15, 19:15

神都 ("divine metropolis") was a name used for the capital city of Luoyang during the reign of Empress Wu. I take it that's when the action is set?
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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Saim » 2019-11-15, 19:25

linguoboy wrote:神都 ("divine metropolis") was a name used for the capital city of Luoyang during the reign of Empress Wu. I take it that's when the action is set?


It’s set in a fictional world with magic and demons, but given a lot of the references to Taoism and issues surrounding different members of the royal family I wouldn’t be surprised for there to be references to real history. I just wasn’t sure whether this is a real word or „just” a placename. Thanks!

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Yasna » 2019-11-16, 1:35

Saim wrote:In the animated series 择天记 they constantly refer to the place they're in for most of the plot as 神都, and this is translated as "the capital" in the English subtitles. According to all the dictionaries I've consulted, 神 means God, whereas capital would be 首都. Is this some sort of play on words or am I missing something here?

That strikes me as a typical fantasy/mythical place name, in the same vein as 魔都.
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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby VDNB-Vidan » 2020-01-01, 23:28

Happy New Year!

How to translate this in Chinese:

Time and my right

in Latin it is Tempus et meum jus
in Russian Время и мое право
in French Le temps et mon droit

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Saim » 2020-03-25, 6:55

What sort of connotations does the expression 中港台 have? I just came across it on BBC Chinese, I imagine it's not really used on the Mainland?

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby jazyk » 2020-05-26, 21:22

Saim wrote:What sort of connotations does the expression 中港台 have? I just came across it on BBC Chinese, I imagine it's not really used on the Mainland?


By juxtaposing 中(中国, China), 港(香港, Hong Kong) and 台(台湾, Taiwan), this expression to some extent implies that China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are entities of the same administrative level, i.e. countries. However, Hong Kong is a special administrative region within the country of China, and from a Mainland perspective Taiwan is considered as province of China. Therefore, this expression is considered not in line with the one-China principle that the Beijing government holds and is actually banned in Chinese media by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA). In contrast, another expression, 港澳台, where Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are listed in parallel, appears quite often in Mainland Chinese sources as these three political entities are considered at the same administrative level.
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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby douyacai » 2020-09-07, 3:10

jazyk wrote:
Saim wrote:What sort of connotations does the expression 中港台 have? I just came across it on BBC Chinese, I imagine it's not really used on the Mainland?


By juxtaposing 中(中国, China), 港(香港, Hong Kong) and 台(台湾, Taiwan), this expression to some extent implies that China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are entities of the same administrative level, i.e. countries. However, Hong Kong is a special administrative region within the country of China, and from a Mainland perspective Taiwan is considered as province of China. Therefore, this expression is considered not in line with the one-China principle that the Beijing government holds and is actually banned in Chinese media by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA). In contrast, another expression, 港澳台, where Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are listed in parallel, appears quite often in Mainland Chinese sources as these three political entities are considered at the same administrative level.


Agreed. This perfectly explained on the expression issue from the political point of view. This is helpful for Chinese learners caring about cultural sensitivity.

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Linguaphile » 2020-10-09, 14:39

In the following image, it says the same thing three times. I know that the first two characters are 大上 but I don't know the third one. It may have been made by someone who did not know the characters well either, so they may be distorted. The way that third character looks rather different in the first two versions versus the third one makes me especially suspect this.
It is from a ceremonial stamp from the Yao people, who do not generally know Chinese but use Chinese characters for religious matters.
Image
Can anyone identify the last character (the one repeated three times in the image below). In the third version it looks somewhat like 无 with additional strokes. Does anyone know what this character is, or know the meaning of the whole thing?
Image
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby linguoboy » 2020-10-09, 15:04

Looks to me like 老: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%80%81#Chinese.

太上老君 is a Daoist deity. I'm not sure if there's any connexion to the Yao personage or not.
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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Linguaphile » 2020-10-09, 16:43

linguoboy wrote:Looks to me like 老: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%80%81#Chinese.

太上老君 is a Daoist deity. I'm not sure if there's any connexion to the Yao personage or not.

Thanks! That helps. I will have to research to see if there is a connection to 太上老君. I believe the stamp is used in ceremonies dedicated to 盘王, a variant of 盘古. In any case 老 definitely makes sense, thanks!
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Saim » 2020-12-25, 6:37

LINE gives “to seduce” for 嘲 (zhao1), but I can’t find any example sentences or compounds that use this, and Wiktionary says it means “to tweet”. When does this mean “to seduce”?

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Yasna » 2020-12-25, 22:34

Saim wrote:LINE gives “to seduce” for 嘲 (zhao1), but I can’t find any example sentences or compounds that use this, and Wiktionary says it means “to tweet”. When does this mean “to seduce”?

It appears with that sense in the notorious 金瓶梅 (The Plum in the Golden Vase):

妇人在家,别无事干,一日三餐吃了饭,打扮光鲜,只在门前帘儿下站着,常把眉目嘲人,双睛传意。

My attempt at a translation:
The wife stays at home, has nothing to do, and eats three meals a day. She dolls herself up, and just stands under the shop sign at the door, always seducing men with her (pretty) facial features, signaling with her eyes.
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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby azhong » 2020-12-28, 13:08

I think the basic phrases with 嘲 in contemporary Chinese are 嘲笑, 嘲弄 and 嘲諷, which you might have known. 嘲 is rarely used alone now.

Yasna wrote:My attempt at a translation:
The wife stays at home, has nothing to do, and eats three meals a day. She dolls herself up, and just stands under the shop sign at the door, always seducing men with her (pretty) facial features, signaling with her eyes.

Yasna, may I ask why didn't you use a past tense in your translation?

May I also have my translation practice basing on yours with my poor English? And I appreciate in advance to whoever comments.

妇人在家,别无事干,一日三餐吃了饭,打扮光鲜,只在门前帘儿下站着,常把眉目嘲人,双睛传意。

The wife stayed at home with nothing to do but just dolled herself up after meals everyday, standing under the shop sign at the door and, more than often, seducing men with her (pretty) facial features and signaling with her eyes.

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Yasna » 2020-12-30, 23:46

azhong wrote:Yasna, may I ask why didn't you use a past tense in your translation?

A combination of historical present and not having a clear understanding of the sequence of events. :oops:
So the passage is saying she does the flirting after finishing the last of her three daily meals?

azhong wrote:妇人在家,别无事干,一日三餐吃了饭,打扮光鲜,只在门前帘儿下站着,常把眉目嘲人,双睛传意。

The wife stayed at home with nothing to do but just dolled herself up after meals everyday, standing under the shop sign at the door and, more than often, seducing men with her (pretty) facial features and signaling with her eyes.

For the benefit of my Chinese, can I in turn ask why you placed "just" before "dolled herself up" instead of before "standing under the shop sign", given that 只 appears before 在门前帘儿下站着?
Ein Buch muß die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns. - Kafka

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby azhong » 2020-12-31, 7:25

Yasna wrote: So the passage is saying she does the flirting after finishing the last of her three daily meals?

No. Sorry I've misleaded you. Basically the text means Pan, the married female, flirted with male stangers whenever she is available. And I guess you did have caught that.
Here 一日三餐 is just an idiom-like phrase in Chinese and doesn't really highlight the number of meals. But I am unsure the situation in English if it's directly translated.
How will it go if I say "(she flirted) after every meal"? Better or still worse? I am not in the field of literature or translation...

Yasna wrote:... why you placed "just" before "dolled herself up" instead of before "standing under the shop sign", given that 只 appears before 在门前帘儿下站着?

Well, I might have chosen a worse position; your sense in English is surely better.
Just one note: the two things (dolling herself up and standing at the door) are done together as her preparation for flirting, and Pan is bored and does nothing but JUST this preparation.

Finally, a self-emendation:
The wife stayed at home..., standing under the shop sign at the door and, more than often more often than not, seducing men ...

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby OldBoring » 2020-12-31, 12:37

Hey azhong!
Off-topic: I just realized you're in the same city as vijayjohn (王建国)!
He is now an English teacher in Taiwan, in a city near ZhangHua

azhong

Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby azhong » 2020-12-31, 14:11

OldBoring wrote:Hey azhong!
Off-topic: I just realized you're in the same city as vijayjohn (王建国)!
He is now an English teacher in Taiwan, in a city near ZhangHua

Thanks for telling me that, which I didn't know at all. I have facebooked him. Thank you, Oldboring.

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Re: Questions about Chinese / 关于中文的问题 / 關於中文的問題

Postby Yasna » 2021-01-19, 0:00

azhong wrote:No. Sorry I've misleaded you. Basically the text means Pan, the married female, flirted with male stangers whenever she is available. And I guess you did have caught that.
Here 一日三餐 is just an idiom-like phrase in Chinese and doesn't really highlight the number of meals. But I am unsure the situation in English if it's directly translated.
How will it go if I say "(she flirted) after every meal"? Better or still worse?

Considering the idiomatic meaning you have made me aware of, I would translate it with something like "on a daily basis".

Well, I might have chosen a worse position; your sense in English is surely better.
Just one note: the two things (dolling herself up and standing at the door) are done together as her preparation for flirting, and Pan is bored and does nothing but JUST this preparation.

So you're saying 只 modifies both 打扮光鲜 and 在门前帘儿下站着? Did I understand you correctly?
Ein Buch muß die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns. - Kafka


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