A Foundation Course in Mandarin
A Foundation Course in Mandarin
A Foundation Course in Mandarin
Wheatley, MIT
第七課 Dì-qī kè
Lesson 7
知彼知己,百戰不殆
Zhī bǐ zhī jǐ bǎi zhàn bú dài,
know others know self, 100 battles without peril,
不知彼而知己,一勝一負
bù zhī bǐ ér zhī jǐ , yì shéng yí fù,
not know others but know self, a victory [for every] loss,
不知彼不知己,每戰必敗。
bù zhī bǐ bù zhī jǐ , měi zhàn bì bài.
not know others not know self, every battle inevitably lose.
A saying (in Classical Chinese) from Sūnzi’s Art of War (cited at the start of the video game, Three
Kingdoms VIII). Bǐ ‘that; others’ appears in the modern language in the word bǐcǐ ‘mutual’ (literally ‘that’
and ‘this’) and jǐ in the word zìjǐ ‘self; oneself’, both illustrating once again the trend towards polysyllabic
words in the modern language. Ér, which serves as a conjunction in the classical language (‘and; but’)
appears in the modern expression érqiě ‘moreover’.
問題 回答 (huídá)
i) 個人問題:
1. 你是從哪個國家來的? ______________________
a. 第一次来这儿吗? ______________________
2. 你是本科生還是研究生? ______________________
b. 你是学什么的? ______________________
3. 你哪年畢業? ______________________
c. 毕业以后要做什么? ______________________
4. 你去過哪些別的國家? ______________________
d. 你是 哪年去[中国…] 的? ______________________
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
5. 跟誰一起去的? ______________________
e. 你在哪里生的? ______________________
6. 在什麼地方上的高中? ______________________
f. 你最喜欢哪个国家的菜? ______________________
7. 朋友吸煙你覺得怎麼樣? ______________________
g. 当医生的吸烟你觉得怎么样? ______________________
8. 你的大學每個學生是否一定得學外語? ______________________
h. 一百块钱,十二个人,一个人有 ______________________
几块?
ii) 跟中国有关的问题:
1. 现在一块美金是多少块人民币? ______________________
a. 坐飛機去中國,來回票大概多少錢? ______________________
2. 哪边的中国人比较喜欢吃面条? ______________________
b. 你說麵條好吃還是白飯好吃? ______________________
3. 中国人就油条吃粥吗? ______________________
c. 吃魚喝白酒行不行? ______________________
4. 吃肉一定得喝白酒吗? ______________________
d. 中國女孩子是否都不喝牛奶? ______________________
5. 中国人吃饭的时候是先喝汤 ______________________
后吃菜,还是先吃菜后喝汤? ______________________
e. 中國最有名的啤酒是哪個? ______________________
6. 中国哪个城市人口最多?第二呢? ______________________
f. “不准吸煙”那四個字是什麼意思? ______________________
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
7. 中国人过生日吃面条,过年吃鱼;
为什么? ______________________
g. 中国人常说住在外国生病是
因为水土不服;什么意思? _____________________
iii) 跟別的地方有關的問題:
1. 哪些國家用手吃飯? ______________________
a. 用手吃饭应该用左手还是用右手? ______________________
2. 你說中國人吃飯的時候一碗白飯
吃得飽嗎? ______________________
b. 你们上大学的时候每天有几个
小时的作业? ______________________
3. 愛人也可以是男人也可以是女人吧? ______________________
c. 中国和美国时差是多少,知道吗? ______________________
4. 中國最大的城市是哪個,你知道嗎? ______________________
d. 世界上最大的城市是不是上海? ______________________
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes:
和…有關/有关 ‘be connected [with]’; 票 piào ‘ticket’; 油 yóu ‘oil’; 牛 niú ‘cow’; 啤 pí;
准 zhǔn ‘allowed’; 吃得飽/吃得饱 chīdebǎo ‘able to eat [one’s] fill’; 世界 shìjiè ‘world’.
手机 用手 米饭 应该 洗澡 鸡蛋
广东 厕所 炒面 听说 水饺 医院
每天 路口 考试 飞机 也许 功课
紧张 父母 海菜 清汤 很远 开会
好听 地铁 请问 公司 孔子 音乐
面条 好玩儿 大家 大概 学期 白菜
不同 以前 汽车 再见 茶杯 城市
问题 五楼 大街 汉字 国家 鱼片
外国 每年 看书 睡觉 长安 牛肉
姓陈 女孩儿 面包 看病 河边 不对
ii) 繁體字
? ? = 哪個字?
sāndiǎnshuǐ hēchá de hē de yòubiānr
shàng yǒu máng de yòubianr xià yǒu ge xīn zì
mùzìpáng jĭ suì de jĭ
yánzìpáng qĭngjìn de jìn de yòubiānr
zuǒbiān yǒu ge yuè zì kànbào de bào de yòubiānr
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
4. Dialogue
甲 请问,你是哪国人?
乙 我是法 (Fǎ) 国人。
甲 可是你像个中国人。
乙 我爸爸是中国人,妈妈是法国人。我爸爸十八岁到巴黎去留学,
在巴黎认识我妈妈的。 Bālí
甲 哦,那你就生在那儿吧?
乙 是的。你去过法国吗?
甲 没去过,可是很想去。我会说一点儿法语。
乙 那,你呢,你是北京人吧?
甲 不,我生在西安,也长在西安,但是现在住在北京。
乙 你是哪年来的北京?
甲 我是 1990 年来的。父母还住在西安。
乙 那,你喜不喜欢北京?
甲 北京不错,但是我很想西安。
乙 我去过西安,西安很好玩儿。
甲 你是什么时候去的?
乙 我是去年六月去的,跟两个中国朋友一块儿去的。一个是西安人
所以我们吃的,玩儿的都很好。
甲 对啊,西安铰子和羊肉比较有名。下次去,请到父母家玩玩儿。
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
New Characters
The 300 plus characters introduced in the first six character lessons together with your
knowledge of a much larger vocabulary of compounds that make use of these characters
now make it feasible to introduce new characters in more diverse and interesting ways.
So Characters 7 is organized around a narrative (Sets 1 and 2), a traditional tale (Set 3),
and several weather reports (Set 4). The total number of characters explicitly introduced
is about the same as in previous lessons, but the number presented only in glossaries is
larger. A feasible goal for students would be to be able to read aloud (and comprehend!)
all of the main texts without reference to the vocabulary lists; and to recognize those
characters introduced in large format (with notes) – but not those provided only in the
glossaries – in novel combinations and contexts. In other words, the focus should be, as
always, on learning to recognize the core sets of characters in a variety of contexts.
7.1 Set 1
朝 知道 祖 搬 竹 算
4+8 5+3 3+9 4+5 3+10 6+0 6+8
cháo zhīdào zǔ bān zhú suàn
dynasty know ancestor move; remove bamboo calculate
縣 農 養 豬 種 雖然
6+10 7+6 9+6 7+8 5+9 8+9 4+8
县 农 养 猪 种 虽
2+5 2+4 6+3 3+8 5+4 3+6
xiàn nóng yǎng zhū zhǒng / zhòng suīrán
county; district agriculture nurture; raise pig kind; sort / to plant although
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
簡單 屋 具 死 紅 直
6+12 3+6 2+6 4+2 / 1+5 6+3 5+3
简单 红 直
6+6 2+6 3+3 2+6
jiǎndān wū jù sǐ hóng zhí
simple; ordinary room tool die red straight
Notes
a) Contrast the left hand side of朝 and 車(/车); the former contains早 topped with 十.
And contrast the left hand side of 知 with 天; the former contains 矢 shǐ ‘arrow’ to the
left of 口. The second syllable of 知道, dào, means ‘way; route’, which is the source of
the word that has entered the English language as ‘Tao’. The notion obviously has great
import in Chinese philosophical thought. To cite one example, the opening lines of the 道
德经 Dào Dé Jīng (often romanized as Tao Te Ching), The Classic of Tao and Virtue,
attributed to 老子 Lǎozǐ around the 4th or 3rd centuries BC, opens (in the written Chinese
of two and a half centuries ago) with the cryptic and economical comment: 道可道, 非常
道 Dào kě dào, fēi cháng dào ‘The Tao that can be spoken is not the proper Tao’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
f) 農 contains 辰 chén, which is traditionally assigned as radical in this graph, and 曲 qǔ;
cf. 晨chén ‘early morning’, where 辰 is clearly phonetic.
g) 羊 yáng ‘goat; sheep’ appears as an element in many characters. Its combining form is
often truncated (as in 美 where it is traditionally assigned as radical, or in traditional 樣,
where it is not). In 養its function is phonetic in the traditional graph, combining with
radical 食 shí ‘food’ (whose combining form appears in, eg 餓), but is the assigned
radical in the simplified (养 ). Cf. also 差.
h) 都 and 豬/猪 have in common the element 者 zhě (as in 或者), which typically
appears as a vestigial phonetic in words beginning with two distinct though still related
sets of initials: d/t and zh/ch. In 豬/猪, it appears with the radical 豕shǐ ‘pig’ in the
traditional graph, and with the radical that is the combining form of 犬quǎn ‘dog’, in the
simplified.
i) 種 combines 禾hé ‘grain’ (as radical, but cf. 和 hé, where it serves as a phonetic) with
重 zhòng ‘heavy’ (as phonetic); the simplified 种 substitutes a simpler phonetic 中. The
graph 種 represents both members of a word family, zhǒng ‘kind; sort’ and zhòng ‘to
plant’.
j) The traditional graph, 雖, contains the element 隹 zhuī, that is traditionally assigned
radical status despite its apparent phonetic function (cf 誰). The simplified graph 虽
omits it and 口 is assigned as radical. The four dots at the base of the graph 然 (cf. 當然/
当然 and然後/然后) are the bottom combining form of the fire radical (火). The graph
was apparently originally used to represent a word meaning ‘to burn’, now written 燃
with the ‘extra’ huǒzìpáng added to differentiate the two words.
k) 簡/简combines the bamboo radical with phonetic 間/ 间 jiān ‘space’ (as in 时间 and
一间屋子 ). Note: the lower part of 單/单 recalls 早 but is distinct from that graph.
l) Distinguish the two constituents 尸shī ‘corpse; body’ without the dot and 戶hù
‘door’, with it. The former appears in 房 and in slightly different form, in 所 (its core
meaning of ‘place’ recalled in words like 厕所); the latter appears in 屎niǎo ‘urine’ and
屎shǐ ‘shit’, as well as – unexpectedly – in 屋. 屋 also contains the left hand component
of 到 (pronounced zhì on its own), but its presence in 屋 does not seem to have been
inspired by phonetic considerations.
m) Although 死 has no distinct simplified form, it is assigned different radicals in the two
sets. In the traditional set, the radical is 歹 ‘evil; vicious’ (pronounced dǎi –
coincidentally); in the simplified, it is the horizontal first stroke. The bottom right
element is 匕bǐ (distinct from 七).
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Zhīdao ma? Bù zhīdào. Yǒu dàolǐ. Dào kě dào fēi cháng dào.
祖父 祖母 祖先 祖籍 太祖 高祖
st
g’father ancestors family seat 1 emp. of dynasty g’g’grandfa
竹子 竹字头 打算 算法 算了!
algorithm Forget about it!
农民 农场 农学 农工 农业
farm laborers
养猪 养老金 养父 养母 养鸡 养羊
pension foster father
猪肉 种米 种花 种地 虽然很累
zhūròu zhòng mǐ zhòng huā zhòng dì suīrán hěn lèi
单日 屋子 房屋 里屋 家具
odd days inner room furniture
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工具 茶具 教具 文具 农具
gōngjù chájù jiàojù wénjù nóngjù
死了 饿死了 该死 找死 红茶
Damnation! seek danger
红人 红十字会 红河 口红 一直走
up and coming person lipstick
1. 虽然妈妈是中国人可是她中国话说得不好。/ 那是因为她从来没有去
过中国吧!
2. 她是中国人吧?/ 不,虽然中文说得很不错,但是她不是中国人,也
没去过中国。
3. 明朝以后是清朝,对吗?那,清朝以后呢? / 清朝以后是中华民国。
中华民国是从 1911 年起。中华人民共和国是从 1949 年起。
4. 也许大家都知道明朝的时候,中国的国都从南京搬到北京,一直到现
在都在北京。 / 但是 1927 到 1949 年又搬到了南部,对吗?先到南京
然后到了重庆。
5. 我祖父七十五岁,已经不工作了,但是以前是很有名的大师傅,在北
京饭店工作过二十多年。/ 六七十年代,我祖母也在北京饭店工作,是
个经理。
6. 毛泽东的祖先都是农民吧?/ 是,元朝的时候,毛家的祖先从江西搬
到韶山来去了。
7. 打算的算为什么是竹字头? / 不知道;是否因为算盘是用竹字做的?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
8. 你打算几点走? / 还不知道,也许中午,可是我得先洗一点儿衣服,
做一点儿饭。晚一点儿离开这儿也没有什么关系!
9. 他们虽然是农民,天天都在外头种地,可是他们晚上还有时间学习英
语! / 对啊,他们很了不起!他们的房子也不错,屋子里的家具也好
看。
12. 现在好像有两个中国:一个是东北三省和东边儿的大城市,像北
京﹑天津﹑上海﹑广州;一个是北边儿﹑西边儿的农民。/ 那,是不是
也有两个美国?北边和南边不同,西边和东边不同,中部和海边不
同。
Notes
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
7.1.3 繁體字 (fántǐzì): Prepare to read out, and then answer the questions:.
1. 祖父祖母是父親的父母還是母親的父母,知道嗎?
2. 聽説你要搬家,搬到廣州。什麽時候搬走?
3. 算是竹字頭,節也是竹字頭;那,哪些字是草字頭?
4. 這個地方很美,你看,前邊有湖,後邊有山,左右兩邊都是竹子。
這不是跟天堂一樣嗎?
5. 中國,農民多農場小;美國農民少,農場大。英國呢?
6. 雖然沒有課,但是因爲天氣很冷,我不想出去;你呢?你打算去
哪裏?
7. 一直走,過兩個路口,火車站就到了;你行李多不多?
8. 書多,不過家具不多,所以我們搬家比較簡單。你呢?
9. 你在哪個單位工作?
10. 中國農民用的農具多不多?
11. 這時間屋子爲什麽都是紅色的?
12. 在現在的中國農民可以養自己的豬,種自己的地嗎?
13. 孔夫子說不知道生活,那,當然更不知道死了以後的事情。
14. 漢朝是哪年到哪年,知道嗎?
15. 是縣大還是省大?
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7.2 Set 2
結婚 親 己 關係 數
6+6 3+8 7+9 3+0 8+11 2+7 4+10
结 亲 关系 数
3+6 5+4 3+0 2+4 6+1 4+9
jiéhūn qīn jǐ guānxi shù / shǔ
marry (tie-wed) relatives self connections number / count
[also ‘to kiss’] [a barrier; to close ; system; to relate]
意思 能 次 事情
4+9 4+5 4+6 / 2+8 2+4 1+7 3+8
yìsi néng cì shìqing
meaning (intention- able occasion thing; business
thought) (thing-feeling)
Notes
a) 結婚/结婚, a verb+object construction (literally, ‘to tie; unite + marriage’); both
graphs are phonosemantic, with 吉jí as phonetic in the first, and 昏hūn in the second.
b) 親 forms its simplified version by omitting the traditional radical, a strategy seen in, eg:
雖>虽, 號>号, 電>电.
d) Traditional 關 is part of the set 開, 問, 間, formed with 門. However, only some of the
graphs in that set are simplified with 门; cf 问, 间 but关, 开. 關’s core meaning is ‘a pass
in the mountains’, from which derive meanings such as hǎiguān ‘a custom house;
customs (sea-pass)’ and guānxi ‘connections’. The係 of 關係, distinct from 系xì ‘system;
department’ in the traditional set, merges with the latter in the simplified (关系).
e) 數 shares a constituent (婁lǚ) with 樓, but this is not reflected in the pronunciation of
the former. For the right-hand element of 數, cf. 教 and 做.
f) For 意思, note that the first graph consists of 立, 曰and 心, while the second contains
田 and心. Cf. 意義/意义yìyì ‘significance’ (the 2nd graph as yet unencountered) and 思想
sīxiǎng ‘thought’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
g) The graph 能 is said to have originally been a drawing of a bear (head, body, claws?),
a meaning now restricted to 熊 xióng, differentiated from the former by the 4 dots.
h) 次 formed with the ‘ice’ radical (cf. 冷) and 欠 (qiàn), the element seen in, eg 歡/欢.
i) 事 (with a lower part in common with the upper part of 書) obeys the rule of 5; 情
consists of the heart radical and the phonetic element 青, also seen in 請, 清 and 晴 (set 4
below).
结婚 结过婚 结婚三年了 父亲 母亲 亲戚
jiéhūn jié-guo hūn jiéhūn sān nián le fùqin mǔqin qīnqi
关上 中文系 数学 单数 数一数 楼上
guānshang Zhōngwén xì shùxué dānshù shǔ yi shǔ lóushàng
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7.2.2 Comment-response
2. 祖父是父亲的父亲,对吗?祖母是父亲的母亲。那母亲的父母怎么
说呢? / 嗯,这一方面中文和英文不一样:祖父祖母是父亲那边儿
的;母亲的父亲是外祖父(或者外公﹑姥爷),母亲的母亲是外祖母
(也有人说外婆﹑姥姥)。因为在中国太太是外来的,所以外祖父﹑
外祖母的外的意思是太太那边儿的。
3. 你经常在什么地方吃中饭?/ 都在家里吃,自己做的;在街上吃太贵
了,也不怎么好吃,所以我中午走回家去,自己做一点儿简单的饭,
一边儿吃饭一边儿看报。
4. 你和他是什么关系?/ 他是我堂弟,我父亲的哥哥的儿子。我们是同
祖父。英文怎么说?
5. 你这是第一次来九江吗?/ 不是,我来过好几次,差不多每年两三
次,我在九江市经常有生意的事情。
6. 今天中文课有多少学生?/ 那我数一数:一﹑二﹑三…好像一共有十
五个;十五个不好,为什么呢,因为是单数,有一个人没有伴儿。
7. 虽然现在在中国不像以前只能生一个孩子,可以生两个孩子了,但
是不能生第三个。/ 那少数民族也是这样儿吗?我听说少数民族可以生
更多的。
Notes
血 xiě ‘blood’ 顔色/颜色 yánsè ‘color’ 穿 chuān ‘wear’
白色 báisè ‘white [color]’ 外公 wàigōng 老爺/老爷, lǎoye ‘maternal g’fa’
生意 shēngyì ‘business’ 外婆/外婆 wàipo, 姥姥 lǎolao ‘maternal g’mo’
少數民族/少数民族 shǎoshù-mínzǔ ‘minority groups’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
7.3 少年的毛泽东
毛泽东本来是老三,上头有两个哥哥,但是在他还小的时候他们
就死了,所以他成了老大。后来家里又生了两个弟弟,一个妹妹。兄
弟姐妹的名字都有个泽字:毛泽东,毛泽民,毛泽潭,毛泽红。因为
父亲对他不好,所以毛泽东小的时候住在母亲家里,那儿离韶山不太
远。他一直很爱母亲,不喜欢父亲。小的时候,他母亲对他很好,外
婆也对他非常好。
毛泽东八岁回到韶山上学,可是他不喜欢传统的学校,于是最后
去了长沙一个比较好也比较先进的学校。在学校的时候他很认真,也
喜欢读书,写诗,可是就是不喜欢数学。他十四岁就跟一个十八岁的
女孩结婚了。因为那不是他自己要的,是父母要的,所以后来他便说
那个女孩不能算是他太太,他和她没有什么关系。毛泽东离开韶山以
后,又结了几次婚,最后生了几个孩子,从那个时候起也只回去过一
两次,大多数的时间都住在北京,办中国政府的事情。
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
生字表
毛泽东 Máo Zédōng PN
湘潭 xiāngtán PN
韶山 Sháoshān PN
省府 shěngfǔ N provincial capital; cf. shǒudū ~ guódū ‘national
capital’
长沙 Chángshā PN
世代 shìdài N generation; ADV from generation to generation
祖先 zǔxiān N ancestors
穷 qióng SV poor
泥 ní N mud
地面 dìmiàn N ground; floor
木扇 mùshàn N wooden fan, ie blinds
窗户 chuānghu N window
家具 jiājù N furniture
成 chéng V become; into
后来 hòulái Conj afterwards; later
又 yòu Adv once again
外婆 wàipó N maternal grandmother
传统 chuántǒng SV traditional
学校 xuéxiào N school
于是 yúshì Conj as a result; hence; thereupon
先进 xiānjìn SV advanced (first-enter)
认真 rènzhēn SV earnest; scrupulous (know-real)
读书 dúshū VO to study; read; attend school
写诗 xiěshī VO write poems
便 biàn Adv then; in that case. Cf. suíbiàn, fāngbiàn, piányi.
从…起 cóng…qǐ beginning with; from [time] on
政府 zhèngfǔ N government. Cf. shěngfǔ
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
1. 清朝是哪年到哪年,知道嗎?(不知道的話,看字典或問中國朋友。)
2. 毛澤東是哪年生的,哪年死的?
3. 他出生的地方離長江多遠?
4. 毛家的農場農業怎麽樣?
5. 他有幾個兄弟姐妹?問題爲什麽不怎麽簡單?
6. 他是個什麽樣的學生?
7. 毛澤東離開韶山以後是否常回去?
8. 他結了幾次婚?生了幾個孩子?
9. 他小的時候,上學的時候,爲什麽沒跟父親住在一起?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
7.4 Set 3
Filial Tales #19, from the 孝经Xiàojīng ‘The Book of Filial Duty’
‘Sleeping on ice to procure fresh carp.’
臥 壞 活 正 冬 冰
7+2 3+16 3+6 4+1 2+3 2+4
卧 坏
7+2 3+4
wò huài huó zhèng dōng bīng
lie down bad live; alive exact; just winter ice
Notes
a) The simplified graph 卧 (臣+卜), is slightly different in form from the standard
traditional graph 臥 (臣+人), but is no simpler; cf. the slight shift of 直 to 直.
b) The traditional graph 壞huài consists of 土tǔ ‘ground; soil’ and an insert into 衣 which
acts as phonetic (cf. 懷/怀huái). The simplified graph substitutes 不, which is a close
match to the bottom of the complex form as well as suggestive of the meaning.
c) 活 consists of the water radical and the element 舌 shé ‘tongue’, that also appears in
話/话. Though 舌 shows no obvious phonetic connection with the compounds, both活
and話/话 show a phonetic connection to each other.
d) 正 is usually analyzed as 止 zhǐ ‘foot; step; stop’ plus the horizontal line (‘arriving at
the proper position?’). The core meaning of正 is ‘upright; regular’, with extensions onto
the moral plane (‘rectitude; proper conduct’). The graph is related to the 政 of 政府
zhèngfǔ
‘government (ie the seat of right conduct)’.
e) 冬, with the ice radical below, is phonetic in 疼 téng ‘to ache; hurt’. Cf. 凍dòng ‘icy; to
freeze’ and 冰bīng – the latter constructed on semantic rather than phonetic principles.
卧房 卧车 卧虎 硬卧 软卧 坏人
wòfáng wòchē wòhǔ yìngwò ruǎnwò huàirén
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
好坏 坏蛋 坏话 坏血病 生活 活动
scoundrel; bastard leukemia life; livelihood activities
hǎohuài huàidàn huàihuà huàixiěbìng shēnghuó huódòng
活到老 正在吃呢 正好 正北 正面 正直
due north obverse/right side honest; unright
huó dào lǎo zhèng zài chī ne zhèng hǎo zhèng běi zhèngmiàn zhèngzhí
冬天 冬瓜 冬菇 冰点 冰箱 冰淇淋
dried winter mushrooms freezing point fridge
dōngtiān dōngguā dōnggū bīngdiǎn bīngxiāng bīngjǐlíng
晋朝的时候,有个叫王祥的人,他很小的时候妈妈就死了。后来
他爸爸又结婚了,可是他的继母对他不太好,常常在他爸爸面前说他
的坏话。坏话听多了,他爸爸也不再爱他了。有一次,王祥的继母要
吃活鱼,可是那个时候正是冬天,天非常冷,河水也结了冰。在这样
的天气里上哪儿去找活鱼呢?王祥听说继母要吃活鱼,他就到河边
去,衣服放在河边儿,睡在冰上找鱼。他虽然冷得不得了,但是睡了
一个晚上,冰就化了一点儿,他就可以用手找鲤鱼了。找到了两条鱼
以后,他就回家给他妈妈做了很好吃的鱼。他这样做,非常孝敬他继
母!
生字表
晋 Jìn Jin is the name of a petty state under the Zhou that first gained
some prominence in the 7th century BC. It was located near
present-day Taiyuan in Shanxi, and in the modern written
language, 晋 is used as an abbreviated name (eg on licence plates)
for that province. The Jin dynasty is a succession of rulers that
emerged in the same area much later, between 265 and 420.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
继母 jìmǔ ‘step mother’; cf. 继父; 继’s core meaning is ‘follow; continue’.
不得了 bùdeliǎo ‘extremely’
化 huà ‘change’, as in 化学 ‘chemistry (transformation-study)’
鲤鱼 lǐyú ‘carp’
孝敬 xiàojìng ‘show respect to [one’s elders] (be filial-respect)’
From the poem, 灵魂游戏Línghún Yóuxì ‘Spirit Game’, by the Chinese poet 北岛Běi Dǎo [1949-], in
Unlock: Poems by Bei Dao, translated by Eliot Weinberger and Iona Man-Cheong, New York: New
Directions, 2000.
雨 雪 雲 霧 溫 度
8+0 8+3 8+4 8+11 3+10 3+6
云 雾 温
2+2 8+5 3+9
yǔ xuě yún wù wēn dù
rain snow clouds fog warm degree
陰 陽 夜 晴 風 轉
3+8 3+9 3+5 4+8 9+0 7+11
阴 阳 风 转
2+4 2+4 2+6 4+8 4+0 4+4
yīn yáng yè qíng- fēng zhuǎn
female; male; night clear; fine wind
moon; sun; [weather]
shade light
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
級 陣 區 力 向
6+3 3+7 2+9 2+0 3+3
级 阵 区
3+3 2+4 2+2
jí zhèn qū lì xiàng
Notes
a) 雨, originally a representation of ‘rain’, is the radical in many graphs representing
meteorological phenomena, including the ones shown above, and others such as電diàn
‘lightning; electricity’, 雷léi ‘thunder’ and 雹báo ‘hail’. The relationship between the
traditional and simplified graphs varies, however, with some preserving the rain radical,
others omitting it; cf. 云, 电 but 雾, 雷.
b) 溫/温 forms a phonetic set with characters mostly pronounced yùn: 蘊/蕴yùn, 慍/愠
yùn, 醖/酝 yùn, etc.
e) 晴, as noted earlier, is part of a large, regular phonetic set whose members include 請
and 清.
f) 風, the traditional form, has on its inside, an element made up of the ‘insect’ radical (虫)
plus a top stroke; cf. 雖/虽, where the upper part is a box. In the simplified, the innards
are reduced to a cross; cf. 區>区.
g)轉/转 represents a pair of closely related words, zhuǎn ‘turn; change; transmit’ (the
meaning relevant to the weather forecasts) and zhuàn ‘revolve; rotate; stroll’. The graph
has the ‘vehicle’ radical with the phonetic element 專/专 zhuān, also seen in eg 傳/传
chuán; zhuàn.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
h) 級 contains the ‘silk’ radical and phonetic及jí, also seen in the simplified version of
the jí 極/极 of hǎojíle 好極了/好极了. Contrast 乃 nǎi, seen in the 奶 of 牛奶.
i) 陣/阵, originally ‘a battle array’, but now most commonly representing a M-word for
sudden events or ‘bouts’: 一陣雨/一阵雨, 一陣風/一阵风. Contrast 陳/陈, the surname.
Shànghǎi dìtiě [2006]: Public safety notice and advertisement for bottled water.
Wēixiǎn! Yánjìn tiàorù. ‘(Danger! Strictly prohibited to jump-enter.)'
雨衣 云海 不常下雨 温度 風很大
yǔyī yúnhǎi bù cháng xiàyǔ wēndù fēng hěn dà
下雪 下雾 没有风 风度 阴天
demeaner; style
xiàxuě xiàwù méiyou fēng fēngdù yīntiān
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
夜里 半夜 晴天 转阴 转晴
midnight
yèlǐ bànyè qíngtiān zhuǎnyīn zhuǎnqíng
地区 一阵雨 一阵风 风力 人力
dìqū yí zhèn yǔ yí zhèn fēng fēnglì rénlì
力气 离心力 阵雨 夜间 方向
strength centrifugal force rain showers direction
lìqi líxīnlì zhènyǔ yèjiān fāngxiàng
北风和太阳 市区 百分之九十
urban district 90%
Běifēng hé Tàiyang (a story) shìqū bǎifēn-zhījiǔshí
甲 乙
1
請問,你住在什麽地方? 我住在東風西路,離人民路不遠。
那,你怎麽來上課? 看天氣怎麽樣;太熱我就坐車來。
回去因為是夜裏,我也坐車回去。
坐車要多長時間? 差不多三十分鐘。
2
我今天想去石林,跟我一塊兒 石林離這兒不是很遠嗎?
去,好不好?(Shí Lín)
是很遠,但是地方很有名, 今天有點冷,沒有太陽,
我們在昆明的時候不能不去! 明天去,行不行?
明天去也可以。 好,那我們明天去吧。
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Shanghai residential development, with bus stop and public health notices. [2006]
Bù suídì tǔtán, bù jiǎng cūhuà zānghuà! ‘(Not randomly spit, not speak vulgar lg [or] dirty lg.)’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
(a) 全国部分城市天气预报
25 日 20 时 到 26 日 20 时
城市 天气 气温 (白天~夜里)
(一) 北京 雾转多云 09 ~ 17 度
(二) 上海 阴转小雨 16 ~ 21 度
(三) 天津 多云 10 ~ 19 度
(四) 广州 晴转多云 20 ~ 29 度
(五) 香港 HK 晴 23 ~ 28 度
(六) 南宁 阴转小雨 21 ~ 27 度
(七) 海口 多云 25 ~ 29 度
(八) 桂林 多云转小雨 17 ~ 24 度
(九) 武汉 小雨转阴 16 ~ 20 度
(十) 南京 阴 14 ~ 20 度
(十一) 杭州 Hángzhōu 小雨转阴 16 ~ 22 度
(十二) 福州 多云转阴 18 ~ 25 度
(十三) 厦门 晴 19 ~ 28 度
(十四) 台北 多云转阴 20 ~ 25 度
Cities cited – in most cases, you can guess from the parts you know:
Xiānggǎng; Nánníng; Hǎikǒu; Guìlín; Wǔhàn; Hángzhōu; Fúzhōu; Xiàmén
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
(b) 上 海 市 区 今 明 天 气 预 报 ( 七 月 )
天 气 : 多 云 , 局 部 地 区 阴 有 阵 雨 ; 温 度 : 27°- 33°;
明 天 27°- 33°; 风 向 : 偏 东 ; 风 力 : 4-5 级 , 阵 风 6 级 。
市区 局部 风向 偏
shìqū júbù fēngxiàng piān
city+region local wind+dir’n inclined
(c) 北京 市 区 今 明 天 气 预 报 ( 十 月 )
今天白天: 晴转多云,降水概率20%,
北转南风二三级,最高气温十七度。
今天夜间,多云转阴,降水概率60%,
南转北风一二级,最低气温九度。
明天白天到夜间,阴转晴,降水概率20%,
偏北风一二级转四五级,最高气温 19 度,最低气温七度。
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
打倒帝国主义
打倒资产阶级和他们的走狗!
Dǎdǎo dìguózhǔyì!
Down with imperialism (imperial-country-ism)!
Dǎdǎo zīchǎn-jiējí hé tāmen de zǒugǒu!
Down with the bourgeois class and their running dogs!
藥房 美容 批發 施工
药房 批发
yàofáng měiróng pīfā shīgōng
drug-store beauty-appearance batch-distribute carry+out-work
pharmacy beautician wholesale construction [site]
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
This concludes the character lessons. By now, you have come to understand the
principles of the writing system; you have got used to a system that uses characters as a
medium to convey information; and you have a basic repertoire of some 450 characters.
At this point, it is recommended that you proceed with material with a strong narrative
structure, such as traditional stories – which also convey interesting cultural content. Yale
University Press has published a number of such works for students, including The Lady
in the Painting (畫上的美人/ 画上的美人, Huàshàng de Měirén), an adaptation of a
traditional folktale, and Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (聊齋故事/ 聊斋故事,
Liáozhāi Gùshi), that contains simplified versions of 20 tales adapted from the Chinese
classic, Liáozhāi Zhìyì (Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio). Regardless of the choice of
material, it will make sense for most students to read primarily in the simplified character
set, while still observing the relationship between simplified and the traditional versions
of new characters, and occasionally re-reading continuous text in the traditional set.
----------::----------
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
MIT + A I Lesson 7
The number before each stroke indicates where the stroke starts as well as
the stroke order.
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MIT 9 %I Lesson 7
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MIT I Lesson 7
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MIT I Lesson 7
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Highlights of Units 1 - 7
Unit 1
Main patterns
+ Hĕn lèi.
Nĭ lèi ma? 0 Hái hăo.
-- Bú tài lèi.
Nĭ máng bu máng?
Conversational scenarios
Unit 2
tài…le Tài máng le. (Bú tài máng.)
Adverbs Zǒngshi hĕn máng hĕn lèi; gèng máng; yǒu yìdiănr lěng; etc.
SVs Hĕn nán; Bù hăochī; Hĕn lìhai.
Zĕnmeyàng Jīntiān zĕnmeyàng? Nĭ juéde zĕnmeyàng?
Nouns yàoshi, xíngli, dōngxi, zìxíngchē, etc.
M-words èrshí ge <xuéshēng>; sān kuài <qián>
DE wŏ de zìdiăn; zuótiān de bào
Demonstr. zhè ~ zhèi; zhèr ~ zhèlǐ
Identity Jīntiān qī hào; Dōu shi wŏ de xuésheng.
QWs shéi, shénme, nǎr ~ nǎlǐ, guìxìng, zĕnmeyàng
Naming Tā xìng Zhāng, jiào Zhāng Démíng; tā shi Zhāng Démíng.
Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Unit 3
Numbers yìbǎiwàn (~ yībǎiwàn)
M-words yì bēi chá; yí ge bēizi
Nationality Nĭ shi nĕi guó rén? Tā shi cóng shénme dìfang lái de?
Miles away Jīchǎng lí wŏ jiā zhǐ yǒu sān lĭ <lù>.
NSEW Bĕijīng zài Zhōngguó běibiānr; Wúhàn zài zhōngbù.
Yuènán zài Zhōngguó de nánbiānr.
Confirmation Nĭ shi dì-yī ma? / Shì de; Tā bú shi Mĕiguó rén ba. / Shì.
Jīntiān shì hĕn rè!
Tag-Qs Nĭ de sǎn, shì bu shi?
Thanks Xièxie. / Bié kèqi.
Unit 4
Existence Zhèr yǒu xĭshŏujiān ma? / Yǒu, xĭshŏujiān zài hòutou.
Location: Zhèr fùjin yǒu Zhōngguó fànguănr ma? / Yǒu liăng ge.
Born in… Tā shēng zài Běijīng, yĕ zhǎng zài Bĕijīng, kĕshi xiànzài zhù
zài Xī’ān.
Clock time Xiànzài jǐ diǎn <zhōng> le? / Shí diǎn.
Wŏ wănshàng liăng diǎn shuìjiào, zăoshàng shí diǎn qĭlái.
Habitually Zhōngguó rén píngcháng jǐ diǎn chī zǎodiǎn?
Tickets Guìlín, jīntiān xiàwŭ 3:25, yìngzuò, yì zhāng.
DE Shìjièbēi de xiāoxi; bù hăotīng de yīnyuè
shēngrì de shēng, dàlù de lù
Tā shi IBM de.
No DE tā dìdi; lăo péngyou; zhème duō xíngli
Names Guìxìng? / Wŏ xìng Bái, jiào Bái Sùzhēn.
Age Nín <niánjì> duō dà le? / Zhǐ yǒu shíqī suì.
Sign Nĭ <shi> shǔ shénme de? / Shǔ mǎ de.
Level Nĭ shi jǐ niánjí de xuésheng? / Sān niánjí de.
Major Zhuānyè shi shénme? / Shi wùlĭ.
Department Nĭ zài nĕi ge xì? ~ Nĭ shi nĕi ge xì de?
Zài + V Tā hái zài dúshū.
Studying Tā zài túshūguăn xuéxí.
Titles Lĭ xiàozhăng; Qián jīnglĭ
Introductions Zhāng lăoshī, wŏ gĕi nĭ jièshao jièshao; zhè<i wèi> shi…
Nice to meet.. Jiŭyăng, jiŭyăng; hĕn gāoxìng rènshi nĭ.
Understand? Kàndedǒng ma? / Néng kàndŏng yìdiănr.
Work Tā zài Cháng Chūn gōngzuò. / Tā gàn shénme huó ne?
Used to doing Zhōngguó cài nĭ chīdeguàn ma?
Rice, wheat Běifāng rén bǐjiào xǐhuān chī miàntiáo, nánfāng rén bǐjiào xǐhuān
chī mǐfàn.
Someone… Yǒu rén wèn wǒ….
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十
年 月 日 號号 明 昨 今 天 王 李
毛 周 白 林 姓 她 他 也 我 你
們们 不 嗎吗 呢 好 累 忙 冷 很 還还
了 餓饿 太 熱热 吃 飯饭 已 經经 班 課课
上 下 沒没 有 (Æ 54 字) 永 水
Lesson 2
是 男 的 女 第 小 馬马 都 陳陈 誰谁
張张 這这 學学 生 老 師师 點点 兒儿 高 中
文 怎 麽么 樣样 對对 難难 緊紧 個个 以 前
現现 在 看 報报 那 但 可 哪 甚什 東东
西 手 機机 書书 包 筆笔 走 車车 傘伞 貴贵
子 字 典 行 您 起 來来 (Æ 57 字)
Lesson 3
美 國国 人 英英 吧 名 字 叫 去 過过
氣气 地 方 想 兩两 北 京 南 西 安
海 外 到 近 省 川 州 部 從从 離离
遠远 邊边 錯错 別 忘 非 常 家 本 電电
話话 說说 得 碼码 裏里 渴 喝 塊块 錢钱 瓜
斤 百 杯 茶茶 酒 再 見见 多 少 幾几 (Æ 60 字)
JZh Page 1 of 2
Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Lesson 4
衣 服 舒 目 最 先 早 睡 覺觉 晚
洗 澡 聽听 買买 請请 問问 題题 機机 場场 鐵铁
比 較较 大 帽 清 楚 姐 同 自 山
坐 孔 客 要 飛飞 汽 水 漢汉 長长 籍
火 站 朋 友 住 用 片 公里 會会 午
共 做 (Æ 52 字)
Lesson 5
因 為为 樓楼 鐘钟 歲岁 喜 歡欢 工 作 所所
一 定 功 每 位 就 門门 街 路 母
父 爸 媽妈 應应 該该 後后 頭头 孩 節节 辦办
總总 菜菜 廁厕 星 期 系 城 市 概 更
像像 理 河 湖 江 肉 謝谢 開开 考 試试
牛 羊 進进 哥 兄 弟 米 千 萬万 真真 (Æ 60 字)
Lesson 6
愛爱 習习 畢毕 業业 許许 語语 級级 言 只 出
件 民 房 麵面 條条 湯汤 餃饺 雞鸡 蛋 蝦虾
魚鱼 奶 粥 炒 或 者 寫写 時时 候 間间
給给 跟 差 教 旁 和 否 妹 醫医 院
廳厅 館馆 煙烟 音 樂乐 吸 玩 病 左 右
店 (Æ 51 字)
Lesson 7
朝 知 道 祖 搬 竹 算 縣县 農农 養养
豬猪 種种 雖虽 然 簡简 單单 屋 具 死 紅红
直直 結结 婚 親亲 己 關关 係系 數数 意 思
能 次 事 情 臥卧 壞坏 活 正 冬 冰
雨 雪 雲云 霧雾 溫温 度 陰阴 陽阳 夜 晴
風风 轉转 級级 陣阵 區区 力 向 (Æ 57 字)
Total: 391 字
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Unit 8
Zuò yԁu lӿxiӽng, yԁu dàodé, yԁu wénhuà, yԁu jìlԋ de gǀngmín!�
Be [have ideals, have morality, have culture, have discipline DE] citizens!�
“Be good and virtuous citizens!” �
Public sign at Kunming Teachers College, 1999.
Zhìfù guƗngróng!
Get-wealth bright-honor.
“To get rich is glorious.”
A phrase that is often attributed to Dèng Xiopíng, and cited as
the watershed between ideology and capitalism in modern China.
Contents
8.1 Temporal and logical sequence Exercise 1
8.2 Sports Exercise 2
8.3 Comparison Exercise 3
8.4 Cities, population Exercise 4
8.5 Bargaining Exercise 5
8.6 Dialogue: In the store
8.7 Regional languages: dial. & narr. Exercise 6
8.8 A narrative about Lin Mei
8.9 Jobs
8.10 Verb-le O: prior events Exercise 7
8.11 Dialogue: What did you do y-day? Exercise 8
8.12 Verb Combos (2) Exercise 9
8.13 M-words revisited Exercise 10
8.14 Aspirations Exercise 11
8.15 Highlights
8.16 Rhymes and rhythms
Appendix: Additional measure-words
Vocabulary
xiƗn ‘first’ qӿxiƗn ‘at first; originally (raise-first)’�
ránhòu ‘and then; after that (thusly-after)’�
hòulái ‘after than; later on (after-come)’ [always retelling the past]�
zài (Ᏻ) ‘again; go on to’ [projected or anticipated repetition]�
yòu (᎒) ‘again; went on to’ [with an event that has happened or is destined to happen]�
yƯncӿ ‘because of this; for that reason; so (because-this)’�
jiéguǂ ‘as a result (form-fruit)’�
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Examples
i) Wԁmen xiƗn qù BČijƯng kànwàng wԁ qƯzi First we’re going to Beijing to visit
de qƯnqi, ránhòu qù Shànghӽi kƗihuì. my wife’s relatives, and then we’re
BČnyuè dӿ jiu huílai. going to Shanghai for a conference.
[We]’ll be back at the end of the
month.
Notes
kànwàng ‘visit; call on; see [people]’
bČnyuè ‘this month (root month)’; bČnyuè dӿ ‘at the end of the month’.
Notes
a) jƯbČnshàng ‘basically (base-root-on)’ �
b) dƗi ‘stay [over]’�
c) cƗnguƗn ‘visit; tour; see [places]’ �
d) Yízú ‘the Yi people’, a non-Han people with extensive presence in southwest �
China. Mínzú Xuéyuàn are found in Chengdu, and also in Beijing and other cities. �
iii) Wǂmen qӿxiƗn dăsuàn shàngwǎ jiǎ diăn qӿ Originally, we had planned to start at
chéng kƟshi yƯnwèi liăng ge rén dùzi dǀu bù 9:00 in the morning, but because two
shnjfu, wǂmen xiàwǎ sì diăn cái néng líkƗi LìjiƗng. people got upset stomachs, we
Jiéguǂ, dào BáishƗ de shíhou, tiƗn yƱjing hƝi le. couldn’t leave Lijiang until 4 pm. As
Wǂmen zài xiăo lԉguӽn shuì-le yí yè, ránhòu a result, when we got to Baisha, it
dì-èr tiƗn zăoshàng kƗishƱ shàng shƗn. Hòulái, was already dark. We spent the night
wǂmen zài lù shàng pèngdào-le yìxiƝ NàxƯzú in a small inn; then the next morning
de rén; tƗmen gàosu-le wǂmen shàng shƗn zuì we started up the mountain. Later on,
hăo de lù. we met a group of Naxi people on
the road, and they told us the best
way up the mountain.
Notes
a) qӿchéng ‘start off [on a journey] (raise-journey)’ �
BáishƗ: a village about 15 kms north of LìjiƗng, at the base of a chain of peaks �
which go under the name of YùlóngxuČshƗn ‘Jade-dragon-snow-mountain’.�
b) lԉguӽn, generic for hotels, but in this case, more of a hostel. �
c) yí yè: ‘one night’. �
d) pèngdào: ‘run into; meet up with’. �
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
e) NàxƯzú: the Naxi (sometimes spelled Nahsi) are a minority people with their
own language and writing system, who live in and around Lijiang.
iv) Wǂmen bƗ hào fƝidào-le XiƗng Gӽng, ránhòu We flew to Hóng Kǂng on the 8th,
dì-èr tiƗn, zuò huǂchƝ dào-le Guăngzhǀu. Zài and then the next day, took a train to
Guӽngzhǀu dƗi-le liăng tiƗn kàn-le kàn, ránhòu Canton. We stayed in Canton for two
shíyƯ hào yòu zuò fƝijƯ dào Chéngdnj qù le. Wǂmen days to look around, and then, on the
zài Chéngdnj dƗi-le yí ge xƯngqƯ mӽi dǀngxi, hòulái 11th we flew on to Chéngdnj. We
zuò huǂchƝ qù-le XƯchƗng. XƯchƗng zài Dàliáng stayed in Chéngdnj for a week to buy
shƗn, zài Chéngdnj xƯnán biƗn yԁu wǎ băi gǀnglƱ. supplies, then later on took a train to
Xichang, which is about 500 kms
southwest of Chengdu, in the Great
Snowy Mountains.
Notes
a) Xichang is a city in the ‘Great Snowy Mountains’ in the southern part of
Sichuan. It is now best known for the satellite launch and tracking facilities which
are some 50 kms from the town; but historically, it is also an important center of
the Yi people (also called Nasu and Norsu).
v) Hánjià, wǂ xiƗn huí-le jiƗ kànwàng-le wǂ [Over] winter break, first I went
jiƗrén. DƗi-le yí ge xƯngqƯ yƱhòu wǂ jiu qù home to visit my family. After a
TáibƟi kƗihuì le. Zài TáibƟi zhӿ dƗi-le sƗn week there, I went to Taipeh for a
tiƗn, méiyou shíjiƗn qù kàn hƟn duǀ dìfang. meeting. I only stayed 3 days in
Míngnián hƟn xiӽng zài huíqù yí cì duǀ Taipeh [so] I didn’t have time to
liăojiƟ yixiàr TáiwƗn de wénhuà, duǀ kàn see a lot of places. Next year, I want
yìdiănr TáiwƗn de fƝngjƱng, duǀ chƯ yìdiănr to go back once again to get to know
TáiwƗn de xiăochƯ. YƯncӿ, wǂ xiànzài zhèngzài more about Taiwanese culture, see
xiӽng bànfă duǀ tígƗo wǂ de Zhǀngwén more of TáiwƗn’s scenery, and to eat
shuӿpíng, duǀ zhuàn yìdiănr qián. Zhèi yàngr more Taiwanese snacks. That’s the
wǂ dào TáibƟi yƱhòu jiu kƟyƱ hé TáiwƗn rén reason that right now I’m thinking of
shuǀ Guóyǎ. how I can raise the level of my
Chinese some more, and earn more
money. That way after I get to
Taipeh, I’ll be able to speak
Mandarin to the people in Taiwan.
Notes
a) hánjià: ‘winter break (cold-holiday)’ �
b) liăojiƟ ‘understand; appreciate’; for the pattern with duǀ, cf. §8… �
c) fƝngjƱng ‘scenery’�
d) tígƗo ‘raise (raise-high)’; shuӿpíng ‘level (water-level)’ �
e) zhuàn ‘earn [money]’�
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 1
a) Prepare narratives along the following lines:
1. Itinerary: Arrived in Shanghai at 5:30 pm; got the #4 bus to the Shanghai train station.
Planned to take the subway to the hotel on ZhàojiƗbƗng Road; tired, lots of luggage; so,
took a cab. Later on, moved once again to a hotel in Zhá BČi near the train station; that
way, it’s easier to get to the airport.
2. Daily schedule: Generally get up at 7:30, shower and have some rice gruel; bike to
Beijing Yԃyán Dàxué for 10 o’clock class; at noon, eat lunch in the cafeteria with
classmates; 1:00 to 3:00, two more classes; after class, off to the library to study. Usually
eat dinner at a local restaurant. Sometimes, in the evening we go into town or hang out at
bars and coffee shops; don’t get home until quite late.
3. Over the New Year, I spent a few days with friends in Guilin, then went on to
Kunming by train. Originally I had planned to visit Dàlӿ and LìjiƗng in the northwest of
Yúnnán as well, but I didn’t feel well, so I just stayed in Knjnmíng at the Camellia Hotel
(sic) (CháhuƗ BƯnguӽn), wrote letters and rested. Later on, visited the Stone Forest (Shí
Lín) and Zhèng Hé ’s tomb (mù) on the southern shore of Lake Tian (DiƗn Chí).
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
8.2 Sports
The Chinese government has long promoted sports and exercise as a means to health.
Many urban dwellers participate in morning exercises timed to music over loudspeakers
in public squares (yƯnyuè bànzòu de chénliàn ‘music-accompanied DE morning-
exercise’); and more recently, exercise courses have been constructed in public parks. A
slogan from the late 90s was:
While the traditional sports of pingpong, badminton and martial arts remain
popular in China, a vast range of other sports, such as football (soccer), rock climbing,
and motor racing, now attract participants or viewers. This section provides some
conversational material and a list of sports and sport-like activities from which you can
select.
Vocabulary
<zuò> yùndòng duànliàn yùndònghuì tӿyùchӽng tӿyùguӽn -qiú
<do> sports, exercise to exercise sports events stadium gymnasium -ball
Usage
Nӿ xӿhuan shénme yàng de yùndòng? What sort of sports do you like to do?
W΅ xhuan d wngqiú, yóuy΅ng. I like to play tennis and to swim.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Zuì liúxíng de yùndòng yӿqián shi The most popular sports used to be
pƯngpƗngqiú, yԃmáoqiú, tàijíquán; pingpong, badminton, and taiji; now
xiànzài pƗnyán, zúqiú yČ hČn liúxíng. rock climbing and football are popular too.
Zhèr fùjin yԁu méiyou dìfang kČyӿ pӽobù? Is there any place in the vicinity where
I can jog?
Zài gǀngyuán, xíng bu xíng? How about in the park?
2008 nián de Àoyùnhuì zài BČijƯng jԃxíng; The 2008 Olympics is being held at Beijing;
2012 nián de zài Lúndnjn. and the 2012 [Games] are in London.
Zài XƯlà Àoyùnhuì, Zhǀngguó yíng-le 63 At the Olympics in Greece, China won
méi jiӽngpái (jƯnpái, yínpái, tóngpái). 63 medals (gold, silver, bronze medals).
Notes
a) méi M-word for medals, badges; also for rockets, mines.
b) zúqiúmí ‘foot-ball-fan’; cf. mí ‘be enchanted’; yӿngmí ‘a film buff’.
c) nӽrdehuà ‘whence the words’ – an expression of disbelief; also used like nӽlӿ
to ward off compliments.
8.2.1 List of sports
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 2.
1. Explain what sports you like, whether you work out, where you do such activity.
2. Explain where the next summer and winter Olympics are being held.
3. Explain who’s number #1 in basketball, whose #1 in football (soccer), and other sports.
4. Recall the number of medals that the US (or some other country) won in the
[date or place] Olympics.
________________________________________________________________________
8.3 Comparison
8.3.1 Non-comparatives
Questions about degrees of intensity can be asked using the question word duǀ:
Responses often include adverbs or constructions that indicate degree. The list below is
organized into types, and includes a number of new constructions. .
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
HČn, you will recall, is often found with SVs that are otherwise unmodified: Lèi ma? /
HČn lèi. In such cases, the force of hČn is weak, and it is often left untranslated. However,
in the construction with +de illustrated by the first example above, hČn does convey a
significant degree of intensity: Lèi+de hČn ‘tired to the point of very’, or ‘very tired’. As
shown above, SV+de can also be followed by bùdeliӽo ‘extremely’, or even a full
sentence, shéi dǀu bù xiӽng chnjqù ‘no one wants to go out’.
8.3.2 Comparison
a) Comparison is often implicit in the unmodified SV; but it is cancelled by the presence
of preverbal hČn. Thus, for most, tƗ gƗo is ‘she’s taller’ but tƗ hČn gƗo is ‘she’s quite tall’.
Notes
a) ShƗowƝi (or more formally, shƗo) is an ADV meaning ‘slightly; a bit’ (wƝiruӽn
‘Microsoft’ de wƝi). Like other ADVs, it appears before a V or SV, but typically
also in conjunction with a post-verbal yìdiӽnr.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
b) While yìxiƝ (cf. xiƝ in §6.3.3) and yìdiӽnr are similar in meaning, the former
implies a particular amount, hence a ‘few [cms, inches, etc.]’. Duǀ yìxiƝ would
not be appropriate in comparing the populations of cities, for example.
c) yí bèi ‘by one-fold; twice as’.
b) Explicit comparison involves the word bӿ ‘compare; than’, which (unlike English
counterparts) is placed before the associated verb. Expressions indicating the degree or
amount of comparison (eg yìdiӽnr) are placed after the SV; cf. Néng piányi yìdiӽnr ma?
‘Can [you] reduce it [by] a bit?’ from an earlier conversation.
A bӿ B SV degree
Jiӽ Shànghӽi shi Zhǀngguó rénkԁu Shanghai’s the city with the largest
zuì duǀ de chéngshì ba? population in China, right?
Jiӽ Nà, Shànghӽi shi shìjiè shàng So Shanghai’s the largest in the world?
zuì dà de ba?
Y Bù, MòxƯgƝ-shì gèng dà, w΅ xing. No, Mexico City’s even bigger, I think.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Summary�
NON-COMPARATIVE COMPARATIVE
~ English pre- SV -post x b y SV amount ~ English (tall)
quite tired hČn lèi gƗo taller
very … fƝicháng lèi <shƗowƝi>gƗo yìdiӽnr a <wee> bit taller
rather … bӿjiào lèi gƗo+ de duǀ much taller
quite … xiƗngdƗng lèi gƗo hČn duǀ much taller
a bit … yԁu yìdiӽnr lèi gƗo duǀ le a lot taller
extremely .. lèi-jíle gƗo yí cùn an inch taller
exhausted lèi-sӿle <shƗowƝi>gƗo yìxiƝ ‘a measure’ taller
very … lèi+de hČn gƗo yí bèi twice as tall
awfully … lèi+de bùdeliӽo
terribly … lèi+de yàomìng
dreadfully.. lèi+de yàosӿ
so tired that lèi+ de …
Shì a, XƯníng de hibá shi That’s right, Xining’s over 3000 meters
sƗnqiƗn duǀ m. high.
KČshì LƗsà de gèng gƗo. Zài LƗsà But Lhasa[‘s] is even higher. In Lhasa,
hnjxi hČn kùnnan. breathing is quite difficult.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
4.� Yúnnán de lӽnhóu hČn kČ’ài, The sloths inYunnan are quite cute, but
dànshì méiyou xióngmƗo kČ’ài. not as cute as the panda bears.
5.� Yúnnán de Shí Lín hČn zhuàngguƗn, The Stone Forest of Yunnan is spec-
kČshì méiyou XƯzàng fƝngjӿng tacular, but not as spectacular as the
nàme zhuàngguƗn. scenery in Tibet.
Notes
a) Countries are often characterized as fƗdá ‘developed’ and luòhòu ‘backwards’.�
b) hӽibá ‘elevation; height (sea-exceed)’ �
c) hnjxi ‘to breathe (breathe out-breathe in)’ �
d) kùnnan ‘difficult; laborious (hard pressed-difficult)’�
e) lӽnhóu ‘sloths (lazy-monkey)’ �
f) xióngmƗo ‘pandas (bear-cat)’�
g) zhuàngguƗn ‘spectacular (robust-sight)’ �
b) Bù rú‘not as’
A more formal expression, bùrú, literally ‘not like’ (sìjì rúchnjn de rú) can substitute for
méiyԁu…<nàme>. With bùrú, where there is no following SV, ‘as good as’ is
understood:
Hànyԃ ne, Wáng XiӽobƯn bùrú Léi Hànbó. ‘not as good as’
= Hànyԃ ne, Wáng XiӽobƯn méiyԁu Léi Hànbó <nàme> hӽo.
A Nanjing newspaper, Yángzi Wnbào, had the following headline, directed to the
youth of Nanjing:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Summary�
Exercise 3.
a) Praise other people’s abilities over your own:
1. ChànggƝ [hӽotƯng] > Nӿ chàng +de bӿ wԁ hӽotƯng. ~ Nӿ bӿ wԁ chàng+de hӽotƯng.
2. Zuòfàn [hӽo]
3. XiČzì [qƯngchu]
4. Yòng kuàizi [hӽo]
5. Huàhuàr [bƯzhƝn ‘lifelike’]
6. Zhӽng [gƗo]
b) Do the following, either writing your answers down, or preparing for oral responses:
1. Explain that Yáo Míng is 6 inches taller than Michael Jordan [Màikè QiáodƗn].
2. Note that you both like to sing, but that (s)he sings much better than you.
3. Explain that you have an older brother who’s 5 years older than you.
4. Explain that eating your own [zìjӿ zuò de] cooking is always better than eating out.
5. Note that apartments (‘houses’) are twice as expensive in Beijing as in XƯníng.
6. Explain that it’s frustrating (tӽoyàn): he’s doesn’t study as hard (yònggǀng) as you do,
but he speaks more fluently.
7. Explain that in the winter in Lasa, it’s so cold no one [shéi dǀu] dares [gӽn] to go out.
8. Explain that the weather has gotten a wee bit warmer [nuӽnhuó] recently.
________________________________________________________________________
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Chinese uses the expression zhƯyƯ, containing Classical Chinese zhƯ, which in this
context functions like modern DE, to mean ‘one of’:
Note
The Chinese equivalents to what are called acronyms in alphabetic languages (eg
NATO or WTO) are shortened or ‘telescoped’ phrases. Thus Àolínpӿkè
Yùndònghuì gets shortened to Àoyùnhuì; Ɩnquán Lӿshì Huì, literally ‘security
directorship organization’ gets shortened to Ɩnlӿhuì; and Shìjiè Màoyì Zԃzhӿ
‘World Trade Organization’ gets shortened to Shìmào.
The same pattern with zhƯyƯ is also the basis of fractions (and percentages):
8.4.2 Approximately
Large figures are usually approximate. There are several expressions that may be used to
indicate that a figure is rough. Chàbuduǀ and dàgài have been used in earlier units, both
placed before the amount. DàyuƝ ‘about; around; approximately (big-about)’ also appears
before the amount. Zuԁyòu, on the otherhand, which combines roots for left and right to
mean ‘more or less’, is placed after the amount.
Shí Lín zài Knjnmíng de dǀngbiƗnr, ‘The Stone Forest’ is about 130
chàbuduǀ yԁu yìbӽi sƗnshí gǀnglӿ. kilometers east of Kunming.
Dàlӿ zài Knjnmíng de xƯbiƗnr, dàgài Dali is about 400 kms west of
yԁu sìbӽi gǀnglӿ. Kunming.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
MČi nián, dàyuƝ yìbăiwàn rén cóng About a million people emigrate
xiƗngxià yímíndào BƟijƯng. from the countryside to Beijing
every year.
Notes
a) Yímín ‘to emigrate (move-people)’; yímíndào ‘to move to [place]’.
One important rule to note is that in stating large numbers, the highest possible
power of ten is always used: in other words, 1,500 is always expressed in Chinese as
yìqiƗn wԃbӽi rather than as *shíwԃbӽi. The key to forming large numbers, then, is to keep
the five basic powers of 10 in mind, and work down from the largest relevant power to
the smallest. Empty tens and hundreds columns (one or more than one) that are not final
in the figure are signaled by líng ‘zero’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 4.
a) Populations
One of the more common occasions to cite very large numbers is in talking about
population, so here are some rough figures to practice with. [Zhǀngguó rénkԁu shi
shísƗnyì.]; cite them as approximations, using zuԁyòu.
.
place population place population
China 1.3 billion Canada 32 million
Hong Kong 8 million India 1.069 billion
Iraq 24 million Indonesia 231 million
Italy 58 million Nigeria 130 million
Singapore 4,500,000 Thailand 63 million
UK 59 million USA 292 million
Beijing 14 million Shanghai 17 million
NY 8 million Chicago 2.8 million
Notes
gǀngsƯ ‘company’; gԃfèn yԁuxiàn gǀngsƯ ‘corporation (stocks limited company)’;
màoyì gǀngsƯ ‘trading corporation (trade company)’.
One of Shanghai’s older streets, with the DǀngfƗng Míngzhnj Tӽ on the Pԃdǀng side of the Huangpu
River (Huángpԃ JiƗng) in the background.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Shì. Yes.
Dàgài Shànghi b BČijƯng dà yìdinr. I guess Shanghai’s a bit bigger than Bj.
TƯngshuǀ xiànzài shi yìqiƗn bƗbiwàn! I hear it’s 18 million nowadays.
b)
MČiguó zuì dà de chéngshì shì nČi ge? Which is the largest city in the US?
c)
Zhǀngguó ne, Shànghӽi zuì dà, As for China, Shanghai’s the largest,
kČshì dì-èr, dì-sƗn wԁ bú tài qƯngchu. but I’m not sure about 2nd and 3rd.
Yԁurén shuǀ Chóngqìng yČ shì Zhǀngguó Some say that Chongqing is also
zuì dà de chéngshì zhƯyƯ! one of the biggest cities in China.
BČijƯng de w΅ bù zhƯdao, TiƗnjƯn de rénk΅u I don’t know what Beijing’s is, [but]
shì bƗbiwàn ba. Tianjin’s is 8 million, I guess.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
d)
Zhǀngguó shi shìjièshàng rénkԁu zuì duǀ China is the largest country in the world,
de guójiƗ, yԁu shísƗnyì. Yìndù shi dì-èr, with 1.3 billion. India is second, with a
rénkԁu shi shíyì zuԁyòu. population of about 1 billion.
KČshì y΅u rén shuǀ zài 2050 (èrlíng w·líng But people say that by 2050, India will have
nián), Yìndù huì y΅u shíliùyì, Zhǀngguó 1.6 billion, China 1.4 billion. That’ll make
shísìyì. Nèiyàng, Yìndù huì shi zuì dà de! India the largest country.
8.5 Bargaining
Purchases in China, as in most countries, can be subject to bargaining. This means a
certain amount of time and engagement, but it also offers a chance for language practice.
The rules for bargaining are difficult to make explicit, and in any case, outsiders (to say
nothing of foreigners) cannot really know local prices, so the best to hope for is to get
within a few percentage points of a good price. Chinese friends will generally say you
overpaid (tài guì le), but you can respond that you got a free language lesson in return
(yԁu jƯhuì liànxi Zhǀngwén ‘have opportunity to practice Chinese’)!
For low intensity bargaining, here are some useful phrases to begin with:
Seeking a reduction
KƟyƱ shӽo yìdiănr ma? Can you reduce it a bit? �
Piányi yìdiănr, kƟyƱ ma? Can you make it a little cheaper? �
Néng piányi yìdiӽnr ma?�
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Discounts
KƟyƱ dӽ zhé<kòu> ma? Can you ‘allow a discount’?
Hăo, d ge ji· zhé. Okay, I’ll give you 90%.
Hăo, d ge bƗ-w· zhé. Okay, I’ll give you 85%.
Hăo, d ge qƯ zhé. Okay, I’ll give you 70%.
Time to think
Suíbiàn kànkan. Just looking.�
Seller’s defense
HuòzhƝn-jiàshí, méi piàn nӿ! The goods are true and the price is right – �
I’m not ‘taking you for a ride’! �
Kuài sƗn wǂ jiu méi qián zhuàn le. At $1.30 won’t make anything. �
Jìnkǂu lái de, mài+de bƱjiào guì. [They]’re imported, so they cost [‘sell for’] �
a bit more. �
Finally, the sale
Nà hӽo ba, mài gei nӿ ba. Okay, that’s fine, I’ll sell [it] to you! �
Hӽo, xíng, xíng. Okay, can do.�
Notes
a) jiàgé ‘price’; also jiàwèi in southern regions. �
b) dӽ zhékòu, or colloquially, simply dӽ zhé ‘do a discount’. Zhé has a range of �
meanings, from ‘snap’ to ‘fold’, but in combination with dӽ, it means a ‘discount’. �
However, while English typically focuses on the amount of the reduction (‘10% �
off’), Chinese states the resulting discounted price (‘90%’), and it indicates this �
with a numerical modifier before zhé: jiԃ zhé ‘90%’; bƗshíwԃ zhé, ‘85%’. �
c) dČng yixià (ጙሆ) ‘wait for a bit (one time)’; cf. xinjxi yixià ‘take a break’; kàn�
yixià ‘take a look at’. �
d) zhuàn ‘earn’ �
e) jìnkԁu ‘import (enter-mouth+of+river)’; cf. §8.5 below. �
f) With transactional verbs that involve movement away from the possessor, such �
as mài ‘sell’, dì ‘to pass; to forward’, the recipient – the person who ends up with �
the object in question – can be introduced with gČi (often untoned) placed directly �
after the verb: mài gei tƗ ‘sell to him’; dì gei tƗ ‘pass [it] to her’. This makes yet �
another pattern associated with gČi.�
G Lӽobӽn, júzi duǀshao qián yì jƯn? Sir, how much are oranges per catty?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
G� Piányi diӽnr mài ma? Kuài sƗn, Will you sell ‘em a bit cheaper?
kČyӿ ma? How about $1.30?
Notes
jƯn M ‘jin’ a unit of weight, usually translated ‘catty’, = 1/2 kg.
piányi SV ‘be cheap; inexpensive’; piányi diӽnr ‘a bit cheaper’ – yìdiӽnr
after the SV is comparative.
mài V ‘sell’; cf. mӽi ‘buy’ and zuò mӽimài ‘do business’.
<yí>kuài sƗn...Note the implied conditional: ‘[if] Ԝ1.30’, which is resolved by jiù
‘then’.
liӽng M, sometimes translated ‘ounce’; equivalent to 0.05 kg. 10 liangs
= 1 jin. Most people seem to say èr liӽng rather than liӽng liӽng.
Other fruit
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Fruit stand, Knjnmíng. The large, red fruit on the front left are lóngguԁzi
‘dragonfruit’; the even larger, spiny fruit in the middle back are liúlián ‘durian’.
tastes ingredients
Notes
a) Chinese call ‘pepper’ hújiƗo ‘foreign pepper’. HújiƗo is not used as much in
Chinese cooking as huƗjiƗo ‘flower pepper’, also called fagara, brown pepper, or
Sichuan pepper. Unlike the sharp heat of làjiƗo ‘chilies’ which is associated with
Hunnan cuisine, huƗjiƗo has a slightly numbing effect and, mixed with làjiƗo, is
characteristic of Sichuan food; cf. Sichuan dishes beginning with mala: eg málà
Črduo ‘spicy pig-ears’ and málà-jƯsƯ‘spicy shredded chicken’.
b) Dàn, méiyou wèidao.
c) Sè is a taste characteristic of shìzi ‘persimmons’ or unripe pears and peaches
(shƝng de lí, táozi).
Zhǀngguó rén shuǀ xƯfƗng cài tài dàn, The Chinese say that Western food is too
méiyou wèidao; tƗmen yČ shuǀ nánfƗng bland, [it] doesn’t have any flavor; they
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
cài (xiàng Yìndù de, Tàiguó de) tài zhòng. say southern food (like Indian and Thai)
XƯfƗng de tài dàn, nánfƗng de tài zhòng, is too heavy. Western food, too dull,
kČshi Zhǀngguó de zhèng hӽo! Southern, too heavy, but Chinese is just
right!
ADV V amount
fàng amount
duǀ / shӽo
gČi amount
Though the pattern also occurs with zӽo ‘early’ and wӽn ‘late’, it is most common with
duǀ and shӽo, normally SVs, but here filling the adverbial position. Here are some
relevant verbs:
2. Tài dàn le, gƗi duǀ fàng yìdiӽnr It’s too bland – [you] should add more
yán / jiàngyóu. salt / soysauce.
Bù, bù, hái ho, zhèi yàngr hái ho. No, it’s fine; it’s fine as is.
3. Qӿng duǀ fàng yí kuài táng. Another cube of sugar please. [coffee]
Yí kuài gòu le ma? One is enough?
Gòu le, gòu le. That’s fine.
4. Qӿng duǀ lái sƗn ge kuàngquánshuӿ. Please bring 3 more mineral waters.
Qӿng duǀ lái liăng ge bƝizi. Please bring 2 more glasses.
Qӿng duǀ lái yì shuƗng kuàizi. Please bring another pair of chopsticks.
5. Qӿng duǀ dú ~ niàn yì háng / Please read one more line / paragraph /
yí duàn / yí yè. page.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
When only one item is involved, the effect of the duǀ pattern can be achieved
with zài (zàijiàn de zài [Г]):
Qӿng zài lái yì píng kƟlè. Please bring another bottle of cola.
9. Qӿng zài duǀ chƯ yìdiӽnr cài! Literally ‘Please have some more food
again’, but used to mean, ‘Do have some
more food!’
8.5.4 Cuisines
Chinese generally distinguish 8 regional cuisines which, for the most part, are named
after the provinces with which each is primarily associated. These cuisines are often
signaled on restaurant fronts by using standard regional abbreviations, or ‘alternate
names’ (biéchƝng) of the relevant provinces: Yuè for Canton, Mӿn for Fújiàn, etc.
(Abbreviated names of provinces are also used on automobile licence plates and for
names of regional languages, cf. §8.6 below.)
vocabulary
ShƗndǀng cài: � yČ jiào Lԃ (റ) cài; Lԃ shi ShƗndǀng de biéchƝng. ShƗndǀng cài yČ
bƗokuò BČijƯng cài. Kԁuwèir hČn zhòng, bӿjiào nóng; jiàngyóu duǀ.
Guӽngdǀng cài:� yČ jiào Yuè (Ꮫ) cài. Yuè shi Guӽngdǀng de biéchƝng. Kԁuwèir
hČn dàn, yԁu yìdiӽnr tián; jiàngyóu bӿjiào shӽo.
SìchuƗn cài: � yČ jiào ChuƗn (ࠂ) cài. ChuƗn jiùshi SìchuƗn de biéchƝng. HČn má,
yČ hČn là.
JiƗngsnj cài: � yČ jiào Huáiyáng (ઠዯ) cài. Huái shi Huái Hé, zài JiƗngsnj; Yáng
shì Yángzhǀu, yČ zài JiƗngsnj. ZhƯr bӿjiào dàn, jiàngyóu shӽo.
ZhèjiƗng cài ~ yČ jiào Zhè (ᑛ) cài. Zhè shi ZhèjiƗng. Kԁuwèir hČn dàn,
Shànghӽi cài: jiàngyóu bӿjiào shӽo.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Ɩnhuì cài: yČ jiào Wӽn (ᅶ) cài. Wӽn shi Ɩnhuì de biéchƝng. Yánsè bӿjiào
shƝn, jiàngyóu duǀ.
Húnán cài: yČ jiào XiƗng (ሪ) cài. XiƗng shi Húnán de biéchƝng. HČn là.
Fújiàn cài: yČ jiào Mӿn (ි) cài. Mӿn shi Fújiàn de biéchƝng. HӽixiƗn duǀ,
kԁuwèi bӿjiào dàn.
Exercise 5.
Provide Chinese for the following:
1. Sichuan food is hot, but it isn’t as hot as Hunan food; Thai food is even hotter, I feel.
2. If you prefer a ‘saltier’ taste, put in more soysauce.
3. I’m not used to eating hot food, so please put fewer chillies in; please don’t cook it too
spicy.
4. Lychees are a bit too sweet for me; I prefer plums or peaches.
5. Durian is cheaper in southern regions than in the north. Durian tastes a bit sour.
6. Cantonese food tends to be a little sweet, with not much soysauce; Sichuan food is hot
and ‘numbing’.
7. �If durian is even a tiny bit overripe [shú], it stinks to high heaven. However, if it’s too
unripe [shƝng], it doesn’t taste good either.
_______________________________________________________________________
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Women will find it easier to resist calls to gƗnbƝi, since many women in China do
not drink in public. But men of sober character will have develop ways of resisting calls
to drink with minimum loss of face. The expression suíyì ‘as you please (follow-
intention)’ can help for a while:
Other toasts may involve health, cooperation, success, etc. The CV wèi ‘for the sake
of’, or the verb zhù ‘wish for’ may introduce such toasts. For the actual invitation to
drink, jƯng nƱmen yì bƝi, literally, ‘respect you a cup’ may be used instead of gƗnbƝi. Here
are some samples toasts:
In giving toasts, it is important to raise the glass with two hands; extra deference can
be shown by raising the glass high (still with two hands). At large gatherings, normally
the host will toast first, at or near the beginning of the meal, and then later on, the head of
the guest delegation will return the toast. Where a number of tables are involved, hosts
and guests may walk over to toast other tables. People will often rise to toast. Possible
expressions of thanks to the hosts are:
At banquets or other meals, Chinese often play very rapid games of huáquán
‘finger guessing’ or more generally, hƝjiԃ de yóuxì ‘drinking games’, with the loser<s>
drinking. Such games come in a number of varieties, and need a lot of practice. With
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
foreigners, the simpler children’s game of ‘scissors, stone, paper’ often substitutes for the
real thing. That game is called shítou, jiӽnzi, bù (‘stone, scissors, cloth’) in Chinese, and
participants play by shouting out ‘shítou, jiӽnzi, bù’, displaying their choice on the count
of ‘bù’. Another game, chóngzi, bàngzi, lӽohԃ, jƯ ‘insect, club, tiger, chicken’, is common
and simple enough to learn. The rules are:
Chóngzi chƯ bàngzi, bàngzi dӽ lӽohԃ, lӽohԃ chƯ jƯ, jƯ chƯ chóngzi.
The cadence is fast, and participants simply utter their choice in unison, adding up wins
and losses until some previously designated number is reached and losers drink.
L Y΅u, y΅u jìnk΅u de hé guóchn de. Yes, we have imported ones and
N yào nČi zh΅ng? national products. Which kind do
you want?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
L Ling kuài bƗ. Guóchn de ¥2.80; the local ones are ¥1.20.
(yí) kuài èr. Xio bƗor de. [For] a small pack [one].
G Jìnkԁu de tài gùi le, wԁ háishi The imported ones are too expensive,
mӽi guóchӽn de. I may as well buy the local ones.
Notes:
jìnkԁu V ‘to import (enter mouth=port)’; N ‘imports’
guóchӽn N ‘produced in China (national-product)’
zhӽo V ‘find’, but here, ‘to provide change’
Other purchases
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
1. Shì<r> tài duǀ le, wԁ bù néng qù. I have too much to do, I can’t go.
Nà tài kČxƯ le. That’s too bad.
7. Mini-dialogue
KČyӿ. Shénme shíhou xnjyào jiƗo? When does [it] need to be in?
ShíyƯ yuè shíw· hào, hái y΅u ling Nov. 15 ̢ there’s still 2 weeks.
ge lbài.
Hӽo, nà wԁ yӿhòu yԁu wèntí jiù Okay, I’ll get in touch if I have
gƝn nӿ liánxì. questions.
Here are some of the better known Chinese regional languages; each subsumes
regional variants – which are more properly called dialects. But even these may not be
mutually intelligible.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Guăngdǀnghuà or Cantonese
The dialect grouping of which Cantonese is the standard is called Yuè, or Yuèyǎ.
Yuè dialects include TáishƗn (also called Toisan, after the Cantonese
pronunciation, and Hoisan after the pronunciation of Taishan itself), spoken on a
coastal region of Canton Province, southwest of Hong Kong. Speakers of Yuè are
found in many parts of the world. The majority of Chinese-Americans are
descendents from emigrants from Taishan County and adjoining regions known
(in Cantonese pronunciation) as Sze Yup ‘four counties’. Recent administrative
changes have made the Sze Yup area actually Ng Yup ‘five counties’.
Fújiànhuà or Hokkien
Fujianese (or Fukienese) is also called Hokkien after the Fujianese pronunciation
of ‘Fujian’. The dialect grouping as a whole is called MƱn, and within MƱn, the
southern or western group that includes Taiwanese and the languages of Amoy
(Xiàmén in Mandarin) and Swatou (ShƗntóu in Mandarin) are often called
MƱnnányǎ ‘southern Min’. The descendents of Min speakers are now found
throughout Southeast Asia (notably in Singapore, where they are the majority), as
well as other parts of the world.
Shànghăihuà
The language of Shanghai is usually called Shanghainese in English (with an
intrusive ‘n’). The dialect grouping that includes Shànghăihuà, Snjzhǀuhuà,
Níngbǀhuà and others is called Wú or Wúyǎ.
KèjiƗhuà or Hakka
Hakka is the Cantonese pronunciation of the word kèjiƗ ‘guests; strangers
(guest-families)’, which reflects the fact that many KèjiƗ people settled in
Cantonese speaking areas. Hakka speakers are found in Canton province, in
bordering southwest Fujian, in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as in many parts
of Southeast Asia.
Jiӽ Nӿ fùmԃ yČ zhù zai BČijƯng ma? Your parents live in Beijing too?
Y Shì, tƗmen zhèr y΅u yí ge fángzi. Yes, they have an apartment here.
Jiӽ O, yԁu zìjӿ de fángzi! Oh, so they have their own apartment.
Y Bú shi zìj de, shi mƗma de dƗnwèi It’s not their own, it’s provided by my
fƝn gČi tƗmen de. mom’s unit.
Jiӽ O, dƗnwèi fƝn gČi tƗmen de. Oh, it’s provided by the unit!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Y Shì, zài yí zuò liù céng lóu l. Yes, it’s in a 6 story building.
Nèi zuò lóu bú qynr, kČshi The building isn’t much to look at,
tƗmen fángzi de ltou hČn bú cuò! but inside their apartment isn’t bad.
Jiӽ Fùmԃ shi zài BČijƯng zhӽng de Were your parents raised in Beijing?
ma?
Jiӽ O, Níngbǀ rén shuǀ Shànghӽihuà! Oh, Ningbo people speak Shanghainese!
Y Bù, Níngbǀhuà hČn xiàng Shànghi- No, Ningbo speech is like Shanghai �
huà, kČshì bù wánquán yíyàng. speech, but it’s not completely identical to it.
Shànghihuà, Níngbǀhuà, Snjzhǀu- The lgs of Shanghai, Ningbo, Suzhou and
huà dČngdČng dǀu shì Wú- so on are all Wu dialects.
fƗngyán.
Jiӽ. Huì shuǀ Pԃtǀnghuà de rén Can people who speak Mandarin
tƯngdedԁng Guӽngdǀnghuà understand Cantonese and Shang-
Shànghӽihuà ma? hainese?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
fángzi ‘house’ but in Mainland usage (with ge as M-word), ‘apartment’; a
free standing house in an urban setting is a rare thing in China, and
is usually called a biéshù, often translated ‘villa’, but more a
‘mansion’ in fact. Less commonly (but more commonly in
Taiwan), apartments are also called gǀngyù.
fƝn gČi ‘distribute give’, ie ‘distribute to’. Earlier in this unit, it was
mentioned that mài ‘sell’ and dì ‘pass’ introduced the recipient
with a following gČi; fƝn is another in this class of transactional
verbs.
zuò M for buildings, mountains.
liù céng ‘six stories’. Older Chinese residential blocks are typically six
stories high; above that, they are required to have elevators.
qӿyӽnr a colloquial expression that, literally, means ‘raise-eyes’; ie ‘be
attractive; striking’; often, as here, in the negative.
Níngbǀ A city in ZhèjiƗng province, near the coast, south across the Bay of
Hángzhǀu from Shànghӽi. The speeches of regions in southern
JiƗngsnj and most of ZhèjiƗng are closely related to that of
Shanghai, and are classified as Wú dialects.
wánquán ADV ‘completely’; SV ‘be complete’. Wánquán yíyàng
‘completely the same’.
bù tóng SV ‘not the same’; cf tóngxué ‘classmate’, tóngzhì ‘comrade’.
dČngdČng used to close a list: ‘and so on; etc.’ Written with the same
character as dČng ‘wait’, which is also frequently doubled:
dČngdČng ‘wait a minute’.
fùzá SV ‘be-complicated’; cf. bù jiӽndƗn ‘not simple’.
Lín MČi shi Zhǀngwén lӽoshƯ. Lӽo péngyou dǀu guӽn tƗ jiào xiӽo Lín, kČshi xuésheng
dƗngrán jiào tƗ Lín lӽoshƯ. YƯnwèi tƗ shi Zhǀngwén lӽoshƯ, suԁyӿ tƗ de xuéshƝng dǀu shi
wàiguó lái de, yԁu RìbČn de, MČiguó de, ƿuzhǀu de, yČ yԁu Àozhǀu de. Lín MČi
chnjshƝng zài BČijƯng. TƗ fùqin yČ shì BČijƯng rén kČshì mԃqin shì Shànghӽi lai de, suԁyӿ
Lín MČi yČ huì shuǀ diӽnr Shànghӽihuà. Huì shuǀ Pԃtǀnghuà de rén bù yídìng
tƯngdedԁng Shànghӽihuà. Lín MČi de bàba huì shuǀ Pԃtǀnghuà, bú huì shuǀ
Shànghӽihuà, kČshì mƗma Pԃtǀnghuà Shànghӽihuà dǀu huì jiӽng. Suԁyӿ Lín MČi hé
mƗma shuǀhuà, yԁushíhou bàba dԁng, yԁushíhou bàba bù dԁng. HČn yԁuyìsi! Wԁ kČyӿ
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
shuǀ ge Shànghӽihuà de lìzi. Pԃtǀnghuà shuǀ: Nӿ chƯfàn le ma? Shànghӽihuà shuǀ: Nong
ch’yuq vele vuh. GƝn Pԃtǀnghuà wánquán bù tóng, duì ma?
Nà, wԁmen tántan Shànghӽihuà ba. Nӿ kànkan dìtú. Shànghӽi fùjìn yԁu hČn duǀ
xiӽo chéngshì: Snjzhǀu, Níngbǀ, Hángzhǀu, WƝnzhǀu, ShàoxƯng dČngdČng. Dǀu lí
Shànghӽi bù yuӽn. Nà, Snjzhǀu rén shuǀ shénme huà ne? Snjzhǀu rén dƗngrán shuǀ
Snjzhǀuhuà. Níngbǀ rén ne? Yíyàng, Níngbǀ rén shuǀ Níngbǀhuà. KČshì Shànghӽihuà,
Snjzhǀuhuà, Níngbǀhuà dǀu hČn xiàng; kČyӿ shuǀ dǀu shi yí ge fƗngyán. Guӽngdǀnghuà,
Fújiànhuà, KèjiƗhuà dČngdČng dǀu shԃyú bù tóng de fƗngyán. FƗngyán shi shénme ne?
FƗngyán shi dìfang de yԃyán.
Nà bù tóng de fƗngyán yԁu bù tóng de míngzi. BӿfƗng shuǀ, Shànghӽi fùjìn shi
Wú-fƗngyán. Wèishénme jiào Wú ne? Nà shì yƯnwèi yӿqián, zài Chnjnqinj Shídài, nèi ge
dìfang yԁu ge Wúguó. Guӽngdǀnghuà gƝn Guӽngdǀng fùjìn de fƗngyán jiào Yuè
fƗngyán, yƯnwèi yӿqián nàr yԁu ge Yuèguó. Hànyԃ yígòng yԁu qƯ bƗ ge dà fƗngyán: Wú
(zài Shànghӽi, ZhèjiƗng), Yuè (zài Guӽngdǀng, GuӽngxƯ, XiƗnggӽng), Mӿn (zài Fújiàn,
TáiwƗn, Hӽinán), KèjiƗ (zài Guӽngdǀng, Fújiàn), XiƗng (zài Húnán), Gàn (zài JiƗngxƯ,
Húnán) hé BČifƗng fƗngyán (zài bČifƗng). BČifƗng de shi zuì pԃbiàn de. Pԃtǀnghuà ne?
Pԃtǀnghuà bù néng shuǀ shi ge dìfang de yԃyán; shi ge guójiƗ de yԃyán, kČshì Pԃtǀnghuà
zuì xiàng BČifƗng de fƗngyán.
XƯn de hé chuánt΅ng de
Lín MČi xӿhuan BČijƯng, yČ xӿhuan Shànghӽi. KČshì tƗ shuǀ zuìjìn biànhuà tài duǀ le.
Yӿqián BČijƯng yԁu hČn duǀ hútòngr. Hútòngr shì hČn Ɨnjìng de dìfang, kČyӿ zԁuyizԁu, hƝ
chá, kàn péngyou. Yԁu fángzi, xiӽo shƗngdiàn, cháguӽnr dČngdČng. Shànghӽi yČ yԁu
hútòngr, kČshì Shànghӽi de hútòngr bú jiào hútòngr, jiào nòngtáng – nà shi Shànghӽihuà
de yí ge cí. Nòngtáng yԁu yìdiӽnr xiàng hútòngr, kČshì bù zČnme Ɨnjìng, bù zČnme
hӽokàn!
BČijƯng yӿqián hútòngr hČn duǀ; Shànghӽi yӿqián nòngtáng yČ hČn duǀ. KČshì
xiànzài, bù yíyàng. Yӿqián de hútòngr shi xiànzài de gòuwù-zhǀngxƯn le; yӿqián de
nòngtáng shi xiànzài de dàlóu le! Yԁude Zhǀngguó rén hČn xӿhuan gòuwù-zhǀngxƯn.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Wèishénme ne? YƯnwèi hČn fƗngbiàn, dǀngxi hČn duǀ, yԁu chƯ de, hƝ de, wánr de.
Gòuwù-zhǀngxƯn hČn gƗnjìng, méiyou lӽoshԃ, méiyou hàozi, méiyou zhƗngláng, méiyou
chóngzi, méiyou zhƯzhnj, méiyou wénzi. Xiàng ge gǀngdiàn yíyàng, xiàng ge shìwài-
táoyuán yíyàng!
Zhǀngguó rén, yԁude xӿhuan lӽo de dǀngxi, xӿhuan chuántԁng de; tƗmen hČn
xӿhuan BČijƯng de hútòngr. Yԁude xӿhuan xƯn de, xiàndài de, hČn xӿhuan dà chéngshì de
gòuwù-zhǀngxƯn, mótiƗn-dàlóu. Bù zhƯdao nӿmen MČiguó rén, ƿuzhǀu rén de kànfӽ
zČnmeyàng!
Notes
XƯn de hé chuánt΅ng de
biànhuà� N ‘changes’; cf. huàxué ‘chemistry’, ie ‘study of transformations’.
hútòngr� ‘alleys’. The word, written with characters taken for their sounds
rather than meaning, is apparently adapted from a Mongolian
word.
Ɨnjìng SV ‘peaceful (peace-quiet)’�
cháguӽnr N ‘teashop (tea-shop)’; cf. fànguӽnr.�
nòngtáng N. Mandarin pronunciation of a Shanghainese word for ‘lane’ or�
‘alley’.
bù zČnme SV ‘not so (SV)’. This is the indefinite use of zČnme; cf. bù zČnme
gƗo, bù zČnme lČng.
gòuwù-zhǀngxƯn; ‘goods-center’; a translation of the English ‘shopping-center’.
dàlóu literally ‘big building’. ‘Skyscraper’ has a literal Chinese
equivalent: mótiƗn-dàlóu ‘scrape-sky big-building’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
fƗngbiàn SV ‘convenient’
gƗnjìng SV ‘be-clean’
gǀngdiàn N ‘palace’
shìwài-táoyuán ‘world-outside peach-garden’, reference to a famous tale about
a man who discovered a secret, idyllic garden.
xƯn de ‘new things’; xƯn SV ‘new’.
xiàndài N. ‘modern times (new-age)’.
kànfӽ N. ‘viewpoint; opinion (seeing-way)’.
+ –
Cf. the campaign against the Sì Jiù ‘the Four Old[-fashioneds]’, ie jiùwénhuà ‘old
culture’, jiùsƯxiӽng ‘old thought’, jiùfƝngsú ‘old customs’ and jiùxíguàn ‘old
practices’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 6.
Answer the following questions on the narrative:
1.� Wèishénme yԁu rén shuǀ Lín MČi shi Shànghӽi lái de?
2.� TƗ de xuéshƝng shi shénme dìfƗng lái de?
13. �
Yԁurén yČ xӿhuan gòuwù-zhǀngxƯn, wèishénme?
14.� Shénme shi shìwài-táoyuán?
8.9 Jobs
8.9.1 Version 1
Jiӽ Nӿ jiƗ lӿ yԁu xiƝ shénme rén? Who (all) do you have in your family?
Jiӽ Nà, fùqin mԃqin zuò shénme Well, what sort of work do your parents
gǀngzuò? do?
Y� Bàba jiƗoshnj, mƗma dƗng yƯshƝng. Dad teaches, mum is a doctor.
Jiӽ Nà, tƗmen gǀngzuò dǀu hČn Oh, so [I] guess they’re kept
máng ba. pretty busy with work then.
Y� Duì a, xiƗngdƗng máng. Y΅u- True, <they>’re quite busy. Sometimes
shíhou w΅men háizimen dČi we kids had to help them do the chores
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
jiƗ lӿ ‘in [your] family’
xiƝ shénme xiƝ ‘several’ and shénme ‘what’ often occur together in sentences
that ask for a listing.
dƗng� V ‘work as; act as; be’; eg dƗng mԃqin ‘be a mother’; dƗng lԋshƯ
‘work as a lawyer’; dƗng gǀngrén ‘be a worker’. Shì is frequently
an alternative to dƗng: tƗ shi yƯshƝng etc. Cf. also TƗ zuò shƝngyì.
‘She’s in business.’
xiƗngdƗng� Adv. ‘rather; quite’, with SVs: xiƗngdƗng dà, xiƗngdƗng guì.
háizimen� N ‘child’ plus -men, the plural suffix that occurs with personal
pronouns and nouns referring to human beings, eg lӽoshƯmen,
tóngxuémen, etc.
bƗng V ‘help’: bƗng nӿ zuò, bƗng nӿ xiČ, bƗng tƗ xӿ yƯfu, etc. �
jiƗwù N ‘housework (house-things)’; in Taiwan, jiƗshì is more common. �
sӽodì VO ‘sweep-ground’�
xӿ yƯfu VO ‘wash clothes’ �
zhČnglӿ V ‘tidy up; arrange; put in order’ �
fángjiƗn N ‘room’�
Other professions:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
8.9.2 Version 2
Jiӽ Nӿ jiƗ lӿ yԁu jӿ kԁu rén? How many people in your family?
Yí - ~ dùn!
Nà jiùshi ling dun [Joking] That’s two tons!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Jiӽ Nӿ zhèi sì ge háizi dǀu hČn kČ’ài. Those 4 kids of yours are real cute!
Y Nl, dǀu hČn tiáopí, hČn Nah, they’re all mischeivous, a nuisance!
máfan.
Notes:
kԁu � M for people in a family, village etc.
qiƗnjƯn � Literally ‘1000 <pieces of> gold’, a tongue-in-cheek reference to
daughters, eg liӽngqiƗn jƯn ‘2000 pieces of gold’ for ‘2 daughters’.
Liӽng dùn ‘two tons’ is, of course, a humorous response. 2 tons is
4000 lbs or 4000 gold pieces. In some southern regions, instead of
qiƗnjƯn, daughters are described as jƯnhuƗ ‘golden flowers’: sì duԁ
jƯnhuƗ ‘4 M gold-flowers’.
zhàopiƗn<r> �N ‘photograph; picture (photograph-slice)’, or more colloquially,
xiàngpiƗn<r> ‘photos’, both with level toned piƗn<r>. Without the
r-suffix, both words are often pronounced with falling tone on
piàn: zhàopiàn, xiàngpiàn.
lӽodà � Children (sons or daughters) can be referred to as lӽodà, lӽo’èr,
lӽosƗn, etc., according to relative age; also hángdà, háng’èr,
hángsƗn, etc. (with háng ‘a row’).
xiƗngxìn � ‘believe’
V
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
And, of course, where the conditions are more severe, cái may substitute for jiù:
In such cases, V-le O occupies the same position in the sentence as a time word:
A sentence le can be added to the clause as a whole to indicate that the event has
happened:
TƗ chƯle fàn jiu huí jiƗ le. She went home after [she] ate.
Le after the first verb in these sentences serves much the same purpose as yƱhòu
‘afterwards’, and in fact, where the second event is less likely to follow immediately on
the first, yƱhòu may be preferred; or verb-le and yƱhòu may both occur.
Or:
TƗ shuìjiào le. She’s gone to bed.
vs
Ta shuì-le bƗ ge xiӽoshí. She slept for 8 hours.
TƗ shuì-le bƗ ge xiӽoshí<de> jiào. She slept 8 hours of sleep.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Cf. TƗ yƱjing shuì-le bƗ ge xiӽoshí She’s been sleeping for 8 hours already!
<de> jiào le.
A short dialogue
For a Chinese speaker, the relevant criterion is probably not the presence of a quantified
object per se. But the notion of ‘quantified object’ is a useful marker for learners trying to figure
out whether le should be placed after the object (at the foot of the sentence) or directly after the
verb. Other examples:
Notes
a) huàn-le qián is the condition;�
b) qù-le yí tàng is a ‘prior event, with quantified object’. �
2. Mӽi shénme le? What did you buy ~ have you bought?
~ Mӽi-le yìxiƝ shénme? What sort of things did you buy ~ have you
bought?
Mi-le ge táidƝng, mi-le [I] bought a lamp, a radio, a dictionary…
ge shǀuyƯnjƯ, yì bƟn zìdin… [I] have bought a lamp….
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
ShíjiƗn hƟn jƱnzhƗng, wǂmen qù-le The time was tight! We got to
XƯníng, kƟshì méi dào LƗsà. Xining, but we didn’t make it to Lhasa.
Wǂ xiƗn dă-le diànhuà, ránhòu qù I made a phone call first, and then went
chƯ-le fàn. and finished [my] meal.
TƗ chƯ-le fàn, yČ chƯ-le miàn. She ate the rice as well as the noodles.
TƗmen shƗ-le JiƗng JiƟ, yƟ shƗ-le They killed Jiang Jie, as well as
Fԃ ZhìgƗo. Fu Zhigao.
Exercise 7:
Explain that:
1. you generally sleep 8 hours a night;
2. but last night you only slept three hours.
3 you generally get up at 7:30;
4. but last night you didn’t get up till 9.
5. After you eat breakfast, you walk (zԁulù) for 30 minutes.
6. Everyday, you do an hour’s Chinese homework.
7. On MWF your 1st class is at 11:00.
8. You eat lunch after you get out of class.
9. Yesterday you didn’t go home until after you’d eaten dinner.
10. You had to study last night, so you only slept 4 hours.
____________________________________________________________________
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Y Qù măi dǀngxi le. Wǂ măi-le yì shuƗng xié. I went shopping. I bought a pair
of shoes.
Y 85 kuài! ¥ 85
Jiӽ Wǂmen qù-le yí tàng Cháng Chéng. We took a trip to the Great Wall.
Jiӽ Bù, huǂchƝ tài màn le, wǂmen shi zuò No, the train’s too slow, we went by
gǀnggòng qìchƝ qù de. bus.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 8.
Rearrange these words and phrases to form sentences:
1. xiăng / wǂmen / qù / kàn / jiǎyuèfen / dào / míngnián / XƯ’Ɨn / qƯnqi
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
With ná
Other examples
An additional directional complement can be added to this set: qӿlai ‘rise’. The
qӿlai suffix has a number of extended meanings, but its with verbs of motion, it means
‘rise’ or ‘up’:
Adding objects to directional combinations (eg ‘bring the luggage down’) often
requires a grammatical feature that will not be introduced until Unit 9, so in this section,
you can avoid mentioning objects at all (or simply place them at the head of the sentence,
as in the examples).
Usage
a) �Ʊ de dǀngxi nàme duǀ ya! Wǂ
N You have so many things! I’ll help
bƗng nƱ náchnjlai, hăo bu hăo? you bring them out, okay?
Méi guƗnxi, wǂ zìjƱ ná ba! Never mind, I’ll get them.
Bù, wǂ bƗng nƱ ná ba.� No I’ll help you with them.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 9.
Without mentioning the destination, make requests as indicated.
Examples
Request that your friend help you to put the books down [there].
<Zhèi xiƝ shnj> qӿng bƗng wԁ fàngxiàqu.
Request that your friend help you to take the clothes out [of the drawers].
<Zhèi xiƝ yƯfu> qӿng bƗng wԁ náchnjlai.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Shԃjià, wǂ wàng le hƟn duǀ Hànyǎ.�I’ve forgotten a lot of Chinese over the
summer.
Nà dƗngrán, nƱ sƗn ge yuè méi jƯhuì That’s not surprising; you haven’t had a
liànxí Zhǀngwén le. a chance to practice Chinese for 3 months!
Méi guƗnxi, nƱ hƟn kuài huì No matter, it’ll come back to you fast.
jiӽnqӿlai de
Notes
shԃjià N summer vacation (heat-vacation)�
jiӽn V pick up; collect �
huì…de predictions with huì are often supported by final ‘emphatic’�
de.
xƯwàng V hope
rúcӿ a phrase in Classical Chinese diction, ‘like this’.
Wàng (like its English counterpart) can also be used in the sense of ‘leave behind
accidentally’; in such cases, the place is introduced with a zai-phrase placed after wàng.
(In general, where the zai-phrase indicates where something ends up, it follows the verb;
cf. fàng zai ‘put [somewhere]’; guà zai ‘hang [somewhere]’. The three verbs,
<chnj>shƝng, zhӽng<dà> and zhù, which as you will recall, allow zai-phrases before and
after, are harder to rationalize.)
ƖiyƗ, hùzhào wàng zai Aach, [I] left my passport at the airport.
jƯchӽng le!
The presence of zài after the verb (where it is often untoned) precludes the possibility of
V-le; *wàng zài le jiƗ lӿ does not occur.
b) Remembering:
The counterpart of wàng is jì ‘to note’ – the same root that shows up in the compound
wàngjì ‘forget’, mentioned above.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Hái jìde yìxiƝ, kČshi Hànzì wàng le Some; but I’ve forgotten a lot of characters.
hČn duǀ.
Ng, Hànzì, yòu nán jì, yòu róngyi Chinese characters are tough to remember�
wàng! and easy to forget!�
Nèi jiàn shìqing, nƱ hái jìde ma? You still remember that? �
NƱ jìde bu jìde nèi ge rén? TƗ zài Do you remember that guy? He worked �
wǂmen de dƗnwèi gǀngzuò le in our unit for a year. �
yì nián.�
Wǂ jìbuqƯngchu. I don’t recall [him] clearly.
Notes
a) yòu…yòu… ‘both…and…’; cf. yòu mƝn yòu rè.
b) QƯngchu in he last sentence is acting as a verb complement to jì; the whole is in
the potential form; cf TƗ méi shuǀqƯngchu. ‘She didn’t talk [about it] very
clearly.’
Where recall takes place suddenly, the verb combo xiӽngqӿlai is used. It is a short
metaphorical leap from literally rising, as in zhànqӿlai, to having memories surge up in
the mind.
c) In song:�
Forgetting and remembering are common themes in popular songs. Here are lines from �
songs of one of the most popular of Chinese singers, Dèng Lìjnjn – Teresa Teng (1953 – �
1995):�
From Wàngjì tƗ ‘forgetting him’:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
ZuótiƗn wӽnshàng wԁ zhӿ shuì le I only slept 3 hours last night; today
sƗn ge xiăoshí, jƯntiƗn hČn hútu. I’m quite muddled.
Duìbuqӿ, nӿ dČng le hČn jiԃ le! Sorry, you’ve been waiting a long time!
Bù, gƗng dào. No, just got here.
Not doing something for a period of time, however, is treated differently. The
time of deprivation is treated as though it were ‘time when’ and placed before the verb.
Final le underscores the fact that the deprivation continues – ‘so far’:
Wǂ sƗn ge yuè méi jƯhuì shuǀ I haven’t had a chance to speak Chinese for
Hànyǎ le. 3 months.
NƱ zuì hăo duǀ fùxí yixià. You’d better review some more then.
Wǂ èrshí duǀ xiăoshí méi chƯfàn le. I haven’t eaten for over 20 hours.
Nà nƱ yídìng hƟn è ba! You must be hungry!
In the above schema, notice where M-words appear and where DE appears. M-words �
only follow numbers (yí ge, liӽng ge) or demonstratives (nèi ge, zhèi ge). DE, on the �
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
other hand, follows SVs (as well as other kinds of attributes, not shown on the chart): hČn
dà de wénzi ‘large mosquitos’. Demonstratives do sometimes appear without measure
words, in which case the meaning is ‘that class of item’: zhè chá means ‘this type of tea’
not just the sample in front of you (cf. zhèi zhԁng chá in which ‘kind’ is explicitly a M).
When several items are indicated, xiƝ is used (cf. §6.3.3):
Zhèi xiƝ sӽn, nČi bӽ shi nӿ de? Which of these umbrellas is yours?
Nӿ gàosu wԁ nČi xiƝ yƯfu shi xӿ de, Tell me which of these clothes are
nČi xiƝ shi gƗnxӿ de. to be washed, and which dry-cleaned.
8.13.1
M-words (other than those for money and weights) that have been encountered in the first
8 units are listed below. Additional ones can be found in the Appendix to this unit.
bƗo pack of
yì bƗo yƗn a pack of cigarettes
bČn books
Zhӿ yԁu liӽng bČn. [I] only have 2 [dictionaries].
Mӽi <yì> bČn Zhǀngguó dìtú ba. Why not buy a Chinese atlas?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
kԁu people
JiƗ lӿ yԁu liù kԁu rén. There are 6 in my family.
liàng vehicles
Zài MČiguó yԁu liӽng liàng chƝ de In the US, quite a number of people
bù shӽo! have two cars.
mén course of
yì mén Zhǀngwén kè a Chinese course
yԁurén dú liù qƯ mén kè some people take 6-7 courses
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 10
Provide Chinese equivalents:
1. Which one’s yours? [umbrellas] / That large one.
2. Expensive ones aren’t necessarily the best. [umbrellas]
3. One of them’s imported and one of them’s Chinese. [bikes]
4. One cup’s enough! [coffee]
5. Have you read today’s paper? I have two copies!
6. From here, walk straight ahead; there’s a tall building on the right – that’s the post
office (yóujú).
7. We’re out of beer; you’d better buy another 6.
8. In China, cars aren’t as expensive as they used to be; nowadays, you can get a good
one for about 120,000 yuan.
9. Which one of these bikes is yours? / That one – the old one.
______________________________________________________________________
8.14 Aspirations
Máo Zédǀng, late in his era, used to talk about the sì yԁu, literally ‘the four haves’, but
usually translated as ‘the four musts’: a bicycle, radio, watch and sewing machine. Later
Dèng Xiӽopíng added the bƗ dà ‘the 8 bigs’ (the rest of the list below). Now, people talk,
humorously, about the xƯn de sì yԁu ‘the new 4 musts’: chƝ, fáng, kuӽn and xíng, which
make abbreviated reference to ‘a car’, ‘a house’, ‘money (funds)’ and ‘fashion [what’s
in]’. The three sets listed below can be roughly associated with particular eras, eg qƯshí
niándài ‘the 70s’, as indicated:
literal meanings
hand-watch wash-clothes-machine ‘cӽisè de diànshì’
sewing-machine electric-ice-box sound-resound
self-power-machine electric-fan a suite [of] furniture
receive-sound-machine mo-tor-vehicle reflect-image-machine
ie
watch washing machine color TV
sewing maching refrigerator stereo
bicycle electric fan set of furniture
radio motorcycle camera
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 11.
Place the following words in short phrases that show your undertanding of their
difference:
8.15 Highlights
Sports NƱ xƱhuan shénme yàng de yùndòng? �
NƱ cháng duànliàn ma?�
Non-compar. JƯntiƗn xiƗngdƗng rè. �
JƯntiƗn rè+de bùdeliăo.�
Compar. �
BƟijƯng bӿ TiƗnjƯn dà yìdiănr ~ dà duǀle.�
Bӿ BƟijƯng duǀ jӿ băiwàn.�
BƟijƯng méiyǂu Shànghăi <nàme> dà. �
BƟijƯng bùrú Shànghăi dà.�
TƗ Hànyǎ jiӽng+de bӿ wǂ hăo!�
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
duԁ flowers
Mӽi yì duԁ huƗ gČi tƗ ba. Why don’t you buy her a flower.
Yì du΅ ne, zhème sho? One? So few?
fƝng letters
yì fƝng xìn a letter
jù sentence
Nӿ shuǀ yí jù huà, jiù xíng. One sentence’ll be enough. �
(cf. Shuǀ yí ge jùzi. Say a sentence.) �
kƝ tufts, trees
yì kƝ shù a tree�
yì kƝ yƗn a cigarette�
pӿ horses
yì pӿ mӽ a horse�
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Unit 9
Xīngxīng zhī huǒ kěyǐ liáo yuán.
[Or, in more compact form: Xīnghuǒ liáoyuán.]
Spark’s flame can set-fire-to plains.
A single spark can start a prairie fire.
Saying, classical style.
Contents
9.1 More modification Exercise 1
9.2 Clothes
9.3 Bargaining (2)
9.4 Setting the stage: Verb-zhe Exercise 2, 3
9.5 Colors
9.6 Dialogue: buying a seal
9.7 The ba-construction Exercise 4
9.8 Verb Combos (3) Exercise 5, 6
9.9 Dialogue: Peking Duck
9.10 ‘Stand a little closer’ Exercise 7
9.11 Destination and goal: V+ Exercise 8
dào, zài or gěi
9.12 Wáng Xuéyīng: the story Exercise 9
9.13 Patterns with duì
9.14 Interjections!
9.15 On apologies
9.16 Highlights
9.17 Rhymes and rhythms
English speakers need to pay special attention to de-patterns, since they often show quite
a different order of modifier and modified:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 1.
a) Provide items that fit the following definitions:
1. Zhōngguó rén chīfàn de shíhou yòng de gōngjù.
2. Wèi biérén zhàoxiàng de rén.
3. Gěi bìngrén kànbìng de rén.
4. Wèi Zhōngguó rénmín gōngzuò de rén.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Bómŭ Nĭ kàn, zhè shi Máo Zédōng zài Look, here’s Mao Zedong at Yan’an.
Yán’ān.
Bómŭ Yòubiānr de shi Zhū Dé; zuǒ- The one on the right is Zhu De,
biānr de shi Zhōu Ēnlái. Nĭ kàn, the one on the left is Zhou Enlai.
hòubiānr de nèi liăng ge wàiguó rén Look, those two foreigners in the
shi Sīnuò hé Sīnuò fūrén. back are [Edgar] Snow and Mrs. Snow.
.
Máo Sīnuò fūfù shi Mĕiguó jìzhĕ, shì The Snows were American reporters,
bu shì? right?
Bómŭ Duì, Sīnuò shi ge ‘guójì yǒurén’, Right, [Edgar] Snow was an ‘international
xiàng Bái Qiú’ēn dàifu. friend’, like Dr. Norman Bethune.
Bómŭ Zhū Dé shi jiāngjun, cānjiā le Zhu De was a general, who took part in
Cháng Zhēng. in the Long March.
Bómŭ Bú shi Cháng Chéng, shi Cháng Not the Great Wall, the Long March,
Zhēng; Hóngjūn cóng Jǐnggāng [when] the Red Army marched
Shān zǒudào Yán’ān. from Jingangshan to Yan’an.
Máo O, Cháng Zhēng, wǒ tīngcuò le. Oh, the Long March – I heard it wrong.
Nǐ shuō de shi 1935 nián de Cháng You’re talking about the Long March of
Zhēng ba. Wǒ yǐwéi nǐ shuō de 1935. I thought you said the Great Wall.
shi Cháng Chéng!
Bómŭ Jiùshi le! Zhū Dé cānjiā le Cháng Exactly! Zhu De took part in the Long
Zhēng. March.
Notes
a) Yán’ān: a city in a remote part of northern Shǎnxī; from 1937-47, it was the
capital of the communist controlled part of China.
b) Zhū Dé, 1886 – 1976; close associate of Mao, and at the inauguration of the
PRC, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
9.2 Clothes
25 years ago, the predominant color of clothing in the PRC was white for shirts, and dark
blue or dark grey for most everything else, though on occasion, youth wore red scarves to
show their political loyalty. Men, in those days, wore Mao suits, a type of attire originally
promoted by Sun Yat-sen earlier in the 20th century to provide a formal dress for civil
servants that looked modern but not completely western. So-called Mao suits are still
called Zhōngshānzhuāng ‘Zhongshan tunics’ or Zhōngshānfú ‘Zhongshan clothes’ in
Chinese. In Mandarin, Sun Yat-sen is usually known not by the Mandarin rendition of
Sun Yat-sen, Sūn Yìxiān, but by his alternate name Sūn Zhōngshān; Zhongshan, on the
coast of Canton province, was his birthplace.
Beginning in the late 1980s, clothing styles started to change in the PRC, and
nowadays, there is little in the way of dress to distinguish people on the street in, say,
Chengdu, from their counterparts in Chicago or Hamburg. However, Chinese styled
garments (actually modern versions of more traditional garments), such as the following,
are still seen:
Ordinary types of clothing are listed below. Most types of clothing are counted by
way of the M-word jiàn; shoes and boots, however, are counted with shuāng ‘pair’, or if
singly, with zhī.
clothing
máoyī sweater (wool-clothing) chènshān shirt (lining-shirt)
jiákè jacket [based on the English] qúnzi skirt
kùzi trousers duǎn kùzi shorts
nèiyī underwear (inner-clothes) chènkù underpants (lining-trs)
niúzǎikù jeans (cow-boy-trousers) wàzi socks; stockings
xié ~ xiézi shoes xuēzi boots
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Chinese has two words corresponding to English ‘wear’: chuān, literally ‘to pass
through’ is used for clothing and shoes; dài is used for accessories, such as hats, belts and
glasses:
dài màozi hat
yǎnjìng glasses (‘eye-mirror’)
tàiyángjìng dark glasses (‘sun-mirror’)
There is a third word, jì ‘tie; fasten; do up’, which is used for things such as
neckties and seatbelts that in English also get ‘worn’:
Chuān hóng máoyī de nèi ge rén shi Who’s the person in the red sweater?
něi wèi?
Chuān duǎn kùzi de nèi wèi shi shéi? Who’s the person wearing shorts?
Jì huáng lǐngdài de shì Zhū Róngjī. Zhu Rongji’s the one with the yellow
tie.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Běijīng: Yǐ runs a shop that sells leather jackets; Jiǎ is a female customer.
Jiǎ: Lǎobǎn, zhèi jiàn pídàyī duōshao qián? Proprietor, how much is this leather coat?
Jiǎ: Jiu zhèi yàngr de pídàyī yìqiānwǔ?! A jacket like that is ¥1,500?! That’s a ‘rip
Tài hēi le ba! Biéde dìfang gēn zhèi off’. At other places, coats almost exactly
jiàn chàbuduō yíyàng de, cái wǔbǎi the same as this one are only ¥500 plus!
duō kuài! Nǐ gěi yí ge gōngdao diǎnr Give [me] a more reasonable price!
de jià!
Yǐ: Nǐ kāi shénme guójì wánxiào! Zhè shi What sort of an ‘international joke’ are you
zhēn pí de! Nǐ mōmo, shǒugǎn duō pulling? This is a real leather one! Feel it,
hǎo! Nǐ zài biéde dìfang kàndào de the texture’s so nice! Those you saw else-
yídìng shi jiǎhuò! Nèi yàng de yīfu, where must be fakes! That sort of clothing,
nǐ chuānbuliǎo duō cháng shíjiàn jiu you can’t wear it for any length of time
huài le. Wǒ zhèi jiàn, bǎo nín chuān before it’s worn out. The one I have, it’s
tā ge jǐshí nián méiyou wèntí! a sure thing that you can wear it several
decades without a problem!
Jiǎ: Lǎobǎn, nǐ jiu chuī ba! Fǎnzhèng ‘Boss’, you’re having me on! Still,
chuīniú yě bú shàngshuì! bragging’s not taxed!
Yǐ: Zhèiyàng ba, dàjiě, wǒ kàn nín shi How about this, sister, I see that you’re
zhēnxīn yào mǎi. Wǒ jiu fàng yìdiǎnr serious about buying [it]; okay I’ll take a
xiě. Nǐ gěi yìqiānsān zěnmeyàng? hit. How about you pay ¥1,300?
Jiǎ: Yìqiānsān bù xíng. Wǔbǎi, nǐ mài ¥1,300’s not on. ¥500 – you selling or not?
bu mài?
Yǐ: Aiya, dàjiě, nín zǒngděi ràng wǒ zhuàn Gosh, sister, you have to let me earn s/t!
yìdiǎnr ba! Wǒ shànghuò jiu bābǎi. Nǐ It takes me ¥800 to buy the stock. Pay me
duō gěi yìdiǎnr. Nèi diǎnr qián, duì nín a bit more. The extra is only a couple of
lái shuō, jiùshi jǐ dùn fàn qián, dànshi meals for you, but for me, it’s crucial. I need
duì wǒ lái shuō, hěn zhòngyào. Wǒ yào to earn some money to pay for my kid’s
zhuàn yìdiǎnr qián gěi wǒ háizi jiāo tuition.
xuéfèi.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Yǐ: Bābǎi tài shǎo le; zài duō gěi yìdiǎnr. ¥800’s too little; give a little more. ¥1,200.
Yìqiān’èr.
Yǐ: Yìqiānyī. Yàobu, zán qǔ ge zhōng, ¥1,100. Or else how about splitting
zěnmeyàng? Nǐ gěi yìqiān: wǒ shǎo the difference? Pay ¥1,000. I earn a
zhuàn yìdiǎnr, nín duō gěi diǎnr. bit less, you pay a bit more.
Jiǎ: Bù xíng, jiǔ bǎi, nín mài bu mài? Nǐ Nope; ¥900 – take it or leave it. If you
bú mài wǒ jiu zǒu le. don’t take it, I’m leaving.
Yǐ: Hǎo, hǎo, jiǔbǎi jiu jiǔbǎi. Ai, dàjiě, Okay, okay, ¥900 then. Gosh, sister, you
nín kě zhēn néng tǎojià-huánjià. Wǒ can really bargain! I’ve got to hand it to
kě zhēn fú le nín le. Hǎo le, dàjiě, you! So, sister, that makes us friends. How
jiu suàn zán jiāo ge péngyou. Nín gěi about introducing some friends to me [and]
wǒ jièshao jǐ ge péngyou lai, duō buying more… Here’s your coat. Hold on
mǎi dōngxi, hǎo bu hǎo?… Zhè shi to it!
nín de pídàyī. Náhǎo.
Jiǎ: Zhè shi jiǔbǎi zhěng. Nǐ shǔshǔ. Here’s ¥900 exactly – count it.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
chuī ‘blow’, but here, short for chuīniú or chuī niúpí; see next
entry.
chuīniú ~ niúpí VO ‘talk big; have [one] on (blow-ox <skin>)’
fǎnzhèng ‘anyway (overturned-upright)’
zhēnxīn ‘sincere (real-heart)’
fàng xiě ~ xuè ‘bleed (put-blood)’, here in the sense of ‘make the
sacrifice’; ‘blood’ is more often xiě in this context, s/t xuè.
zǒngděi ‘must; have to (always-must)’
ràng ‘let [one do s/t]’
shànghuò VO ‘replenish stock (load-goods)’
duì nín lái shuō ‘in your case; for you (to you come say)’
zhòngyào SV ‘important; crucial (heavy-need)’
jiāo xuéfèi VO ‘deliver tuition (deliver study-expenses)’; gěi wǒ háizi
jiāo xuéfèi ‘for my child hand-over tuition’
zài duō gěi yìdiǎnr ‘give a bit more again’; cf. §8….
yàobu ‘if not’; a reduced form of yàoburán ‘otherwise (if-not-so)’;
also bùrǎn ‘not so’.
zán colloquial, or regional, for zánmen; cf. §2…
qǔ ge zhōng ‘split the difference (fetch the middle)’
nín kě zhēn néng … ‘you sure really can…’; kě here, an adverb.
tǎojià-huánjià VO-VO ‘bargain (ask a price-return a price)’
fú ‘to submit’
kě zhēn fú le nín le ‘got to hand it to you (sure really submit LE you LE)’
suàn V ‘calculate; reckon’
jiāo ge péngyou jiao ‘hand over; meet’: jiāo ge péngyou ‘make a friend’;
jiāo xuéfèi ‘hand over tuition’
jiǔbǎi zhěng = zhěng jiǔbǎi; zhěng ‘whole; entire; fully’. Cf. Zhěng sān
diǎn or sān diǎn zhěng ‘3 o’clock on the dot’. To be
contrasted with zhèng ‘exactly; precisely’ – see next entry.
zhèng hǎo jiǔbǎi ‘exactly ¥900 (precisely-good 900)’
Huānyíng nín zài lái. In China, this phrase is often translated literally into
English as ‘Welcome to come again!’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Examples
Tā zài dìbǎn shàng shuì-zhe ne. He’s asleep on the floor.
Tā zài shāfa shàng tǎng-zhe ne. She was lying on the sofa.
Tāmen zài ménkŏu děng-zhe nĭ ne. They’re waiting for you at the door.
Bié lèng-zhe. Lái bāng wŏ ná! Don’t just stare; give me a hand.
Duìbuqĭ, wŏ lèi+de bùdeliăo. Sorry, I’m exhausted.
Kuài yào shàngkè de shíhou lăoshī gēn nĭmen shuō shénme ne? Tā shuō
“Shàngkè.” Nĭmen jiu zhànqĭlai gēn tā shuō: “Lăoshī, hăo.” Ránhòu ne? Nĭmen
děi zhàn-zhe, duì ba? Zuò-zhe tài shūfu le, rúguŏ nĭmen yǒu yìdiănr lèi de huà,
hĕn kuài jiu huì shuìzháo de. Zhàn-zhe shuō wàiyŭ gèng hăo. Dāng nĭmen liànxí
duìhuà de shíhou, lăoshī jīngcháng shuō: “Zhàn-zhe kĕyĭ, zuò-zhe yĕ kĕyĭ.” Zhè
shíhou nĭmen cái kĕyĭ zuòxià. Dànshi rúguŏ nĭmen bànyǎn de shi fúwùyuán de
huà, nà nĭmen zuì hăo zhàn-zhe. Zài Zhōngguó, fúwùyuán shi bù gēn kèrén zuò
zài yìqĭ!
Notes:
ránhòu ‘afterwards’ dàduōshù ‘the majority’
dāng…de shíhou ‘when’ liànxí ‘practice’
duìhuà ‘dialogues’ bànyǎn ‘take the role of’; act’
huì…de ‘will [in predications]’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Verbs of wearing (chuān, dài ‘wear [accessories]’, jì [ties]) and holding (ná
‘carry; hold’, dài ‘lead; bring’) also commonly appear with zhe:
Tā tóu shàng dài-zhe yì dǐng qíguài She was wearing a curious hat on [her] head.
de màozi.
Nĭ shǒu lĭ ná-zhe de shi shénme? What are you holding in your hands?
Yì bāo kŏuxiāngtáng! A pack of bubble gum.
a) Item V-zhe
Mén suǒ-zhe ne. Jìnbuqù. The door’s locked. Can’t get in.
Wǒ yǒu yàoshi. I have a key.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
English often uses the verbs ‘stand’ or ‘sit’ in such contexts, extending terms that are
otherwise only applied to humans to physical objects. Chinese does not do this:
Other examples:
Zhuōzi dǐxia shuì-zhe yí ge xiǎo A baby was sleeping under the table.
wáwa.
Tā zài chuáng shàng zuò-zhe ne. They are/were sitting on the bed.
Tāmen zài shāfa shàng shuì-zhe ne. They’re sleeping on the sofa.
Kèren zài ménkŏu děng-zhe nĭ ne. [Your] guest’s waiting for you at the door.
d) V-zhe V
Zhe frequently accompanies the first of two verbs. In such cases, V-zhe provides the
setting, or context, for the second verb:
Tā ná-zhe huà huíjiā le. She went home, holding the painting.
Bù yīnggāi dī-zhe tóu zǒulù! You shouldn’t walk with your head down.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Wǒ méi shíjiān gēn nǐ cāi-zhe I don’t have time to play guessing games
wánr. with you. (‘guess-ing have fun’)
Notes
a) dī ‘to lower’; contrast dǐxià ‘under; underneath’.
b) xiào ‘laugh; smile’; cf. xiàohuà ‘a joke’; kāi wánxiào ‘be kidding’.
c) cāi ‘guess’; cāiduì ‘guess right’ and cāicuò‘guess wrong’; cāibuchū ‘cannot
guess’
e) V-zhe in imperatives
Zhe can also appear in imperatives:
f) Negation
There seems to be relatively little need to report the negation of a persistent state. But
where it occurs, it is formed with méi<you>, (usually) without zhe:
Exercise 2
a) Provide English paraphrases:
1. Zhàn-zhe gànmá? Zuòxià ba. / Wŏ zhàn-zhe bǐ zuò-zhe shūfu.
2. Nĭ kàn, Wèi lăoshī shǒu shàng dài-zhe yí ge dà jīn biăo, shēn shàng chuān-zhe yí
jiàn pídàyī. / Duì, tā gāng zhòng-le yí ge dàjiǎng!
3. Xuéxiào de dàménkǒu xiĕ-zhe ‘Hǎohǎo xuéxí, tiāntiān xiàng shàng.’
4. Nĭ kuài chūqù kànkan, mén wàitou zhàn-zhe yí ge lǎowài, shuō shi yào zhǎo nĭ.
5. Wàitou xià-zhe xuě, kĕshì yìdiănr dōu bù lěng!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
She’s not moving, she’s Tā bú dòng, jiu zài nàr zhàn-zhe ne.
just standing there. [state]
Zhèng zài supports the directional complement, qǐlai, to underscore the fact that
the action is happening before our eyes – it’s ongoing; while the presence of zhe after
zhàn indicates that the standing is persistent. While both are in a sense ongoing, Chinese
distinguishes them as ongoing act versus persisting state.
Recall that ongoing or recent actions are often explicitly marked by zài placed in
the adverbial position right before the verb:
To emphasize how current the action is, the ADV zhèng ‘exact’ can be placed before zài:
Tā zhèng zài chīfàn ne. Yìhuĭr gĕi She’s eating right now. Can she phone you
nĭ dǎguoqu, xíng ma? [back] in a short while?
Xíng, bù jí, bù jí. Sure, no hurry.
Wǒ zhèng zài xǐzǎo de shíhou, The police phoned me just as I was having a
jǐngchá gěi wǒ dǎ le ge diànhuà. bath.
Tāmen gēn nǐ shuō shénme? What did they want?
Tā zhèng zài gēn tā shuōhuà ne. She’s talking to him right now.
Tāmen zài shuō xiē shénme? What are they talking about?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
In fact, for some northern speakers, the pattern can be further reinforced by a following
zhe – along with final ne:
The fact that zài may co-occur with zhe may seem strange, since in the last section, V-zhe
was viewed in contrast to the zai-V pattern. But apparently, in some cases the two notions
of ongoing and persisting can complement one another. The range of the V-ing form in
English (the so-called progressive tense) – which includes ongoing actions (putting on)
and persistent states (wearing) – is, after all, a precedent for associating the two notions.
9.4.4 Perspectives
Notice that some situations can be interpreted as ongoing actions or persistent states:
Tā zhèng zài chuān dàyī ne. She’s putting on her coat [action]
right now.
Tā chuān-zhe dàyī ne. She’s wearing a coat. [state]
Tā zài bǎ shū fàng zài hézi lĭ. He’s putting the books in [action]
a box.
Hézi lĭ fàng-zhe hĕn duō shū. There are lots of books [state]
sitting in the box.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 3
Paraphrase in Chinese:
1. The soup’s hot. / The soups heating up. / The soup’s heated.
2. She’s closing the door. / She closed the door. / The door’s closed.
3. He’s putting on his shoes. / He was wearing sandals (tuōxié). / He put on his
shoes.
4. I’m just in the process of finishing up my report (bàogào).
5. She’s in the bath right now; can you come back in 20 minutes?
____________________________________________________________________
Wèi Sū xiānsheng, zhè shi Qìngfú- Mr. Su, this is Qingfu Gong – the gong
gōng – gōngdiàn de gōng, duì ma? of ‘palace’, right? How come it’s called
Wèishénme jiào gōng? a ‘palace’?
Sū Zài Dōngnányà, gōng yě shi sìmiào In Southeast Asia, ‘palace’ also means
de yìsi. ‘temple’.
.
Wèi Nà, zhèi ge sìmiào hĕn yǒu yìsi. Well, this temple is interesting. Look
Nǐ kàn, ménshàng de ménshén – at the door guardians on the door –
zhēn wēiwǔ! they’re quite impressive!
Sū Zhè shi Yángguāng zuì lăo de This is Rangoon’s oldest temple; it was
sìmiào, 1898 nián jiànlì de. established in 1898.
Wèi Sū xiānshēng, qĭngwèn, zhè shi Mr. Su, can I ask you what god this is?
shénme shén?
Sū Guān Dì; huòzhĕ Guān Lǎoye. It’s Guan Di; or ‘Lord’ Guan. He was
Bĕnlái shi ge jiāngjun, shi originally a general, a hero from the
Sānguó shídài de yīngxióng. Sǐdiào time of the 3 Kingdoms. After he died,
yĭhòu chéng-le ge shén. he became a ‘god’.
Wèi Nĭ zĕnme zhīdao shi Guān Dì. How do you know it’s Guan Di?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Sū Nĭ kàn, gèzi hĕn gāo, yǒu cháng Look, he’s tall, has a long beard,
húzi, hóng liăn, tóu shàng dài-zhe a red face, he’s got a special hat
<yí> ge tèsè de màozi, shǒu lĭ on his head, and a book in his hand.
ná-zhe yì bĕn shū.
Wèi Liăn hĕn kěpà. Tā shǒu lĭ ná-zhe What a frightening face! What’s the book
de shi shénme shū ne? he’s holding?
Sū Hǎoxiàng shi Kǒngfūzǐ de Chūnqiū. Looks like it’s Confucius’ Spring and
Guān Dì yĕ shi yǒu xuéwen de. Autumn Annals. Guan Di is learned as well.
Notes
a) Qìngfúgōng ‘The temple of blessed happiness’.
b) sìmiào Generic wod for ‘temple’.
c) shén ‘god; divinity’; shén are usually deified historical figures whose spiritual
power can be called on for protection or assistance. Guān Dì was Guān Yǔ, the
third of the heroes who swore brotherhood in the famous ‘peach garden oath’ that
opens Sānguó Yǎnyì ‘The Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. He has many other
names, including Guān Lǎoye ‘Grandpa Guan’ – which in this context is probably
better translated ‘Lord Guan’.
d) yīngxióng ‘hero’ – also the name of a Zhāng Yìmóu’s film.
e) sǐdiào ‘die-fall’ = sǐ le ‘died’.
f) chéng ‘become’
g) húzi ‘beard’
h) tèsè N ‘special, unusual qualities’, ie ‘a hat of an unusual type’; the tè of tèbié
and the sè of yánsè. Tèsè is a N, not a SV.
i) kěpà ‘frightening (able-fear)’; cf. kě’ài.
j) Chūnqiū ‘The Spring and Autumn Annals (spring-autumn)’, a chronicle of the
State of Lǔ (that covered parts of modern Shāndōng) from 722-481 BC. It is
considered to have been edited by Confucius in such a way as to illustrate his
political philosophy.
k) yǒu xuéwen de ‘one who has ~ shows learning, scholarship’ (of a person, or a
work).
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Gods of Literature and War at the Man-Mo (Wén Wǔ) Temple, Hong Kong
9.5 Colors
The Chinese core color terms are the following:
Qīng, a term that was applied to dark greens, blues and some browns – the colors of earth
and sky – in earlier Chinese, appears in certain phrases, such as qīngcài ‘green
vegetables’ or qīngshān-lǜshuǐ ‘green mountains and blue waters’ (a standard description
for lush scenery).
When used to modify a noun, color terms are often suffixed with sè, from yánsè
‘color’:
Secondary color terms have been formed by extending the meaning of words from
other semantic domains, eg ‘grey’ from ‘ash’:
Not surprisingly, colors have rich cultural associations in China. Traditionally, red
(the color of blood) is considered festive and auspicious, and for that reason, was adopted
by the Communist Party. Doorway scrolls (duìlián) are written on red paper; presents are
often wrapped in it. Charms (symbols on paper, sold in temples) were generally written
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
on yellow paper. Only the emperor could wear yellow. White was associated with
funerals.
Examples:
hóng yīfu lán xiézi hēi màozi
hóngsè de yīfu lánsè de xiézi hēisè de màozi
red clothes blue shoes black hats
Usage
Xiànzài zài Zhōngguó shénme What color cars are most popular in
yánsè de chē zuì liúxíng? China these days?
Chuān hēisè de yīfu hěn kù! It’s cool to wear black clothes!
Jì hóngsè de lǐngdài de shi The person in the red tie is Jiāng Zémín.
Jiāng Zémín.
Nǐ kàn, tā chuān hóng xié, tài Look, he’s wearing red shoes, [that]’s
qíguài le! too weird!
Jiǎ: Nèi ge túzhāng néng kànkan ma? Can I take a look at that seal?
Yǐ: Nǐ shuō de shì zhèi ge ma? You talking about this one?
Jiǎ: Bù, nèi ge fāng fāng de. No, that square one.
Yǐ: Bú shì! Yù hěn guì! No, it’s not jade. Jade’s expensive!
Shì shítou de, dàlǐshí de. It’s stone, marble.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Jiǎ: Nà yàoshì kè zì hái yào qián ma? Is it extra if you engrave characters?
Jiǎ: Néng piányi diǎnr ma? Can you make it a bit less?
Wǒ yào kè sān ge zì. I need 3 characters engraved.
Yǐ: Nà, shí’èr kuài. Yígòng sānshíqī kuài . Okay, ¥12. ¥37 all together.
material
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Here the speaker is not designating a specific window – any window will do. But if the
speaker wants to indicate a specific window, then he is more likely to say:
Instructions that involve manipulation of particular items almost always elicit the
grammatical word bǎ (把) [or its more formal counterpart, jiāng (將/将)]. Bǎ, which
derives from a verb meaning ‘to take’, serves to spotlight a following phrase referring to
an item that is to be moved, taken, broken, prepared, hidden, painted, purged, promoted
or otherwise affected or changed in some way. For that reason, bǎ is typically associated
with verb-combos (action plus result), or at very least, verb-le (action done) or a
reduplicated verb (qiēqie ‘cut up’). For the same reason, bǎ is not elicited by verbs like
xǐhuan or kàn, which do not have a similar effect on their objects:
Nor does bǎ appear with potential verb combos, for which the effect is not actual, only
imagined:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
[no bǎ] Tā nèi jiàn xiāngzi wŏ nábuqǐlai. I can’t lift that suitcase of hers.
[with bǎ] Wŏ bāng nĭ bǎ tā náqǐlai. I’ll help you lift it.
The bǎ phrase almost always refers to particular items, so that in many cases the
difference between a sentence with bǎ and one without is, as examples 1 and 2 [above]
show, a question of whether the object is definite (‘the window’) or not (‘a window’).
Other examples:
4. Yǒu diǎnr hēi, qǐng bǎ dēng dǎkāi. It’s a bit dark, put the light on, please.
Dēng huài le, dǎbukāi. The light’s broken, [it] won’t go on.
Nà, wǒmen bǎ zhuōzi bāndào Well then, let’s move the table over
chuānghu nàr, hǎo bu hǎo? to the window, okay?
Tài zhòng le, bānbudòng. It’s too heavy, [it] can’t be moved.
Nà, bǎ táidēng náguolai ba. Okay, then let’s bring the desk-lamp over
here.
5. Qǐng bǎ lóng nèi ge zì xiě zài Please write the character for dragon on
hēibǎn shàng. the blackboard.
Hǎo, wǒ bǎ lóng nèi ge zì xiě zài Okay, I’ve written the character for dragon
hēibǎn shàng le. on the board.
Xiě+de hěn hǎo. Xiànzài bǎ [You]’ve written [it] very nicely. Now write
fèng zì xiě zài hēibǎn shàng. the character for phoenix on the board.
Hǎo, wŏ bǎ fèng nèi ge zì xiě zài Okay, I’ve written the character for phoenix
hēibǎn shàng le. on the blackboard.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
8. Qǐng bǎ zìxíngchē fàng zài Please put your bike in the alley.
xiǎoxiàng lǐ le. [with le marking a ‘change of state’]
Méi wènti, wǒ huì bāng nǐ kān-zhe. No problem, I’ll help you to keep an eye
on it.
Notes
a) Example 8 suggests how the sense of the modern function and properties of bǎ
can be adduced from ba’s original function as a verb meaning ‘take’, ie from
‘Take your bicycle and put it in the alley’ to ‘put your bicycle in the alley’.
b) Note kān-zhe, with level tone on kān when it means ‘tend; watch over’ (still
written 看), eg kān háizi ‘babysit children’.
Tāmen yĭjing bǎ dōngxi názǒu le. They’ve already taken the things out.
Bié bǎ shūbāo fàng zai zhuōzi Don’t put [your] bookbags on the table.
shàng.
And then performs the following operations on them – all of which involve complex
verbs (or in one case, a verb followed by a zai-phrase).
Bǎ shuǐ dàojìn shuǐhú lǐ, bǎ shuǐhú fàng zài huǒ shàng, bǎ shuǐ shāokāi.
Ránhòu bǎ chábēi zhǔnbèihǎo, bǎ cháyè cóng cháyèhé lǐ náchūlai, fàngjìn
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
chábēi lǐ, bǎ shāokāi le de shuǐ dàojìn bēizi lǐ, ránhòu bǎ bēizi de gàizi
gàishàng; liǎng fēn zhōng yǐhòu nǐ jiu kěyǐ hē le.
Notes
Dàojìn ‘pour-into’ and fàngjìn ‘put-into’ are both followed by places: dàojìn
shuǐhú lǐ; fàngjìn chábēi lǐ. In such cases lái or qù is either postponed until after
the place (dàojìn shuǐhú lǐ qù), or as here, simply omitted.
Exercise 4
Paraphrase the following in Chinese:
It’s rather late – almost time for dinner. In the living room, there are a couple of students
sitting on the sofa, one tall with blond hair, one short with black; both are wearing
glasses. In front of them is a table; and laid out on the table are a set of boxes (yí tào hézi)
of different colors (bù tóng yánsè) and different sizes (bù tóng dàxiǎo). The tall guy picks
up the largest red box and puts the smaller yellow one inside it. Then the shorter guy
picks up the green box and puts it in the yellow one. When they’ve finished putting all
the boxes (suǒyǒu de hézi) back, they stand up, and walk out. That’s it! Nothing else.
________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 5
Fill in the gaps below with one of the listed verb complements (actual or potential – the
latter with inserted bu or de): wán and hǎo ‘finish’, dào and zháo ‘manage to; succeed in’,
bǎo ‘filled’, and cuò ‘in error’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
However, an indefinite object (one that is new to the discourse – and in English typically
preceded by an ‘indefinite article’ such as ‘a~an’ or ‘some’) often appears after the verb
combination. Lái and qù, whose function is to indicate direction towards or away from
the speaker, are often – but not always – postponed until after the object.
Zǒukāi! Zhèr méiyou nĭ de shìr. Get lost; this doesn’t concern you.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Yú líbukāi shuǐ ya, guā líbukāi Fish can’t leave the water, melons can’t
yāng; rénmín qúnzhòng líbukāi leave the vine; the people can’t be separated
gòngchǎndǎng! from the Communist Party!
c) Shàng and xià, in addition to their literal meanings in the directional complements
xiàlai and shànglai, xiàqu and shàngqu, also form single syllable complements:
Tā zhēn kě’ài; wŏ yĭjing àishàng She’s so cute; I’ve already fallen in love
tā le! with her!
Xiāngzi tài xiăo le, fàngbuxià This case’s too small; I can’t get the
dōngxi. things in.
Tāmen yǐjing bānzǒu le. They’ve already moved away [from here].
Dōngtiān lái le, niǎo dōu fēizǒu le. Winter’s here, and the birds have all flown.
Méi guānxi, niǎo shi sìhài zhīyī, Never mind, birds are one of the 4 pests, [if]
zǒu jiu zǒu ba. they’ve gone, they’ve gone.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Yànwō, yúchì zhèi lèi de dōngxi Things like birds nest soup and shark fin
tài guì le; wŏ chībuqĭ! are too expensive; I can’t afford to eat them.
b) It is also possible to choose to use the potential framework but not to commit to a
particular complement. In such case, a default complement, liǎo (written with the same
character as le, 了) is available. Unlike most of the other verb complements, it combines
with almost any action verb. It usually suggests ‘more than one can be expected to do’:
Dōngxi tài duō le, wŏ yí ge rén [I have] too many things; how can I carry
zĕnme nádeliǎo ne? them all by myself?
Wŏ lái bāng nĭ ná ba. Let me help you.
Zhème duō cài, wŏ yí ge rén Such a lot of dishes, how can I eat them
zĕnme chīdeliǎo ne? all by myself?
Chē tài duō le, wŏmen wŭ diǎn Too many cars, we won’t be able to
dàobuliǎo. make it by 5.
Dǎ ge diànhuà gàosu tāmen, Phone them and let them know, okay?
hăo bu hăo.
c) Semantic extensions
Verb complements, particularly the directional ones, often have extended meanings. Qǐlái,
for example, which as a directional complement means ‘up [here]’ (eg zhànqǐlai), also
functions much more abstractly, in the sense of ‘when it comes to [doing]’:
Zhèi jiàn shì shuōqǐlai róngyì, This is easy to talk about, but tough to do.
zuòqǐlai nán.
Zhèi tiáo lù, kànqǐlai hĕn jìn, This route looks short, but when you walk it,
zǒuqǐlai hĕn yuăn. it’s quite far.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 6
Do[or write what you would say for] the following in Chinese. If the comment is not
about yourself, you should address the ‘him’, ‘her’, or ‘them’ as indicated:
Jiǎ. Nĭ huì zuò Bĕijīng kǎoyā ma? Can you cook Peking duck?
Yĭ Bú huì! Nope!
Jiǎ. Tài hăo le. Wŏ jiāo nĭ. Xiān zhǎo Great; I’ll teach you. First, find a duck.
yì zhī yāzi lái.
Jiǎ. Nà, nĭ qù mǎi yì zhī ba! In that case, go and buy one, okay?
Jiǎ. Nà, wŏ sòng (gĕi) nĭ yì zhī ba. Okay then, I’ll give you one.
Yĭ Duōxiè. Thanks.
Jiǎ. Nà, nĭ xiān bǎ yāzi xǐgānjìng! Well, first clean the duck!
Jiǎ. Ránhòu bǎ cōng jiāng fàngjìn Afterwards put the scallions and ginger in its
yā dùzi lĭ qu. stomach.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Jiǎ. Xiànzài bǎ yāzi fàngjìn kǎoxiāng lĭ qu. Now put the duck in the oven.
Notes
a) Xiàngshēng ‘cross talk’, a popular style of comedy that involves a lot of
language play; usually involving two people, one of whom plays straight to the
wit of the other.
b) Sòng ‘to present; escort’; sòng, like gĕi, can take both person and thing as
objects. More often, however, it is followed by gĕi: sòng gĕi; cf. mài gěi ‘sell to
s/o’ (but with mài, gĕi is not optional).
c) Xiān, Adv ‘first’.
d) Xiǎoxīn ‘careful (small-heart)’; cf. fàngxīn ‘take care (put-heart)’.
e) The routine ends in a play on kǎo ‘to test’ and kǎo ‘to bake’; hú is a SV
meaning ‘to burn [food]’, but in slang, it also means ‘to fail an exam’.
Usage
1. Qǐng bǎ chuānghu dăkāi. Open the window, please.
Chuānghu kāizhe ne. The window’s open.
Nà, bǎ tā kāi dà yìdiănr. Then, open it a bit wider.
2. Zŏu kuài yìdiănr, hăo bu hăo, Walk faster, okay, the train leaves
huŏchē wŭ diǎn zhōng kāi. at 5.
Fàngxīn ba, láidejí! Don’t worry – we’ll make it.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
3. Kāi màn yìdiănr, hăo bu Drive more slowly, okay, safety first!
hăo, ānquán dì-yī.
Kuài yìdiǎnr and màn yìdiǎnr may also stand alone in an hortatory function, urging speed
or advising care:
Jiǎ: Sān ge rén yìqǐ èrshí kuài ma? 20 for the 3 of us all together?
Yǐ: Yí ge rén zài qiánmiàn yě kěyǐ. One in the front is okay too.
Jiǎ: Shīfu, kāi màn yìdiǎnr, hǎo bu hǎo; Driver, drive slowly, okay?
ānquán dì-yī! Safety first!
…………………….
Jia. Hǎo, sījī, wǒmen zài zhèr xiàchē, Okay, driver, we’ll get off here, okay?
hǎo bu hǎo.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Yǐ: Hǎo, zài dàmén duìmiàn, xíng ma? Okay, opposite the gate, right?
Jia. Hǎo, suíbiàn, nǎlǐ fāngbiàn, nǎlǐ xià. Fine, anywhere, wherever it’s convenient.
Zhè shi èrshíwǔ kuài -- duō gěi nǐ Here’s 25 – [we]’re giving you an extra
wǔ kuài ba. 5, okay?
Notes
a) The Naxi homeland is in Northwestern Yunnan, in and around Lijiang. The
Nàxīzú (also know as the Moso), speak a Tibeto-Burman language, only very
distantly related to Chinese, with its own pictographic script. In China, the Naxi
are known for their traditional music.
b) fūzhù: fū ‘to support with the hand’ plus the verb complement zhù ‘stay’; hold
on. Zuòwěn ‘sit’ plus the rarer complement wěn ‘be stable’, ie ‘sit securely’.
c) ānquán ‘safety’; cf. ānjìng ‘peaceful’. Ānquán dì-yī is a slogan that is often
seen at construction sites in China.
d) fàngxīn ‘put-heart’, ie ‘be at ease’.
e) sījī ‘driver’; also a term of address for drivers, eg sījī xiānsheng ‘Mr. driver’.
f) suíbiàn: ‘as you like (follow-inclination)’.
g) fāngbiàn ‘convenient’. The construction here is parallel to: Xiǎng chī shénme
jiu chī shénme ‘Eat whatever you want’. In each case, there are two question
words, the second one referencing the first.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 7.
Provide paraphrases:
1. Hurry up, it’s almost time for class.
2. Stand a bit closer, otherwise you won’t be able to see.
3. I like it sweet – could you add some sugar please.
4. Would you mind (máfan nǐ ‘touble you to’) speaking a bit louder (dàshēng); I can’t
hear.
5. Write it bigger, please, so I can count (shǔ) the strokes (bǐhuà).
_______________________________________________________________________
The addition of dào, zài or gěi (all often untoned) to a verb is quite a different
matter. It requires a goal to be expressed: a location in the case of the first two (kāi dào
ménkǒur; fàng zài wàitou), a person in the case of the third (sòng gěi péngyou). The
resulting combinations (kāi dào, fàng zài, sòng gěi, etc.) do not act like unitary verbs.
They cannot stand alone; they cannot be further modified by verb-le (though sentence-le
may appear at the foot of the sentence); and they do not permit the insertion of de or bu to
form the potential. For this reason, they are written with a space between.
Another feature of the three verbs, dào, zài and gěi, is that they not only follow
main verbs to introduce various ‘goals’, but each can also appear, as it turns out, before
their associated verbs as coverbs. The options are as follows:
Míngtiān nĭ dăsuàn dào nǎlǐ qu? Where do you plan on going tomorrow?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Bǎ xuēzi fàng zài wàitou, hăo ma? Put [your] boots outside, okay?
Nĭ de diànnăo mài gĕi shéi le? Who’d you sell your computer to?
It is worthwhile reviewing the criteria which condition these options. Each verb is
discussed separately below:
a) Dào.
With destinations expressed, dào may precede the general verbs of motion, lái and qù:
dào Běijing lai; bú dào Shànghǎi qu. However, láidào, and occasionally qùdào, without
destinations, may also occur with the meanings ‘arrive; get to [here]’ and ‘arrive; get to
[there]’:
Tāmen shi zuótiān wănshàng They arrived [here] in Beijing last
láidào Bĕijīng de. night.
With verbs of motion other than lái or qù (bān move; zǒu walk; pǎo run; huí
return; ná carry; káng lug; jì ‘mail’, kāi drive, etc.), dào follows the main verb and
introduces the place towards which the motion is directed:
1. Wŏmen zuótiān hĕn wăn cái huí dào Yesterday we didn’t get back to the dorm
sùshè <lai>. Jìnbuqù, mén dōu till late. [We] couldn’t get in, the doors were
suǒshàng le, ménwèi hái děi ràng all locked, [so] the entrance guard had to let
wŏmen jìnlai. us in.
2. Qǐng bāng wŏ bǎ zhèi jǐ ge xiāngzi Can you help me lug these trunks into the
káng dào chēzi lĭ qu. car?
3. Zhèi fēng xìn yào jì dào Xīnjiāpō. I want to send this letter to Singapore.
Hángkōng ma? Airmail?
Shì. Yes.
Yào guàhào ma? You want to register it?
Bù. No.
Liù kuài wǔ. ¥6.50.
Chāo yìdiănr zhòng ma? Is it a little overweight?
Shì. Yes.
Hăo, jiù zhèi yàngr ba. That’s it then.
Màn zǒu. Take it easy.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
4. Cóng zhèr zŏu dào Yán’ān Lù It would probably take an hour and a
yĕxŭ děi yí ge bàn xiăoshí. half to walk from here to Yan’an Road.
Xiāndāng yuăn! It’s rather far!
Kě bu kěyǐ zuò gōnggòng qìchē? Can one go by bus?
Kĕyĭ zuò113 lù chē; zài You can take the number 113 bus; board at
huŏchēzhàn shàng. the train station.
Notes
ménwèi N entrance guard
xiāngzi N trunck; case
káng V to lift a relatively heavy weight; to lug
hángkōng N short for hángkōng yóujiàn ‘airmail’
113 lù N road; route; 113 hào in Taiwan
guàhào V send by registered mail
chāozhòng VO to exceed a weight limit; be overweight [for mail, suitcases].
The pattern also applies to more metaphorical destinations, of the sort found with verbs
such as xué ‘study’, děng ‘wait’, or kàn ‘read’:
5. Nĭmen xué dào dì-jǐ kè? Which lesson are you on now?
Dì-bā kè gāng xuéwán, xiànzài We just finished lesson 8, now we’re
zài xué dì-jiŭ kè. on lesson 9.
6. Wŏ dĕng tā dĕng dào qī diǎn duō I waited for her until after 7, but she
zhōng, dànshì tā méi lái. didn’t show up.
Tā kěnéng gǎocuò shíjiān le. She might have got the time wrong.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
As noted in Unit 8, dào can also function as the second element in a verb combo,
rather like wán. In such cases, there is no destination, and like other verb combos, the
verbs are written as a unit, without a space:
b) Zài
With zài, there are actually three options. The location can be indicated by zài before the
verb (functioning as a CV):
2008 nián de Àoyùnhuì zài The 2008 Games are being held in Beijing!
Bĕijīng jǔxíng!
Nĭ kĕyĭ zài nàr zhǎo gōngzuò, You can get a job there as a translator.
dāng fānyì.
2. Xià yì bān chē zăoshàng 7:30 cái The next bus isn’t until 7:30 in the
zǒu, wŏmen shuì zài chēzhàn, hăo morning; why don’t we sleep in the
bu hăo? bus station?
Shuì zài chēzhàn, zài Zhōngguó In China, you can’t sleep in the station;
bù xíng, yèlĭ bǎ mén suǒshàng. Zhèr at night they lock the doors. There ought to
fùjin yīnggāi yǒu ge zhāodàisuǒ to be a guest house round here where we
wŏmen kĕyĭ zhù. could stay.
3. Xíngli fàng zài xínglijià shàng, hăo Put your luggage in the luggage rack, okay?
bu hăo?
Hăo, xiǎoxīn ba, bù néng yā. Fine; be careful, it’s fragile. (‘not press’)
Finally, with a number of verbs, the location can be placed before (in ‘coverb’
position) or after (as a locative complement), with only slight nuance of difference. The
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
best known examples are shēng ‘be born’, zhǎng ‘be raised’ and zhù ‘live’:
Wǒ shēng zài Bèilǔtè, zhǎng zài Kāiluó, kěshi xiànzài zhù zài Luómǎ.
Wǒ shi zài Bèilǔtè shēng de, zài Kāiluó zhǎngdà de, xiànzài zài Luómǎ zhù.
But the option is also available to other verbs. Xiĕ ‘write’ illustrates the general
distinction of destination ‘where it ends up’ versus location ‘where it takes place’:
dest’n Bǎ míngzi xiĕ zài biăo shàng de Write your name on the first line of
dì-yī háng. the form.
loc’n Zài túshūguăn xiĕxìn shūfu yìdiănr, It’s more comfortable writing letters in the
yǒu kōngtiáo. library; it’s airconditioned.
c) Gěi.
i. As a full verb
Gěi is one of a relatively small number of transactional verbs in Chinese, such as jiāo
‘teach’, tuō ‘entrust’, and sòng ‘present’, that allow two objects to be expressed – the
recipient and the item ‘transacted’:
V-person-thing
Examples
1. Wŏ zài jiāo háizimen Zhōngwén. I’m teaching the children Chinese.
O, nĭ yòng shénme jiàocái? Oh, what teaching materials are you using?
Yòng wŏ zìjĭ xiĕ de dōngxi. I’m using ones that I wrote myself.
O, zìjĭ xiĕ de, zhēn liăobuqĭ! Gosh, ones you wrote yourself – amazing!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
mài gěi jiè gěi jì gěi huán gěi jiāo gěi sòng <gěi> ná gěi dài gěi
sell to lend to send to return to hand over to deliver to take to bring to
Usage
4. Wŏ yĭqián jiè gĕi tā yìbăi kuài I lent him $100 earlier; he hasn’t
qián, tā hái méi huán gĕi returned it to me yet.
wŏ ne.
Wŏ kĕyĭ tíxǐng tā, tā kĕnéng I’ll remind him – he might have forgotten.
wàng le.
5. Nĭmen xiān bǎ zuòyè jiāo gĕi wŏ. First hand in your homework [to me].
Lăoshī, wŏ méi dàilai, míngtiān zài Sir, I didn’t bring it, can I hand it in
jiāo, xíng bu xíng? tomorrow?
Hăo, míngtiān jiāo gĕi wŏ. Okay, give it to me tomorrow.
gěi nǐ jièshao jièshao tā introduce her for [the benefit of] you
gěi nǐ mǎi cài buy some food for [the benefit of] you
gěi nǐ dǎ ge diànhuà make a phone-call for [the benefit of] you
gěi nǐ xiěxìn write a letter for [the benefit of] you
V O V O
dǎ ge diànhuà gěi nǐ make a phone call to you
xiě xìn gěi nǐ write a letter to you
mǎi ge túzhāng gěi tā buy a seal to give to him
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Function iv (VO gěi tā) is more or less synonymous with function iii (gěi…V):
Exercise 8.
Provide Chinese paraphrases:
1. Can you help me take these books up to the 4th floor?
2. Who’s the letter to? / It’s to my parents.
3. Phone me before you leave, okay?
4. I waited until 10 pm before leaving.
5. Put your boots outside please.
6. I shop for her and she cooks for me.
7. Let’s give him a stone seal.
8. I lent him my Mongolian hat, and he still hasn’t returned it!
9. Write your name on the back of the envelope (xìnfēng).
10. Let’s buy him a padded jacket (mián’ǎo).
11. Who’d you sell your car to?
_____________________________________________________________________
Wáng Xuéyīng yīnwèi shēng zài Nánjīng, suǒyǐ yě kěyǐ shuō shi Nánjīng rén. Nánjīng
zài Jiāngsū, zài Cháng Jiāng biān shàng. Nánjīng nèi ge chéngshì bú dà yě bù xiǎo, bǐjiào
ānjìng. Rénkǒu dàgài shi sān-sìbǎiwàn. Nǐ kěnéng xiǎng zhīdao Nánjīng wèishénme jiào
‘Nánjīng’? Shi zhèi yàng de: ‘Jīng’ shì shǒudū de yìsi. Nánjīng shì nánbiānr de shǒudū.
Xiànzài de shǒudū shi Běijīng, kěshì yǐqián Nánjīng yě zùo-guo shǒudū. Suǒyǐ Nánjīng
fùjìn de gǔjī hěn duō! Nǐ yīnggāi qù kànkan, hěn yǒu yìsi!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Wáng Xuéyīng, xiàng Lín Měi yíyàng, yě jiāoshū. Tā jiāo Zhōngguó wénxué, Zhōngguó
xiàndài wénxué. Nǐ xiǎng liǎojiě Zhōngguó zuì yǒumíng de xiàndài zuòjiā, nà nǐ kěyǐ
qǐngjiào tā. Tā duì Lǔ Xùn, Lǎo Shě, Dīng Líng, Shěn Cóngwén, děngděng nèi xiē
yǒumíng de xiàndài zuòjiā dōu hěn yǒu yánjiū!
Wáng Xuéyīng 1986 nián céng zài Yīngguó líu-guo xué, tā Yīngwén jiǎng+de hěn hǎo.
Tīng, shuō, dú, xiě dōu xíng. Tā yě zhīdao yìdiǎnr guānyú Měiguó hé Ōuzhōu de shìqing.
Tā shuō tā shi Zhōngguó rén, dāngrán zuì xǐhuān chī Zhōngguó cài, kěshì tā yě xǐhuan
chī wàiguó cài, xiàng Fǎguó de, Yìdàlì de, Měiguó de. Měiguó de kuàicān tā yě xǐhuan,
xiàng hànbǎobāo, règǒu, pǐsābǐng! Tā shuō tā zhīdao kuàicān duì shēntǐ bù hǎo, kěshì
yīnwèi hěn hǎochī, tā háishi hěn xǐhuan chī. Tā de kànfǎ shi xiǎng chī shénme jiu chī
shénme, zhǐ yào nǐ bù chī tài duō. Nǐ juéde tā zhèiyàng shuō yǒu dàolǐ ma?
Notes
lǎojiā (or gùxiāng) ‘home of origin’; in the Chinese view you are from the place that
your ancestors came from.
tèchǎn N ‘local specialties (special-product)’; cf. tèsè, tèbié.
tián SV ‘sweet’ but here, ‘smooth’.
Cháng Jiāng (‘long river’), the Yangtze River.
kěnéng Adv ‘possibly; probably; maybe’; cf dàgài, yěxǔ
shǒudū N ‘capital city’ of a country; provincial capital is shǒufǔ.
zuò-guo ‘has done’ in the sense of ‘has taken the part of; has been’.
gǔjī ‘(ancient-remains)’
liǎojiě V ‘get acquainted with; understand’
xiàndài SV ‘modern; current’
zuòjiā N ‘author (do/write-expert)’
qǐngjiào ‘(request-instruction)’, used deferentially to ask for instruction
from a superior; note the falling tone of jiào; cf. jiàoshòu.
duì … yǒu yánjiū ‘to be well informed about (to have knowledge of …)’.
liúxué VO or V ‘to study abroad (remain-study)’. Notice the position of
guo: liú-guó xué ‘have [at some time] studied abroad’. Some
people treat liúxué as a compound verb and place the guo after
xué: liúxué-guo yì nián.
guānyú ‘about; concerning’, here introducing the object shìqing ‘things’.
zhǐ yào Literally ‘only want’, but the corresponding English expression is
‘as long as; provided that’: Zhǐ yào duì shēntǐ hǎo, wǒ kěyǐ chī. ‘So
long as it’s good for me, I can eat [it]’.
yǒu dàolǐ SV ‘make sense; be rational; right’; the negative is méi<you>
dàolǐ.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 9.
Answer the following questions about the story:
Duì xià wéiqí gǎn xìngqu ma? Are [you] interested in playing ‘go’?
Hĕn gǎn xìngqu, dànshi duì xiàngqí [I]’m very interested, but I’m even more
gèng yǒu xìngqu. interested in chess.
Notes
xià wéiqí VO play go (‘play’ encircling-chess)
xiàngqí N chess (elephant-chess)
huàhuàr VO to paint; draw (paint-paintings)
huángdì N emperor
tiānwén<xué> N N astronomy (heaven-inscriptions)
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
9.14 Interjections
Interjections are conventionalized carriers of emotion, typically providing context for a
following sentence; cf. English: aha (recognition), yikes (surprise and fear), whoopee
(happiness). Interjections sometimes employ sounds outside the regular linguistic system,
such as the English alveolar clicks, conventionally spelled tsk tsk or tut tut (disapproval).
The character 嗯 contains the ‘phonetic element’ 恩 ēn, but the interjection is probably
pronounced mm is this context.
Though they may occur elsewhere, interjections in Chinese are more frequent in
initial position – or rather, prior position; though they often have a fixed intonation, it is
not quite the same as the pitch and contour of the regular tones. The following list is very
tentative; you should add to it or amend it as you observe Chinese speaking.
Ā Mild interest;
Ā, hěn yǒu yìsi.
Á Surprise
Á, yòu lái le! ‘What – you again?’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Hà satisfaction; Ha!
Hài disapproval
O Oh, I see.
Ó surprise; huh?
Aiyo, Jīn Gāng lái la! 'Yikes, King Kong's coming!' [Advertisement, Shanghai, 2006]
9.15 On apologies
In 2001 a US spy plane, flying near to the coast of China, was involved in a collision with
a Chinese jet that was shadowing it. The Chinese pilot was killed, and the US plane was
badly damaged and had to land on Hainan Island. A poorly planned response from the US
side led the Chinese leaders to demand a formal apology. The Americans were only
willing to express regret. Professor Leo Ou-fan Lee of Harvard wrote a short article on
the issue of the apology that was printed in the Boston Globe. It is reproduced in part
here:
“Two days ago, US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the United States was
‘sorry’ for the apparent loss of a Chinese pilot's life following the April 1
collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet, but Powell said the
United States would not apologize for the accident, because it believes it is not at
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
fault…. The Chinese language has several words for apology, noted Leo Ou-fan
Lee, a professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University. China is demanding
that the United States give ‘zhèngshì dàoqiàn’, ‘a formal apology’ that
acknowledges that the speaker is extremely sorry for having done something
wrong that harmed the listener. A softer alternative is ‘bàoqiàn’, which means
‘deep and sincere regret’ or to be ‘apologetic’. Bush's expression of ‘regret’ last
week for the loss of the pilot translates as the milder ‘yíhàn’, which implies that
the speaker is not at fault.” [Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, in the Boston Globe, April
11, 2001, page A24]
The side panel to the article listed six degrees of ‘sorry’, with the first as most sorry; the
word-for-word glosses have been added to the original.
Usage
V. Duìbuqǐ, xiàng nín dàoqiàn! Sorry, I apologize to you.
V. Hěn bàoqiàn! [I]’m very sorry!
SV. Duì zhèi jiàn shìqing, wǒ I feel very; especially sorry about this.
juéde hěn/tèbié yíhàn.
SV Hěn nánguò! [I]’m very sad; upset.
Duìbuqǐ. Sorry / excuse [me].
SV Bù hǎo yìsi! [I]’m very sorry; embarrassed.
9.16 Highlights
Definitions Lăoshī shi zài xuéxiào jiāoshū de <rén>.
DE Tā pángbiānr de nèi wèi shi shéi?
Clothes chuántŏng de yīfu; chuān / dài / jì
Bargaining tǎojià-huánjià; duì wŏ lái shuō
V-zhe Zhàn-zhe shūfu.
Zài shāfa shàng zuò-zhe ne.
shǒu lĭ ná-zhe yí ge qiáng
Mén kāi-zhe ne.
Zhuōzi shàng fàng-zhe jǐ zhāng míngpiàn.
Tā ná-zhe huàr huíjiā le.
zhèng zài Tā zhèngzài xǐzǎo ne.
zhèng … zhe Zhèng xià-zhe yǔ ne.
zài V Tā zài xiĕxìn ne.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
1. Xīnnián láidào
Now another rhyme about the traditional lunar new year:
lǎo tàitai yào kuài dà niángāo, old ladies want piece New Year’s cake
lǎotóur yào dǐng xīn zhān mào! old men want [M] new felt hat!
The nián of niángāo can mean ‘sticky’ (characterizing the glutinous rice flour used to
make the new year cake) or ‘year’, that is the lunar new year – the time of its eating.
Fireworks in general are usually called yànhuǒ or huāhuǒ (flower-fire); firecrackers
(which come in braided strings, like whips or lashes, and explode like burning bamboo)
are biānpào (lash-cannon) or bàozhú (explode-bamboo); the verb is fàng ‘put’, but here,
‘set off ’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
An excerpt from a longer rhyme containing advice for healthy living, distributed on
sheets of paper at a Chinese temple in Rangoon (Burma). The rhyme seems to have been
inspired by a genre represented best by the ‘Household Maxims’ (Zhìjiā Géyán) of Zhū
Yòngchún (traditionally romanized as Chu Yongshun [sic]), 1617 – 1689, that are often
found in editions of the Chinese almanac. The latter, written in classical style, has a less
perky rhythm. It starts off:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Lyrics (cí 词) by Lǐ Yǒuyuán (李有源); tune (biānqū 编曲) by Huàn Zhī (焕之).
1.
东方红 太阳升, A fairly literal translation:
Dōngfāng hóng, tàiyang shēng, The East is Red, the sun rises,
中国出了个毛泽东;
Zhōngguó chū liǎo [yí] ge Máo Zédōng; China appears LE a Mao Zedong;
[liǎo = reading pronunciation]
忽儿嘿呦,
hū ér hēi yōu, <refrain>
他是人民大救星.
tā shì rénmín dà jiùxīng. he is the-people’s savior (big saving-star).
2.
毛主席爱人民,
Máo zhǔxí ài rénmín, Chairman Mao loves the people,
他是我们的带路人;
tā shi wǒmen de dàilùrén; he is our guide (guide-road-person);
为了建设新中国,
wèiliǎo jiànshè xīn Zhōngguó, in-order-to establish new China,
忽儿嘿呦,
hū ér hēi yōu, <refrain>
领导我们向前进.
língdǎo wǒmen xiàng qiánjìn. lead us to advance (forward-enter).
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
3.
共产党像太阳,
Gòngchǎndǎng xiàng tàiyang, The-Communist-Party is like the sun,
照到哪里哪里亮;
zhàodao nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ liàng; where it shines, there is brightness;
哪里有了共产党 ,
nǎlǐ yǒu liǎo gòngchǎndǎng wherever there-is LE a CCP,
忽儿嘿呦,
hū ér hēi yōu, <refrain>
哪里人民得解放.
nǎlǐ rénmín dé jiěfàng! there the-people obtain liberation!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Unit 10
Jiànshè yǒu Zhōngguó tèsè de shèhuìzhǔyì!
Establish [possess Chinese special-quality DE] socialism!
Establish a socialism with special Chinese characteristics.
Slogan on the wall of a new factory outside Shanghai, 1998.
Contents
10.1 Feeling ill Exercise 1
10.2 More on indefinites Exercise 2
10.3 Verb reduplication
10.4 An interview with your teacher
10.5 Minor constructions Exercise 3
10.6 Xiēhòuyǔ, a form of word play
10.7 Religion
10.8 Verb Combos (4)
10.9 Transformations (with chéng) Exercise 4
10.10 Bèi ‘by’ Exercise 5
10.11 Seeking opinions: a dialogue
10.12 Smoking Exercise 6
10.13 Driving: a narrative Exercise 7
10.14 Vivid SVs
10.15 Communication tools: a narrative Exercise 8
10.16 Waiting and rushing
10.17 Telephoning
10.18 Chinese etiquette: a dialogue
10.19 Highlights Exercise 9
10.20 Rhymes and rhythms
Appendix: Body Parts
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Yǒu diǎnr bù shūfu, tóuténg. [I]’m not feeling well, [my] head aches.
Tóu / wèi / jiǎo / bèi téng ~ tòng. [My] head/stomach/foot/back hurts.
Yǒu diǎnr bù shūfu, xièdùzi. [I] don’t feel very well – the runs.
Bù shūfu, tùxiě! Not too good, [I]’m spitting blood.
Bù shūfu, tóuyūn. [I]’m not well, [I]’m dizzy.
Bù shūfu, guòmín le! [I]’m not well, allergies!
Wǒ hĕn xiǎngjiā. I’m homesick!
b) Wŏmen zŏu-le hĕn yuăn le, We’ve walked a long way; I’ve got
jiǎo shàng yǒu shuǐpào! blisters on my feet!
Yào yí ge bāngdí ma? Do you want a ‘bandaid’?
Nà, fàng yì zhāng bēngdài ba. So, you’d better put a bandage on it.
d) Āi, yá hĕn téng. Néng bu néng Ow, [my] tooth hurts. Can you
gĕi wŏ jièshao yí ge yáyī? ‘recommend’ a dentist for me?
Kěyǐ, wǒ shūshu shi yáyī! Sure, my uncle’s a dentist.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
a) Southerners tend to say tòng instead of téng: tóu / wèi / jiǎo / bèi tòng.
b) Related to tù, with falling tone, is tǔ with low tone, whose core meaning is
‘spit’ (with an extended meaning of ‘enunciate’ – as in ‘spit out’ words): Qǐng
wù suídì tǔtán ‘please [do] not randomly spit’ is a common public health notice.
Tù, on the other hand, suggests unintentional evacuation [from the mouth],
typically vomiting, but also, as in this case, spitting blood.
c) Chinese medicines come in many tastes, but even if the taste isn’t nice, it’s not
usual to try to disguise it by adding sweet ingredients.
Shēngcí
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Zhèi liăng tiān méi shíyù, zuǐ lĭ kǔ, For the past couple of days I’ve lost my
ěr míng! appetite, and my ears are ringing!
Nĭ kĕnéng shi nèi rè, xūyào chī You might have ‘an internal heat’, [you]
diănr qùhuǒyào, xièxiè huǒ. should eat some ‘reduce internal heat’
medicine, and ‘discharge’ some heat.
Hăo, nĭ shuō de yǒu dàolĭ; Okay, what you say makes sense; I’ll
wŏ shìshi kàn. try [it].
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Tāmen shéi dōu bú rènshi. They don’t know anyone [at all].
Tāmen bú rènshi shéi. They don’t know anyone [in particular].
Nèi ge biān zì, wŏ zĕnme The character ‘biān’, no matter how I write
xiĕ yĕ xiěbuduì. it, I can’t get it right.
Tā yì bĕn yĕ méi kàn-guo. He’s hasn’t even read one [of them].
Tā yì kŏu dōu bù gǎn chī. She didn’t dare to eat a bite [of it].
Where no particular item suggests itself, then yìdiǎnr can provide the amount:
Wǒ yìdiǎnr dōu bú lèi / bú è.... I’m not the least bit tired / hungry….
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
In other examples, lián … dōu/yě indicates ‘to a degree that includes even …’:
Jīntiān máng+de bùdeliăo, lián [I]’m really busy today – didn’t even have
wŭfàn yĕ méi shíjiān chī. time to eat lunch.
In another common constuction, lián appears with bié shuō ‘to say nothing of’:
Nĭ kàn-guo Hóng Lóu Mèng ma? Have you read Dream of the Red Chamber?
Hóng Lóu Mèng a! Bié shuō Hóng Dream of the Red Chamber! I haven’t even
Lóu Mèng, wŏ lián Hóngsè Niángzǐ read ‘The Red Detachment of Women’, let
Jūn yĕ méi kàn-guo! let alone Dream of the Red Chamber!
Note
Hóng Lóu Mèng, literally ‘Red-Building Dream’, but usually translated as
‘Dream of the Red Chamber’. Written by Cáo Xuěqín (曹雪芹) at the end of the
17th century, it is probably the best known of the Chinese classic vernacular
novels. Hóngsè Niángzǐjūn (红色娘子军) ‘The Red Detachment of Women’ was
one of the ‘model’ ballets (later a play and a film) from the time of the Cultural
Revolution. As a ballet, it was performed for President Nixon on his 1972 visit.
Xiǎng chī shénme jiu chī shénme. Eat whatever you want.
Xiǎng wèn shénme jiu wèn shénme. Ask whatever you want.
Xiǎng gēn shéi liáotiān jiu gēn shéi Talk to whomever you want!
liáotiān.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 2
Provide Chinese for the following mini-conversations:
1.
It’s so hot – I don’t feel like going anywhere [in particular].
Nor me, I’m just going to stay home and watch the World Cup.
2.
What did you do over the New Year break?
Absolutely nothing! I got sick and had to stay in bed the whole week.
3.
Order whatever you like – it’s my treat (‘I’m inviting’) today!
You shouldn’t; you treated last time – this time, I’m treating.
4.
This is a bright little kid; he does things faster than anyone, and better than anyone!
That’s my 4th daughter – actually [qíshí] she’s more mischievous than anyone!
5.
No matter how I try, I can’t sleep; it’s just too hot.
Don’t you have airconditioning?
6.
Have you been to Burma?
Burma?! I haven’t even been to London let alone Burma!
7.
We’ll get out at the next intersection, okay?
I can’t stop [tíng] at the intersection.
That’s fine – we’ll get out wherever it’s convenient [fāngbiàn].
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
As the second example shows, one way to achieve this effect is to reduplicate the verb
(with the repeat untoned). There are a number of other options. With single-syllable verbs,
such as kàn ‘look’or zuò ‘sit’, yī ‘one’ can be inserted between the verbs, as if to say
‘look a look’ or ‘sit a sitting’. In this case, yi is untoned, but both iterations of the verb are
toned:
Much the same effect can be achieved by adding the phrase yixià ‘one time’ instead of
the second iteration of the verb. So the options are:
Two-syllable verbs, such as xiūxi are more restricted. Two-syllable verbs can still
often be followed by a reiteration. They can also be followed by yixià; but they do not
accept a medial yī. So for two syllable verbs, the options are:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
nǐ Wèi lǎoshī, néng bù néng wèn nín Prof. Wei, can [I] ask you a few personal
jǐ ge gèrén de wèntí? questions?
Wèi Kěyǐ, méi wèntí, nǐ yào wèn You may, no problem, what do you want to
shénme? ask?
nǐ Wǒ xiǎng wèn nín jǐ ge jiātíng de I’d like to ask you a few family questions,
wèntí, jǐ ge àihào de wèntí. and some questions about your hobbies.
Wèi Dāngrán kěyǐ. Wèn ba! Of course you can. Go ahead and ask!
nǐ Wèi lǎoshī, nín shēng zài Prof. Wei, you were born in England then?
Yīngguó ba?
Wèi Shì a, kěshì wǒ shíwǔ suì jiu lái Yes, but at 15, I came to the US.
Měiguó le.
nǐ Shíwǔ suì, kěshì Wèi lǎoshī hái dài At 15, but ‘you’ (Prof. Wei) still have
diǎnr Yīngguó de kǒuyīn! a bit of an English accent!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Wèi Yīngguó rén shuō shi Měiguó de The English say it’s an American accent,
kǒuyīn, Měiguó rén shuō shi the Americans say it’s English. [I] expect
Yīngguó de kǒuyīn. Yěxǔ shì it’s half English and half American.
‘bàn Yīng bàn Měi’.
Wèi Jiéhūn le, jiéhūn èrshí duō nián le, Yes, [I] am, [I]’ve been married for over
yǒu sì ge háizi. 20 years. With 4 children.
nǐ Wèi shīmǔ yě shì Yīngguó rén ma? Is ‘Mrs’ Wèi English too?
Wèi Bù, tā shi Měiguó Xīn’ǎo’érliáng No, she’s from New Orleans, in the US!
lái de! Wǒmen shi zài Xiāng Gǎng We met in Hong Kong!
rènshi de!
nǐ O, Xiāng Gǎng rènshi de, zhēn qiǎo! O, [you] met in Hong Kong, how fortunate!
Wèi Shì a, nèi ge shíhou wǒ zài Xiāng Yes, at that time, I was teaching in HK,
Gǎng jiāoshū, tā qù Xiāng Gǎng she traveled to HK for a week. We
lǚyóu yí ge xīngqī. Wǒmen shi zài met at a bus station.
chēzhàn pèngdao de.
nǐ Wèi lǎoshī háizimen duō dà? How old are your children [Prof. Wei]?
Wèi Sān ge yǐjing chéngnián le, xiǎo de Three are already grown, the small one
shíqī suì. is 17.
nǐ Wèi lǎoshī yǒu méiyou Do you have any siblings [Prof. Wei]?
xiōngdì-jiěmèi?
Wèi Yǒu ge dìdi, qíshí shi ge tóngfù I have a younger brother – actually, he’s
yìmǔ de dìdi. a half brother (‘same father different
mother’).
nǐ Wèi lǎoshī, chúle Zhōngwén yǐwài, Prof. Wei, do you speak any other languages
nín hái huì shuō shénme biéde besides Chinese?
wàiguóhuà ma?
Wèi Wǒ yě huì shuō diǎnr Miǎndiàn huà. I also speak some Burmese. You know I’m
Nǐmen zhīdao, wǒ duì Miǎndiàn quite interested in Burma.
hěn gǎn xìngqu!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
nĭ Tīngshuō nín qù-guo hăo jǐ cì le. I hear you’ve been many times.
Wèi Shì, wŏ chàbuduō měinián dōu qù That’s right, I go almost every year.
yí cì. Xīwàng jiānglái yǒu jīhuì qù In the future, I hope to have a chance to
zhù yī liăng nián duō zuò yìdiănr go and live [there] for a year or two,
yánjiū, bǎ wŏ de jīngyàn xiěchéng do some more research, and write a book
yì bĕn shū. based on my experiences [there].
nǐ Nà, Wèi láoshī, nín zài zhèr Well, Prof. Wei, how long have you been
zhù le jǐ nián le? living here?
Wèi Bā nián le. Zhè shi wǒ dì-jiǔ nián! 8 years. This is my 9th year.
nĭ Wèi lăoshī, chúle jiāoshū zuò yánjiū Apart from teaching and doing research
yǐwài, nín shì bu shì hái yǒu yì xiē do you also have some hobbies?
àihào?
Wèi Wǒ xǐhuan qí zìxíngchē, pá shān. I like to ride my bike, and climb mountains.
Nǐ ne? How about you?
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Chúle Zhōngwén yǐwài nǐ hái huì What foreign languages do you speak other
shuō shénme wàiyǔ? than Chinese?
Chúle zhōumò (yǐwài), tā biéde Except for the weekends, he’s never
shíhou dōu bú zài jiā. at home [at other times].
Ài, shìjiè yuèlái yuè luàn. Gosh, the world is getting more and more
chaotic.
Dà chéngshì yuèlái yuè wēixiǎn. Big cities are becoming more and more
dangerous.
Nà shì yīnwèi rén yuèlái yuè duō. That’s because there are more and more
people.
Wénhuà Dàgémìng gǎo+de yuèlái The Cultural Revolution was carried out
yuè jīliè. more and more intensely.
Guōtiē, yuè chī yuè xiǎng chī. The more you eat potstickers the more you
want to eat them.
Hànzì xué+de yuè duō, wàng+de With characters, the more you study [them]
yuè kuài! faster you forget [them].
Pá+de yuè gāo, shuāi+de yuè cǎn. The higher you climb the farther you fall.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
luàn SV chaotic; N ‘disorder’; in Chinese, the opposite of luàn is zhì
‘control; order’.
wēixiǎn SV dangerous: Xiǎoxīn, hěn wēixiǎn!
gǎo V a verb with a wide range of senses: ‘to do; make; manage;
pick up, etc.’
jīliè SV intense [of sports: jīliè de yùndòng, hěn jīliè de bǐsài; or
arguments: Zhēnglùn jīlièqǐlai le ‘The argument
intensified.’]
pá V crawl; climb; scramble
shuāi V fall down; slip
cǎn SV tragic; miserable
Búbì dōu qù, yí ge rén qù jiù No need for [you] all to go, one will do.
xíng le.
Yào kāichē bìxū yǒu zhízhào. If you want to drive, you need a license.
Zhèr de xuéshēng rúguŏ yào bìyè Students here need to study a foreign
bìxū xué wàiyŭ. language if they want to graduate.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Wǒ kàn méiyou bìyào bǎ tā I don’t think that it’s necessary to lock it.
suǒshàng. (‘As I see [it], there’s no necessity to…’)
“Ài nǐ yě xūyào hěn duō de “Loving you takes a lot of courage.” [Title
yǒnggǎn.” of a popular song by the Cantonese singer,
Harlem Yu.]
Nǐmen xūyào bǐ píngcháng You need to eat breakfast a bit earlier than
zǎo yìdiǎnr chī zǎofàn. usual.
Exercise 3
Explain that although things are getting more and more expensive, people (rénmen) are
also earning (zhuàn) more and more money. Take fruit: in the past people used to eat
water melons in the spring and apples in the fall. That was it. Occasionally there were
also bananas or oranges. But except for those, you couldn’t find any other fruit, and
couldn’t afford to buy any other fruit. But now, the situation (qíngxing) is quite different.
Now you can buy oranges and bananas in the winter. But they are much more expensive
than in the past. When I was a child, we used to pay about 90 cents for a bunch (M
chuàn) of bananas. Now you pay RMB 4-5. But the more expensive they are, they more
they sell! It’s amazing.
________________________________________________________________________
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
While it is useful to know about xiēhòuyǔ, using them in speech would suggest a level of
language use that would be hard for anybody but the most advanced students to sustain.
In some ways, xiēhòuyǔ, like proverbs or sayings, can be mastered just like any other
vocabulary, by observing – or being told – actual usage and then trying them out warily.
However, they are used sparingly in ordinary conversation – particularly to foreigners –
and so in the foundation stages of study, it is enough to be aware of them, and collect
other examples from Chinese friends – who are usually delighted to talk about the
subject.
10.7 Religion
Though the official line in China is that religions are superstition (míxìn, which means,
literally, ‘confused belief’), nowadays some religious activity is tolerated, provided it
does not show potential for threatening the power of the state. Chinese, knowing that
formal religion plays a more prominent role in the life of many foreigners, will often ask
about religious affiliation.
Answers would generally be expected to come from the following (alphabetical) list:
Religion Practitioner
Buddhism Fójiào Buddhist Fójiàotú
Catholicism Tiānzhǔjiào (heaven-host-religion) Catholic Tiānzhǔtú
Christianity Jīdūjiào (Christ-religion) Christian Jīdūjiào de
Hinduism Yìndùjiào Hindu Yìndùjiào de
Islam Huíjiào Moslem Huízú
Judaisim Yóutàijiào Jew Yóutàirén
Protestantism Xīnjiào (new-religion) Protestant Xīnjiàotú
Notes
a) jiào ‘teachings’, reduced from zóngjiào ‘religion’.
b) tú ‘disciple; follower’, a bound form; as noted, tú is not used for followers of
all religions.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
c) Moslems are considered a minority group (shǎoshù mínzú) in China – the only
minority group defined in terms of religion.
d) While ordinary people in Chinese know about Tiānzhǔjiào, there is often some
confusion about the difference between Jīdūjiào and Xīnjiào.
e) It is often argued that Taoism (Dàojiào) and Buddhism operate syncretically, ie
within a single system. In ordinary speech, people often identify themselves – or
others – as Fójiàotú, or xìn Fójiào de, but not xìn Dàojiào de.
f) Because of their importance in US history, the Puritans, Qīnqjiàotú ‘clear-
religion-followers’, are also well known in China.
A roof in the Yōnghégōng ‘The Palace [temple] of Harmony and Peace’ in Beijing.
The names of buildings where the various faiths worship or otherwise practice
their religions are incorporated in the sentences below:
Summary:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
Buddhist priests are known as héshàng; Catholic priests are shénfu; protestant
pastors are mùshi (‘shepherd – teacher’); non-specialists would be unlikely to
know the comparable terms for the other religions.
10.8.1 –xiàlai
Verbs of recording or notation are completed by the directional complement xiàlai,
roughly corresponding to ‘down’ in English. The relevant verbs are:
Usage
1. Qǐng bǎ tā xiěxiàlai. Would you mind writing it down.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
3. Méi tīngqīngchu, nĭ shì bu shì I didn’t hear clearly, did you get it down?
bǎ tā jìxiàlai le?
Jìxiàlai le, nĭ kàn. Yes, I did, look.
Ng, wǒ kànbudǒng. Er, I can’t read it.
Wǒ de zì xiě+de bù hǎo. I didn’t write the characters very well.
5. Wǒmen zuì hǎo bǎ nèi zhāng It would be best if we traced that map.
dìtú miáoxiàlai.
10.8.2 – chūlai
Chūlai, with the literal meaning of ‘come out’, combines with verbs of perception to
mean ‘figure out; recognize’:
Nǐ kàndechū zhèi ge dìfang yǒu You can see that this place has a lot
hěn duō biànhuà! of changes.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Hǎi Bāndào nǎlǐ, zhīdao ma? Do you know where he’s gone?
Hǎi Tā shi shénme shíhou bānchūqu de? When did he move out?
Nǚde Bù zhīdào. Wǒmen běn yuè chū Don’t know. We moved in at the
bānjìnlai de. beginning of the month.
Notes
a) Wei is an interjection, used to open a telephone conversation, or call out to
someone.
b) Qǐng zhǎo X jiē diànhuà is the conventional way of asking to speak to
someone, literally ‘invite find X connect phone’.
c) Běn yuè chū, literally ‘root month beginning’, ie ‘at the beginning of the
current month’; cf. běn yuè dǐ ‘at the end of the month’.
Tā bǎ zhuā nèi ge zì xiěchéng She has written the character zhua (抓)
zhǎo le. as zhao (爪).
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Interestingly, standard transliterations of the two hotels (fàndiàn), the Hilton and
the Sheraton, are very similar in Chinese. The first is Xī’ěrdùn; the second is Xièlādùn (at
least in one of its renditions). It is easy to hear one as the other:
Chinese verbs, as we have seen, are uncommitted to many of the categories that
are taken for granted in English and many European languages: tense, person (she sings,
they sing), and passive too. In many cases – perhaps most cases – where English has a
passive, Chinese is noncommittal and simply lets the context determine how a particular
noun relates to the verb. The following pair of Chinese sentences are structurally
identical; yet in most contexts, the first is translated by an English passive, the second by
an active:
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
In both languages, agent and ‘patient’ – person affected – are rearranged so as to make
the patient the starting point. While in the Chinese, bèi cannot be omitted, its object,
jǐngchá, can be. (In the English example, ‘by the police’ can be omitted, but not just ‘the
police’.) It is noteworthy, however, that the verb in Chinese undergoes no modification –
it is zhuā in both cases (cf. English ‘arrested’ but ‘got arrested’). However, under some
conditions – and perhaps more often in some regions than others – the Chinese verb can
be modified by the addition of gěi (‘give’ in one of its diverse functions) before the verb.
Tāmen <bèi jǐngchá> gěi zhuāqǐlai le. They got arrested <by the police>.
3. Xíngli dōu yĭjing bèi tāmen The luggage has already been taken away by
názǒu le. them.
Nádào nǎlǐ le? Where’d they take it to?
Wŏ bù qīngchu, yěxǔ nádào Not sure, maybe they took it outside.
wàitou le.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Zìxíngchē bèi <rén> <gěi> tōu le. [My] bike got stolen by someone.
Zìxíngchē gěi <rén> <gěi> tōu le.
Zìxíngchē jiào rén <gěi> tōu le.
Zìxíngchē ràng rén <gěi> tōu le.
No doubt you have marveled at the versatility of the word gěi, which occurs as a
main verb (‘give’) as a CV (‘for [the benefit of]’), as an alternative to bèi ‘by’, and as a
signal of the passive turn in the verb (gěi tōu le). Yes, it is possible to find a single
sentence containing several gěi’s in different functions; and yes, at times there is
ambiguity. But all this is new, and for now, we should focus on the options that are the
least problematical – the bèi options. Below are some examples and dialogues that
encapsulate what needs to be learned at this point.
Usage
Q Zěnme yì huí shì? What happened?
Zěnme le? What’s going on?
Zěnme gǎo de? What the heck?
A Tā bèi jĭngchá jiàozhù le. (call-stay) She was stopped by the police.
Bèi kòuyā zài Yīlākè le. (tie up-detain) [They] were detained in Iraq.
Notes
yì huí shì ‘an item of business’; the expression with zěnme is
idiomatic and should be learned as such.
gǎo V ‘do; make; manage’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
10.10.3 Dialogue
Jiǎ has just been told about the arrest of an acquaintance; Yǐ has the details.
Jiǎ Tīngshuō Lǐ Xīnjié zuótiān bèi I hear that Li Xinjie got taken off
<jĭngchá> zhuāzǒu le. by the police yesterday.
Yǐ Tā kĕnéng huì bèi guān jǐ ge yuè ba! He may be locked up for a few months.
Yǐ Bù, tā huì bèi fákuǎn, ránhòu No, he’ll be fined, then he’ll be sent
huì qiănsòng huíjiā. home.
Jiǎ Ai, zhēn shi yí jiàn hĕn yánzhòng Gosh, that’s serious.
de shì.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
zhuā V ‘seize; catch; arrrest’; zhuāzǒu ‘seize and take off’
yóuxíng N ‘parades’; V ‘to parade’
shìwēi N ‘a demonstration’; V ‘to protest; demonstrate’
fănduì V ‘to oppose; protest’
fǔbài N ‘corruption’
dāngdì ‘local’
guānyuán N ‘officials’
guān V ‘to close’: bèi guān jǐ ge yuè ‘get shut [in] for several
months’
shěnpàn N ‘a trial’
fákuǎn N ‘a fine’ ; VO ‘to pay a fine’
qiănsòng V ‘to send back; expel’
yánzhòng SV ‘serious (strict-heavy)’
Exercise 5
a) Translate
1. We got locked outside and had to call the police to let (ràng) us in.
2. May I borrow (jiè) your camera (zhàoxiàngjī)? / Someone’s already borrowed it.
3. My plane tickets and passport got stolen (tōu). / Oh, that’s too bad!
4. They stole a car and got arrested by the police!
5. He was fined $200 for spitting (tǔtán). [VO fá…kuǎn]
Wŏ dì-yí cì zài Zhōngguó lǚxíng de shíhou fāsheng de zuì zāogāo de shìqing shi dāng wŏ
zài qù Wūlŭmùqí de huŏchē shàng shuìzháo-le de shíhou, wŏ de hùzhào bèi tōu le.
Xìngyùn de shì, lǐngshìguǎn tóngyì măshàng fā gĕi wŏ yì bĕn xīn de. Chūménr lǚxíng de
rén suíshí-suídì dōu yào zhùyì xiǎotōu. Zài nǎr dōu yíyàng.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
fāsheng V ‘happen; occur; take place’
zāogāo Phr ‘too bad; what a pity’
dāng…de shíhou ‘when…’
tōu V ‘steal’
xìngyùn SV ‘be fortunate’
lǐngshìguǎn N ‘consulate’
tóngyì V ‘agree; approve’
fā V ‘issue’
chūménr VO ‘leave home; go out’
suíshí-suídì Loc ‘whenever and wherever’
xiǎotōu N ‘crooks; thieves’
Jiǎ Qǐngwèn, Xīzàng de qíngkuàng zuìjìn May I ask what the situation in
zěnmeyàng? Tibet is like these days?
Jiǎ Zhōngguó rén duì Dálài Lǎma yǒu How do Chinese view the Dalai
shénme kànfǎ? Lama?
Jiǎ Yǒude Měiguo rén xiǎng Xīzàng shi Some Americans think that Tibet
yí ge guójiā, bú shi Zhōngguó de yí is a country rather than a part of
bùfen. China.
Notes
qíngkuàng N ‘situation (emotion-situation)’; also qíngxing ‘situation
(emotion-form)’.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Places
Xīnjiāng [Province in the far northwest of China.]
Miǎndiàn Burma [Myanmar]
People
Aung San Suu Kyi: Miǎndìàn de Nuòbèi’ěr Jiǎng huòdé-zhě.
Burmese DE Nobel Prize receive-er
Chén Shǔibiǎn: Táiwān de zǒngtǒng [elected 2000, re-elected 2004]
Descriptions
hěn qióng poor
hěn luòhòu backwards
hěn fādá developed
kējì hěn xiāngjìn technologically advanced (‘science-tech first-enter’)
Issues
jīngji economics
rénquán (people-rights)
wèishēng hygiene; sanitation; health
jiànkāng health; healthy
jiāotōng transportation; communications; traffic
kōngqì air
huánjìng environment
wūrǎn pollution: kōngqì wūrǎn; shuǐ wūrǎn; huánjìng wūrǎn
jiàoyù education
qìhòu climate (literal or metaphorical)
zhèngfǔ government
fǔbài corruption: fǔbài de guānliáo ‘corrupt officials ~ bureaucrats’
rénkǒu population
shīyè unemployment (lose-job); cf. xiàgāng ‘layoffs’
yǐnshí diet (drink-food)
zhǒngzú qíshì (race-prejudice)
wújiā kěguī homelessness (no-home can-return)
nànmín refugees (calamity-people); bìnànzhě ‘avoid-calamity-ers’
kǒngbù-zhǔyì terrorism (terror-ism); kǒngbù-fènzi ‘terrorists (terror-elements)’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
zhème duō qián, tài kěxī le! Zhōngguó zuì yǒumíng de yāncǎo gōngsī zài Yúnnánshěng,
zuì yǒumíng de páizi yěxǔ shi Yúnyān, Hóngtǎshān, hé Āshìmǎ. Jiē shàng, qìchē shàng,
nǐ huì kànjiàn hěn duō xiāngyān de guǎnggào!
Yǒurén chōu Zhōngguó yān, yě yǒurén chōu wàiguó yān, xiàng Wànbǎolù, Lètou
(Luòtuo). Wàiguóyān dōu bǐjiào gùi, yì bāo chàbuduō shí duō kuài qián. Suīrán hěn gùi,
kěshì chōu wàiguó yān de yě bù shǎo. Tīngshuō shi yīnwèi wàiguó yān jìnr [jyèr] bǐjiào
dà. Xiànzài hěn duō Zhōngguó rén yě zhīdao chōu tài duō yān bù hǎo, kěshì chōuyān de
rén háishi hěn duō. Nà, nǐ shuō Měiguó zěnmeyàng? Ōuzhōu ne?
Yǐ:
Wǒ xiān shuō Měiguó de qíngxing. Yǐqián zài Měiguó, chōuyān de rén bìng bù shǎo.
Wǔshí niándài, liùshí niándài de diànyǐng-yǎnyuán bú shi lǎo chōuyān ma? Kěshì zuìjìn
èrshí duō nián lái, chōuyān de hǎoxiàng yuèlái yuè shǎo. Wèishénme ne? Nà shì yīnwèi
dàjiā dōu zhīdao chōuyān duì shēntǐ bù hǎo, chōuyān de bǐjiào róngyì dé áizhèng. Suǒyǐ
xiànzài Měiguó hěn duō dìfang, xiàng jīchǎng, huǒchēzhàn, fànguǎnr, fàndiàn děngděng
bú ràng nǐ chōuyān, měi ge dìfang dōu shuō: “Bù zhǔn xīyān.” (Xīyān jiùshi chōuyān de
yìsi, xīyān nèi ge cí kěnéng bǐjiào zhèngshi, chōuyān bǐjiào kǒuyǔ.) Nǐ kàn, Měiguó
zǒngtǒng chōuyān ma? Lígēn (Léigēn), Kělíndùn, Bùshí (fù-zǐ), zhìshǎo zài biérén
miànqián bù chōu!
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Zài Měiguó chōuyān de bǐjiào shǎo yě shi yīnwèi yān hěn gùi! Yì bāo sì-wǔ kuài
qián (Měijīn, nà jiùshi sān sìshí duō kuài Rénmínbì.) Ōuzhōu ne, zài Ōuzhōu yān gèng
guì, chōuyān de méiyou yǐqián de nàme duō, kěshì kěnéng háishi bǐ Měiguó de duō
yìdiǎnr. Wǒ ne, wǒ zìjǐ bù chōuyān, érqiě cónglái méi chōu-guo, dànshi biérén yào chōu,
nà, wǒ jiù bú huì guǎn tāmen. Wǒ de kànfǎ shì ‘bié guǎn xián shì’, xiǎng chōu jiù chōu
ba!
Notes:
dàduōshù N ‘the majority (big-many-number)’
xíguàn N ‘habit; custom’; cf. xǐhuan, xīwàng ‘hope’
fǎnduì V ‘oppose; object’
làngfèi V ‘waste (time, money, etc.)’
kěxī V ‘pitiable; unfortunate’; cf. Tài kěxī le. ‘That’s too bad.’
yāncǎo ‘tobacco (smoke grass)’; cf. chōuyān, xīyān ‘to smoke’
páizi ‘brand name’
jiē shàng ‘(street-on)’
xiāngyān ‘cigarets (fragrant-tobacco)’
guǎnggào N ‘advertisement’ (gàosu de gào)
Wànbǎolù ‘Marlboro’
Lètou (Luòtuo) ‘Camel’
bìng Adv. ‘really [not]’, before negatives: bìng bù piányi ‘not at all cheap’.
yǎnyuán N ‘actors (perform-people)’
zuìjìn èrshí duō nián lái ‘over the past 20+ years’
dé áizhèng VO ‘get cancer’
zhǔn V ‘permit’, usually negative; common on signs: bù zhǔn ‘forbidden to …’
zhèngshì SV ‘formal’
kǒuyǔ N ‘spoken language’; SV ‘be-colloquial’; hěn kǒuyǔ
zhìshǎo Adv. ‘at least’
miànqián Loc’n Noun: ‘in front of [someone]; before (face-front)’
érqiě N ‘moreover; in addition’
guǎn V ‘take care of; deal with; run s/t’
bié guǎn xián shì ‘mind one’s own business (don’t concern sparetime-things)’
jìnr [jyer] [colloquial] ‘strength; vigor’; = yǒu lìqi ‘have strength; vigor’
Nèi zhǒng yānyèr hěn yǒu jìnr! That kind of tobacco [leaf] is very strong!
Wǒ jīntiān bù shūfu, méi jìnr. I don’t feel well today, no strength.
Nǐ kàn, nèi ge rén zhēn yǒu jìnr. Look, that guy’s really strong.
Zhōngguó de báijiǔ hěn yǒu jìnr. Chinese white liquor is really strong.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 6
Explain that American beer is more expensive than Chinese beer, but that Chinese still
buy it. Budweiser, called Bǎiwēi in China, is getting more and more popular (pǔbiàn).
Explain that you don’t think it has as much flavor as Chinese brands like Qīngdǎo,
Shànghǎi or Yànjīng. So you always tell your Chinese friends that they should drink
Chinese brands, not imports! The same with cigarets. Chinese pay attention to [zhòngshì
(‘heavy-view)’] brands. American brands are well known, so they buy American brands.
They say that, in any case, American cigarets are stronger than Chinese cigarets and they
taste better. I can’t believe this is really the case!
_______________________________________________________________________
Yǐ Zhēnde! Really!
Jiǎ Chàbuduō le, nánde dōu chōu, nǚde More or less, men all smoke,
bǐjiào shǎo. Wǒ chōu, xíng ma? women less so. You mind if I smoke?
Jiǎ Hǎo, suīrán duì shēntǐ bù hǎo, Good, although it’s not good
kěshì wǒ háishi děi chōu. for me, I still have to smoke.
Notes
lái here ‘take (cause to come)’; cf. lái yì bēi kāfēi.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
10.13 Driving
a) Kāichē
Wǒ bú huì kāichē, kěshì wǒ hěn xiǎng kāi, suǒyǐ xiànzài yǒu ge péngyou bāng wǒ xué.
Wǒ de péngyou shuō kāichē hěn róngyì, dànshi wǒ juéde kāichē bìng bù róngyì.
Yǒushíhou wǒ juéde háishi bù kāi hǎo; chē de wéixiū, bǎoxiǎn dōu hěn guì; chéng lǐ
kāichē hěn màn. Zài shuō, hǎo duō rén kāichē kāi+de tài kuài, kāi+de hěn měng! Lù
shàng hěn wēixiǎn!
Bù jiǔ yǐqián zài Zhōngguó, chē xiāngdāng guì, hĕn duō rén mǎibuqǐ, suŏyĭ lù shàng de
chēzi bĭjiào shăo. Dànshi zuìjìn qíngxing biàn-le hĕn duō. Xiànzài chē bĭjiào piányi.
Guóchăn de xiànzài bǐ Mĕiguó de piányi yìdiănr; Rénmínbì dàgài qībāwàn jiu kĕyĭ mǎi yí
liàng. Jìnkŏu de dāngrán bǐ guóchăn de guì hĕn duō, kĕshi jìnkŏu de yĕ shi yuèlái yuè
piányi. Tóngshí gāosù-gōnglù yĕ shi yì nián bǐ yì nián duō, suŏyĭ nĭ xiǎng kāi dào shénme
dìfang dōu xíng! Zhù zài chéngshì lǐtou de rén dàduōshù xiǎngyào mǎi qìchē kĕyĭ mǎi
qìchē. Zài xiāngxià qíngxing bù tóng, kĕshi nóngcūn lǐtou de chēzi háishi bǐ jǐ nián qián
duō deduō. Kĕshi rúguŏ nĭ bù xiǎng huāqián mǎi yí liàng chē nà, zài Zhōngguó méi chē
yĕ méiyou guānxi. Wèishénme ne? Yīnwèi gōnggòng jiāotōng hĕn hăo, yǒu gōnggòng
qìchē, yǒu dìtiĕ, yǒu tiělù. Zài Mĕiguó, hĕn bù yíyàng: Méiyou chē hĕn bù fāngbiàn –
kĕyĭ shuō ‘méi chē děngyú méi tuĭ’. Zài Mĕiguó méi chē jiu bù néng qù gòuwù zhōngxīn
măi dōngxi, méi chē jiù bù néng qù kàn péngyou, bù néng qù kàn diànyĭngr, yĕ bù néng
qù shàngxué. Hăoxiàng zài Mĕiguó méi chē shénme shì dōu zuòbuliǎo.
Zài Měiguó yǒu hěn duō Měiguó páizi de chē, xiàng Fútè, Biékè, yě yǒu Ōuzhōu
de, xiàng Àodí, Bēnchí, yě yǒu Rìběn de, xiàng Fēngtián, Běntián, Hánguó de xiàng
Xiàndài. Nà Zhōngguó yě yǒu hěn duō páizi. Zuì pǔbiàn de yěxǔ shi Sāngtǎnà Jiédá,
Biékè děngdeng, kěshi jìnkǒu de yě bù shǎo, yě shi yuèlái yuè duō. Wǒ yě tīngshuō
Zhōngguó de bǎiwàn-fùwēng, tāmen mǎi Láosīláisī, shìjiè shàng zuì gùi de chē! Ai,
biànhuà zhēn dà ya! Èrshíduō nián yǐqián, Zhōngguó lǎobǎixìng yǒu zìxíngchē, yǐjing
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
hěn mǎnyì le! Xiànzài shéi dōu xīwàng zìjǐ yǒu yí liàng qìchē. Búguò rúguǒ Zhōngguó
měi ge jiātíng dōu yǒu yí liàng qìchē de huà, nà Zhōngguó de jiāotōng qíngxing huì shi
shénme yàngzi de ne?
b) Páizhào
Zài Zhōngguó mǎi chē rénmén yídìng yào kàn chē de páizi; kĕshi chē nèi de kuǎnshì yĕ
hĕn zhòngyào. Shēnfen bĭjiào gāo de guānyuán huòzhĕ shāngrén, tā de qìchē yídìng shì
pízuò, chēchuāng bōli shi àn sè de (zhèi yàng wàibiān kànbujiàn lǐbiānr, kĕshi lǐbiānr
kàndejiàn wàibiānr). Qìchē de páizhào yĕ hĕn zhòngyào. Páizhào shàng bìxū yǒu jíxiáng
shùzì, xiàng bā (tīngqǐlai xiàng fācái de fā) huòzhĕ sān (sān zài Guǎngdōnghuà lĭ tīngqǐlai
xiàng gāoshēng de shēng de yìsi), bù yīnggāi yǒu bù jíxiáng de shùzì, bĭrú sì (tīngqǐlai
xiàng sǐdiào de sǐ yíyàng). Zài shuō, yǒu shíhou cóng chē páizhào de hàomă kĕyĭ
kàndechū rénjiā de shēnfen.
Cóng shàngbiān shuō de wŏmen kĕyĭ zhīdao Zhōngguó rén tèbié zhùyì shēnfen.
Suŏyĭ wŏmen qù Zhōngguó de shíhou, yídìng yào zhùyì Zhōngguó rén de shēnfen wèntí,
tèbié shi zài chēnghu tāmen de shíhou.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Liáoníng de páizhào.
Notes:
wéixiū V ‘to maintain; keep up’
bǎoxiǎn N ‘insurance’
zài shuō ‘moreover; what’s more’
měng SV ‘be wild’
wéixiǎn SV ‘be dangerous’; N ‘danger’
bù jiŭ ‘not long’ (cf. jiŭ ‘be long [of time]’)
tóngshí ‘at the same time’
gāosù-gōnglù N ‘expressways (high-speed public-road)’
nóngcūn N ‘villages; countryside’
huā qián VO ‘spend money’
jiāotōng N ‘transportation’
tiělù N ‘railways (iron-road)’
fāngbiàn SV ‘convenient’
děngyú V ‘be equivalent to (equal-to)’
tuĭ N ‘legs’
páizi N ‘brand names’; cf. pǐnpái ‘trademark’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
guānyuán N ‘officials’
shāngrén N ‘businessmen’
pízuò N ‘leather seats’
chēchuāng N ‘car windows’
bōli N ‘glass’
àn SV ‘be dark; dim’
páizhào N ‘license plates’
jíxiáng SV ‘lucky; auspicious’
shùzi N ‘numbers’
fācái V ‘get rich’; cf. gōngxǐ fācái, a Chinese New Year greeting
gāoshēng V ‘get a promotion (high-rise)’
zhùyì V ‘pay attention to’
Exercise 7
Huídá (‘respond to’) wèntí:
Most of the repeated syllables are level-toned. A number of them show variation,
probably due to the influence of the usual tone of the character chosen for the second
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
syllable. The teng of rèténgténg for example, is often pronounced with a level tone even
though pedantic speakers are likely to argue, on the basis of the character 腾 which in
other contexts is pronounced with rising tone, that rising (and not level) is the ‘correct’
tone. However, there are a few cases where the tone of the repeated syllable clearly is not
level, eg kōngdàngdàng.
Vivid SVs of this type have certain grammatical properties that set them apart
from ordinary SVs. They cannot be modified by ‘adverbs of degree’ such as hěn or tài,
for example. Typically, they act as modifiers connected to nouns by a following de; or
they stand alone (still with following de) as commentaries; cf. examples below.
The list below gives an indication of the range of vivid SVs; the meaning of the
root SV is given in parentheses.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Usage
Nĭmen niánqīngrén jiu xiàng zăoshàng You young people look like the
bā-jiŭ diǎn zhōng hóngtōngtōng de glowing red sun at 8 or 9 in the
tàiyáng yíyàng. morning. [Said by Mao Zedong.]
Nĭ kàn, tāmen dōu zài kàng shàng Look at them all sitting on the
zuò-zhe ne, nuǎnhōnghōng de. ‘stove’, all cozy and warm.
Notes
In houses in the cold northern parts of China, families sleep on a large brick
platform heated from within, known as a kàng.
Xiànzài qíngxing wánquán bù yíyàng le. Zài chéngshì hěn duō jiātíng dōu yǒu
diànhuà le. Jiùshi zài nóngcūn, yě yǒu bù shǎo rén yǒu diànhuà le. Kěshì xiànzài zuì
liúxíng de shi shǒujī. Shǒujī yǐqián yǒu yìdiǎnr bù fāngbiàn, hěn dà, diànhuàfèi yě hěn
guì. Nèiyàng dàdà de shǒujī yě yǒu rén jiào ‘dàgēdà’. Wèishénme jiào dàgēdà ne?
Dàgēdà nèi ge shuōfǎ běnlái shi Xiānggǎng rén yòng de. Dàgē yǒu liǎng ge yìsi. Yí ge shi
zuì dà de gēge. Lìngwài yí ge shi hēishèhuì de tóur. Suǒyǐ dàgē hěn lìhai, dàgēdà yě hěn
lìhai.
Fǎnzhèng, xiànzài shǒujī bú dà, hěn fāngbiàn, kěyǐ fàng zài kǒudài lǐ huò dài zài
yāodài shàng. Zuìjìn zài Zhōngguó chúle shǒujī yǐwài yě yǒu xiǎolíngtōng. Xiǎolíngtōng
shi dàxiǎo de xiăo; língtōng shi lái+de kuài de yìsi, huòzhĕ ‘xíng’ de yìsi. Xiǎolíngtōng bǐ
pǔtōng de shǒujī piányi, dànshi zhǐ néng zài yí ge dìfang yòng, zhǐ néng dǎ dào shìnèi, bù
néng dă dào shìwài.
Zài èrshíyī shìjì de Zhōngguó yŏu hĕn duō rén yòng wăngluò le. Wǎngluò yĕ yŏu
rén jiào yīntèwăng. Yŏu hĕn duō rén mĕitiān dōu zài jiā lĭ huòzhĕ zài ‘wăngbā’
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
shàngwăng. Yĕ yŏu hĕn duō liáotiānshì gēn lùntán, dàjiā kĕyĭ tán guójiā de dàshì, yĕ kĕyĭ
tán gèrén de wèntí. Yŏude wăngzhàn mĕitiān yŏu jĭshí wàn rén liúlăn. Suīrán zài
Zhōngguó yòng yīntèwǎng de hĕn duō kĕshi háishi yǒu hĕn duō wăngzhàn bù néng kàn.
Zhōngguó zhèngfŭ bú ràng rénmén kàn de wǎngzhàn, hěn duō yǒu zhèngzhì de huòzhě
sèqíng de nèiróng. Jiùshi MIT de wǎngzhàn yǒushíhou cóng Zhōngguó yĕ liánbushàng,
yĕxŭ shi yīnwèi yǒu yìxiē Zhōngguó zhèngfŭ bù xĭhuan de liànjiē.
Zài xiànzài de Zhōngguó, diànzǐ yóujiàn yě duō le. Yǒu rén kāi wánxiào jiào
diànzǐ yóujiàn ‘yīmèi’ér’, xiàng Yīngwén de ‘email’ yíyàng. Kěshì Zhōngwén de
yīmèi’ér yě yǒu ‘tā mèimei’de yìsi. (Píngcháng yòng Hànzì xiě yīmèi’ér bú yòng ‘yī èr
sān’ de ‘yī’; yòng lìngwài yí ge yī [伊], shi ‘tā’ de yìsi.) Dàgēdà, yīmèi’ér, kěyǐ shuō zhèi
xiē dōngxi yǒu diǎnr xiàng qīnqi péngyou yíyàng!
Yěxǔ nǐmen yǐjing zhīdao yìxiē yǒuyìsi de Zhōngwén wǎngzhàn le. Bù shǎo xué
Zhōngwén de xuésheng dōu yòng <Zhongwen.com>, kěyǐ chá shēngzì, liǎojiě Hànzì de
láiyuán, dú Zhōngwén wénzhāng, yě kěyǐ zài pīnyīn liáotiānshì liáotiān. Yě yǒu Xiè
Tiānwèi lǎoshī de wǎngyè (www.csulb.edu/~txie) yǒu hěn duō gēn xué Zhōngwén
yǒuguān de liànjiē.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Kàn Zhōngwén wǎngyè de shíhou, nǐ huì fāxiàn suīrán nèiróng yìbān shi
Zhōngwén de, wǎngzhàn de míngzi yě shi Zhōngwén de, kěshi wǎngzhǐ háishi yòng
Yīngwén xiě de. Jiùshi méiyou Zhōngwén wǎngzhǐ. Nǐmen zhīdao wèishénme ma?
Notes
tōngxùn N communication
gōngjù N tool
qīnqi N relatives; relations
jiùshi…yě.. even…as well
nóngcūn N village (agriculture village)
[diànhuà]fèi N [telephone] expenses; charges
hēishèhui N criminal underworld (black society)
lìngwài [yí ge] another; an additional
shuōfǎ N way of speaking; cf. kànfǎ ‘way of looking = view’
tóur N head
fǎnzhèng anyway (upside down – right way up)
kǒudài N pocket (hole-bag)
yāodài N belt (waist-belt)
shìnèi within the city (city-within)
wǎngluò N network; the net
shàngwǎng VO to access the net
wǎngbā N internet café (net-BAR)
liáotiānshì N chatrooms (chat-day-room)
lùntán N forum (discuss-forum)
tán V discuss; chat; talk
gèrén N individual
wǎngzhàn N website (net-station)
liúlǎn V browse
ràng V [here] let; make
zhèngzhì N politics
sèqíng N,SV sex; sexy (yánsè de sè, shìqing de qíng)
nèiróng N content (within-contain)
liánbushàng VV not able to access
liànjiē N links
yóujiàn N mail
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 8.
Provide a Chinese paraphrase:
What you say about the situation in China is very interesting. Here in the U.S, telephone
calls also used to be quite expensive – especially long-distance ones (chángtú); but not
anymore. I still often write letters to my relatives, but that’s because they’re older and
they still like to read letters. Sending a letter is still pretty inexpensive - only about 40
cents within the country; a letter to China is about 80 cents airmail. But students
nowadays all have computers, so we prefer to send email. Often, I don’t know enough
characters to write what I want to say in Chinese; and in any case, I have trouble sending
characters. So I write pinyin and as long as I write words, my Chinese friends seem to be
able to read it. I don’t write the tones (sìshēng) either, since that takes too long and
what’s more, it makes it too messy to read. Almost all my friends have cellphones; with
the new ones, you can surf the web, take photos or listen to music. They’re kind of
expensive, but we can’t live without them. My cellphone bill is more than my food bill
sometimes!
________________________________________________________________________
a) The words
děng wait
děngdeng ~ děng yiděng ~ wait a sec; just a minute
děng yixià
shāo<wēi> děng yixià wait for a bit
děng yíhuìr ~ yìhuǐr wait awhile
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
a) Yíhuìr ~ yìhuǐr (the latter pronunciation is more colloquial) ‘awhile’
b) Shāo<wēi> ‘slightly; for a bit’; (Wēiruǎn de wēi); hotel telephone operators in
China tend to say qǐng shāo děng when they transfer your call.
c) Mǎshàng ‘immediately; at once’, literally ‘on a horse’; synonymous with lìkè.
d) Huì indicates a degree of probability.
Usage
Qǐng shāowēi děng yixià, wŏ Hang on a minute, I’ll be right back.
măshàng jiu huílai!
Qǐng dĕng yixià, wŏ qù lóushàng Just a minute, I’ll go upstairs and ask her.
wènwen tā. Nĭ zuò yìhuĭr ba. ‘Make yourself comfortable.’
Qǐng dĕngdeng, wŏ qù bàngōngshì Just a minute, I’ll go see if he’s in the office.
zhǎo tā.
Qǐng dĕng yixià, wŏ qù zhǎo tā. Hold on a minute, I’ll go find him. Have
Nǐ xiān hē diǎnr chá ba. some tea first.
Qǐng dĕngdeng, tā zài dǎ diànhuà Hold on for a minute please, he’s on the
ne. phone.
Qǐng shāowēi dĕng yixià, wŏ děi qù Hold on for a bit please, I have to go and
mǎi yóupiào, măshàng jiù huílai. buy some stamps – I’ll be right back.
Qǐng zuò yixià. Make yourself at home.
Notes
a) Zuò yixià, literally ‘sit a bit’, but often used when someone has to step out for
a while, hence the freer translation of ‘make yourself at home’.
10.17 Telephoning
Speaking on the telephone involves a certain amount of conventional speech at the
beginning and end of the conversation. Here are vocabulary and phrases related to
telephones and telephoning:
About telephoning
dǎ diànhuà to telephone; make a phone call
dǎ chángtú diànhuà to make a long distance call
dǎ guójì diànhuà to make an international call
zhuǎn fēnjī to connect to an extension (turn; revolve)
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
As in most parts of the world, a variety of discount telephone cards can be bought
from news agents and other small shops in China. In China, these are usually sold
below face value; a RMB 100 card might go for RMB 30. (Dǎ zhé ma? ‘Do you
allow a discount?’) Some are local (dìqū yòng de); others can be used throughout
China (quánguó yòng de) or even internationally (guójì de).
Wei. Hello.
<Nín> něi wèi? Who is it? (which person)
Wei, nĭ shi Zhōu Yǔ ma? Hello, is that Zhou Yu?
Wŏ jiùshi. Speaking. [This is he.]
Qĭng zhăo Máo Xiān’ān jiē diànhuà. Can I speak to Mao Xian’an please?
(Please find Mao Xian’an to get the phone.)
Wŏ gĕi nĭ qù zhăo tā. I’ll go find her for you. (I for you go find her.)
Yào liú ge huà gĕi tā ma? You want to leave a voice message for her?
Nĭ yào liúyán ma? You want to leave a voice message?
Wŏ shi Léi Nuò, qǐng liúyán. This is Lei Nuo, please leave a message.
[Telephone answering machine]
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
W. Wei? Hello?
Lù. Wei, qĭng zhǎo Wáng lăoshī jiē Hi, I'm trying to get Prof. Wang.
diànhuà.
W. O, tā xiànzài bú zài zhèr, kĕnéng Oh, he’s not here right now, he may be
zài lóu shàng. Qǐng děng yixià, Wŏ be upstairs. Just a minute, I’ll go and
gĕi nĭ qù zhǎo tā. look for him for you.
Lù. Hăo, máfan nĭ la! (le a > la) Okay, sorry for the trouble.
………………………………………
W. Tā yĕ bú zài lóu shàng. Yào bu He’s not upstairs. You want to leave a
yào liú ge huà? message?
Lù. Hăo, xièxie. Wŏ shi Lù Jìngsī. Okay, thanks. This is Lù Jìngsī. Ask him to
Qǐng tā huílai yĭhòu gĕi wŏ phone me when he gets home. I’m at home.
dǎ ge diànhuà. Wŏ zài jiā lĭ.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Notes
a) Wèi is an exclamation used to hail people at a distance, or confirm a telephone
connection. Though its tone is marked as falling in dictionaries, its actual pitch
varies with context.
b) Qĭng zhǎo [person] jiē diànhuà ‘please get […] to come to the phone’ is in fact
a request to speak to a person (~ ‘may I speak to […]’) and reflects the fact that
before cellphones, telephones were often outside of residences and people had to
be hailed or fetched from some distance away.
Tt. Qǐng dĕng yixià, wŏ qù zhǎo tā.... Just (wait) a minute please, I’ll go
Lăo Zhōu, nĭ de diànhuà! and find him....Zhou, it’s for you!
Zh. Hăo, xièxie. …Wei, nín (shi) něi wèi Okay, thanks. …Hello, who’s that?
Zh. O, Fēipéng, nĭ hăo. Shénme shìr? Oh, Feiping, how are you.
What’s up?
Sh. Lăo Zhōu, wŏ néng bù néng wèn Zhou, can I ask you a question
nĭ yí ge Zhōngguó fēngsù xíguàn about Chinese customs?
de wèntí?
Sh. Shi zhèi yàng: yǒu rén qǐng wŏ chīfàn, It’s like this: someone’s invited me
wŏ shì bu shi yīnggāi sòng ge lĭwù gĕi for a meal; should I bring them a
tā? present?
Zh. Nà yào kàn shi shénme qíngkuàng, Now that depends on the situation
shénme dìfang. and the place.
Sh. Shi ge tóngshì, wŏmen xiāngdāng shú. It’s a colleague. We’re close.
Tā qǐng wŏ dào tā jiā qù. He’s invited me to his house.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Zh. Zhèi yàng, dài yí shù xiānhuā, huòzhĕ In that case, you can take a bunch
yì xiē shuǐguǒ, jiù kĕyĭ le. Búbì huā of fresh flowers or some fruit. No
hĕn duō qián. Biǎoshi ge yìsi. need to spend a lot of money.
‘It’s the thought.’
Sh. Hăo, shi chūntiān, wŏ jiù mǎi yí shù Okay, it’s spring, I’ll buy a bunch
huā ba. of flowers.
Notes
a) Notice that in conventional usage, Chinese generally makes use of the first and
second person pronouns in expressions like Nǐ shi shéi? and Wǒ shi Shěn
Fēipéng, while English prefers ‘it’ or ‘this’: ‘Who is it? / This is Shěn Fēipéng.’
Similarly: Qǐng zhǎo Zhōu Yǔ jiē diànhuà. / Wǒ jiùshi. ‘May I speak to Zhou Yu?
/ This is he. ~ Speaking.’
b) The word huā has a number of senses, including ‘flowers; blossoms’ (yí shù
huā), ‘design’ (huāyàng ‘design; pattern’); and ‘to spend’ (huā qián), possibly
following a semantic course from ‘flower’ to ‘ornament’, from ‘ornament’ to
‘waste or dissipation’, and from there to ‘expense’. Contrast huà ‘change’.
c) Biǎoshi ge yìsi, literally ‘to express a meaning’, ie ‘as a token [of friendship,
affection, etc.]’
10.18.1 Gifts
There are a number of conventional remarks associated with the giving and receiving of
gifts. For larger gifts for example, the host might say: Tài pòfèi le! ‘[You] spent too much
[money]’, using the expression pòfèi ‘squander money (break-expense)’. On presenting
such a present, the guest might say, with modesty: Xiǎo yìsi. ‘Just a token (small
meaning).’ However, bringing some fruit or flowers as an expression of thanks (much as
Americans and Europeans might bring a bottle of wine) usually elicits more perfunctory
remarks along the following lines:
ii) Dàilai yìdiănr shuǐguǒ, dàjiā yìqĭ I’ve brought some fruit for everyone.
chī.
Nĭ tài kèqi le. You shouldn’t have.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
10.19 Highlights
shēngbìng Tā gănmào le, yĕ ké+de hĕn lìhai.
Chī yào le ma?
indefinites Shénme dōu bú pà! Xiǎng chī duōshao jiu chī duōshao!
reduplication Nĭ cháng yi cháng ba; Xiūxi xiūxi ba.
wèntí jǐ ge jiātíng de wèntí; jǐ ge àihào de wèntí
kǒuyīn dài yìdiănr nánfāng de kǒuyīn
chúle…yǐwài Chúle xīngqīsì yǐwài, mĕitiān dōu yǒu kè.
yuèlái yuè Dà chéngshì yuèlái yuè wēixiăn.
Pá+de yuè gāo, shuāi+de yuè cǎn.
búbì Búbì huànchē.
xìnjiào Nĭ xìn shénme jiào? / Wŏ shi xìn Huíjiào de.
V-xiàlai Qǐng bǎ tā xiěxiàlai.
V-chūlai Nĭ cāidechū<lai> wŏ shi shéi ma?
bān Wŏmen běnyuè chū cái bānjìnlai de. (‘not until the beginning of the month’)
V-chéng Qǐng bāng wŏ bǎ nèi jǐ ge jùzi fānyìchéng Yīngwén.
bèi, etc. Tā bèi jĭngchá zhuāzǒu le.
Wŏ de zìxíngchē jiào rén gĕi tōu le.
qíngkuàng Jīngji bú cuò, kĕshi rénquán yǒu yìdiănr wèntí. ~ qíngxing.
chōuyān Chōuyān de bĭjiào róngyì dé áizhèng. ~ xīyān.
Lái yì kē yān ba.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Exercise 9.
Distinguish the following words by citing them in short phrases:
大海航行靠舵手
Dàhǎi hángxíng kào duòshǒu
Sailing the seas depends on the helmsman
大海航行靠舵手
Dàhǎi hángxíng kào duòshǒu, Sailing the seas depends on the
seas navigate depend+on helmsman helmsman,
万物生长靠太阳
wànwù shēngzhǎng kào tàiyang, all things depend on the sun for
all-things growth depend-on sun growth;
雨露滋润禾苗壮
yǔ lù zìrùn hémiáo zhuàng, water and dew moisten the seedlings
rain dew moisten seedlings strong and make them strong;
干革命靠的是毛泽东思想
gàn gémìng kào de shì Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng. people who engage in revolution
do revolution depend-on DE is MZD Thought. depend on MZD Thought.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Refrain
鱼离不开水呀
Yú líbukāi shuǐ ya, Fish can’t be separated from water,
fish separate-not-away [from] water ya
瓜儿离不开秧
guār líbukāi yāng, melons can’t be separated from the
melons separate-not-away [from] stalk stalk,
革命群众离不开共产党
gémìng qúnzhòng líbukāi Gòngchǎndǎng, revolutionary masses can’t be
revolution masses separate-not-away [from] CCP separated from the CCP,
毛泽东思想是不落的太阳。
Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng shì bú luò de tàiyáng. MZD Thought is a never setting sun.
Mao Zedong Thought is not fall DE sun.
Shànghǎi: The Jìng'ān Sì (‘Calm-peace Temple’), with Yáo Míng advertising Reeboks.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
Core body parts, as opposed to figurative extensions (eg ‘He’s the brains of the
operation’) might seem to be well-demarcated notions that would translate easily from
language to language; but in fact, though their core meanings correspond fairly well, their
connotations may be quite different. This is particularly true of the internal organs, where
in Chinese, for example, xīngānr, ‘heart’ and ‘liver’ is a term of affection (fùmǔ de
xīngān bǎobèi ‘parents’ darling treasure’); where (at least in some regions) xīncháng
‘heart’ and ‘intestine’ is, roughly, ‘in the mood for’ (méiyou xīncháng qù kàn diànyǐngr);
and where fèifǔ ‘lungs’ and ‘bowels’ means ‘from the bottom of one’s heart’ (fèifǔ zhī
yán ‘words from the bottom of one’s heart’).
The following list is not exhaustive. You may want to add to it, with specialized words
such as ‘temple’, ‘forehead’ or ‘calf’. In addition, you should check regional and local
variation (pronunciation as well as root), and observe usage and metaphorical extensions.
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