Your question is very interesting.
考試 here is not an object. It belongs to 每次 phrase.
We can simply treat it like this pattern.

每次 + conditional phrase + consequence phrase (usually with 都 or more archaic with 皆 indicating that it is always like that).

This is a common pattern for expressing recurring consequence under certain conditions.
With this pattern, we can break it into two parts.

每次地理考試　我都不及格

More examples

每次大雨　我都繞路 (Heavy rain -> I go for indirect route)
每次地震　我都不在 (Earthquake -> I am not there)
每次閃燈　都是紅色 (Light flashes -> (it is) red in colour)
每次你去澳門　都忘記帶禮物 (You go to Macau -> (you) forget to bring some presents)
每次外婆看醫生　母親都會陪同 (Grandmother visits doctor -> Mother go with her)
每次出戰　皆勝 ((someone) has -> (someone) wins)

Sure you can add 有 in the 每次 phrase.

每次有地理考試　我都不及格

The meaning is the same but there are some subtle grammatical changes.
The interesting thing happens here. Chinese languages do not explicitly show the part of speech like English. Most Chinese speakers cannot tell what the grammatical properties of words is unless it is very simple.  There would be a spectrum of answers because most Chinese grammar books imitates Western grammar books.
Actually there are two layers of grammar of words. First is the natural layer. Some words bear clear property naturally, for example, 踢 (kick) is verb, 紅 (red) is adjective, 葉 (leaf) is noun. But many more words are vague and ambiguous. In order to make sentence comprehensible, second layer let the placement of words in sentence to decide the grammatical properties of in usage. For example, 踢 in 一踢 is a noun because it follows 一  like 一杯, 一場. This overrides its natural property in usage.
每次 is like 每個. There is a noun following 每次. We can find phrase like 每次大雨 and 每次火災. We can conclude that 地理考試 in 每次地理考試 works as noun here. For 每次你去澳門, 你去澳門 is  a phrase functioning as noun as well. So do 每次有地理考試. 有地理考試 functions as noun here.

地理考試 is a noun in 每次地理考試
有地理考試 is a sentence dressing itself as a noun in 每次有地理考試.

Phrase and sentence patterns is very important in Chinese languages. In general, word order dictates the meaning of words and their parts of speech.


Is there a definitive list of countries that use traditional chinese and those that use simplified chinese?

Hate to be pedantic, but Hongkong and Macau are not countries, but administrative regions within China. Furthermore, Taiwan’s status is a bit blurred because of the one China principle.

As for your question, Chinese is not official language in Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia, so the issue boils down to actual usage, which is mixed and differs by generations. Same with Chinese communities in the West, where the complex script is more common, though. Japan also uses a simplified script.

Only China (minus Hongkong and Macau) and Singapore use simplified officially.


社会力量办学；

社会 VS 国家 or 政府

  2.此为公交专用车道，社会车辆不得驶入;

社会 means any 车辆 that not from 公交部门

  3.走出校门，走进社会？

Here is the typical usage of 社会.

Most of organizations was run by government before 改革开放, these organizations  are usually called 机关, 单位 or 组织 etc...

If a man does not work in that kind of organizations, he lives in 社会, he is not 组织中的人.

For example, 社会人 is an interesting words, in some situation it means they do not have a formal job, they have complex relations with different kind of people... it is very complex, I did not prepare for this term.

And 学校 is opposite of 社会 in China.

社会 is not only society in China, it has some negative meanings from history periods.


Word list for computer UI and technical. (Simplified character, pinyin, English)

I have done some software translation and there are couple of ways you can go about learning UI-related language. The first thing is to start using applications (including your operating system) in Chinese. This would be the first step if you're serious about this, because otherwise it's hard to get a good grasp of the really common words

Note that words are used differently on the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and so on. Even simple words like "save" or "paste" can be different, so it's not just a matter of simplified and traditional Chinese. Sometimes it even differs between applications.

There are two good resources you can use:

電腦名詞譯名 - This is a huge list of computer-related words. It's extremely useful since it includes both Taiwan and Mainland usage so you can compare and choose the appropriate terms. This list is REALLY big, by the way, by far the most comprehensive resources I've found.
有道 - This is an online dictionary that also has a lot of translated articles (parallel texts). This is very good if you want to know how dialogues in programs are written, including error messages and prompts of different kinds. Searching here will take you very far, but do make sure to check examples to make sure the answer you find really is the right one.

I'm not sure if this answer is too "advanced". If you're just looking for the 100 most common computer-related words, others have provided or will provide better answers. This is the best I can offer if you want to go beyond that, though.


剩翻 can also be written as 剩番
广州话方言词典

剩下；只剩
剩番兩個
剩番地理未考完。
只剩地理還沒考完。

《广州话-普通话》

留下；剩下
剩番佢兩個喺度值班
留下他兩個值班
份稿剩番幾頁未抄。
稿子剩下幾頁沒有抄完

Here we have 剩下, 留下 and 只剩 all used in different translations of 剩番 or 剩翻.


In 脱衣, can I put an adjective between it?

脱衣 seems to be a set, not a 离合词.

But 见面 is a 离合词. You could say 见上一面（meet once）；连面也没见(even unable to meet once)；


Are both 他游了三个小时泳 and 他游泳游了三个小时 fine?

You can say 他游了三個小時泳. People will understand it, but it doesn't sound as smooth as 他游了三個小時的泳. However, that's still not the best way to say it. You should just say 他游了三個小時 or 他游泳游了三個小時.

的 will make it sound more smooth, but it doesn't change the meaning at all, not even emphasizing.


Is it weird to say either 我今天休息了一天 or 我今天休息一天了 ("today, I rest for one day") because of the repetition of 天?

No. It is not weird at all.

我今天休息 means: I rest/will rest today. It usually is only saying that: I do/will not work today.

我今天休息了 means: I have taken a rest today. It shows no information about how long I rested, and usually not a whole day. Usually, it is used to say that I have already taken a rest during my work/study/exercise/... today.

Both the given examples are saying that I've rested for a whole day.


What's the meaning of 登假 in old daoist scriptures like Zhuang Zi?

《康熙字典》
又《集韻》《正韻》與格同，至也。《易·萃卦》王假有廟。

from Kangxi Dicitionary: the 13th meaning of 假

It pronounces as 格, means 'arrive'. Example sentence from Yi Cuigua: The King arrives at the ancestral temple.

^ref


How can I say "a class in Chinese" (and not "a Chinese class")?

The succinct way to express this can be: 中文授课. Put it into a sentence: 本课程用中文授课。This curriculum was taught in Chinese.

This is a class in Chinese can be: 这门课用中文讲述 or 这门课用中文授课.

  New students need to sit the HSK4 exam, because the teachers use Chinese to teach their classes.

It can be translated to 新学生需要参加ＨＳＫ４考试，因为老师(们)用汉语授课。their can be implied in this case because every body would know it's their classes.

Colloquially, you can replace 授课 with 教课 or 上课. So, 汉语教课 and 汉语上课 are also fit and succinct.


Different way of saying "throw rubbish" in Cantonese?

In Cantonese, we seldom say 扔(weng1)垃圾 as 扔 is more commonly used in wriiten Chinese. We either say 掉(deu6) 垃圾 or 抌(dam2)垃圾


What is 到 doing in the sentence 他可能会到地址目录中查找?

到...中 in this context could be interpreted as 'get into'.

他可能会到地址目录中查找?: he might get into the address catalogue to have a search.


Similar pronunciations of tea/茶 across languages

Yep, they do
As you can find on the great and all knowing wiki, the word for tea in most languages comes from the Chinese:
Cognate to Min tê:

English tea
Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish te
Finnish and Estonian tee
French thé
German Tee
Greek τέϊον
Hebrew תה
Indonesian and Malay teh
A great many others

Cognate to Mandarin chá:

Greek τσάι
Japanese ちゃ and さ
Korean 차
Kurdish ça
Punjabi چا / ਚਾਹ
Portuguese chá
Turkish çay
And others

Cognate to Mandarin chá via Persian:

Arabic شاي
Czech čaj
Georgian ჩაი
Greek τσάι
Hindi चाय
Pashto چای
Persian چای
Romanian ceai
Russian чай
Turkish and Turkmen çay
Ukrainian чай
Urdu چائے
Others

There's some double counting going on here, but I'm just copying from their list.
Here's an interesting map showing the etymology of various words for "tea" in Europe.


In my view,

"出於" and "基於" are slightly different from each other.

出於: When you are doing something for the sake of a specific group of person.
You may also use it when you want to express somehow positive or negative things.

基於: It is more formal and neutral. Therefore, use it when you are doing so for official reasons, or when you are not caring a specific group of person.
You should also use it when you want to keep a neutral stance.

For example:
出于对妻子身体的考虑，他在乡间买了所房子。
You are caring your wife, which you are expressing positive attitude(I think), so you use 出于.

基于保安理由，需要保密。
You are doing it for official reasons, without expressing any feeling inside, so you use 基于.


Help deciphering a young Chinese student's writing!

这是我的名字阚鸿博
zhe shi wo de ming zi kan hong bo

This is my name Kan Hongbo


How do I translate this description of the Spanish Queen's dress style? 西班牙王后做造型真省事：连续两年裙子配饰完全不变参加同一活动

Literally, 做：do; 造型：mould, model, style;

做造型 in the context means the style she dressed herself.

不变 applies to her dress and accessories.

A rough translation:

  西班牙王后做造型真省事: The style the Spanish queen dressed herself is really
  simplistic.

  连续两年裙子配饰完全不变参加同一活动: For two years in a row, she participated in the
  same activities with her dress and accessories completely
  unvarying.


Eleven 把-related sentences containing grammar errors (e.g. 我把作业已经交给老师了): how do we explain these errors?

(11) 别当我作傻子了。 --> 别把我当傻子了
another way to fix it is use "当是" instead of "当作" e.g. 别当我是傻子了
[当][我][是][傻子] is [v] + [n] + [v] + [n]
[当(我)作][傻子] is [verb + (n) + verb complement] + [n] (we don't insert noun between verb and verb complement)

~

(8) 顾客把一些水果[放]在购物篮里[了] --> 顾客把一些水果[放了]在购物篮里
If 了 is treated as a verb particle that indicate the action is completed, it is more effective to place it directly after the verb 放
If 了 is treated as a final particle that indicate change of situation, the sentence seems incomplete (what made the customers not put some vegetable in the basket before?)


比 = gesture

画 = draw

比画 = gesture (with hand)

Please see 連 verb A 带 verb B

连A带B indicates 'also' or 'both'.

verb A and verb B happen at the same time or alternately.

noun A and noun B are both the objects

Emphasis is on 'about equal in importance'

Using [連 verb A 带 verb B] create mostly idiomatic phrases when the verbs are related
Example:
哄骗 --> 連哄带骗
滚爬 --> 連滚带爬
比画 --> 连比带画 (Here we just break the compound verb 比画 into two individual verbs to emphasize them both and make it idiomatic.)
哄 and 骗 at the same time is 哄骗
比 and 画 at the same time is 比画
拼命 means 'desperately; earnestly'
拼命连比带画 = desperately gesturing


「乘」and「承」do indeed sound similar, but an etymological relation (if any) would be before the time of Old Chinese. They are unrelated, as far as usage or glyph origins is concerned.

乘
「乘」was originally a picture of a person「大」climbing on top of a tree「木」; feet「舛」were added on to the person later (Shape #2 onwards).
商甲粹1109合集6491西周金公臣簋集成4186篆說文解字　現代楷
The original meanings were to ascend, to ride an object, extended to mean to take advantage of [a situation]. It does not mean to transfer, which is a coincidence due to its meaning of ride.

承
「承」was originally a picture of two hands「」and「又」holding up a kneeling person「卩」. The kneeling person's legs were straightened (Shape #2), then replaced with another hand「手」to emphasise the meaning of holding up, leaving behind a small shape representing the rest of the person (Shape #3 onwards).
商甲後2.30.12合集9175戰國金令狐君嗣子集成9719篆說文解字　現代楷
The original meaning was to hold up, extended to mean to carry responsibility > to inherit, carry on, continue. To transfer may give a wrong impression if used incorrectly; it is only related in the sense of to inherit, carry on, continue.

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂
國學大師


Spoken Cantonese | using '緊', and difference between continuous and progressive aspects

In Cantonese grammar, 緊 indicates a ‘progressive’ aspect while 住 indicates a ‘durative’ aspect. Both aspects are part of the ‘continuous’ aspect of English grammar.

佢著緊件外套 (she is putting on an overcoat) describes a dynamic ongoing action of wearing the overcoat.
佢著住件外套 (she has on her body an overcoat) describes a static persistent state of already having the overcoat on her body.

佢拖緊兩個細路過馬路 (he is taking two kids across the road) denotes that “taking two kids” is the main action while crossing the road.
佢拖住兩個細路過馬路 (he is crossing the road with two kids tagging along) denotes that “taking two kids” is merely a subsidiary action of crossing the road.


How do I resolve dictionary ambiguities when looking up words/phrases?

One way I use to "resolve" those ambiguities in a pinch is by using two dictionaries - one English to Chinese and another Chinese to English.

Essentially, when looking for a Chinese word corresponding to an idea you want to express, look it up in E-Ch dictionary first, then take all the results that you think you could use, and look them up again in the Chinese to English dictionary. Usually the subtle (or not so subtle) differences in meaning become evident in Ch-E translations. This works even better if you use dictionaries that have example sentences, ideally in both languages.

This 2-dictionary trick works for any pair of languages, best if one of them is your native or near native, so try to find dictionaries in your native one. Obviously it works the better the closer the two languages are, but Chinese is quite far, linguistically, from anything spoken outside Asia.

If you want to spend more time on this little research - look the Chinese word up in various online or offline corpora of sentences. Look up or Google the combination of this word and the one you're sure about - subject/predicate, "adjective"/noun and so on and see how many results you get - the more the # the more likely you got it right.

In the end, "usage" is all about context. These methods are quick (compared to asking on forums or reading a few books in Chinese ;) ) and dirty ones for establishing what word fits the context you want to use it in.


Is there a website/service that corrects Chinese essays?

Stephen.
I am a Chinese and interested in your Chinese essays..
Could you POST them or one to me , if i can do anything for help , i will repeat to you .
you can just post it below , or this is my email : hunter.v.wang@gmail.com

Looking forward to your essays..

[You must have 50 reputation to comment]

so , i leave the comment in answer ,sorry;


A lot of people are trying to explain 就 vs 才 with english equivalent terms, but that makes it very confusing when it can be explained with simple logic statements, and it is crucial to understand the reasoning behind all these cases:

  X就Y -> Y if X

  X才Y -> Y if and only if X

The difference is that when using 就, X is not the only condition that Y can happen, while with 才 Y happens [if and only if] X happens. Basic example:

  下雨的話(X)地就會濕(Y)

  The floor will get wet (Y) [if] it rains (X)

  下雨的話(X)地才會濕(Y)

  The floor will get wet (Y) [if and only] if it rains (X)

Mutated form of 就 vs 才:

  你怎么想我(X)就不在乎呢(Y)。

  I wouldn't care (Y) [if] however you think of me (X)

  你怎么想我(X)才不在乎呢(Y)。

  I wouldn't care (Y) [if and only if] however you think of me (X)

But wait a second, how does that make any sense?

You see, "I wouldn't care" is the result of "however you think of me", the action. By using 就 you are simply stating that you wouldn't care how he thinks of you. But in some cases that's not powerful enough, and only in chinese that you can deliver that kind of tone: you want to tell the other person you don't care so much that "however you think of me" is the ONLY thing that you don't care about, and you care about everything else.

  两个人(X)就能办好(Y)。

  It can be done (Y) [with] two people (X).

  两个人(X)才能办好(Y)。

  It can be done (Y) [with and only with] two people (X).

  (Note that this can imply strictly 2 persons, or 2 or more people)

The following is harder to explain:

  就是他。

  That is (simply) him

  才是他。

  That is (the real) him

You would use 就是他 when you see someone doing something that he normally does.

  那就是菲尔普斯(Y)，又贏獎牌了(X)

  That is Michael Phelps (Y), winning yet another medal (X)

  ([Because] of winning another swimming medal, he has to be Michael Phelps)

But then let's say Michael Phelps had been on a losing streak for the past few of games, and he has finally gotten another medal.

  那才是我知道的菲尔普斯！

  Oh yeah that is the true Michael Phelps that I know of!

  (This signifies that it is the real Michael Phelps [because and ONLY because] he has won again and he is known for winning. It wasn't him when he wasn't winning. You would use this form when you want to confirm that something is finally back in shape or back to where it used to be.)

Finally, quite straight forward:

  就是够了

  That is enough.

  才是够了。

  That is just enough.


Are these two having the same meaning: 遥远的地方 vs. 远方

远方 is more literary/ classical

遥远的地方 is more colloquial/ modern

我住在一个遥远的地方。= 'I live in a faraway place'
我住在远方。= 'I live in some faraway place'. We don't need the classifier 一个 for 远方, it is a term for 'far away place(s)' in general.


Tourists in China but can not understand Chinese

It's difficult for westerners to master the four tones in a few days, but if you have a few months, you can try! It's also difficult to learn how to read Chinese characters, but you can memorize some common words in a few days, such as restaurant, hotel, supermarket, museum, park etc, so that you can know where to go (most places have English signs in Beijing & Shanghai). In Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, you don't need to worry about the language barrier because most young people there can talk with you in English.


What does "相兼岂" mean in this sentence from a Taiji Quan manual?

the chopping of the verse is, . . . incorrect lah
the “體用歌”

太極拳。十三式。妙在二氣分陰陽。化生千億歸抱一。歸抱一。太極拳。兩儀四象渾無邊。禦風何似頂頭懸。我有一轉語。今為知者吐。湧泉無根腰無主。力學垂死終無補。體用相兼豈有他。浩然氣能行乎手。掤捋擠按採捩肘靠。進退顧盼定。不化自化走自走。足欲向前先挫後。身似行雲。打手安用手。渾身是手手非手。但須方寸隨時守所守。

roughly, “體” means “noumenon“ (本體); “用” means “usage” (使用)
so, the verse “體用相兼豈有他” should be interpreted as:
the noumenon (體) & usage (用), both (相) [should be] taken care of (兼 -> 兼顧); there’s no other way (豈有他)
have fun :)


Why do you say 我没有错 instead of 我不错 to say "I'm not wrong"? When should I use 没有?

This particular example is completely idiomatic. 不错 is an adjective meaning 'not bad', the negation of 错 as verb 'to wrong; to mistake' is '没有错'.
Generally 没有 is used in past tense or perfect tense to falsify a statement of fact; 不 is used in present or future tense to express (un)willingness.
没有：

你吃饭了么？Have you eaten?
我没有吃。I haven't.

不：

你吃饭么？Are you going to eat something?
我不吃。No I am not.

Another example to compare the two as answers to the same question:

Q: 他说了么？Did he tell you?
A1: 他没有说。He didn't.
A2: 他不说。He wouldn't tell me.


I would be grateful if anyone can translate/identify the artist of this Chinese "Farmers' Art" painting

Let's break it down:

盼春：Looking forward to Spring

户县：Hu County

张青义：Qingyi Zhang

作: Painted By

Title of the painting is:

盼春：Looking forward to Spring

Full translation is:

户县张青义作：Painting by Qingyi Zhang from Hu County

Seal:

The right side translate to 青义，which is the painter's Firstname, not sure about the left side. The previous answer says it's 画印, which translate to Seal, so the Seal translate to: Qingyi Seal

Found something about the painter, and one of the painting has the title 盼春 as well:

张青义户县农民作品画欣赏


You are already correct! Some alternatives, you can also use Adj.+多了 or Adj.+很多 to express the degree is high. So, all of these sentences have the same meaning.

  中国的发展速度比美国的快得多。
  中国的发展速度比美国的快多了。
  中国的发展速度比美国的快很多。


i would suggest 叢 (u+53e2):

http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?ccd=vZFQLg&o=e0&sec=sec1&op=v&view=0-2

eg 一叢莢蒾


Is "可以来 (ke3 yi3 lai2) ..." an idomatic way to say "please bring me ..."?

It is a euphemistic way to say so, as it would seem more polite.

We would use subjunctive mood/subjonctif to translate this expression, as "Could I have..." or "Puis-je avoir...". Note that this is always in the form of a question, so please do not forget to add "...吗？" in the end.


Which "if" is appropriate for what situations

假如 Jiǎrú - if
Generally used. In most case, it's for something that wouldn't happen.
要是 Yàoshi - if
Mostly used in 最近雾霾这么厉害，要是我离开北京就好了 - It'd be great if I had left Beijing! The air pollution is so heavy here.
若是 Ruòshì - if
Literally used, similar to 要是
如果 Rúguǒ - if / in case / in the event that
Generally used.
倘 Tǎng - if / supposing / in case
Almost only used in literature works.
倘若 Tǎngruò - provided that / supposing that / if
Mostly used in love letters or lyrics.
假若 Jiǎruò - if / supposing / in case
Seldom used. A bit like 假如
假使 Jiǎshǐ - if / in case / suppose / given ...
Seldom used.


Help understanding 有病不怕，只怕有病说没病，不肯让大夫治疗。

Haven't read the story for more context, but I would read it like this:

我该说的都说了。
I've said all I can say.

有病不怕，
Don't worry if you get sick,

只怕有病说没病，
just worry if you get sick but pretend you are not sick,

不肯让大夫治疗。
(and therefore) you don't let the quack treat you.

Boom, shortly after, clogs popped!


Where does the phrase 镜中花，水中月 come from?

It comes from an idiom 镜花水月（jìng huā shuǐ yuè）

  For example: 《说岳全传》第六一回：“阿弥陀佛，为人在世，原是镜花水月。”《白雪遗音·玉蜻蜓·游庵》：“我和你镜花水月闲消遣，何必名贤胜地逢。”

镜子里的花；水中的月亮。  Flowers in the mirror, moon in the water. I think the translation illusion is proper in your case. You can also translate it as unpractical, unrealistic.

  Provenance:
  唐·裴休《唐故左街僧录内供奉三教谈论引驾大德安国寺上座赐紫方袍大达法师元秘塔碑铭》：“峥嵘栋梁，一旦而摧。水月镜像，无心去来。”


Why is "cult movies" translated as 邪典电(電)影?

Fully translated, 邪典電影 is cult classic movie:

邪 = cult-ish/heterodox, c.f. 邪教 (religious cult)
典 = classic, c.f. 經典 (classics, classical)

In English, cult movie is really just short for cult classic movie.


In my opinion, they mean the same:"if". "要是" is a little informal and more common in oral speaking, while "如果" is formal, I think, but you will see both of them in books.
I could only catch up with one differences in use between them. For "要是“, because there is a "是" inside, when the verb in the "if-clause" is "是(to be)", "是" can be ommitted, however, "是" can't be ommitted when using "如果”.
Some examples:

要是我，[我]就不会那么做。 If [it were] me, [I] won't do that way.
如果是我，[我]就不会那么做。If [it were] me, [I] won't do that way.

Also, I don't agree with Tom Au that only "要是" has a "wish" mood. I think "如果" can be used in this case too.

要是我有100万就好了。 It's good if I have 1 million,really means I wish I could have 1 million
如果我有100万就好了。 It's good if I have 1 million,really means I wish I could have 1 million


Can I use 又 to give more than two properties of something?

There is a set phrase in Cantonese which goes:
又平又靓又正
ABC Canto defines it as:

STATIVE VERB
(for goods or services) to be not only cheap and attractive, but also good-quality; to be not only cheap and nice-looking, but also reliable

and gives the examples:

其實呢度都幾好買,啲衫又平又靚又正
kei4 sat6 ni1 dou6 dou1 gei2 hou2 maai5, di1 saam1 jau6 peng4 jau6 leng3 jau6 zeng3
In fact buying here is quite good, the clothes are not only cheap and attractive, but also good-quality
大陸人好鍾意嚟香港買嘢,係因為啲嘢又平又靚又正㗎
daai6 luk6 jan4 hou2 zung1 ji3 lai4 hoeng1 gong2 maai5 je5, hai6 jan1 wai6 di1 je5 jau6 peng4 jau6 leng3 jau6 zeng3 gaa3
China-mainlanders like to come to Hong Kong to buy things, it's because the things are not only cheap and nice-looking, but also reliable

Which should go to show that more than two 又s is okay.
——
The issue you have with your example sentence that people are trying to correct you on is that the descriptors surrounded by the 又s need to go together.
Fast and good looking is lacking any sort of logical connection.
You could say: fast and nimble or good looking and cute.
——
Slightly unrelated but you might want to know:
There’s also the new expression:
又双叒叕
you4 shuang1 ruo4 zhuo2 -or- you4 you4 you4 you4 you4 you4 you4 you4 you4 you4
To express that somethings happened yet again.
Here’s a headline from the recent news:

Windows10免费升级又双叒叕延期了


Lao is a member of the Tai–Kadai language family. This family does include some languages spoken by minority groups, including the Zhuang languages of Guangxi. Several languages in this group have words which sound familiar to Cantonese speakers. (I remember traveling to Thailand and being shocked by how similar Thai numerals are to those of Cantonese.) Nevertheless, the historical relationship of this language family to Sino-Tibetan (the language family which includes Chinese dialects like Cantonese) is a matter of some debate. From Wikipedia:

  The Tai–Kadai languages were formerly considered to be part of the Sino-Tibetan family, but outside China they are now classified as an independent family. They contain large numbers of words that are similar in Sino-Tibetan languages. However, these are seldom found in all branches of the family, and do not include basic vocabulary, indicating that they are old loan words (Ostapirat 2005).

That these languages share many similar words is not surprising because of the historical proximity of these communities, but it appears most linguists believe that there isn't a deep connection between the language families.


Can someone please explain this term/slang “问个P”

Yes, it's 问个屁. P -> 屁.

问个屁 means Don't ask!. It indicates that you are annoyed by the questioner. It's a way to block their questions to annoy you any further.

It's a ruder way to say 别问了！


Can 之间 be equivalent to 之内 in some contexts?

之间 = between (more than one object)

Example:

兩人之间 (between the two persons)

球員之间 (between the players)

教練與球員之间 (Between coach and players)

~

之内 = within (a single object)

Example:

球队之内 (within the football team)

组织之内 (within the organization)

公司之內 (within the company)

~

More graphic examples:

两眼之间的距离 (distance between two eyes)

人体之内的器官 (organs within the human body)

  很多的发展过去是在一个行业之间的，我们觉得互联网金融的时代更多机会是在跨业的。

In this context, it should be

很多的发展过去是在一个行业之内的，我们觉得互联网金融的时代更多机会是在跨业的。
(Many developments existed within an industry in the past. We feel that in the era of internet finance, more opportunities are existing between industries)

一个行业 is a single object

过去的发展是在[一个行业之内]的 = the past developments were of [within an industry]
互联网金融的时代的机会是在[行业之间]的 =  internet era's financial opportunities are of [between industries]


Why is 尊重 considered 不礼貌 in this context?

First you have to know the difference between 尊敬 (respect) and 尊重(respect)
尊敬 is respect with admiration. For example, "I respect my teacher"; "I respect scientists"
尊重 is respect with acceptance or tolerance, mostly treat as equal. For example, "the court respect the defendant's right to remain silent" ; I respect your opinion (although I think it is stupid); I respect women's right (although I think men are superior)

I would not go as far as saying it is impolite to use 尊重 when you should use 尊敬; it is just not respectful enough

Beside 尊重 is not 尊敬, the problem with the sentence "我尊重中国的工程公司" is that we don't know in what aspect you respect Chinese engineering companies. Is it their reputation? If it is their reputation, then what kind of reputation you are referring to?
The topic: 'Chinese engineering companies' is just too general to pinpoint what is the respectable element, we need something specific, for example, "I respect Chinese engineering companies' innovative thinking"

"在我们国家中工会受到人们的尊重" implies people respect the union; not unlike the way you respect your neighbors
"在我们国家中工会受到人们的尊敬" implies people respect and admire the union. We all know the union's reputation is protecting labor's right against big companies' unfair treatment of their workers

Note:
尊敬/ 敬佩 = respect and admire; 敬重= respect and value; 佩服 = admire; 尊重 = respect (as equal)


其, in ancient Chinese, is used as a personal pronoun: he, she, it, his, her, its. nowadays, in Chinese, we partially inherited its usage. That means it will only make sense in some fixing words, phrases and sentences. besides examples by haksayng, there are more (which are commonly used in my quotidian world): 以其人之道，还治其人之身 （meaning "fight fire with fire" or "tit for tat"）, 有其父必有其子 （meaning "like father, like son"）, etc...


What is a good English translation of 相见亦无事，别后常忆君。

Growth in longing comes from a place of absence


Proper Way to Address a President in a Formal Letter

President of a country (e.g. The United States) is called 总统 in Chinese

A President or Chairman of a political party (e.g. Communist Party of China ) is called 主席

To formally address The President of a country in writing, you should use an honorific like 阁下 or 先生 or even 大人 and call him 总统阁下; 总统先生 or even 总统大人 (kind of too old fashion and too humble if you ask me)

Example:

奥巴马(name) 总统(title) 阁下 (honorific)

习近平(name) 总书记(title) 阁下 (honorific)

Edit:

Sometimes people would call 習近平主席/总书记 as 'President Xi'

Even Wikipedia refers 習近平 as 'President'

President of the People's Republic of China


Translation of 'I do not need what I think I need'

First,

  我不需要我认为我需要的东西

Is okay.

Next:

  Is 的东西 necessary or is 我不需要我认为我需要 sufficient to convey the meaning?

If anything 东西 is unnecessary. 的 on the other hand is essential.

的 has the function to turn verbs into nouns.

需要 means “to need,” 的 turns to need (需要) into 需要的 and means into something more like - what (I) need -or- the things (I) need.

So 我不需要我认为我需要的东西 could be better phrased as 我不需要我认为我需要的.

It might be more natural to put it in a flipped order though (i.e.: what I think I need - I don’t (actually) need).


Writing critique request: Welcome to the world of DNA editing

欢迎来到现代“DNA编辑”的新世界。原来我差不多是第一个接受DNA编辑的人，而且我爸是这个领域的领导研究者之一，他们一起偷偷地进行研究。小时候使我变瘦的药物是这种新技术的一项成果。那时候这项技术刚开始研发，所以还比较初级，多数人无缘使用甚至根本不知道存在DNA编辑。不久，各国政府就介入了这个领域，都希望成为能利用这项技术的唯一国家，在研究中占主导地位。不过现在，DNA编辑技术也能简单地为普通人所用了。

Comments：

引号用在“DNA编辑”上以第一次介绍这个科学名词就可以了。

上文“DNA编辑”是作名词用的，这里需要谓语“接受”

“这个领域”作定语限定范围。

“一起”这个词必须搭配复数行为主体，原句主语是我爸，他一个人是不能“一起”研究的，需要切换主语。

“造成”一般接不利、不希望看到的影响/后果，这里应该用中性的“使”。（题主所提供的链接之例句似乎已经表明了这一点。）

“减肥”是主观行动，“变瘦”才是减肥的实际结果。（这件事似乎之前提过唔？）

“注射器”只是注射药物的工具，“药物”才是他们研究的成果。

“例子”用词不当。应该用“成果”。

很遗憾“刚开始研发了”反而不能加“了”。（但“开始研发了”却可以。）

“基础”用词不当。应该用“初级”。从逻辑上看，后面马上接“普通人难以接触这项技术”的句子，这里用“罕见”似乎更加合理。

“无法”用词不当。只是因为能实施这种技术的机构一开始非常有限，大部分人没有机会使用，而不是这种技术对他们无效。所以应该用“无缘”。

本句“无法使用”宾语缺失，将“DNA编辑”挪到句尾，将“不知道存在”整体作为谓语，使“DNA编辑”成为两个谓语的共同宾语。

“立即”时间词用得不好。“立即”的前文，需要存在明确的时间点，才能确认“立即”到底是什么时候。改成“不久”模糊一下比较好。

“世界政府”在汉语中专指辖制世界的政府，依文意，这里说的是“各国政府”。

“介入”缺宾语。

现代汉语中，宾语可以前置，定语却不能随便后置。所以应该是“能利用这项技术的唯一国家”。

句式杂糅。“建立主导地位”或“占主导地位”只能择一。

最后一句句式不明。如果要用“为……所……”的被动式，两个字都不能缺。

添加“也”顺畅逻辑。


偷看一眼 sounds like "Ta kan yi yan": wrong lyrics (as happened with 一切都这么美好 which is sung as 一切都变得美好) or weird pronunciation?

Trying to make sense of a tweet-length song is hard, but since the song is from a romance movie in 1980, it could be a boy meeting a girl for the first time.

His first glance warmed her and brightened her world.
His second glance established the fond love and sealed her fate.

That is all I can think of.


賠
(1)compensate; indemnify
(2) apologize

賠笑 = smile apologetically
[赔着]笑脸 = [serve up] a smiling face (apologetically)
八戒 had naughty thoughts about the three girls. His subconscious guilty feeling was showing on his face with an apologetic smile


The database of the Center for Chinese Linguistics PKU
It supports modern and ancient Chinese, context-view.
Pattern search examples:

    爱(V,=2)不(V) will get 爱执行不执行, 2 characters following 爱, then 不 and max 10(default) characters.

    爱(V,2-5)不(V), 2 to 5 characters following 爱,

    爱(V,<5)不(V)

    有(V,<8)没(V,>7) wrong, only support 1 condition

It has many other features, described in the documentation.


昔伯牙絕絃於鍾期，仲尼覆醢于子路，痛知音之難遇，傷門人之莫逮也。 Means a person lost his(her) bosom friend, he (she) is so sad, and not one can acquaintance him(her) like the past friend.So the 莫逮 here is can not be comparable to something(someone), 莫 means can not, 逮 means can be comparable to something(someone).


Difference between 晃, 摇, 抖, 荡, 摆, 挥, 颤 and 滚

滚 : to boil;
to roll;
Get lost!

https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E6%BB%9A

No definitions or words explicitly relating to waving or shaking

荡 (dang4)： pond, pool; wash away, cleanse + shake

https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E8%8D%A1

The definition 'shake/swing' appears to be more literary. It resembles the swaying movement of a boat or reed in a pond.

I would add that in my experience it's counterproductive to seek differences in meaning of individual characters without context, as many characters are not used on their own but form parts of actual words.

The rest of the question would be better phrased as the difference between 摇动 摆动 晃动 抖动
and 挥动

挥动 is used when a person is waving some thing, because 挥 is also used in words to mean to command

摆动 is used for oscillating movement

摇动 would be your typical word for shake

I see 晃动 used a lot with liquids. It expresses shaking to and fro, oscillating up/down, or shaking in waves (that's why dogs don't 晃 their tail)

抖动 and 颤动 are both about trembling

抖动 is simpler lower frequency trembling, 颤动 is higher frequency trembling

抖动 is local 颤动 is global


Modifying nouns with phrase + 的

A [phrase + 'adjective suffix 的'] is an 'adjective phrase'. It functions as an adjective for the noun. If there is a [clause +'adjective suffix 的'], then it is an 'adjective clause'

的 can also be a 'possessive' but that's another topic.

  The main problem was to understand when the sentence / phrase is referred to a regular action or to the action in the past.  Could this be figured out without additional time markers?

May be this can help: How do you specify past tense for 是?

So, the answer is, " no, you can't figure out the action is in the past or present without additional time markers, but you don't need to"


First we will deal with the origin (English):

doubt is, in a sense, questioning something
suspect is, on the other hands, distrusting something

back to your example, you can identify the 2 sentences like this:

  I doubt (this 100 yuan bill is fake)

thus you are questioning the bill's..."fake-ness" which implies you think it's real

  I suspect (this 100 yuan bill) is fake

thus you are distrusting this bill, thinking it's fake.

Now, to the translation:
我怀疑这张百元钞票是假的
is definitly the second explanation - I suspect this 100 yuan bill is fake.

The way to express I doubt this 100 yuan bill is fake would be:
我对这张百元钞票是假的有怀疑

Hope this gives you an idea.


专门 - specially
用 - use ("used" here)
来 - for
找工作 - job searching/seeking

So the whole sentence means "(the stocked money) is used for job searching specially".


你给我死 - what emotion does this convey, typically?

at 29:02 he mentioned "安樂死" (euthanasia)

at 29:16 he mentioned that his mother said "你給我死吧"

i think that you misunderstood the saying. it's not "I don't even want to know you anymore".

你 - you

給 - give, let

我 - me

死 - dead

吧 - a particle ~ ok, or treat it as meaningless

so, "你給我死吧" is roughly "let me die, please"

in most countries, religions, euthanasia is prohibited, so when a aged parent asked his son to let her die, it's unbearable for all parties.

the son would be facing legal action, most likely homicide; or against his religious belief, if he do it.

if he don't it, he is looking his mother suffering from disease, lost of functions slowly, which is also an bad experience.

so, in such situation, the emotion of "你给我死吧" would convey is an unbearable begging, asking someone who is close, trustable.

lastly, imo, it's a question about euthanasia, beyond any languages. have a look of the book "fatal freedom" by thomas szasz; chapter 6 talked about euthanasia in details:

https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Freedom-Ethics-Politics-Suicide/dp/0815607555


Resources listing polysyllabic Mandarin words with same pronunciation differing only by tones?

I suggest you use an online dictionary similar to this site: http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=shishi

The linked site above allows you to hear the pronunciation (click on the arrows), however I suggest you copy and paste two characters into Google translate which has the audio and it pronounces it as a set phrase rather than separately as the first site does e.g. https://translate.google.com.au/?hl=en&tab=wT#zh-CN/en/%E6%97%B6%E4%BA%8B


What is the difference between 比如 and 例如

比如 used for similar but have different things;

例如 used for many of the same things, and take a typical example, using the example to illustrate the general of many things

Also, 比如 may not exist, but 例如 is must really exist.

  比如和例如最重要的区别在“比”“例”的不同上。两词共有的“如”都是“象”的意思。但是，“比如”是用两个有些相似但是根本不同事物间的形容。例如说，“说话就比如是骑自行车样，要练习。”这里就不能用“例如”。“例如”是在说明很多相同的事物时，从中拿出一个典型的例子，用这个例子来说明众多的一般的事物。例如：“大家都很无私，例如小李就捐了一万块。”这里用比如好像可以，但是准确的应该是“例如”。

See here


How accurate is CNN's (or Google Translate's) translation of 把全部心思和精力放在备战打仗上 as "put all our minds and energy on preparing for war"?

把全部心思和精力放在备战打仗上 --> "put all our minds and energy on preparing for war"

It is an acceptable translation

把全部心思和精力 -  take all our minds and energy

[放在 (put) ] 备战 (preparing for war) 打仗 (war) [上 (on)]

备战 and 打仗 can be used as verb phrases because they are separable verbs that made up of [v + n], and [v + n] verb phrase can be used as a noun. For example, we cannot say 放在前進上 because 前進 is a [v + v] verb; but we can say 放在打仗上

打仗 can also be a noun for 'war'  e.g. 遇上打仗 (when war happens)

It seems that 打仗 (war/ battle) here is redundant since 备战 already meant "preparing for war".
A reason for saying 备战打仗 is the verb 备战 is often used metaphorically to mean any "preparation". For example, a football team's 备战 refers to their training before a match (备战球賽); A student's 备战 refers to his study before an exam (备战考试)
[备战]打仗 should be understood as "[preparing for] battle"
In a more political phrasing -- "to maintain battle preparedness" (保持战斗准备)


Mandarin vs. Cantonese: 令 vs 讓 for making something happen

For the meaning of 'to make/ to cause',  the usage of 令 in colloquial Cantonese  cover the usage of 令(force/make), 使(cause/make) and 讓(allow/make) in Mandarin

Example:

令人唔開心 (Cantonese) = 令人不高興/ 使人不高興/ 讓人不高興 (Mandarin)

The difference between 令 使 and 讓 is in 'degree of emphasis'; colloquial Cantonese typically use final particles for emphasis

  In literal Cantonese (SWC- Standard written Chinese) It is the same as Mandarin

Example:

令人不高興/ 使人不高興/ 讓人不高興 (Mandarin) = 令人不高興/ 使人不高興/ 讓人不高興 (SWC)

  Cantonese do not use 讓 (make/ cause) colloquially at all. However, there's a word we use in colloquial Cantonese for 'make/ cause'  that is not used by Mandarin. This word is '等', but it has to be used with a 'cause'

Example:

"(等)佢熟透" = "(wait) for it to be cooked completely"

"加猛火(等)佢快啲熟透" = "use high heat (to make) it cooked completely faster"

In Mandarin, it would be "加猛火(讓)它快點熟透"

One more note: Cantonese do use the compound words 使到 and 令到 colloquially. The same as Mandarin


Usage of 一边 (doing things simultaneously)?

“一边。。。一边。。。” is a very useful structure. It can also be simplified as “边。。。边。。。”

For example, 他一边吃饭一边看书。她边走边唱。


group dynamics - 群体互动（行为）

social dynamics - 社会互动（行为）

psychodynamics - 心理活动（学）

sociodynamics - 社会动力（学）


English translation of Su Shi's "Cold Food Observance"

Here are three translations for you to muse over.
Miao Guang's translation:

Ever since my arrival in Huangzhou,
Three Cold-Food Festivals* have come and gone;
Despite my intention to cherish each Spring,
Yet the passing Spring allows no such dream.
This year, there is once again bitter rain,
Two months of miserable autumn-like days;
Smelling the scents of crab-apple flowers in bed,
By muddy soil the blushing snow is stained.
Being stolen out in the dark,
Obviously it was midnight's strong men;
What difference is from an ill young man,
Upon recovery, the hairs have already gone grey.
The spring river about to flood my place,
With the drenching rain not ready to cease;
My small hut is like a fishing boat,
Amid the fog and water it is afloat.
In the empty kitchen I cook cold vegetables,
Burning damp reeds beneath a broken stove;
How was I to know it was Cold-Food Festival Day?
From the paper-money ravens collect.
The emperor's gate is nine-layers deep,
While tombs are ten-thousand miles away;
I would cry over having come upon the road's end,
But, like dead ashes, my heart'll never kindle again.

Bor-hua Wang's translation:

Since coming to Huangzhou,
Three Cold-Food Festivals have come and gone.
Each year I wish to linger with spring,
But spring admits no delay for departure.
This year, I again suffer from bitter rain,
Two months of autumn-like dreary weather.
Lying in bed, I smell the crab-apple blossoms;
Mud smudges their rouge and snow.
In darkness, they were carried off;
Truly, there must be a strong man [stealing them away]
in the middle of the night.
How does it differ from a sickly youth,
upon leaving his sickbed, finding his hair already
Spring flood is coming up to my door,
But the rain shows no sign of letting up.
My small hut is like a fishing boat,
Blurred in misty water and clouds.
Prepared in my empty kitchen are only cold vegetables,
The cracked stove has only burnt wet reeds.
How did I know it is the Cold-Food festival?
I see scraps of paper money picked up by crows.
The sovereign’s gates are far above nine levels [of
Heaven];
Tombs [of my ancestors] are ten-thousand miles away.
I would weep [for my misery] at the end of the road,
Only [my heart] is like dead ashes that cannot be
rekindled.74

Patrick Siu's translation:

Ever since I came to Huangzhou, three Hanshi (Cold Food Festivals) have passed by.
Each year I wish the springtime can be prolonged but Spring departs without lingering.
This year again we suffer the rain, two months of dreary, autumn like weather.
Lying in bed, I listen to rains falling heavily on the crabapple blossoms.
The fallen red petals and white petals are splattered in the mud.
Spring is stolen as if by a strong figure in the middle of the night,
It’s no different from a sick young man who rising from his sickbed found his hair has turned white.
The spring river wants to flood the house. The force of the rain is unrelenting.
My small house is like a fishing boat in the midst of fog and water.
In an empty kitchen I boil cold vegetables in a broken stove burning damp reeds.
How could I know that today is the Hanshi Festival, except that I see crows carrying ghost money from graveyards?
The emperor’s gates are nine layers deep; the family tombs ten thousand miles away.
Will I in the manner of Juan Chi (阮籍) weeping that the road is at an end?
Dead ashes, blown, will not rekindle. (Feelings of despair and abandonment.)


As I understand it:

一楼 = first post

顶楼 = latest post

We often see post refer the previous posts as 楼下

Take this page for example:

85樓 (2019-10-07 02:23) is the latest post

2樓  (2018-05-29 15:49) is the oldest post (一楼 must had been deleted)


What is the difference between 将来 and 未来？

I was told that 未来 is further in the future than 将来. Is this true?

Not necessarily:

我将来要买辆车。-- Several years.
我将来要成为音乐家。-- Several decades.
人类将来会灭绝。-- Several millennia, to be optimistic.
宇宙将来会热寂。-- Several billion years, probably.

In these cases 将来 works as adverbs, it can be used for the most distant future. You can use 未来 in all these examples, but it would sound slightly pretentious. So if you are doing adverbs, 将来 is often be a better choice.
If you use 将来 and 未来 as nouns, then it's a different story. Here 未来 do seem to mean a more distant future:

台湾的未来究竟会怎样？-- Sung by Zheng Zhi-hua.
教育要现代化，面向世界，面向未来。-- Said by Deng Xiaoping.
在不远的将来……-- Idiom.
在遥远的未来……-- Idiom.

The thing here is 将来 is seldom used as a noun. I could hardly think of an example besides the one above.
Let's talk about adjectives. When you use 未来, you often imply something big or grandeur. 将来 is less so, and sounds slightly less formal. The difference is not big and in many cases you can use them interchangeably:

未来的汽车不需要人驾驶。-- 将来 means the same but sounds more casual.
美国是我们将来的合作伙伴。-- 未来 may sound more formal but 将来 is also OK.
你是我未来的妻子。-- 将来 sounds less formal. You want to treat your marriage seriously, so 将来的妻子 is less idiomatic.

未来 is used together with another noun to form futuristic concepts, as in 未来世界, 未来城市, 未来时代. The 的 can be omitted. The same doesn't apply for 将来. In fact if you want to use 将来 as an adjective, you should always add 的 in between.


Why does Chinese sometimes put 儿 after verbs and nouns?

Adding the 儿 to the end of a word is known as 儿化 (er2hua4). Whether or not you use the 儿 really just comes down to regional accents/dialects, but the meaning of the word is unchanged. Generally speaking, northern mandarin dialects use the erhua more than southern ones; in some regions you'll almost never hear anyone use the erhua in speech.

There are some words where the added erhua changes the word's meaning, but these are usually regional/colloquial terms, such as 天儿, which means the same as 天气, not 天.


How to pronounce 儿 in conjunction with other characters

Wikipedia has a very useful page on Erhua. I don't know how to type IPA here and I'm not sure whether the OP knows IPA, so I'll summarize the rules informally here, writing the approximate erhua pronunciation inside quotations marks. (Note that this does not represent the pinyin spelling of erhua words; those rules are different.):

Final i and n are deleted: 把儿 = ba + er -> "bar"; 伴儿 = ban + er -> "bar"; 盖儿 = gai + er -> "gar"
Main vowels i and ü are retained, and the "er" sound is added at the end of the syllable:  气儿 = qi + er -> "qier"; 劲儿 = jin + er -> "jier" (the n is deleted by the above principle); 裙儿 = qun + er -> "qüer", 驴儿 = lü + er -> "lüer"
Certain vowel sounds merge. These rules are complicated; I refer you to Wikipedia for more details.
Final ng is deleted, but the vowel becomes nasal. I've left this rule until last because (as a native English speaker) I find these sounds difficult to pronounce. Wikipedia, or the sound files mentioned in other answers, will give you a better sense of how these vowels sound.


martlet /märtlət/

If there's no official translation, you can always use transliteration.  For example 瑪勒鳥 (Mǎ Lēi bird)

Or you can call it '無足燕' , based on the description "swallow without feet"

Edit:

seems like user3306356 had found the official translation of martlet-- '无足鸟'(no feet bird) ; But I wonder, if it is a kind of swallow, why not call it '無足燕'(no feet swallow)?

学名岩燕 (scientific name:rock swallow), may be '岩燕' is a better choice?


住起在 and 住在起 are both ungrammatical. It is either 住起来(upon living) or 住在(live in). You can write "住在这个房子讓我很不舒服" - " living in this house make me uncomfortable" But you cannot add 起来 to it

起来 = upon

[Verb + 起来] = [upon + verb] --  e.g. 住起来 (upon living)

[Verb + 起来 + adj = [seem/feel + adj + upon + verb] -- e.g. 住起来不舒服 (feel uncomfortable upon living in it)

他看起来很友好 = seem friendly, upon looking at him = he seems friendly when looking at him

你的头发闻起来很香 = seem to smell nice upon smelling your hair = your hair smells nice when smelling it

你的床摸起来很舒服 = feel comfortable upon touching your bed = your bed feel comfortable when touching it


character v. glyph v. grapheme/morphogram v. ideogram v. logogram v. pictogram v. symbol vs. syllable

In Chinese, the overwhelming majority of characters is monosyllabic, which is why the first two named columns are essentially identical. This is in stark contrast to Japanese for instance, where the following example shows how one character can bear as many as five syllables:

 (Japanese)        承        る
 (Hiragana)        うけたまわ　る
 (Transliteration) uketamawa.ru
 (Translation)     to attend to

In English, notice how the word renewables can be split into re-, new-, -able, and -s. They each mean something (some are of grammatical worth, such as the plurality marker -s), and cannot be split, according to meaning, any further. These chunks are therefore known as morphemes.
There is only one way to split bisyllabic (or bi-character; they are frankly interchangeable in Chinese) words — you split them in half. But not all bisyllabic words in Chinese are splittable.
When you split 鐵路, you see 'iron' and 'road' which makes sense.
When you split 蝴蝶, 蝶 means 'butterfly' (likely an abbreviation of 蝴蝶), but the meaning of 蝴 is illusive (perhaps nonexistent). The same goes for 珊瑚 ('coral'), 玫瑰 ('rose'), 駱駝 ('camel')... These words are called binomes (連綿詞). We write them with two characters they must be bound together to signify the desired meaning. Individually, they do not make any sense. An explanation for their unsplittability is that they perhaps were once monosyllabic in the past. Take 蝴蝶 as an example:

From Middle Chinese *ɦuo dep (first syllable unstressed), from Old Chinese *ɡaː l'eːb, derived from a proto-form of *kʰleːp ~ *ɦleːp, a prefixed form of the root *lep (“butterfly”). Wiktionary

Binomes are much rarer than splittable bisyllabic characters. In most cases Chinese words are splittable.

There are many askers on Chinese SE that are interested to know why a character bears a certain meaning, i.e., how its form (形) relates to its meaning (義). Here we put the questions under the tag glyph-origin. In Chinese, we use liushu (六書) for explanation (there are six possible categories):

Pictograms (象形): 山 ('mountain') really looks like the shape of a mountain.

Ideograms (指事): 一 ('one'), 二 ('two'), 三 ('three') do not look like any tangible objects. They are abstract realisations of concepts.

Compound ideographs (會意): 休 ('to rest') is a combination of the pictograms 人 (equivalent to 亻, meaning 'man') and 木 ('tree'). It represents a man resting by a tree.

Phono-semantic compounds (形聲): most Chinese characters belong to this group. If I were to create a new writing system for English using emojis and say

 'to believe'

I am using  only for the sound of the word (bee + leaf) and  for the meaning of the word (to pray).

Rebus (假借) and derivative cognates (轉注).

Grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system. So c in cat and 朋 in 朋友 ('friend') are both graphemes. But a grapheme in an alphabetical language is not necessarily a morpheme, whereas in Chinese it's possible. Since language learners are usually more interested in the meaning of a word/character, rather than its form (how it relates to meaning is a separate matter), we seldom use this terminology.
A logographm or a logograph is a written character that represents a word or a morpheme. (I took this definition from Wikipedia, the Cambridge Dictionary of Linguistics does not provide a definition.) Again I think this is used in a meta-language sense: they include Chinese characters, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and cuneiforms. We seldom use these terms in Chinese SE.


Meaning and etymology of the expression “棒棒的！”

棒 means 'great; awesome'.

棒棒 the repetition basically makes it sound rhythmical and cute.

的 after a repeated adjective in spoken language is a very subtle thing - it slightly changes the meaning from 'awesome' (praising your writing) to 'keep being awesome' (encouraging you).

Overall, the difference between (真)棒 and 棒棒的 is like that between '(very) cool' and 'cool beans' in English.


What are the relative literacy rates in for simplified and traditional characters?

More people can read simplified than traditional, by a significant margin. There are roughly 1.3 billion people mainland China where simplified has been the standard since the 50s and 60s. Taiwan and Hong Kong, the three places traditional is the standard, total about 32 million between them (23 million in the Taiwan/ROC, 7 million in Hong Kong, 2 million in Macau). There are a lot of people from mainland China and Chinese outside of countries where Chinese in the primary language who can also read traditional, but I have no clue on the numbers.

Most people can get by more or less when reading the other character set because there are a lot of very standard substitutions. It is however easier to read simplified if you only know traditional.

Example substitutions (some standard ones):
妈 马 语 诚 给 纽 约
媽 馬 語 誠 給 紐 約
(and some random ones):
龟 龙
龜 龍

Tools to convert between the two are readily available, although, as Ironfrost points out, these tools have a lot of problems with some of the 1:many conversion choices. Look at his comments below.

http://translate.google.com/#zh-CN/zh-TW/

http://translate.google.com/#zh-TW/zh-CH/


Why is 說 translated as "pleasant" in Confucius's Analects?

說 is the original 悅, they mean the same thing. It's only because in different times, different character may be used to represent the same thing. This situation of different character used is called 古今字. Check this(Chinese Wikipedia).

To back this up, consult (清)段玉裁《說文解字注》

  説釋也。説釋卽悦懌。説悦釋懌皆古今字。許書無悦懌二字也。説釋者，開解之意。故爲喜悦。釆部曰。釋，解也。从言。兑聲。儿部曰。兑，説也。本周易。此從言兑會意。兑亦聲。弋雪切。十五部。一曰談説。此本無二義二音。疑後增此四字。别音爲失䑔切。

So as to why it's 說, it's because when you explain something (說釋->說明解釋) to someone, he or she will be happy because the you resolve (開解) their question.

Master Sparkles, I don't think call it stand-in word is appropriate since it's just the correct usage at that time. (Sorry I can't comment so I have to reply here)


Why is there no conjunction between 健康 and 有活力的生活状态 in 无法保持健康有活力的生活状态?

Your translation has the right idea. It reads something like this:

  Those who don't take care of their own physical well-being will be unable to maintain good health and vitality in their later years, leaving themselves with regret and causing pain to their friends and family.

The bold part can be made clearer, for example like one of the following:

無法保持健康、有活力的生活狀態
無法保持健康而有活力的生活狀態

The reason why it's not clear is because it is a vernacular/spoken sentence written down literally (which you can tell because the sentence begins with「那些」; formal literature does not do this). It is discouraged to write like this unless someone is being quoted verbatim, because such sentences require more effort to interpret when read.

During transcription, the necessary conjunction (or enumeration comma) was simply left out. If you hear the original person saying this, however, they might have inserted a pause, or dipped the tone slightly, between 健康 and 有活力, making interpretation much clearer.


Is it true that the tones of some of the most common words are glossed over in regular speech/turn into neutral tone?

I discussed quasi-neutral tones in the fifth point of my answer to another question here. Salient points include:

Usually, a stress is placed elsewhere in the sentence. Such words (edit: usually frequent words / function words, i.e. 虛詞) are therefore weakened in their presence. See the three examples in my orginal answer for more details.
The tone sandhi is facultative (i.e. the citation tone and quasi-neutral tone coexist), not obligate.

They are not glided over when, e.g.:

There is pragmatical reason to place stress on them. You emphasise 是 in 我是學生 when e.g., someone is doubting your identity as a student. Interestingly, 學生 may become relatively toneless in the presence of a stressed 是, especially in rapid speech.

There is contextual reason to place stress on them, e.g., when you are delivering a speech (especially the 朗誦 kind that values intonation, more so than 演講). Otherwise, in oral exams, if you are expected to be conversational, gliding over is permissible, even more natural.


Is there any Simplified Chinese Thesaurus/Lexicon of cities. forenames and surnames, and commonwords?

Here is a complete list of all administrative divisions in China (from province to village) from National Bureau of Statistics of China:

http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/tjbz/tjyqhdmhcxhfdm/2013/index.html

Unfortunately, I can't find official website about other alternative names of them, but there are several useful sites:

http://www.xzqh.org.cn/ (by Ministry of Civil Affairs)

http://www.xzqh.org/ (not official site, but informative)


Youtube is blocked in mainland china. The closest thing is 网易公开课.


兿蘭軒 seems to be the company's name (House of artful orchid)

備 can mean "prepare" , "equip" or "reserve"

When I search 兿蘭軒 I found a place called 藝軒蘭園 and it is a flower shop. Does your bowl looked like it can be a vast or pot for plants? If it is a vest, then 兿蘭軒備 would mean this vast is prepared for this flower shop's 盆栽 (potted plant)

If the bowl is an actual dinnerware, then 兿蘭軒 might be a restaurant (which I can't find on line), and 兿蘭軒備 could mean "equipment (dinnerware) of House of artful orchid restaurant".

Edit:

If 兿蘭軒 was the name of a house/ institution, then 兿蘭軒備 would mean this was a decoration item used (equipped for display) by the House of Artful Orchid


機車 and 機歪 are indecent words. As time changes, the meanings are already different. The following is one of them.

The 機歪 refers to the female genitalia - 膣屄 (cunt). The Hokkien pronunciation is tsi-bai.

Because it is too indecent to directly write 膣屄, it has been written as "機掰, 機歪, GY" and so on. Later, some people thought that they were still indecent, so 機車 came out.

The original meaning is lack of being fucked. Because 幹 has the meaning of to beat, it also means lack of being beaten.

However, recently they usually mean very annoying, very picky, not straightforward, indecisive, or doing stupid things depending on the situation.

For instance,

你很機車
can represent
You are very annoying.
You are a real pain in the butt!

Do not say these words to anyone.

固執: adamancy; bigotry; obstinate; stubborn; pigheaded; stick to one's guns and refuse to change

任性: willful; wayward; caprice; self-indulgence; self-will; unruliness

「機車」和「機歪」是屬於不雅的詞。隨著時間的改變，它的意思已經不太一樣了。底下是其中一種說法。

「機歪」是指女性生殖器——膣屄。閩南語的發音是 tsi-bai。

因為直接寫「膣屄」很不雅，所以被寫成「機掰、機歪、GY」等。後來有人覺得還是不雅，就再演變成「機車」。

原意是「欠幹」。又因為「幹」有「打、揍」的意思，所以也有「欠打、欠揍」的意思。

但是現在這些詞依不同的情況大多表示「很討厭」、「很挑剔」、「不乾脆」、「猶豫不決」、「做了蠢事」。

例如：

你很機車。
可以表示
你很討厭。

不要對任何人說這些話。

「固執」是「堅持己見，不肯變通」的意思。

「任性」是「放縱性情，恣意而為」的意思。


'Negging' is a specifically coined term by the author of a specific book about methods of picking up girls. I presume the end game is either acquiring a life partner or building a casual romantic relationship with a woman.

Negging is in effect, a code name for a technique, and this technique is using subtle and mild insult to manipulate the target to 1. be curious 2.feels challenged 3. be willing to engage.

The true goal is not to repel but attract her. It is opposite of another  technique pozzing: (whereby one pays a person a compliment in order to gain their affection)

Since it is not a general English term, I think I would treat the translation with more liberty

There's an idiom in Chinese called: 欲擒故縱 (When you try to capture a target, intentionally distance yourself instead of approach closely)

If pozzing (奉丞手法) shows a 欲擒態度, then negging (挑衅手法) would show a 故縱態度 (displaying dismissive sign to attract the girl's attention and get her to engage)

I would translate "to neg" as "挑衅" and "negging" as "挑衅手法"


What is the meaning of 刚一通过 here please?

刚一
ABC

ADV. (副词)
just when; as soon as

CC-CEDICT

1 to be just about to
2 to have just started to

KEY

as soon as

当年，《中华人民共和国商标法》刚一通过，美国的《读者文摘》就立即为其中文文版《读者文摘》注册，并得到了相关部门的批准。
At that time, just when the "Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China" was passed "Reader's Digest", as American company, immediately registered the Chinese version of it's publication (读者文摘) and received approval from all relative departments.


Are there typical jokes formed by adding 之一 at the end of an otherwise innocuous sentence?

Pause before delivering a keyword is more like a tease, and tease can be funny at times but not always. It gets funnier when the twist is more surprising and striking
the difference between "他是我见过最好的人" and "他是我见过最好的人……之一" is not striking at all because  'the best' and 'one of the best' are both common phrases
'他是我的男朋友'  and '他是我的男朋友……之一' is better but it only reveals the speaker has more than one boyfriend and it is not a big twist
I would consider the following funny:
'你是唯一人選……之一' -- "You are the only candidate... one of the only candidates" (it is funny because there cannot be more than one 'only'. It implies the speaker told the same lie to everyone)
'他樂於助人……才怪' -- "He loves to help people... is not possible"
"你女朋友一定會回來……跟你算賬" -- "Your girlfriend will definitely come back... to settle old scores with you"
It may be funnier:  "你女朋友一定會回來跟你……算賬" "Your girlfriend will definitely come back with you... to settle old scores (with you)"


Characters which have several different shapes

The Unicode standard put one character into one code point, but the character can be written differently in simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Japanese or Korean(oh, they don't use characters now, only Hangul). From the Unicode website, you can download a list of all characters, with their origin local standard and shape. A example for character "直" is shown below.

The number under the character shows the original local standard (and code point in the standard). The local standard from mainland China are listed here. In short, it begins with "G". And "G0" through "G9" (excluding "G4k") should be the characters more often used.

The shape from the mainland standard is used in simplified Chinese.

EDIT:

In some cases, purely typographical variants are assigned different code points. These are referred to as z-variants.


Disagree on FortCpp's answer.

Surely Beijing dialect is not putonghua, none dialect is considered as putonghua if you put it this way.

I'd say Beijing dialect is very close(if not the most) to putonghua.

Back to the question, erhua is part of the putonghua standard, no question about that. For instance, "小孩" sounds (really) strange without a '儿', in fact even if '儿' is not appear in the reference, you should pronounce it unless you're from Taiwan or something :)

I can't tell you the grammar rules but cases like above are not rare.

My opinion is, avoid using erhua in general and pay attention to those cases that must have it


'最终有个交代‘, '交代’ meaning

「交代 」

(v)  to answer to  / to explain / to report ;
(n)  explanation / justification

Example:

向民眾交代 (answer to the people / explain to the people)

給民眾一個交代 (give people an explanation)

~

最終有個**交代** meaning

It means " At the end, there will be an explanation"

More example:

怎樣向皇上交代 ( how to explain / report it to the emperor?)

你可獻上我的頭顱作為交代 ( you can offer my head as your report)

~

Additional Note:

交代 mainly means "explain" or "explanation", and by extension, it also carries meanings of "report" and "instruction"

If you explain how you've carried out a task to your boss - that would be "giving a report".
If you explain how to carry out a task to your son - that would be "giving an instruction".


Is there a difference in connotation between questions ending in 吗 vs. X 不 X

There's also 嘛 and 吗. Practically, there is little difference between the two, aside from the pronunciation.

吗 is most used in questions where speaker is usually neutral about the question.

嘛, although not applicable in your given example, it can be used to question or affirm. I.e., used with to express emotional context (positive or negative given the context) (e.g., 你这是干吗？ = questioning, vs.  你这是干嘛？ = complaining) or to express certainty with something (e.g. 很贵嘛! or 不错嘛！)

In terms of connotation, "你累不累?" is the same as "你很累吗?" They both mean to ask if the person is tired or not, in a neutral tone.

你很累没有 seems a bit awkward grammatically. The way it's structured implies a statement rather than a question. You are probably looking to use 吧 in this case. E.g., 你很累吧 (You're pretty tired, huh/right/aren't you?), would be more appropriate here. 吧 is used at the end of a sentence when you are uncertain of something you can say.

There is also 呢, which is often used at the end of an interrogative sentence. e.g., 为什么...呢? 怎么...呢? Take note that 呢 is NOT interchangeable with 吗.


As an upper-left part of a character, the length of the left-downward (撇) stroke in the shape 「」 is determined by the traditional* or calligraphic stroke order of the entire 「」 shape. Specifically, the left-downward stroke among characters where the stroke is written first appear to have a shorter length than those where it is written second.
Whether or not the left-downward stroke is written first or second in the shape 「」 depends on the object underneath it. Adapted from the Japanese SE answer I wrote here to the question 右 and 石 stroke order differences:

The order that「」is written depends on the object underneath it. If the component underneath it doesn't exceed the horizontal stroke of「」(e.g. 右、有、布), then write the left-downward stroke first; otherwise (e.g. 友、左) write the horizontal stroke first.
Examples (mined from jisho.org):
Bottom component narrower than horizontal stroke of 「」

Bottom component wider than horizontal stroke of 「」

I will emphasise that this description of the stroke length's relation to the stroke order only works within the framework of the calligraphic stroke order, and that no education standard† actually prescribes the calligraphic stroke order as a standard. Neither the Taiwanese (ROC) nor the Mainland Chinese (PRC) stroke order standards write 「右」 in a manner which is consistent with the calligraphic stroke order:

Credit: M4RC0, licensed under CC BY 3.0

*Not to be confused with Traditional Chinese. The traditional or calligraphic stroke order is the order used in Imperial China, and not attached to any education department of a modern government.
†The closest educational standard to the calligraphic stroke order is actually from Japan. For all of the the characters mined from jisho.org, the Japanese stroke order matches the calligraphic stroke order.


Is  An Acceptable Form Of 逗 In Sichuanese?

According to a post on the zDic Forum for that character from 2010, it is a topolect character (despite its rather mysterious pedigree in the Kangxi Dictionary).

However, I couldn't find it in the 《成都方言詞典》 Chengdu Dialect Dictionary, nor a lexeme corresponding to it. On consulting the 《四川方言詞典》 Sichuan Dialect Dictionary from 1986, I only find it represented with the character 逗 dou1 (which is also repeated as a 多音字 for dou4).

I posit that it may appear in certain 川剧 libretti, but otherwise it may be that the author simply went through Kangxi to look up rare characters of that pronunciation to use. Nonetheless, the semantic shift from 輕言 to 逗引 is not inconceivable.


How to say "season's / personal best (result in sport for athlete)" in Chinese?

年度最佳(best in this year)

季度最佳(best in this seanon)

个人最佳 (personal best)

all 佳 can be replaced by 好, the first 2 words can be prefixed with 上(last year), 2007 (in 2007).


list of Chinese language country name abbreviations

I think this is a fairly exhaustive list of currently existing countries. This does not encompass unabbreviated country names that end with 国 (e.g., 孟加拉国):

Common

中国 (Zhōngguó) - P. R. China or R. O. China depending on context
法国 (Fǎguó) - France
德国 (Déguó) - Germany
泰国 (Tàiguó) - Thailand
英国 (Yīngguó) - England / UK
美国 (Měiguó) - USA
韩国 (Hánguó) - South Korea
俄国 (Éguó) - Russia
寮国 (Liáoguó) - Laos (chiefly Taiwan, the term is dated in mainland China. Use 老挝 (Lǎowō).)

Rare

奥国 (Àoguó) - Austria
葡国 (Púguó) - Portugal
墨国 (Mòguó) - Mexico
加国 (Jiāguó) - Canada


Words and characters that do not appear on HSK lists

Well...firstly thank you for loving (or pretending to love) Chinese language.
I know quite a lot of examples that the students passed HSK Level 6 but still have a terrible level of conversation. Yes. As a commentator said, HSK doesn't include oral test. Further more, its scope doesn't necessarily match the scope of the most commonly used Chinese vocabulary. Therefore, a word list for a particular test is restricted to this test only.
Also, it's a bad idea to look for a frequency table in order to figure out what should you learn. Think about how you learn your mother tongue. Is the most frequent word learned first? Come on, ignore that frequency list.
Finally, If passing HSK is your top priority, use HSK's vocabulary. It limits the scope of words and expressions you need to pass it.
One last comment: Don't forget to talk and learn more from the Chinese people themselves. They are the real ones that master the language.


“只” means “by no means more than”，“only”.
If you add this word, this means you have no more than ……, at most I have……

Compare:

1) I have no more than 2 dresses（我**只有**2件衣服）

2) I have 2 dresses（我有2件衣服，可能还有，但是未提及）


My suggestion:
第一節, 第二節 /jie2/...
Cantonese pronunication /jit3/
Literally a part, or a section of a whole.
课 "lesson" - sounds too much like a class, where a (group of) student(s) learn(s) from a teacher.
会话 "dialogue" - is not the same as a workshop session.


Who translated "deductive reasoning" into 演绎推理?

For Deduction

  Definition of Deduction: (From Webster's Dict)

  a :  an act of taking away
  b :  something that is or may be subtracted
  a :  the deriving of a conclusion by reasoning
  b :  a conclusion reached by logical deduction

Let check the 演绎

  Definition of 演绎:(I don't have official Chinese dictionary on hand so I used my common sense)

  verb. Acting, Show
  noun. the process of getting a conclusion by logical reasoning.(as poopsed to 'sum up')

Let be aware of the history of word'演绎'. For the English-Chinese translation experts(around the 1900s), using the '演绎' was the reasonable choice at that time.

And since it's like more than 100 years. I believe nobody would remember who firstly use this word. It's naturally used because its meaning of so close(or even the same) to "deduction".

The same logic could be applied to "米国"(Japanese) and "USA"(English). No one ever remembers who created "米国"

There's a detailed blog regarding ancient usage of 演绎 and演译.


What is the difference between 秀才, 进士, 举人, and 甲第?

It's just like you attend the exam held in small village, then you passed it and became one of the top students. We call you  秀才 at that time.

After that, you are going to atten the exam held in a province scale, if you passed it also, then you became 举人.

Only those 举人 can attend the national exam, you passed it so you became 贡士.

Only then, you can attend the exam held by the emperor and if you succeed, you became 进士. And the top one is called 状元, the second one is called 榜眼, and the thrid one is called 探花.

甲第 means the　[top successful candidate in an examination].


你认为如何
如何你认为

The first is correct but the second is wrong.
However, even with this said, you may hear the second sentence from native speakers in casual conversations. As I mentioned in this answer, some people tend to reverse orders while speaking. For example "山东人我是". But don't get me wrong: this sentence is not correct and you should not say the same. However, just don't be surprised if you hear some native speakers make the same mistake.


Why is 的 at the end of phrases such as 那是他们的 and 钱他们的?

他们的钱 isn't a sentence but a nominal phrase, meaning their money.
钱他们的 could be taken as the shorthand of 这钱是他们的.
那是他们的 is correct.  However 他们的是那 isn't.  You need a measure word there.  E. g.  他们的是那个。It's hard to explain why.


Translation from english into a phonetic Cantonese "Forces of Evil, Come and Obey."

Chinese slogans typically come in  idiomatic (four characters) phrase
if "Forces of Evil, Come and Obey" means "we are the forces of Evil, come and obey us" then  I suggest:

"道消魔長，順我者昌"
"(the power of) good has declined and (the power of) evil has grown; those who submit to us flourish"

jyutping: /dou2 siu1 mo1 coeng2 seon6 ngo5 ze2 coeng1/
phonetic: "doe siu mor zhung, Shun wu jer chun"
And it rhymes
If "Forces of Evil, Come and Obey" means "you, the forces of evil, come and obey me' then I suggest:

"道長魔消，逆我者亡" (the power of) evil has declined and (the power of) good has grown; those who resist us perish"

jyutping: /dou2 coeng2 mo1 siu1/, /jik6  ngo5 ze2 mong4/
phonetic: "doe zhung mor siu, yiey wu jer mong"


Tatoeba.org is a great resource of translated sentences, and it also includes exactly what you're looking for in its tools section. It has a sinogram search page that lets you search by subglyph. When I searched for 木米女, it returned these options:

  偻 喽 娄 婅 嫾 嬏 屡 屦 嵝 搂 擞 数 楼 溇 瘘 窭 篓 籹 缕 耧 蒌 薮 蝼 褛 镂 髅

The one you're looking for is number 13.


Stylistic assessment of a Western first name as the basis for a Chinese name

first name as Chinese name' practice

imo, it’s unacceptable. name is extremely important in chinese culture, a good one helps in every aspects in life.
because, the practice of transliteration one’s first name as chinese full name; most of the time, cannot generate a good enough chinese name.
the proper way is: first, transliterates the initial of a surname, then add characters semantically, to compose a good one (according to chinese culture).
example 1:
Bonnie S. Glaser, her chinese name is 葛來儀.
葛 - in cantonese, it’s got3; which preserve the initial of glaser
儀 - it sounds similar to “ie” in bonnie
來 - derived from the idiom “有鳳來儀” (roughly, a phoenix comes with grace to rest)
bingo, “來儀” as a given name is, strongly connected to phoenix (a female legendary creature), and 葛 is a common chinese surname.
every time i read this name in the news, i would salute to the guy who choose it
example 2:
the last governor of hong kong, chris pattern 彭定康
彭 - again, in cantonese, paang preserves the initial p of pattern
定 - ding6, derived from t of tern —> d (aspirated alveolar t —-> unaspirated alveolar d)
康 - means “ease; vigour; health; peace; repose; well-being” in chinese
this name is quite good, imo. actually, most chinese name of the governors of hong kong are good, if not excellent.

find it bizarre for someone to just go by his/her first name as a diplomat.

absolutely. any high ranking officials should have a good chinese name, if they need to “deal” with . . .

some Western names (first + last name) are hard to render in Chinese because of complex consonant clusters

use cantonese, which has more initial, final & tone than mandarin; that it’s more likely you can find a suitable syllable
have fun :)


抱有 vs 摆有: When does a serial verb become a word?

Most of the examples listed are based on a special function of the verb 有 (possess) to follow and bond with another verb to form a tightly-bound term. In linguistic terms, it is called a serial verb compound.
Some serial verb compounds like 抱有(e.g 抱有大志)，擁有(e.g. 擁有巨大財富) and 藏有(e.g. 藏有毒品) became compound words because they are very commonly used and people treat them as such.
Since 有 can bond with so many verbs, it is simpler to group all these possible serial verb compounds under the function of 有 than list each and every possible pair as an independent compound word
Similarly. Not all [verb + result complement] is listed as an independent compound word, but the common ones do
Example:
走避; 走失 (compound words)
走掉, 走上，走入，走出  (verb + result complement)
We do not list 走掉, 走上，走入，走出  as compound words, they are all under 走's ability to bond with a result complement


TL;DR: The given sentences are almost identical because ...跟你去... (go with you) and ...陪你去... (accompany you) are similar in meaning.  However, 跟 has many uses beyond this, which 陪 does not.
In general, there are distinctions between 陪 (which means "to accompany", sometimes with the implication of offering assistance) and 跟 which means a bunch of things (in the given sentence it means "with").  As for the example sentences:

我陪你去医院。
I accompany you to the hospital.
我跟你去医院。
I go with you to the hospital.

These two sentences are indeed very similar, and could mean the same thing.  The reason is ...跟你去... (go with you) and ...陪你去... (accompany you) are similar in meaning.
If 我 is not sick, and is assisting 你, then the first sentence would be more appropriate.  If both 我 and 你 are sick, then the second sentence would be more appropriate.
More generally, we're using the grammar structure:

Subj. + 跟 + Person + Verb + Obj.
Expressing "with" with "gen"

If we use this grammar structure with a verb other than 去, we can't just replace 跟 with 陪:

我跟你说汉语。
I speak Chinese with you.
我跟你结婚。
I am married with you.

In fact, I don't think the above sentences would even make sense if we replaced 跟 with 陪.
And in arbitrary sentences, we can't use 跟 and replace it with 陪:

我跟你不一样。
I and you are unalike.
孩子跟着妈妈。
The child follows their mother.
她穿着高跟鞋。
She wears high heels.


How to correctly order the words 张先生 男朋友 卖 妹妹 书 那个人 的 是 的?

I agree with your answer - it makes sense and reads well. I'm a native speaker, btw.

Although 张先生是卖书那个人的妹妹的男朋友 works too, I still prefer your order :)


What does this approx. 300-year-old Korean text by Choi Seok-Jeong say?

Here is my transcription into an ROC/HK standard character set.

《九九母數變宮陽圖》
從？皆得九十數總積八百一十母數
本宮圖即甲編母數名圖此圖自本
宮而一變
橫看從看
九數無一
重複者〇
以下四圖
係新定

I have a feeling the second character ？ is「衡」.
Please be wary of phonetic loans. For example,「從」might be better off being interpreted as「縱」. With the above, you have the two characters as「縱衡」(vertical and horizontal).


What's the purpose of 上 in "王教授给那儿的学生上英国文学课, 他课上得非常好"?

So I checked Cihai and it specifically says 上課 goes both ways:

教師講課或學生聽課
To teach a class, or to attend a class

The subject is 'Professor Wang' (王教授). The verb is 'to teach' (上, note: only makes sense when seeing 上課 together), the direct object is 'a lesson' (課), and the indirect object is 'those students' (那兒的學生), which in Chinese is marked by a second verb literally meaning 'to give' (給).
The second 上 still means 'to teach', with the direct object understood and omitted.


声优 is a loanword from Japanese. 配音演员 is Chinese original. They mean the same thing: voice cast. So usually 声优 refers to Japanese voice actors of Japanese animations. Chinese voice actors are rarely mentioned as 声优. But you can call a 声优 as (日本动漫)配音演员. So the usage of 配音演员 is more general, while 声优 is almost always  Japanese related.
Who is famous is opinion based and out of the range of this forum.


"Simplified Chinese" is not the clearest name, because it refers to the entire standard character set of the PRC. Although the majority of characters different in the PRC compared with other regions are indeed "Simpler" (by measure of stroke counts), this is not true of all characters. Some examples where the PRC standard have more strokes, whilst still being called "Simplified Chinese", are「强」and「榨」(other regions tend to use「強」and「搾」, which both have one less stroke).

Formally, a "Simplification" process is an active attempt to cut strokes off characters, by removal, abbreviation, or replacement of components. This is not the only way that characters change, and in fact the vast majority of characters did not change in the direction of "Simplification"; many did not change at all, and among those that did change, the majority became more diversified over the years, with components added to create new characters to express new words or extended meanings.

Choosing variants which just happen to have less strokes, as is done in「滾」vs「滚」, is not "Simplification" -「滚」was merely a variant chosen as part of a standardisation process.

The component「袞/衮」(Emperor's ceremonial robes) is comprised of semantic「衣」and phonetic「公」. However, this does not mean that in「袞」,「厶」was changed to「口」. On the contrary,「公」originally looked like「㕣」.

「公」originally depicted a pottery jar, and this word is now written with variants「瓮」and「甕」.「八」depicted the handles of the jar, and「口」depicted the jar's opening.

商甲甲2546合集30961西周金毛公鼎集成2841

Squares and circles were not the only representation of this opening, and later on,「口」was subject to shape variations, with some becoming triangles or stylised into「厶」.

秦簡睡ㆍ語9　篆說文解字　現代楷


Are 平常 and 通常 essentially interchangeable?

The two words share the same character "常“(common, usual,eternal), so the meanings overlap somewhat. Both of them can mean "commonly, usually", however, they are not exactly the same.
"平常“ means (notice 平 means "plain，commonplace" here）

[adj]ordinary, casual/informal
[adv]ordinarily,in a casual/informal way

"通常" means

[adj]common,usual
[adv]in general, generally, in most cases

When something is ordinary, usually you could say it's the most possible case or it's common, that's how the two words have the similar meaning.
Examples:

我平常坐公交车去上班。 Usually I go to work by bus ( in my ordinary life).
我通常坐公交车去上班。 Usually I go to work by bus ( in most cases).
通常情况下，伤口的血液会自动凝固。 Generally, the blood from the wound coagulates automatically.
平常情况下，伤口的血液会自动凝固。 Sounds weird to me.
真理通常掌握在少数人手中。 The truth are held in few people in general.
真理平常掌握在少数人手中。 Sounds weird to me.
我平常叫他老王，但是在公司里我通常叫他王经理。 I call him Lao Wang ordinarily(casually), but I would usually call him Manager Wang in the company(because this is a serious situation).  Not interchangeable in this case.
我只想回到平常的生活。 I just want to return to a common\normal(in a style that average people have) life. Here, 通常 is not acceptable.


切 means 深(deep) here.

  深;深切 [deep]

  切,深也。——《汉书·霍光传》注

  又如:切恐(深怕);切爱(深深的爱);痛切(悲痛而深切);切究(深究);切怛(深切悲伤);切谢(深切感谢)


How do you say "to stay" or "to visit" a business instead of a person or vacation destination?

How do you say 'to stay' or 'to visit' a business?

上 (visit)

上酒家 (dine in a restaurant)
上洒店 (*rent room in a hotel) * short stay for a night or few hours
上酒吧 (visit a bar)

光顧 (patronage; patronize | [粵]: 幫襯 )

光顧某店( shop at some store)
光顧髮型屋 (visit the hair salon)

other usage of 光顧:

被小偷光顧 (visited by a thief)

逛 (visit/ tour)

逛公司 (shop at or window shopping at department store)
逛遊樂場 (visit / touring amusement park)

泡 (visit / linger)

泡酒吧 ( visit a bar / linger in a  bar)
泡網吧 (visit or linger in an internet bar)

"We are glad you came to visit our store."

"我們很高興閣下光顧/ 光臨本店" or "歡迎閣下光臨本店。"
閣下: (formal) you
光臨: (formal) to honor with one's presence; to attend


What are people saying when I buy something using the exact change?

It is most likely "剛好" [gang1 hao3] - "just exactly right"

Short for : "不多，不少， 剛剛好"  (not more, not less, just exactly right)

The cashier say that to confirm it is the exact amount of money for the purchase (so the purchase is accepted, but no change will be given)

Or

It could be "正好"  [zheng4 hao3] - "just exactly right"

Short for : 正好 (X amount) - confirming the amount of money you give him or her is the exact amount for the purchase

Chances are, you heard them both in different time from different cashiers. Both are what a cashier could say when someone pays with exact change.


The amount you can adjust a Chinese characters look without it changing meaning

Actually there is a lot of styles when it comes to handwriting.  You can check out this page https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%B9%A6%E6%B3%95. It can be quite hard to understand sometimes. like this one https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8D%89%E4%B9%A6 .


What's the meaning of "氪金"? How to translate it?

氪金 means pay, charge.

  氪金，原为“课金”，指支付费用，特指在网络游戏中的充值行为。

Even the players are playing a free game, they still could pay money for items in games (to become more powerful, etc).

Also see here.


Why do the Chinese characters on my phone and computer look weird?

You're looking at shapes according to the Kangxi dictionary form, a variant of Ming typeface. Both 「八」 and 「丷」 shapes will end up looking like

as part of other characters. It's better to try to get your font to display a regular script font (e.g. 標楷體) instead of a Ming typeface font when you're learning.

Print shapes that you see for 「关」 are normally consistent with the right hand side of 「朕」. 「关」 itself is a shape rather than a true character or character component; the shape is variously a handwriting corruption of the right hand side of 「」, a corruption of 「」, an abbreviation of the inner part of 「關」, among others. Because 「关」 is not really a character with a firm historical basis, it will be subject to various unrecognisable shape changes across regions and fonts - most regions simply don’t even use/recognise it as a character.


商甲餘1.1合集13475西周金曶鼎集成2838春秋金為甫人盨集成4406秦簡效律20睡虎地秦簡篆步部說文解字今楷

「歲」 (Baxter-Sagart OC:  /*s-qʷʰat-s/, motion of Jupiter > year > years old) was originally comprised of semantic 「步」 (steps, referring to motion) and phonetic 「戉」 (/*[ɢ]ʷat/). Jupiter appeared brightest to ancient astronomers approximately once a year in the night sky.

  「步」 is comprised of two mirrored feet 「止」, indicating the meaning steps, walking.

As a component of 「歲」, 「戉」 was sometimes variously corrupted into 「戈」, 「戊」, or 「戌」. The modern form is from a corruption into 「戌」.

  All four of 「戉」, 「戈」, 「戊」, and 「戌」 depict different types of bladed weapons, so they're quite easily confused with each other graphically in older writings.


Pronunciation and characters for 打 110 Without Arabic numerals

In characters, the phrase is

Dǎ yāo yāo líng
打幺幺零
Dial 1-1-0

「一」is not yāo; rather, a different word「幺」is used. See Pronunciation of 壹 / 一 in Mandarin for the use of yāo.


Is 导致 or 促使 better in 自负和冲动 [导致 / 促使] 了他的失败 ("arrogance and impulsion contributed to his failure")?

导 (lead) ; 致 (reach)

  导致 = (lead to) cause

促 (induce); 使 (make)

  促使 = (induce and make) to push

~

  "someone's arrogance and impulsion contributed to his failure"

'contributed' means 'helped' -- '导致 (lead to)' and "促使 (push)" are two different form of 'helping' something to happen, therefore, 导致 or 促使 are both acceptable in "张三的自负和冲动导致/促使了他的失败。"

If you want a strict word to word translation, you can use '作出贡献', but '贡献' in Chinese only denote contribution to 'positive result' For example: "对社会作出贡献" (contribute to society); but you cannot say "对失败作出贡献" (contribute to failure) unless this negative result is a good thing, for example: "對纳粹滅亡作出贡献" (contributed to the destruction of the Nazis)

导致 and 促使 doesn't have this problem, they can be used to describe contribution to 'positive or negative result'


As pointed out, the characters are 天寶紋銀, and are engraved in the small seal (小篆) style.

There are several character components which don't really resemble their regular script counterparts.

天

  「天」 is comprised of

  「一」(what this represents is disputed, but it is not one in this context);
  「大」(depiction of a person with outstretched arms).

  「一」is fairly recognisable. A seal script version of「大」is

  which blows up the proportion of the arms and legs.

寶

  「寶」 is comprised of

  「宀」(depiction of a house/building);
  「玉」, simplified to the component form「」(depiction of jade pieces);
  「缶」(sound component; OC rime: 幽);
  「貝」(depiction of cowrie shells).

  「玉」，「缶」，and「貝」are all fairly recognisable in seal script. Since「宀」depicted a full-fledged building, ancient scripts will commonly have the sides stretching down to fully depict a building's walls. A seal script version is

紋

  「紋」 is comprised of

  「糸」(depiction of silk threads);
  「文」(depiction of a person with an emphasised torso containing markings), doubles as the sound component).

  「糸」

  The seal script version of「糸」is derived from the original picture, representing several loops of silk threads ending in some frayed thread ends. An oracle bone version looks like

  turning the above upside down directly leads to seal script versions which look like

  Note, the number of thread loops may be variable, and you will sometimes get variants that have three loops instead.

  「文」

  The seal script version of「文」is simplified from the original picture, representing a standing person's body with markings (like tattoos) on it. An oracle bone version looks like

  「文」in fact was the original form of「紋」, having「糸」added to it after「文」became exclusively used for the association with the meaning writing. The shape was simplified by the removal of the markings on the torso, and from the above, the similarity to the shape of「大」is not coincidental; both were derived from the shape of a person, while the middle empty space in「文」is just due to the emphasised torso. This leads to the seal scripts which look like

銀

  「銀」 is comprised of

  「金」(depiction of a container for melting metals);
  「艮」(sound component).

  「金」

  The seal script version of「金」is derived from the original picture, which depicted metal plates「冫」formed from a smelting process, represented by a crucible:

  「冫」was later borrowed as a simplified version of「仌」(ice), but the original meaning can still be seen in「冶」(to smelt) and「凝」(condensation/solidification). The markings representing the metal plates were later moved around and more marks got added to or subtracted from these over the course of history, but eventually two marks settled to their current position in「金」.

  Samples of「金」from bamboo slip writings from the State of Chu. The red box reveals some examples which look like the modern form.

  The top of the crucible doubles as a sound component, which is「今」. For reference, bronze script versions of「今」look like

  with a seal script form that looks like

  The above leads to seal script shapes looking like

  「艮」

  The seal script version of「艮」is derived from the original compound, which is comprised of「目」(eyes). The bottom part originally represented a person and looked like「人」or「儿」.

  For reference, oracle bone versions of「目」and「人」:

  This leads on to a seal script shape (note: see further below)

  Variants of「艮」started changing shape during the Warring States period, leading to the modern form corrupting「目」into「日」and the bottom shape into what it is now.

  Note that「艮」originally meant to look backwards; the highly similar character「見」was originally composed from「卩」, later changing into「止」or「人/儿」.

  To avoid confusion,「艮」sometimes used a shape that looked like「匕」:

  This leads to the different seal script forms

  「艮」vs.「見」

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂


In Paris, a very slovenly, loose, drawn frock, with most capacious
sleeves, had been introduced called a blouse. Some of our priestesses
of the toilet seemed emulous of copying this deshabille, with some
slight alterations, but we never wish to see it on the symmetrical
form of a British lady. ["Summary of Fashion for 1822," in Museum of
Foreign Literature and Science, Jan.-June 1823]

British Ladies, Beware the Blouse upon thy form!
blouse: 女士衬衫
smock: 罩衫
frock: 连衣裙


Is it 在桌子上面 or 在桌子的上面?

"的" is a possessive marker like ('s) in English.

"桌子的" = (table's) e.g "桌子的顏色" (the color of the table), in which, the noun "桌子" possess the noun "顏色"

"在 ~ 上面" (on/ on top of/ above) is a preposition. The phrase "在(桌子)上面" (noun + preposition), doesn't require the possessive marker "的" because there is no noun to be possessed.

"在桌子的上面" (on the surface of the table) [preposition + noun + possessive marker + noun] 上面 here is a noun that means  'surface/ top'
"在桌子上面" (on the table) [noun + preposition] 上面 here is a preposition means 'above'
"在桌子上" (on the table) [ noun + preposition]
"在桌上" (on the table) [ noun + preposition]
Example of difference between with or without 的:

書(在)桌子(上面) = the book is (on) the table
書在桌子(的)上面 = the book is on the table('s) surface/top (noun)
In the first sentence, "在 ~ 上面"(on top of) is the preposition; in the second sentence, "在" (on/ at) is the only preposition, while "上面" is a noun that the noun "桌子" possessed

Usage of 的 as an 'adjective marker'

"桌子上的書" (the book on the table)

"桌子上"(on the table) is a noun + preposition

的 here functions as an 'adjective marker' that turns "桌子上" into an 'adjectival phrase': "桌子上的" which describes the noun "書" (the book that's on the table)


Can 地 be used in place of 的 as a stylistic choice?

I think the document has simply not been well proofread.  The usage of 地 is not consistent though.  We can see the examples like:

没错，唐三的父亲唐昊，就是一个铁匠。村子里唯一地铁匠。

So, I don't believe it's anything relevant to any dialects or stylistics.  Those are simply the errors that need to be corrected.


Rule: tone sandhi in topolectical dictionaries

I think to include both original tones and sandhi marks would be a preferred way, as the individual characters are very important in Chinese. And also, the dictionary will include a preface or something explaining the sandhi rules and how they mark them.


Why people more frequently say "三四个", less frequently say "三五个" or "四五个" or "五六个", and even more less frequently say "四六个"？

1. About 三四个，四五个，五六个 and ballpark numbers
It's common to express ballpark quantities with adjacent numbers.
三四个 means about three or four. Same works for 四五个，五六个.
Thus you can infer the use and meaning of 一两个，两三个，六七个，七八个，etc.
Example: 鸡汤里放多少个八角？五六个就够了。
It's less common to use such expression for numbers bigger than ten, but you certainly can!
For number bigger than ten: 十一二个 or 十一十二个，十二三个，十三四个，etc.
Example: 聚会来了几个人？大概十五六个人吧。
The reason it's less common for numbers bigger than ten, is likely because people would prefer to ballpark it on the scale of tens, it's also less awkward-sounding.
To further explain, imagine about 27-30 people came to my party. If I try to say 大概二十七八个人吧。It's long and awkward-sounding, it's also confusing to just read it! Thus, people would just say 将近三十人吧。(Almost thirty people.)
2. About why 三五个 is more frequently used
I will explain my best guess. First of all, 三五 is a kind of a special combination just by itself, it's used in classical Chinese literature to describe date, days, age, decades, it's also used in expressions related to astronomy, fengshui. The only reason I could come up with why 三五个 is widely accepted is because of the idiom/chengyu 三五成群。It means a small group of people.
Example: 这辈子我就三五个挚友。
3. About why 四六个 is not an expression
As I explained earlier, Chinese use adjacent numbers to express ballpark. 四 and 六 are not adjacent. You can infer the same for 五七个，七九个，etc.
If you look closely at google search results, you would find out 四六个 is NOT used by itself. It's often separated by punctuation, like: “主题四：六个实战案例”，“四-六个月大的宝宝”，or used as part of a sentence “二四六个字押韵的诗词”.


Is there any difference between 冰淇淋 and 冰激凌

冰激凌 is the translation in Mainland China.
冰淇淋 is used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Hong Konger also call ice-cream as 雪糕.


Trying to Write a Short Photo Caption and Description

You did very well translating it.

Some minor suggestion:

  "Caption: When I was in San Francisco's Chinatown" Translation: 当我在旧金山的唐人街

"When" indicates 'time', therefore, your translation should be
"当我在旧金山唐人街的时候" (you can omit 当)

  Description: Last year, my cousin and I went to San Francisco's Chinatown. We ate Chinese food and drank boba milk tea. It was a great day! Translation: 去年我和我表姐一起去了旧金山的唐人街。我们吃了中国早餐，也喝了波霸奶茶。那天真不错！

"去年我和表姐一起去了旧金山的唐人街。我们在那里吃了中式早餐，还喝了波霸奶茶。真是不错的一天！"

the second 我 in 去年我和我表姐 can be omitted
我们(在那里)吃了中式早餐
I suggest using 还(also) instead of 也(also/ too) in  "吃了中式早餐，还喝了波霸奶茶"。to indicate Boba milk tea is in addition of having Chinese breakfast (which is the main event).
中国早餐  could mean "breakfast from China",  you should use 中式早餐  (Chinese breakfast) here, because you are in Chinatown, not in China
那天真不错！(sound too matter of fact, the day was good, but how good?) --> 真是愉快的一天！(describe your feeling about that specific day)


This wikipage says that 台語正字 is 矜/楗(教育部用字).

Also this online dictionary of Taiwanese dialect lists 楗 to be the character in question.

However, it is possible that neither is the true character. They just made up some characters in order to transcribe the word. The ancient phonetic books describe that 楗 rhymes with 偃/鍵/建/件, which rhyme with -ian or -iann in Taiwanese， not -ing. On the other hand, 矜 has a historic pronunciation that ends with -m instead of -n or -ng, and the meaning does not really match 硬撑 either. A wild guess of mine is that the character might be 经/擎.


Etymology of foreign names translated to Chinese

Most foreign names are transliterated, not translated into Chinese.

百老汇 /Bǎi lǎo huì/ is a transliteration of Broadway

Only a few English names of place are common enough to be translated by their actual meaning in Chinese

Example:

Buffalo city - 水牛城
Phoenix city - 鳳凰城

For people's name, even the simplest English names like "Stone" and "White" are transliterated as "史東" (Shǐ Dōng) and "韋特" (Wéi Tè) instead of translated as "石" (stone) and "白" (white)


偏's core meaning is 'lean to the side' as in 偏右(lean right) or  偏左 (lean left)

That meaning extended to represent 'away from center' as in 偏僻 (remote/ isolated) and 偏遠 (remote / far away)

Notice: '偏遠地區' (remote area) is referring 'an area that is far away from the center of a country'. Even it is remote, that area is still 'a part of the whole country. Therefore, 偏 also obtained the meaning of 'a part of' (partial) by the virtue of opposing 全(whole)

The idiom "以偏概全" - "generalize the whole by examine only part of it" illustrated 偏 (partial/ incomplete) is the opposite of 全 (whole/complete)

The "away from center" meaning of 偏 further extended to mean "away from the main stream" , therefore  偏 also contains the meaning of 'non-standard' as in 偏方 (deviant prescription)


Why do cat (猫) and dog (狗) share the same 犭 radical?

The radical in 猫 actually comes from 豸 zhi4 (beast), which you can still see in the traditional character 貓.

Whereas the radical in 狗 is in fact 犭 quan3.

The simplified version of 猫 got the 犭 quan3 radical because of trait reduction and semantic affinity (dog -> beast).

If it sounds easier to you, you can think of 犭 quan3 in simplified Chinese as generically referring to an animal, as in 狼 (wolf), 狮 (lion), 猴 (monkey), 狐 (fox) and words relating to animals as 猎 (hunt).

As for your other question:

  1) Why a dog radical has the dog in it with other components?

The dog radical 犭 comes from 犬 which is a pictogram, still used in some words today, especially dog breeds. No radicals other than the image itself. Here you can see an evolution of the picture. (Source: Wenlin, and possibly 说文解字).

If you are talking about the modern character 狗 gou3, it comes from the semantic/radical 犭 quan3 plus the phonetic part 句 ju4. It was probably a colloquial or popular name for "dog" which has made it into the standard language, whereas 犬 keeps a more classical and scientific flavor.


（古文) Is ‘attract’ for 援 in 人所援也 acceptable?

媛=belle
人所援也= whom people pull close
非漢所望也 means : not what Han is hoping for
A faithful translation to the original text would be :

媛: 美女也, 人所援也
The word "belle" means: "a beautiful woman, whom people (men) want to pull close to himself."

"媛" is the topic, "美女也, 人所援也" is the comment. It is a common [topic + comment/opinion] sentence structure.
The word "所" in "美女也, 人所援也" functions as a pronoun (e.g. what; whom) for the object. Which the subject (人) (n) is acting on.
In this case, it is  "pull close"(援)(v)

The phrase 非漢所望也 also has an active voice, therefore : "not what Han is hoping for" is a pretty accurate translation to the original text.


Translation of a painting's signature, ink + gold (Characters identified: 日本製略曆)

The characters are:

  日本製 (Japan made) 略(brief/ rough) 曆 (Calendar)

I am not quite sure what '略曆' (brief Calendar) means. I have never heard of this term. My guess is, it is an old term (may be Japanese only) for '月曆' (monthly calendar) which is brief in details, unlike '日曆' (daily calendar) which list much more detailed information about each day on the Calendar

This painting might be the original art work for reproduction on a calendar