Handwritten shape of 「舟」 when it appears like 「月」 and the component form of 「肉」

(Part 1) Was the component form of 「舟」 ever differentianted from 「月」 in handwriting (from 楷書 onwards)?

If you count handwritten dictionaries or volumes, then yes, they're usually recorded as variant characters. See a 國學大師 record:

  (Part 2) It seems that there were efforts to differentiate the various origins of 「月」 in a character, but were those efforts ever widespread?

If you're talking about handwriting, I don't believe that this is true in a mass-scale sense:

Excerpt from a Song Dynasty version of Shuowen

If you're talking about the print styles in the Kangxi dictionary, I'll draw your attention to the layout first:

As you can probably infer, Kangxi print styles made a conscious effort to incorporate Shuowen small seal script features. General print shapes before or even after Kangxi did not really do this.

Excerpt of 《論語主疏》 printed in the fourth year of Qianlong, from ctext

  Would it be seen as strange for someone make that distinction in their handwriting today (although the usefulness of actually doing this can be debated)?

We can take the ROC standard as an example, because we know that they differentiate between「月」and「⺼・肉」...

...but not with「舟」!

However, the effort in distinguishing them results in such a small change in the print shape that, if you carry this on in handwriting, I doubt that it'll be seen as weird. It'll be kind of weird if you fully wrote「舟」though, I'd imagine that someone not familiar with paleography might not even recognise the character.


Has MS DOS ever been used in a Chinese-speaking country?

Before Windows 95, we used "倚天中文卡" to input, handle and display traditional Chinese in Dos environment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETen_Chinese_System

Such a long time ago :)


When do I use 着 to indicate action in progress?

This is used for both actions in progress and things that are happening in present tense, such as "she is wearing a dress".

I sometimes equate this to the -ing suffix.

Examples:

  他穿着西装弹吉他

He (She) is wearing a suit and playing guitar

  你帮我看着他

Help me look out for him (her) (at this moment)

  你看他扛着那么大的一个东西

See him carrying such a big thing

However, this is not used as -ing with actions as you would expect:

This is wrong:

  他在游泳着

The 着 here should be applied to the 游 i.e.

  他在游着

Wrong:

  他在弹吉他着

Right:

  他在弹着吉他


What is the meaning of 去不去的 as in 去不去的问题?

Your instinct is right: it literally means to go or not to go. So the guy couldn't make up his mind to go (somewhere, need context) or not.


Yìbiān would be correct.

For ordinals, it is pronounced yī. In other cases, When followed by fourth tone, it takes the second tone (一对, yí duì). For all other following tones, it takes on the fourth tone.

The reason it is not marked in dictionaries, is because the rules for tone sandhi are few and straightforward. Isolated cases are when a tone is dropped (or replaced by the fifth neutral tone), and those cases are usually indicated.


In 你多吃点 and 多给他点时间吧, is 多 an adjective or an adverb?

"多" here functions just like "more" in English. It can be an adjective or adverb

  In "多吃点",  '多' (more) is an adverb for the verb '吃'(verb). In English, "多吃点水果"  means "eat fruit more"

~

  In "吃多点" , '多点' is an adjective for an omitted object. In English, "吃多点水果" means "eat more fruit"

~

  In "多给他点时间吧", '多' (more) is an adverb for the verb '给' (give). In English, "多给他点时间吧" means "give him time more"

~

  In "给他多点时间吧", '多点' (more) is an adjective for the noun '时间' (time). In English, "给他多点时间吧" means "give him more time"

多; 很多/ 多点; 多些 preceding a noun is an adjective. e.g. 多糖 (a lot of sugar), 很多糖 (a lot of sugar), 多点糖 (more sugar), 多些糖 (more sugar)
多 preceding a verb is an adverb. e.g. 多加糖 (add sugar more)
[verb + 多了] = [verb + often enough/ too much] ; '多了' is an adverb for the verb.  e.g. "看多了書" (read books often enough) ; "加多了糖" (added too much sugar)

  how about 少，for example in “少吃点” is 少 an adverb here? My dictionary says 少 is only a verb and an adjective.

少吃 = [少(adv) + 吃(v)]

少点吃 / 少吃点 = [少点(adv) + 吃 (v)]

Actually people say 多点吃 and 少点吃 more often than 多吃点 and 少吃点

Example:

少吃水果 = not often eat fruit (少 is adverb for 吃)

少点吃水果 = eat fruit less; 少吃点水果 = eat fruit less (少点 is adverb for 吃)

吃少点水果 = eat less fruit (少点 is adjective for 水果)


How can I sort a list of words by frequency or by hsk level?

I found a tool here: https://hskhsk.pythonanywhere.com/hanzi

Sample input:

Sample output:


Yes, it is 踰 (yú): exceed, transgress, cross over. It is a variant of 逾.

Characters are sometimes rendered differently. In this case, the phonetic is 俞 (yú), meaning "boat", and the bottom part is written similar to seal script style.

Originally, the 月 and 刂 in 俞 were 舟 (zhōu, boat) and 巛 (chuān, water), and the seal character is a transition in progress. Another evolutionary bastard is  (containing 舟 and 刂), with the same meaning.


Yup, in this context, the translation of saying or common saying would work.
Besides the several meanings you pointed out, 说法 also has another meaning that is commonly seen: wording or the way that something is said. An example is:

你刚刚说得有点太复杂，换一种说法意思可能清楚些。
The way you were explaining was a little too complicated, perhaps changing the wording might make it clearer.


if i have 10 apples , i give you 5 and keep the another 5 myself , it called "平均";

Here "picture 1" is called “均匀”, while picture 2 is called “不均匀”.

 [picture 1]

 [picture 2]


What is the function of "根本" in 这杯咖啡根本不值得花四十元人民币?

Yes, you can remove it without changing the meaning of the sentence.
'根本' in here is just for emphasis. Like 'at all' in English.

I'm afraid I have nothing (at all) to say.
It wasn't difficult (at all).

And you can't see 'at all' as an adverb, right?
But indeed, '根本' is like an adverb in use.

Meaning：

根：root
本：basis
根本：radical / radically
To help comprehension, '根本' can be extended as '从根本上来说' which means 'fundamentally speaking' or 'basically'.

Examples:

BackgroundA-1： A man killed a man with a kitchen knife.
You can say:
他不是人：He is not a human. (Because what he did is beyond an average person will do)

BackgroundA-2： A man killed a man with a kitchen knife without any guilty, moreover, he dismembered the body and ate.
You can say:
他根本不是人：He is completely not a human. (He is totally insane.)

BackgroundB-1： An actress tends to improvise instead of according to the scripts.
You can say：
她拍戏经常不用剧本，都是即兴发挥：She usually improvising in filming, not always follow the scripts blindly. (She is good.)

BackgroundB-2： An actress completely off the scripts just acts by improvising.
You can say：
她拍戏根本不用剧本，都是即兴发挥：She improvised in everyday shooting without any single script at all.(She is outstanding./She is weird.)

In fact, the difference isn't so obvious in everyday use, you can add '根本' into the sentence whenever you expressing your strong emotion.

Back to the context you mentioned. We can enrich it to feel the difference.

If the coffee tasted may not so bad, but not good enough as you expected. You could say：这杯咖啡不值得花四十元人民币 (Said calmly)
If the coffee tasted bad, and you buy it because previously the waitress highly recommended it for the cost-effectiveness.You could say：这杯咖啡根本不值得花四十元人民币 (Said in a little irritated mood)

By the way, to avoid wordy in colloquial, we tend to put it this way: 这咖啡根本就不值四十！

In a word, yes, '根本' can be removed in such sentences, but removed it may also play down the fact into understatement.


This is a seal on a painting. I have identified several but 8 are still unknown. Please can anyone read this seal?

imo, these character are in non-stardand small script; my best guess:

the bottom right is "春" (u+6625)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=春

top left is "堂" (u+5802)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=堂

bottom left is "製" (u+88fd)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=製

top right character, not yet recognised :(


“港鐵就射個三分波 叫我們問政府”
MTR just shot a three-pointer, told us to ask the government

"射三分波" is obviously a basketball term.
It is not a common term, but a great use of metaphor.
Imagine: The MTR spokesman was surrounded by reporters asking him tough questions, just like a basketball player surrounded by opposing team's guards who wouldn't let him break free.
To get away, that player can choose to drive right through them, (talk his way out) or get rid of the ball and shoot a three pointer instead (The metaphor is "throw a three-pointer" not "score a three-pointer") Throw the question to the government's direction hoping the reporters would leave him alone.
People who like sports often use sport terms metaphorically. For example, compare a business gamble that yielded great result to a "home-run".
Hong Kong people like sports too. If you say "He is yellow-carded by his girlfriend" people would understand that you mean "he got a (break-up) warning from his girlfriend"


What are the characters in this image and what do they mean?

来唷
Come on

来 means come.
唷 is a modal word that expresses the excited emotion of the speaker.


The words are "mei di qi". "地契" is a whole word, which means lease.


How to politely ask someone to please be quiet

Well, avoid the exclamation mark.

  請保持安靜!
  Please keep quiet!
  安靜!
  Quiet!
  小聲點!
  Lower your voice!
  請小聲點!
  Please lower your voice!

These from the above are a little commanding in tone, especially the second and third. You may change the tone by switching to a request rather than a command.

能否請你安靜 is relatively better. I usually go with this:

  請問可以小聲點嗎? 謝謝。


To answer your first question, yes, 在所有的礼当中 and 在所有的礼中 mean the same.
For the second question, yes, you can use 是, but you change the sentence structure from the original one.  We understand the original one as: 在所有的礼当中，我/最喜欢/你送给我的/真丝手袋, where the main verb is 喜欢 and 你送给我的 is an attributive phrase modifying 真丝手袋.  The main part of the sentence is 我喜欢真丝手袋.
And for your sentence 在所有的礼中，我最喜欢的(礼物)是你送给我的真丝手袋。we understand it as: 我最喜欢的/礼物/是/你送给我的/真丝手袋。where the main verb is 是 and 我最喜欢的 and 你送给我的 are attributive phrases modifying 礼物 and 真丝手袋 respectively.  The main part of this sentence is 礼物是真丝手袋.
By the same token, both of these two sentences are correct but with different syntax.

在所有的首饰当中，我最喜欢这幅耳环。// among all the 首饰, I like this earring most.

在所有的首饰中，我最喜欢的是这幅耳环。// among all the 首饰, what I like most is this earring.

As for your last two sentences:

我最喜欢的名人是姚明，因为他在球比赛中的态度热情和谦虚。

我最喜欢的名人是姚明，因为他在球比赛中的态度是热情和谦虚。

Both are problematic.  The correct one can be:

我最喜欢的名人是姚明，因为他在篮球比赛中的态度是热情和谦虚的。

The reason why we need a 的 is that in Chinese(unlike in English) adjective can not modify noun directly and it should have a 的 to form an attributive phrase.  E. g.  we can say 热情的态度, 谦虚的态度, but not 热情态度, 谦虚态度. 热情 and 谦虚 are adjectives.
P. S. I feel 谦虚的态度 is natural, but 热情的态度 is a bit off in this context. 热情的态度 is natural when put in the service context. But it could be just me.


What to mix 会 and 没有 to say "We won't have any problems."?

Is the sentence I used correct? Or is there a better expression here?

1.我们会没有问题 - 我们 (we) | 会 (will) | 没有 (not have) | 问题 (problem)

2.我们不会有问题 - 我们 (we) | 不会 (will not) | 有 (have) | 问题 (problem)

我们会没问题 (just #1 omitted 有)

Both #1 and #2 are correct.

没有 (not have) acts on the noun "问题 "(problem)
不会 (will not) modify the verb "有" (have)

  By the way is 我不会英语  correct in grammar or does she just omit it since it is obvious in context?

我不会英语 means " I don't know English" (don't understand, can't speak, read or write)  or it is "我不会說英语" but omitted the verb "說"
我不会說英语 means " I can't speak English"

我不会英语 on its own is grammatically correct. Since she understood what you wrote in English, she was actually saying "我不会說英语" but omitted the verb "說"


留学 http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/20426/
to study abroad

'留' = 'stay'; '學' = 'study'
'留学' means 'stay (abroad) to study'
If you say: "我要去留學" (I am going to study abroad), it implies there is a clear destination. e.g. "我要去美国留学" (I am going to America to study). In this case, you are going to enroll to a particular college or university in a particular city in a foreign country
'游学' is short for 一邊游历一邊學習 (learning while traveling). It is a very general term.
'游学' could mean you are traveling across your own country and learn new things as you go, from serious study like taking college courses, to casual learning like learn to make wonton noodle soup from a restaurant owner; It could also mean you go to many foreign countries and studying in many different universities or taking apprenticeship under different masters.
'四方游学' is a common phrase that describe 'go to many places to study' or 'traveling the world and study along the way'   . But there's no such thing as '四方留学'


How do you "know about things" in Chinese? What's the easiest or most common way?

我不太了解中国的地理

我不太熟悉中国的地理

You can replace 对 with 跟 or 和 if you like.


It is used when someone uses some pronouns like 这件事 or 那间房子 or else to refer to something, which is not definite enough for the hearer to figure out which entity exactly the speaker is referring to. For example:

  我很欣赏您的那幅作品。 I really appreciate that piece of yours.

  您是指（哪一幅）？ Which one exactly are you referring to?

  画了三匹马的那幅。 The one of three horses.

指 usually can mean 'refer to'.


課文, lit. 'the text of the class' or 'class text', simply refers to the text you just studied for class.

放大鏡, lit. 'the mirror that magnifies', means magnifying glass.

課文放大鏡 is a compound noun with the first noun behaving like an adjective. That is to say, you can think of this as equivalent to (and more compact than) 課文的放大鏡, meaning 'the magnifying glass of the class text'. (In fact, if you think closely, even 課文 and 放大鏡 themselves are compound nouns.)

You examine something closely with a magnifying glass. 課文放大鏡 therefore is a figurative way of saying 'a close look on the class text'. The questions guide you through the text you just studied, and are thus analytical. More formally, you may say 課文分析 or 文本分析 which means 'textual analysis'.

However, you probably won't find this in dissertations or higher-grade class texts. That is because 課文放大鏡 is a light-hearted, informal saying.


没事

méishì

MDBG

  it's not important / it's nothing / never mind / to have nothing to do / to be free / to be all right (out of danger or trouble)

没关系

méiguānxi

MDBG

  it doesn't matter


What is the function of in this 为 sentence?

为 means "for", as most people know. In this case,  "for" is used as in "unload the cargo for the truck". This usage is slightly less orthodox, but still makes quite some sense if you take it as a personification, treating the truck as if it has a mind, but cannot unload the cargo by itself, so you need to unload the cargo for it. This usage appears because everyone handles objects in their mind differently, and there are people who are used to this sort of personification, as demonstrated when someone consoles an object if the object falls from their hands or a table (mostly kids as adults don't express their thoughts as much. I cannot be sure, but this may be related to empathy). This kind of usage is further proliferated by human interactions in the society, where people tend to be affected and pick up others' language usage patterns.


From the Starbucks webpage, I figure it's 杯 /bei/， meaning "cup".

Short: 小杯 /xiǎo bēi/ (small cup)
Tall: 中杯 /zhōng bēi/(medium cup)
Grande: 大杯 /dà bēi/ (large cup)
Venti: 超大杯 /chāo dà bēi/ (extra large cup)


What is the difference between 阅读, 读, and 看?

看 could mean see, look, watch and read, but 阅读 does not mean see, look or watch. 阅读 only means read. Examples:

我在看书。(I'm reading a book.)
我在读书。(I'm reading a book.)
我在阅读。(I'm doing some reading.)(Normally we don't say 我在阅读书; see below.)
WRONG SENTENCE: 请阅读那个垃圾桶。(Please read that trash bin.)
请看那个垃圾桶。(Please look at that trash bin.)

阅读 is more like an intransitive verb, or a noun in English, while 读 is more like a transitive verb. Examples:

我喜欢阅读。(I like reading.)
UNNATURAL: 我喜欢阅读书。(I like reading books.)(Although in English it is very good, it sounds weird in Chinese, because a one-syllable word is combined with a two-syllable word.)
RATHER FORMAL: 我喜欢阅读书籍。(I like reading books.)(This sounds formal rather than weird because two two-syllable words are put together.)


Yes, we use 不是 and 没有, for different meaning.

我不是二十岁。
I'm not twenty years old. (Probably 10, or 30, ...)

我没有二十岁。
I'm less than twenty years old.

PS: You could use 是 such as 我是二十岁 to emphasize the fact (that you're twenty). And when asked with the specified age, we usually answer it with using 是. e.g.

你是二十岁吗？
我是二十岁。

When asked about the age generally, we usually answer it without using 是.

你多大？
我二十岁。


What's the difference between 是不是 and 对不对？

We sometimes translate both 是 and 对 as "yes".  However, they're very distinct in meaning: 是 is a verb meaning "is", whereas 对 is an adjective meaning "correct".  (Putting aside how both 是 and 对 have multiple other meanings.)

她是你女朋友。
She is your girlfriend.
对，她是我女朋友。
Correct Yes, she is my girlfriend.

We translate 对 to "yes" in English because "correct" sounds overly formal.
We might instead reply using the verb 是:

是，她是我女朋友。
Yes, she is my girlfriend.

We don't really have an equivalent to this in English.  By repeating the verb 是, we affirm the previous statement is correct.  Otherwise we might say one of:

不对，她不是我女朋友。
Incorrect No, she is not my girlfriend.

不是，她不是我女朋友。
No, she is not my girlfriend.

We can use 是不是 and 对不对 as affirmative-negative questions:

你有儿子，是不是？
你有儿子，对不对？ [equivalent]
You have a son, right?
你是不是我妈？  [here we cannot use 对不对 instead]
Are you or are you not Are you my mother?
他的行为对不对？  [here we cannot use 是不是 instead]
Is his behavior correct or not correct correct?

And many verbs and adjectives can be used this way.

你吃不吃？
You eat or not eat Do you want to eat some?
你有没有手机？
Do you have or not have have a mobile phone?

天气好不好？
Is the weather good or not good good?
你的皮肤白不白？
Is your skin white or not white white?

Furthermore, these constructions are sometimes used outside of questions, e.g.:

我不知道他是不是结婚了。
I don't know if he is or not is is married.


How should I understand the pronunciation of 驾驶证 (jiàshǐ zhèng) as 酱汁儿 (jiàng zhī er)?

Your 1st interpretation is correct. In a three-character word the middle character tends to be ommitted.

驾驶证     jia shi zheng ->
驾驶证儿   jia shi zh-r  ->
驾儿证儿   jia r zh-r    ->
驾(儿)证儿 jia-r zh-r    ->
酱汁儿     jiang zh-r

This is the same for 派出所 becoming 派儿所 (盼儿锁 in the article).


Does 危机 really mean both crisis and opportunity?

Victor Mair has an essay answering your question directly:
Danger + opportunity ≠ crisis, how a misunderstanding about Chinese characters has led many astray.

[...] Like most Mandarin words, that for “crisis” (wēijī) consists of two syllables that are written with two separate characters, wēi (危) and jī (機/机).
[...] While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi syllable of wēijī does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī most definitely does not signify “opportunity.”
The jī of wēijī, in fact, means something like “incipient moment; crucial point (when something begins or changes).” Thus, a wēijī is indeed a genuine crisis, a dangerous moment, a time when things start to go awry. A wēijī indicates a perilous situation when one should be especially wary.
[...] jī added to huì (“occasion”) creates the Mandarin word for “opportunity” (jīhuì), but by itself jī does not mean “opportunity.”


Classifier for 'bundles/hanks' is '束', as in '一束花' (a bundle of flower); '一束头发' (a hank of hair)

The only classifier using 子 is for 'chess/ Go piece' or 'chess/ Go move',

Example:

'讓你兩子棋' (give you two stones handicap)

"需要深入思考每一子棋" (need to think deep for each chess move).

'步' as  in "需要深入思考每一步棋" is more common that 子 when using as classifier for chess move

A prominent example for 子 as a classifier for chess/Go piece:

一子錯, 滿盆皆落索 - one piece (of chess) (placed) wrong, the entire game (situation) become untenable


For simplified Chinese 仿佛 is correct. I don’t know the history of 彷 and 仿, but I can tell you 100% it is 仿佛. Whatever subtitles you’re watching can be wrong.


Are idioms like 亡羊补牢 commonly used by native Mandarin speakers?

Some Chinese idioms are special, it depends on the sentences context and the say you express it.

This is the complete idioms

  亡羊而补牢，未为迟也。(if is never too late if you fix the fence immediate after the first few sheep escape. )

When one say 亡羊补牢, it can either mean :

  i. To comfort or remind someone that it is not too late to fix the mistake, or

  ii. Somebody mess up in the first place, now they are fixing it.

  iii. A hint that somebody make a mistake that must be fixed.

This is why Chinese don't simply throw out the idiom 亡羊补牢 unless you are pretty sure what you mean.


In traditional Chinese, when should one write 台灣 and when should one write 臺灣?

The spelling 「台灣」 is not official in Taiwan, and receives no entries in the Republic of China's Ministry of Education dictionaries (萌典, 教育部重編國語辭典修訂本, 教育部國語辭典簡編本).

Its prevalence in online media is most likely due to IMEs listing 「台灣」 before 「臺灣」 in Taiwanese phonetic input systems when typing "taiwan" or "ㄊㄞㄨㄢ" on a computer.* This has nothing to do with handwritten simplifications, as things like 「身體」, 「學習」, etc. do not appear as 「身体」 or 「学習」 in Traditional Chinese websites.

Even though one "shouldn't" use the spelling 「台灣」, everyone recognises what 「台灣」 is supposed to be, and this spelling is overwhelmingly prevalent in Taiwan itself, so it doesn't really matter (except when referring to governmental agencies). I would just be cautious in its usage, as the overwhelming (and erroneous) prevalence of 「台」 for the name Taiwan has led people to forget that 「台」 is properly pronounced in the first tone as tāi when used in proper nouns and never as tái.

*This is true from personal experience. Ironically, using a PRC input system set to Traditional Chinese will only list 「臺灣」 and not 「台灣」 when one types "taiwan".


性, in this context, means 有...性质， having the characteristic/sense of ...

So, 目的性：有 目的 性质， 实用性： 有 实用 性质.

You could translate 性 according to your contexts, and sometimes you could even ignore it when you feel it's unnecessary. It's all at your own discretion.

In this context, I suggest using noun words, like 实用性: practicality, 目的性: purposiveness. And purposiveness is the same as "sense of purpose".

有更准确的目的性。could be "be more clear/precise on the sense of purpose/purposiveness".


How does 客 (kè, "customer, guest") and 气 (qì, "gas, anger") combine to give 客气 （kèqi, "polite")?

I think the logic is like 口气，语气.

口气 is tone in English. 气 is air. 口气 is air from your mouth. Figuratively, it becomes your tone with which you speak.

So, my thought for 客气 would be you speak in a guest's tone, which implies you are being polite.


(Cantonese) What's the right context in which to say, "三九唔識七"?

The phrase is used when you want to stress that some two people are complete strangers to each other. Examples:

我同佢三九唔識七，點敢叫佢幫忙呀？(I am a complete stranger to him. How can I bother him for help?)
阿仔，你同人三九唔識七，唔好咁易信佢呀！(My son, you know nothing about him. Don't trust him so easily.)

However, please note that the phrase is used essentially in spoken form but not in formal writings.


你跟家人一般见面？ is not a correct sentence.

It should be 你跟家人一般什么时候见面？(When do you normally see your family?)


The minimal set of characters containing any stroke a Chinese character might have

Your answer should be looked up in calligraphic books.
If I'm right, you're looking for a set of Chinese characters or radicals with all kinds of basic strokes. You may know that basic categories of characters are heng (horizontal), shu (vertical), pie (left-slant), na (right-slant), zhe (curve or turn), dian (point, which may be a subcategory of na). Although there is one character that may cover all these categories (永"eternity", which called "永字八法" or "eight fundamentals in Yong" in calligraphy), it cannot cover all strokes if we divide the categories in detail.  I'll try to construct a set here to satisfy your need.

Let's start by list one character per stroke:
0. basic -- 永
1. heng
simple horizontal -- 四
horizontal with slant -- 习 (as in President Xi Jinping)
horizontal with final hook -- 辽
2. shu
simple vertical -- 四 (included above)
vertical with final curve -- 四 (included above)
3. dian -- 永 (included above)
4. pie
simple left-slant -- 队
left-slant with initial horizontal -- 永 (included above)
5. na
simple right-slant -- 永 (included above)
6. zhe
vertical with final left hook -- 永 (included above)
curved vertical with final hook -- 辽 (included above)
horizontal-vertical turn with hook -- 习 (included above)
vertical with final right hook -- 民
curved stroke with final hook -- 民 (included above)
L-shaped stroke with final hook -- 匕
horizontal-curved turn with final hook -- 飞
3-shaped stroke -- 辽 (included above)
3-shaped stroke with final hook -- 队 (included above)
left-slant-horizontal turn -- 去

Within seven characters, you get all strokes of Chinese characters.


How do you use 附近的 in a sentence? Also, 所有的？

附近的 , 所有的 are adjectives.

附近的 common usage: 附近的+{Object} , means {Object} is near.
所有的 common usage: 所有的+{Object} , means all {Object}.

Example：

  *附近的*建筑非常漂亮。
  Nearby buildings are very beautiful.

  附近*所有的*建筑都非常漂亮。
  All nearby buildings are very beautiful.

比，比较，较 they all have the meaning To compare,To contrast . Their usage are very complex. Let me just show some examples.

  我比你高
  I am taller than you.

  和你家比较，我家更大。
  To compare with your house, my house is bigger.


Radicals vs glyph origins (specifically for character 肚 in 肚子)

Look at the middle parts, they are different.
月 = 月 (moon)
肉 = ⺼ (meat)

⺼ - 肉部首
(俗稱「提肉旁」）：CJK RADICAL MEAT (U+2EBC)
簡體將從此形的字歸入月部。

Simplified Chinese characters merged ⺼radical into 月 radical

The '土' in '肚' is the phonics component


I don't think so as a native speaker.
呢 is only a modal particle while it is pronounced as "ne" in Pinyin.
You can use it for:

Interrogative mood. Use it at the end of a sentence. Sometimes you can use it for probing somebody.

For example:

你在做什么呢？ What are you doing?

You can remove 呢; then you are not probing.
Another usage:

我的杯子呢？ Where is my cup?

In my view, this is an elliptical sentence. It should be 我的杯子在哪呢？. And 在哪 means WHERE.
哪 is also has interrogative mood. So you can remove 呢 if there is 哪. (or keep it is also ok)
You must keep 呢 if you use the elliptical sentence. Because there is no interrogative mood in the rest of the sentence.

Emphatic mood. Use it at the end of a sentence.

我在跟你说话呢！ I am talking to you!

Something or action is happening. Use it at the end of a sentence.

我在学习呢。 I am studying right now.

Indicating a pause.

现在呢，已经完全不一样了。 Nowadays, well it's totally changed.


就 has many meanings, In different context, '就是' could mean 'is exactly' ; 'then it is' ; 'just/ only'

Example:

他最怕的话题[就是]关于爱情的话题 = The topic he afraid the most, [is exactly] the topic about love
讨论完关于工作的话题, 接下来[就是]关于爱情的话题 = Finished discussing the topic about job,  next [then it is] the topic about love
他什么书都看，[就是]关于爱情的他不看 = He read any kind of book, [just/ only] the ones about love he doesn't read


Unlike English, （简）优先／（繁）優先 is an adjective while （简）优先级／（繁）優先級 is a noun.

1. （简）这个项目优先级最高。
   （繁）這個項目優先級最高。

If you want to use an adjective then the expression will be like

2. （简）这个项目是最高优先的。（所以……）
   （繁）這個項目是最高優先的。（所以……）

You may notice a small difference in meaning, the first one is often used as response or a single sentence. The second is NOT very usually used as only a single sentence, but you can still use it as a single when the 所以 is obvious.


There is no 100% 1:1 translation, so how you translate this expression will heavily depend on the context.

Some examples:

You want to fly abroad on holiday, but the airport is closed. You can express your discontent with 坐飞机去旅游原来不过如此。"So much for taking the plane to go on holiday!".

There is a ...也不过如此 form, that is used often. E.g.
 最多再有几分钟, 也不过如此. "Only a matter of a few more minutes, that's all."

But this can also have the meaning "like a ....!"
皇宫也不过如此吧！ "It's like a palace!" (lit. Even the imperial palace can not keep up with this).


How to say "Hopefully we can treat each other with more X"

A:
English grammar: [1. hopefully] [2. we can] [3. treat each other] [4. with more (n)]
Chinese grammar: [1. hopefully] [2. we can] [3. with more (n)] [4. treat each other]

[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 以更多(n)] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 以更多寬容] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 以更多體諒] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 以更多體貼] [4. 互相對待]

B:
English grammar: [1. hopefully] [2. we can] [3. treat each other] [4. more (adv)]
Chinese grammar: [1. hopefully] [2. we can] [3. more (adv)] [4. treat each other]

[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 更(adv)] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 更寬容地] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 更體諒地] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們能] [3. 更體貼地] [4. 互相對待]

C:
English grammar: [1. hopefully] [2. we can] [3. be more (adj)] [4. with each other]
Chinese grammar: [1. hopefully] [2. we ] [3. with each other] [4. can be more (adj)]

[1. 希望] [2. 我們] [3. 互相之間] [4. 能更 (adj)]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們] [3. 互相之間] [4. 能更寬容]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們] [3. 互相之間] [4. 能更友好]
[1. 希望] [2. 我們] [3. 互相之間] [4. 能更體貼]
You can replace 希望 with 但願; replace 能 with 能夠 or 可以; replace 更 with 更加
(A)is a less common way to speak in Chinese compare to (B) or (C)

~

Cantonese:
[1. 希望] [2. 我地能夠] [3. 以更多(n)] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我地能夠] [3. 更(adv)] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我地] [3. 互相之間] [4. 能夠更(adj)]

[1. 希望] [2. 我地能夠] [3. 以更多寬容] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我地能夠] [3. 更寬容噉] [4. 互相對待]
[1. 希望] [2. 我地] [3. 互相之間] [4. 能夠更寬容]
You can replace 希望 with 但願; replace 能夠 with 可以; replace 更 with 更加


Figuring things out
There is a very similar metaphor in English, but usage is much more restricted:

When I told John the money was gone, I could see the wheels turning (in his head).

Very often the use is:

A person learns some new or surprising information.
This information causes the person to think, and they slowly start figuring out the implications of it.
They look like they're staring into space, eyes sort of glazed over.

An expression with almost the exact same use as "see the wheels turning (in X's head)" is "(X started to) put the pieces together". To continue with the tale of deception and treachery above:

By the time he had put the pieces together, it was too late--Bill had already fled the country with all of the cash.

Concentrating deeply
I don't think there are any rotation-oriented metaphors for the scenario where you are actively trying to think about something (rather than being spurred into thought by the information). A common enough, if somewhat silly idiom is "Put on your thinking cap":

Hey class, let's put on our thinking caps and try to solve this problem!

I'm open for alternative suggestions (that are less suited to elementary school).


What is the difference between these sentences? (过 vs 了)

In casual conversation without further context, sentences in the first two groups are almost the same.  If no additional information is available, both expressions are acceptable to a native speaker. But using "过" is still better.

"了" vs. "过" :

"你最近看过电视吗？" means "did you watch TV at least once recently."  The time, TV program and duration of the action "watching TV" is not being asked.

"你最近看了电视吗？" means "have you watched TV recently".  And "了" here implies that "watching TV" is finished/done.  It is used when talking about the consequence of the action.

The translation of the last sentence in your question ("recently I went to my favorite cinema and found it's closed down") is acceptable.  But it is better to omit that "了" after "发现".

"发现了" is used when a noun is after "发现了". Example: "X发现了新大陆", "X found new continent".  But when a sentence with "了" is used after "发现了", then you can omit "了" in "发现了".


Database of Chinese translations of given names?

the national academy fro educational research (國家教育研究院) of taiwan, maintained the bilingual data, several of these database are name related, and all of them are free to download

學術名詞下載

entries started with “外國學者人名譯名” are your targets :) ranged from turkish, japanese, korean to italian and german.

if you want a shortcut, why foreign names was transliterated to particular chinese names, read the “?漢譯音參考表”, “?” is the original language. eg:

新1081017英漢譯音參考表20191017.pdf

德漢譯音參考表(170516修正).doc

have fun :)


斯 is ancient Chinese language usage, and 此 is more used in writing language. 这 is most common nowadays.


It is there for emphasis.

The two sentences have similar meanings, while the one with "一個" has more emphasis on that you are the ONLY one that I like. It can be used to transfer stronger emotion.


Is there a rule of thumb for distinguishing male and female names in Chinese?

In a previous post "How do we choose the correct characters for a westerner name?", I listed some characters that I think are popular in names nowadays. Remember, characters don't express the gender, so there are only some "rough clues" to guess the gender of the person.

One example would be “芳”, which means "fragrance,good smell".It's very common to be seen in a woman's name as in 梅艳芳(a last female singer from HongKong) and 谢杏芳(a famous female badminton player). However, I few cases, it appears in a man's name. I.e. 单田芳(a famous Pingshu performer. Note: here 单 pronounces shàn as a family name)

I agree with point 1 in 景洛弘's answer, that meanings could be a clue, but I don't agree with point 2, because in chinese, many characters share the same sound.

Counterexamples to point 2:

ye. There is a famous actor 刘烨(liu2 ye4).

li. li could be “力(li4)", which means "strength". There was a famous linguist 王力(wang2 li4).li could also be "莉(li4)",and “茉莉” means "jasmine". There is a famous actress 牛莉(niu2 li4).

hong. Hong could be "宏(hong2)“, which means "huge". There is a famous comedian 黄宏(huang2 hong2). Hong could also be "虹(hong2)", which means "rainbow". There is a famous actress 陶虹(tao2 hong2).


他上个星期在家里看电视看了二十个小时: Why is 看 written before 电视?

The most straight forward way to form this sentence is a simple SVO structure

[他] [看了] [电视] --> [他] (上个星期在家里) [看了] (二十个小时) [电视]
[S] [V] [O] --> [S] (relative phrase) [V] (relative phrase) [O]
"他看了二十个小时电视" = "he watched 20 hours of TV."

Another common Chinese sentence structure is [topic + comment] structure

他看电视 is the [topic]
看了二十个小时 is the [comment]
"他看电视看了二十个小时" = "he watches TV., has watched for 20 hours"

(repeat the verb in the comment emphasize the verb)
~
"他电视看了二十个小时" place the object before the verb to emphasize it.


磨练： temper oneself hard

在身为罗马奴隶的艰苦磨练中，宾汉变得更强壮、更有耐力。

Ben-Hur's years of enduring hardship as a Roman slave strengthened him and increased his endurance.

唯有艰苦磨练才能强化心灵

only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened

Sometimes, you might see 磨炼(smelt) instead of 磨练(exercise/training). There are some disputation on which one is correct. But main idea is that 磨炼 is sort of wrong words, but you may understand it as a synonym.


To emphasise the social or citizen aspect of the people, you should use「民眾」or「人民」, or in a combining word, just「民」.

「人類」is not correct, that has the same meaning as English humans. You use it to emphasise the biological species aspect to contrast it with e.g.「犬類」(canines).


Yes, it is「良」.

That's just a minor shape variation, probably influenced by Qin bamboo or Han clerical brush writing.

  In small seal script, the bottom of「良」is corrupted into「亾」(「亡」), so as long as you see something resembling「亾」then that's a positive identification.


http://www.baike.com/wiki/抠门 tells:

抠门 - 历史渊源

1.古时候有一个财主，爱财如命.去寺里烧香看见庙门上的刷的金粉，他都要抠去带走。所以就有了抠门这个词语。

2.“抠门”的意思是说，吝啬到连个门把手都舍不得装，开门的时候不得不用手去抠门缝。抠门就诞生了。所以大家把吝啬的人说成是抠门。


The term '临床' means "in front of the patient's bed or operation bed "

'临' (facing/ in front of)

'床' ( bed) here refers to '手术床'(operation bed) or 病床 (patient's bed)

'临床经验' means 'clinical experience'

The term '东床' came from the idiom 东床快婿,

The story of 东床快婿:

郄鉴 heard the sons of 王导 were all handsome gentleman. So, he wanted to marry his daughter to one of them. For that very reason, 郄鉴 sent a messenger to 王导's house to observe the young men in 王导's household in order to select one of them to be his son-in-law.
The messenger reported to 郄鉴 that all of them were pleasant gentleman and showed him great respect -- except for one.  There was one bare-chested young man lay there in a bed on the east side of the room,  ignoring all the commotion. 郄鉴 decided this bare-chested young man on the East-side bed was the finest young man among 王导's sons, and should be the husband of his daughter.
That bare-chested man on the East bed turned out to be the famous 王羲之 (Wang Xizhi).

That's the story of how '东床' (East bed) became a symbol of "worthy son-in-law"

in '东床快婿', '东床'(East bed)= '快婿'( a pleasant son-in-law)


How to translate "march wearing in one uniform: leadership"

I may have understood the text wrong, but here is my trial

  回顾我在 NYMA 训练的两周时，我感觉自学到了许多宝贵的知识。这其中最重要的，就是当这世界上来自不同文化、不同背景的人们都为了一个目标训练（行军）时，能创造出这么多令人难忘的回忆瞬间。而这个目标，就是领导能力。


There are four basic types of calligraphy:
   1.Regular Script(楷书)
   2.Semi-cursive Scrip(行书)
   3.Clerical Script(隶书)
   4.Cursive Script(草书)

Normally I'll recommend start with Yan Zhenqing - Duobaota Bei. But I think Ouyang Xun - Thousand Character Text is better for you to try. It's covering lots of basic knowledge and widely used as a primer for teaching Chinese characters to children. Below is the link.

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AC%A7%E9%98%B3%E8%AF%A2#/media/File:%E6%AC%A7%E9%98%B3%E8%AF%A2%E8%A1%8C%E4%B9%A6%E3%80%8A%E5%8D%83%E5%AD%97%E6%96%87%E3%80%8B.jpg

So far I never see any Chinese calligraphy poem (ancient classic) is about love.


The general idea for this idiom is that there's no guarantee for (whatever matter you are referring to) to come to fruition yet, likely whatever it was hasn't even been started. No way. Another way of saying this in Chinese is "(事情)还没有眉目"

The character 八 (eight) is written with 2 strokes, the first one is 撇 (to the left), and the second one is 捺 (to the right). Think about it this way: for a character with two strokes, the first stroke hasn't be written.

Colloquially, you may also see the idiom written as 八字沒一撇

I found an article on BaiDu that goes into the origins of the idiom (http://baike.baidu.com/view/2005439.htm)

I have included my translations about the origins part (see BaiDu for original text)
The original idiom actual refers to the possible engagement between a man and woman. When the couple gets introduced to each other, a fortune teller is invited to see if their birth time/day/month/year (八字) will be harmonious with each other. This is called 发八字. If they are deemed to be compatible/harmonious, the man and woman will officially become engaged. Of course, these terms are not used today.


羣 is an archaic variant of 群. That is, although they mean the same thing, you would use 群 nowadays.

Interestingly, 羣 appears to have been the "correct" version in the past, and at some point 群 took that place:

There is a Three Kingdoms politician by the name of 陳羣, whereas the identically named Republican politician 陳群, use different characters in the last name.
The Kangxi dictionary entry for 群 states that it is a "vulgar variant" (《五經文字》羣，俗作群。), so the transition was at least between Qing and Republic of China.


What order does the country name sort by in Chinese?

Sort by radical.

不 belongs to 一 radical (#1) therefore listed first

黑 belongs to 黑 radical: (#203) therefore listed last

If the first characters are the same, the radicals of the second characters will be ranked


後備(reserve/backup) - opposite of 先發(starting) / 正選(primary)

副選/次選 (secondary option/ secondary selection) opposite of 首選 (first choice/ first option) or 正選 (primary)

e.g.

北京大學是我的首選, 天津大學是後備 (Peking University is my first choice, Tianjin University is the backup)
北京大學是我的首選, 天津大學是我副選/ 次選 (Peking University is my first choice, Tianjin University is my secondary option)
先發球員 (starter)- 後備球員 (bench player)
正選球員 (starter)- 副選球員 (second string player)


也 When expressing a series does 也 need to be before each object or just the last object

I) "也" means "too"：

"也" means "too" in English, this is an adverb put at the back of the last statement to enhance that the same situation……ect.

你没有车，我*也*没有。(You don't have a car, I don't have a car either).

你喜欢巧克力，我*也*是 (You like chocolates, I do, too).

II) "也" means "the end of a list things shown to others"：

When explaining a list of things, you can use commas or 顿号（slight-pause mark used to set off items in a series; punctuation mark (、) used between parallel words or short phrases; the caesura sign “、”placed between several proper names），but add "也" at the end. Here "也" doesn't mean "too" but just an end to tell others that the list of things I've listed comes to an end only.

我没有车、没有房、没有工作、也**没有老婆。(I have no cars,no houses,no jobs **and no wives).


how to say "learn" without involving studying?

In your examples it seems more like learn by practice, which in Chinese we usually say 學到 or 學會; on the other hand, learn by study is closer to 學習, in which 習 means systematic learning and training to acquire knowledge.


Can someone please tell me what 工艺鞋 are？

Well, to be frank, I am afraid you can not find this "工艺鞋" directly in Chinese dictionaries, so you can take this word as a definition which is not very clearly defined. I have searched on line I can show you several pics, they are all called "工艺鞋". However, as you can see, slippers, sandal, boots.... and from manmade to machine made.....  so you can imagine "工艺鞋" basically they are 'shoes'. If you wanna define it more precisely, they are  artistic temperamental shoes. I hope this can help you. I am not an English native speaker, but I tried my best. cheers.


You don't necessarily need a counter or classifier in that case.
這個是什麼 is ok, it's like "What is this thing?"
這是什麼 is also ok, probably more common. "What is this?"

那是我的自行車 is perfectly fine, just a generic "that's my bicycle"
那個是我的自行車 is like "that one is my bicycle." (Not this one or those other ones)
The counter word just emphasizes that you're talking about that particular thing.

It's not mandatory here because there is already 我的 that classifies the bicycle.

It's also unnecessary if you're talking about a general class of object, rather than a particular object. 這是什麼？這是自行車. Or 我要買自行車 "I want to buy a bicycle" (not any specific one, just one in general)

If you said something like 給我那個自行車, then the classifier would be mandatory, because you're talking about a particular one, so you need to specify it. But 給我你的自行車 has 你的, so it doesn't need a counter word.


What's the Mandarin equivalent of the Hardcore History podcast?

The BBC was running a podcast a few years ago, 20th Century China. It's in Mandarin and has 35 episodes in total.

RTHK hosted another Mandarin language show, but not as in-depth as you might would like, rather bite-sized: 中国历史小档案

If you speak Cantonese, they have more detailed shows on Chinese history, e.g. 神州五十年. Check their podcasts list.


It is true that, generally speaking, 融 means to melt, but has other meanings too, especially in the economic context.

In this case, as 賈可 Jacky wrote, the character 融 can be translated as circulation or to circulate. In the online Chinese Dictionary zdic this character is defined as follows:

  ● 融
  róng  ㄖㄨㄥˊ

   固体受热变软或化为流体：～化。～解。消～。
   调合，和谐：～合。～洽。～汇贯通。其乐～～。
   流通：～泄（飘动，浮动）。金～（货币的流通，即储蓄，信贷、汇兑、股票和证券交易等经济活动的总称）。
   长远、永久：～裔（形容声调悠长）。

The meaning we are interested in is #3, which says:

  [...]3. Circulation [流通]: like in the words fluctuation [融泄] (floating, drifting) and finance [金融] (circulation of money, namely savings, credit, remittances, buying and selling of stocks, and other economic activities of this kind)[...]

So, this character 融 has to do with circulation (流通) of capital (资本), and that's why the meaning of 融资 is in fact financing or funding.

This particular meaning of 融 can also be found in the 《汉语大字典》 and in the 《辞源》. Both dictionaries explain this character by saying that its meaning is basically 流通 (to circulate).

I couldn't find any reference to the ancient tradition your friend mentioned. Anyway, it seems to me that the word 融资 is quite a modern coinage.

References:

融资 entry in Wiktionary (Traditional characters)
融 entry in Wiktionary
融 entry in zdic


What's the meaning of 虚化 in Chinese linguistics?

結果補語的「虛」與「實」

漢語動結式（又稱黏合式述補結構）中有一類的補語被稱為「虛化結果補語」，包括「完、好、掉、住、成、著、了、過等」

根據過去的研究，虛化結果補語區別實義結果補語的特點是：皆由實義動詞虛化而來、本身詞匯意義不明顯、語義指向述語、不是動結式的語義中心、主要表示動作事件「完結、結束」等。但是，這些區別特點主要都體現語義層面上，而句法上，無論是對前項動詞的選擇、還是與賓語的搭配，虛化補語與實義補語並無明顯差異

We are familiar with the aspect markers below:
吃(eat) --> 吃了 (eat is a completed action)
吃(eat) --> 吃過 (eat is an experience action)
They are on the list of 虛化結果補語. And the article stated 虛化補語 is mainly used for indicating the verb is 'completed/ finished' and 實義補語 mainly used for indicating the result of the verb. e.g. 斬斷 (chop-apart); 切掉 (cut-away). 斷 is the result complement of the verb 斬; 掉 is the result complement of the verb 切. They indicate the 'actual result' of the verb
From the same article:

而句法上，無論是對前項動詞的選擇、還是與賓語的搭配，虛化補語與實義補語並無明顯差異

實義结果補語 (actual result complements) and 虛化结果補語 (virtual result complements) are practically identical in syntactic.

My knowledge in linguistics terms is based mostly on Hong Kong Standard Written Chinese (SWC). It is likely different from linguistics terms used by Mandarin speakers in the mainland. But I hope my input would help you find the most accurate translation of the term in question
I was taught '斷' and '掉' in '斬斷' and '切掉' are "verb particles"; '了' and '過' in '吃了' and '吃過' are "aspect markers"


For what you are asking 在 and 正在 are basically interchangeable.

You will rarely hear 正在 in colloquial, normal, conversation - it is quite formal and elaborate. For instance looking up 你正在干什么？ gives a result from Google Books reading:

  此时你正在干什么？

No one would really talk like this unless you're playing a role in an old-timey kind of show or something like that.

在 you could contest is an abbreviation of 正在 in your given scenario and is the most down-to-earth way to express something currently being underway.


Help finishing my translation of a (short) Chinese forum post. Also looking for advice about parsing Chinese stories/narratives

一厢情愿 means 'wishful thinking' or 'one sided feeling'  It is a common idiom. Contrary to '两情相悦' (both share the same feeling of love)

It is hard to understand what the meaning of 走出来 (walk out) when read it out of context

走出来 in this context means 'get out of (this relationship)', We know that because this guy was asking "恋爱两个月女友连手也不让牵，该不该继续下去?"  (after two months of romantic dating, my girlfriend still doesn't let me hold her hand, should I continue or not?)

He was obvious talking about should or shouldn't he stay in this so call romance

  I often find that when I'm reading Chinese text I find it very hard to keep track of who the subject is and the time frames of each verb

Chinese writing often omit subject when who or what is the subject is clearly implied in the context, therefore, you must read enough context to keep track of who the subject is. For example, if you just get one sentence "同不同意?" you will not know who is being asked, but if you know it is from a conversation between two friends, the subject would clearly be the speaker's friend.

Chinese verbs do not use tenses, therefore you have to have enough context to tell what tense a verb is in. See How do you specify past tense for 是? for reference

Note:

美好的故事 means beautiful story


后= after

Examples:

吃饭后 = after eating dinner

15分钟后 = after 15 minutes

  以后 = after

以后 (after) emphasizes on 'time after a specific event or action'

Examples:

吃过那顿晚饭以后 = after eating that dinner (a specific dinner is emphasized)

15分钟的沉默以后 = after 15 minutes of silence (the event- 15 minutes of silence is emphasized)

  以后 = 此后 (hereafter); 其后 (thereafter) ; 以来(since)

Example: 自二战以后 = 自二战以来 = since WWII

  以后 = 今后 (from now on)

Example:

我以后不再和你说话 = I won't talk to you from now on


It depends on writer story description, you cannot simply read it out of context.

  来电话的是杨昭的弟弟杨锦天 : denote sibling

  杨昭的父母将杨锦天领回自己家抚养 ：indicate he is not sibling, but cousins, but now adopted by 杨昭 parent.

  至于这个弟弟 : denote 杨锦天 is treated as sibling instead of cousin.

This is not uncommon practice in other culture. Due to various unfortunate incidents(war, famine,natural disaster), it is quite common for human society to adapt sibling children as own children.

It is the adopting parent who decide whether to retain the relative title or not.

In such case,  杨昭 parent choose to make 杨锦天 as their own child. As in all cultures, family ties is very important.  These small little details does matters.


In online gaming, how would you exhort a Chinese teammate to die gloriously?

Chinese have many phrases for "good death" like 犧牲, 捐軀, 就義, 成仁, 捨身, 捨生...

Examples:

"去壯烈犧牲吧!" (Go, go heroically sacrifice yourself!)

"去英勇捐軀吧!" (Go, go bravely give up your life!)

"去光榮戰死吧!" (Go, go gloriously die in battle!)

"去慷慨就義吧!" (Go, go gracefully meet your doom for your allegiance!)

"去捨身報國吧!" (Go, go give up your life for your country!)

"去殺身成仁吧!" (Go, go give up your life for honor!)

My choice:

"去捨生一戰吧!" (Go, disregard your life; forget about death and fight this one battle!)

捨生忘死 disregard life; forget death


Multiple characters for the same sound in Chinese

Firstly, you need to know that the phonetic system of Ancient Chinese is far more complicated than today. Generally, the number of syllables in Chinese decrease over the time.
According to Wikipedia, Ancient Chinese have about 70 initials (including consonants and clustered consonants) and dozens of rhymes (including vowels and vowel combinations), which could resemble thousands (or tens of thousands of) syllables.
In Middle Chinese, clustered consonants disappeared, and some similar finals were merged. This could reduce about a half of the total syllables. There were 36 initials and about 40 finals.
In early 14th Century, there were only 25 initials and 19 finals (excluding mediums), much less than about 800 years ago.
The last big merge happened in the early 20th Century, called "Jian-tuan Merge", or loosely "Alveolar-Palatal Merge". Jianyin ("sharp sounds", like [ts], [s]) merged with Tuanyin ("round sounds", like [tɕ], [ɕ]). For example,  姓(sìng, "surname") merged with 幸(xìng, "luck/happiness"). (Example: 你幸福吗？(Are you happy?) /我姓“曾”。(My surname is Zeng. ) )
Therefore, modern Chinese only have about 400 syllables (according to Kahlgren, see Clock by Liang Shiqiu. In this article, Liang criticised superstitions related to characters with the same sound).

EDIT: Someone talked about the quantity and frequency of Chinese characters. I'd like to add a point. In Modern Chinese, words with two or more characters are used instead of one character. However, in ancient times, a character usually IS a word. For example, "驹" means "young horse", while in Modern Chinese, "小马"("small horse") is used more often. To express increasing things and concepts in the world, the Ancient Chinese people just invent more characters to express them. Take horse as an example, each of the following character indicate one specific kind of horse:
驽 (bad horse)
骁 (strong horse, now rarely used directly)
骄 (horse that's about six feet tall, now this character means "proud")
骐 (horse with black patterns, usually good at racing)
骢 (horse with green and white skin)
骃 (horse with dark grey skin and white patch)
However, in Modern Chinese, when indicating horses, we just add adjectives before "马"(horse), like 白马 (white horse), 好马 (good horse, or horse good at racing).


1) Is 扔掉 the formal way of saying "throw away"?

Yes, it is.

'掉' in  '扔掉' is a result complement, not a verb itself.

  2) Is there a difference between using 扔 or 掉?

扔 mainly mean 'throw'
掉 mainly mean 'drop'

you can 扔 forward, backward, upward or downward; But you can only  掉 downward


The usage of “的” is in possessive or adjectival context.  E.g., (posessive) “我的狗”, or (adjectival) “真正的生意人”.  Generally a noun is modified, so a noun follows it, unless it doesn't, such as “有点儿不足是难免的”, (some insufficiency is unavoidable) which is still an adjectival modifier (unavoidable), even though it modifies the noun (insufficiency) in front of it.

“地” is used usually as an adverbial modifier, following the modifier and preceding the verb.  For example, in “她伤心地说” (she said sadly).

The last one, “得”, is distinct, because it's a potential complement, not a modifier.  It follows a verb to show the result.  So the structure is VERB + 得 + RESULT.  One of the things I found confusing about this, coming from English, is that it leads to some structures that have bit of repetition.  So to say "she speaks Chinese very well", you use something like "she speaks Chinese, speaks very well", i.e., “她说中文说得很好”.

Since both “得” and “地” come between a verb and something else, they can be easy to confuse.  But just remember that if "de" functions as an adverb, the verb comes after it and “地” is appropriate, but if you are trying to complement or completes the verb that precedes it, then use “得”, even in weird cases like “好得很”!

For short, just remember: “地” usually appears before the verb while “得” appears after the verb. eg. “这件事漂亮地完成了。” and “这件事完成得漂亮。”  these two sentences are correct in grammar, although they have slight differences in emotion.


When is it necessary to say “_色的” when telling the color of something?

Ah..I'm not an expert in Chinese language but a native speaker, so the answer is just according to my experience.

Very likely the character "色" could be omitted if you're about to use a
word which its most usage is to state a color: white, red, yellow, etc. So the following are both grammatically good:

1. 月亮是白色的 (the moon is of white color)
2. 月亮是白的 (the moon is white)

But when you want to be more accurate, the absence of "色" could cause ambiguity:

1. 剑是青铜色的 (sword is of bronze color)
2. 剑是青铜的 (sword is made of bronze)

What really cannot be omitted is "的". It is "的" that turn a noun into an adjective. We often use "X 是 Y 的" to tell "X is of the property of Y".

I could list some characters that in most cases their usage is to state a color:

红 red
黄 yellow
蓝 blue
黑 black
灰 gray
白 white (also has the meaning in vain, but it's an adverb then)
紫 purple
绿 green


What does the name of the singer "约瑟翰 庞麦郎" mean?

Oh, it is Joe the big wheatman!

Joking aside, Pang Mailang seems to be his real name, while Yuesehan is more like an artistic nickname, like "Joseph".


Do native English speakers naturally speak in the 4th tone?

I don't know how native English speakers feel, but my perception is that words like "hard" "luck" are close to the fourth tone when you read them alone.

An interesting fact is that even the tones are the same, the characters are pronounced significantly differently in a passage.

Here is a passage where all characters are of the fourth tone. You may try to read it aloud, or ask a native to read it (naturally, not robotic) for you and record it. Listen carefully to find out the truth.

少帅见利忘义，为庇护政治势力，竟犯上作乱介入内战，酿就事变，太过放肆！后计划泄露，被控告重罪并入狱。

梦碎后，教训历历在目，少帅大彻大悟下放下恶念，落泪叹道：“这就是宿命。现在落到这个地步，部下、后代亦被迫害，若未背信弃义算计大位，境况会是现在这样？太幼稚，太意气用事！”但少帅却未忘咒骂：“怪赵四那贱货，要是未泄密，刺客会被卫队看到？大业会败露？”

这个教训告诉各位，欲干大事，既要注意部队纪律、践诺信义，又要控制色欲、战胜诱惑。若欲占据宋氏幼妹，勿忘后院那位妒妇，是忿恨混入爱意，竟让赵四放弃父辈政治旧怨，暗地助力挫败叛乱。但，事变最后竟是促就抗日战线扩大，就事论事，亦算是个意外获利。

各位，故事就到这，在下快递要到，外面在叫，再会~

Credit to Zhihu user 树神彧


Translating “很快就有人去了.” ? Confusing word order

很快就有人去了

This uses a variation of the grammar structure:

快 + Verb + 了
When using 快 ⋯⋯了 (kuài... le) with verbs, it takes on a meaning similar to the English "just about to." Normally you can add 要 (yào) before the verb.
快⋯⋯了 (kuài... le) with Verbs, Chinese Grammar Wiki

In this case what's about to happen is 去 ("to go"), it's happening to 有人 ("someone"), and the 快 ⋯⋯了 (with the change of state 了) indicates it hasn't yet happened.  The 很 and 就 seem to add urgency to the sentence.  It can thus be translated to something like:

Someone will go very soon.

My impression is that it's better to put 有人 before the 快, such as in:

有人很快就学会了[src]
Some people will soon master [it].
喝啤酒时，为什么有人很快就上厕所[src]
When drinking beer, why [do] some people soon need to go to the toilet?

Other examples using this structure:

很快就有人发现了[src]
Someone soon discovered...
很快就有人可以取代你的位置[src]
Someone can take your place very soon.


How do you translate "if she had not helped her, they both would be dead now" ?

要是她没帮她，她们两个现在早都死了。 please notice the now in your phrase,.


Are independent and dependent clauses reversible?

It is not accepted in writing Chinese, however, you can say that in oral Chinese, like

  给我打电话吧，等你回家之后

The second part of the sentence is served as a complementary clarification and even though, it is not commonly used.

If you write it that way, it is not grammatically acceptable.


What are the differences between 男女, 公母, and  雄雌?

男女 is used only for humans.

公母 is normally used on animals.

雄雌 is more academic.

公母 is usually used with terms closer to everyday life:

  公鸡 / 母鸡 gōngjī / mǔjī for cock / hen

For biological terminology, usually 雄 / 雌 would be used:

  雄蕊 / 雌蕊 xióngruǐ / cīruǐ for stamen / carpel

Here are more characters for "male" or "female":

郎猫＝公猫

米猫＝母猫

儿马＝公马

骒马＝母马

草驴＝母驴

叫驴＝公驴

牡＝公的

牝＝母的


Dictionaries, in general, will not incorporate tone sandhi rules into their pronunciations (of which Mandarin has quite a few)
Wikipedia says the following:

Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin features several sandhi tone rules.
When there are two 3rd tones in a row, the first one becomes 2nd tone,
and the second one becomes a half-3rd tone. E.g. 你好 (nǐ + hǎo = ní
hǎo)1
The neutral tone is pronounced "low" when following the 1st, 2nd, and
4th tones, and pronounced "high" following the 3rd tone.[dubious ]
不 (bù) is 4th tone except when followed by another 4th tone, when it
becomes 2nd tone. E.g. 不對|不对 (bù + duì = bú duì)
一 (Yī) is 1st tone when it represents the ordinal "first," Examples:
第一个 (dìyīgè). It changes when it represents the cardinal number "1"
following a pattern of 2nd tone when followed by a 4th tone, and 4th
tone when followed by any other tone. Examples: 一个 (yī + gè = yí gè),
一次 (yī + cì = yí cì), 一半 (yī + bàn = yí bàn), 一般 (yī + bān = yì bān),
一毛 (yī + máo = yì máo), 一会儿 (yī + huǐr = yì huǐr).

The rules you need to learn yourself dictionaries will not help you out on this one.
So to answer your question anytime you see 不+4th-tone it will actually be pronounced 2nd tone+4th-tone


I would like to learn common greetings in Chinese

believe or not, they may say hello.
If it's some good friend, maybe their nick name.


What four directions which are not described by 四处 are described by 八方?

四方 / 四处
现代汉语大词典

东南西北四个方向

四处 (or 四方) = north, south, east and west

八方
古汉语大词典

四方(东、南、西、北)四隅(东南、东北、西南、西北)的总称。

八方 = (north, south, east and west) + southeast,  northeast, southwest and northwest

四方 and 四处 can be used interchangeably. There is also a third one: 四面.
Another word you might want to know:

十面 = ((north, south, east and west) + southeast,  northeast, southwest and northwest) + up and down.

八处 doesn't seem to be a thing, but 八面 does exist.


Is "那些你很冒險的夢" a common expression or just a song title?

It's a song title for singer JJ and it's better translation for

  Those Adventurous Dreams of Yours

because it's written for the writer's girlfreind , and he want to complete the dreams with the girl.

ps. there's no one will say 那些你很冒險的夢 in real life.


Any historical connection between 筵席 and 宴席?

In my opinion, there are no similar origins or any historical connections between these two words.

宴 means 宴请 here. It's a verb. And the word 宴席 is also a modern Chinese word widely used in our daily life.
筵 means 竹席. You can find it's composed with 竹 on top, so apparently it is a noun. 筵席 is more or less too formal and ancient for daily use. I will never use it except the old saying 天下没有不散的筵席.

Your analysis is also reasonable. It seems just a coincidence.


What role does 成 (chéng) play in the sentence 我把十块美元换成人民币?

成 (into) is the result complement of the verb 换(change)

换 = change
换成 = change into
兑换 = exchange
兑换成 = exchange into

兑换 mostly refers to 'currency exchange'

换 can refer to exchange between anything.

In "我把十块美元换成人民币" (I exchanged $10 USD into RMB), '换' is obviously short for '兑换'. You can even replace '换' with '兑' (convert) and write: "我把十块美元兑成人民币" (I converted $10 USD into RMB)and the meaning would still be the same.


Is there any news website that shows English translation side-by-side?

I found that the resource curation post has a section on newspapers and it includes exactly the English-Chinese side-by-side websites.

Two websites are featured there, and both have WeChat 订阅号.

纽约时报 (NY Times) - example
FT中文网 (Financial Times for Chinese) - example

It looks like the 纽约时报 side-by-side is an amazing resource. FT looks like a bit limiting in terms of articles available for side-by-side lookup.


Is Siri good for practicing Chinese pronunciation?

The bast way to practice Chinese is talking to native Chinese speaker, but if you don’t have the opportunity, you can try to watch Chinese TV shows.
And Siri is not a good choice.


Help with expanding on a Chinese character's name (in headcanon)

I actually think some sinologist have the most literate chinese names, such as 费正清，高居翰. These names use characters that often appear in Chinese people's names. Many of these words are related to Confucius virtues. But these names are not suitable for games as I think they are a bit too serious. Chinese video games characters use names adapting from modern fantasy novels which often take inspiration from historical works such as Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (聊斋志异), In Search of the Supernatural (搜神记). The names in these work are more interesting. They can refer to locations, times, storyline themselves, cosmology, etc. They generally come from a daoist canon.


What is the Difference Between 方法 and 办法?

I don't think you guys are completely understanding it, there is a philosophical difference in the two words. It's possible to 有方法但是没办法. 方法 refers to the general method or way something can be done. 方 means prescribed, 法 here can be understood as way.

So 方法 is the general or prescribed way something is done that humanity has discovered. 办 means doing，法 here also means way. 办法 refers to someone specific actually doing it. For example:

我的病其实治疗方法很简单，就是每天跑步。但是没办法，因为城市太拥挤所以没有地方跑。Here, I know the way to cure my illness, but I can't specifically carry it out due to individual circumstances.


In the simplest way what's the difference between 对不起 and 对不起嘛?

The 嘛 here has actually no real meaning but just a modal particle.

In Chinese culture, there is a word 撒娇, which is not easy to find the direct translation in English. This happens mainly on girls, who would like to act like tender and sensitive to some intimate friends or partners. With 嘛 the young woman could transfer this additional meaning to others. If a boy act like this, he would be said girlish.

This is widely used not only in Taiwanese dialect, but also in other dialects from mainland.


What do the characters I've found on this old gun mean?

This is a Japanese character. By using Sogou Typewritting (Chinese) you can use this method to see any character that you can't pronounce:

for example, you wanna look at “特”
==type "u" + "niu"（→牛） + "si"（→寺）

——this would give you “特”

so I tried to type "u人布” or "u入布" and could not find this character.
So this might be a japanese character.


According to this fengshui expert, the penis and the vagina are both named not because of the gender of the bearer, but via Western medical terminology because they originate from the perineum (会阴).

  “阴茎”这个称呼不是中国人发明的。它属于从西方医学中翻译过来的外来语，与我们中国的阴阳学说无关。从解剖学角度来讲，耻骨至肛门之前的区域叫会阴区。在这个区域的内在“通道”称作“阴道”，外在如茎之物称作“阴茎”，想一想也是很形象的。而以阴阳学说为基础的中国古典医学并不把男性生殖器叫阴茎，而是称为阳根、阳具或者阳物。


It is true that a lot of words in an English conversation such as 'basically', 'well...', 'actually' don't have good one-to-one translation mappings to the Chinese language. 其实has a negating connotation to the context you are trying to convey. I am going to give it a shot and say, here 'actually' could be replaced by 'in fact', which then can be translated to '实际上'.

The whole sentence would now read: ‘实际上，我去年去了北京，很冷啊！’


Both 停 and 止 contains the meaning of 'to stop'.

"停止" is a compound word verb for 'to stop'
"停住" = "to stop (successfully/ and keep it this way). It is made up of the verb '停' and it's result complement '住' (住 as a result complement denotes: 1. successfully; 2. in a continuous state)

  停止 is usually used as an intransitive verb or auxiliary verb

Example :

(intransitive verb): 操作停止 (operation stops); 任务停止 (mission stops)

(auxiliary verb): 停止攻擊 (stop attacking); 停止操作 (stop operating)

  "停住" can be use transitive or intransitive

Example :

(transitive verb): 他停住車子 (he stops the car)

(intransitive verb) 車子停住了 (the car stops)


Can an adverb modify another adverb in Chinese?

we don't say 你太快说

你说得太快

means you speak too fast

你快说

expresses that I want you to speak faster, it's like a request.
你快说 can be used on informal occasions (with your friends or your family). We don't say it to people you are not familiar with, they would think you are being impolite and inpatient.
You can say "你可不可以快点说？“ This sentence is better than 你快说. It's more polite and good attitude.


二 Mandarin pronunciation vs. other dialects and Japanese

Here there's some other people asked the same question. 忆珩 and Nimmer provided answers that maybe very helpful to your question:
忆珩:

二、耳等字属于日母止摄三等，日母古音是个舌面的鼻音ȵ，本来是从泥母n中分化出来的，后来北方方言中日母鼻音消失并且卷舌化成了ʐ，其中止摄三等字变成了零声母的er。而在南方吴语、闽语等方言里日母又归回了泥母n，就是现在这种状况了。简单的说大致就是这么个历史过程。
至于说历史因素，应该是宋金对峙导致的南北方言分离（这使得现在北方方言的几大特征都是在元朝开始显著起来），地理因素自然就是长江了吧。

Nimmer:

要了解这个问题必须有一些汉语音韵学的背景了。”二“是日母止摄三等，上古的声母应该是n。到了中古时期以前的发音应该是ȵi。”ȵ“是一个跟n接近的鼻音。对于日语中古的读音，各家有分歧。应该不是”ȵ“，就是”ȵʑ“。在北方，这个鼻音发生了擦音化，在元代变成了ʐʅ。之后成了现代的ɚ
在北方话的发展过程应该是这样的：ȵi>ȵʑi>ʑi>ʐɨ>ʐʅ>ɻʅ>əɻ>ɚ

In Middle Chinese, 二's initial was ȵ. During the time when the northern China was ruled by Jin Dynasty and southern China was ruled by Song Dynasty, the separation makes the northern and southern Chinese language evolves on different path.
In Mandarin, ȵ first became ʐ and then further shifted to zero consonant. Notice that characters with initial ȵ are pronounces as nj-. The medial is j/i. Though ȵ disappeared eventually, the medial persists in various forms. Eventually, this medial becomes ə and then becomes an erhua ɚ.
In various southern Chinese languages, each of them evolves in their unique path. But due to the official status of Mandarin, southern Chinese are greatly influenced by the phonetical change is Mandarin. So roughly speaking, we quite often can observe that some southern Chinese maintains certain characteristics of Middle Chinese. That's why 二 still maintain the original initial ȵ, or it's variant n in some regions. (But notice that sometimes character with initial ȵ in Middle Chinese could have other initial such as ʐ or ə in southern Chinese.)
As for Japanese on'yomi pronunciation, a great majority of them still maintains the origin pronunciation at the time the kanji was adopted into Japanese. That's why on'yomi shares many characteristics as Middle Chinese.


(Well-known) poem request: the wonder/beauty of nature/world/universe

Just an FYI, this is more of a diary of traveling rather than a poem. The poem follows certain rhyme. You can try "唐诗三百首" if you would like to learn the poem. Below would be a good example

唐诗三百首

江雪

唐代：柳宗元

千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。
孤舟蓑笠翁，独钓寒江雪


I guess it's karma！
我想这就是报应吧！

Karma = 因果报应


Tone sandhi before a toneless final syllable

This rule is not so strict, as in my specification, we never pronounce 甲苯（methylbenzene）,乙苯(ethylbenzene), 苯甲酸(acetic acid) in that fashion, though no ambiguity is produced, it is just weird and funny to pronounce so.

However, for familiar words like 奶奶，姐姐, the other extreme is present, which is they are always pronounced as 21-5. (In my opinion, this is an abbreviation of 3rd tones (214) rather than sandhi, as sandhi actually refers to the change of nasal sound between [n] & [m] according to the consonant after it.) This may be due to the level of serenity of words.

For 孔子 and 老子, who are generally regarded 圣贤 and widely respected, it is just improper to do so. (By the way, in the case of 老子, pronouncing it in 21-5 literally means "your father", which is "I" in a very rude way, contrary to 小子, also pronounced 21-5) The only people I have ever know was my professor of classical Chinese, maybe to add some humor to the classroom or just because he himself is "familiar" with them， being old friends in books for him.

两个三声(214)碰在一起合为21-5这一规则并不是强制性的。在化学当中，“甲苯”、“乙苯”、“苯甲酸”这些名词永远也不会用这种方式合韵，这样虽然不会产生歧义，但是怪得很！

但是“姐姐”、“奶奶”这些常用名词就一定要合韵。这种差别可能在于语境的高低。

孔子、老子是古代的圣贤，并且被广泛地尊重，所以用21-5的调子去读很不严肃。（顺带一提，“老子”用21-5来读，字面上变为“你父亲”，实际是“我”的意思，是很没有教养的表达方式，与“小子”相对。）实际上，我长那么大唯一一次听到别人这么说的，是我的古汉语老师。但是他那是为了给课堂增加幽默气氛，并且，老子和孔子对于他而言是在书本当中熟识的老朋友。


Grammar for 看來妳忘了發一個訊息。還是妳有用一些避忌的說話所以中國政府阻擋的

It looks like you forgot to send a message. Or else you used some taboo words blocked by the Chinese government.
看來妳忘了發一個訊息。還是妳有用一些避忌的說話所以中國政府阻擋的。

There are too many different ways to phrase this text, the following is just one of them

Mandarin: 看來妳忘了發一個訊息。或者妳用了一些避忌的字句，所以被中國政府封殺了？
Cantonese: 睇來妳唔記得發一個訊息。 或者妳用咗一啲避忌嘅字句，所以被中國政府刪咗？

Basically, the only serious grammar mistake is using '的' instead of '了' for final particle.

'了' indicates 'complete action' , '阻擋了' (blocked) indicates the action of 'blocking' is completed.

'了' indicates 'change of situation' '阻擋了' (blocked) indicates your message's status changed from 'being allowed' to 'being blocked'

'的' as a final particle add affirmative tone at the end, Since you started the sentence with "Or else",  '中國政府阻擋的' is out of place here because  "Or else" implies it is just your guess. If the sentence was "用了避忌的說話, 中國政府(是會)阻擋(的)" then it would have no problem.

The other mistakes are mostly poor choice of word. For example, 避忌的(字句) is much better than 避忌的(說話) when it comes to 'texting'. But it doesn't mean using 避忌的(說話) is grammatically incorrect .


reason for saying/asking 什么叫活腻歪了 (what does tired of living mean) in tv series 敢死队：第11集

This part of the conversation doesn't sound natural to me. A rhetorical question like 什么叫xyz is only used after the other person labeled him xyz. Without a previous line like 你是活腻歪了吧, the usage seems out of the blue and ambiguous. After watching the video, I think what happened is there is something along that line in the original script but got edited out from the final version.
A conversation like this should go:

A: 你小子是活腻歪了吧？也不看这什么地方，就敢往里闯。
B: 什么叫活腻歪了，我是来找人的。

Translation:

A: Are you courting death? Look at this place, do you think you can barge your way in?
B: What do you mean by courting death? I am simply looking for someone.


As Fivesheep pointed out, “四海” means "the whole world". The word "四海一家" means "the whole world is one family". It is used to expressed that "we are family. we shall respect each other. we shall unite", something like this, to convey the politeness from the overseas Chinese people to the local people(in your case, the Australian people).

I believe this word comes from the book of 《论语》. It records a speech from a Confucius's disciple "子夏": "四海之内，皆兄弟也。",which means "[if you are a gentleman and you are polite to other people],all the people in the world are your brothers".


Historical Question, Possible Wade-Giles, Sichuan river name

Tung river is the translation of 銅河, it's called 大渡河 (Dadu river) now.

On page 127 of the "to the snows of tibet through china", it was written:

  . . . Lu-ting-chiao, which is built on both banks of the Tung River, . . .

Well, Lu-ting-chiao is 瀘定橋.

BTW, there's a map on page 353, you may compare it with other source :)

Another interesting book about tibet, thanks :)


What does 为 mean in 该公司目前为多达80款不同菜系提供外卖...?

You almost get it.

  为...提供 means "provide ... with" or "supply ...with"

Hence, the correct pronunciation here is wei4, not wei2.

Depending on the verb, 为, as a preposition, can mean "for, to, with". Prepositions in English and Chinese are quite different I think.


What is the textbook used to learn Chinese in Havard and MIT?

I'm assuming you're asking about introductory level stuff.

MIT: For complete beginners: Integrated Chinese

Sources: http://web.mit.edu/gsl/syllabi/21G.101-Syllabus.pdf (Fall 2013)

For people who have some level of speaking ability: Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin (a book made by MIT instructors) and A Primer for Advanced Beginners of Chinese, Simplified Characters

Source: http://web.mit.edu/gsl/syllabi/21G.107-Syllabus.pdf (Fall 2015)
Harvard: Complete beginners: Also Integrated Chinese

Couldn't find any info on heritage learner's textbook.

Source: http://harvardcoopbooks.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TBWizardView?storeId=52084 and searching for Fall2015 Chin E 1 01


Meaning and use of ideograms around "language" : 说，话，语

All Chinese character has its meaning or meanings. Some can be used as a word on its own,

For example:

Noun:

人(person(/ people/ human)
火(fire)
山(hill/ mountain)

Verb:

殺(kill)
跑(run)
吃(eat)

Adjective:

大(big)
小(small)
好(good)

However, the majority of Chinese words are composed of two characters.

For example:

正確(correct)
討論(discuss/ discussion)
明白(understand)

*See reference here

As for your question:

說 is mostly a verb for "speak" or "talk" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words. For example: 演說 (lecture/ public speech), 說服(convince/ persuade), 說明(explain)
話 is mostly a noun for "spoken words" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words, for example: 謊話(lie), 說話(speak/ talk) , 對話(conversation)
語 is mostly a noun for "language" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words, for example: 語言(language), 英語 (English), 語音(speech tone)

Many characters' original meaning had became obsolete. These characters only become meaningful when they are a part of a "two characters word" or a part of a "four characters phrase". One good example would be "黷" in "窮兵黷武" . The character: "黷" itself originally meant "act wantonly" but today, no one would use this character on its own except in the idiom 窮兵黷武.


Why is 远 in ...与全球远作相结合的阶段?

It must be 与全球运作相结合的阶段。
远作，there is no this compound word.


When should 叉 or 岔 be used when talking about a forked road?

There's a similar question here:

https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/326153419.html

that asks:

  岔路口 叉路口有什么区别

the answer reads:

  岔路口有方向概念，也即你面朝的方向有两条以上的分岔路；叉路口（一般不这样叫）一般称为交叉路口，指两条以上的路相互交叉。

岔 = forked (road) like this:

the road splits in front of you, like crossroads.

叉 = intersect like this:

like a junction or an intersection.


The seal pointing to the artist name says 任可澄. In particular, you're very unlikely to find out the last character 「澄」 through a simple search:

The right hand side of the character 「澄」 in the seal is actually 「⿱豆廾」, which is a variant shape of 「登」 sometimes appearing in bronze inscriptions.
「澄」 is not a character appearing in bronze inscriptions, so the character in the seal is a modern character hypothetically back-projected to a bronze inscription form.


I'm a zh-Gan native speaker from 吉茶片 永新小片. This prounciation of 尿 still do exist now in my hometown.

Example:'屙尿(ó yào)'


Personal Pronouns and Complement of Duration

There is a structure  [S V O + V 了 + CoD*] (repeat the same verb)

For example: "我吃晚飯" (I eat dinner);  "我等我父親"(I wait for my father)

Put it in [S V O + V 了 + CoD*] structure

"我吃晚飯吃了一小時"

"我等我父親等了一小時"

Of course personal pronouns can be objects (e,g. 我等他等了一小時 ), but the structure is not limited to just personal pronouns-- It can use any noun or noun phrase

  The structure [S V 了/过 + CoD*] Can always followed by an object

Example:

我學了/过三年(的)英語 - 英語 is the object

我畫了/过一整天(的)街景 - 街景 is the object

'的' is optional


太 + verb + 了 can be a correct usage for some verbs. Like, 我太爱她了！ 我太喜欢了！

However, not all verbs can work in the structure of 太 + verb + 了.  So far, I don't have a good rule to sort out all the verbs that can work in this structure.

It seems that those verbs about one's feeling like 高兴，激动，兴奋，喜欢，爱，感动，can work.

能/会+verb can also be placed in  太 + 能+verb + 了, such as 太能/会玩了， 太能/会吃了，太能/会打了， ...

Subject + verb + 太 + adv + 了 is also possible. Like, 你球打得太棒了！ 太棒了！


How do you say "much better" in Mandarin?

好多了 means " much better" Your sentence would be:

"Why not Australia? It's much better than America"
為什麼不是澳大利亞？ 它比美國好多了“

For " so much better" the translation would be "好太多了"

"Why not Australia? It's so much better than America"
為什麼不是澳大利亞？ 它比美國好太多了“

Another way to translate "so much better":

比美国好(better than America)
比美国好得多(much better than America)
比美国好得多了 (so much better than America)

*It uses the final particle "了" to increase the emphasis.  The 'so' in "so much better" functions the same way.


具 is 具有; roughly to have, to possess

http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000097022


Why is "xiang4" in 摄像 and 照相 different from each other?

A minor correction, it should be xiang4 instead of xiang2.

When we are talking about photography, 相 typically refers specifically to a photo, while 像 usually refers to visual representations in general (be it still, like 图像, or moving, like 录像).

摄 translates to "capture", and therefore 摄像机 is a device that capture images (that aren't necessarily photos). On the other hand, 照相 can only refer to taking photos. So 相机 (the abbreviation of 照相机) is a device that takes photos. The choice of words here mainly describes the main function that the device is designed for.


I got my answer.

Both the left-falling dian and the short pie look identical when not using a brush.

Both are drawn from top to bottom.

The difference is where the sharp end and the rounded end are.

Dian: Start with a sharp end and draw down finishing with a rounded end. Like a drop of water.

Pie: Start by drawing a rounded end at the top and then work down finishing with a sharp end going down. Like the drop of water upside-down.


Learn Chinese Step 2: Characters. Are there any good tips to learn the writing and make sense of these square characters?

In my opinion, characters learning process is of the most importance in learning Mandarin Chinese. In my teaching experience, we've seen too many cases where there is a huge difference between the learning results of those who learn characters and those who skip this step just try to save time. The latter usually ended up spending more boring time memorizing and memorizing... Therefore, I always believe the KEY to learn well Chinese, a language that is so much different than English, is FIRST to learn well the characters.

There are definitely tips to learn the writing or understand the composition of Chinese characters! Many thought it is difficult to learn Mandarin Chinese, particularly the characters. It is not true though. It takes time and efforts to learn it well, but what doesn't? In my opinion, Chinese is one of the most interesting languages in the world! Chinese is a picture language, which means ancient Chinese people drew different pictures as Chinese characters out of everything they saw in the environment! Therefore, the best way to learn well the language, in my own experience as a Chinese teacher for many years, is to learn the radicals of the characters first, which by themselves usually have hints from the writing (or drawing) and then form the meaning of a character. This is exactly the approach that is been used in the Chinese tutoring video lessons of the website http://www.ChineseHulu.com, check it out if you want to find out more about Mandarin Chinese, one of the most mysterious and ancient languages in the world!


When 了 has the same verb before and after it, is it reduplication combined with 了1?

Quote from the "Verb" page of the Chinese Grammar Wiki:

Reduplication
In Chinese, verb reduplication is a common phenomenon. Reduplication indicates one or more of the following:

A short, quick action
An attempt
Something being light and relaxed

When reduplicating single character verbs such as 看, 一 can optionally be inserted between them e.g. 看一看. On the other hand, when you are reduplicating two character verbs, (e.g. 整理整理), 一 can't be inserted between them. The reduplicated part of the verb is always pronounced with a neutral tone. If the aspect particle 了 is used, it must be inserted between the reduplicated verbs, not afterwards, so it would be "看了看" not "看看了."

Which shows that the structure is a reduplication of single character verb with aspectual le


One such website is: http://www.hanzigrids.com

Another website is http://cop.yes-chinese.com/hanban/tzg/ but it has less features and you can't choose your font.


Is there a difference in meaning between 那年夏天 and 那个夏天

年 is not measure word. It is noun.

那年夏天: the summer of that year
那个夏天: that summer

They both refer to a specific summer, but the first one leaves the context on the year, while the second one solely focuses on the summer. To demonstrate the difference with follow-up questions:
Conversation 1:

那年夏天特别热。It was extremely hot in the summer of that year.
哪一年？Which year?
北京奥运那一年。The year Olympics was held in Beijing.

Conversation 2:

那个夏天特别热。It was extremely hot in that summer.
哪个夏天？Which summer?
咱们一起去海边的那个夏天。The summer when you and I went to the seaside together.


NYC's death certificate: "as no inquiry as to the facts has been provided by law."

因沒有法定聆訊, 健康與心理衛生局不會證實以上陳述的真確性.

certify = 證實
truth = 真確性
statements = 聲明 / 陳述
made thereon = 有關 / 以上
inquiry as to the facts = 聆訊 / 研訊
.... provided by law = 法律規定

Actually, the phrase "no inquiry as to the facts has been provided by law" somehow appears to me that the Dept. does not have the authority to do so.


What's the difference between 行为 and 现象?

Besides meaning 'a phenomenon', a more literal understanding of 現象 is 'the appearance of things'*. By character, 現 means 'to appear; to reveal'; 象 means 'resemblance; appearance'. May think of that as 表現之象.
This sentence may mean something like this:
'From the way the software runs, it appears that this problem does not affect the normal functioning of the software.'
In this context, 現象 is akin to 表徵, 表面.
行為 as a substitute of 現象 is grammatically plausible. But their meanings differ slightly; while 行為 is a neutral phrasing, 現象 seems to be a more conservative way of assessing the effect of the problem on the software - the speaker's judgement is only based on how the software appears to them, not necessarily how the software actually is under the influence of the problem.
* Reference: 譯典通英漢雙向字典


How can I search for a Chinese character when I see it on a picture?

With pictures OCR is your best bet.
Here’s a screenshot I took of the front page of baidu just now:

Then I use Pleco’s OCR software to see what the titles Chinese characters are

here you can see that the characters have been correctly identified.
It works for more than just words too.
Here’s a whole headline deciphered:

But in Pleco they can even look up the words one by one for you:

Fancy! Right?
——
Method number two: Handwriting Recognition
...and again we’re using Pleco (and really why would you need any other software? Really?)
So let’s stick with out original picture - we don’t know the characters for baidu.
So first we write our bai.

Then we write our du:

and now we have our two characters! And thankfully we’re using dictionary software so we have plenty of definitions:

Method three: two part character search
We're getting more advanced now.
So let's take the 娱 from 娱乐圈 in the OCR example above.
Now we know a little bit about Chinese characters - we don't know 娱 yet - but we know it's comprised of 女 and 吴.
So what can we do?
This is were zisea comes in handy. We can use their 两分 (or "two part") character system to find what we're looking for:

So in the "two part" search box we have:

女吴

then we see our results:

and there we see our 娱 right at the very top with a brief description!
if we click into it we get a page like this:

with the character, pinyin, descriptions, definitions and alternative characters.

Method number four: 笔顺
This is, really, not my favorite - but I've used it enough times to make to worth mentioning.
If OCR, handwriting recognition and two-part searches are failing you - you can try bishun.
The rules for bishun are simple:

Solely based off how to write the character we can convert it to a number that can be searched.
So let's take: 乐 we don't know to read it but it's stroke order is obvious:

ノフ丨ノ丶

so according to the above table that gives us:

35234

Now if we go to zdic.net
and click on the second tab:

字典

like this:

then click on:

笔顺

like so:

now we can enter out number

and here are our results:

with:

搜索结果：
乐 35234

right at the top

All of these methods would work with any character you don't know.
As long as you have a clear enough picture you can run OCR on any character.
While handwriting, two-part search and bishun methods can also work with any characters you find out there in the wild.


So when should I use 旅舍，旅社，宾馆，酒店, or 旅馆?

酒店 usually means restaurant only, but it refers to the hotel with restaurant advertised or the larger hotel too.

宾馆/旅馆/旅店 is hotel, same exactly meaning, including the hotel with restaurant. But you never call a restaurant only as 宾馆. And you don't call a very good hotel as 旅馆/旅店.

旅社/招待所 is often used by mid aged people in China, when they say 旅社 they meant those hotels that are nation sponsored (国营的) in the planned economics time. Mostly it is equivalent to 宾馆/旅馆, but 旅社 refers to the smaller cheap hotel on the street nowadays, 招待所 is still for the nation or organisation sponsored hotels.

旅舍 means the accommodation for travellers, mostly in country side, specifically  means the small and cheaper hotel. It refers the building rather than the function of the hotel.

YHA can be translated as 青年旅馆 or 青年旅舍, rarely with other names. Bagpacker's can be translated as 背包旅馆 or 背包旅舍, nobody calls it as 背包宾馆. Hilton hotel can be translated as 希尔顿酒店 or 希尔顿宾馆, nobody calls it 希尔顿旅馆. Novotel like business hotel can be translated as 商务旅馆, 商务酒店, 商务宾馆.


Why is 我的朋友今年住在美国 translated to both "my friend [is living in / lived in] America this year"?

Chinese language doesn't have tense. To indicate event happened in the past, you need to add time reference in the context or verb particle that indicate past verb

Example:

我的朋友今年在美国(住过) = My friend (had lived) in America this year

过 is a verb particle that indicates 'experienced' aspect of the verb

~

我的朋友今年(曾住)在美国 = My friend (had lived) in America this year

曾 is an adverb that indicates 'once'; formerly

~

You can use either or both in the same sentence:

我的朋友今年(曾)在美国住(过)


As a Mandarin native speaker I pronounce 道 exactly same as 到，稻。 I pronounce the initial d exactly same as in dog or dad.

I also pronounce t exactly in the same way for stop. The native English pronunciation of dog and stop might be different, but to my ESL ears, they are exactly same.

Added: Here is a video teaching Pinyin Mandarin Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation. In the video the girl pronounces initials and finals 100% correctly.

Here is another online tool teaching Pinyin 汉语拼音全套flash.
Scroll down and look for these flashes:

The male pronunciations are also 100% correct.


Why don't all questions have the "ma" 吗 particle at the end?

Your guess is correct. 吗 (ma) is usually used at the end of a narrative sentence, which without 吗 can become a declarative statement.

吗 has other usages but at this learning stage you shouldn't let them distract you.


Why is the pinyin of these two character is so weird?

I think you're reading Mandarin pinyin but expecting Cantonese pinyin.

Cantonese pinyin is like this:

化 Jyutping: faa3 / Yale: fa3

话 Jyutping: waa6 / Yale: wa6

and actually it seems to fit what you were expecting!


Where can I find 下江人's article《释四川话 (二)》from《旅行杂志》1945/7/18?

The notation system works like:

year/issue/page

Making: 1945/7/18, issue number seven from 1945 page 18.

There are three parts in the one magazine.

Part one can be found on page 8:

Part two is on page 18:

Part three is on page 35:


虚构 or perhaps 虚构症 if you want to be clear that it is a diagnosis. 虚谈症 is another option.


'消费' as a verb means 'to consume' and the measure word for this verb is 次, as in '消费一次'
'消费' as a noun means 'consumption; expenditure; expense' and the typical measure word for this noun is 項(item of), as in 一項消费, 多項消费

花一元买一杯咖啡也是一項消费 - Spend a dollar to buy a cup of coffee is still a (item of) consumption
花一元买一杯咖啡也是一种消费 - Spend a dollar to buy a cup of coffee is still a (kind of) consumption

Using 个 as the measure word for 消费 is less common, but it is not incorrect:

花一元买一杯咖啡也是一个消费 - Spend a dollar to buy a cup of coffee is still a (item of) consumption

If a considerable amount of money is involved, you can use 笔 (sum of)

一大笔消费 -  a huge (sum of) expenditure


What is the difference in usage between 风光，景色 and 风景?

I already answered this question here: Is there a difference between 風景 and 風光？

As for 景色:

「景」 in 「景色」 carries the meaning of 'scene/ sight' -- the picture you see in your eyes, as in  「景物」(sight and things), 「景象」(scene; image)

「色」in 「景色」 carries the meaning of 'color/ appearance' as in 「山光水色」(sight of the mountains and appearance of the water = scenery of mountains and river, lake or ocean )

  The term「風光」 generally refers to 'sight/ scene /scenery' (natural or man made)

~

  The term 「景色」 generally refers to "sight/ scene /scenery" (natural or man made)

~

  The term 「風景」 specifically refers to 'the sight of a landscape or a natural scenery'

~

「西湖風景」,「西湖風光」or「西湖景色」all mean "scenery of the West Lake"


It really should depend on the context. Note that "Where am I?" has similar ambiguity in English.

For instance, if I'm at a shop and speaking to someone on the phone who wants to know where I am, and I ask the shopkeeper 这是哪里？, it's expected for the name of the shop (or its location) to be given. This might also hold if I am on the street.

Comparatively, in some cases, I might want less specific information. If someone is bringing me into an unfamiliar store, I might instead expect the answer to indicate what type of store I am in. If I have been driving long distances and have just stopped, I might expect 这是哪里？ (if asked by a passenger I am carrying) to be about what town I am in, not what road I am on.


我最近没打过羽毛球 "I haven't played badminton recently": is the 过 necessary?

Your 过 is not necessary, but:

我最近没打过羽毛球。and 我最近没打羽毛球。

are equivalent, as far as people I asked are concerned.

For the question: 'Have you played badminton recently?' people immediately used ‘打过’， but I did not consult all of China!

你最近打过羽毛球吗?

Apparently, ‘打了’ conjures up the idea of hitting someone, so would tend to be avoided in this situation.

I've never played badminton.
我从来没打过羽毛球。

I would like to ask 水巷孑蠻先生 (and other experts here), whether this use of 过 is found in Old Chinese and Middle Chinese texts, or whether might be a concession to Western ideas of tense and especially past tense.

Any situation where a time in the past is mentioned: 'Yesterday .., Last night .., Recently ..' we know for certain the event mentioned is in the past. Past Tense is actually redundant. English sometimes uses what is quaintly called the 'Historical Present':

"Last night, I'm sitting alone, watching TV, when, all of a sudden ....." Nobody will say, 'You used 'I am', therefore this is a Present Tense sentence.'


Can someone please help me translate the writing on this dizi?

《村晚》 雷震

草滿池塘水滿陂，山銜落日浸寒漪。

牧童歸去橫牛背，短笛無腔信口吹。

Rural Scene at Dusk
By Lei Zhen

Green grass overgrows the shore of the brimming pool;

The sun pecked by hills sinks into ripples cool.

A cowherd comes back astride on a buffalo;

He blows on his short flute a tune he may not know.

Please refer to:詩歌

The English translation has already explain the meaning. I just skip for the explanation part. :) hope you enjoy this.


character encoding, script, typeface/font

There is however no mandated connection between the encoding system
and the font used to display the characters

considering the situation: an utf-8 encoded plain text file (*.txt), how do it display on the computer, is depend on the user, not the author.

in stkaiti:

in hanzipen tc:

in songti tc:

the same content can be displayed by different fonts, to give different impression.

font and encoding are usually tied together for practical reasons

in pre-unicode era, as i remember, on mac os, all big-5 encoded text is defaulted to display initially by the system font "taibei"; while shift jis encoded text would use the font "osaka". in modern days (utf-8), mac / windows are smart enough to choose the font automatically, to display each code point.

for chinese character, the concepts "serif", "sans serif", "script" are, inapplicable.

for this question, i would suggest you read the book "CJKV Information Processing", published by o'really; which is informative & authoritative:

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596514471.do

they provided the 1st chapter in pdf:

ftp://ftp.oreilly.com/examples/nutshell/cjkv/pdf/CJKVInfoProc.Chap1.pdf


What is the difference between 很 + adjective and adjective + 得很

I am not a linguist. As Chinese is my first language, I can describe how I use these 2 words.
很is like English word 'very', its place in a sentence is aways before another adjective. While 得很 is more intense, and it usually follows another adjective.
For example:  a, 这件东西很好。b,这件东西好得很。Both sentence a and b mean 'This thing is very good.', but sentence b is stronger in feelings.

很 + adjective can be followed by nouns, but adjective + 得很 can not.

For example: 很高的山峰

But we don't say: 高得很的山峰. It is just wrong.

I would say adjective + 得很 alomst always comes (with or without modal particle) at the end of a sentence.

For example:

这屋子 脏得很 。

你的字， 好得很嘛 。你怎么说不好呢？


Is 天的数月 the correct way to say "days of the month"?

"一個月中的幾天" might be the right translation

update
Now I understand your question!
If you want to list every days of the month, the answer might be

這個月有 (這些日子), 初一, 初二, 初三 ...
這個月有 (這些日子), 一日, 二日, 三日 ...
這個月有 (這些日子), 一號, 二號, 三號 ...

They are all right, but I prefer the second one or the third one
For example, if you want to list every days in February, it can be "二月有, 一號, 二號, 三號 ... 二十八號"


In "她去了中国很多地方", 地方 (place) is the object, 中国(的) (China's) is an adjectival phrase, along with 很多 (many), modify the object 地方

The break down:
"她去了很多地方" -  "She went to many places"
"她去了(中国的)很多地方" - "She went to many (China's) places"
the possessive  的 is omitted in your original quote
"她" is the subject "去了" is the verb;  "中国的" and "很多 are the adjectival phrases; "地方" is the object

Since "中国(的)" and "很多" are both in adjectival roles, you can change their order and write "她去了很多中国(的)地方"

In "她在中国去了很多地方" , "在中国" is the 'relative phrase' that provides additional information to the 'main clause'

The break down:
"她去了很多地方" -  "She went to many places"
"她(在中国)去了很多地方" -  "She went to many places (in China)"
"她去了很多地方" is the main clause; "在中国" is the relative phrase

Question in your post title:

Where to put location words in a sentence?

In English, location usually precede time, e.g "See me in Central Park tomorrow"
In Chinese,  time usually precede location, e.g  "明天在中央公園見我"

I asked my dad who's fluent in Mandarin, and he says both are find, but the first sentence is more commonly used. Why is that?

Neither one is more common than the other. The two sentences have different emphasis. "她去了中国很多地方" emphasizes on her 'achievement' of visited many places in China; "她在中国去了很多地方" emphasizes on her 'actions' in China, which included visiting many places.


Examples of verbless sentences in Chinese

I think 今天星期三 is more usual to be used than 今天刚星期三.

And some people use this kind of structure to concatenate other structure. For example: 我两部电脑, If you want to describe that both of two computers of your own are break. You can say that 我两部电脑都壞了. This example show that 都壞了 concatenate after 我两部电脑.

And sometimes, people do not need to use a verb in sentence, if they just need to use adjective to describe somethings. for example: 這幅畫好漂亮 in English: This picture is so beautiful. There is no verb in 這幅畫好漂亮.


The ROC (Taiwan) 教育部國語辭 is a very useful resource, and often has good examples. Here's what it says for 德行:

1) 仁慈的行為 humane behavior: Honglou Meng: 倘或日後咱們遇見了，那時我又怎麼報你的德行。 If we meet another day, How can I repay your kind deed?

2) 諷刺或鄙視讓人產生惡感的儀態或行止 used to mock or sneer at despicable behavior or deportment: 他那副爛醉的德行，令人討厭 His drunken hijinks were disgusting.

德性 is a little more complicated, but still similar. Skipping the first meaning, it has:

1 道德品性 moral character: from Rulin Waishi 這位小姐，德性溫良，才貌出眾 The young lady has a kind and gentle nature, and is both beautiful and talented.

2 (same as 德行 2):  瞧他那副猥猥瑣瑣的德性，就知道做不了什麼大事 One look at that nerdish face and you know he'll never amount to anything.

So both words have a 'straight' use and a 'sarcastic' use.  Context determines which is which.

Postscript:

A couple of other answers below note that there is another pronunciation. I've never heard this in Taiwan, but I have now found a reference in the Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary, which says:

déxing (xing=輕聲): <方> disgusting; shameful; 那個家伙真德行. That fellow is really disgusting.

So the PY Dictionary regards this as a dialectal usage.


What's an appropriate conversational response to 这是什么？

Most often, I would repeat 这是, so if you would ask me 这是什么? I would say 这是一本书. You can also say 一本书. But you can also just say 书.


How can I get a Cantonese keyboard on an iPhone?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/canton-guang-dong-pin-yin/id385519764?mt=8

or use stroke keyboard.

Or ask Siri. The Cantonese version of Siri can understand Cantonese.

Edit: Apple does not have such a keyboard and as you would know iOS does not allow custom keyboards. Anything suggested is a workaround.
Apple now allows custom keyboards in iOS 8.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cantonotes-jyutping-annotator/id354063453?mt=8
might also work for you.


Are there some free fonts for the small seal, large seal, and even oracle bone script styles?

Here is some chinese font including small seal scripts, but I haven't tried it myself. Might be useful for u.


Is Goldblatt's talk about Waley available on-line?

Baidu Wenku has a copy.
It's free it doesn't require any points or coins or whatever their currency is. Just click 下载文档.

Google Books also seems to have a scanned copy here from the book China and Her Biographical Dimensions. Although, it appears that some pages may be missing?

Here's the individual images extracted from the PDF


The full text is:

高適《塞上聽吹笛》
雪淨胡天牧馬還
月明羌笛戍樓間
借問梅花何處落
風吹一夜滿關山

Please note that the other proposed answer in the comments, apart from rendering the text in Simplified Chinese, also incorrectly identified the character「戍」as「戌」.


Meaning of 只 in 只把思念积压在我心头

Here, I thinks 只 is short for 只能, so it actually means since you leave without a message, 我只能把思念压在我心头.