“昨天晚上买了（一）张彩票，结果中奖了。”，it indicates you buy One ticket. You'd better use 几张 to indicate that you bought several tickets. I am not saying you are wrong by 买了些彩票, but in practice, 些 is often used to describe uncountable nouns. For example, 我买了一些水果。这些事情。说些什么？

you can say '昨天晚上买了彩票', which conveys the fact/behavior itself you bought some/a lottery ticket(s) (how many you bought is not the point/important; Or you deliberately don't want to tell how many you bought; Or people don't care the number of tickets you bought.)


Ignore the translation for "Most/Best" if it's not the top one
He's the most expensive player in football history
他是足球历史上最贵的选手
He's the second most expensive player in football history
他是足球历史上第二贵的选手
He's the third most expensive player in football history
他是足球历史上第三贵的选手
You can find it's using "第二贵" instead of "第二最贵"
In Chinese when talking about "最" it usually referring only the top ONE.


As can be gleaned from the fact that it is usually represented in Zhuyin, ㄎㄧㄤ is a bit of slang used primarily in Taiwan, especially among young people.

ㄎ with ㄧ (or k + i in Pinyin) is not a legitimate combination of sounds for modern Mandarin, so it's not likely to have originated there.

Its primary meaning is hard to pin down, but "goofy" (see for example this Reddit thread but also its use in this blog name), "tipsy", "dazed", "in awe" are all possible interpretations. The images on this AppleDaily post might be helpful.

This Reddit thread suggests that it is not a feature of older Taiwanese people, and probably does not come from the Taiwanese varieties of Minnan (i.e. Hokkien). However, this sound (in a high level tone) does exist in Taiwanese, meaning "to steal or snatch". Dictionaries generally write it as 勍; it is also written as 鏘 by some sources. Whether this could have conceivably been extended to the meanings of this slang term - that is something less well defined.


The overall meaning of the three is to suggest that the emperor shall not bathe in the wealth he possess and neglect the voice of his suffering people.

EDIT:
As mentioned in @huotuichang's comment below, this phrase does not only apply to emperors, although it might have originally been used to refer to emperors.

I'll explain each with their literal translation and connotation.

五色令人目盲
"Five colors blind your eyes."

Five colors refer to the treasures and jewelries. The various colors of luxuries shine to blind the eyes.

五音令人耳聾
"Five notes make one deaf."

Five notes refer to the pleasing music pieces. While one enjoys the melodies being played, he is not able to hear the crying of his people.

五味令人口爽
"Five flavors make one loses taste."

Five flavors refer to the tasteful foods and drinks. 口爽 means losing one's taste. If one eats such foods daily, he will eventually lose his taste and will not be able to swallow the foods of the poor.


In 我去北京旅行, is 北京 the object? If not, what *is* it?

This is an example of a serial verb construction. Mandarin Chinese can have a transitive verb-object followed by an intransitive verb. The object of the transitive verb can become the subject of the intransitive verb. Or, in this case, the intransitive verb can share the subject with the transitive verb. (Note: In English, 'go' is an intransitive verb. In Mandarin, it's transitive.)

我去北京 is clearly a subject-verb-object. 旅行 is an intransitive verb. As such, it can be a 'serial' (i.e. added in a series) after a transitive verb and its complement.


As lots of the comments have said, Yes, you can make the substitution, but that probably doesn't mean that you should.

The context is obviously an advertisement. It has psychology meanings between the lines. Using words like "Only for you" meant to make the targeted audience felt that they are special.  Of course, we do not really think a 50K RMB car is ONLY made for a special one, neither a $100K customised Tesla, unless it's the so-called Golden Rolls Royce (2.85 billion RMB). But everyone wanted to feel like being THE ONE, and that's why you probably should not replace 量身打造 with 最合适的代步车.


documentation/references: 全 being pronunced `qian` in Southwestern Mandarin

I am working in Chengdu. But I don't think they don't really 前/全 不分, they can easily speak 全 though maybe sounds a little different on tone with 普通话. Maybe the pure ancient 四川话 has the difference as you talked. But nowadays, it's not so obvious. Maybe caused by the develop and immigrants from other place, the 四川话 also changed day after day. 所以，如果如今的四川话和过去的不太像了，你也不必感到奇怪。


I quote some words from my dictionary specified for idiom(成语)

  成语，形容车像流水，马像游龙。形容来往车马很多，连续不断的热闹情景。

Let me try to translate

  idiom,it describe the scenery that the wagon and the horse come and go just like the stream and the dragon.

  马--->horse,龙--->dragon,they have no relationships with each other.In Chinese language,we often use metaphor ,here,we use dragon(龙) to describe the busy horse（马）.

There is no word called 马龙 in Chinese,but it is of great possibility to have someone called 马龙,because this year is the year of dragon,if someone has the family name 马，then his parents may call him 马龙。

there is another idiom 龙马精神，it describe  one man with great passion.


What are some backgrounds and references to obsolete simplified Chinese characters?

(Warning: long answer)
This Proposal to Encode Obsolete Simplified Chinese Characters is an excellent reference to the different obsolete Chinese simplification standards, although the encoding is yet to be seen :) This answer is a synopsis of the backgrounds provided.
First Batch Simplified Characters (1935) (教育部公布 第一批简体字表)
(From Page 3 of the Proposal)

In January 1934 at the 29th meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Unification of the National Language (Guóyǔ Tǒngyī Chóubèi Wěiyuánhuì 國語統一籌備委員會) of the Ministry of Education, Qián Xuántóng 錢玄同 (1887–1939) submitted a draft table of simplified characters (Sōucǎi gùyǒu ér jiào shìyòng de jiǎntǐzì àn 搜採固有而較適用的簡體字 案). These were approved by the committee, and Qián Xuántóng was delegated to edit a table of simplified characters for publication. In August 1935 the Ministry of Eductaion published a first batch of 324 simplified characters (see Appendices A and F), with the intention of publishing a series of further batches of simplified characters. However, in February 1936 the Ministry of Education issued a directive halting the simplification program, and no further batches of simplified characters were issued. Although this first batch of simplified characters was not widely used, it was historically very important as it represented the first centralized attempt to promote the use of simplified characters in China, and was a precursor to the simplification movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the People’s Republic of China.
The simplifications in this table were based on commonly used vulgar form characters (e.g. 宝 for 寶), ancient forms of characters (e.g. 无 for 無) and cursive form characters (e.g. 为 for 為). Most of the 324 first batch simplifications are identical to modern standard simplified characters or Japanese simplified characters, but some are different to a greater or lesser extent; and those characters that are not currently encoded need to be encoded in order for scholars to discuss this pioneering episode in the history of Chinese character simplification. Moreover, some of the currently unencoded “first batch” characters are commonly found in early printed texts (see Fig. 1), so it would also be useful to encode these characters for scholars of such texts.

Singapore Simplified Characters (1969) (新加坡简体字)
(From Page 17 of the Proposal)

In 1969 the Ministry of Education of Singapore issued a table of 502 simplified Chinese characters* for use in Singapore. Most of these characters were identical to the standard simplified characters used at that time in the People’s Republic of China, but 77 simplifications were different. Many of the different simplifications are the same as the earlier “first batch” simplified characters, and a few are the same as simplifications given in the later “second stage” simplification tables, but 23 simplifications are unique and unencoded.
In 1974 an expanded list of 2,248 simplified characters was issued, of which only 10 characters still differed from PRC simplified characters. Finally, in May 1976 a revised list of simplified characters was issued that omitted the 10 Singapore-only simplifications, and was now identical to the list of simplified characters used in the PRC.

* This is why this one is also referred to as 《502》.
Second Stage Simplified Characters (1977) (第二次汉字简化方案)
(From Page 21 of the Proposal)

Following on from the formal introduction of simplified Chinese characters in the 1950s and 1960s, an attempt to promote a second stage of further simplifications was made in the late 1970s. In May 1975 the Chinese Writing Reform Committee (Zhōngguó Wénzì Gǎigé Wěiyuánhuì 中国文字改革委员会) produced a first draft of Second Stage simplified characters for review by the State Council, and eventually on 20th December 1977 the final draft (entitled Dì'èrcì Hànzì Jiǎnhuà Fāng'àn (cǎo'àn) 《第二次汉字简化方案（草案）》) was published in the People's Daily (Rénmín Rìbào 人民日报), the Guangming Daily (Guāngmíng Rìbào 光明日报) and other newspapers (see Figs. 2-3 and Appendix C).

The draft comprised two tables, Table 1 with 172 individual simplifications and 21 generic simplifications, for immediate use; and Table 2 with a much larger number of simplifications for future use if the Table 1 simplifications proved successful. Table 1 only was added as an appendix to a new edition of the General Table of Simplified Characters (Jiǎnhuàzì Zǒngbiǎo 简化字总表) that was published in December 1977 (see Appendix B).
On 21st December 1977, the day after the draft was published, the People's Daily started to use the simplified characters listed in Table 1 only, and continued to do so until July 1978 (see Figs. 4-5).

Postage stamps issued between June and November 1978 also made use of the new simplified characters from Table 1 (see Figs. 6-10).

During 1978 the new simplified characters from Table 1 were widely used in newspapers, books, and publications of all kinds, but the experiment was judged to have been a failure, and in July 1978 a directive to stop using the new simplified characters was issued. Although the new simplifications were not used in official publications after the end of 1978, they were not officially withdrawn until 24th June 1986 (see Appendix H). Nevertheless, the new simplifications did not entirely die out, and were occasionally used in printed contexts during the 1980s. Even today simplified characters from Table 1 are frequently met with in informal contexts such as shop signage and personal correspondence.

There is a pressing need to encode the Table 1 simplifications, both in order to discuss the history of Chinese character simplification, and also in order to accurately represent those texts that are written using second stage simplifications. As an example, a web site about Chinese post cards (http://www.postcardxp.com/list.asp?unid=2144) has the following entry about a set of post cards published in 1986 that includes the second stage simplification for 罐 guàn “pot” in the titles of several of the post cards. The author of the web site is unable to represent this character, and is forced to describe it using its component parts.

Unlike the simplifications listed in Table 1 of the Second Stage Simplification Tables, which were widely used and are still widely recognized, the simplifications listed in Table 2 were not used in official publications such as the People's Daily (or in any printed books that I have been able to find) and most Chinese people are not familiar with them. However, there is still a need to encode these characters in order for historians of Chinese character simplification to represent the draft simplification tables in electronic format, and to discuss these abortive simplifications.
A number of the simplifications in Table 2 are based on cursive or vulgar character forms that are commonly found in printed and manuscript texts dating back to at least the Tang dynasty, such as Yuánkān Zájù Sānshízhòng 元刊雜劇三十種 and dūnhuáng biànwén jí 敦煌 變文集 (see Figs.12-15), and so encoding the Table 2 characters would also be of benefit to
Page 24 of 112JTC1/SC2/WG2 N3695 scholars working with old Chinese texts. Other vulgar simplifications found in texts such as these will be the subject of a future proposal.

The characters are listed in glyphwiki:
第二次汉字简化方案・修订草案 (draft)
第二次汉字简化方案・第一表 (Table 1)
第二次汉字简化方案・第二表 (Table 2)
Which comes in handy when you want to include some of them in a paper.


can I use （女）孩子 even if the person in question is an adult?

as a chinese.I can tell you,yes you can use the word 孩子 to describe their duaghter,like 您的孩子/您们的孩子,or use the word 子女,it is more official,no matter their son or duaghter is or not a adult.or if you want to point out the sex,you can use the word 女儿 to describe their duaghter,or more literarily,use the word 千金,as you can describe their son with 儿子 or the literarily word 公子.if we use 公子 or 千金,we dont say 您的公子/您的千金,we say 您家公子/您家千金.
but we dont use 女孩子 to describe one's 40 years old duaghter,if she is about 20 to 25 and still have not been a mom,you can use 女孩子 to describe her.cause in our culture,if you have or had a son or duaghter you are not a kid anymore.and if you have not had a 孩子 and you are young,you may still be a kid in your parents' opinion.young women like to be called as 女孩子 cuase it sounds they younger.but just young women.I dont think 40 is young,so if you use 女孩子,it may sounds like you are satirizing.
my english is not good.hope you can understand what I write and hope this help


What is an idiom that describes aiming for high achievement or success but not forgetting one's roots?

心存高远意守平常好听点，I don't know why I have to type at least 30 letters.


I googled it and found a forum on Baidu about waiting forever for what looks like a video game to be released. The unhappy camper in the forum writes a lyric verse or two to express his frustration:

  你说过两天来看我
  一等就是一年多
  三百六十五个日子不好过
  你心里根本没有我
  把我的爱情还给我

Translation (not accounting for poetic style):

  You said you'd come to visit in two days
  But I've been waiting more than a year
  ...

In this context, it means he's already been waiting for more than a year.
This also uses a sentence pattern
一（V）就（V）, which generally describes something which is done right after another thing, e.g. "我一到家就要睡了" (I'm going to bed as soon as I get home).

In this context, he is using that sentence pattern to stress how long he has waited.


This will not answer your question but shed some light to the mystery of the 了 particle.

了 does not mean past tense. It denotes **CHANGE**.

以前我住在这儿。
This sentence points out no change. It only says that once you were living there.

Your friend calls from the kitchen: 吃饭了！
This one points out a change, namely that we are ready to eat the meal. It is not past tense, it's in the present, but a change has occured, so wo use 了.

行了！
You can use this sentence to say 'Fine with me!'. There is absolutely no past tense here, it just says that I have made up my mind, so now we have a change from the previous undecided situation to one with a resolution.

别吵了！

Stop quarreling! Here you see, an imperative really has nothing to do with past tense, yet there is a 了 in the sentence because the speaker orders the ones he/she speaks to, to make a change from quarreling to silence.


How about

贼过兴兵

mobilize the troops after the bandits had gone

Meaning: fail to provide assistance timely; present unhelpful, useless, belated action


What's the relationship between 暖, 爱 and 愛?

The right part of 暖(nuǎn) is 爰(yuán) and it's not 爱 or the traditional form 愛.

In ancient Chinese, 爰 is a kind of pronoun, like "where/which". And it also has other meanings, one is "to change". But if you saw "爰爰" in ancient articles it meant "leisurely".

Technically, there is few relationship between 暖（or 爰）/爱(愛). Or one can say by force, they have the same Chinese character component, the first four strokes on top of 爰/爱. It means 爪(tail), and in ancient Chinese it also means "hand". See? "to change" one should use his hand, and to love one might cook/make a gift by his hand.

You must distinguish 暖 and 暧(曖, ài). For 爰 there is no traditional form. 暖 means "warm/to warm", and 暧 means dim.

Ready for higher order? Try these!

㬊(huǎn) is not 暖(nuǎn) even one puts 日 over 爰, it is the opposite of 暧(dim), "bright".
暖(nuǎn) has another pronunciation, xuān. "暖姝" （xuān shū）means "have a high opinion of oneself". BUT "暧昧" (ài mèi) means "ambiguous/dubious/shady".
暧 also means "warmly", so it is 暖... (Of cause this is contentious!)


I really need to know the Chinese characters preferably handwritten to the phrase “pursuit of happiness”

It’s really hard to find an accurate website for “pursuit of happiness”

Google Translate's result 追求幸福 is accurate
As for Chinese Handwriting fonts, you can look for them on the web
I selected a few fonts on my computer as examples of what you can expect


How can I say “there was already a lot of salt in the meat”?

我知道你们没有放盐，但是可能因为肉是腌过的，所以对我来说还是太咸了。这不是你们的错，我仍然非常感谢你们对我的照顾（帮助）。

This translates into:

  I know you did not add salt, but, possibly because the meat was pickled, it was still too salty for me. This is not your fault. I still thank you very much for the care you have shown me.

Hence, this is a polite and considerate way of addressing the issue.


My interpretation:

肇　松
吉　原

The guess of「肇」is based on this variant of「肁」.

西周金耳尊集成6007隸定

Together, this makes a Japanese name 松原肇吉 (something like Matsubara Tadayoshi).
You should post this on https://japanese.stackexchange.com to doublecheck.


What kind of appearance does 丰泽的肌肤 have？

'丰' in '丰泽' means '丰滿' (plump/ full) or '丰富'(rich)

'泽' in '丰泽' means '润泽 (moist) or 光泽' (Shiny)

I would say '肌肤丰泽' means '肌肤丰滿而有光泽' (full body with shiny skin)

宝钗 is a healthy looking lady with shiny skin, while 林黛玉 is a thin and pale girl

'full' here doesn't mean 'fat', it means ' plump and bouncy' (丰满而有弹性)


How to talk about cooking a dish with multiple items

Edit:
Clarification by the OP

I place all the vegetables in a pot with rice and cook them. I think 加 would indicate I add them in after cooking the rice

In this case, 煮饭 means 'cook rice', 加 would mean you add them into the raw rice when you cook them
The sentence would be

我煮饭時会把番茄，西兰花，胡萝卜和辣椒加在米中一起煮 (when I cook rice, I would add tomato, broccoli, carrot, and pepper into the raw rice)

or

我会把番茄，西兰花，胡萝卜和辣椒加在煮好的饭中一起再煮 (I would add tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and peppers into the cooked rice and cook them together

Previous answer before the Clarification:
'煮饭' means 'to cook' in general (饭 here refer to 'meal' ).
Note:
煮饭 (to cook) sounds Cantonese. In Mandarin, the common word for 'to    cook' is 做飯 (cook meal) or 做菜(cook dish),
and 煮饭 would just mean 'cook rice' The reason I presume by 煮饭 you meant 'to cook' because it is wired to add those things in streamed rice
If you meant you are using these ingredients to cook a dish. The correct verb phrase is:
我用番茄，西兰花，胡萝卜和辣椒(来煮这道菜) = I use tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and peppers (to cook this dish)
or
(这道菜的材料是)番茄，西兰花，胡萝卜和辣椒 = (the ingredients of this dish are) tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and peppers

我跟西兰花，胡萝卜，辣椒，番茄煮饭

It means "我 (and) 胡萝卜，辣椒，番茄煮饭 cook together" (胡萝卜，辣椒，番茄 can't cook). It is nonsensical
To be more precise.

我會用番茄，西兰花，胡萝卜和辣椒来煮这道菜 (I will cook this dish with tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and peppers)

or

我用了番茄，西兰花，胡萝卜和辣椒来煮这道菜 (I used tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and peppers to cook this dish)


In my experience, taking a class, and watching/listening to Chinese media truly helps.
I have taken classes on Chinese, and Chinese media can test if you understand Chinese. Using media also helps you "exercise" your brain; much like taking a jog once in awhile.

In order to retain knowledge on the Chinese, you should practice saying the word, or at least use them once in awhile. It's easier to remember the words with constant/common usage.

I would not recommend software; one problem I see is that if you have a question, you can't ask your computer. With a teacher, on the other hand, you can ask them questions and they can explain. It's a great time saver.

I'm not sure about any places you should go to learn, unfortunately. It greatly depends on what your age is, where you live, and your schedule.


The English translation is not literal. The idiom 目瞪口呆 means something like 'eyes wide-staring, mouth stiff'. Of course that is a physical description of someone who is dumbfounded.
To be grammatical, you first need the verb 看 'to see; to look' in your sentence, followed by 得 which suffixes an adverb or an adverbial phrase (目瞪口呆) to describe the extent of shock resulting from your looking at something dumbfounding.
Other preceding verbs are also possible, such as 被嚇 'to be scared', as in 被嚇得目瞪口呆 (lit. to be scared, so much so one's eyes become wide-staring and mouth stiff). In this case, the speaker is not looking at anything.


Your understanding about 探 and 究竟 is quite right, I just add some additional information about 个.

个 has no specific meaning here, usually used between verb and complement for emphasizing, such as 笑个不停, 吃个饱.

So 探个究竟 doesn't just mean take a look or see what happens here, it describes how curious people are about the content in the barrel vividly.


Trying to find the meaning of this tattoo

女 (Nǚ) means:
(noun) female; woman; girl; daughter; frail

手 (Shǒu) means:
(noun) hand; clutch
(verb) hold; have in one's hand
(adjective) handy

女手: female's hand; female's writing


'After' can be expressed with 以后 placed after the clause:

吃完糖果以后，我去那里。

The second sentence can be translated using an 'after', e.g.:

他看到你来以后，他离开了。But it would sound 'more natural' if you dropped it:

他看到你来，就离开了。


There are three points why 简谱 prevails in China.

Tonality.
Most music pieces are tonal music. And 简谱 is essentially a "movable" do notation system, which makes it easier for reader, esp. amateur, to grasp the melody.
History reason.
In Chinese traditional music, 工尺谱 is the main notation system, which is comparable to 简谱. 工尺谱 is also a "movable" do notation system.
Culture. (Why 1, 2, 3 not C, D, E)
Chinese is more familiar which the order of number than the English alphabets. Using Arabic number makes it easier for beginners in China to establish mapping from 1, 2, 3 to do, re, mi and easy to spread and learn. I don't think it has anything to do with the rejection of alphabetic characters.

The use of 简谱 was common in Chinese traditional instrument performance. But now conservatories in China use staff more. Now 简谱 is more common in music score for amateurs (esp. guitar scores, or chorus scores).


Translation English Expression "You can tell ... by ...."

The corresponding Chinese expression for

You can tell ...by ...

is

一看...就知道...

so

You can tell he means it by the look on his face

一看他的脸色就知道他是认真的

Although for a lyric you probably want something like

他的神情告诉我他是认真的

"You can tell the spaghetti is cooked when it sticks to a wall."

能粘在墙上的spaghetti才是煮过的spaghetti

where "You can tell" or "you know" is basically ignored because it won't add anything to the sentence.

"You can tell he's rich by the clothes he's wearing"

"一看他穿的衣服就知道他很富"

"How do you know? (How can you tell)" "I can just tell!"

"你怎么知道的？" "我就是知道"


出去了几个人 is just a bit ambiguous. Are you making a statement or asking a question?

出去了几个人?  How many people went out?
出去了几个人 .  A few people left.
他们几个人出去了。 They went out together.
他们出去了几个人？How many of them went out?


Does anyone know the names for each relative in mandarin?

This may help:  親屬稱謂

Notice:
爺爺 = 祖父
奶奶 = 祖母
外公 = 外祖父
外婆 = 外祖母
伯伯 = 伯父
叔叔 = 叔父
姑姑 = 姑母
嬸嬸 = 叔母
舅舅 = 舅父
舅媽 = 舅母
爸爸 = 父親
媽媽 = 母親
阿姨 = 姨母
堂哥 = 堂兄
表兄弟姊妹 from 姑姑's side are 姑表
表兄弟姊妹 from 姨母's side are 姨表
Husband and wife are 丈夫 and 妻子 (also:老公 and 老婆)
Great grandfather and Great grandmother are 曾祖父 and 曾祖母; 外曾祖父 and 外曾祖母
your 妻子's 哥哥 is your 大舅
your 妻子's 弟弟 is your 小舅
your 妻子's 姊姊 is your 大姨
your 妻子's 妹妹 is your 小姨
Your 丈夫's 哥哥 is your 大伯
Your 丈夫's 弟弟 is your 小叔
Your 丈夫's 姊姊 is your 大姑
Your 丈夫's 妹妹 is your 小姑


我什么都想试试，这样才不白来世上一回。

  I want to experience/try many things, only then will I feel like my life hasn't been wasted.

That is the general meaning. As for the bolded part:

這樣才 - only like/by doing this, referring to 我什麽都想試試
白X - a waste of effort to X
來世上 - be born into the world
一回 - one time

來世上一回 is a figure of speech culturally referring to the possibility of reincarnation (being born multiple times). The idea is that coming into this world is a journey that takes effort, and while being here this person wants to experience as many things as possible.


What is the Chinese origin of “kai shao”

It's just 介紹.

Following the blog post, it mentions Philippines culture.
Looking up languages of the Philippines, we get Hokkien as a major Chinese topolect.
Looking up 介紹 in Wiktionary, the Hokkien Romanisation is kài-siāu.

The blog post spelling it as "kai shao" is just not following a particular topolect's Romanisation, but just spelling it out by ear.


大约 means "approximately", 差不多 means "almost".

大约 is normally used as an adjective or adverb in phrases like:

大约四英尺厚的雪
snow that is approximately 4 feet thick

差不多 can be used in a similar way, but it's more commonly used as an adjective-verb:

这两本书的内容都差不多
these two books' contents are about the same

However, 这两本书的内容都差不多一样 (with 差不多 as an adverb) means the same thing.

The important thing to remember is that 差不多 means almost, but not quite, so two things that are 差不多一样 are not exactly the same. Whereas something like 大约一个小时 could be exactly one hour, although it could also be a bit more or less.

差不多 is also commonly used in a colloquial sense:

差不多了吧
that should do it

In my experience, 大约 is more common in written language. The spoken equivalent is 大概. But that may be a regional thing. 差不多 is very common in colloquial language, mostly in the sense of "about the same" or "good enough" as in the examples above.


Some 阿-prefix Sichuanese Hakka words (阿妹, 阿姐, 阿妈, 阿孃, 阿祖) - what do they mean?

According to this site:

阿:

  釋義： 1.放在稱謂（如爸、嬸、公、姐等）前，表尊敬。2.放在名字前，表親切，同輩之間或長輩稱呼晚輩時使用。  用例：
  1.阿爸、阿媽、阿公、阿婆、阿叔、阿嬸……2、阿明、阿小珠、阿飛……

阿妹: 1. 孩子（不管晚輩男女，長輩都可稱其阿妹）。2. 女孩子。

阿姐: 姐姐（部分地區也指姑姑）。許多地區稱姐姐為“阿姊”。

阿妈: 媽媽，母親。

阿孃: 1、伯母，伯父的妻子（五華、惠州等地）。2、泛指老婦女。

阿祖: unable to find; I guess it might belong to meaning 2: "放在名字前，表親切，同輩之間或長輩稱呼晚輩時使用。" So, 祖 might be just a person's name.


The original English text for the excerpt you’ve given above is:

  And when you go into her room, don't forget to say, good-morning, and don't peep into every corner before you do it."

So here “peep into every corner” was translated 东瞧西䐐. It’s a fairly true translation.


word meaning of 回也其庶乎 in Classical Chinese

This comes from Confucius's 论语 (Analects).
For the sake of other readers, let's break down the entire sentence:

回 refers to Yanhui 颜回, a character in the Analects
也 is a final particle in classical Chinese, which here separates the topic from the comment
其 in classical Chinese means "his/hers/its" or simply "it" referring to something already mentioned before. Here it's likely to be the former.
庶 （shu4) stands for 庶几 "almost", "maybe", used in a similar way as 差不多 "almost done"
乎 in classical Chinese is (among others) a final particle used in a similar way to 呢 (and I would say also 嘛)

So putting it all together, it becomes close to:

Yanhui, his [something mentioned before] is almost done.

Source: Analects 11-19 commentary (in Chinese)


Translation: couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery, etc

昏庸无能 is very close.
it means:
have no ability to do even a very simple project.
have no management skill to manage a team.


What are the most popular new year greetings in Cantonese?

In Hong Kong, the two most popular greetings in Cantonese are

恭喜發財
新年快樂

I am not sure about other Cantonese-speaking areas.


It's called [防盗|贴身|隐形] (小)腰(带)包.

Looking for any one of these terms on Taobao, you'll see how it is commonly referred to:


八九不離十 means almost there and I accept it or pretty close and I accept it, the most important thing is and I accept it. The ten may be perfect but if nine or eight are still fine.
“汤姆说考试八九不离十就可以了。” means Tom doesn't chasing for perfect in test.


What is the hidden meaning of "mi mi", the Chinese word for secret?

You're reading too much into it. The only clue to this meaning in the original characters has now been lost.
You can take a look at the following dictionary excerpt to see exactly what information has vanished:
Outlier:

COMPONENTS
禾
In 秘, 禾 is an empty component. It is a corruption of 礻. The original character was 祕 “god; deity,” from which the meanings “secret, covert, undisclosed” are derived.

密 is a phonetic loan if anything, where it contains the idea of "secret."


It's the same case as Engligh right? We can also say in English: China Tea, or Chinese Tea. As long as omitting "de" does not introduce ambiguity, it's fine. However, it will sounds more like a proper noun instead of adj.+noun.


Your example describes a series of things happening one after another.  The first and fifth sentences already imply past tense.  This is enough to imply that all things described happened in the past until a word about time is present to change the tense to "now" or "future".
"了" should not be in every sentence since that creates a ton of duplication which makes the assay inauthentic or ill-written.


see grammar,dictionaries,bkrs：活：to live
alive living （work workmanship）动
（生存; 有生命） live:
吃为了活，不要活为了吃。 Eat to live， but do not live to eat.
他们将永远活在我们心中。形
（在活的状态下） alive; living:
活老虎 a live tiger
活捉 capture alive
活字典 a walking dictionary

着 durative aspectual particle,动态（时态）助词，表示动作还在持续,

活着 I
[live] 度过生活
我只为科学而活着, 也只关心科学
II
(1) [alive; living]∶有生命; 非死状态
他站在死去的和活着的人们之间
(2) [surviving]∶仍然有生命, 仍然没死
我青年时期一个仍然活着的朋友
it might seem therefore that 尚活 could mean "still alive, living" cf. 尚病,年岁尚小,尚未死，but in fact 尚活 always seems to be followed by 着, web shows exceptions LOFALi爱尚活的微博_微博,尚活族


晚安 is the standard phrase for "good night"

晚安安 is an incorrect usage of reduplication. Please don't use it.

安安 is also an incorrect usage of reduplication. Not to mention it sounds like a 'baby take' (omitted 晚 and reduplicate 安) Please don't use it to any adult.

晚安啦 is just 晚安 adding a final particle after it.  Depend on the tone and pitch, it adds casual or affectionate feeling to the phrase


According to some sources citing the Ministry of Education, diffusion of Putonghua （普通话）in the country has reached 70% in 2015.

The biggest issue that you might face in Hunan (and in almost any other province) is not that people would talk to you in dialect, but that they would talk to you in Mandarin with accent.

Hunanese accent has a few distinctive traits, some of which in common with other southern speaks:

  zh/ch/sh become z/c/s: 诚 sounds like 层
  eng/ong --> en/on： 朋 sounds like 盆
  n --> l (el)：里 sounds like 你

and as others have pointed out:

  h --> f: 湖 sounds like 服

That's not a small hurdle for new learners. How quick you'll get used to it depends mainly on your proficiency level. With an HSK3 you might have some hard time at first. Especially the n --> l change is tough for Mandarin students.

One last note: asking for references to learning resources is somewhat discouraged here as it is difficult to maintain lists and links. I believe that you can find something by querying for 湘语 on Baidu. Good luck!


How should I understand "～长～短" phrase in English?

长 = good /strengths  ; 短 = bad/ shortcomings

"～长～短" = "～this～that"

张三李四 is similar to "any Tom, Dick or Harry"  in English, refers to any unspecific people's names. http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/38376/

张三长李四短 = "someone this, someone that" (gossiping)

张家长李家短 = "so and so family this, so and so family that" (gossiping)


I'd translate "That depends on what you're using the computers for" to "那得看你用電腦來做什麼."
English: sit at a computer.
Chinese: sit in front of a computer.
When working with a computer, you don't sit behind a computer.


In 他是一个不负责的人，（要／想） 当我们的经理, does it matter if I use 要 or 想?

You should use the word "想" in this case. I think the sentence you're trying to write is:

He is an irresponsible person, he thinks he is our boss / manager.

Using the word "要" in this context speaking about an "irresponsible person" doesn't make sense.


Is there any character with radical 月 that has a meaning of 月 (not 肉)?

@OmniBus "those modern fonts are terrible and distinct nothing"—you may despise modern fonts all you like, but when you pick up any calligraphy collection (書法字典) you will find abundant evidence that you'll have to extend your despisal to such names like 王羲之, 歐陽詢, 唐太宗 and so on, as they did not make those distinctions. Also, where the typographic distinction is today made between the different origins of the shape 月, it can be attributed to the influential Kangxi Dictionary of 1716; now, that very dictionary starts with an Imperial Preface which was penned by an eminent member of the Hanlin Academy and, as such, also has 'model character' (Modellcharakter). That writing style is a very orderly Regular script, is full of abbreviated and variant forms, and completely disregards the distinctions between the different origins of 月! This is a fact that most people conveniently gloss over.

I used to think myself that those fonts / writing styles that do distinguish between the different origins of what today is mostly indistinguishable from 月 are more 'correct'; however, i've since changed my mind. 俞佩琳 has argued extensively and convincingly in his 1989 book 《中文字序學》 that efforts to distinguish between the different origins of 月—which goes back to earlier forms of 月 itself and 肉, 舟, and 丹—have been made at several points in Chinese history (most notably the Tang and Qing dynasties), were misguided, and have failed. In modern times, the ROC Ministry of Education tries to promote a 'correct' form of writing along these lines.

The efforts were and are misguided because modern writing (Kaishu style) is not equal to ancient writing (Seal script and Clerical script); it has evolved and replaces many older forms with simpler equivalents. It is also misguided because the calligraphic means used to make the distinctions—using two horizontal strokes that connect to left and right, or else two short horizontal strokes with gaps on the right, or else two dots, or else a dot and and upward stroke—are not very obviously connected to the outlines of 月, 肉, 舟, and 丹, but arbitrarily chosen expedients. The differences are visually minuscule and hard to remember. In fact, the distinction seems to be objectively difficult; 俞佩琳 adduces many examples that clearly demonstrate that even the editors of the 《五經文字》—the first work that embarked on this particular strain of resurrecting correct forms modeled on Seal script—get it plain wrong in many cases! Clearly, if they can't do it, how could the average writer?

Maybe the reforms could have caught on if the reformers had decided to resurrect 肉, 舟, and 丹 to their full forms in characters like 前, for which we could write ⿱䒑—but then 䒑 is an abbreviation too! In this case, it stands in for 止, so we should really be writing ⿱止. But wait a moment, 刂 is really short for 刀, right, so the 'correct' way to write 前 is, indeed, ! Then again, at least the Small Seal form that is quoted in the Shuowen does not have a 刀; instead, it corresponds to 歬 (be it said that the Small Seal characters as we have them today may not be entirely the original ones, as we do not have an original copy of the work; also, the Shuowen, valuable as it is, contains many known erroneous Seal characters and wrong interpretations of correct forms). It's easy to see where this leads, namely more—many, many more—variant forms. But the pertinent point here is that those who insist on writing 前 with a double-dotted 月 have picked out a pet peeve, a 'perceived historical mistake' that they try to correct, leaving other, equally obvious developments untouched, with no clear reason why (in this case) 舟 should be restored but not 止. If i wanted to describe this with the most flattering terms, i'd call it hyper-correct.

And this is really the problem with trying to revive seal characters in modern writing forms: one may deplore that many useful distinctions in the old characters have been lost in modern script (Wieger's Chinese Characters is almost exclusively dedicated to this cause), but one the other hand, trying to do so would radically change thousands of Chinese characters as we know them today. Just to distinguish 月, 肉, 舟, and 丹 (and a few other components) is a rather arbitrary choice; in fact, many, many distinctions have been lost—or rather, at some point in history that predates the Qin dynasty's unification of the script, purposefully been thrown overboard when the Clerical script was developed. The entire program in the development of Clerical script (and, later, of Regular script) was to simplify Seal characters by simplifying single strokes and writing simpler outlines where possible (about Clerical script antedating Qin Small seal characters there's an interesting video in Chinese; this view is somewhat novel as the relevant bamboo and wood slips were only unearthed during the last century).

This, by the way, is how people came to write 人 as 亻 when occurring on the left hand side; before that was started, there was no such distinction. So when resurrecting old character forms, one should, once more, go all the way and stop distinguishing 人 and 亻!

It is interesting to see how the afore-mentioned ROC MOE also falls short in its efforts to promulgate a purportedly more 'correct' from of writing, as has been commented on the web:

國字標準字體嚴格區分在小篆中有區別的部件，但有些做法似乎並不一致而令人疑惑。例如「月」字旁與「肉」字旁在楷書中已經合流，都寫做「月」，而國字標準字體則是特別規定代表「肉」字的「月」要將中間兩橫寫成點與挑（見右圖），以示區別（這種做法也有討論空間）。然而，「朝」、「服」等字的「月」字旁其實也不是「月亮」的「月」，而是「舟」字，古代印刷體有將中間兩橫寫為兩點的，以便與「月」保持區別，但是國字標準字體卻完全不區分「舟」字旁與「月」字旁。

What sets apart the MOE 'standard' forms from other sources is the surprising fact that it only distinguishes 肉 and 月, but the 月-like component in 青 is still written with two horizontals; thus, the singular distinction they do make appears ever the more arbitrary, artificial, and hard to justify. Moreover, in both the Regular and Song typefaces, 月 is written with a slanting, not a straight initial stroke where it appears in the bottom part of a character (as in 青, 膏); checking this against classical samples of calligraphy shows this is wrong—月 should appear as ⺝ when in bottom position. Incidentally, ⺝ is also how 月 is written in both the preface and the main part of the Kangxi dictionary!

As an aside, the Song typeface that is depicted e.g. on http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/M0001/sungti/as30.htm?open is incredibly ugly and should definitely not be used as an exemplar for what Chinese characters should look like. To be clear: the typeface is proportioned so poorly and its technical defects are so blatantly obvious that any book on the subject of Chinese typefaces, character forms or Chinese fonts should warn against its use.

To this one could add that as for 朋, both chineseetymology and zdic agree that the shape 月 here originated from something different altogether (and it's not 貝, although it still could depict cowrie shells on a string). Writing 朋 with the two-dotted form of 月 makes it look like 朋 was derived from ⿰舟舟, which is patently wrong according to this data.

What's even worse, when you research character origins, you often get conflicting views. For example, for 胜 the Shuowen says 从肉生聲; another source has 从力朕声 (with 朕 being traced back to ; note that关 is actually ⿱䒑大, from older ⿱火廾), and there is a variant  which the Kangxi Dictionary comments as 古文勝(胜)字, so according to which source you want to trust, you end up with 月 originating in either 肉 or 舟. Likewise, 朝 is variously explained as 从倝舟聲 and as 从日在草中从月. The pretty thought-out device of distinguishing four forms for what had once unambiguously become 月 in the Regular style of China's most renowned calligraphers is at the very least insufficient—many more forms are needed because (1) there are more than four sources for modern 月, and (2) some characters are analyzed differently by different authorities, so we need at least one more form to indicate all cases of doubt.


How do you say "snap judgment" in Cantonese?

I don't think there is a Cantonese phrase equivalent to it. Usually we just use a sentence like "唔好咁快下结论" to express the idea of "Don't make a snap judgement".


"真巧啊" or "好巧啊" is enough for the situation you care about.


What is important to consider while building an adverbial phrase?

It seems that you like rules, but soon you'll find that exceptions are the norm. Don't consider the following as rules. They are just examples.
How to put them together?
It is indeed very flexible, as it is in English:

轻轻的我走了。 Quietly I left.
我轻轻的走了。 I quietly left.
我走了，轻轻的。 I left quietly.

The 2nd is the most common form, but the other two forms give the sentences a poetic touch.
Notice in the last example you put a comma before the adverb, because Chinese is mostly a left branching language. This is how you make a right branch feel natural.
[rant]Someone may want to criticize my use of 的 and say that I should use 地 or 得 instead. In fact 的地得 is totally indistinguishable in speech, why bother distinguishing them in writing? My example is from the famous romantic poet 徐志摩. I'll listen to you if you write something better than him. Also stop being a grammar communist OK? [/rant]
There is another form of positioning, V + 得 + adverb:

跑得快，有糖吃；跑得慢，没糖吃。
Run fast and you get candy; run slow and you get candy wrappers.

How long and how complex can it be?
As long as you like. This is how you stick many adverbs together:

我非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常(gasp)非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常(gasp)非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常非常喜欢你。

This looks like cheating, but you can have this:

我们要以十八大提出的解放思想、实事求是、与时俱进、求真务实的精神办好这件事情。
We should complete the task with the spirits of the Eighteenth National People's Congress meeting, which includes liberation of the mind, faithfulness to the truth, advancement with the times, and emphasis on pragmatism.

Still this is but one colossal adverb phrase, not exactly "many" phrases.
How to do more than one adverb phrase?
From 阿桑's song (who died of breast cancer in 2009):

你听寂寞在唱歌，轻轻的，狠狠的。
Listen you to the loneliness singing, quietly and ruthlessly.

Here is another example, with three adverbial phrases:

乌龟又慢又稳地，一步一步地爬到了树顶上。
Slowly but surely, step by step, the turtle climbed up to the treetop.


Do you mean half-pipe?
That'd be 半管.

Vert ramp?
U型池.

English is equally acceptable though, not a lot of Chinese terms.

The broadest term you'll get is (滑板, etc.)道具, or if you want to be slightly more specific you can say 木制道具.


What software can correct pronunciation?

Rossetta Stone has that feature standard. I've not used it, but I have friends who have with great success. Unless you get the tone correct, the software doesn't let you advance to the next word. It's pretty impressive.

Don't know of any free options, though.


They are two famous disciples of Confucius. 淵: 顏淵 (顏回)、騫: 閔子騫 (閔損)。

It is common practice in classical Chinese literature to label chapters in a book by the first word of substance, regardless of whether it actually pertains to the central meaning or not. In this case, the chapter begins with a question on the practices of these two disciples of Confucius, and their names are taken to form the chapter name.


What is the correct way to ask "How do I get to your school" in Mandarin?

All of the three sentences work. People can know what you want to express without problem occurred.


了 here is read liǎo which means:

  to finish / to achieve / variant of 瞭｜了 / to understand clearly   -CC-CEDICT

thus

不了

  unable to / without end -CC-CEDICT

忘不了 = can't forget / unforgettable

喝不了 = can't drink / undrinkable


from the high position looking down

When the verb denotes upward action or direction, and the object denotes 'comparatively high position', '上' means 'up to (successfully)'

Example:

登山顶 - reach the mountain top (登 shows you are attempting to reach the mountain top, but doesn't clearly indicate you have done so successfully)

登(上)山顶 - reach (up to) the mountain top (登上 indicates you not only attempted, but also successfully reached up to the mountain top)

爬河堤 - Climb the river embankment (爬 shows you are attempting to climb an embankment)

爬(上)河堤 - Climb (up to) the river embankment (爬上 indicates you not only attempted, but also successfully climbed up to the embankment)

presents the result of the action:

When the verb denotes 'applying',  '上' denotes 'onto successfully'

Example:

穿外衣 - wear jacket (the action 穿 must be applied to a body)

穿(上)外衣 - wear jacket onto (上 shows the verb 穿 is successfully applied onto a body)

寫四個字 - write four words (the action 寫 must be applied to a surface)

寫(上)四個字 - write four words onto (上 shows the verb 寫 is successfully applied on to a surface)

presents the beginning and continuation of the action:

when the verb implies it is an ongoing action

Example:

她爱草原 - she loves grassland (the action love is a continuous action. )

她爱上了草原 - she fell in love with grassland (上 show the beginning of the verb 爱, and the verb 爱 itself is a continuous action)

吃上饭 is not an example for 'verb that indicates successfully apply'. It is an example for 'verb that indicate successfully acquire'

吃饭 - eat meal

吃(上)饭 - (successfully) eat (acquired) meal


the national academy for educational research, of taiwan  maintained a file “   外國地名譯名壓縮檔”, the direct link is:
https://terms.naer.edu.tw/download/380/Term_380.zip/
it’s a zip file containing several excel files, each row has the original location name in english, name in chinese, latitude & longitude.
indeed, the download area have files of most disciplines, of terms in chinese & foreign languages:
https://terms.naer.edu.tw/download/
the only caveat is, the page is in traditional chinese only


Is there a shorten formed of the name for Polish złoty?

There is a universal shorten form for names.

The initial + kind.

兹币(兹罗提)

盖氏(比尔 盖茨)

赤国(赤道几内亚)

青刀(青龙偃月刀)

And the damned 蛇果(红地厘蛇果)


Is the similar pronunciation of 上班, 办公 and 工作 just a coincidence?

Yes it's a coincidence. The characters are completely unrelated.

办 ban4 means "to do, to handle", and it's a phono-semantic compound where the 力 part (strength) conveys the meaning, and the two dots at the sides are a simplification of 辛 (xin1). But the phonetic part when doubled is pronounced bian4. Compare the simplified characters 辩 （as in 辩论）and 辨 （as in 辨别）

班 ban1 means "class, team", and it's a compound ideograph composed of two 玉 （jade）and 刀 （knife）.

To 刀 cut up 玉 pieces of jade and bestow the halfs as rank insignia upon feudatory chiefs (Karlgren)

公 gong1 alone means "official duties" or "public affairs", and is （if I'm not mistaken) also a compound ideograph, from 八 and 厶.

The right 八 division of 厶 private things (Karlgren)

工 gong1 means "work" and is instead a pictogram of an axe (a carpenter square, according to Karlgren). (See picture)


What is the Difference Between 讲解 and 解释?

Both can function as noun or verb. The basic difference is that 讲解 is "oral explanation", or "to explain orally", whereas 解释 simply means "explanation" or "to explain", and can be oral or written.

老師在課堂上講解得很清楚。 “The teacher explained (it) very clearly in class." (orally)

老師在課堂上解釋得很清楚。 “The teacher explained (it) very clearly in class." (presumably orally, but not spelt out)

課本第十頁解釋得很清楚。 ”Page 10 in the text book explains (it) very clearly."


What comprehensive grammar books are available?

Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars)


For 或, what semantic notions underlie "tool or weapon on a pole" (戈) + "mouth" (口) + "territory" (1)?

There is a misunderstanding on the Wiktionary description, which shouldn't have inappropriately linked 口 and 一; these are listed for their shapes rather than their functions. The description

Ideogrammic compound (會意): 戈 + 口 + 一, “territory”.

means the separate parts which look like 戈 + 口 + 一 are combined together into one glyph to mean territory. The two meaningful components to take note of are 「戈」 (picture of a dagger-axe) and 「囗」 or 「丁」 (picture of fortifications surrounding a settlement).
Territory is now written with the derivatives

「國」 (region, country), through the addition of another semantic 「囗」
「域」 (territory, region), through the addition of semantic 「土」 (earth, soil)

西周金或作父癸方鼎集成2133
「或」 was originally a compound of 「戈」 (dagger-axe, representing military power) guarding 「囗」 or 「丁」 (picture of fortifications surrounding a settlement; see Characters' original forms that have no independent usage for further discussion). The original idea was basically that of a defended settlement.
西周金保卣集成5415西周金尊集成6014西周金禹鼎集成2833
Some variants added strokes surrounding 「囗」 or 「丁」, emphasising the region's boundaries. Compare 「疆」 (originally field boundaries (畕), with lines added surrounding the fields later) or 「畫」 (to draw the line between fields (田), now written 「劃」).

Early on, 「或」 became used for a phonetic loan meaning someone, something. The meaning either, or is a semantic extension of this phonetic loan meaning. Schuessler suggests that this meaning of 「或」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*[ɢ]ʷˤək/) is etymologically related to 「有」 (/*[ɢ]ʷəʔ/, there is, exists). The other senses are either further semantic extensions or from compound words like

或許 (maybe)
間或 (occassionally, sometimes)


Does xiang (third tone) mean "want" or "echo"?

響 (xiang3) is the traditional form of 响, which means to "sound" or to "echo". It is not the same character as 想, which means to "think" or to "want". It is not uncommon for different characters to have the same pronunciation and tone. Examples off the top of my head include:

zhong1: 中 (中国), 钟 (两点钟), 终 (终于)
ying1: 应 (应该), 英 (英雄), 鹰
sha1: 杀 (杀死), 沙 (沙滩), 莎
diao4: 调 (调查), 钓 (钓鱼), 吊 (吊着)

Somewhat tangentially, it can be difficult to determine what character a spoken syllable is supposed to correspond to with absolutely no context. One consequence of this is that people often will indicate the characters for their names when speaking by giving examples of terms or phrases with the component characters (e.g. 谢谢的谢，英雄的英). (Character(s) in "given names" rarely form combinations that would be permissible in normal usage, even in cases where a coherent meaning for the whole name is obvious: e.g. 马英九, 崔世安, 周杰伦, 刘博.)


This is actually not one character, but a stylistic conglomeration of the characters in the phrase 招財進寶, meaning "ushering in wealth and prosperity".

The characters 財 and 寶 end up being represented with the same 貝 component in this "character". While the left side of 招 (扌) and the right side of 財 (才) are technically not the same component, they look similar enough to be represented with the same component here as well.


“这个是我常用的资料夹” equals “This is my frequently used folders” or "This is my favorite folder"?

I would translate "This is my frequently used folders."to "这个是我常用的资料夹。"
Because "frequently used" exactly means "常用的", while "favorite" is more like "最喜欢的"。


First, I think that the sentence should be:

虽然是坑爹了，但是认错态度很好。
(He made some mistake, but he had good attitude for admitting his mistake.)

坑爹 means did something wrong, it's none of his father's business,or you can say 他做了不靠谱的事，但是认错态度很好。

Second, 认错态度 means has a good attitude for admitting one's mistake.

Such as:

对于历史，日本没有好的认错态度。
（For history, Japan do not has a good attitude for admitting its mistake ）


勿 as in "not" is originally a logograph of a signaling flag. It is not the same logograph as the rays depicted in 昜 (which is 日 rì over  yáng).

It is not uncommon for Chinese characters to have merged similar logographs into one single abstract unit, in the latter case 旦 over 勿.

Take for example 易 (yì), which is unrelated to 昜, although its modern components are 日 and 勿. It is derived from the logograph of a chameleon.


Does chinese songs have a natural word order?

This is really a big topic that can be expanded on multiple dimensions, but to the core of your question,

  Does Chinese songs have a natural word order?

Not always, if 'natural' means grammatical and can be used in daily spoken language or formal non-poem writing.

  If I learn Chinese from new songs, do I risk learning unnatural expressions and word orders?

Yes, as you do from lyrics in any language.

Lyrics can be seen as free-form poems, which are very lax in grammar, syntax and idiom. The author may deliberately break grammatical rules or create non-existing words and usages, for the purpose of rhetoric, rhyming, style or any other reason. In lyrics, a big proportion of the lines, if not the majority, are language fragments instead of complete sentences. This is especially true in the Chinese pop songs since the late 90's. Grammar aside, they can be too rhetorical or too literary to use in daily conversations. Keeping that in mind, lyrics are still a good way to get familiar with the language and memorize vocabularies.

I can add some examples to demonstrate the point but it's nothing special given you know the phenomenon well in English lyrics. They can be added upon request.


Not knowing the context, I would guess that ‘personal interest’ is the best way to express this.  People have professional or academic interests that are connected with work or studies.  In contrast to those, they have hobbies, and these are their personal interests.

‘Inherent interest’ is different – a student could say ‘I’m learning about plant genetics at the moment, but the topic has no inherent interest for me.’  He or she isn’t interested in plant genetics for its own sake, but just to get a good grade on the exam.  I’m not sure how to get this nuance in Chinese though.


What would you call "lizard people" in authentic Chinese?

I think that 蜥蜴人 is acceptable. I found this entry on Baidu which is usually written in Chinese for Chinese people so if that's how it appears there then at least it makes sense to a significant number of people: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%9C%A5%E8%9C%B4%E4%BA%BA/8815302

I would say that a "reptilian shape shifter" isn't the same as a lizard person because there needs to be some distinction between someone who is a 'hyrid' form between a reptile and a human versus someone who can shape shift into that form.


The 1st 至 means most. 为至愚 means be most foolish.

The 2nd 至 means arrive. 他的犯罪记录即随之而至 means then his criminal record followed (to arrive).


It is used to emphasize the verb 有.

We can omit 也 and show the same meaning.
听众至少(也)有五千人。

也 [副] 3
表示强调。如：“一点也不”、“再也不敢”、“连爸妈也乐得开怀大笑。”

也 yě 〈副〉(5)
 表示强调 [even]。如: 也须 (也应当; 也应该); 连老人也干活


Could a Chinese person understand this?

Yes, with a little guess work, we can.  However, your writing can use some  improvement.

棋聖葉富坤
這盆景代表我尊重你的慷慨，人性和古老的知識.

First, you have to put the title after the name when you address to the person directly. I mean it is okay to mention 棋聖葉富坤 as a third person, but not appropriate to call him that to his face. It is like calling 陳律師 as 律師陳

人性(human nature/humanity) is not the right praising word.  For "kindness/humanity" the correct term in Chinese is "人道"

古老的 means 'ancient'. It implies 'out dated'.  A better word is 'deep'(深遠) as in "deep knowledge"(深遠的知識)

There is no object in your sentence. When you use the verb 代表(represent), you should follow it with an object at the end. In this case, the object should be "respect" (as a noun). You should also translate "respect" as 尊敬(admire/ respect), not 尊重(respect/value)

Finally, using his full name is more formal than just using his family name. If you are close to him, you can use just his last name and call him 葉棋聖 to show your fondness to him.

葉富坤棋聖:
這盆景代表我對你的慷慨，人道和深遠知識的尊敬.

*If he  is your teacher, you should address him as 葉老師 or 葉富坤老師


Was there ever a "Xijing?" Could it have been "Xi An?"

I don't believe there is any city officially named 西京, but that name has been used to refer to at least several cities, including what is now 西安.


Is 请扫我的 an appropriate way ask the cashier to scan my phone for payment?

清扫我的
  qīng sǎo wǒ de

Has a few issues.

please is 请 qǐng and not 清 qīng
的 de is unnecessary here

请扫我 is okay but you're mostly likely leaving out essential information for the other person involved.

The person in charge of ringing you up usually wants to know if it is WeChat or Alipay that you are using. I believe they need to key something in on their registers before scanning you, I'm not totally sure but it always looks that way. The better way to aid the interaction would be for you to directly tell them method of payment you will be using. After they tell you the amount owed you can just say something like

好，支付宝哈
好，微信哈

Or you can change 哈 to whatever modal is popular in your vicinity.


失依 is actually 失去依靠, in english this means "lost dependence", or specifically those orphan who cannot find anyone to help them get on with their lives, probably because the basic welfare and rescuing  system is broken there. If there is only one character 失, then the title does not make sense semantically indeed [or one might understand it as "Daliangshan lost orphans", but this is weird]. Google translator might simply ignore the character 依 and just translate 失 into "lost". Better translations could be

  The orphans who have no one to depend in Daliangshan Mountain

here the name of the place would be incorrect, but this seems not influence the meaning.


是 does not connect two nouns in "有什么事是我该做的吗?"

In short, the second noun "事" is omitted.
The complete sentence should be like this:

有什么事是我该做的(事)吗？

For more, in Chinese, the attributive clause goes before.

The proper way to translate "Is there anything I should do?" is "有什么我该做的事吗？


乔基, I'm 95% sure it's transliteration for the name George. Also it looks a little bit odd to me since usually the transliteration would written as 乔治, at least in Mainland China. And that's a boy's name.


It is jibberish. Google was right. IMHO. I'm not advanced though.


what is the difference between 覆盆子 and 树莓?

Check wiki, basicly 覆盆子(Rubus idaeus) is one kind of 树莓(Raspberry), 树莓(Raspberry) also include 山莓 （Rubus corchorifolius）, 牛叠肚 (Rubus crataegifolius) etc.

树莓英文为“Raspberry”也可以指覆盆子（Rubus idaeus）但是它只是其中一种，广义来讲还可指悬钩子属内的部分物种。


What is the biggest font by percentage of CJK symbols already encoded?

Hanazono is a good contender:

  U+4E00  .. U+9FA5  URO 20,902 chars (fully implemented)
  U+9FA6  .. U+9FEA  URO addition 69 chars (fully implemented)
  U+3400  .. U+4DB5  Ext-A 6,582 chars (fully implemented)
  U+20000 .. U+2A6D6 Ext.B 42,711 chars (fully implemented)
  U+2A700 .. U+2B734 Ext.C 4,149 chars (fully implemented)
  U+2B740 .. U+2B81D Ext.D 222 chars (fully implemented)
  U+2B820 .. U+2CEA1 Ext.E 5,762 chars (fully implemented)
  U+2CEB0 .. U+2EBE0 Ext.F 7,473 chars (fully implemented)
  U+F900  .. U+FAD9  CJK Compatibility Ideographs 472 chars (fully implemented)
  U+2F800 .. U+2FA1D CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 542 chars (fully
                     implemented)
  IVD .. (version 2016-08-15) 28,770 chars (8,828 variants included)
  (fully implemented)

Another good option would be 天珩

  CJK基本区     [4E00-9FEA] 20971字
  CJK扩展A  [3400-4DB5] 6582字
  CJK扩展B  [20000-2A6D6] 42711字
  CJK扩展C  [2A700-2B734] 4149字
  CJK扩展D  [2B740-2B81D] 222字(原先扩展D废除一字，字库中放于2A6FF，非标准码位请勿乱用)
  CJK扩展E  [2B820-2CEA1] 5762字
  CJK扩展F  [2CEB0-2EBE0]7473字
  CJK兼容   [F900-FAFF] 512码位实际472字
  CJK兼容扩展     [2F800-2FA1F] 544码位　实际542字

Babel Stone only claims:

  53.3%

coverage with their Babel Han font.


腦力 the way to say "mental strength" in Cantonese?

It is not good to take things out of context. Try to explain what you mean by 'mental strength', then translate that. Do you mean 'great intelligence, intellectual prowess' or 'a robustness of character which helps the person deal with any problems in an unperturbed way'

The former may be 天才, the latter you could approach from 四大皆空 or 波澜不惊。

当然以后需要翻译用粤语。


“李群” “/Lǐ Qún/ I think

李 /li3/ is a common family name

/qun2/ can be 裙(skirt), 羣 or 群 (multitude;crowd; group)

I don't think any parent would name their child 李裙


What is this 运行 in ...国内的汽车行业与汽车市场运行环境发生了前所未有的改变?

国内的汽车行业与汽车市场运行环境发生了前所未有的改变

This segment I would probably translate as "The domestic automobile industry and the operating environment of the automobile market underwent unprecedented changes."

国内的 domestic
汽车行业 automobile industry
与 and
汽车市场运行环境 operating environment of the automobile market
发生了 happened/underwent
前所未有的 unprecedented
改变 changes

Hope that helps!


你可以给我说用中文 is a little weird, you can change the order to 你可以用中文给我说. And you could just say 你可以说中文 or 你可以用中文说.

你可以把中文给我说 is wrong, it means You could say Chinese to me, not You could say sth in Chinese, Chinese become the object of say here, not the method. You could say 你可以用中文把xxx事情说给我.


Similarities between connectives 就 and 而?

Actually, these two words are very different, and it's the difference - not the similarity - you need to grasp.

Both of these words indicate a rhetorical "following from," but 就 means "to follow from" in the broadest, simplest sense, rather like an English "then":

When it's used as a 'verb', it's intended to show that one thing follows as a consequence of another. An excellent example of how this usage can be precisely mapped in English is below:

"若這樣就那樣“ - "If this, then that."
"他吃了整之火雞，那他就飽了。“ - "He ate the whole turkey, so he, then, [is] full!"

As you can see, "就“ as a "verb" is easily understandable as an English "then", as well.

Now consider this:

"我渴死了“  - "I'm thirsty!"
”那，你就去喝水吧!“ - "So go drink, then...."

The many instances this phrase can be used - whether humorously, as a reprimand, as an exclamation, as an acquiescence, as mockery - all pretty much depend on "就" being the simplest, most common-sense idea anyone could have. 若一就二 - like that.

“而” is more like an "and" than a "then" - however, it is more specific and narrow because it further indicates transcendence, or moving beyond the expectations of discourse. In that sense, it's much more like "moreover" - so whether one uses it as "and," "also," "but," "however," or any other sense, it always has that meaning of saying "moreover" behind it -

"我吃飽了，而吃太飽雅。。。“ -
"I ate, moreover {but/also/however}, i ate too much."

男： “昨晚我們去看弟弟演一出布萊希特戲..."
女： "而他演的好好看啦！“

Guy:  "Last night we went to see my little brother act in one of Brecht's plays."
Gal:  "Moreover {And/But/Also} he really acted so well in it!"

In that exchange above, "而“　can be used to indicate a "but" -

Guy: "We went to see my brother act [implied: and i expected him to be awful]...."
Gal:  "But he really looked great up there!"

Or an "and" that draws attention to the importance of what comes after, in contrast to what came before:

Guy: "We saw my brother..."
Gal: "And it was amazing!"

Generally, in modern Chinese it's going to indicate a "moreover" of some sort - but depending on the rhetorical context, it can be translated into other languages in any of many ways.


There's some blurry text I cant quite read, any ideas what it is/means?

Yes, it says 準繫詞語 (准系词语), and according to Chinese Wikipedia, this means pseudo-copula.


I think you are making something wrong. In Chinese characters, there are many different kinds of strokes 横（一）、竖（丨）、撇（丿）、点（丶）、捺（㇏）、折（亅）. Directions are only one of the differences. If you only cares about its directions, you cannot write the strokes properly.

In the ancient China, people use ink brushes instead of pens or pencils, and ink brushes are more easily to express the strengths when writing (notice the difference in width of different part in a stroke).

The phenomenon you have mentioned is not the change of direction, but change of strokes instead. In 舌->舒, 横撇 turns to 横, while in 牛->物, 横 turns to 提(㇀).

Reference:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%94%E7%94%BB


Why the change in tones of the words in some phrases?

粵語的聲調變化分成連續變調與變音 (morpho-phonemic change)。主要發生在複詞或疊字詞，一般來讀低音域（主要是低降調）的第二音節會轉為高昇調。

1) 連續變調：不發生語意或文法上的改變:

家人稱呼，如：爸爸（baa4 baa1）、媽媽（maa4 maa1）、弟弟（dai4 dai2）、太太（taai3 taai2）

2) 變音：會發生語意或文法上的改變:

i) AAB型疊字詞，如：立立亂（laap6 laap2 lyun6，雜亂的)
  ii)名詞作為容器量詞使用時保持原來的聲調，如：一盒朱古力（jat1 hap3 zyu1 gu1 lik1，一盒巧克力）vs 呢個盒（ni1 go3 hap2，這個盒子）

It seems like what you mentioned is explained in the last example.

Here's the origin:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B2%A4%E8%AF%AD


But I’m confused as to why 是 is there. I thought negation of
  adjectives should’nt be accompanied by 是. Could someone explain this
  please?

First think the component as 是[other description] where [other description] is true. 是 is used to denote some description is true. Because [other description] is after 是, [other description] is true.

Second think another component as 不[other description] where [other description] is false. 不 is used to denote some description is false. Because [other description] is after 不, [other description] is false.

First point and second point exist independently. Although they exist independently, they can be used together.

Use "first point" first. think 是特別漂亮 as 是[特別漂亮](是[other description], where [other description] is 特別漂亮)(is especially pretty). 是 is used to denote [other description] is true so 特別漂亮(especially pretty) is true. You get that 是特別漂亮 means is especially pretty.

Then use "second point" , think 不是特別漂亮 as 不[是特别漂亮](不[other description], where [other description] is 是特别漂亮) (is not especially pretty). In this example 不 is used to denote [other description] is false so 是特别漂亮(is especially pretty) is false. You get 不是特別漂亮 means "is not especially pretty".


This answer provides a useful explanation and also explains what to do with your mouth when pronouncing the two sounds. As that commenter mentioned, my wife is from Jiangsu and even in English can't distinguish between the two sounds.

This youtube video has some concise examples from English.

This youtube video has some Chinese examples although the audio quality and the pronunciation aren't very clear. It's the best I could find.


约谈 is not a penalty, but it indicates or implies or leads to an subsequent penalty, like hold by authorities.

约谈 just means someone who are in a higher authority dated you to talk about some problems. In Chinese culture, it is not good, but not very serious.

It may lead to a subsequent penalty, if the higher authority think your problem is serious or you are not honest on your problem. Sometimes 约谈 is just a warning, it depends on what you talked to them. You can't tell them all and you can't tell nothing, you can't tell them the truth and you can't tell them a total lie, they will all result in a very bad situation. So how to talk in a 约谈 is an art :)

If you see an officer is 约谈 in a newspaper or official website then his political life is in danger, he may be charged by some of his misdoings soon. But if he is an entrepreneur then he is OK, he just need to adjust his entreprises to follow the government's will or cooperate with the government. Sometimes government authority 约谈 entreprises or entrepreneurs.


I will elaborate on my comment above, as you wished.

The main reason for this behavior of your IME software is that it is configured to make guesses about what you want to type. Since there are so many Chinese characters with the same pinyin initials and finals, it has to. But it also tries to save you from typing, so that you don't have to type out long sequences of pinyin to input something in Chinese. Here's some basic info:

In Chinese the Big Rule No. 1 is that:

Every character is one syllable and every syllable is one character. (It's of course not true for 'erhua' 儿, but we'll get to that.)

A syllable can be represented with pinyin, where it has an initial and a final. (There are some vowel only syllables, of course). An initial is typically a consonant at the beginning of the syllable, while a final is a vowel (single or diphthong), optionally followed by -n or -ng (not all combinations are "valid", though, check such tables.)

So to save you from typing to much you can omit the finals in one or all of the pinyin syllables you are typing out. e.g. You don't have to type: zhongguo to get 中国, it's enough to type the initials zhg and you are given a list of options where either 这个 or 中国 is the first or second. Since zhg will not get you 中国 directly, but you have to choose, which takes effort and requires extra key hits (selecting the desired characters via a numeric key, or even browsing a long list of pages of characters), so you decide to refine your tactics and enter the final part of one ot the syllables. Let's say you decide for zhguo (first initial + second full syllable) which is perfect, because this will very likely get 中国 as the no. 1 result and you only have to hit the space bar and you're done. You could also try zhongg (full first syllable + second initial), that will also work fine, but will require you to type more, since zhongg is longer than zhguo. So I hope you see, what we are doing, optimizing the input process (typing less and faster to get the same characters as by typing out every initial and final).

By now you have probably realized that when you type nar it is interpreted as 那人 (first full syllable + second initial) in the algorithm of your IME, that's why you are given this option.

The reason you think it should be giving you 那儿 is that you are not typing the correct pinyin for 那儿. This is a strange phonetic phenomenon of Northern Chinese speakers, especially Beijing and surrounding geographic areas, but it is not found or rarely found in other parts of China, especially in the South. This erhua final -r is sort of an exception in the Chinese phonology, since the only finals in Chinese are those that end in a vowel (like, -ao, -ua, -ie, etc.) and those that end in -n or -ng (-an, -un, -ang, -iang, etc.) If you check the pinyin table above, there are no syllables that end in -r (except for er, which then again is a full valid syllable). But since Northern speakers retain these final -rs it gets some sort of representation in writing throug 儿 (er), which in these cases is reduced to an r sound and also modifies the final of the preceding syllable (this mostly means that final -n and -ng are dropped, like 点儿 dian'r --> "diar" [approx.])

So by now, you should have an understanding of this erhua syllable. I am not qualified to decide whether this is a Northern slang or it is widely accepted in speech in writing in the North (since I have never lived there) but I do know that in the South this -r is very rarely heard and almost never written. A Southern speaker of Mandarin will use 这里，那里 both in speech and writing instead of 这儿 and 那儿 and will simply omit 儿 even in cases where it is a fix part of words (in the North) like 点儿, 事儿, etc. these are simply 点 and 事, since those 儿 absolutely add no meaning to them, let alone the fact that 儿 originally means 'son', so this erhua use of 儿 is really only a "phonetic stop-gap measure" and IMHO should be avoided in writing for this reason, but also because of the speed of typing. (Type only what you need to type, don't add an extra character which doesn't alter the meaning). So I would say replace 那儿 with 那里 and omit 儿 in writing everywhere you can. (OK, if you are a big fan of erhua and like this because you have lived in Beijing, then it's up to you, but otherwise I don't see any point why one would write like this)

I really don't know if this amateurish "crash course" is useful to you or not, it is based on my experience using IME software and personal opinion on 'erhua'.


Is there a tone sandhi for 2nd-tone-2nd-tone names?

There is a 2nd tone-2nd tone change in spoken Chinese, but it's different from what you described. Y.R. Chao's fantastic A Grammar of Spoken Chinese (unfortunately long out of print in English, though an abridged version is available in Chinese) describes a phenomenon where 2nd-tone words in the middle of trisyllabic compounds change to 1st tone. San Duanmu's The Phonology of Standard Chinese confirms this fact, but the author notes, "My own sense is that T2 Sandhi is not a productive or required rule. Instead, it is likely to be conditioned by the speed of speech (Shih 2005) and frequency of the expression."

Here are the details of this sound change, as presented in Duanwu's book:

  In a trisyllabic expression, if (a) the first syllable is T1 or T2, (b) the middle syllable is T2, and (c) the final syllable is not weak, then the middle T2 can change to T1 in conversational speed.

(T1 and T2 stand for 1st and 2nd tone.)

I admit that I have never consciously "used" this rule myself while speaking Chinese, but, when I'm paying close attention, I do notice it arising in my speech and in the speech of others.

(There's no evidence in either of these books for the 2nd tone to 3rd tone change that you mentioned, so I assume that it's a unique nickname rather than a general rule.)

EDIT: I did a bit more reading in Duanwu, and was surprised to find that in Taiwan Chinese he notes widespread Tone 2 to Tone 3 shifts, but only on lexical boundaries. That still doesn't explain your situation, however.


When we say 個人資產 (personal assets) we are referring to all the money and property owned by a person, in other words, 'one's worth' or 'one's wealth'
資 - 資金 (capital)
產 - 產業 (estate; property) e.g. 房地產 (real estate)
資產 - asset (all the money and property owned by someone) including 可流動資金 (liquid funds) and  不動產 (immovable property)


You can use PanLex (translate.panlex.org) for languages with little to no resources otherwise widely available.

The standard Tibetan word for owl is འུག་པ ('ug pa)

If we try translating from "鷹", we get closer matches like

ཁྲ་གླག (khra glag)
གླག (glag)

How about eagle?

བྱ་གླག (bya glag)

I think khra glag might be a close match for 查拉, but I don't know anything about Tibetan.

PanLex works through association though, so if a lexical collection doesn't contain a direct translation it will try to match from different languages with a translation available. You will very likely end up getting incorrect translations if the number of node points in series is too high (parallel node points in contrast increase the confidence in a given translation).


problem with 要 - it seems to have several meanings

I would translate 一定要 as "must":

Seeing those houses, he thought, "I must buy myself a house!"

要 indeed has several meanings. I'm not sure I'd call that a "problem", but it can be challenging for a learner. I think the most basic meanings are "want", "must", and occasionally "will". Just my 2 cents.


Who does ‘看望，怕，休养生息， 惦念‘？Is that clear from this sentence?

Yes, but the subject is ommitted here, let's restore it:

  (我)好久没有看望萧乾老人了，(我)怕干扰他翻译和写作，(我)怕影响他休养生息，但(我)心里却常惦念着他。

This is verbose indeed, so it's natural to ommit it, especially in the writing at the view of first person.

萧乾老人 is the object of 看望, means the aged named 萧乾.


Formality of "悲哀" as opposed to "悲傷" and "哀傷"

“哀伤” is usually a noun, while “悲伤” and “悲哀” are usually adjective.
“哀伤”, “悲伤” both could mean severe sadness, and are often used in the context that one has lost someone he loved or something he valued.

任何语言都无法形容他失去亲人的哀伤。
No words could describe the sorrow of losing his family.
刚刚失去亲人的他看起来十分悲伤。
Having lost his family, he looks very sad.

Though “悲哀” could mean sadness in some context (like on a funeral), it mostly means “pitiful”, and is more often used to describe things rather than emotion.

人，失去了梦想，是多么悲哀的事情。
How pitiful it is, when one loses his dreams.
你为了金钱丧失了尊严，我真为你感到悲哀！
You lost your honor for money. I feel sorry for you.


Can I use 马马虎虎 to describe food, and in what sorts of sentences can I use it?

To express a mediocre taste, I think it's better to say

這道菜［很普通/平淡無奇］。

馬虎 is generally used when we wish to comment on someone’s attitude. It may be used when you wish to criticise someone’s preparation of the dish as sloppy:

這道菜做得馬馬虎虎。
(lit.) This dish is done in a sloppy manner.

The sense 'so-so' (還過得去 in Cihai's definition), as in

這道菜，馬馬虎虎吧。
(lit.) This dish, it's so-so.

, is very colloquial, perhaps regional. It is found in Cihai but not in Taiwan dictionaries.


An example of the difficulty of translation: "Now get off my lawn". How would you translate this?

I disagree with the translation as it's too literal and totally misses the mark. Your suggestion - 我觉得自己老了 - is better but as you've said, it lacks the tone and nuance of the expression.

Variations on the phrase "get off my lawn" were once uttered by ageing homeowners at disrespectful youths but has long since morphed into a caricature of generation gaps. The original users of the phrase are unaware of generational differences and think it's the kids that are acting badly, whereas the phrase is used in the opposite sense nowadays - its users are keenly aware of generational differences, of differences in experience and perspective, and are using it to point out this fact. You might replace it with "you (younger people) don't understand", "times have changed", and in certain situations, "you should be grateful" and more. The humour in the phrase is that it simultaneously evokes an image of a cantankerous elder futilely railing against inevitable change.

I think there's no way to 100% capture such a meaning and nuance. If I had to offer a translation, I might try 孩子们一边玩去吧 (you kids run along now), but this lacks the humour in the English phrase.


I think the word you're looking for is 作为

in the capacity, character, or role of; as
作为你的朋友，我得劝劝你
As your friend, I have to give you some advice
你作为领导，就要以身作则
As a leader, you should set a good example for others -A Chinese English Dictionary

This is basically the equivalent of as in English - which I think is what you're looking for with 'being'.
being Jewish 作为一个犹太人
being American 作为一个老美
being Christian 作为一个基督徒


Is 邏輯 a phono-semantic matching of the English word logic?

No, it's a transliteration.

The Chinese term「邏輯」first appeared in a Chinese translation of John Stuart Mill's A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive. The Chinese translation title is 《穆勒名學》 by 嚴復, and the Chinese word「邏輯」is directly explained there:

  案邏輯此翻名學。其名義始於希臘。為邏各斯一根之轉。邏各斯一名兼二義。在心之意。出口之詞。皆以此名。引而申之。則為論為學。故今日泰西諸學。其西名多以羅支結響。羅支即邏輯也。

To add, the only manner of any kind of semantic matching is「輯」(compile), which is the explanation of「邏各斯」turning into「邏輯」. From the same paragraph:

  ...故邏各斯名義最為奧衍。而本學之所以稱邏輯者。以如貝根言。是學為一切法之法。一切學之學。明其體之尊。為用之廣。則變邏各斯為邏輯以名之。

but this isn't a semantic matching of the Greek root, and more a semantic matching of the rather wide application of the suffix -ology.


The use of this swung dash means the entry character or word is used in the corresponding words.

2 旧时指读书人：～子。～民。学～。

... is equivalent to:

2 In olden times, refers to educated people. 士子。士民。学士。

This is a common typographical convention, used in many dictionaries globally, including in English.
EDIT: for reduplication or for other forms of repeat of the entry, the swung dash is often repeated, viz for 面

~ ~ 相觑

... is equivalent to

面面相觑.


How to translate words from this story about a tiger?

[他] [看到] [草地上] [有一团] [圆乎乎] ，[略带红色的] [东西]
[He] [saw] [on the grass] [there was a bundle of] [roundish] ，[that slightly contain red color] [thing]

他看到草地上有一团圆乎乎，略带红色的东西

He saw there's a bundle of roundish, slightly red thing on the grass

"圆乎乎，略带红色的" is the adjectival phrase for the object "东西" --> "roundish, slightly red "thing"
[谁知] [一阵刺痛] [袭来]， [老虎的] [鼻子] [被这团东西] [卷住了]
[Who know = unexpectedly] [a sharp pain] [struck]， [the tiger's] [nose] [was by this bundle of thing] [coiled around]

谁知一阵刺痛袭来，老虎的鼻子被这团东西卷住了

Unexpectedly, a sharp pain struck, the tiger's nose was coiled around by this bundle of thing


What is this glyph image for 父 representing?

時期字體
字形
參考資料

商甲

乙405合集19941

商金

父癸方鼎集成1275

西周金

父辛簋集成3060

春秋金

魯大宰父集成3987

戰國・楚簡

126包山竹簡

西漢隸

86定縣竹簡

東漢隸

北海相景君

楷

「父」 (father) depicts a hand 「又」 holding a rod, likely as a symbol of the household disciplinarian, which is traditionally the father.
The shape 「父」 is connected to the shapes 「攴・攵」 and 「殳」, both pictures of a hand holding a hitting implement, and both meaning to hit, strike.

References:

何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》
小學堂字形演變
國學大師

郭沫若《甲骨文合集》
中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》


This term "常务" is originally from a Japanese term "常務取締役". The Chinese and Korean are still using the direct translation. For Chinese, it's "常务董事".

In an organization, the "常务" is more like "Executive". As the title suggests, they need to participate the daily operation of the organization rather than just providing dispassionate and objective criticism.

Since "常务" seems closer to an organization from "someone within an organization"'s perspective. So usually "常务" rank higher than normal vice-title.


You are right.
会 is the 4th tone in the dictionary (the most official 新华字典) and if you are in a test, you'd better follow that.
However, in daily Chinese, there are a lot of people using the 3rd tone as casual speech.
Actually, 会 is a kind of popular mistake. There are a lot of examples for that.
In the ancient book POEM （诗经；shi jing）, one sentence reads 君子好逑 jun1 zi3 hao3 qiu2. But people tend to read it as jun1 zi3 hao4 qiu2. Upper level Chinese classes in Chinese high school specifically teaches the importance of these terms. But the daily talking is in a kind of casual style.
Anyway, people are able to follow your mind despite one or few pronunciation differences.


What is the right Chinese translation of the technical term 'Data Feed'?

馈送

MDBG

  to feed (a signal to a device, paper to a printer etc)

It also happens to be an alternative name for web feed.


Which memorization techniques are useful for remembering characters?

I used memrise.com

I found it helpful to hear and see characters / pinyin at the same time. Memrise uses a technique to build upon what you've learned in earlier courses to build upon your foundation. Also, learning radicals (character building blocks) is helpful to figure out meaning of more advanced characters.


The words are different in "central word(中心语)".
According to structure of phrase, they're both "偏正短语". It means, it has a "central word"(usually a noun)("正" of "偏正") and a word to describe it(定语)("偏" of "偏正"). The central word is the most important part of a phrase. It is the essence of the thing the word means.
In "河神", the central word is "神". "河" is a word to describe "神".
Where's the god? (神 is the central word)
In the river. (河 is the 定语 to describe the living place of 神)

In "神河", "河" is the central word, and "神" is the 定语.
神河属于河神.
shorten it: 河属于神.


Why Chinese subtitles in American shows are relatively simple?

I think this is the characteristic of the "subtitle community".

Historically, before American (or western, but mostly American) shows are widely legally imported to China, the Chinese audience pretty much relied on piracy as their only source.

The subtitles of those, are of course contributed by the community, which, by its origin, is of "various" quality. This is still the case now because some publishers would purchase subtitles from the community and pair it with legally imported shows.

So, to directly answer your question: because most of the time they are not created by professionals.


公告

  announcement, public announcement, proclamation, public notice

通知

  notice, inform, notify

A 公告 is a 通知 to the public.

A 通知 can be private or public.

公告 =  通知 + publicity


What does this name mean in pinyin/english?

It's a person's name, written in Traditional Chinese:

陳苡瑄

Chén Yǐxuān


A "puppet show" can be called 木偶戏, 木偶剧, 傀儡戲、人偶戲、or 人偶劇 .

You can refer specifically to a puppeteer as 操纵木偶者 or simply (遮蔽)操纵者. But to refer to puppeteers in general, I feel that 操纵木偶的艺人(们) would be more appropriate.

So for your phrase, one way of saying it would be 我们去看了一个木偶戏/剧。操纵木偶的艺人们是从台湾来的。


It means things get easier with your help and they appreciate, or it's nice to have you there because you could help.  You don't really have to response to it. I would just response with a smile in this situation.


What is the difference between 裡, 裏 and 里?

Short Answer:

For the meaning "inside", 裏 or 裡 is the traditional form (as @Ringil has pointed out, 裏 is the proper form in the standard of Mainland/Hong Kong and 裡 is treated as a variant; but in Taiwan the situation is reversed), and 里 is the simplified form.

For the meaning "mile, kilometer, li (Chinese unit of distance)", 里 is the only correct form in both traditional and simplified Chinese. So be careful: 公里, 里程 cannot be written as 公裏(裡), 裏(裡)程 – That's wrong, wrong, wrong.

A few more comments
Duan Yucai's Commentary on Shuowen Jiezi wrote

(裏) 衣內也。引伸爲凡在內之偁。从衣。里聲。良止切。
The layer inside clothes. And the meaning is extended to generally "inside". The radical is 衣. Sounds 里. Consonant like 良 and vowel like 止.

So basically speaking, 裏 and 裡 both comprise 衣(礻) and 里. There's no difference between these two characters – if any, in my opinion, 裏 is a more "proper" form to exhibit the ideogram of the ancient scripts.

居也。从田从土。凡里之屬皆从里。良止切。Dwell. With radicals 田 and 土. In the category of 里 all characters have 里 as the radical. Consonant like 良 and vowel like 止.

In modern Chinese, 里 is generally related to the distance unit li, kilometer or mile (sometimes it's written as 英哩 or just 哩). However in ancient Chinese, it has various meanings such as dwell, alley, lane, community, village, li (Chinese unit of distance), and hometown. Just note that in these cases, it should never be written as 裏 or 裡.


A few more I can think of: 勿（勿忘我），莫（爱莫能助），毋（毋庸置疑），别 （别烦我）


How to parse 单反穷三代, 摄影毁一生 in a humorous photo?

The origin of the expression "oo穷三代xx毁一生" is not tractable. The earliest well-known record is a public education slogan "赌博穷三代，吸毒毁一生". These slogans are mostly painted in gigantic red characters in public locations like on walls and bridges. It warns people to stay away from dangerous activates such as gambling and taking drugs. The common thing of these activates is it is highly addictive and costs a lot.
At days when games especially online games are considered as bad as "spiritual drugs", a university painted a slogan "DOTA 毁一生，网游穷三代" (MOBA games and online games). It is now considered funny because it is definitely an overstatement.
Nowadays, these slogans are less usual. But the expression appears on the internet to joke on some hobbies that cost too much time/money. Such as "耳机穷三代，功放毁一生" (headphones and headphone amplifiers), and this "单反穷三代，镜头毁一生"（DSLRs and lens）. I was told good lenses are even more expensive than DSLRs. The point of this joke is that the equipment for these hobbies are as costly as drugs: it might cost you everything. As is shown in this meme, at the end of your life you might end up with nothing but cameras, and then you can sell them by pounds.
The translation is difficult because of this background. You can take a well-known slogan against drugs and change it. Such as:

"Say yes to life. Say no to drugs!"

I am not sure how well-known the slogan is. I just found it on google. Then you can change it to:

Say yes to life. Say no to DSLR!

Reference:  萌娘百科 . More examples can be found there. This web site is more like Urban Dictionary for Chinese, very amusing to read.


Why is 做 in the sentence 不知道大家觉得做女人最大的悲哀是什么？

做 here is a verb, according to Oxford, meaning:

  5 充当 be

they give three examples:

  做个好孩子
  be a good child

  做老实人
  be an honest person

  做秘书
  be a secretary

Pleco's PLC dictionary also has this verbal meaning:

  4 be; become

  做演员
  zuò yǎnyuán
  become an actor or actress; go on the stage

  后来她做保育员了。
  Hòulái tā zuò bǎoyùyuán le.
  Later she became a child-care worker.

  今天开会由你做主席。
  Jīntiān kāihuì yóu nǐ zuò zhǔxí.
  You’ll be the chairman at today’s meeting.

做女人 means, as the subtitles correctly translated above, to be a woman.


Other than ChinaSMACK, do any other glossaries of acronyms used in Chinese, like PK, ZF, GCD, TMD, JC, etc exist?

As someone involved in chinaSMACK, I wouldn't say the glossary is "outdated" since the terms on there were notable enough in our translations of trending Chinese internet content that we decided they should be added.

It is, however, far from comprehensive, precisely because we only tend to add to it as a consequence of the terms we see often while translating. We don't go out of our way to add to it, since it is meant to serve as a reference to supplement our translated content. For example, if a Chinese netizen comment includes the acronym LZ, we can just leave it as "LZ" in our translation and instead link that "LZ" to its entry in the glossary. We feel this allows to keep some of the form and flavor of the original in our translations, rather than just translating it directly to "original poster" (which is what LZ simply means).

I suppose we don't delete stuff that is no longer as commonly seen ("My dad is Li Gang") and thus they might seem "outdated" but because we have content that links to those entries, we leave them in and figure they are still notable for having been popular at a point in time.

If you want another resource that is also in English, check out the Grass Mud Horse Lexicon by China Digital Times:

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Grass-Mud_Horse_Lexicon
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Introduction_to_the_Grass-Mud_Horse_Lexicon

Note: CDT is blocked by the GFW in mainland China.

CDT built this quite awhile after chinaSMACK had its Glossary. It used to use Wiki software (doesn't seem to anymore) and, to be honest, I remember it feeling more comprehensive than it looks now that I'm revisiting it. I can't post more than two links so look for the search by alphabetical order page as well.

If you look through their categorical organization and list of terms, you'll notice a strong emphasis on cataloging terms involving stuff that appears more in circles discussing politics, censorship, and dissidence. This is because of CDT's editorial focus, whereas chinaSMACK tends to focus more on mainstream Chinese internet culture. For example, there doesn't seem to be an entry for 熊孩子 (naughty/unruly kids) though it is currently a common internet slang term both in terms of humor as well as referencing certain social issues involving children.

Hope this helps!

P.S. Sorry if it doesn't help if you're looking specifically for acronyms. Acronyms are often just of the Chinese word in pinyin, and weren't created or used specifically to be acronyms or shorthand but to avoid censorship of certain characters/terms. For example, the use of GCD (共产党) is different in nature than YOLO (You Only Live Once). The latter could be said to be a way of shortening a catchphrase, but the former was designed to avoid filters or searches for the actual Chinese characters.


Need help finding the character encoding for my name

頔 U+9814

 U+2CC56

必需装含有“扩充-E”的字型才能显示。（请自己去找字型，noto 可能可以）GB18030 应该没有。


You can use 葛朗台, which is actually the Chinese translation of the main character's name in Eugénie Grandet, a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac.

A less witty one would be 小气鬼，which is equivalent to the English penny-pincher or cheapskate.


It means the coach thinks the players are not energetic enough as if they were hungry.
This sentence can only be used in some situations:

a coach blames the players being not energetic enough
an officer blames the soldiers being not powerful enough
fighter ridicule the opponent being so weak

or similar. Always considered as a blaming or ridiculing.
If you ask a friend about eating, it would be “吃饭了吗？” instead of “没吃饭吗？”.


I know from experience that linguists and grammarians absolutely refuse to define the terms they use adequately in order to build their own cloud castles.

Given the definition:

  morpheme:  a speech element having a meaning or grammatical function
  that cannot be subdivided into further such elements

or:

  morpheme: "smallest meaningful unit in a language," 1896, from German morpheme,
  coined 1895 by Polish-born linguist Jan Baudouin de Courtenay
  (1845-1929), from Greek morphe "form, shape"

isn't a bound morpheme a contradiction in terms, since it cannot stand alone? Better to use the word 'affix', because that is what is meant.

If you then say: "But a meaningless morpheme may still have a grammatical function." then any letter is a morpheme, since, if I remove, say, 'o' from 'morpheme' I get 'mrpheme'. Therefore, 'o' has the grammatical function of making 'mrpheme' an interpretable  collection of letters. Thus the smallest morpheme in English is a letter and smaller than a letter you cannot write.

In another thread someone complained about the arrogant insistence that Western grammatical concepts must also be applicable to Chinese. I wholeheartedly agree. Most, if not all, of the precepts of Western Grammar have no scientific definition, but people talk about them as if they were scientific facts which must also be true in Chinese. Can you define 'word' or 'subject' or 'sentence' rigorously? You know what you mean until I ask you to make your definition unequivocal.

Consider the Chinese word: 轿车。

轿jiao4 has 2 or 3 syllables, depending on your point of view.

轿 is made up of: 车 + 乔 （ 夭 + 儿） in Simplified Chinese or 车 + 夭 + 高 in Traditional Chinese.

We could argue 高 is not a morpheme, but I would accept it as such, as a picture of a tall building.

Tang Ho mentioned 们， but this is 人 + 门, so it is not elemental.

I would therefore agree with Tang Ho that Chinese has no bound trisyllabic morphemes and go further and say that neither does English. English has letters and Chinese has Primitives.


What is the meaning and proper usage of 凭什么？

"凭什么” is something similar to "who do you think you are to say i can't do it?" or "you're not qualified to judge me"


I believe "社会人" means gangsters or scoundrels. We have 黑社会(black society) for crime organizations, so basically 社会人 means someone in such a organization. I think at first it is only in the northeastern China that the phrase 社会人is used. But now everyone seems to know what it means. Yet the meaning of 社会人 has also changed in the sense that it is usually used in an ironic sense. Jobless youngsters who behave like gangsters (though in many cases they are not criminals and they do not belong to any organization) are often described as 社会人 as well. As for the popularity of the word, I guess it is mainly because there is some kind of funny irony in the word. There is something ridiculously fuuny when a jobless young man living in the lower class aspires to be successful not by working hard but by becoming a 社会人. Yet I guess this phrase will soon be forgotten just like any memes on the Internet.(except the +1s one which will never be forgotten as long as the Chinese language is still alive. Long live the Toad!)


How to start the sentence with "or" in Chinese?

the translation is fine, but if you speak it, that's pretty weird.
colloquially, we use 還是說 or 或是說 or 或者說
So, the sentences are better to be spoken like this:

M:你從哪來的?
F:芝加哥
M:我的意思是你是從中國的哪個城市來的?
M:或者說,你是在美國土生土長的?

for the most part, we add few redundancies to sentence to make it fluent.


What Chinese characters are rare in modern but common in classical Chinese?

There are people studying this.

Classical Chinese Character Frequency List

Modern Chinese Character Frequency List

Now do your own comparisons because I'm lazy.

Update -- I feel less lazy today so I'll give it a shot.

For obvious purposes, let't take the first 1000 characters in the classical list and see where they go in the trend. I can't do scripts so I'll do excel. Anyway, here are words that are falling out of favor:

Ancient date and time system: 甲乙丙丁, 子丑寅卯, etc
Ancient bureaucracy: 丞, 诏, 诛, 朕, 卿, 吏, 郡, etc.
Some daily words are also fading away: 吾, 汝, 焉, 哉, 勿, 曰, etc.
Moral concepts: 孝, 贤, 贞, etc.
Hard to categorize: 骸, 淮, 朔, etc. Either the concepts are no longer popular, or there are substitutes that is becoming popular....


Grammatically ,尽管 and 虽然 two words are no essential difference.

Both 尽管 and 虽然 are right to place in XX.

  我真的很喜欢运动。 XX我每天都有很多的课，但四点以后，我還是會在体育馆跑步和游泳。 我的朋友玛丽亚甚至喜欢跟大师练习太极拳。

  天气越热，我感觉更好。 但是，XX这几天天气很热，我还是觉得自己得了流感，而且头部越来越痛。

The emotion of 尽管 is stronger than 虽然.So it is often to see us use 虽然.


盖 literally means "to cover" something (e.g., put a roof over). This character is often heard used in an oral context to describe building something, and is used in a more colloquial manner. Note that you typically use this character to onky refer to the construction of buildings or houses.

建 (to build/establish/found) and in particular 修建 (to build/construct/erect), is used in more formal contexts (e.g., writing a letter/article). The meaning is synonymous to the above. You can use 建 to refer to building more than just buildings or houses, like tunnels or bridges. After all it makes not much sense to "cover" a tunnel or bridge like you would a house, right?

While 修 by itself can mean build, it can also mean to repair/mend/decorate, depending on the context it is used in.

兴建 refers to the construction or founding of something.

兴修 refers to the act of starting a construction

For 建筑\建设\修建\建造 the specific nuances can be tricky to explain, but they can all mean to build or construct and are synonymous to one another and can be used interchangeably as nouns (except for 建造) or verbs depending on the context.

Some examples: You can use 建筑 as a noun to refer to an a building/establishment, the architecture/structure of the installation. 建设 can be used to refer to the new establishment of something, like a layout, setting, or even a new business or facility.

There's really not much to say about 修建 and 建造. It might be worth noting that 建设 is more generalised compared 建造 to the others and has a larger range of use (I.e., abstract nouns/concepts, like 建设性).