Does Cantonese or Mandarin contain the voiced or voiceless velar fricative?

Voiceless: Pinyin h is standardly the voiceless velar fricative [x], although it is often written [χ] for some reason — Chinese IPA developed its own transcriptional traditions, for instance the use of [ɒ] where [ɑ] might be more usual, in the mid-twentieth century. However, there's no systematic contrast between [x] and [χ] in standard Mandarin, and systematic contrast is the important thing. Besides that, for many speakers, the aspiration of stops is also expressed with the velar fricative rather than pure aspiration: tāng: [tˣɐŋ], kuí: [kˣu̯ɘi], etc.

Voiced: In standard Cantonese, no. And in the major representatives of Yuè ("Cantonese") dialects, as described in Zhān Bóhuì 詹伯慧's Guǎngdōng Yuè fāngyán gàiyào 广东粤方言概要, voiced velar fricative [ɣ] is not attested.

There are some cases of [ɣ] in regional languages. Conservative Wú dialects, for instance, voice /x/ to [x͡ɣɦ] in low-register tones. Hokkien final /-k/ may take on voicing and approximant quality before the noun-suffix á: /sái ha̍k-á/ 'outhouse': [sai₅₅ ha₃₅ ɣa₅₂], and so on, although it is also often heard as a fully voiced stop [sai₅₅ ha₃₅ ga₅₂]. [ɣ] is reconstructed for the medieval initial xiámǔ 匣母 in most environments by most hands, too. But no dialect groups have anything like the degree of standardization we encounter in Mandarin.


Think of 多 after a measure word as "adding some more to the previous number, without making it to the next number".
5个多小时 = 5 hours plus some, but not quite 6 hours = between 5 and 6 hours
Note that 多 follows MW 个. It means between 五個小時 and 六個小時
150多个小时 = 150 hours plus some, but not quite 160 hours = between 150 and 160 hours
Here note that 多 follows MW 十 in 一百五十. It means between 一百五十個小時 and 一百六十個小時.
四块多美金 = between 4 and 5 USD
四十多块美金 = between 40 and 50 USD


You may see the definitions of these two characters on zdic.net (maybe you already know), an online dictionary which is convenient for looking up the characters.

As a native speaker, I think (subjectively) the main difference of these two characters is that 收 emphasizes the action of receiving, gathering or reducing, and 受 emphasizes the finish of receiving an action, which is something sort of similar to the perfect tense.

I guess that your doubt comes from distinguishing 接收 from 接受? In some sentenses these two words are almost the same, for example:

  他接受了这份礼物。
  他接收了这份礼物。

But I still feel that there is a tiny differece as I said above, 接收 puts more significance on the action of receiving.

Another differece may be that, 收 is usually used with "concrete" things like gift, data, signal, while 受 is usually used with abstract things like suggestion, training, offer, and only some "concrete" things.

Hope it helps.

Reference

收 on zdic.net
www.zdic.net/z/1a/js/6536.htm

受 on zdic.net
www.zdic.net/z/16/js/53D7.htm


(今天早上) (打网球)[了]

"打网球" is the fact; "今天早上" is the relative phrase that indicate what time it happened. Remove the relative phrase "今天早上" and write "我们打网球了", the sentence is still a complete sentence. (we still know you've played tennis, just don't know when)

[是] ([今天早上打网球) [的]

the entire phrase "今天早上打网球" is the fact
If you remove the relative phrase "今天早上" and write "我们是打网球的", the meaning would change completely. "我们是打网球的" means "we are people who play tennis"
The 'verb phrase' in  [是]+ (verb phrase )+[的] structure is a single item that cannot be broke apart
~

The (verb phrase)+ [了] structure can be in any tense
[是]+ (verb phrase )+[的] structure can only be in past tense

Example:

他(明天)要去美國(了)

"去美國" is the fact; 明天 is the relative phrase that indicate what time it will happen. Remove the relative phrase "明天" and write "他要去美國了", the sentence is still a complete sentence.  (we still know you will go to American, just don't know when)

他(是)明天要去美國(的)

It is grammatically incorrect, because 要去美國 is not a face yet, not until tomorrow.

他(原定)(是) 明天要去美國(的)

It is grammatically correct, because 原定(originally planed) is a fact, and it happened in the past.


CC-CEDICT

姊〔姉〕
PY zǐ
ZY ㄗˇ
OLD VARIANT OF 姊 zǐ (or jiě) {zi2}
1 older sister
2 Taiwan pr. [jiě]

KEY

(variant of zǐ 姊) elder sister


How common are three-character or five-character words/terms in Standard Mandarin?

I don't have any specific frequency data for you, but three and five syllable words certainly do exist.  Three syllable words are certainly less common than two syllable words but they do compose a decent amount of anyone's basic vocabulary (consider 毕业生), and five syllable words are fairly rare and restricted to certain proper nouns and the occasional fixed expression.

Of course, as words get longer, it is less and less clear what counts as a single word.  ABC has 应届毕业生 as one word, but is it really one word or is it a stock expression composed of two words?


What's the main difference between 为 and 是?

为 has a lot meanings, and so does 是. A common meaning between 为 and 是 is "to be" or other variations of "to be", like "being". 为 is used more for its other meanings than "to be", while 是 is used more for "to be" than its other meanings. When meaning "to be", in some cases, 为 and 是 are interchangeable. For example:

  我们今年的工作目标 为 ...
  我们今年的工作目标 是 ...

But there are some cases where 是 cannot be replaced by 为, for example:

  Yes: 我 是 一名学生.
  No: 我 为 一名学生(X).

为 has another meaning very close to "to be", which is "regard ... as ... " in the pattern of 以...为..., for example

  以 厂 为 家, 以 人 为 本, 民 以 食 为 天, 以 救国救民 为 己任, etc.

In this case, 为 cannot be replaced with 是. By the way, 为 and 是 can even be used together, like 自以为是. But here 为 means "believe", and 是 means "right", or "correct". 自以为是 means "consider oneself always right". 自以为是 is a derogatory term, used to show dislike, disagreement or disapproval.

Another example:

  是为序。

Here 是 means "this", 为 means "is", 序 is "preface", so the whole sentence means "this is the preface". It is sometimes used to end a preface.

One more example:

  何以为是，何以为非？无以为是，无以为非。

Here both 是 mean "true" or "truth", both 非 mean "false" or "falsehood". All the 4 为 mean "to be".

According to above-mentioned samples, 为 means that it is NOT xxx but very like xxx. In Chinese words, (可能它一定不是xx，但也可能它现在不是xx，将来可能是, 但)把它当作是xx。

Example: 以厂为家，厂 is not home，but someone treats it as home。

  今年的目标为xx，i.e. 我们把xx当作今年的目标。

为 implies that we assign a role to a thing actively/explicitly, but 是 implies that a thing does natively have the role.


Correct terms for a roadside gutter and gutter on a roof

I don't know this word, so I consult it on the online dictionary and I found 排水沟 for the gutter at the roadsides and 檐沟 or 天沟 for the gutter at the roof.

Actually,it's the first time for me to see 檐沟 or  天沟. After understanding what they mean,I think I would use 排水沟 for both cases.排水沟 means "a ditch to drain out the water".


规规矩矩: 国语 vs. 普通话 (Taiwanese Mandarin vs. Mainland Mandarin)

規矩 doesn't mean exactly same as 規規矩矩. I don't quite agree how MSM uses 規規矩矩 to explain 規矩. 規規矩矩 and 規矩 share the same core meaning, but translated differently in different part of speech. In a nutshell, 規矩 =/= 規規矩矩, 有規矩 = 規規矩矩.

規矩(n) - regulation, plan, rules, scheme, discipline,etc.
That's why when you want to say something is well disciplined you say 有規矩, it literally means "it has discipline".  You need a adverb or adjective if you want to translate "well disciplined" literately.
規規矩矩的(Adj) - regulated, planned, ruled, well disciplined, ordered, legal, etc.
規規矩矩地(Adv) - regularly, orderly, legally, etc.
As you can see 規規矩矩 has more meanings simply because it functions differently in a sentence. Since "well disciplined ~= do sth in order = orderly", 規規矩矩 seems to have more meaning than simply 規矩. Keep in mind that "orderly" has a different meaning from "order", though in English they share they same root, in Chinese "order' would have translated differently to for example 次序.

I know my answer is quite messy but hope it helped.


How to say "often" in an imperative sentence? (eg. "come back often baby")

It's right,but we often say"常常回来哦/经常回来哦/多回来哦宝贝"in oral Chinese.


I think you mean:

代理应该可以把少量商品当成无品牌商品申报，出口到英国。

The agent can declear a small part of the goods as no-brand merchandise and export them to England.


Is 家婆 the term for a woman's "mother in law" in Mandarin too?

I guess we should first remember that "Mandarin" is a related group with many dialects.

使用者分佈圖；深綠: 官話, 淺綠: 晉語

「家婆」is topolectical (方言詞). In certain Mandarin dialects,「家婆」is a valid term for the husband's mother.

黃飛卿　《五伯娘和新兒媳》：＂五伯娘，你剛做家婆就這麼嘴碎。＂

Have a look at dialectical synonyms of husband's mother for the Mandarin dialects which use「家婆」for this meaning. Note: no Mandarin dialect appears to use「奶奶」for this meaning.

In Standard Chinese (普通話, 國語, 華語), which (with minor variations) is the national written and spoken standards of PRC, ROC (Taiwan), and Singapore, the word referring to husband's mother is unambiguously「婆婆」.「家婆」is non-standard.


上纲上线 means raise common things (actions, opinions) at the level of big issues about nation, society, morals or politics.

A: 好啊, 你喜欢外国货是吗? 你怎么不买国货? 叛徒!

(A: Wow. You like foreign products? Why didn't you buy products made in our country? TRAITOR!)

B: 别上纲上线, 完全没道理.

(B:stop, that's nonsense.)

A: 我觉得不一定非要让座, 我也很累啊.

B: 你真没素质.

A: 你总是喜欢上纲上线, 让不让座跟素质有什么关系?


Yes, you are quite right that they both mean when someone was still alive. However, there is a clear distinction on the usage of the two words. 生前 is almost always used when someone is discussing about the life of a deceased. Example:

  He did a lot of charity work when he was alive. 他生前做了很多善事。

死前, or more properly 临死之前, is almost always used when someone is discussing about a person prior to his death. Example:

  What did he said to you before he die? 他临死之前跟你说了什么？


Is there a common idiom equivalent to "tomato tomahto" in mandarin?

How about something like:

哎呀，渣渣辉，张家辉有什么区别嘛？

Not sure if everyone will get it but it's quite funny.


得(去声) refers to 'must,have to '
回答得大声  回答 is V.  and 大声 is Adj. So you can make other sentences using V+de (得)+Adj become Adj+V ,but,a point need to notice, for another example,教室得打扫 and 打扫教室 ,though it is can be exchange ,but their means are little difference, the first one has another meaning that the classroom is dirty and need to clean.

In addition, if the sentence is pronoun+得+ V ,in this condition,you can't exchange like before,for example: 我得去游泳 ,we can't say 游泳我.


Not a language scholar so may be I am wrong on this, but the "伤害" is probably more often used in terms of hurting someone emotional than physically.

Example：in 那英's famous song "一笑而过“ there is one line reads "你伤害了我，还一笑而过". As the song is probably not about domestic violence, yes, it is perfectly proper to use "伤害" in this way you described.

It is actually uncommon to see people use 伤害 as equivalent to physically "hurt" someone. It is too formal, a little awkward, and sounds pretty harsh.

伤害 can be used as a noun as the above answer has mentioned the phrase "生理伤害". In this usage it sounds very formal. So most likely it is used in a legal or medical document.

The word 伤 alone can be used as a consequence of some action. For example, 他把我打伤了 (He hit me and I am hurt/injured as a result).

The sentence you gave is good and can definitely be understand. But it may help to change the wording a little bit. For example, although can be inferred, the sentence do not have a subject. You can say 最后为了伤害他，他/她/name 还把这个秘密告诉了其他家人。

其他家人 sounds a little strange and unspecific. If it is one or two people, you can list them instead (to make the story more convincing and interesting): 他还把这个秘密告诉了 爸/妈/爸妈/奶奶. If it is a lot of people in the family, you can say 他还把这个秘密告诉了 全家所有人. Technically, 告诉了全家 is good enough and it may not be literally every member of the family. But usually you would add 所有人 to emphasize (and the listener/reader would know that 所有人 is most likely not literal here). There is no need to use 其他 as it is implied. (As you can see that us Chinese are not very rigorous when it comes to language. You are generally considered a better writer if you could use less words/characters to convey the same meaning.)

Source: native speaker.


Need a Chinese/English technology translation website 请求汉英电脑技术词典的网站

Me as a native Chinese speaker often runs into the similar trouble. The problem is that computer technology came to us as English with the original language describing it. All of those translation come after it, those good ones even later, and also they would mainly be used for education purpose in text book. And as a programmer myself I always find difficult to find the correct Chinese word for those new terms came into the industry.

There were also quite some time when I tried to use the Chinese term while talking with other Chinese that studied abroad and they just looked at me with a confused expression on their face. So I don't bother doing so anymore.

Also during those time that I worked for foreign invested software companies in China, even most of the co-workers are Chinese we would still mix English in our conversation, classic examples are 'bugs', I run into no Chinese calling it 缺陷 but only myself, and even that was trying to tell an American what's the Chinese word for 'bug' and it felt so wrong to me at that time when I speak it. So I would say don't bother to find such a thing. :)

EDIT:

As OP insist I went on searching such a thing. There was actually a term on this '计算机专业英语', and I recall I indeed need to pass the test for this one back in the university study. So I went on googling '计算机专业英语词典', like I said it's mainly for educational purpose and for text book, those things are so out of date like at least four years ago, also I suspect it would consider as out of date even back at that time.

Again it looks all of those tools/resources are trying to targeting students, some of them even are just a simple copy from text book.

There is this one looks promising main has the potential as a candidate, but as it's a mobile app I didn't try it myself: 外教社计算机英语词典


和谐(adj): harmonious; balanced (between elements) | e.g. 氣氛和谐 (harmonious atmosphere); 和谐景象 (harmonious scene)
和谐(n): harmony | e.g. 達致和谐 (achieve harmony)
和谐(adv): harmoniously/ in harmony | e.g. 和谐共處 (harmoniously stay/live together; harmoniously co-exist)

~

和睦(adj): friendly; harmonious (between people) | e.g. 關係和睦 (friendly relationship)
和睦(adv): harmoniously | e.g. 和睦共處 (harmoniously stay/live together); 待人和睦 (treat people with friendliness)

~

融洽 (adj) harmonious (between people or element)| e.g. 關係融洽 (friendly relationship); 氣氛融洽 (harmonious atmosphere)
融洽 (adv): on friendly terms; on good relationship with | e.g. 相處融洽 (harmoniously interact/ live together)

Main difference is when they are in adjective role, 和谐 apply to elements, 和睦 apply to people and 融洽 apply to either people or elements
The difference between 和睦 and 融洽 is in the construction of the term. [和(peaceful/ in harmony) + 睦(befriend) = 和睦 (friendly/ harmonious) ]; [融(melt) + 洽 (arrange) = 融洽 (harmonious)


Deeper meaning of 爲 (beyond one sentence definitions)

There are many meanings for 為.
「為」有非常多的意思。

The question is to ask the deeper meaning of 為 in 無為.
此問是問「無為」之「為」有何深義。

So，we should understand the meaning of 無為 first.
故需先了解「無為」之義。

The 無為 is mostly used in Taoism or Buddhism.
「無為」多為道家或佛家所用。

The following content is based on the Buddhist point of view.
以下所述乃基於佛教觀點。

The 無為 in the Dharma means 無因緣的造作.
佛法中的「無為」是指「無因緣的造作」。

It means not doing something for any reason, condition or circumstance.
意謂：非因任何理由、條件、環境而做某事。

Therefore, 為 refers to 造作, in particular 有因緣的造作.
是故「為」指「造作」，尤其是「有因緣的造作」。

That is to do something for some cause, condition or dependence.
也就是基於某些理由、條件、環境才做某事。

This 為 shows the phenomenon of creating, staying, changing and extinguishing.
這種「為」有生、住、異、滅的現象。

This means that it occurs when the karma is sufficient, then it maintains for a period of time, it starts to change when the karma begins to diminish, and it perishes when the karma is completely gone.
亦即：因緣具足時，開始產生，而後維持一段時間；當因緣開始減弱時，會產生變化；而當因緣完全消失時，就會滅亡。

In short, this 為 is impermanent.
簡言之，此「為」係無常的。

For example, the Great Wall.
譬若萬里長城。

For the sake of defense (因), a lot of people, materials and tools were gathered (緣), and then it's built. (生)
當初，為了防守（因），聚集眾多人民、材料、工具（緣）而建造了它。（生）

This is the 為.
這就是「為」。

It still exists. (住)
目前尙存。（住）

However, due to various reasons, it has been damaged. (異)
但因種種原因，已有損壞。（異）

Excuse me: Will it still exist 100 million years later? A trillion years later? (滅)
敢問：億年後仍在否？兆年呢？（滅）


Is there just one word, 哈密瓜, for both honeydew melons and cantaloupes?

Honeydew is also known as:

  蜜露甜瓜

which can be shortened to:

  蜜瓜

Wikipedia also proposes the following terms:

罗马甜瓜 (Cantaloupe)
白兰瓜 (Honeydew)

哈密瓜 all the meanwhile is also interchangeable with Hami Melon.

蜜瓜 can also be a term for muskmelons in general.

Chinese is very malleable so YMMV & you might just be better off with something like 绿哈密瓜.


Which characters are used to write 'a cha', a slang word for South Asians?

嚤囉差 http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/41792/

嚤囉差 /mo1 lo1 caa1/(jyuping): indian person (It is a Cantonese only term)

嚤囉差 or simply 阿差 was a nickname for South Asians people who lived in Hong Kong during the British Hong kong (colonial) period.

摩羅 came from the word 婆羅多, Hong Kong transliterated it to 嚤囉
差人 means cop
阿 [n] prefix to a name or term of address.

To make a nickname for 嚤囉差, people shorten it to just '差' and add '阿' before it to indicate 差 is a name (Indian).

Reference:

  摩羅差 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%91%A9%E7%BE%85%E5%B7%AE

  摩羅差是為印度半島籍貫香港差人的俗稱。大英帝國時期，英國從印度招募不少當地人投入軍隊服務，後來這些印度軍人被調派至香港，轉而投入警隊服務，是故印度及巴基斯坦籍貫差役被俗稱為摩羅差。此詞毫無種族歧視或者任何眨意成份，惟衙差一詞出於印度口音時，廣東人容易誤聽為「阿叉」，因而後來才被外籍人士和年輕一輩誤以為是蔑称。1舊時，廣東人的家中長輩或以「夜叉來了」（或是黑白無常）的來臨，來嚇令不服從的孩子。為免誤會延續，阿叉一詞在香港社會已經逐漸少用。

  摩羅一詞源自古代對中東來華的伊斯蘭商旅 Morramen 或中世紀從北非攻佔歐洲西南部的北非人 Mouro 的譯音[2][3][4]。古時，印度人自稱婆羅多，故此廣東人譯音此稱謂為摩羅，其後香港人普遍以此稱呼在香港的印度人；差則為差人之意思。

阿差 http://baike.baidu.com/view/14993813.htm


Actually, 多(more) functions the same in both Cantonese and Mandarin

Example:

"Eat fish more often "= "多吃鱼" (Mandarin) = "多食鱼" (Cantonese)

~

The Cantonese term "多啲"(more) is equal to "多些"(more) in Mandarin. It can be placed before or after the verb.

For example:

(Mandarin)

多些吃鱼 = eat fish more often
吃多些鱼 = eat more fish

(Cantonese)

多啲食鱼 = eat fish more often
食多啲鱼 = eat more fish

(The real difference between Cantonese and Mandarin here are '食' vs.'吃' ; '多啲' vs. '多些')


愛人跟人走
my love has gone with someone else

離開已經三年後
It's already 3 years since you left me;
你煞有去無回頭
you gone away without turning back
真是乎人想抹到
[This] really is unexpected.
心肝親像磅心的菜頭
My heart is like a broken radish

想抹到想抹到
I couldn't imagine, I couldn't imagine
你會去跟人走
You would go away with someone else.
無彩我無彩我
You didn't care for me, you didn't care for me,
感情用這厚
Who had so deep feelings [for you].
外表漂泊無捨效
Looking handsome, natural and unrestrained was of no effect.
誤人青春上可惱
wasting people's youth is the most annoying.

啊無情的人
Ah… cruel person,
恨你是恨到老
hate you forever(until I'm old, or until death).
永遠來甲你
With you I will never…
田無溝水無流
across the line to each other (have a relationship)

word meanings and notes:

無彩:

無彩: means "in vain", "uselessly",
the translation above is **meaning translation**,
because he don't care about me, so whatever I do, is useless
the **direct translation** is:
無彩我無彩我
waste my, waste my
感情用這厚
so deep feelings [for you].

煞:

煞 also means "surprisingly"
你煞有去無回頭
you gone away surprisingly without turning back

  田無溝水無流：

    direct translation ( or literal translation )is:

      If the field has no ditch, the water won't flow.

    metaphor explaining:

      "the field" is like " I ", "the water" is like " you (or he, the one who left her)".
      ditch, in OALD8, the english meaning is:
      a long channel dug at the side of a field or road, to hold or take away water
      so, "the ditch" is like "the way to contact me"
      "flow" is like "talk to me or touch me"
      so, the whole sentence is:
      if I don't allow you to contact me, you won't have any chance to talk to me or touch me.

useful online dictionary:

http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/index.html

http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/result_detail.jsp?n_no=9721&curpage=1&sample=%E7%85%9E&radiobutton=1&querytarget=1&limit=20&pagenum=1&rowcount=13


Some general principles:

In early Chinese writing, there weren't enough characters to represent the range of words or morphemes used across the language;
Many characters became used for multiple purposes, and some of these purposes are not etymologically related to the original (phonetic loans);
Since multi-use (including phonetic loan) characters can become very confusing to read, components are piled on to existing characters to distinguish between different senses;
This is why Chinese writing has a large inventory of characters, some of them with many components.

The natural development of Chinese writing is therefore from:

A limited number of characters with simple shapes / few components, to
A large number of characters with complex shapes / many components.

In addition, since Chinese writing has a very well-recorded history, many words come from old literature but survive in modern expressions, and their spelling frequently become fossilised, regardless of whether the characters making up those words have changed (became more complex through the addition of more components).

With the above principles, we should be able to see that this question is in fact the same question as Why 纹 is the wrong character to write for tattoo?.

西周金夨令方尊集成6016

「舍」 is comprised of phonetic 「余」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*la/) and a distinguishing mark 「口」, indicating the original meaning to give/donate something, extended to to give something up / abandon something.

  《易・比》：“舍逆取順，失前禽也。”

The original meaning, to give/donate something, is now written as 「予」 (/*laʔ/), which is a phonetic loan character;
The extended meaning, to give something up / abandon something, is now written as 「捨」 (/*l̥Aʔ/), formed by piling on semantic 「手・扌」.

「舍」 itself does not mean either of those things in modern Traditional Chinese, being (almost) exclusively used as a phonetic loan character for the meaning dwelling (/*[l̥]Ak-s/). However, modern spelling standards are pretty arbitrary, and you're unlikely to find that most people stick to them rigidly.


「怕」 (Mandarin Pinyin: pà, Zhengzhang OC: /*pʰraːɡs/, to be afraid) is comprised of two components:

「心・忄」 (heart > emotions), a meaning hint; and
「白」 (Mandarin Pinyin: bái, Zhengzhang OC: /*braːɡ/), a sound hint.

Note that words have both meaning and sound, and you can't write every word with just a bunch of symbols representing meaning - sounds play a major role in determining what a word is.
Here, 「白」 is only a sound hint, not a meaning hint. To emphasise that 「白」 is only a sound hint, people have written the word represented by 「怕」 differently throughout the ages with different sound hints. For example,

Sound hint 「霸」 (Mandarin Pinyin: bà, Zhengzhang OC: /*praːɡs/)

Sound hint 「巴」 (Mandarin Pinyin: bā, Zhengzhang OC: /*praː/)


When do we use 没(mei3) and 不(bu4) before verbs in sentences?

没 and 不 are fundamentally different.

没 means "didn't"

不 means "won't" or "don't"

Actually your two sentences are perfectly normal Chinese sentences:

我没喝 means I didn't drink (it) -or- I haven't drank

我不喝 means I don't want to drink -or- I won't drink

A Chinese English Dictionary

没

  ADVERB INFORMAL
  have not or did not

  他来没来？——还没来呢。

  Tā lái méi lái？ —— hái méi lái ne.

  Has he come yet?--Not yet.

不

  1 (used before verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs; never before 有) not; won't; not want to

  我不去。

  Wǒ bù qù.

  I'm not going. or I won't go.

  他昨天不来,可是今天来了。

  Tā zuótiān bù lái, kěshì jīntiān lái le.

  He didn't want to come yesterday,but he came today.

So the deal is: do you want to say haven't (yet), didn't (yet) = 没 -or- won't, don't (want to) = 不. Pretty much any verb can follow 没 and 不 everything just depends on what you want to express.

有 might be the only exception I can think of at the moment but that's been covered here:
Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?


Help translating artist names and signatures

The first one is 師任堂 which corresponds to the art name (號) of a female Korean artist in the 16th century. By identifying the corner, we can see that is a copy of this painting.


How do the terms in 千里之行，始于足下 modify its meaning?

Actually your translation is a pretty verbatim one. I will give the word for word translations for each phrase and let you feel what parts they play.

千=thousand

里=miles

之=of

行=journey

始=start, begin

于=at, from

足=feet

下=under

Something to comment on: in chinese, “A之B” is somewhat equivalent to "B of A", meaning B is part of A, or B is described by A.


Is there any specifically masculine character for 他

I would suggest that there is no sense of gender in the Chinese languages since the very beginning; nor even today. We all know that the Chinese languages are very isolated and very analytic. The idea of gender, number, and case, in Romance languages may not be brought to the learning and using of the Chinese languages. Though I'm not perfectly confident, in the context of learning and using the Chinese languages, it might be a good practice to abandon the subconscious paradigm of fusing additional information into a word. If necessary, specify specifically.

As another user already mentioned, the invention of "她" was only a very recent activity (around 1900) by intelligentsia from English or Deutsch, and observable objections against it have arose recently (5-10 years) when the proposal of the abolition of gendered pronouns in the anglophone communities became popular.


What is the difference between using the 能 and 得 potential forms?

我不能睁开我的眼睛

This sentence means, "I cannot open my eyes," with the implication that the speaker is not allowed to or otherwise constrained.

  我睁不开我的眼睛

This sentence means, "I am physically incapable of opening my eyes." (睁不开 sounds like, "[my eyes] are unopenable").


我 = I

愛你 = love you

有幾分? (in what degree) = how deep? --> how much?

我愛你有幾分? = how deep I love you

分(degree) here is a classifier for depth
Example:
沒半分愛意 (don't have a tiny bit of love) 半分 --> very little/ very lightly
有幾分愛意 (have some degree of love) 幾分 --> mildly
十分愛你 (love you very much); 十分 --> fully


How do we extend 第二天 ("next day") to other days ("previous day", "same day", etc.)?

You have to first understand what "第" means. It's used to point out the position of something from a sequence.
One, two, three, four, five, six: 一, 二, 三, 四, 五
First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth: 第一, 第二, 第三, 第四, 第五
So 第二天 isn't completely equal to "next day", but "the second day".
当天: same day (this is correct)
For "previous day", you're basically trying to refer to the "-1" day from today, so "第" cannot be used here...like there's no "negative first" in English.
Only phrase I can think of now is "前一天".
前: before, 一天: one day
so 前一天 = one day before = previous day
Example:
Today is his first day at work, but he started learning some related knowledge the previous day.
今天是他第一天上班, 但是他前一天就開始學習一些相關的知識。
Do keep in mind that 前天 means "the day before yesterday", so don't confuse it with 前一天
Edit:
To reply Wayne's comment.. 隔夜 is most often used as an adjective and pretty much equivalent to "overnight" in English.
You can also use "前一天的菜" to refer to 隔夜菜.

I usually like to prepare lunch the previous day, then bring to work
the next day. 我平常喜歡前一天把午餐準備好，然後隔天帶去公司吃。

My girlfriend wants to break up with my because I gave her my leftover
food from previous day(yesterday). She thinks overnight food is
disgusting. 我女朋友說要和我分手，因為我把我前一天(昨天)剩的飯給她吃。她覺得隔夜菜很噁心。

我平常喜歡隔夜把午餐做好 -> (X)  This doesn't sound natural


How to look up an entry in 《說文通訓定聲》?

前言 Introduction

一般中文字典的內容是按部首字形分類排列。
《說文通訓定聲》則是依音韻分類排列。
從內容順序來看，作者 朱駿聲 是假設讀者已熟悉字的音韻。
所以，他先列出自創的「古韻十八部」做為「總目」，然後才是各部的內容。
The contents of common Chinese dictionaries are classified and arranged according to the shapes of radicals.
《說文通訓定聲》 is arranged in accordance with phonology.
Judging from the order of contents, the author, 朱駿聲, assumed that the readers are familiar with the sound of characters.
So, he listed first the self-created "18 classes of classical rhyme" as the "總目錄, Main Contents", and then the contents of each class.

在每一部的前面是「字目」，隨後才是各字的說明。
「字目」是依「聲符」分類。
「聲符」即是形聲字的聲音部分。
Each class begins with the "字目錄, Contents of Characters", followed by the interpretation of each character.
字目 is classified according to the "sound symbol".
聲符 is the sound part of a picto-phonetic character.

註：形聲字的「形符」和「聲符」有很多種英文翻譯。此處暫用直譯的。
Note: There are many English translations of 「形符」 and 「聲符」. The literal translations are used here.

所以，正規的搜尋方式是：
先在「總目」找到「待尋字」是屬於哪一部；
而後到該部的「字目」依「聲符」去找「待尋字」的位置；
最後才向後找「待尋字」的說明。
Therefore, a regular search is as follows.
First, determine which class the target character belongs to in the Main Contents.
Secondly, according to the sound symbol of the target, find its position in the Contents of Characters of that class.
Finally, search the interpretation of the target in the subsequent contents.

此「聲符」是古韻，一般人不清楚全部的發音，所以很難使用這套工具書。
所幸，作者在後面列有索引之類的「韻目」，我們可以利用它來搜尋。
這「韻目」是依部首排列，是我們熟悉的方式，所以應該大家都會用。
The "sound symbols" are in ancient rhyme, which most people don't know all of them, so it is difficult to use this set of reference works.
Fortunately, the author included an index-like "Contents of Rhyme" in the rear volume, and we can use it to search.
This "Contents of Rhyme" is arranged according to radicals, i.e. we are familiar with, so everybody should be able to use it.

以下就用「䟠」做例子詳述查閱的步驟。
The following steps show you how to look up an entry in 《說文通訓定聲》by using 䟠 as an example.

步驟 Steps

⒈ 開啟《說文通訓定聲》網頁。
Open 《說文通訓定聲》 page.

⒉ 點選「說文通訓定聲十九」。
Click 說文通訓定聲十九.

⒊ 「韻目」在第2圖到第6圖。
The images from 2 to 6 show the "音韻目錄 Contents of Rhyme".

「䟠」是七畫的「足」部，在第4圖。
䟠 belongs to 7-stroke 足 radical in Image 4.

⒋ 從第7圖開始，逐一列出各字。
Starting from Image 7, the words are listed one by one.

「足」部從第151圖開始。
「䟠」在第152圖。
The 足 radical starts from Image 151.
䟠 is in Image 152.

如果是書本會比較方便，因為在奇數頁的邊緣印有部首。
掃描的圖片就只能在上方搜尋欄或瀏覽器位址列輸入圖數跳著找。
It is more convenient if using a paper version, because the edges of the odd pages show the radicals.
For the scanned images, we can only jump to a specific image by changing the number in the searching field at the top or in the address bar of the browser.

⒌ 找到「待尋字」後，往上看圓角矩形，其內容說明它是屬於「古韻十八部」中的哪一韻。
After having found the target word, look the rounded rectangle above, which shows the class of the target.

像「䟠」是屬於「泰韻」。
For example, 䟠 belongs to 泰 [ ㄊㄞˋ | tài ] class.

⒍ 回到第1步驟的頁面，點選「說文通訓定聲二」。
Go back to the page in the first step, and click 說文通訓定聲二.

⒎ 「總目」在第2圖和第3圖。
The Main Contents are in Image 2 and Image 3.

「泰部」在第3圖。
The 泰 class is in Image 3.

「分部月」是指音韻為「月」分部。
「轉乾屯」是指轉音為「乾部」和「屯部」。
分部月 means that the sound belongs to 月 [ ㄩㄝˋ | yuè ] subclass.
轉乾屯 means that the sound is changed to 乾 [ ㄑㄧㄢˊ | qián ] class and 屯 [ ㄓㄨㄣ | zhūn ] class.

⒏ 從第4圖開始依「十八部」列出各部。
Starting from Image 4, it shows each class in the sequence of "18 classes".

「豐部弟一」從第2册第4圖開始。
豐部第一 starts from Image 4 of the 2nd volume.
「升部弟二」從第3册第2圖開始。
「臨部弟三」從第3册第60圖開始。
「謙部弟四」從第4册第2圖開始。
「頤部弟五」從第5册第2圖開始。
「孚部弟六」從第6册第2圖開始。
「小部弟七」從第7册第2圖開始。
「需部弟八」從第8册第2圖開始。
「豫部弟九」從第9册第2圖開始。
「隨部弟十」從第10册第2圖開始。
「解部弟十一」從第11册第2圖開始。
「履部弟十二」從第12册第2圖開始。
「泰部弟十三」從第13册第2圖開始。
「乾部弟十四」從第14册第2圖開始。
「屯部弟十五」從第15册第2圖開始。
「坤部弟十六」從第16册第2圖開始。
「鼎部弟十七」從第17册第2圖開始。
「壯部弟十八」從第18册第2圖開始。

「䟠」所屬的「泰部弟十三」在第13册。
也就是第1步驟頁面中的「說文通訓定聲十三」。
泰部第十三 that 䟠 belongs to is in the volume 13.
That is 說文通訓定聲十三 in the front page shown in the first step.

⒐ 每一部先列出「字目」，然後才一一列出各字內容。
「字目」是依「聲符」分類，此等用來分類的「聲符」會被框起來。
此「聲符」是古韻，未必和現今發音相同。
一般人不知道古韻，就只能猜其相似的音。
It shows the "Contents of Characters" first in each class, and then the interpretation of each word.
字目 is classified according to the "sound symbol", and those used to classify the words are framed.
The sound symbols are in ancient rhyme, which may not be the same as today's pronunciation.
Most people nowadays do not know all the ancient rhyme, so we can only guess the similar sound.

以「䟠」為例，左邊的「⻊」是形聲字的「形符」，右邊的「戉」是「聲符」，便以此分類「䟠」字。
「戉」是從「（居月切）」衍生而來，故用「」表示。
Using 䟠 as an example, the left component ⻊ is the "shape symbol" of the pictophonetic character; the right part 戉 is the "sound symbol", which is then used to classify 䟠.
戉 [ ㄩㄝˋ | yuè ] is derived from  [ ㄐㄩㄝˊ | jué ], so  is the indicator.

⒑ 要快速找到一個字的說明，要先知道該字在「字目」中的位置。
然後在上方搜尋欄輸入圖數跳著找。
這個時候瀏覽器要開兩個分頁，一個是「字目」，另一個是正在搜尋的頁面。
用搜尋頁上方的大字去比對「字目」，才能判斷出要向前或向後搜尋。
In order to find the interpretation of a word quickly, we should know its position in the "Contents of Characters" first.
And then we can jump to a particular image by inputing the image number in the searching field.
The browser should open two tabs now, one for the "Contents of Characters" and the other for searching.
We have to use the large characters at the top of the searching page to compare the words in the "Contents of Characters" so that we can determine to search forward or backward.

譬如，「泰部字目」從第2圖到第12圖。
「䟠」在第11圖前面的位置。
此册共191圖。
我們就可以推測出「䟠」的圖數大概在第150到180圖之間。
For example, the "Contents of Characters" of 泰 class span from the second to the twelfth images.
䟠 is in the front part of Image 11.
This volume has 191 images.
We can roughly infer that 䟠 is somewhere between the 150th and the 180th iamges.

我們先跳到第170圖，可以看到上方的一個大字是「茷」。
We jump to the 170th image first, and can see one of the big characters at the top is 茷.

「茷」在「字目」中的第12圖，「䟠」在第11圖前面的位置。
茷 is shown in Image 12 in the "Contents of Characters", and 䟠 in the front part of Image 11.

這樣我們就知道要向前找。
So, we know that we should look up backward.
依此類推，便可找到「䟠」在第156圖。
And so on, we can find 䟠 in the 156th image.

步驟摘要 Summary of Steps

用「說文通訓定聲十九」中的「韻目」查出「待尋字」所屬的韻部。
Find out which class the target word belongs to by using the "Contents of Rhyme" in Volume 19.
用「說文通訓定聲二」的「總目」查出該韻部所在的册數。
Find out the volume number of that class by using the "Main Contents" in Volume 2.
用該册開頭的「字目」查出「待尋字」的位置。
Find out the position of the word in question by using the "Contents of Characters" in the beginning part of that volume.
在後續內容中查閱該字的解釋。
Look up its interpretation in the subsequent contents.

「䟠」的意思 The meaning of 䟠

《說文通訓定聲》對「䟠」的解釋原文如下：
The original interpretation of 䟠 in 《說文通訓定聲》 is as follows.

  輕足也从足戉聲廣雅釋詁一䟠疾也按飛揚發越之意與越畧同

輕足也。
「䟠」是「輕足」的意思。
䟠 means 輕快的 (brisk; nimble) 腳 (feet).

所以，「輕足」的意思是「行走迅捷」。
Therefore, 輕足 means "fast walking".

从足戉聲。
从足：部首是「足」。「⻊」是形聲字的「形」。
从足: The radical is 足. ⻊ is the shape part of a pictophonetic character.
戉聲：「戉」的聲韻。「戉」是形聲字的「聲」。
戉聲: The pronunciation is 戉 [ ㄩㄝˋ | yuè ]. 戉 is the sound part.

《廣雅˙釋詁一》 䟠，疾也。
《廣雅》書中的〈釋詁〉篇第一部分提到：「䟠」是「疾」的意思。
The first part of 釋詁 chapter of the book 廣雅 mentioned that 䟠 means 疾.

「疾」的意思是「快速、急速」。
疾 means "fast or rapid".

按：飛揚發越之意，與越畧同。
作者說明：「䟠」是「飛揚發越」的意思，和「越」大略相同。
Author's Note: 䟠 means 飛揚發越, and is roughly the same as 越.

「飛揚」的意思是「飛騰」。
飛揚 means "flying".
「發越」的意思是「疾速」。
發越 means "fast".

所以，「䟠」是「快速行走」或「健步如飛」的意思。
Therefore, 䟠 means "fast walking" or "walking as if flying".


First, your are correct that 汉子 is more commonly being refer to as a man / manhood. And 条 is quantifier for refering things that are long, straight. So go figure =P.

However, 条 is not derogatory. We also use 条 for a life e.g. 一条人命, or a river 一条河, or loyalty 一条心. So it very much depends on the context.


In general "让" means "Let"

"奥运会可以让世界认识中。" = Let...known
妈妈让弟弟做作业。 = Let
上课的时候，老师不让 我们 说。= Don't let.

The "Let" word in English, we may use it to ask for permission. However in Chinese, not only it can be used to ask for permission, it can also be used to describe a consequence of an act (Made me to).
Eg. 他让我用他的车 = He let me to use his car.
Eg. 他让我觉得尴尬 = He made me feel awkward.


Well looks like you should invest in new (Pleco) dictionaries:

  外胫夹 -Zhongshan Medical

&

  [用作单数] 【病理学】 (田径运动员等患的) 外胫炎,外胫酸痛 [1940∼1945] -21 Century

Baidu also returns the following:

  胫前疼痛/外胫夹(Shin splints)

I would go with 外胫夹


What is the function of 先 in 我諗聽日先買飛嘅話一定買唔到 (cantonese)

先 here is short for 先至

先(first)

至(then)

先至 (first then)= till... then

我諗等到聽日(先)買飛嘅話一定買唔到
I think if we wait (till) tomorrow (then) to buy ticket we will certainly fail to buy any
The word "等到" (wait) is implied

Example of difference between "先至/ 先" (till...then) and "先" (first/ for now)
做好功課(先至/先)准睇電視 - (Till) finish all the homework (then) allowed to watch TV.
你地坐吓等陣(先) - you guys sit for a while and wait (first/ for now)

When "...先" is followed by a verb phrase, it is a short form of 先至, meaning "till ... then"

When 先 is at the end of a words clause, it means "first" or "for now"


It looks like you need to delve deeper into the Chinese writing system. It is nothing mystical or complex ordinary Western people cannot learn, it just takes time and some dedication.

I suppose you have a textbook or similar material that is divided into lessons with each lesson introducing a handful of characters and a number of expressions, if not you should get one. I know it is very boring in the beginning to read such sterile sentences like "This is my father./Here is a book.", etc., but that's the way it is, you need to lay the basics of vocabulary, characters and expressions and some grammar.

Chinese is unlike any Indo-European language (including those you listed) it has it's own peculiarities, but words are still words in any language, they need to be memorized and practiced. That requires time and patience.

While pinyin is a necessary help to all those who learn Chinese (and to Chinese themselves), it is not something you should rely to much on. Generally, you should avoid using textbooks that give pinyin transcription side-by-side to the Chinese script, because the more familiar Latin script will distract you rather than help you. Pinyin should be given in the vocabulary section of every lesson, but not in the lessons' reader part. I know people who would refuse reading a Chinese script only text, because after a few lessons they were relying so much on reading the pinyin transcripts, that they were simply unable to read the proper characters.

You need to build up some vocabulary, learn the words and their characters, their pronunciation and practice them. Reading something in Chinese simply requires you to be able to recognize the words, not only the characters, as you wrote in your question, you need to be able to "parse" a text to tell where each word begins and ends. Sometimes – with new expressions and terms popping up in the media everyday – it's not easy, even for advanced speakers.

It's a good thing to write characters by hand from the very beginning to memorize them. However, it's not necessary, if you find it a burden. If you think this requires too much effort, you can stick with reading only in the beginning and start writing what you have learnt later when you are more familiar with basic concepts.

Reading your last paragraph, I see that you are highly motivated to learn Chinese. But you should not start with reading to difficult texts, it's a waste of time looking up the vocab character by character and idling half an hour over a single sentence. I have done that, I admit, I thought I would be able to read Chinese comics after I figured out how to look up a character in a dictionary. I wasted hours and hours for this nonsense. Stick with your text book texts, do the exercises, memorize the vocab and you will make progress.


It's just very common for a word to have multiple meanings. An online dictionary gives the five interpretations:

思考, 动脑筋 to think, to consider

  让我想一想 = Let me think.

回忆 to remember

  我想不起来他昨天说了什么 = I can't remember what he said yesterday.

怀念, 惦记 to miss

  我想你 = I miss you.

希望, 打算 to hope/want to do something

  我想去旅游 = I want to travel.

预料, 推测 to anticipate, to predict

  我想这件事没表面上看起来那么简单 = I guess this is not as simple as it looks.


You can guess the pronunciation according to its usage:

"盛("chéng")" in 盛饭 is used as a verb, which means to fill or to contain.

"盛("shèng")" in 盛开 is used as a non-verb(adj./adv./noun), which means prosperous(ly), flourishing(ly)... (盛宴,盛装,旺盛,兴盛...)

by the way, 盛"shèng" is also used as a surname, such as this man


不当的推论

超现实幽默

  条目“不当的推论”尚未创建，可参考英语维基百科的对应页面：Non sequitur (literary device)。


What does this phrase in Yue Fei Temple mean? (Characters identified: 忠孝千秋)

It is 忠孝千秋 (Thanks to the link Johan88 provided)
 = 忠
 = 孝
 = 千
 =  秋 (The image from the site used 秌, which is an older version of 秋. The people who made the plaque used the 秋 modern Chinese use )


How do I say "from now on, every time I hear 拔, I will think of you going to the dentist"?

"从此我一听到“拔”那个字就记起你"
"from now on" is translated as "從今以後", not just "从此" (since this moment/ since that moment)
"记起" means "remember", you should use "会想起" (will think of) instead

~

在牙医时
"牙医" means "dentist", which is a person, you should either write "在牙医診所时" (when you were at the dentist's office) or "去看牙医时" (when you went to see the dentist)

~

拔出牙齿 should be reduced to "拔牙"
"拔牙" is a common verb

~

從今以後，我一听到“拔”这个字，就会想起你在牙医診所拔牙
From now on, whenever I hear the word "pull", I will think of when you were at the dentist's office getting your teeth pulled

It is a good enough sentence, however "你在牙医診所拔牙" is an "image/ scene" in your mind, which is the object for the verb "想起". Therefore, a better sentence should be:

從今以後，我一听到“拔”这个字，就会想起你在牙医診所拔牙这件事

Use 这件事 (this event) instead of 那件事 (that event) because it is an immediate respond to the event you just heard of.
Use “拔”这个字 (the word "pull") instead of “拔”那个字 (that word "pull")

從今以後我一听到“拔”这个字就会想起你在牙医診所拔牙的情況/情景

Replace 情況 (situation) or 情景(scene) with 慘況 (horrible scene) would sound much more dramatic


How to figure out the rhythm of new materials (poems, rhymes, etc)?

You do not have to and cannot figure out the rhyme of the majority of modern Chinese poetry.
Because the rhyme is not necessary for it.

新诗 can be classified into the following styles according to the Wikipedia.

  3.1 分行诗 (lined format)
      3.1.1 自由诗 (free verse) the most popular style
      3.1.2 格律诗 (verse) out-of-date
  3.2 分段诗 (散文诗 prose poetry or prose verse) out-of-date
  3.3 图象诗 (calligram) out-of-date

The Wikipedia also mentions that 自由诗的特点是没有固定的结构、节奏，也不一定要押韵。
Free verse is characterized by the absence of a fixed structure and rhythm, and does not have to rhyme.

So, don't bother yourself about it.


How does 衣衫 compare to 衣服 in terms of meaning and flavour?

In olden time, there might be difference between the two terms

「衣 」[ (2) [upper garment;jacket]
衣,所以蔽体者也。上曰衣,下曰裳。]

and

「衫」, [(1) 古代指无袖头的开衩上衣 [sleeveless jacket with vent in the sides of a jacket]. ]

In modern Chinese language, both 衣 and 衫 simply refers to 'clothes one wears on his upper body'

Together, 「衣衫 」is a compound word for the general term 'upper garment' much like 「刀劍 」(knife and sword) is a general term for 'weapons'

「服」as a noun, refers 'every article of clothing one wear on his person'. For example:  「軍服」(military uniform), 「制服」(uniform).

「服」is also a verb for 'to wear'

Together,「衣服」is a general term for 'clothes/clothing' just like 「刀斧」(knife and axe) is a general term for 'weapons'

  「衣服」 is much more common than 「衣衫」 in day-to-day words.

A related term is 「衣裳」(upper garment + lower garment), which is also a general term for 'clothing'


恶(e3) should be the one.
When feeling disgusted, in Chinese people would say a long 恶(e3), like eee3...

or 恶心（e3 xin1）as an adjective to mean disgusted, which literally means disgusted heart, or in English to have a disgusted heart (feeling) toward someone or something.


党和国家领导人 is both. It can refer to a few people or just someone. For example, 党和国家领导人某某(和某某)出席了某个活动。
最高领导人 can be translated as supreme leader. There must be only one at one time. And 主要领导人之一 is just some one important.  For example, only 5 最高领导人 in PRC history. But anyone in the Political Bureau is one of 主要领导人。

The address(称呼) of important people of CCP is significant and subtle. Similar address may have big difference. Here is a great Chinese post analysing how to call CCP leaders after their passing, the best I've ever read.


When is a 方言 a language and not a dialect

I'm going to assume that the question you want to ask are how mutually intelligible various 方言 actually are. This 2009 study by Chaoju Tang and Vincent J. Van Heuven has some data on it.

Here's the excerpted table on how mutually intelligible various 方言 are:

Word Classification:

and

Word Understanding:

You can read more on the methodology in the paper itself.

For comparison's sake this 1989 John B. Jensen study found that Spanish and Portuguese are

  50-60% mutually intelligible at least as measured on...passive
  listening to electronically re-produced voices


Your sentences are correct. 谁都 has something to do with people, and therefore everyone. 哪儿都 has something to do with locations, and therefore everywhere. 什么都 has something to do with things, and therefore everything.

Although you have your sentences correct, I have to say be careful with the affirmative and the negative versions. If you use 谁都+没, then it should beno one. If you use 哪儿都+没, then it should be nowhere. If you use 什么都+没, then it should be nothing or anything.


What title did the merchants who dealt with Canton's 13 Factories have?

What title were the merchants who had authorization to deal with the europeans in the 13 factories called

they're called 行商 (hong/factory merchant)

indeed, there're several chinese books about the thirteen hongs (十三行); for an english one, have a look of "the 'fan kwae' at canton before treaty days, 1825-1844"

if you can read literary chinese, try the book 夷氛聞記, by 梁廷枏:

https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/夷氛聞記/卷01

  what's a better name than "the period leading up to the Opium Wars" for this period in Chinese history?

in westerner's term, i think "before treaty days" is quite good.

in chinese's term, i would suggest:

嘉道年間 (1796-1850)

道光年間 (1821-1850)


Effect of 在 and 着 on verbs. What are the best single word translations?

The nuance between "在穿" and "穿着" is that the former emphasizes on my action and the latter on my status with clothing.

So "在穿" is associated with time.
- "可以走了吗？"            Are we ready to go now?
- "等一下，我还在穿衣服"     One sec, I am still putting clothing on.

While "穿着" indicates the status quo of with clothing on
- 不懂为啥会着凉，我明明穿着很厚的衣服   Not quite sure why I got cold, I got lots of clothing on.

Also, baware of "穿着" indicates dress code as well, and 着 is pronounced as zhuo / 2nd tone rather than zhe.


Standard Cantonese's 陽平 tone is definitely pronounced with a falling contour (21). Modern Cantonese Phonology by Robert S. Bauer, p. 144 appears to acknowledge, but did not find, a low-level contour for this tone though:

  For the Mid-Low Falling tone both Yuan (1983:181) and Zhan (1985:168) also recognized a variant low level contour of ˩11 in addition to the mid-low to low falling contour of ˨˩21. However, analysis of the Mid-Low Falling tone contours produced by speakers in this study has not found such a low level variant contour.

"Perceptual learning of Cantonese lexical tones by tone and non-tone language speakers" by Francis et al. (2008) also measured the contours of the fundamental frequencies of each tone, and a definite falling contour was seen. This figure from Wikipedia reproduces the contours found in that paper (refer to the line for tone 4, 時):

I would try to avoid using the romanization scheme advocated in your link. It appears to reorganize the tones to make them appear more systematic than how they are actually pronounced. While that may help with learning the tones, it may introduce more confusion later, especially since it goes against the numbering scheme that all of the other Cantonese romanization schemes use.


Translation of a slang for 'mutual flattering'

Depending on the context and situation you can consider some of these:
自嗨
Douban

因为难以忍受这种circle-jerk话题的自嗨臭屁。

I originally wrote this as a joke but I think it's quite apt:
互相捧场，共同成长(cháng)
I won't explain it here though.


How to say, "Could you please move over?" (Cantonese and Mandarin)

There are a lot of ways to ask people to move aside to give room

Mandarin:

能請你坐開些嗎? (would you please sit aside a little?)

能請你騰一騰空位嗎? (would you please make some room for me?)

Cantonese:

唔該坐過啲 (please site aside a bit)

唔該坐開小小 (please sit aside a little)

In Cantonese, to ask people to move aside, we say 唔該借一借, or 唔該借歪, you can use these phrase in your example too


How is this sentence translated into Chinese "The man, who kissed the woman, who betrayed him with the man, who loved the one, whom nobody knew"?

The words 'who' in this sentence is called 'relative pronoun', the clause introduced by which is called 'relative clause'.

A sentence with more than one relative clause is said to contain 'nested relative clauses'. The nesting structure in your sentence is:

  The man, who kissed (the woman, who betrayed him with (the man, who loved (the one, whom nobody knew))).

There is no relative pronoun or relative clauses in mandarin Chinese. There are three common methods to translate such sentences:

Turn each relative clause into a sentence. There will be no more nesting. The sentences will be longer but very clear.
Turn each relative clause into an adjective phrase. There will still be a nesting structure. The sentence is shorter but the nested adjective phrases may be ambiguous.
A combination of #1 and #2 - use #2 for clear and short fragments for brevity and #1 for the rest of the sentence for clarity.

Translation using method 1:

  男人亲吻了女人，女人却为了另外的男人背叛了他。那另外的男人也爱上了别的人，是谁却无人知晓。

Translation using method 2:

  男人亲吻了那为了一个爱上了无人知道是谁的人的男人而背叛了他的女人。

(This sentence is practically unreadable but looks fun.)

Translation using method 3 (combination of method 1 & 2):

  男人亲吻了那为了别的男人而背叛了他的女人。那个另外的男人却也爱上了别的人，是谁却无人知晓。


看在
ABC

2 be for the sake of ...
看在你爸的面子上, 我原谅你。
Kànzài nǐ bà de miànzi shàng, wǒ yuánliàng nǐ.
For the sake of your father's face, I forgive you.

份上
Guifan

2 名 情分; 情面
看在老人的份上, 我不再跟他计较。
(口语中也说份儿上。)

Which basically translates to feelings, sensibilities, affections.
for the sake of, for sb.'s/sth.'s sake
ABC ENGLISH

wèile ( ... de lìyì) 为了(…的利益) ; kànzài ... de fèn shang 看在…的份上
We must do this for the sake of the children.
为了孩子,我们必须做这件事。
Wèile háizi, wǒmen bìxū zuò zhè jiàn shì.

So now we have our 看在…的份上 construct meaning roughly the equivalent of "for the sake of, for sb.'s/sth.'s sake" where 看在 means "for the sake" and "份上" means feelings or sensibilities.
You can stick anything in the middle for the "who's" sake/sensibilities/feelings/etc.
Some examples: (from Oxford)

for God's sake
看在上帝的分上

for Pete's sake!
看在老天的份上！

for heaven's sake
看在上帝的份上


What's wrong with this sentence 我终于快到中国了

我快到中国了。 I will arrive in China soon (O)
我终于到中国了。 I finally arrived in China (O)
我终于快到中国了。I finally arrive in China soon (?)
'finally' refers to the present or past events (you cannot say 'I finally arrive tomorrow'), while 'soon' referring to the upcoming events (future). These two words are conflicting with each other
Some said 我终于快到中国了 is understandable. In that case, 终于 would act as an exclamation (not adverb) --  "我终于快到中国了" could be interpreted as "Finally, I will arrive in China soon!"

does it need to be corrected?

To avoid confusion, you should change it to '我快到中国了' or '我终于到中国了'
If you really want to use 终于 as an exclamation, you should say  '我终于， 快到中国了'
There's another reason I don't like this sentence. It is like counting chickens before they hatch. Imagine, someone saying "Finally, I am going to be promoted soon" before he actually got the promotion, and ended up didn't get it?


Did 司马懿 put on women's clothes to meet 诸葛亮's envoy?

I don't think 司马懿 really put on the clothes.

From the original:

(emphasis mine)

  且说孔明自引一军屯于五丈原，累令人搦战，魏兵只不出。孔明乃取巾帼并妇人缟素之服，盛于大盒之内，修书一封，遣人送至魏寨。诸将不敢隐蔽，引来使入见司马懿。懿对众启盒视之，内有巾帼妇人之衣，并书一封。懿拆视其书，略曰：“仲达既为大将，统领中原之众，不思披坚执锐，以决雌雄，乃甘窟守土巢，谨避刀箭，与妇人又何异哉！今遣人送巾帼素衣至，如不出战，可再拜而受之。倘耻心未泯，犹有男子胸襟，早与批回，依期赴敌。”司马懿看毕，心中大怒，乃佯笑曰：“孔明视我为妇人耶！”即受之，令重待来使。

受之 only means 司马懿 received / took in / accepted the clothes.

Here's an English version:

(emphasis mine)

  Then he confirmed the order to remain strictly on the defensive till
  some change of circumstances on the part of the enemy should promise
  advantage.

  After his army had settled into camp on the Wuzhang Hills, Zhuge Liang
  continued his attempts to provoke a battle. Day after day, parties
  went to challenge the army of Wei, but they resisted all provocation.

  One day Zhuge Liang put a dress made of deer hide in a box, which he
  sent, with a letter, to his rival. The insult could not be concealed,
  so the generals led the bearer of the box to their chief. Sima Yi
  opened the box and saw the deer hide dress. Then he opened the letter,
  which read something like this:

  "Friend Sima Yi, although you are a Commander-in-Chief and lead the
  armies of the Middle Land, you seem but little disposed to display the
  firmness and valor that would render a contest decisive. Instead, you
  have prepared a comfortable lair where you are safe from the keen edge
  of the sword. Are you not very like a deer? Wherefore I send the
  bearer with a suitable gift, and you will humbly accept it and the
  humiliation, unless, indeed, you finally decide to come out and fight
  like a warrior. If you are not entirely indifferent to shame, if you
  retain any of the feelings of a tiger, you will send this back to me
  and come out and give battle."

  Sima Yi, although inwardly raging, pretended to take it all as a joke
  and smiled.

  "So he regards me as a deer," said he.

  He accepted the gift and treated the messenger well.


Entity types and names of China’s companies in Latin alphabet

There is a great deal of flexibility in the writing of registered company names.

Geely—浙江吉利控股集团有限公司
Sinopec—中国石油化工集团公司
Tencent—腾讯控股有限公司

As you can see, these famous companies do not just transliterate their Chinese names into Pinyin, but come up with a more English-sounding name instead.
Wikipedia has a page on the entity types for Chinese companies. It would be ambiguous to use abbreviations like YG and GYG, since there is no true distinction between words in Chinese. A lot of Chinese people like to abbreviate “word for word”, like YXGS and GFYXGS for the examples you have brought up.


Does this dictionary confuse "start at" with "startled at"?

What you seem to be missing is that one of the meanings of the English word "start" is roughly synonymous with "startle" (in both its transitive and intransitive forms). From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Definition of start
intransitive verb
1 a : to move suddenly and violently, spring: *started* angrily to his feet
b : to react with a sudden brief involuntary movement: *started* when a shot rang out
[...]

transitive verb
1 : to cause to leave a place of concealment, flush: *start* a rabbit

Accordingly there does not seem to be any mistake in this dictionary, nor is this really a question about the Chinese language.


Here is the entry for 辣海 in《上海方言词典》on p. 311:

The extracted text:

  〖辣海〗la?˩˧꜖ he˥꜖꜔ =〖辣辣〗la?˩˧꜖
  la˩˧꜖꜔（或la˩˧꜖꜔）❶表示人或事物的位
  置：小王辣～？ ❷後接表示活動的
  動詞，表示動作、事件正在進行之中：
  大家儕～休息，儂吵 | 伊～想心事
  ❸前接動詞、形容詞或動詞短語，表示
  狀態的持續與北京話不同的是，“辣
  海"和“辣辣"可前接動結式短語，後面
  可加相當於“了"的語氣詞或“仔"：花
  蠻紅～ | 我物事多～崍 | 坐～，能立
  ～嗅 | 肉切好～睞，儂來燒好勒 ❹介
  詞，表示時間、地點、範圍等，多置於謂
  語動詞之前，但現在也有置於謂語動
  詞之後的：～上海工作1坐一臺子高頭
  卩“辣海"目前使用很普遍“海"有人
  説成[ke]“辣海"説成[le ke]

There is also this paper 上海话"辣海"的语源及虚化特征的比较研究, in which the abstract says:

The extracted text:

  "辣海"是上海话中一个重要的体标记词,本文通过跟邻近的江淮泰如片方言之间的比较研究,考察其来源及作为体标记的虚化过程."辣海"的"辣"本字不是"在",也不是"来",而是南方汉语方言的一个自源词;"海"的本字为"许",存在着不同的读音层次,"辣海"作为体标记在吴语中分别表示动作的进行和状态的持续,在泰如片方言主要表示状态的持续."在下"是"辣海"在泰如方言进一步虚化的产物,具有半虚化的体标记特征.

Wikipedia also has this entry on their section for Shanghainese tones:

  to exist, here, present    [lɐʔ.hɛ]    徕許, 勒許


I cannot think of a term that exactly refers to the version without erization corresponding to the same word with erization.
「非儿化」 refers to the property of the sound:

「头儿」 is 「儿化的 / 儿化音」.
「头」 is 「非儿化的 / 非儿化音」.

「去儿化」 refers to the process in which the erization is removed:
↑ 「去儿化」 is to 「儿化」 as "decentralize" is to "centralize"

「老头儿」去儿化之后得到「老头」。
「老头」是「老头儿」去儿化之后的结果。


What grammar structure does ...在这份评估单上打分... use?

How is  在 + 这 + 份 + 评估 + 单 + 上 + 打分 translated as : "fill the test report" / "rate this evaluation form" ?

"在 ~ 上"  is  a preposition: (on top/ on above)

  [在 (object) 上] = [on top of (object)]

The object here is "这(this) 份(classifier) 评估(adjectival phrase) 单(noun)" = "This assessment form"

  Now we know the 'object' in [在 (object) 上] is 'This assessment form', we get: [在 (这份评估单) 上]

Since we have the object, now we need a verb to make it a complete sentence. And "打分" (give marks) is the verb in this sentence.

"[在 (这份评估单) 上] [打分]" = "[preposition] + (object) + [verb]" = " on this assessment form give mark"

You can place the verb before the noun and the sentence still make sense

"[打分] [在 (这份评估单) 上]" = "[verb]+[preposition]+ (object)" = "give marks on this assessment form"

However, "在这份评估单上打分"(object before verb) emphasize the object, therefore it is preferred over "打分在这份评估单上" (verb before object), which emphasize the verb.

In this context, the writer wants to emphasize the object because it is more important that you know where to apply your action (evaluation) than what to do with the object

份 as a classifier means "a portion of'; 'a set of';  which can apply to 评估单, as in "一份评估单" ---> "a (set of) assessment form"

We don't actually need a classifier for "form" if we are not counting or indicating the number of it. You can omit the classifier and write "在这评估单上打分" or even "在评估单上打分" here


how about: 文化载体  'cultural carrier' or 'cultural media'.


How to translate “穷则变，变则通，通则久” to English?

穷则变，变则通

ABC

  Impasse is followed by change, and change will lead to a solution.

Grand Ricci

  (provr.) Quand on est à bout, on change, dès que l’on a changé, on aboutit : dès qu’un changement s’est amorçé, une solution peut voir le jour. De tout s’avise à qui pain faut; nécessité est mère d’industrie, d’invention.

The last part is quite sums it up in quite a nice succienct way: necessity is the mother of invention.


What is the added benefit of using 所 in 我所认识的人?

This is an advanced question I think.

所 here loans the sense of 所有(的)（owned by）.

The structure 'pronoun + 所 + verb + 的( + noun)' indicates a subject-predicate-object relationship. In my opinion, this could have some exclusive effect or a bit emphasis on subject-predicate-object relationship. For example,

  我所认识的人 // the people I know

我所认识的人 excludes：

Subject 我， not others like 你，他, and etc.
Verb 认识， not other verbs like 信任，尊敬, and etc.
Target 人， not other thing like 东西，事情， and etc.

Compare the two phrases below:

  我所认识的人
  我认识的人

1 shows the preciseness of each component, subject, predicate, and object. 2 is just a casual way to say it. That being said, 1 is used when you are trying to be formal, clear or precise, while 2 is used when you don't have to be that formal and precise.


The most usual verbal suffix is just 來/来 lái. This can be combined with 著/着 zhe after it. See Definition 7 here:

  7 用在动词后，表示做过（一般均可用“来着”）：昨天他哭～。

The use of 来着 is very frequent in northern colloquial Mandarin, but is a more general past tense marker with some sense of "just now", with an idea of a continuous state according to some analyses. It is a very well researched construction in academic studies of Mandarin.

The most common equivalent for Cantonese 返嚟 is Mandarin 回來/来 huílai, but this is more restricted in usage as a verbal suffix, and has a stronger connotation of "coming back home" (e.g. buying something back, receiving something back as a ransom), which is not required in this sentence.


Was there ever any mixing up of 阙 and 缺 for the meaning of 'lack' or 'short of'?

They were definitely context-dependent variant representations of a single word and interchangeable to a large degree. According to various dictionaries that Pleco references in its entry to「闕」:

Pleco Chinese-English (PLC): Variant of 缺
CC-CEDICT (CC): Used in place of 缺 (old)
Cross-Straits (LAC): 脫漏。通「缺」。
MOEDict (MOE): 脫漏的。闕字有二音，音ㄑㄩㄝ時義同「缺」。但使用習慣上仍見分別，如「拾遺補闕」、「疑闕」、「闕文」專詞多作「闕」，少用「缺」。

The last definition describes the modern usage differences between the two.

Note that to lack is unlikely to be the original meaning of either「闕」or「缺」:

闕, 門觀也。从門，欮聲。〔去月切〕(Basically,「闕」is a watchtower on a city wall; this is the Shuowen definition and AFAIK there's no evidence contradicting this.)
「缺」：從「缶」，「夬」聲。本義是器物破損。〔傾雪切〕

To lack could be interpreted as an extension of the original meaning of「缺」, and sometimes authors used「闕」for this meaning instead as a phonetic loan. Later on, the usage of「闕」and「缺」somewhat became differentiated.


translate "percent" in chinese 百分之 or 百分比?

Matter of taste. You want prefix style, use 百分比, as in 五个百分比. Suffix style, use 百分之, as in 百分之五.

百分之 is a sentence pattern, and requires a number. 百分比 is a noun, and also means percentage on its own.


Meaning and function of "以" in "子路，人告之以有过，则喜"?

以 functions as 'with' here

子路 (a student of Confucius)

人告之 - people inform him

以 - with (the information of)

有过 - (he had) made mistake，

则喜 - be happy (when they do)

When people pointed out 子路's mistakes, he would feel happy (we can presume he was happy to hear about his mistake so that he can make amends)

"闻过则喜" (happy when hear one's own mistake) is a sign of a wise and moral man

In real life, most people would 闻过则怒 (get angry when he was told he made mistake)


All can be the best way under their particular circumstances.

你愿意嫁给我吗？ Very formal, ritualistic.

和我结婚，好吗？ 嫁给我好吗？ Bookish. People write that in letters.

嫁给我算了 This is what guys (who think they are not up to the standards) say to their long-time girl friends who are still waiting for Mr. Perfect. It's like saying, "I'm not perfect, but don't let prudence ruin the best things in life."


"She" (她) for inanimate objects in Chinese(?)

No, referring to ships and nations as female is an English thing. If you see that being done in Chinese, the writer must be under too much English influence. By the way, if I remember correctly, ships and nations are fererred to as male in Russian.

Edit

I believe you can find a lot of examples that use "她" to refer to various things, but still it's not common practice. In fact, using "她" to mean "she" was not introduced into Chinese until very recently, just a little more than a centuary or so, when Chinese people started to get familiar with western culture. Today most Chinese people are quite comfortable with this character for referring a female person, but the infiltration is not complete:

you would still encounter people (especially elder ones) who use "他" to refer to both male and female people;
while there are "她" and "妳", the character "您" still doesn't have a female counterpart;
it is used for referring to a female person, not an object, in most cases;
"她" and "他" are pronounced exactly the same, so are "妳" and "你", so the distinction doesn't exist in oral Chinese.

Furthermore, this really is a cultural matter. When an American says "my country" I believe he/she must have a motherly figure in mind, but to most Chinese people, the word "祖國" just doesn't give them the same feeling.


Why is 再 used in 家里的空调坏了，咱们另外再买一个吧?

另外 - In addition; other (adv)
再 - again (adv)
买 - buy (v)
Both 另外 and 再 are adverbs for the verb 买 in this sentence
Why both?
Because the sentence 另外买一个 could mean either 'buy an additional one' (now you have two air conditioners) or 'buy another one' (to replace the broken one)
If you say 再买一个, it could mean either 'buy an additional one' (now you have two air conditioners) or 'buy one again' (to replace the broken one)
Since the sentence already stated 家里的空调坏了, there's no reason to think you will have two air conditioners, therefore 另外买一个吧 would be good enough. Adding 再(again) avoids confusion and confirms the fact that the new one is a replacement. (we bought one before and now we have to buy one again - not the same one, another one)
"家里的空调坏了，再买一个吧"? is grammatical, but it would sound like you replace air conditioner often


Asking for a small business favor (whom and how)

I think something is left out of the question and I have problem understanding why there is a problem in the first place. If you need/want to contact someone with whom you don't share a common language, the obvious solution is to hire a translator. What exactly are the reasons that make hiring a translator impractical?

Whether you want to pay fair compensation to hire a qualified person to represent your business, or you'd rather ask someone to do it for free (or for a small gift), or use machine, or simply grab some stranger in an internet chat group, is entirely up to you. It depends on how you wish to present your company to your contact and how much control you wish to have over the situation.

You also said that getting someone over the net to do it for you is fine in your country. I don't think there is anything cultural about that. If that's who you'd rather have to represent your company, it's absolutely your choice. I am simply curious what country you are from.


Yes, there is. For example, see this. Although, according the comments, it seems it's only a small part of the Talmud.


Why is 在 in 就这样在孔琳犹豫不决地跟着朋友进了酒吧?

I think your teacher meant to say: 就这样，孔琳在犹豫不决之间跟着朋友进了酒吧。Because 犹豫+地 doesn't sound good (Surprise! You cannot add 的/地 to any word to form an adj/adv)

犹豫

v.迟疑不决

他犹豫着要不要跟着朋友进去。

a.迟疑不决的，缺乏主见的

他平时就是个犹豫的人，此时自然指望不了他来做主。

If you search 犹豫地, most likely you get 毫不犹豫地 instead of 犹豫地. Because 犹豫 is the state that one cannot make decision on whether or not to do something, you shouldn't use it to modify "do something". If you want to express the idea of "weighing for a long time but finally do something", you can say:

volunteering:

他犹豫再三，还是跟着朋友进了酒吧。

by force:

他在犹豫之间被朋友拉进了酒吧。


Several Classical Chinese particles are of onomatopoetic origin, and have neither a fixed translation nor a fixed character representation.「焉」sometimes means where or at, but you'll have to rely on context to figure when this meaning applies.

Those meanings do not apply here.「焉」, in this context, is an end-of-phrase modal particle (句末語气詞).

  吾聞言於接輿，大而無當，往而不反。吾驚怖其言，猶河漢而無極也，大有逕庭，不近人情「焉」。

  I heard words from 接輿 which were extravagant but hollow, and irretrievable once uttered. His words frightened me;  (1) they were vast and boundless like the galaxy, polar opposite to reality, and worlds apart from the experiences of man (2)

Two options for translating「焉」in this passage. Place one of these in their respective numbered positions:

surely,
!

  For reference, a passage where where or at applies as a translation to「焉」:

    《左傳・隱公元年》：＂制，巖邑也，虢叔死「焉」。＂

    Commentary of Zuo, first ruling year of Duke Yin of Lu: " 制 , (name of a) strategically important city. 虢叔 passed away「here」."

Reference:

《王力古漢語字典》


How do mainland Chinese and non-mainland Chinese people refer to China?, ...about the use of the term 中國大陸/中国大陆...

Let me first relate an interesting experience.

Many decades ago I was visiting the US via Hawaii. At the Hawaiian airport Immigration counter the officer asked where I was headed, (meaning my ultimate port of call), I answered "the United States" Whoa!, she gave a semi-angry stare and said, "This is the United States"

Being blessedly born with a nimble mind, I casually answered, "I meant the mainland" This seemed to avoid an unpleasant march to the "briefing room" She stamped my passport and I was on my way to the United States.

Now if this had happened in say, British Hong Kong before "unification", and I said I was on my way to "中國", I don't think the Hong Kong immigration officer would have bated an eyelid. But what if it happens now after unification when, politically, (using this term loosely), Hong Kong is part of 中國 just as Hawaii is part of the United States?

I tell this incident to highlight the fact that such questions and answers could potentially cause misunderstandings.

Having said that, and as for myself, being a member of the Worldwide Chinese diaspora, I couldn't refer to China as 大陸, which simply means "mainland", just as Continental United States is the Mainland for Hawaii, simply because I am not a citizen of the People's Republic of China living on any number of Chinese territorial islands, like Hong Kong for which mainland China is 大陸, "the Mainland"

So, for people like me, of Chinese descend whose ancestors left China for Nanyang, (the Southern Seas), generations ago, would simply refer to China as 中国, just like someone from any other country would.

Of course anyone, including non-Chinese citizens, could refer to the People's Republic of China as 中國大陸/中国大陆 and no one would bate an eyelid, perhaps not even Chinese immigration officers; but I could be wrong of course, depending on the level of "political" understanding of such officers.


The way I differentiate between these two is using "want" and "need".

In English "need" still means "want to", but there is an added necessity.

This is apparent in the following two sentences:

  我想吃饭

I want to eat

  我要吃饭

I need to eat

You will also hear people using 需要 (Xūyào) to indicate need, so just think of 要 as a shortened version of that:

  你需要我做什么？

What do you need me to do

想要 is interchangeable with 想 in most uses.

Also worth noting is 要 can be used to indicate "going to":

  你为什么想把它弄坏了？

Why do you want to break it?

  你为什么要把它弄坏了？

Why are you going to break it?

  你为什么想去他家？

Why do you want to go to (his/her) house?

  你为什么要去他家？

Why are you going to (his/her) house?


为= being / is

零= zero

Answer D: 比例为零 (proportion is zero) means the proportion of elderly people who can't take care of themselves in the population is zero. (no more elderly people who can't take care of themselves) . That makes no sense.

The writer of the question might had phrased it wrong, or the answer is just obviously incorrect.

Answer D should had been 比例增减为零(proportion increase or decrease is zero) which mean 'no change'

When 零 means 'wither and fall'(凋零), it only refers to flower petals or leaves, and is mostly used in a poetic sense; When 零 means 'drop and shatter' as in (零落), it is mostly used in a poetic sense also. For example: "tears drop and shatter(涕零)"


How do you say "proud of you" in Chinese?

骄傲 is completely correct, you can use 骄傲 in this situation, it won't bring any negative connotations.
In some situations, 骄傲 really means arrogant, for example, "This guy is so 骄傲", "这个人很骄傲".
Below statements fulfill "Mum is so proud of you":

妈妈为你感到骄傲
妈妈为你感到自豪
妈妈为你感到光荣

To be more emphasize, you could use "无比"，it is like incomparable, for example:

妈妈为你感到无比骄傲
妈妈为你感到无比自豪
妈妈为你感到光荣无比


How does Rosa Lee's 0614 song relate to hyperbolas?

The hyperbola is probably related to a previous song mentioned in the text but not screen-captured.

The author is trying to talk about songs whose lyrics are related to mathematical concepts.


"可以不用" and "不需要" can be used interchangeably when it means 'don't need to' and followed by a verb or verb phrase
Example:
[可以不用][付钱] = [不需要][付钱] = [don't need to] [pay]
[可以不用][用糖] = [不需要][用糖] = [don't need to] [use sugar]
~
"可以不用" (able to/ allow to not use) followed by a noun and "不需要" (don't need) followed by a noun, have different meanings
Example:
[不需要][糖]= [don't need] [sugar]
[可以][不用][糖] = [able to/ allowed to][not use][sugar]
Example of "可以不用糖" in context:

"我可以不用糖做甜品嗎？" (Can I make dessert not using sugar?)

~
[(可以不用)(用糖)] = [(don't need to) (use sugar)].
It is grammatically correct, but "可以不用用糖" (don't need to use sugar) may sound a little bit awkward in Chinese (two 用 back to back). Better change it to 不需要用糖

"不需要 + verb" = "don't need to + verb"

"不需要 + noun" = "don't need + noun"

"可以不用 + verb" = "don't need to + verb"

"可以 + 不用 + noun" = "able to/allowed to + not use + noun"

Can I replace 可以不用 with 不需要？

Yes, but only when it means 'don't need to' and followed by a verb, not noun

平时可以不用计步软件或运动手环

计步软件 is a noun, therefore, "可以不用计步软件" means "able to/ allowed to not use steps counting app"


获得这一切只需要最低的价格 sounds very unnatural. you can simply say 只要$29.99 or 只需$29.99) which contains the meaning of minimum price without mentioning it. To be clear about "all this", I think you can use 以上(all above) or 以下 (all below) or 全部(all)

If your Chinese version referring to Chinese currency, the dollar sign is ¥.


What is this translation of "Journey To The West"?

On Good Reads, the book's authorship is listed as:

  by Wu Cheng'en, W.J.F. Jenner (Translator), Walther Sell (Editor)

W.J.F. Jenner is William John Francis Jenner. His translation is one of three notable English translations done on the work.


Does saying 我今天26岁 imply it's my birthday today?

'我今天26岁' seems very strange to me, but it does transmits the sense that today is the birthday.

If you would like to imply that it is your birthday today, a more proper expression could be '我今天26岁了', where '了' puts in a sense of completion or perfectness so that the sentence would imply 'I turned 26 today', thus revealing that today is the speaker's birthday.

If you simply want to tell your age, '我今年26岁' would seem more natural to native Chinese.


What is the Old Chinese Pronunciation for the Character 兮?

There is already a good discussion going below the original question. I'll just strip the Wiktionary link and put it down here:

http://zh.wiktionary.org/zh/%E5%85%AE#.E6.B1.89.E8.AF.AD

字   Mandarin  MiddleChinese  OldChinese  Cantonese
兮   xī        hej            /*ɡˁe/      hai4

And also:

Japanese   Korean   Vietnamese
kei        hyey     hề

So the consonant is along the line of g and h, something down the throat, unlike xi which is in the mouth.

While I don't agree with Phil on "兮 is nothing but a punctuation" and "Dialects were totally unintelligible so people had to write to each other even if they met face-to-face", I agree with him that a standard classic Chinese dialect didn't really exist. There could be many ways to read 兮 in ancient times, especially the vowel, although it's thought to be e, I wouldn't be surprised if it was shifted to a, o or any strange diphthongs in a local dialect.


How do I say "if I don't study, I cannot learn"?

"study" emphasizes the process of obtaining/ seeking knowledge (e.g. study math all night, not learn math all night).
"learn" emphasizes the process of receiving knowledge (e.g. learn how to fight from someone, not study how to fight from someone).

"If I don't study, I cannot learn" sound odd because it lack an object. If it has an object, it would be a more complete sentence.
E.g. If I don't study (mathematics), I cannot learn (mathematics) -- 如果我不学习(数学)，我就不会学懂(数学).

If you think 学习 and 学懂 are still too similar. You can replace "学习" (study) with "学/ 去学" (study); or replace "学懂" (learn) with "懂" (know/ understand).
Example:
"不去学就学不懂" - "cannot learn if you don't study"
"不学就不会懂" -  "would not know/ understand if you don't study"
More example:
"去学就会学懂" - "can learn if you study"
"学就会懂" - "would know/ understand if you study"


Honestly, it doesn't matter. The "quote" is mostly made up in such context to emphasize the 2nd phrase.


How to write your original (non-Chinese) and Chinese name, jointly

Your best source is 百度 百科 here's some examples of how they do it:

基努·里维斯（Keanu Reeves）
布兰妮·斯皮尔斯（Britney Spears）
奥兰多·布鲁姆（Orlando Bloom）

So the format here is: transliterated first name + · (interpunct code point U+00B7 · MIDDLE DOT) + transliterated surname + （ (General purpose
(fullwidth East-Asian) / U+FF08 Fullwidth left parenthesis) + ） (General purpose
(fullwidth East-Asian) / U+FF09 Fullwidth right parenthesis)
Also, you can see there is no space after the Chinese name and the left parenthesis.
Your name then would look something like this:
文森特·费尔海恩（Vincent Verheyen）
the reverse would also work for said purpose
Vincent Verheyen（文森特·费尔海恩）

Out of curiosity, here's also an example of a famous westerner with a Chinese name - with his Chinese name and then western-name on a "single line"
大山（本名马克·亨利·罗斯韦尔，Mark Henry Rowswell）


I had a student in Taiwan who was blind, so I've had a chance to work with this.

There are articles on Chinese Braille in both the English and Chinese  Wikipedias if you haven't read them yet. It is a spelling (phonetic) method, not character based. Blind Chinese students are not taught regular character forms. Braille in Taiwan is basically zhuyinfuhao; mainland China has two different systems, neither of which is identical to pinyin.

My student learned to type on a Braille keyboard in order to be able to read her own typing; she was not used to trying to produce typed work for seeing people, but this was over 15 years ago. At the time, it was a struggle to even set up a usable computer system for her.  We eventually bought JAWS by Scientific Freedom, which our school's president had to personally approve; damn expensive.  Unfortunately, this didn't resolve most of the Chinese problems, only the English ones.

All else failing, for homework the student worked with tutors who gave me her typed answers in Chinese characters, not zhuyinfuhao; different tutors had different ways of getting the student's input into characters, and there were many typos, for which I did not take off points.

For mainland China, I suspect that the students there are also probably trained to type in one of the two Braille systems, NOT in pinyin, so that they might need to learn pinyin and pinyin keyboards before they could produce even pinyin output.

I poked around, but found no links to software or drivers for this specific purpose. I did find an interesting article: "A preliminary study on instructional design of Chinese input method for blind students" which discusses some of these problems. It is available online and might give you some leads. If I find anything more in the future, I'll post back here.

Education for the blind (and deaf) in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China requires great willpower and dedicated teachers. If you're one of them, my respects and best wishes!


In your context, I'd probably say: 我把钥匙给你不更好吗？ or 我觉得给你更合适.


Is there any university in Scandinavia where one can study Traditional Chinese (繁體字)?

If you want to learn  Traditional Chinese characters (繁體字), go to Taiwan.
If you want to learn  Simplified Chinese characters (简体字), go to China Mainland.
And MS office can easily convert those two types of characters for your comparison.
Taiwanese accent sounds pretty the same as PUTONGHUA(Chinese mandarin)


Poem source and English translation - 愿无岁月可回头，且敬往事一杯酒

Of course you can't find an author. Frequently these articles are created by the internet PR business, or what we call 营销号. They steal materials from various sources and stitch them together to create click-baits.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but this piece is far from good literature. You find much better verses in Reader's Digest. But still, it took me some minutes to do the translation. Please ignore the rough edges because I only had 15 minutes for it:

看流年似水，往事不可追
Watching the seasons pass like a river. What's happened cannot be undone.
愿你
Wish you
每天那么忙
Busy everyday
做的都是自己喜欢的
doing what you love to do
此后做的每一个选择都是为了自己
Every choice you make from now on, are made for yourself
少一些何必当初，多一些暗自庆幸
Fewer regrets, more secret rejoice
以后的所有泪水，都是喜极而泣
From now on, all your tears are tears of happiness.
昨天已经过去
Yesterday has passed
无论怎样忧伤，都无济于事
However sad you are, it wouldn't help
时间不会倒流，光阴不会倒转
Time don't flow backwards, day and night don't reverse themselves
明天尚未到来，无论怎样期待
Tomorrow is yet to come, whatever you expect
最终能否如愿，都是个未知数
may or may not come true, nobody knows
只有今天才真正属于自己
What you really have is today
有些路，走下去
Some roads, if you walk on
会很累，但是不走，会后悔
you will be exhausted, but if you dont, you will regret
人生没有对错，只有选择后的坚持
There is no right or wrong in life, only stick to your chice
不后悔，走下去，就是对的
Don't regret, keep on, that's it
喜欢一句诗，走着走着，花就开了
There is a line I like: You walk on and on, then the flowers begin to bloom.
人生就像坐火车一样
Life is like a journey on a train
过去的景色那样美，让你流连不舍
You see beautiful scenes, you don't want to let go
可是你总是需要前进，会离开
But you have to move forward, have to leave,
然后你告诉自己，没关系
Then you tell yourself: it's OK,
我以后一定还会再来看
I'll be back someday
可其实，往往你再也不会回去
But in fact, the chances are you will never be back
流逝的时间，退后的风景
Time passes, scenes retreat
邂逅的人，终究是渐行渐远
Whoever you get to know, will eventually part their ways
亲爱的自己
Dear self:
不要抓住过去不放
Don't cling to the past
断了线的风筝让它飞
Let the loose kite fly away
放过它，更是放过自己
Let it go, moreover, let go of yourself
你的孤独，虽败犹荣
Your loneliness, though defeated, is not without glory
愿无岁月可回头，且敬往事一杯酒
May there be no years and months worthy of going back, and let's raise the glasses for what happened in the past.


What is the fastest method to type Chinese using a computer?

Theoretically the fastest method seems to be 速录.

  亚伟速录常用于会议的听打，最快可达500字/分。

Apparently you can type five hundred characters a min. It is basically a type of shorthand used by stenographers. The learning curve is, obviously, going to be quite high though, as you would expect of stenography.

There's a short article saved here from China Daily that talks about it a little if you're interested.

  For decades, Tang Yawei's name has been synonymous with stenography in China.
  In the 1930s he developed a standardized Chinese shorthand method, Yawei Chinese Shorthand, which is now widely used, especially by journalists and professional stenos.

  Then in 1994, at the age of 79, he invented the Yawei Chinese steno machine, allowing stenos to record up to 200 words per minute - about 75 percent faster than shorthand while eliminating the need to transcribe notes.


Does 与 change the meaning of 用中文与我联系不是一个好主意?

与 means together or with.

用中文与我联系不是一个好主意 = use + Chinese + with + me + contact + not + good + idea

The 与 here is not necessary.

In fact, 用中文与我联系 can be better written as 用中文联系我 which means contacting me in Chinese.

In English you probably wouldn't write contacting with me in Chinese and it's the same here in Chinese.

Sidenote: the only reference I found to "用中文与我联系" online is from a Japanese guy Dr Taku Fujiyama

  如果您对我的研究有兴趣， 欢迎您用中文与我联系。


Chinese word for "passed" in the sense of "the test was successful"

Speaking as both a Mandarin and Cantonese speaker, I've seen 合格 used before (in some description of drug testing results, literally labelled as 检验结果) to describe successful outcomes, when there is presumably an issue of passing a specific standard. Such a scenario would be similar to what you are looking for, since I am getting the impression that you are looking for something that conveys a successful result (rather than passing in the sense of passing an exam, where "success" is poorly defined).

合格 is also used more generally generally to mean "pass" (in the sense of exceeding some "mark"), for instance, in 他这次考试终于合格 (loosely translated as This round of exams, he finally achieved a passing mark.). This would be the most obvious word that comes to mind. However, do note that 合格 only means something equivalent to "pass" in the relevant contexts. 合格 isn't a transitive verb; rather, it's normally classified as an adjective (and one that can also take on other meanings, such as "eligible" or "qualified" -- see here). So it works, but the exact wording of the sentence it's used in won't be a word-for-word translation of the English equivalent.

There are other words that could be used, albeit with different connotations. For instance, 达到 means "to reach", so it can be used, for example in 达到我们的标准 (to reach our standards). However, it is not as concise, in that you need additional information to quality your statement to make sense, and alone (without our standards or the such), it doesn't mean "pass" per se.

My usual Cantonese-focused Chinese dictionary also lists a couple other choices, such as 過關 (in simplified characters, 过关). However, these aren't as appropriate: many of the other choices were either focused on exam-type scenarios, which are generally inappropriate in the context of the tests you speak of, and the most relevant meaning of 過關 is to pass a certain stage, which is also inappropriate (since it assumes some sort of passage of time and sequence of trials).


This kind of confusion is usually caused by using English grammar to understand Chinese.
In Chinese grammar, 中國向美國報復:
中国， subject
向美国， prepositional phrase worked as adverbial(介词短语作状语); 美国 is the object of the preposition 向.
報復，predicate(谓语)


When native Chinese refer to China, what's the difference between 大陆, 中国 and 中国大陆?

When used with certain words, "中国" may be perceived more as a cultural/historical concept that has a vague boundary on what you want to refer to (the people, the land, the culture, etc).

Example: 周杰倫的中國風音樂／周杰伦的中国风音乐. Jay Chou's Chinese style music. (Jay is a popular artist from Taiwan.)

In this particular example, 中國 is similar to 中華 (The cultural concept). I think this is because 中国风 implies the usage of traditional style melodies, musical instruments, and lyrics, which is rooted in the cultural artifacts that have been existing for many centuries. The boundaries of "中国" in “中国风” feels vague, just like the bound of "China Proper" has kept changing over the many past centuries.

Another similar example: “中国话／中國話／中文”， the Chinese Language.

This may also happen in the phrase “中国历史”. The "中国" in this particular example would refer to the China encompassing both Mainland and Taiwan before Taiwan was ceded to Japan during the signing of《馬關條約》in year 1895, and/or the China during the Tang dynasty that did not include today's Tibet.
The word "China" may not even just refer to a particular ethnic group, e.g. the Han ethnic group (that accounts for 95%+ of China's population as of today), and the Han has been practically ruled over several times during history. Examples are the fall of the Song dynasty in the 12th century and the fall of the Ming dynasty in the 17th century when the Manchus ruled. (However, the rulers began to use Chinese characters, which is an evidence that some say would justify that they were "assimilated into China", rather than "they annihilated China".) That is another example the word "China" may refer to a concept that has a vague ethnic boundary.

For "大陆", "中国大陆" and when "中国" is used independently today, there shall be an implied geographic bound in today's world, and the bound is usually much more clearly defined, although it may slightly differ on the person's political viewpoint. "中国大陆" and "大陆" are used (only) to refer to People's Republic of China founded in 1949.

A little digression below:

The word "中国" is said to have gained its new meaning --- a modern "country/sovereignty" in 1912 when Republic of China was established, as an abbreviation of 中華民國 (1). Prior to that, "中国" may more often mean "the central area/district/city" or the capital city. Example:

  “湘娥啼竹素女愁，李憑*中國*彈箜篌" (《李憑箜篌引》， by 李賀, Tang Dynasty) (2)

1) https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B#.E8.AF.8D.E6.BA.90

2) https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/李凭箜篌引


"candidates for cross-border leadership assignments" in Chinese?

Can I have the full paragraph? If not here's the translation
跨境領導任務的人選


After going through a few online examples, I think this is what 制作 actually means:

To make something physically that requires a level of skill or artistry, such as, a movie, a cake, a greeting card or a toy. Example:

  韩国制作巨型巧克力高跟鞋迎接情人节 (South Korea has made a gigantic pair of chocolate stilettos to welcome Valentine's Day)

Since 制造 is also mentioned, to provide disambiguation, 制造 means to manufacture or mass-produce something (both physical and non-physical). Example:

  这AK-47是前苏联制造的 (This AK-47 was made in the former USSR)
  制造垃圾 (churning out rubbish)
  制造欢乐气氛 (creating a joyous atmosphere)

To build or construct something, usually big, we can use the word 建造. For example:

  建造楼房 (construct a building)
  建造卫星导航系统 (build a satellite navigation system)


Different given names in Chinese and English

There's no system; English names can be chosen essentially randomly, and the reasoning (if any) behind the choice may not be obvious unless the person explicitly tells the backstory behind the name.

Ma Huateng's (馬化騰) name Pony comes from the Chinese practice of adding the prefix 小 in front of the family name to indicate informality or affection for young people as the addressee, which becomes 小馬 (Xiǎo Mǎ), as 馬 (Mǎ) is his last name. 小馬, as a Chinese word, literally means Pony.
Zhang Zhidong's (張志東) name Tony doesn't seem to be explicitly explained, although one can infer that it might have been chosen for one or more of the following reasons:

Tony sounds similar to 東 (Dōng), the last character of his first name;
Tony was chosen to rhyme with Pony.

Jackie Chan's name came about because he worked under a construction worker named Jack; he was known as Little Jack due to his apprentice role, which later changed to Jackie.


Is there a Chinese word for the Japanese 気合 (kiai), the sounds ("Hi-yah!" etc.) made when performing martial arts?

Here's a Zhihu question about kiai in kendo (劍道). In the realm of Japanese martial arts, it looks like Chinese would just character-transcribe the word as「气合」.

Note that「気合」is specifically a Japanese term, and is used for a host of other meanings in Japanese (breathing, martial spirit, etc.) , so I would say that using「气合」in Chinese in a martial-arts related sense is not appropriate for anything outside of Japanese martial arts. The closest Chinese-language term for martial spirit would be something like「气勢」, and this doesn't necessarily point to any shouting.

  「气合」is also a classical Chinese term meaning agreeable sentiments/inclination.


What is 死間 in English and is there a second way in English that could describe this?

The term 死間 (doomed spies) came from the last chapter of 《孫子兵法》(The Art of War)

13: 用間 - The Use of Spies

  http://ctext.org/art-of-war/use-of-spies

  用間:
  故用間有五：有鄉間、有內間、有反間、有死間、有生間。五間俱起，莫知其道，是謂神紀，人君之寶也。鄉間者，因其鄉人而用之。內間者，因其官人而用之。反間者，因其敵間而用之。死間者，為誑事于外，令吾間知之，而傳于敵。生間者，反報也。

  Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies. When these five kinds of spy are all at work, none can discover the secret system.

  Having doomed spies, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and allowing our spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.

In modern term, 死間 (doomed spies) are basically "deception / sabotage agents" Their actions are visible. In contrast to 生間 (surviving spies) , whose main function are to secretly gather and report information to their own state.


Is it okay to use stative verbs in Topic-Comment?

In a 'topic-comment structure', the topic and the comment cannot swap places. If they can, the sentence would not be a topic-comment structure. It is just a 'object placed before verb' sentence

Examples

  這個人(object) 我喜歡 (subject + verb) [O]

  我喜歡(subject + verb) 這個人 (object) [O]

  這個人 (topic)  不是好人 (comment) [O]

  不是好人(comment) 這個人(topic) [X]

More examples:

  我去过(subject + V) 中国 (object) [O]

  中国 (object) 我去过(subject + V) [O]

  攻擊中國 (topic) 對美國沒有好處 (comment) [O]

  對美國沒有好處 (comment) 攻擊中國 (topic) [X]

Now look at your other examples:

  我需要買(subject +v) 汽車(object) [O]

  汽車(object) 我需要買(subject +v) [O]

  她奶奶(object)  我很想念(subject + verb)[O]

  我很想念(subject + verb) 她奶奶(object) [O]

None of the above is 'topic-comment' sentences

Example of stative verbs in comment

  攻擊中國 (topic) 大家都[覺得]對美國沒有好處 (comment)

  美國攻擊中國 (topic) 我[希望]只是一個謠言 (comment)


Pronunciation of 这 (ze4 or zen4?) in 天气这么好

'zhe4' is the most formal pronunciation. 'zhei4', 'zen4', and 'zhen4' are informal and dialectal.

I grew up in Beijing and local people use these variants frequently. (In contrast, 'zhe4' is actually not often heard in informal speech in the region.) In particular, 'zhei4' is common when people use 这 as a pronoun by itself (e.g., 这位 (this person)、这边儿 (this way)), and 'zen4' and 'zhen4' (less common than 'zen4') appear exclusively in 这么. Compare 怎么 'zen3me'.

The pronunciation of 'ze4' is not heard in the Beijing dialect, but could appear in other dialects of Mandarin.

Related note: When used alone to indicate location, 这儿, 'zher4' in pinyin, sounds more like 'zhar4' in the Beijing dialect - that is about somewhere between jerk sans k and jar in Midwestern American English.

Fun note: In very, very native Beijing dialect, 这儿 is sometimes pronounced like 'zhar4-har'. It might not be completely intelligible to people who grew up in regions in China farther away from Beijing.


How do you answer the following question when someone asks: 我想认识一个美国朋友，你给我介绍一下，可以吗？

Depend on who you are speaking to. If you are speaking to your teacher, "这是我的美国朋友, Rodger Smith" is correct; If you are speaking to your friend, "这是我的中国老师, 王朋." is correct. But neither is the answer to the question.
The question is "我想认识一个美国朋友，你给我介绍一下，可以吗？". Your immediate answer should be something like "當然可以 (of course, I can)". If you want to answer more detailedly, you can add "我明天就给你介绍一个美国朋友"
Then you can go get your friend and introduce them to each other
"Rodger, 这是我的中国老师, 王朋."
"老师, 这是我的美国朋友, Rodger Smith."


Signs for Traditional Mandarin comming back as technology grows?

No, and a definite no. Although there are voices about restoring traditional Chinese, these proposals are considered unpopular and expensive. Even top-ranked students of Chinese literature are unable to pass a basic traditional Chinese test. Even if the computer technology is advanced enough to fully replace handwriting, people are too used to simplified Chinese and will not bother changing the writing system again.

See this page:Wikipedia: Debate on Traditional and Simplified Chinese Characters


What are the differences between the different words for mammoth? 猛犸和毛象有什么区别？

They are the same, just translated in different ways.

猛犸 is a transliteration. 猛 means robust dog. 《说文解字》: 猛，健犬也。 犸 seems a more modern character, only used here.
长毛象 is more common than 毛象. The literal translation is "elephant with long hair".


Here's my explanation:
“你在做什么？” = “你正在做什么？”

在 can be normally used as abbreviation for 正在, which latter only means "right now". Therefore, 在 can be constitutive for the present continuous tense.

你做什么？could have different meanings or tense in different contexts, for example:
1. 你做什么（工作）？
2. 你（刚刚）做什么？
3. 你（这些天）做什么？
4. 你（打算）做什么？
5. 你（在）做什么？

When you add 在/正在, then You give a semantic restriction; the sentence can only mean: What are you doing? -- In this sense, it is necessary to add 在.


Is 師奶 (see lai) strictly a Cantonese word? Is it a neutral word or does it have a negative connotation?

"師奶(师奶)" refer to a married woman, and is popular used in Southern China. Is is rarely used in Mandarin.

  師奶（「奶」字要讀高N音，同「拉」嘅音調一樣），太太嘅俗稱。主要係街坊之間用嚟打招呼嘅用詞。哩個詞語亦都可以用嚟取笑嗰啲唔多化粧，外表睇起上嚟土土地好似傳統家庭主婦咁嘅未婚女士，有所謂「師奶仔」嘅叫法。1

translate to Simplified Chinese "师奶（‘奶’字要读高N音，和‘拉’到音调一样），太太的俗称。主要是街坊邻居用来打招呼的词。也可以用来嘲笑不修边幅，看起来向像家庭主妇的未婚女士，这些未婚女士也会被叫做‘师奶仔’。"

translate to English "师奶，refer to 太太(太太 is not wife but married woman in here). It is often used among the neighbors. A makeup-free unmarried woman who looks like a housewife is mocked and called '师奶仔'. "

粤语维基百科


Dislcaimer: The interpretations of the glyph forms and OC reconstructions are my personal opinion. Professional opinions state that this character is still open for interpretation.

商甲甲1249合集31219西周金大克鼎集成2836春秋金公克敦集成4641今楷

I guess you can view「克」(Baxter-Sagart OC: /*kʰˤək/, to achieve victory over/subdue/defeat an opponent in a military confrontation), as being a merger between semantic「由」(battle helmet, now written as「冑」) and reduced phonetic「革」(/*kˤrək/). The graphically reduced「革」looks like「⿱廿尸」or「⿱口尸」(picture of animal skin and horns).

  Specifically, the bottom part of「由」is merged with the top part of the reduced「革」.

For reference:

「由」

商甲甲2123合集557戰國・楚簡帛六德・19郭店楚簡今楷
「皮」(skinning an animal)

西周金九年衛鼎集成2831秦簡秦律十八7睡虎地秦簡西漢隸孫臏・220銀雀山漢簡今楷
「革」(picture of flattened animal skin). Roughly speaking,「⿱廿尸」or「⿱口尸」is「革」folded in half along the animal's spine.

商甲花東474　西周金康鼎集成2786戰國・楚簡帛遣策天星觀楚簡秦簡秦律雜抄16睡虎地秦簡今楷


I found this post, "What popular science fiction TV shows are available with Chinese dubbing?", which provides links to various services. I am not advocating these services as most of them are illegal, however it will provide you with good information and many examples of movies and series that have been dubbed.

Examples are verycd.com which now no longer provides links to illegally stream, but will provide you with info of different series that have been dubbed.

NORMTEAM, e.g. http://www.normteam.com/thread-33919-1-8.html

And PPTV.

These should provide you with plenty of examples. However you will need to dig a bit to find what you are looking for and I personally wouldn't attempt to view anything from these sites because the software is so damn dodgy.

The problem is there are literally thousands of shows that have been dubbed in Chinese. If I was after this information and it was just for personal use I would just go to my local Chinese video store and ask them what dubbed series that have on offer.


Which adjective is the most suitable to express "rich" for a person?

年轻中国女人很___。

  为什么华人那么___?

In your context, among those words you listed,  only 富 is appropriate. 富 means 富有；有钱；having lots of money.

肥 can also fit, but it will mean fat, which would be an insult.

阔 might be also ok, meaning "having lots of money or able to spend lots of money". But it's not that common as 富 or 有钱.

The rest 丰盛，浓郁，富足 are usually used to describe things, conditions and etc.


What about this:
天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。


How are new words added to the Chinese language?

For English technical term that does not yet have a translation in Chinese, maybe the first translation that got popular would be accepted.

The translation is done by the person who need to use the translation. Sometimes the original English term or explanation with be also noted before the term is generally accepted. Terms are usually translated by the meaning of the word if possible.

For Internet, in the translation process, the "net" part is translated into "网", and the "inter" part into "因特" (by sound). There is also another translation "互联网" in which no part is translated by sound.

There may be various translations for one term. So there is an official department (China National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies) that will pick one (or make up one) as the official translation. But even the official translation may vary depending on the research area. Take "Internet" as an example, the committee gives the following translation in different areas:

术语        中/英文名     学科            子学科
Internet    因特网      计算机科学技术   网络与数据通信
internet    互联网      通信科技       通信网络
Internet    因特网      通信科技       通信网络
Internet    因特网      资源科技       资源信息学
internet    互联网[络]  计算机科学技术  计算机总论

And I think this kind of official translation is only recommended, but not mandatory.


Which word to use for "day" when talking about lengths of time?

Both of the "天" and "日" as the "量词" are correct.

In the modern standard Chinese, people will say "我觉得我会待两三天" in their daily life, and will say "我预计我将停留两三日" in the formal situation such as applications or official documents.