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1500 questions
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What font size for reading simplified characters on screen?
I realize this sounds like a very subjective question, so I will try to ask it very carefully:
I'm learning to speak, read, and write Mandarin. A lot of times (particularly on the web or in e-mail) I read or write text that has English and…
Mark E. Haase
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Usage of word "sun": 太阳 (tài yáng) vs 日 (rì)
What is the difference between 太阳 (tài yáng) and 日 (rì) for "sun"?
Are they used in different contexts or are they interchangeable?
Starnuto di topo
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15
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Is the usage of European punctuation acceptable in Chinese writing?
Chinese punctuation is a little bit different from European punctuation, for example:
The full stop (period) is "。" instead of "."
The ellipsis are six vertically centered dots (… …) instead of just three (…)
and others...
Is the usage of European…
Orion
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15
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4 answers
Useful resources for learning Taiwanese?
My girlfriend is from Fujian and speaks 闽南语, so I am trying to learn so I can communicate with her family better.
The struggle is finding any useful resources (even in Chinese), so I'm wondering if anyone has any good suggestions for sites, books,…
Ciaocibai
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14
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3 answers
What's the actual difference between 文 and 语?
Both mean "language" with some other related meanings.
A friend of mine told me that while 文 refers more to the written language, 语 is more related to the spoken one.
Is this a difference and is it the only one?
Alenanno
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14
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What is the status of 什么来的 and 什么来着 in standard and colloquial Mandarin Chinese?
When I first moved to the south of China, I was surprised to hear the phrase "什么来的" used to mean "what," as in
这是什么来的？: "What is this?"
As far as I could tell, in many cases there was no question of motion or origin. (I.e., the question was not…
Alf
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How are new words added to the Chinese language?
I'm always curious to know, as the world develops and new words come into existence, how are they adopted by the Chinese language?
Is there some sort of government body that decides these sort of things, or is it just based on popular usage?
One…
Ciaocibai
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14
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Difference between 对 and 双
For a pair of rabbits there is:
一对兔 yī duì tù
And for a pair of shoes there is:
一双鞋 yī shuāng xié
And for twins there is:
双胞胎 shuāngbāotāi
How can I be sure when to use 对 and when to use 双?
going
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14
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Why was 滾 (gǔn) simplified to 滚?
Why was the traditional character 滾 simplified to 滚? It's only one stroke less so it seems doubtful that it was done to make the character simpler to write. Does it change the meaning of the character in some way or is there any other logical reason…
Bjorn
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Do acronyms borrowed from English use neutral tone (aka tone 0 or tone 5) for all syllables?
I was just reading a Q&A here about Chinese words for DVD and the discussion also included other acronyms from English.
It struck me that nobody wrote the pinyin for any of the terms which made me think it means the tones must be obvious so the…
hippietrail
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14
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权力的游戏 - Game of Thrones names - latest episode - SPOILERS
So I'm practicing by reading Game of Throne tweets and it's the names and naming that gets me. Here's the tweet and 5 questions on names and naming…
Steve
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14
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3 answers
Did ancient Chinese have tones (声调)?
This question has puzzled me since I have no training in ancient Chinese and ancient phonetics. What is puzzling me are the following facts:
The tones in different regions are quite different. If they are from Ancient Chinese, why are they not more…
Danke Xie
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14
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Chinese computer vocabulary, and most frequently encountered common computer terms
What are the most frequent words I'm likely to encounter when using a computer in Chinese.
Stuff like file menu, cut, copy, paste, edit, properties, ok, cancel, back, refresh, save, print etc...
Just want to learn a few so I don't get lost everytime…
Samuel Parsonage
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Do the Chinese have a (potentially politically incorrect) way of imitating English speakers?
I do not mean to cause offence with this question; I ask only to potentially become better acquainted with Chinese vernacular, and, I must admit, a little out of curiosity.
A politically incorrect and borderline racist way for an English speaker to…
Mike Chamberlain
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14
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5 answers
Is any simplified character also a traditional character?
I don't mean traditional characters that weren't simplified, thus being the same in traditional and simplified.
What I ask if there is any simplified character which in turn has the same form of another traditional character?
I ask this because…
Petruza
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