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1500 questions
9
votes
1 answer
What is the difference between 变成、变化、变得、改变、转变?
There are five 变 here, so what is the difference between 变成、变化、变得、改变、转变?
Chinese.Tutor.Frank
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9
votes
2 answers
Where can I find isogloss maps for Mandarin?
It seems that questions about resources are generally accepted on the site. If not, please let me know.
I was wondering if anyone knew where to find maps with isoglosses for dialects of Mandarin. I am especially interested in phonemic features, such…
dainichi
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Why does Chinese lack some level of abstraction in some idioms? (e.g. 兄弟姐妹)
Example: in Chinese, you can't* speak of siblings in a general term, and in turn you have to enumerate all 4 combinations of sex and age: 兄弟姐妹 ( older brother, younger brother, older sister, younger sister )
Can you name other examples like this,…
Petruza
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9
votes
2 answers
Which one of these two ISO 639-2 code refers to Traditional Chinese, chi or zho?
On a database file, the designer uses chi and zho to tell simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese. It's hard to tell whether chi means the simplified one or traditional.
Seemingly, chi is derived from the first three characters of "Chinese", zho…
George
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9
votes
6 answers
What's the role of 好了 in 你叫我(name)好了?
In this sentence
你叫我马丁好了。
what's the role of 好了?
I understand this sentence as "You can call me 马丁."
dusan
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9
votes
6 answers
三长两短: what's long and what's short?
（求词源）
三长两短 is a chengyu that means "unforeseen disaster". It can also be a euphemism for death.
Here's an example of its usage:
明·罗贯中《三遂平妖传》：“万一些后再有三长两短，终不能靠着太医活命。”
What is its etymology though? One way of literally interpreting this chengyu is…
congusbongus
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9
votes
6 answers
Differences between the two words for each season, such as 冬季 (dōngjì) and 冬天 (dōngtiān)
There seem to be two words for each season. Each pair has the first character in common but for the second character one will have 季 (jì) and the other will have 冬天 (tiān).
For example "winter" is:
冬季 (dōngjì)
冬天 (dōngtiān)
What is the difference…
hippietrail
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9
votes
3 answers
What does "小" mean in "小炒牛肉"?
I am not sure why the character "小" (small) is used here. Is there any difference between "小炒牛肉" and "炒牛肉"?
Zuriel
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9
votes
5 answers
Why is the radical of 难 > 隹 and not 又?
难 nan2, difficult; hard. Kangxi radical 172 隹.
My teacher says the radical for this character is 又 but the dictionary says clearly it's 隹.
user3458
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9
votes
4 answers
The meaning of 感到鸭力
I am trying to understand, what is the true meaning of 感到鸭力 translated to English as to feel the duck power
As I noticed, it is often used in memes along with images expressing that feeling. But only seeing the expression I cannot determine what it…
mpasko256
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9
votes
6 answers
Is it allowable in Mainland China to use Traditional Characters?
I study Mandarin as I enjoy the language and especially characters themselves and I've considered pursuing a future in China but I'm really a steadfast supporter of Traditional Characters. While I don't mind reading in Simplified and having to deal…
率龜_
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9
votes
1 answer
How did Middle Chinese "hæwk" evolve into Mandarin "xué"?
So I was wondering why the on'yomi reading of Japanese 学 was "gaku" and the Korean reading of 學 was "hak", since I knew that in Mandarin, 学 was "xué", which is radically different from the two.
I did some research and learned that the Middle Chinese…
LittleWhole
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9
votes
5 answers
Why say 少说两句 to break up a fight?
In the movie 北京遇上西雅图 (~25m45s), during an argument the protagonist calls another pregnant woman a 骚货 ("slut") and they start physically fighting. A third woman tries to break them up and says:
行了 行了 别别别
少说两句 少说两句 哎呀 肚子 肚子 孩子
I don't understand…
Becky 李蓓
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9
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6 answers
How to understand "你怎么了？"
I understand 怎么 generally means "how".
However, I came across the following translated example:
你怎么了？ 说话声音这么小!
Nǐ zěnme le ？ Shuōhuà shēnɡyīn zhème xiǎo!
What happened to you? You are speaking in such a low voice!
Why does 你怎么了 mean this?…
Puco4
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9
votes
2 answers
Why is 刻 used to mean ''a quarter of an hour''?
刻 means ''to carve'' but my dictionary also says it means ''to set a time limit''.
What is the connection between 刻 and a quarter of an hour ?
Kantura
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