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1500 questions
8
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3 answers
Is Hakka spoken the same in Guangdong and Taiwan?
In Taiwan Hakka is the 3rd most popular language, and the MRT in Taipei makes all announcements in 4 languages; Mandarin, Minnan, Hakka, and English.
It is also a minority language in Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong.
A Hong Kong Hakka friend of…
Matthew Rudy 马泰
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8
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What's the difference between 拍照 (pāizhào) and 照相 (zhàoxiàng) which both mean "to take a photo"?
These two words seem very similar:
拍照 (pāizhào) = "to take a picture" (dict.cn） or "take a photograph (pt took) (pp taken)" (Collins)
照相 (zhàoxiàng) = "take a photograph" (dict.cn） or "take a picture (pt took) (pp taken)" (Collins)
Question:…
Becky 李蓓
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What's the format of official "online" HSK tests?
Some HSK test centres give the option of taking an online test (albeit supervised under exam conditions).
What format does this take? Is the audio played on a CD player to the whole room or do you get headphones connected to the computer?
(The…
mungouk
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Another meaning of 同志
Is it true that 同志 has some different meaning? Like gay (as in homosexual) or something? I know that during the 20th century in China and communist Russia it was very common to call people 同志 (товарищ, comrade). So is it wrong to call someone 同志 in…
Denis Kucherov
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8
votes
3 answers
Zhong Shan Suit Inner Shirt Cantonese Name
I would like to ask the Cantonese speakers about the 中山裝.
As we know, 中山裝 is similar to the western suit, 西裝, it is designed with the jacket (外套) and the inner shirt (長袖衫). However, my friends told me that the "長袖衫" is called 底 (pronounced as 桶底…
Jacky X.
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8
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2 answers
Are there more special numerals like 廿?
In Hong Kong herbal tea shops, you will see a tea called "廿四味" (24 flavours)
(you will also hear "廿蚊" to mean "20 dollars" in small shops)
In this case 廿 (niàn or pán) has the meaning "20".
Are there any other chinese numerals that represent unusual…
Matthew Rudy 马泰
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8
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7 answers
What is the meaning of 冒 in 感冒？
I like to know how a word 'works' in a phrase. What did people think when they came up with the phrase 感冒？ A hat/cover on your feelings?? Maybe this 感 means something else?
感 means feel, perceive, emotion
冒 has these meanings, according to…
Gangosa
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8
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1 answer
General guidelines for learning stroke order
A friend asked me for a brief description of the general guidelines for writing Chinese characters. What are the simplest ways to describe those "rules" that apply across most characters?
Don Kirkby
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8
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6 answers
How are ambiguous “brother” and “sister” typically translated into Chinese?
Like several other languages, Standard Chinese has different words for "older brother" (哥哥), "younger brother" (弟弟), "older sister" (姐姐) and "younger sister" (妹妹). However, many languages don't express this type of age relationship by means of nouns…
Tsundoku
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8
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2 answers
What is the part without the radical called?
For example, these characters have different radicals:
根 跟 恨 狠
But the part of the characters minus the radical is the same.
Does that part (艮 in this case) have a name?
Orion
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8
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2 answers
How to hear tones in speech better
Today I mistook 化学 for 滑雪.
That's it.
How can I train my ears to better hear tones when people speak Chinese? Sometimes, the tones aren't pronounced to a level where I can physically hear them/have enough time to hear them.
So, how can I train my…
Featherball
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8
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「虚有其表」这个成语可以用來形容好看，但内容全错的报告吗？
I have a question:
成语－虚有其表－可以用在下面情形吗？
有一个人的报告写的很好看，很漂亮，可内容都错了。
有没有其他的成语？ Any suggestion?
Farnz Seager
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8
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Examples of "bad" simplified characters/简体字?
In particular, there should be many examples of 形声字 ("phono-semantic compound characters") which were "damaged" by simplification. I am interested especially in characters where a 声旁 ("phonetic") or 形旁 ("signific") was partially removed in such a…
Colin
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8
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5 answers
Too many synonyms. How do I know which words are too formal/informal?
Particularly when it comes to verbs, I've noticed that there are so many synonyms. For example, "To resist": 抗，抵抗，抵制，抗拒，反抗 etc. "To feel": 感觉，觉得， 感到，感，感觉到 etc. "To handle": 处理，办理，处置，应付，办 etc.
Right now, I'm mostly concerned with being able to…
Henny
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votes
3 answers
Visual puns and phrases
Some characters are visual puns: 尜 (小大小), 尖 (小大); others are a phrase written as a single character: 膥 (未成肉), 籴 (入米), 汆 (入水), 奀 (不大).
What are some other characters which fit into these categories?
jogloran
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