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1500 questions
6
votes
3 answers
Does pronunciation of a vowel change with tones?
As it is extremely hard to find a good online summary of all Pinyin pronunciation rules, I am listening the sounds in a Pinyin chart: https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-pinyin-chart.php . I have read before that the final -iu is pronounced /iou/, but…
Alan Evangelista
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3 answers
Pronunciation of 腺
Quoting Wiktionary, the glyph origin of the character 「腺」 is as follows:
A 国字 (kokuji, “Japanese-coined character”) coined in the late 1700s–early 1800s by rangaku scholar Udagawa Genshin as a translation for Dutch klier (“gland”), as an…
wang_xiao_ming
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Is Putonghua Mandarin Chinese or is it standard Mandarin Chinese?
This is driving me crazy.
I've always thought that Mandarin was the common language of China and Putonghua was the term use to express this language spoken with standard pronunciation.
I've often heard speakers of Mandarin tell me that they can't…
Kantura
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1 answer
Where to find questions from the imperial exam?
I have found various pages with questions from the last imperial exam in 1904. This one seems most practical.
Given the immense importance of the event, I hope that more records of (prior) exams should survive. How to find them? I am also interested…
Ludi
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2 answers
How to say "politically correct" or "political correctness" in Chinese?
A lot posts online use 政治正确 to mean "politically correct" or "political correctness" in English and I can say it is wrong. A few posts use 政治委婉语, but it doesn't sound good to me either, because 政治 in Chinese only means a small part of "political" in…
孤影萍踪
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6
votes
4 answers
Is there a way to distinguish "vegetarian" from "vegan" in Chinese?
I'd like to know whether there is a way to distinguish vegetarian from vegan in Chinese or is the only word available 素食者？
Joselin Jocklingson
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6
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1 answer
What is the difference between 准备， 预备 and 打算？
I seem to hear 准备 and 预备 used for “prepare” and not as often to mean “plan".
我们准备搬到美国； emphasizing the need for specific preparations for the move.
Myself， I use 打算 for planning something.
我们打算看新的电影； emphasis on merely being a future plan。
What…
tao
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6
votes
3 answers
How did 零 come to mean zero?
I understand that 零 originally meant rain, however for some reason it eventually became fragments and then also zero. How did the meaning of this character shift to become fragments (rain drops, maybe?) as well as zero?
Gabriel Diego
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6
votes
5 answers
What's the difference between 兵器 and 武器?
According to the dictionary, 兵器 = weapons, weaponry while 武器 = weapons, arms. It sounds like they are synonyms to me so I was wondering if those two words are synonyms or do they have some difference in meaning? If they are different can you guys…
Nephilim
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6
votes
3 answers
Proper way to use sentence-final particles (like 啦 or 喽) in spoken Chinese
I know it's very common for Chinese speakers to add special particles to the end of their sentences to enhance the tone a little bit, such as adding 啊 to show excitement or 啦 to sound cute.
Just to show a few examples, I've heard native speakers…
Question Marks
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6
votes
5 answers
生抽 vs. 酱油- differences?
I was looking at this recipe here: https://www.xinshipu.com/zuofa/9787, and noticed the word "生抽“. After inputting it in various online translators, they all said it meant soy sauce. However, the recipe calls for both 生抽 AND 酱油 as separate…
米凯乐
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6
votes
2 answers
Measure words for disrespect
I know certain measure words convey respect, for example:
一位客人
Is there something similar I could use to emphatically disrespect someone, as in:
他是一?饭桶
Or is just using 个 disrespectful enough?
rxmnnxfpvg
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6
votes
2 answers
When handwriting 黄 (huáng; yellow) is it incorrect to have a disconnected 草 (cǎo; grass) radical on top?
Question: When handwriting 黄 (huáng; yellow) is it incorrect to have a disconnected 草 (cǎo; grass) radical on top?
Specifically, this is what I have in mind:
Is the one on the left in the above image incorrect?
Becky 李蓓
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3 answers
How should you start a letter in Chinese?
How should you start a letter in Chinese? More specifically, what's the difference between starters such as 尊敬的，亲爱的，and 敬爱的, and in which cases should you use which one?
写信的时候，“尊敬的”、”亲爱的“、与“敬爱的” 有什么分别？
Edit:
I do know that 尊 and 敬 both mean respect,…
mbjb
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4 answers
