Fans of Chinese and Mandarin
Conversational scenarios, expression techniques, and pronunciation correction exercises—focused on practical Chinese speaking skills
While there have been notably successful logographic writing systems, there are specific reasons why the non-phonetic Chinese characters have survived while overall the “phonetic revolution” that gained impetus from the success of the Phoenician alphabet has spread worldwide. In considering the question we must ask both why the phonetic system took over, and why the … Read more
The wife of the Guangwu Emperor (5 bce – 57 ce) of the Eastern Han was named 陰麗華 Yin Lihua (family name Yin, Lihua, beautiful and flowery, or beautiful flower). The founding emperor of the Sui dynasty had a daughter in 561 ce. He named her 楊麗華 Yang Lihua. There are so many people named … Read more
Mistaken* premise. Chinese writing *IS* phonetic (mostly), but on a syllabic level: each character simultaneously stands for an entire syllable and a complete morpheme (minimal unit of meaning). Most characters include a phonetic element, some more accurate than others but still useful: entire syllable or rhyme only. [Most characters combine a signific 父,革,竹… with a phonetic such … Read more
Correct in grammar but not in phraseology. The more authentic English phraseology is:— She has been to New York many times. — (For having visited there) She has gone to New York for the rest of this month. — (Going there for a purpose)
Most of us use these kinds of sentences “It’s too hot”, “ It’s too rough”, “It’s too high”. We don’t realize that the proper grammatical construction is “too…..to”. It should be “It’s too hot to go shopping”, “ It’s too rough to be worn on bare skin”, “It’s too high for me to reach it”. … Read more
Both. I’ll only be answering primarily from the Korean POV. It’s more complicated than simply being “more” Chinese or Korean, even though there are many more Chinese Jin in the world than Korean Jin. There are two issues at play: Not phonetically the same thing. The much more populous Chinese 金 is indeed pronounced Jin/Chin, and … Read more
Well, in the old days, the clocks indeed had Chinese characters on them. Back then, they were called sundial instruments, or 日晷 in Chinese. Here is what this kind of clock looked like in the Forbidden City. Perhaps with the passage of time, the characters on them have become blurred. Here is another sundial instrument, … Read more
It’s only China/Chine/Cina/Kina and variations of this in most European languages, South Asian and SE Asian languages The word China was thought to have derived from the Chinese Qin dynasty (pronounced chin). China at one time was also known as Cathay which came from the old extinct Khitan language. Altaic and Turkic languages I believe … Read more
Back in my dim and distant university days, I recall the professor in one of my linguistics classes discussing this. It’s difficult to decide what language is “the hardest.” Hardest for whom? How many languages do you consider? Few people would be willing to say that Mandarin is “the hardest language in the world.” More … Read more
This is Fúzhōu (福州). Fúzhōu is a city in southeastern China, located in the province of Fujian. Fúzhōu is the capital of Fujian. This is Fǔzhōu (抚州). Fǔzhōu is another city in southeastern China, in Jiangxi Province, which is next to Fujian Province. This is Húzhōu (湖州). Húzhōu is another city in southeastern China, in Zhejiang Province, which also borders Fujian … Read more