Did Classical Chinese (文言) have similar use of punctuation marks (标点符号) as modern Chinese?
No. Classical Chinese was not punctuated. The reader could add marks, called 讀 (pronounced tòu/do) and 句; 讀 was like a comma, 句 like a …
What is the reason for the large number of characters in the Chinese language? Is there a way to simplify them without losing their meaning?
Like most other forms of written language, Chinese script started out as a pictographic script where the characters looked like what they represented. You can …
Why is next month 下個月 instead of 明月?
The basic meaning of 明 is bright (sun+moon). 明天 implies hope, a time that we look forward to. When the night is over, the bright …
My English name is Paris im a girl my Chinese name is 范逸瑶. Does it have a meaning, does it go with my name and is it pretty?
If what you wanted to ask is whether Paris Fan is a suitable name for your Chinese name 范逸瑶, which is spell as Fan Yiyao …
Will 個/个 eventually replace the majority of measure words in Chinese?
As Xie Wei mentioned, the term “measure word” / 量词 is actually obscuring a bit of complexity here. The quick and dirty version is that …
Can you help translate my name Cao Mỹ Thanh to Chinese?
This is difficult to translate, mainly because modern Vietnamese uses a phonetic writing system based on the Latin alphabet. I suggest you go back and …
Can Chinese speakers distinguish between tones? What is the right tone in a word?
Yes, I think so. I mean, there are Chinese characters or expressions sharing same spellings in alphabet letters, but their tones are different. Let’s use …
What is the distinction between the characters 女 and 妹 in the Chinese language?
Know someone who is a ballerina? Doesn’t she looks like 女？ The description is in the hands of the word for girl. She is the …
Is Chinese really that hard to learn at least spoken Chinese so I can at least talk?
No, it’s not really hard. Here’s how: (1) Ignore the characters (at least until you can speak fluently). 2) Get a grounding in applied linguistics, …
If Mandarin is Northern China’s dialect, then what is the dialect of Southern China?
There are multiple dialects in South China. Strictly speaking, Mandarin is not a dialect. It is a language with multiple dialects. The national language of …