MITRES 21F 003S11 Part1 PDF

LEARNING CHINESE
A FOUNDATION COURSE IN MANDARIN
in four parts
I. Units 1-4 / Chars 1-3

II. Units 5-7 / Chars 4-6
III. Units 8-10 / Chars 7
IV. Units 11-12 / Menu supplement
Julian K. Wheatley
MIT
© 2007
Please do not reproduce without permission
Learning Chinese: A foundation course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, 4/07
Yǒngwǎng zhíqián (‘bravely go forwards’)

'Onwards and upwards!’
The author gratefully acknowledges initial support from

The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning.
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Genesis and acknowledgements

Drafts for the first few lessons of Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin
started to appear as long as six years ago, and since that time it has been completely
revamped at least twice, and then additionally revised or re-ordered two or three times.
The resulting work has been used in near final form for several years in the beginning and
intermediate courses of MIT’s regular Chinese language program, and over the past few
years, has been made available to the public through MIT’s OpenCourseWare. (Chinese
IV, the last segment, goes online in April 2007.)
It is not exaggeration to say that everyone associated with MIT’s Chinese

language program over the last five or six years has contributed in some way to the final
product. Students and teachers have gamely put up with earlier versions, some of them
appearing just-in-time, with no small number of typos and errors. It helped to be writing
in the new millennium, when pinyin and character material could be produced
electronically with proper formatting and illustrations, then easily revised and delivered
to students from course websites. It also helped to be at an institution where there was
enthusiasm for novelty and experimentation.
My colleagues in the Chinese language program throughout the years that this
book was being developed have been Tong Chen (陈彤), who started at MIT when I
began there ten years ago, and Jin Zhang (张锦), who joined our small group a few years
later. Tong Chen provided the raw text for many of the conversations and narratives in
the later units of the book: conversation 9.3 on bargaining for example, the recipe in 11.5,
and the long narratives on kinship, the Chinese school system, and on his hometown,
Tianjin, all in Unit 12. He also contributed much of the background information and the
first version of the long dialogue in the supplementary Menu lesson.
Jin Zhang provided the stroke-order appendices at the end of every character
lesson, and both she and Tong Chen, in addition to proving raw material, also helped to
improve almost all of the Chinese texts, thought up apt examples, noted mistakes in the
Chinese, and made suggestions on the basis of their broad language teaching experience.
Min-min Liang (梁敏敏), who had taught with us briefly before rejoining the program as
the book neared completion, not only edited some of the later material, but scrupulously
reported errors and typos in the late units as she used them to teach Chinese IV. And
Amy Liang (梁爱萍), who attended a good number of the classes when the new materials
were being used, joined me for tea for many afternoons at ‘Au Bon Pain’ so that I could
grill her for examples and check on usage.
Thanks also go to: Li Yongyan (李咏燕) from Nanjing, and later, City University
of Hong Kong, for gathering examples of nursery rhymes, jingles and light verse from
her friends for use in the Rhymes and Rhythms section of each Unit; and to Jordan
Gilliland, who as an undergraduate and graduate student at MIT, developed the
multifaceted flashCube program that, among its many functions, has allowed students to
test themselves on the material in Learning Chinese.
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Finally, I must acknowledge the people who made this enterprise possible in the
first place, the teachers who covered the same ground as Learning Chinese when I was an
undergraduate student at Columbia University and gave me my foundation in Mandarin:
Chih Ping C. Sobelman (蘇張之丙) and Roger Yeu (樂亦平).
Where friends and colleagues have provided dialogue or narrative material for the
book, I have tried to remember to acknowledge them by name. Even though I did not
always take their advice, and frequently injected my own idiosyncratic views into the
final product, their willingness to assist and discuss issues has made the book much better
than it would otherwise have been.
Enrollments in Chinese classes increased regularly over the years I taught Chinese
at MIT, so that I am unlikely to be able to recall the names of all those students who
deserve to be noted for contributions over and above the normal enthusiasm and
resilience that almost all my students have brought to the task of learning Chinese. So at
the risk of omitting a few names, let me cite Kevin A. McComber, who carefully checked
through a number of units and provided useful feedback, and Justin M. Paluska and
Erwan M. Mazarico who over the course of several semesters, regularly sent me lists of
typos and other infelicities that they noted in their perusal of the materials.
After teaching Chinese for so long and – in the time honored fashion of language
teachers -- preparing supplementary materials for fine textbooks written by others, I
decided it was time to write my own so that I could indulge my own preferences. The
result is this book. My hope is that there will be pleasure in it for both students and their
teachers.
子曰，知之者，不如好之者，好之者不如乐之者。
Zǐ yuē, zhī zhī zhě, bùrú hào zhī zhě, hào zhī zhě bùrú lè zhī zhě!
The Master [Confucius] said:
‘Knowing it is not as good as love for it; love for it is not as good as delight in it.’
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Preface
The essential features of

Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin.
Learning Chinese can be divided into four parts: Units 1-4 with Character lessons 1-3;
Units 5-7 with Character lessons 4-6; Units 8-10 with Character lesson 7; and Units 11
and 12. The Character lessons at the point where students can read sufficiently well to
make use of graded readers of the sort already available. In addition, there is a chapter
that provides some general background to the language, a preliminary lesson on the
sounds and their transcription, and an appendix on the Chinese menu. Ten essential
features of the book are listed below:
1. It is for a diverse audience.

The book is intended for a diverse audience, specialist and non-specialist alike. But it is
particularly conceived for the latter group, for whom language courses are the major
source of knowledge of China as well as Chinese. Such students need a course that not
only guides them towards basic conversational and literary skills, but also stimulates their
curiosity about the linguistic setting of the language and the geography, history and
culture of the lands where it is spoken. On completing Learning Chinese, students will
have a solid foundation for further study of the language, whether in a specialized
program of Chinese studies, or in conjunction with work or further study in a Chinese
speaking country.
2. It has a discursive style, with content woven into units.

The textbook proceeds discursively, with content organized in units that are made up of a
dozen or more topics. A unit (including the character portion) may take three weeks or
longer to complete. This approach makes it possible to introduce a wealth of
interconnected material that can form the basis of engaging conversations and interesting
narratives. So, for example, the final unit of Part 1 introduces (among other things) time
phrases, names and titles, introductions and subjects of study. These are practiced
piecemeal in the early classes; but later, they are woven together along the lines of the
culminating dialogue of that unit (in which a Chinese businessman strikes up a
conversation with an overseas student on a bus in Sichuan). Within each lesson, topics
are selected so students can build up a conversational repertoire that can be practiced,
personalized, and extended from lesson to lesson.
3. It is intellectually stimulating.
The textbook is exuberant rather than restrained. Its Chinese content is current and lively,
with subjects that range from ordering food to bargaining, from visiting temples to
discussing conditions in Tibet. It is also larded with quotations, rhymes, popular culture,
linguistic information, and historical and geographical notes. It is intended to be an
intellectually stimulating resource for both students and teachers alike.
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4. Its contents are easily transformed into classroom activities.

The selection and ordering of topics is based on the author’s experience learning and
teaching Chinese over several decades. It is guided by what the beginning student is
likely to encounter in and out of the classroom setting, as well as by the need to provide a
broad foundation of grammatical, lexical and cultural information for future work in
Chinese. It mixes practical topics, such as providing biographical information, buying
train tickets, or giving toasts, with topics of general interest, such as geography, regional
languages and brand names. Such topics are easily enriched with online materials (such
as satellite maps, photographs, video clips and advertisements); they are also easy to
transform into effective classroom activities.
5. It can be used for self-instruction.

With occasional help from a Chinese speaker, particularly in the early stages, Learning
Chinese can serve as a manual for self-instruction. It introduces the language
systematically; it has extensive explanations about grammar and usage, as well as
suggestions about how to learn the material; it provides a pathway for the inductive
learning of characters; it comes with the flashCube learning and testing program (see
#10); and it can be accessed electronically, with a selection of audio files and other
materials from MIT’s Opencourseware.
6. Its character lessons can be omitted or used independently.

Chinese is learned more effectively when the enormous task of learning to read in
characters is separated from the task of learning the sounds, lexicon, grammar and usage
of the language. Because Learning Chinese separates character reading from other
aspects of learning the language, students who wish to study or review the colloquial
language without reference to characters can ignore the character components; while
those with sufficient grammatical knowledge can study the character material alone.
7. It emphasizes reading skills over writing; it teaches simplified and traditional

characters simultaneously.
The character lessons focus on learning to read in characters. Writing is encouraged for
its aesthetic qualities, and as a way to draw attention to the distinguishing features of
characters; so is word processing, which makes use of character recognition skills. But
the emphasis is on reading. Rather than selecting one character set as primary (or offering
separate versions of character material), both the traditional and the simplified are
introduced simultaneously. Given the fact that the majority of characters have either only
one form or very similar forms, learning to read both is quite feasible. For writing
purposes, however, students should probably choose one or the other as their primary
medium.
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8. It uses an inductive approach to promote character reading.

The character lessons are placed at the end of each unit so that, for the most part, the
language represented by the characters is already familiar. Within the lessons, characters
are exemplified first in compounds and phrases, then in sentences, dialogues, and
narratives, as well as in data sets that present information in tabular form. The approach
is inductive. It attempts to provide enough context at each step to make reading possible,
and to thereby ease the process of familiarization and discourage studying from isolated
lists.
9. It accommodates supplementary material.

Learning Chinese is envisioned as the foundation text for a sequence of Chinese language
courses, but although it is comprehensive in its coverage, it can easily accommodate
traditional or online supplements of the kind that teachers use to enrich a course and
make it their own. Nowadays, such materials range from podcasts for listening and blogs
for reading to voice-over-IP telephony for actual conversation. These tools can enrich the
learning environment but their effectiveness still depends on a strong foundation of
linguistic and cultural knowledge.
10. It is accompanied by a learning/testing program called flashCube.

Assistance in internalizing lesson material is provided by way of a computer program
called flashCube, developed by Jordan Gilliland while a student at MIT. As the name
suggests, flashCube delivers through the medium of the computer what has traditionally
been provided by tools such as flashcards, vocabulary and phrase notebooks, and tape
recorders. flashCube stores, in a compact and convenient format, much of the Chinese
material presented in the book, and allows learners to test themselves into and out of
spoken or written Chinese. At their own convenience learners can test themselves on
words, phrases, or sentences, randomly or in sequence, until they are familiar with them.
The classroom can then be reserved for more naturalistic practice, for fine tuning, and for
dealing with special difficulties. flashCube comes with a host of other useful functions
that allow the creation of individualized data bases, or instant access to web-based
encyclopedic information.
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Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, 4/07
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Part 1)
Background (15 pp)

1. China
China
Chinese places
2. Chinese speech
Chinese
Mandarin
The origins of Mandarin (speech)
Varieties of Mandarin
Regional languages or ‘topolects’
3. The written language

Written Mandarin
From Classical Chinese to modern written Chinese
Characters
Traditional and simplified characters
Homophony
Transcribing sound in characters
Pictographs, ideographs, logographs
Representing the sounds of Chinese
Hànyŭ Pīnyīn
4. Key Terms
5. Further Reading and References
Sounds and symbols (18 pp)

1 The syllable
1.1 Sound versus symbol (letter)
1.2 The syllable Ex. 1
2 Tones
2.1 The 4 tones
2.2 Tone concepts
2.3 The low-tone
2.4 The tone chart Ex. 2
2.5 On the history of Mandarin tones
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3 Initial consonants
3.1 The consonant chart
3.2 Notes Ex. 3a,b
3.3 An expanded chart of initials
4 Rhymes
4.1 Notes on the rhymes Ex. 4
4.2 The value of the letter ‘e’ Ex. 5a,b
4.3 The ‘o’ rhymes: ou versus uo / o Ex. 6a,b
4.4 The ü-rhymes
5 Miscellany
5.1 Tonal shifts
5.2 Low-tone shift
5.3 Two single-word shifts
5.4 The apostrophe
6 Writing connected text in pinyin
7 Recapitulation Ex. 7a-h
UNIT 1 (24 pp)
1.1 Conventions
1.2 Pronunciation
1.3 Numbering and ordering

1.3.1 The numbers, 1 – 10
1.3.2 Beyond 10
1.3.3 The ordinal numbers
1.3.4 Dates
1.3.5 The celestial stems
1.4 Stative Verbs

1.4.1 Types of verbs
1.4.2 Questions and positive responses
1.4.3 Negative responses
1.4.4 V-not-V questions
1.4.5 Three degrees of response
1.5 Time and tense

1.5.1 Today, yesterday and tomorrow
1.5.2 SVs plus le
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1.6 Pronouns
1.6.1 Names
1.6.2 The particle ne and the adverb yě Ex. 1
1.7 Action verbs

1.7.1 Negative statements, with méiyou
1.7.2 Positive statement, with le
1.7.3 Questions
1.7.4 Summary of le-patterns
1.7.5 Mini-conversations
1.8 Conventional Greetings

1.8.1 The addition of guo
1.8.2 Reductions Ex. 2a,b
1.9 Greeting and taking leave

1.9.1 Names and titles
1.9.2 Hello
1.9.3 Goodbye
1.9.4 Bon voyage
1.9.5 Smoothing the transitions
1.10 Tones
1.10.1 Tone combos (the first 6)
1.10.2 Tone lock
1.10.3 The first ‘rule of 3’ Ex. 3a-e
1.11 Summary
1.12 Rhymes and Rhythms

Dà dùzi
Xiǎo kēdǒu
Chars 1 (23 pp); character sheets (6 pp)
1.1 General features of Chinese texts

1.1.1 Size
1.1.2 Spacing
1.1.3 Punctuation
1.1.4 Direction
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1.2 The form of characters

1.2.1 Radicals and phonetics
1.2.2 Simplified characters
1.3 Function
1.4 Writing
1.4.1 Writing in the age of word processors
1.4.2 Principles of drawing characters
a) Form b) Direction c) Order d) Two illustrative characters
1.5 Presentation of characters
1.6 Numbers Ex. 1a,b
1.7 Dates Ex. 2a,b
1.8 Days Ex. 3
1.9 Surnames and pronouns

1.9.1 Reading Ex. 4a,b
1.10 More pronouns and function words

1.10.1 Reading
1.11 SVs and associated function words

1.11.1 Phrases (simplified set, traditional set)
1.11.2 Reading
1.12 Action verbs and associated function words

1.12.1 Phrases (simplified set, traditional set) Ex. 5
1.12.2 Reading (simplified set, traditional set)
1.13 On the streets
Unit 2 (31 pp)
2.1 Pronunciation
2.2 Adverbs
2.2.1 Tài with le
2.2.2 Other adverbs
2.2.3 Intensifying or backing off
2.2.4 Conjunctions
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2.3 More SVs

2.3.1 Questions with zĕnmeyàng ‘how [is it]’
2.3.2 Examples
2.3.3 Juéde ‘feel; think’
2.3.4 Zĕnmeyàng as a greeting Ex. 1
2.4 Nouns and modification

2.4.1 Measure-words
2.4.2 Possessive pronouns
2.4.3 Demonstrative pronouns Ex. 2
2.5 Identity
2.5.1 Questions
2.5.2 Hedging your answer
2.5.3 Naming Ex. 3
2.6 Names and titles

2.6.1 Names
2.6.2 Xìng
2.6.3 Jiào
2.6.4 Asking and giving a name
2.6.5 Titles
2.6.6 Shì with names Ex. 4a,b
2.7 Location and existence

2.7.1 Some Chinese place names
2.7.2 Proximity (lí…yuăn/jìn)
2.7.3 Zài ‘be+at’
2.7.4 Zài as a main verb; zài as a co-verb
2.7.5 The verb yǒu ‘have’ Ex. 5
2.8 Miscellany
2.8.1 Welcome
2.8.2 Particles
2.8.3 Praise
2.9 Dialogue: at the airport Ex. 6a,b

2.9.1 Airports and airlines
2.10 Reflections: What have you learned?

2.10.1 Words
2.10.2 Meaning
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2.11 Pinyin notes and practice

2.11.1 Toneless syllables
2.11.2 A pinyin quirk
2.11.3 Tone combos (the next 6) Ex. 7a,b
2.12 Summary
2.13 Rhymes and rhythms
Yì zhī qīngwā
Dà jiǎo
Ràokǒulìng ‘tongue twisters’
2.0 Review
2.1 First set

2.1.1 Phrases Ex. 1
2.2 Second set

2.2.1 Compounds Ex. 2
2.2.2 Set 1 in traditional characters
2.3 Third set

2.3.1 Compounds Ex. 3
2.4 Fourth set

2.4.1 Compounds
2.4.3 Reading (narrative and dialogue) Ex. 4
2.5 Form of characters

2.5.1 Representational characters
2.5.2 Additive characters – or blends
2.5.3 Phonosemantic characters
2.5.4 Character retrieval
2.5.5 An illustration
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2.6 Miscellany
2.6.1 Tone sets
2.7 On the street #2
Unit 3 (39 pp)
3.1 Pronunciation: initials of rows 3 and 4
3.2 Amount
3.2.1 Larger numbers
3.2.2 Some more measure phrases
3.3 Nationality
3.3.1 Country names
3.3.2 Asking about nationality
3.3.3 Foreigners
3.3.4 Have you been there? V-guo
3.3.5 More on proximity
3.4 The cardinal directions: NSEW Ex. 1

3.4.1 Dialogues
3.5 Yes and no

3.5.1 Negative questions
3.5.2 Tag-questions
3.5.3 Is it the case that…? Ex. 2
3.6 Thanks and sorry

3.6.1 Responses to thanking
3.6.2 Sorry
3.6.3 Refusal
3.6.4 Don’t Ex. 3
3.7 Things to drink Ex. 4

3.7.1 Dialogue (Shéi a?)
3.8 Why, because, so

3.8.1 A lot of Ex. 5
3.9 Money
3.9.1 Dollars and cents Ex. 6
3.9.2 How many?
3.9.3 Making a purchase Ex. 7
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3.10 Other numbered sets

3.10.1 Telephone numbers
3.10.2 Days of the week
3.10.3 Days of the month
3.10.4 Siblings
3.10.5 Yígòng ‘altogether; in all’ Ex. 8
3.11 Courses and classes

3.11.1 Subjects of study
3.11.2 Talking about classes
3.11.3 Moveable adverbs (dāngrán; yídìng) Ex. 9
3.11.4 Question words as indefinites
3.12 Dialogue: courses and classes Ex. 10
3.13 Sounds and Pinyin

3.13.1 Tone combos (the last 3 sets)
3.13.2 Initials Ex. 11a,b,c
3.14 Summary Ex. 12
Dà tóu, dà tóu; Tū tóu, tū tóu

Sānlúnchē, pǎo+de kuài
Appendix: Countries and nationalities
3.0 Review
(fantizi, radicals and phonetics, fill-in-the-blanks)
3.1 First set

3.1.1 Phrases
3.1.2 Short descriptions Ex. 1
3.2 Second set

3.2.1 Phrases Ex. 2
3.3 Third set

3.3.1 Phrases
3.3.2 Set 2 in traditional characters Ex. 3
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3.4 Fourth set

3.4.1 Phrases
3.4.2 Set 3 in traditional characters Ex. 4
3.5 Creating new characters

3.5.1 Representing sounds – onomatopoeia
3.5.2 Atomic elements
3.6 Miscellany
3.6.2 Distinguishing characters
3.6.3 Provide missing characters

(roads and airlines)
Unit 4 (49 pp)
4.1 Tone contrasts
4.2 Existence and location

4.2.1 Places
4.2.2 Locations
4.2.3 Existence versus location
4.2.4 Comfort stations
4.2.5 Born, grow up and live
4.3 Time Phrases

4.3.1 Topic--comment
4.3.2 Clock time Ex. 1
4.3.3 Time of events
4.3.4 Business hours
4.3.5 Time zones Ex. 2
4.4 DE revisited
4.4.1 Where the noun head is omitted
4.4.2 Where de does not appear Ex. 3
4.5 Names in detail

4.5.1 The form of names
4.5.2 Xìng
4.5.3 Other names
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4.5.4 Míngzi
4.5.5 Usage
4.6 Years
4.6.1 Dates
4.6.2 Historical notes on dating
4.6.3 Age
4.6.4 The animal signs
4.6.5 Year in school or college
4.7 Studying and working

4.7.1 Vocabulary
4.7.2 Major; specialization
4.7.3 To study
4.7.4 Zài+V ‘action in progress’
4.7.5 Studying; being in school
4.7.6 Work
4.7.7 College and department Ex. 4
4.8 Forms of address

4.8.1 Forms of address, instead of names
4.8.2 The changing scene
4.8.3 General titles
4.8.4 Other terms
4.8.5 Professional titles
4.8.6 From title to prefix Ex. 5
4.9 Introductions
4.9.1 Relational information
4.9.2 A note on words for husband and wife
4.9.3 Responses
4.9.4 Dialogues Ex. 6
4.10 Dialogue: on the bus to Mianyang
4.11 Food (1)

4.11.1 Short narratives
4.12 Pinyin: initial w and y Ex. 7a,b,c
4.13 Summary Ex. 8
xvii
Xīnnián dào, xīnnián dào

Èrlóu sānlóu, chǎngzhǎng shūjì
Appendix 1: Courses of study and university names
Appendix 2: The 45 most common surnames
(Part II)
4.0 Review
a) Fántǐzì reading
b) Radicals and phonetics
c) Fill-in-the-blanks to form words or phrases
d) Labeling the map
4.1 Set 1 with notes

4.1.1 Compounds and phrases
4.1.2 Comment – response Ex. 1



4.5 Traditional characters Ex. 5

4.5.1 Comment – response
4.6 Míngpiàn with vocabulary

1. Creative characters (Toys-Я-us)
2. Names of some Mainland newspapers
xviii
Background
1. China
Names for China

It used to be thought that the name ‘China’ derived from the name of China’s early Qin
dynasty (Chin or Ch’in in older transcriptions), whose rulers conquered all rivals and
initiated the dynasty in 221 BCE. But, as Wilkinson notes (Chinese History: A Manual:
753, and fn 7), the original pronunciation of the name Qin was rather different, and would
make it an unlikely source for the name China. Instead, China is thought to derive from a
Persian root, first used for porcelain and only later applied to the country from which the
finest examples of that material came. Another name, Cathay, now rather poetic in
English but surviving as the regular name for the country in languages such as Russian
(Kitai), is said to derive from the name of the Khitan Tarters, who formed the Liǎo
dynasty in the north of China in the 10th century. The Khitan dynasty was the first to
make a capital in the region of modern Beijing.
The Chinese now call their country Zhōngguó, often translated as ‘Middle
Kingdom’. Originally, this name meant the central, or royal, state of the many that
occupied the region prior to the Qin unification. Other names were used before Zhōngguó
became current. One of the earliest was Huá (or Huáxià, combining Huá with the name of
the earliest dynasty, the Xià). Huá, combined with the Zhōng of Zhōngguó, appears in the
modern official names of the country (see below).
Chinese places
a) The People’s Republic of China (PRC) [Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó]
This is the political entity proclaimed by Máo Zédōng when he gave the inaugural speech
(‘China has risen again’) at the Gate of Heavenly Peace [Tiān’ānmén] in Beijing on
October 1, 1949. The PRC claims sovereignty over Taiwan and the regions currently
controlled by the government in Taipei.
b) Mainland China; the Mainland [Zhōngguó Dàlù]

This is a geographic term, used to refer to the continental part of China, without Taiwan,
but also implying the land in actual control of the PRC. When the term functions as a
proper name, referring to the de facto PRC, then we go against custom and write ‘the
Mainland’, with a capital M; otherwise, it is written with the usual small ‘m’.
c) The Republic of China (ROC) [Zhōnghuá Mínguó]

This was the name of the political entity established in 1912, after the fall of the Manchu
(or Qing) dynasty, which took place the previous year. The man most responsible for the
founding of the Republic was Sun Yat-sen (Sūn Yìxiān in Mandarin), and for this, he has
earned the name Guófù ‘Father of the Country’. But although he was named provisional
president in 1911, fears for the unity of the country led to the appointment of Yuán Shìkǎi
(Yuan Shih-k’ai), an important military and diplomatic official under the Qing, as the
first president of the Republic in 1912. When the later president, Chiang Kai-shek
(Mandarin: Jiǎng Jièshí), fled with his government to Taiwan in 1949, he kept the name
1
Republic of China as the basis of legitimacy over the whole of China, both Taiwan and
the mainland.
d) Taiwan [Táiwān]
Taiwan is some 130 miles off the coast of Fujian; its central mountains are just visible
from the Fujian coast on a clear day. Taiwan was named Formosa by the Dutch, who took
over the Portuguese name of Ilha Formosa ‘beautiful island’. The Dutch colonized the
island in the early 17th century, fighting off the Spanish who had also established bases
on the northern part of the island. Taiwan’s earliest inhabitants spoke Austronesian
languages unrelated to Chinese, and indigenous groups such as the Ami, Paiwan and
Bunan who still speak non-Chinese languages are descendents of those early Taiwan
Austronesians. By the 13th century, if not earlier, Chinese speaking Hakka and Fukienese
– regional Chinese languages – had established small communities on the island. These
were joined by holdouts from the Ming after the fall of that dynasty on the mainland. The
Qing dynasty, that followed the Ming, annexed Taiwan in 1683, making it a province. In
1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan as part of a war settlement, and remained a colony until
1945. Then, in the period before the Communist victory in 1949, large numbers of
mainlanders fled to Taiwan along with, or in conjunction with, the removal of the
Nationalist government.
e) Hong Kong [Xiāng Gǎng]

From July 1997, Hong Kong has been a Special Administrative Region [tèbié
xíngzhèngqū] of China, which guarantees it autonomy within the PRC in all but foreign
affairs and defense. Its English name reflects the Cantonese pronunciation of what is in
Mandarin Xiāng Gǎng ‘fragrant harbor’. Hong Kong was formally ceded to the British in
the Treaty of Nanking [Nánjīng], signed in 1842 (on a ship anchored in the Yangtze
River, slightly east of Nanjing) at the end of the Opium War. The Kowloon Peninsula
[Jiǔlóng ‘nine dragons’] was added in 1860, and the New Territories [Xīnjiè] were leased
for 99 years from 1898, making Hong Kong, in all, a little more than 1000 square
kilometers.
Hong Kong has been settled by a number of distinct Chinese groups, including the
so-called Bendi (‘locals’), who emigrated in the Sung (10th – 12th C.) after being driven
from their homes in north China; the Tanka, fisherfolk who live on boats and are thought
by some to be the descendents of the non-Han Yue people; the Hokla, early immigrants
from Fujian; the Hakka, who ended up mostly in less fertile parts of the New Territories;
and numerous clans and people from nearby Cantonese speaking regions, as well as other
parts of China. Despite its small size, Hong Kong has preserved the traces of many
traditional Chinese social forms and practices better than many other parts of the Chinese
speaking world.
f) Greater China
The occasional need to talk about a single Chinese entity, consisting of the Mainland with
Hong Kong, and Taiwan, has recently given rise to a term, Liǎng’àn Sāndì ‘two-shores
three-lands’.
2
Liǎng’àn Sāndì
(From The World Factbook, 2005; http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html)
g) Nationalists and Communists

After the establishment of the PRC in 1949, it was customary to distinguish the two
political entities by their only extant political parties, the Communist Party
(Gòngchǎndǎng), abbreviated CCP, and the Nationalist Party (Guómíndǎng, or
Kuomintang), the KMT. Hence ‘the Communist government’, ‘the Nationalist leaders’,
etc. Recent changes in Taiwan and the Mainland make neither term appropriate. In
Taiwan, in the election of 1998, the first democratic election in a Chinese country, the
Nationalists failed to win and became the main opposition party. Meanwhile, on the
Mainland, the Communist Party, though retaining its institutional position in the
government, has become less of a dominating force in political life.
h) Běijīng and Běipíng (and Peking)

One of the curious consequences of the political differences between the PRC and the
ROC (Taiwan) is that they have different names for the city formerly known to the
English speaking world as Peking. For the PRC, the capital is Běijīng [‘the northern
capital’], the city that has been the capital for all but brief periods since 1422 when
Emperor Yǒng Lè of the Míng dynasty moved the government north from Nánjīng [‘the
southern capital’] in Central China. However, in 1927, the Nationalists under Chiang
Kai-shek, having little real power in the north and under threat from the Japanese, made
Nánjīng their capital, and restored the name Běipíng (Peiping) ‘northern-peace’ that the
northern city had had before Yǒnglè made it his capital in the 15th century. Officially, the
Nationalists retained the name Běipíng even after the Japanese conquered the city of
Nánjīng, and continued to do after Běijīng reverted to the capital in 1949 under the PRC.
3
The spelling ‘Peking’, with a ‘ki’ may be a vestige of the French system of
transcription that used ‘ki’ to represent the sound ‘tš’ – now written with a ‘j’. Or it may
reflect the Cantonese pronunciation of the name Beijing, in which the initial of the
second syllable is pronounced with a hard ‘k’ sound. Representations of Cantonese
pronunciation were often adopted by the British as official postal spellings (cf. Nanking
[Nánjīng] and Chungking [Chóngqìng]). Though most foreigners now spell the name of
the city in pinyin transcription, Beijing (which represents the Mandarin pronunciation),
the old spelling survives to this day in certain proper names, such as Peking University
(still the official English name of the institution) and Peking duck. The transcription,
Beijing, is not without its problems either, since speakers who do not know the pinyin
system tend to make the ‘j’ sound more foreign or exotic by giving it a French quality:
‘bay-zhing’. As you will soon learn, the actual Mandarin pronunciation is closer to ‘bay-
džing’.
2. Chinese speech
Chinese
Chinese, as a term for language, is used to refer to the native languages, spoken or
written, now or in the past, of the Chinese people. Thus Mandarin, Cantonese,
Taiwanese, and Classical Chinese are all Chinese. In other words, while Chinese can be
used in a narrow sense to refer to what is sometimes called Modern Standard Chinese,
colloquially called Mandarin by most English speakers, it is also used to refer to the
Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. In that respect it is comparable to
the term ‘Romance’, that applies to the modern derivatives of Latin, such as French,
Catalan, Romanian, and Spanish, as well as to Latin itself.
Mandarin [Guóyǔ, Pǔtōnghuà, Huáyǔ]

Mandarin is a term that derives from a Portuguese word meaning ‘counselor’ – or ‘a
mandarin’. As a name for the language, it dates from early Portuguese contacts with
China, when it was used to translate the Chinese term Guānhuà, literally ‘speech of
officials’. Guānhuà was the name given to specialized speaking practices which, though
they might vary from one historical period to another, served as a lingua franca among
officials and other educated classes who might come from different parts of China and
speak mutually unintelligible Chinese in their home regions. A late form of Guānhuà,
based on Beijing speech, can be regarded as the precursor to modern Mandarin. However,
while Mandarin has survived as the English name for the modern language, the Chinese
make use of a variety of terms.
Taiwan and most overseas communities call Mandarin Guóyǔ (‘national

language’), a term dating at least from 1918. The PRC calls it Pǔtōnghuà (‘common
language’), another term with a legacy dating back to the early part of the 20th century. In
Singapore, where the different linguistic situation makes both terms inappropriate, it is
called Huáyǔ (‘the language of the Huá’, Huá being an ancient name for the Chinese
people). All three terms refer to a language that continues to be promoted as a national
standard by the governments of both the PRC and Taiwan, and is generally conceived of
as a norm for educated or formal speech by Chinese speaking peoples the world over.
4
The origins of Mandarin

In traditional China, the majority of the population spoke regional or local languages and
were illiterate. For them, there was no general medium of communication across regional
lines. For the educated, however, Guānhuà served in a limited way as a spoken medium;
and Classical Chinese, the language of administration, education and high culture (see
below), served as a written medium. By the 19th century, it was clear that the lack of a
spoken norm that could serve the communication needs of all classes across the country
was a major obstacle to the modernization of China, and eventually efforts were made to
identify a suitable medium and promote it as the standard. Guānhuà was an obvious
candidate, but by the 19th century, it had become strongly associated with the educated
speech of Beijing, putting southerners at a disadvantage. And Classical Chinese, though it
had no regional bias, was a highly stylized written language with ancient roots that made
it unsuitable as the basis for a national spoken medium.
After various interesting attempts to establish a hybrid language to balance

regional differences, particularly between north and south, the Chinese language planners
settled on the northern strategy, promoting the speech that had also been the basis of
Guānhuà: the educated speech of north China and particularly that of the capital Beijing.
However, though Mandarin is based on educated northern usage and in particular, a
refined Beijing pronunciation, it has also incorporated material from a broad range of
other sources. Words with wide distribution have been adopted over northern or Beijing
localisms, for example; and grammatical constructions characteristic of southern
languages, such as Cantonese, Shanghainese, often co-exist with northern patterns in the
modern language. Spoken Mandarin also absorbed material from written sources that
introduced words and phrasing from the important economic and cultural region of the
Lower Yangtze Valley (Shànghǎi to Nánjīng), and words for modern concepts first
coined in Japanese.
Varieties of Mandarin
Though both Taiwan and the PRC have always agreed on the relationship between
Mandarin pronunciation and educated Beijing speech, political separation and cultural
divergence have resulted in the emergence of two norms, as comparison of dictionaries
from Taiwan and the PRC will show. These differences, though still moderate in scope,
extend from pronunciation to lexicon and usage.
Even more variety is to be found at local levels. The case of Taiwan is illustrative.
There, Mandarin is not the first language of much of the population. The most common
first language is Táiyǔ (‘Taiwanese’), a Southern Min language that is very similar to the
Southern Min spoken in the province of Fujian across the Taiwan Straits. (Southern Min
is also the predominant spoken language of the Singapore Chinese, and many other
Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.) With so many in Taiwan speaking Táiyǔ as a
first language, it is not surprising that Mandarin there is often influenced by the
pronunciation, grammar and usage of that language. The result is Taiwan Mandarin. The
same phenomenon occurs elsewhere, of course, so that no matter where you are in China,
Mandarin heard on the street will generally have local features. Native speakers quickly
get used to these differences, just as English speakers get used to the regional accents of
5
English. But learners will find the variation disruptive, and will need time and experience
to adjust to it.
Though there are probably more and more Chinese whose first language is
Mandarin and whose speech is close to the appointed norms, it is still true that the
majority of Chinese speak more than one variety of Chinese, and for many of them
Mandarin would be a second language. A few years ago, USA Today published statistics
on the ‘world’s most common languages, ranked by population that uses each as a first
language’. Mandarin was listed first, with 885 million speakers (followed by Spanish
with 332 million and English with 322million). The figure for Mandarin would not
include those whose first language is Cantonese or one of the other regional languages.
But it must include a large number of speakers whose Mandarin would be barely
understandable to someone familiar only with the standard.
When describing the best Mandarin (or the best Chinese), Chinese tend to focus
on pronunciation, praising it as biāozhǔn ‘standard’ (as in ‘your Chinese is very
biāozhǔn’). For this reason, native Chinese speakers, who tend to be effusive in their
praise in any case, will sometimes flatter a foreigner by saying s/he speaks the language
better than they do. By better, they mean with a better approximation to the standard,
educated accent. Apart from language classrooms, the most biāozhǔn Mandarin is heard
on the broadcast media, in schools, and in the speech of young, educated urban Chinese.
Regional languages and minority languages

There are some seven major dialect groupings of Chinese, including the geographically
extensive Northern group (divided into Southwestern, Northwestern and Northern
regions) from which Mandarin was promoted. Of the others, Cantonese (Yuè),
Shanghainese (Wú), Fukienese or Hokkien (Mǐn) and Kèjiā or Hakka are the best known.
(Yuè, Wú and Mǐn are Chinese linguistic designations, while Hokkien and Hakka are
dialectal pronunciations of the Mandarin names Fújiàn and Kèjiā, respectively.) All
represent groupings of diverse dialects thought to share a common origin. Even within
the group, the varieties are not necessarily mutually intelligible. Cantonese for example,
includes many dialects, such as Táishān (Hoisan), which are quite distinct from the
standard Canton dialect.
In many respects the dialect groupings of Chinese – represented by Cantonese,

Shanghainese, Hakka etc. – are different languages. They are not, after all, mutually
intelligible and they have their own standard speeches (Canton for Cantonese, Suzhou for
Shanghainese, etc.) In linguistic terms, they are often said to be comparable to Dutch and
German, or Spanish and Portuguese. However, as noted earlier, unlike those European
languages, the Chinese regional languages share a written language, make reference to a
common standard (Mandarin), and identify with a common culture. Recently, the term
‘topolect’, a direct translation with Greek roots of the Chinese term fāngyán ‘place-
language’, has gained currency as a more formal term for what are generally called
‘regional languages’ in this text. So we may speak of Cantonese as the standard language
within the Cantonese (or Yuè) grouping, and varieties such as Hoisan as dialects within
Cantonese.
6
Regional languages should be distinguished from the languages of the non-

Chinese (non-Han) ethnic groups, such as the Mongolians, Tibetans, or Uighurs, that
make up about 8 to 9% of the total population of China. There are 56 officially
recognized ethnic minorities in China, almost all of them with their own languages or
language groups.
Representatives from China's minorities gather around the Chairman. A painting in the
Minorities Research Institute in Beijing. [JKW 1982]
3. Chinese writing
Written Mandarin
As noted above, Mandarin is often used to refer to the written language of China as well
as to the standard spoken language. This is the language of composition learned in school
and used by all educated Chinese regardless of the particular variety or regional
languages that they speak. A Cantonese, for example, speaking Taishan Cantonese
(Hoisan) at home and in the neighborhood, speaking something closer to standard
Cantonese when s/he goes to Canton (city), and speaking Cantonese flavored Mandarin
in certain formal or official situations, is taught to write a language that is different in
terms of vocabulary, grammar and usage from both Hoisan and standard Cantonese. Even
though s/he would read it aloud with Cantonese pronunciation, it would in fact be more
easily relatable to spoken Mandarin in lexicon, grammar, and in all respects other than
pronunciation.
From Classical Chinese to modern written Chinese

Written language always differs from spoken, for it serves quite different functions. But
in the case of Chinese, the difference was, until the early part of the 20th century,
7
extreme. For until then, most written communication, and almost all printed matter, was
written in a language called Wényán in Chinese (‘literary language’), and generally
known in English as Classical Chinese. As noted earlier, it was this language that served
as a medium of written communication for the literate classes
Classical Chinese was unlikely ever to have been a close representation of a

spoken language. It is thought to have had its roots in the language spoken some 2500
years ago in northern China. That language, though still Chinese in the sense that it is
ancestral to modern Chinese languages, would have differed quite significantly in sounds,
grammar and vocabulary from any form of modern Chinese.
Though Classical Chinese can be regarded as a different language from the

modern, it was written in characters that have retained their basic shape to the present
day, and these serve to preserve the connection between ancient and modern words
whose pronunciation and grammatical context is radically different. While for English,
spelling changes (that reflect changes in pronunciation), as well a high degree of word
replacement, make Old English texts almost completely opaque to modern readers,
ancient Chinese texts continue to look familiar to Chinese readers despite the changes
that have taken place in the intervening years. Educated Chinese can read them aloud in
modern pronunciation, Mandarin, say, or Cantonese. Without knowledge of the grammar
and vocabulary of Classical Chinese, they may not fully understand them, but enough
words – and more than words, sayings and phrases – have survived to modern times to
make the writings of Confucius (5th – 6th century BCE), or the poems of Li Po (8th
century AD) superficially accessible to the modern reader of Chinese.
Classical Chinese is still used for certain kinds of formal or ritual writing, eg
diplomas and inscriptions, much like Latin in western countries. It has also been a source
of words, quotations, allusions, stories and even style that appear in the modern written
language, as well as in speech, but relatively few people read the classical language well,
and only a few specialists are still able to write it fluently.
Since Classical Chinese was not based on an accessible spoken language, facility
in writing it required memorizing large samples to act as models. Once learned, the
classical language would tend to channel expression in conservative directions. Citation
was the main form of argument; balance and euphony were crucial elements of style.
These features did not endear it to the modernizers, and they sought to replace it with a
language closer to the modern spoken (as noted in §2). They had a precedent, for all
through Chinese history, there had in fact been genres of writing known as Báihuà
(‘white = plain or vernacular language’) that were rich in colloquial elements. Such
genres were not highly regarded or considered worthy as literary models, but they were
well known as the medium of the popular novels of the Ming and Qing, such as Dream of
the Red Chamber (also called the The Story of Stone), Monkey (also known as Journey to
the West), or the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Báihuà, though it retained classical
elements, provided the early model for a more colloquial standard written language.
8
Because norms within the newly emerging written language varied, and led to
problems of consistency and clarity, some advocated a return to Classical Chinese as the
written standard, and if it could have shed some of its stylistic affectations (such as the
high value put on parallelism of structure and elaborate or archaic diction), Classical
Chinese might have developed into a modern written norm much as Classical Arabic has
become the written norm of the Arabic speaking world. But Classical Chinese was too
closely associated with conservatism and insularity at a time when China was looking to
modernize. Nevertheless, a new written norm does not arise overnight, and for at least the
first half of the 20th century, a number of different styles across the range of classical to
colloquial coexisted and vied for dominance. Following the Chinese revolution, written
styles in Taiwan and the PRC diverged. In the PRC, political and other factors favored a
more colloquial written style, whereas in Taiwan the influence of classical styles has
remained stronger.
Characters
The earliest extensive examples of written Chinese date from late in the second
millenium BCE. These are the so-called oracle bone inscriptions (jiǎgǔwén), inscribed or
painted on ox bones and the bottom plate, the carapace, of tortoise shells. This early
writing made use of characters whose form differs in appearance but which can be
directly related to the modern characters (particularly the traditional characters that are
still standard in Taiwan). In the Qin dynasty (221 – 206 BC), the script was modified and
standardized as part of the reform of government administration. The resulting style,
known as the ‘little seal’ (xiǎo zhuàn) is still used on seals (or ‘chops’). At first glance,
little seal characters look quite unlike the modern, but a native reader can often discern
the basic parts and figure them out.
A script known as lìshū came into extensive use in the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220
AD). Individual strokes in the lìshū style are described as having “silkworm’s head and
swallow’s tail”. It is still used occasionally for writing large characters. The modern
script, the kind generally used for printed matter, is based on the kǎishū ‘the model script’
that has been in use since before the period known as the Southern and Northern
Dynasties (5th and 6th centuries). Other varieties of script were developed for
handwriting (xíngshū ‘running script’) and calligraphy (cǎoshū ‘grass script’).
Traditional and simplified characters

In the past, simpler and more complex versions of characters have often co-existed. In
many cases, the more complicated were used for formal correspondence and the simpler,
for personal. In the 1950s however, as part of a program to promote literacy in the PRC, a
set of simpler characters, most of them based on attested forms, were promoted as a
general standard for all printed matter. Singapore adopted the new forms for most
purposes, but Taiwan, Hong Kong and most overseas communities kept the traditional
forms, and as a result, two types of (formal) characters are now in use in the Chinese
speaking world. In Chinese, these are called fántǐzì ‘abundant-stroke-characters’ and
jiǎntǐzì ‘simple-stroke-characters’, or in English, ‘traditional’ and ‘simplified’. The two
types are illustrated below, using the phrase Zhōngguó huà ‘Chinese [spoken] language
(middle-country speech)’:
9
Traditional Simplified
中國話中国话
Zhōngguó huà Zhōngguó huà
The three characters cited illustrate the differences nicely. Many characters have
only one form (like zhōng), or show slight differences between the two forms (like huà).
Others (like guó) show significant differences but are easily relatable. Relatively few, no
more than a few dozen, are completely different, and most of those are commonly
encountered. So the differences between the two sets of characters are not as significant
as might be imagined. A native speaker sees the relationship between the two fairly
easily, and using context, moves from one to the other without much difficulty. Students
generally write only one style, but they should be comfortable reading either.
Homophony
Characters represent syllable-length words (or rather, morphemes, the components of
compounds). Since in Chinese these units are short, the chance of homophony is
relatively high, more so than in English. In English words pronounced the same are often
written the same, eg the ‘pens’ of ‘pig pen’ and ‘ink pen.’ But it is also common in
English for different words of identical pronunciation to be written differently: ‘to, too,
two’. Written Chinese is more comparable to the latter case: words with different (and
unrelatable) meanings are written with different characters. A syllable such as shi can be
written dozens of ways, depending on the meaning, as the famous Chinese linguist Chao
Yuen Ren showed in a tour de force whose title was:
施氏食獅史
Shī shì shí shī shǐ.
(Shi) clan eat lion story
The tale of how Shī of the Shì clan ate the lion.
Chao’s tale continues for another 100 or so characters, all pronounced shi on one of the
four tones. It is written in the very concise prose of Classical Chinese (and given modern
sound values when read). Written in modern Chinese, there would be far less
homophony; many of the single syllable words would, in fact, be compounds. So the
story could probably be read aloud and understood. But Chao’s exercise makes the point
nicely: characters are units of sound and meaning. Letters are units of sound only.
Transcribing sound in characters

Characters are sometimes used only for their sound values, with the usual meanings
ignored. In this way, Chinese characters can be used to transcribe foreign sounds. So just
as we can use Roman letters to write Chinese in pinyin, Chinese have used characters to
write foreign languages, including English. Here is an example from a very simple
Chinese English-teaching manual from the Mainland (and therefore written in simplified
characters):
10
艾姆搜普利丝得吐斯衣油厄根
ài-mǔ sōu pǔ-lì-sī-dé tǔ sī-yī yóu è-gēn
I’m so pleased to see you again.
Characters are regularly used for their syllabic value, in this way, to transliterate
personal names, names of places, as well as sounds: 沙士比亞 Shāshìbǐyà ‘Shakespeare’;
密西西比 Mìxīxībĭ ‘Mississippi’; 嘩啦huālā ‘splat’ [sound of crashing]. But because
characters can only be used for syllabic units, the match is not usually as good as it would
be in an alphabetic system, that can match a symbol to each consonant and vowel sound.
A more precise match could be achieved by inserting an alphabetic transcription such as
bopomofo or pinyin (see below) into a character text, but this practice is still rare.
Pictographs, ideographs, logographs.

Simple characters, or the basic components of more complicated ones, can often be
traced back to pictorial representations, and for this reason characters are sometimes
labeled pictographs. The earliest characters, the oracle bone inscriptions, look even more
like pictures. But the majority of modern characters do not derive directly from attempts
to represent objects pictorially, and even those that do, have become so conventionalized
that it is only in rare cases that one can guess the meaning from the form alone. That is
not to say that Chinese characters do not have certain aesthetic qualities that can be
exploited in poetry and art, or that their pictorial qualities cannot be exploited for
language learning as well; it is rather that the pictorial aspects of characters do not
necessarily play a significant role in ordinary reading or writing.
The term ideograph has also been applied to Chinese characters, sometimes with
the implication that characters allow immediate access to meaning without reference to
sound, or without reference to particular words. The fact that Chinese characters were
borrowed into other languages such as Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese to represent
words that matched in meaning but not sound offer some support for such a notion.
Indeed, it is true that the link between character and sound can vary. Cantonese speakers
read Chinese with Cantonese sounds, while Mandarin speakers read them with Mandarin
(much as Australians or Scots read English texts in their own pronunciation). But
regardless of the particular language, understanding of the text is still dependent on
linguistic contexts. Even in classical Chinese, the reader has to identify words and
contexts that are linguistic, not just in the realm of thought, in order to perceive meaning.
So, like pictographic, the term ideographic is not a very suitable characterization either.
Writing systems are better named according to the units that they encode. Thus
English is basically phonographic, with letters encoding sounds; but it also has
considerable logographic elements (to, too, two; &; $). Chinese writing is primarily
logographic (units encode words) but also has syllabo-graphic elements that connect
syllables that are similar in sound.
11
Taibei: Selling New Year scrolls. [JKW 1970]
Representing the sounds of Chinese

While characters do exhibit sound-based connections, the pronunciation of a particular
character is not systematically indicated by its form. This can be an advantage, as we
noted earlier, for it allows speakers of different regional languages, or even different
languages in the case of Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese, to apply quite different
sounds to the same graph. But for learners, it creates obvious difficulties. Learners need
to be able to symbolize the pronunciation accurately for purposes of keeping track of
material and internalizing correct pronunciation. (When Cantonese and speakers of other
regional languages learn Mandarin, they need a transcription system for the same
reasons.) Of even more importance, an alphabetic system of writing, which can be
learned very quickly, speeds up the presentation of spoken language material.
Alphabetic systems for writing Chinese date back at least to the 16th century.
Most have made use of Roman letters, and are therefore called Romanizations. We can
illustrate some of the systems, using the compound word for ‘Chinese language’ again:
12
1. Wade-Giles Chūngkuó huà ㄓ = zh

ㄨ = w
2. Yale Jūnggwó hwà ㄥ = eng
3. National Romanization Jong-guo huah ㄍ = g

ㄨ = w
4. Zhùyīn Fúhào Æ Æ ㄛˊ = ó
5. Hànyǔ Pīnyīn Zhōngguó huà ㄏ = h

ㄨ = w
ㄚ、 = à
The Wade-Giles system (named for Thomas Wade, a Professor of Chinese at

Cambridge University at the turn of 19th century who invented it, and Herbert A. Giles, a
consular officer and later, Wade’s successor at Cambridge who incorporated it in his
dictionary) was for many years used in most English language publications on China, as
well as in library catalogues. It is well known for distinguishing the plain initial
consonants from the aspirated (g from k, d from t, zh from ch etc. in the pinyin system)
by placing an apostrophe after the latter: kuo versus k’uo, for example, or chung versus
ch’ung. (This is phonetically quite sensible since both sounds are voiceless in Chinese.)
The Yale system grew out of work performed by the War Department during
World War II and was used in the Yale textbook series, familiar to several generations of
students of Chinese. It is probably the most transparent [for English speakers] of the
Romanized transcription systems. National Romanization (Guóyŭ Luómăzì), a system
that had official status in China during the 1930s, incorporates the tone in the spelling –
notice there are no tone marks above the vowels – which makes it invaluable for learning
and retaining tones. Hànyǔ Pīnyīn is the official system of the PRC and has been
accepted by most of the rest of the world, including, recently, Taiwan.
Zhùyīn Fúhào (‘transcription of sounds’), the system shown on the right of the
others above, is called Bopo mofo, colloquially, after the first four letters of its alphabet.
It has a longer history than pinyin, being based on a system created in 1919, called
Zhùyīn Zìmŭ ‘transcription alphabet’ that was intended to serve as a fully fledged writing
system. It was inspired by the Japanese ‘kana’ system, whose symbols derive from
characters rather than Roman letters. Bopo mofo symbols have the advantage of looking
Chinese and of not suggesting any particular English (or other language’s) sound values.
In Taiwan, children, as well as many foreign students, learn to read with materials in
which Bopo mofo is written vertically alongside the character text to indicate
pronunciation.
Hànyŭ Pīnyīn
Pinyin (‘spelling the sound’) was developed and officially adopted by the PRC in the
1950s, and it is now used in textbooks, dictionaries and other reference books, computer
13
input systems, and on road and shop signs there. In recent years, some schools in China
have been encouraging children at certain stages in their education to write essays in
pinyin to improve composition and style, and it is not unlikely that its functions will
continue to expand in the future.
It is sometimes claimed that pinyin (or any other such system of transcribing the
sounds of Mandarin) cannot serve as a fully-fledged writing system because the degree of
homophony in Chinese is such that some reference to characters is necessary for
disambiguation. This is certainly true in the case of the shi-story cited earlier, and it
might be true for Classical Chinese in general (if it is read out in modern pronunciation,
as it usually is). But it is certainly not true for texts written in colloquial styles. Anything
that can be understood in speech can be written and understood in pinyin. Many people
email successfully in pinyin without even indicating the tones! The question is, using
pinyin, how far one can stray from colloquial speech and still be understood. Written
styles range from the relatively colloquial to the relatively classical, but if the latter can
be understood when read aloud, then presumably they can be understood written in
pinyin.
Băihuā qífàng, băijiā zhèngmíng!

100-flowers together-blossom, 100-schools [of thought] contend
Let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend!
百花齊放，百家爭鳴
4. Key Terms
Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Bĕijīng (Peking)
The Mainland Bĕipíng (Peiping)
The Republic of China (ROC) Máo Zédōng
Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek (Jiăng Jièshí)
Hong Kong (Xiāng Găng) Sun Yat-sen (Sūn Yìxiān)
Qīng (Manchu) dynasty (1644-1912) 1842
Míng (Chinese) dynasty (1368-1644) 1911
Yuán (Mongol) dynasty (1279-1368) 1949
Chinese oracle bone inscriptions (jiăgŭwén))
Guānhuà (officials’ language) little seal characters (xiăo zhuàn)
Mandarin model script (kăishū)
Guóyŭ (national language) traditional characters (fántĭzì)
Pŭtōnghuà (ordinary language) simplified characters (jiăntĭzì)
lingua franca homophony
Classical Chinese (Wényán) pictographs
Báihuà ideographs
Táiyŭ logographs
Taiwanese Mandarin Wade-Giles
Hànyŭ Pīnyīn Zhùyīn Fúhào (Bopo mofo)
dialects
Regional languages: Cantonese; Shanghainese; Fujianese (Hokkien); Kejia (Hakka), etc.
14
5. Further reading and references

Chen, Ping. Modern Chinese, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
DeFrancis, John. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press, 1984.
DeFrancis, John, ed. ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, Honolulu: University

of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Erbaugh, Mary S. Difficult Characters: Interdisciplinary Studies of Chinese and

Japanese Writing (Pathways to Advanced Skills, Publication series volume VI),
National Resource Center, The Ohio State University, 2002.
Hannas, William C. Asian’s Orthographic Dilemma, Honolulu: University of Hawai’i

Press, 1997.
Newnham, Richard. About Chinese, Penguin Books, 1971.
Norman, Jerry. Chinese (Cambridge Language Surveys), Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1988.
Ramsey, Robert S. The Languages of China, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton

University Press, 1987.
Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A Manual (Harvard-Yenching Monograph

Series, 52), Harvard University Asia Center. Revised and enlarged, 2000.
Beijing: In the Imperial Palace [JKW 1982]
15
Sounds and symbols: An overview of pinyin

“The writer was required at school to read his lessons aloud
sixty times; that was for reading books in his own language.”
Chao Yuen Ren, talking about himself, in Mandarin

Primer, Harvard University Press, 1961, fn. 1, p. 118.
Contents
1 The syllable Exercise 1
2 Tones Exercise 2
3 Initial consonants Exercise 3
4 Rhymes Exercises 4, 5, 6
5 Miscellany
7 Recapitulation Exercise 7
To learn to converse in Chinese, it helps to develop two abilities: the ability to recognize
and produce the sounds of the language adequately so you can hear and repeat Chinese
material; and the ability to match the sounds of Chinese to phonetic notation so you can
read, take notes or otherwise keep track of language material before you have internalized
the formal character based writing system. However, it is monotonous – and probably
inefficient – to try to learn the sounds and transcription before you learn how to say
anything. So this introductory lesson serves a short-term and a long-term purpose. In the
short-term, it provides the information you need to proceed to the first speech samples in
Unit 1. And in the long-term, it provides detailed information about the sounds and their
notation, which you will be able to refer to regularly as you progress through the book.
Station sign at a Beijing subway station, written in characters and pinyin

(the latter showing word divisions but not tones). [JKW 2005]
16
1 The syllable
As noted in the introduction, Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (literally ‘Chinese-language joined-sounds’),
called ‘pinyin’ for short, is the a notation for representing standard Mandarin
pronunciation. It has official status not only in China but also in the international
community, and is now generally used throughout the Chinese speaking world. Though
based on familiar Roman letters (only v is not utilized), both consonantal letters (c, x, and
q, for example) and vocalic (such as i, u and o) are sometimes matched to sounds in ways
unfamiliar, or even counterintuitive to speakers used to modern English spelling
conventions.
1.1 Sound versus symbol (letter)

From the start, it is important to make a distinction between sound and the representation
of sound. In pinyin, for example, jī is pronounced jee (with 'level tone'), qī is chee.
Neither is hard (for English speakers) to pronounce, but the way the latter is represented –
with a ‘q’ (and no following ‘u’) – is counterintuitive, and difficult to remember at first.
On the other hand, pinyin r represents a sound that, for many speakers of standard
Mandarin, is a blend of the r of run with the s of pleasure (or the j of French je) – in other
words, an ‘r’ with friction. This sound may be difficult for a non-Mandarin speaker to
produce well, but associating it with the symbol ‘r’ is less problematical. So, as you learn
pinyin, you will encounter problems of pronunciation on the one hand, and problems of
transcription, on the other. It is important to keep the distinction clear.
1.2 The syllable

When introducing the sounds of standard Chinese, it is useful to begin with the syllable, a
unit whose prominence is underscored by the one-character-per-syllable writing system.
The spoken syllable in Chinese is often analyzed in terms of an initial consonant sound
and a rhyme, the latter being everything other than the initial. Chinese school children,
when focusing on pronunciation, often read out pinyin syllables (which are usually also
meaningful units associated with characters) in an exaggerated initial-rhyme division:
tuh--ù > tù (‘hare’), luh--óng > lóng (‘dragon’), etc.
The pinyin written syllable can also be usefully analyzed in terms of an initial and
a rhyme. The rhyme, in turn, contains vowels (V), a tones (T) written above the vowels,
medials (M) and endings (E). Of these, only the vowel is always present (as, for example,
in the sentence-final particle that is simply an untoned a). Thus, all possible pinyin
syllables can be represented by the following formula:
Initial | Rhyme
T
Ci | M V E
i,u,ü i,o/u,n,ng
17
Vowel: a
Vowel\Tone: ā, è
Initial + Vowel\Tone: tā, bǐ, kè, shū

Initial + Medial + Vowel\Tone: xiè, zuò, duì, xué, jiù, nüé
Initial + Vowel\Tone + Ending: hěn, máng, hǎo, lèi, dōu

Initial + Medial + Vowel\Tone + Ending: jiàn, jiǎng, jiāo
Initials are 21 in number, and are usually presented in a chart of representative

syllables, arranged in rows and columns (shown in §3.1 below). Whether the initials are
written with a single consonant letter (l, m, z) or several (sh, zh), they all represent only
one sound unit (or phoneme). Chinese has no initial ‘clusters’ of the sort represented by
‘cl’ or ‘sn’ in English.
There are six possible [written] vowels: a, e, i, o, u and ü (the last representing a
‘rounded high front’ vowel, as in German über or the last vowel of French déjà vu).
Vowels can be preceded by medials (i, u and ü), and followed by endings, two of which
are written with vowel symbols (i, o), and two with consonantal (n, ng). There is actually
a third vowel ending that can occur after the main vowel (in addition to i and o), and that
is u; for with the main vowel o, the ending o is written u to avoid the misleading
combination ‘oo’. Thus, to cite words from Unit 1, one finds hǎo, lǎo (both with -o), but
instead of ‘dōo’, you get dōu, and instead of ‘zhōo’, you get zhōu (both with –u).
Notice that the inventory of consonantal endings in Mandarin is small – only n

and ng. Regional Chinese languages, such as Cantonese, have more (-p, -t, -m, etc.) The
well known name of the Chinese frying pan, the ‘wok’, is derived from a Cantonese
word, with a final ‘k’ sound; its Mandarin counterpart, guō, lacks the final consonant. In
historical terms, Mandarin has replaced final consonants, Cantonese has preserved them.
Surnames often show the same kind of distinction between the presence and absence of a
final consonant in Mandarin and Cantonese: Lu and Luk, Yip and Ye, for example.
Tones are a particularly interesting feature of the Mandarin sound system and will
be discussed in more detail in §2 in this unit. For now, we note that stressed syllables may
have one of four possible tones, indicated by the use of diacritical marks written over the
main vowel (V). Unstressed syllables, however, do not have tonal contrasts; their pitch is,
for the most part, conditioned by that of surrounding syllables.
Because medials, vowels and some endings are all written with vowel letters,
pinyin rhymes may have strings of two or three vowel letters, eg: -iu, -ui, -iao, -uai. By
convention, the tone mark is placed on the vowel proper, not on the medial or on the
ending: lèi, jiāo, zuò. As a rule of thumb, look to see if the first of two vowel letters is a
possible medial; if it is, then the next vowel letter is the core vowel, and that gets the tone
mark; if not, then the first gets it: iè, ǎo, ué, ōu, iào.
18
Exercise 1.
Without trying to pronounce the syllables, place the tone marks provided over the correct
letter of the pinyin representations:
xie [\] jiang [–] dui [\] hao [ˇ] lian [/] gui [\] zhou [–] qiao [/]
One sound that is not shown in the syllable formula given in §1.2 above is the
final r-sound. It is represented, not surprisingly, by r in pinyin, and is obligatory in a few
words with the e-vowel, such as èr ‘two’. However, in northern Mandarin, a common
word-building suffix, appearing mostly in nouns, and favored by some speakers and some
regions more than others, is also represented by a final ‘r’, eg diǎnr, huàr, bànr, huángr.
The final r often blends with the rest of the syllable according to rather complicated rules
that will be discussed in detail elsewhere.
2 Tones
Words in Mandarin are pronounced with a regular tonal contour, or pitch, much like the
stress patterns that distinguish the English verb ‘reCORD’ from the noun ‘REcord’. In
Mandarin, the word lǎoshī ‘teacher’, for example, is pronounced laoshi (‘low’ followed
by ‘high’), which in English terms is like having to say teacher rather than teacher each
time you say the word. The presence of tones in Chinese is often cited as another of those
lurid features that makes the language unique and difficult to learn; but tones are, in fact,
not unique to Chinese and probably no more difficult to learn than stress or intonation is
for learners of English.
As noted earlier, there are four basic tones in Mandarin. Regional dialects of
Mandarin, such as those spoken in the Tianjin area or in the far southwest (Kunming, for
example) may realize the four tones with markedly different pitch contours from those
found in standard Mandarin. Moreover, the regional languages have more than four
tones. Cantonese, for example, is usually analyzed as having four tones on two levels, for
a total of [at least] eight. Mandarin also differs from most of the regional languages in
having a predilection for words with [non-initial] toneless syllables: shūshu ‘uncle’;
xíngli ‘luggage. In some cases, toneless syllables are virtually swallowed up by the
previous syllable; wǒmen ‘we’, for example, is often pronounced ‘wǒm’ in speech.
2.1 The 4 tones

It is difficult to learn to produce or even recognize tones from descriptions, though we
will use the descriptive terms ‘high (and level), rising, low, falling’ as a way of referring
to them. These terms are only suggestive of the actual shape of the tone, but they do
underscore the symmetry of the system: a high and a low, a rising and a falling. In
modern Mandarin, though the tones have formal names (that can only be rationalized by
reference to earlier stages of the language), it is common practice to refer to them
numerically by using the numbers 1-4 (yī, èr, sān, sì) and the word for sound, shēng
[shuhng]: yīshēng, èrshēng, sānshēng, sìshēng. (Toneless syllables are called qīngshēng
‘light-toned’.) In English we can also refer to the tones as ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’ and
19
‘fourth’. As noted earlier, in pinyin, tones are indicated iconically by marks placed over
the ‘main’ vowel letter.
TONES
ā high 1st yīshēng
á rising 2nd èrshēng
ǎ low 3rd sānshēng
à falling 4th sìshēng
a context dependent qīngshēng
2.2 Tone concepts

To learn to produce tones, it is useful to conceive of them in particular ways. The first
tone, for example, which has a high and level contour, can be thought of as SUNG OUT,
because singing a syllable in English usually results in sustained level pitch rather like the
high tone. The second tone, which rises from mid-low to high, can be associated with
DOUBT: “Did you say Wáng?” “Máo?” The third tone is the subject of the next
paragraph, but the fourth tone, which falls from a very high pitch to a low, can usefully
be associated with LIST FINAL intonation, or – for many people – CERTAINTY: ‘I said
Wèi’ or ‘It’s late!’; or ‘1,2,3 (all rising) and 4!’
2.3 The low-tone

You will notice that the pinyin symbol for the low-tone is v-shaped, suggesting a contour
that falls, then rises. In isolation, it does indeed fall and rise: hǎo ‘be good’; wǒ ‘I; me’;
jiǎng ‘speak; explain’. But in close conjunction with a following syllable (other than one
with the same low-tone – as shown below), it tends to have a low, non-rising pitch.
If you can find a Chinese speaker to model the following phrases (from Unit 1), you can
try listening for relatively low pitch in the low-toned syllable, hěn [huhn] ‘very; quite’,
that appear at the beginning of the following phrases:
hěn gāo ‘tall’

hěn máng ‘busy’
hěn lèi ‘tired’
For most speakers, a low-toned syllable in second position of a phrase will also
stay low, without much of a rise. Again, if you can find a speaker to model the following
phrases, see if you agree that the second syllable is primarily low:
shūfǎ ‘calligraphy’
tuántǐ ‘group’
kànfǎ ‘point of view’
20
For learners, regarding the third tone as ‘low’, then learning that it rises in certain
contexts, seems to produce better results than thinking of it as falling-rising and canceling
the final rise in certain contexts. So the third tone, we will refer to as ‘low’, and to
produce it, you aim low and add the final rise only when the syllable is isolated.
2.4 The tone chart

The chart below takes 12 of the most common surnames to illustrate the four tones. (In
Chinese, the surname is the first component of the full name, not the last: eg Lǐ in Lǐ
Liánjié (Jet Li’s Chinese name). In the chart, the four tones are characterized in terms of
their pitch contours (high and level, rising, etc.) as well as by the four heuristic concepts
(sung out, doubt, etc.) that help us to produce them correctly.
tone: 1 2 3 4
egs. Zhōu Wáng Lǐ Wèi

Zhāng Máo Kǒng Dù
Gāo Chén Mǎ Zhào
description: high, level rising low (with rise) falling

concept: sung out doubt (?) low finality (!)
Exercise 2.
The following short sentences consist of a pronoun tā ‘he; she’, the verb xìng (think
syìng), meaning ‘be surnamed’, and one of the 12 surnames presented above. Keeping
your tone concepts in mind, and ideally, with feedback from a Chinese speaker, focus on
the different tones of the surnames while pronouncing the sentences.
Tā xìng Zhāng. His/her surname’s Zhang.

Tā xìng Máo.
Tā xìng Wèi.
Tā xìng Wáng.
Tā xìng Kǒng.
Tā xìng Zhōu.
Tā xìng Dù.
Tā xìng Gāo.
Tā xìng Mǎ.
Tā xìng Chén.
Tā xìng Zhào.
Tā xìng Lǐ
2.5 On the history of Mandarin tones

Tone systems as complex, or more complex than that of Mandarin are a feature of dozens
of languages spoken in southwest China and adjoining regions of mainland Southeast
Asia, including the national languages of Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. While tone may
21
be a more or less permanent feature of the region, within particular languages, tone
systems may appear, evolve, or disappear.
The tonal system of Chinese is also known to have evolved over the centuries.
Evidence from ancient rhyme tables and other sources indicates that at an earlier stage,
prior to the 7th century, the ancestor of modern Mandarin also had four tones. They were
named píng ‘level’, shǎng ‘rising’, qù ‘going’ and rù ‘entering’ (which are the modern
pronunciations of the names given to them then). The last was found only on checked
syllables, those ending with stopped consonants such as -k, -t and –p, which as noted
earlier, are no longer found in Mandarin.
The earlier names of the tones are suggestive, but we cannot know precisely what
the four sounded like. We do know, however, that they were distributed differently from
those of modern Mandarin. In fact, the modern names for the four tones of Mandarin
reflect their evolution. The modern tones are called, formally, yīnpíng, yángpíng, shăng
and qù (tones 1 through 4, respectively). The rù-tone has disappeared (along with the
consonantal endings), and the words that once had that tone now appear with other tones.
As the names suggest, old píng toned words are now divided between yīnpíng (the level)
and yángpíng (the rising). It is known that the tonal distinction between level and rising,
seen on words such as tīng ‘listen’ versus tíng ‘stop’, emerged from a contrast that was
formerly found in the initial consonants. Similar splits in all the original four tones are at
the basis of the eight tone systems of regional languages such as Cantonese.
Some linguists have adduced evidence for pre-tonal stages of Chinese, or at least
stages when pitch differences were not so prominent. A more detailed discussion of tone
in Chinese can be found in books listed at the end of introduction.
3 Initial consonants
Many pinyin letters are pronounced ‘like English’: the ‘el’ of lǎo, for example, is very
like English ‘l’, and pinyin f, s, n and m all have more or less the same values in Chinese
and English scripts. Unfortunately, such cases are liable to make you think of English
even where the pinyin letters have rather different values from those of English. Below is
a table of symbols that represent all the possible initial consonants of Mandarin.
Following Chinese custom, they are presented with a particular set of vowels, and
ordered from front of the mouth (labials) to back (velars, and glottals).
3.1 The consonant chart

Two notes: First of all, letters w and y, which do appear initially in pinyin (eg in the
numbers wǔ ‘five’ and yī ‘one’), are treated as special cases of ‘u’ and ‘i’, respectively, in
initial position; thus, instead of ‘ī’, one finds yī, instead of ‘ǔ’, wǔ, instead of ‘iě’, yě,
instead of ‘uǒ’, wǒ, etc. Second, the vowels conventionally placed with the different
classes of initials to make them pronounceable turn out to be some of those that have
quite idiosyncratic values for speakers of English. Thus ‘o’ in the first line of the table
below is not pronounced ‘oh’, but ‘waw’; ‘e’ in the second line is ‘uh’; ‘i’ in the third and
fourth lines is swallowed up by the initial, but in the fifth line, it represents the more
expected ‘ee’. The vowel sounds will be discussed in §4 below, but for now, you can use
22
the hints provided on the right hand side of the chart, and imitate your teacher or some
other speaker of Chinese:
like I II III IV V-sound

1 lips bo po mo fo (‘waw’)
2 tongue tip at teeth ^ de te ne le (‘uh’)
dzz/tsz/sz 3 flat tongue at teeth _ zi ci si (not ‘ee’)
jr/chr/shr 4 tongue tip raised ! zhi chi shi ri (not ‘ee’)
‘yie[ld]’ 5 spread lips <> ji qi xi (‘ee’ )
6 back of tongue high ~ ge ke he (‘uh’)
3.2 Notes
Columns I and II
In English, the distinction between sounds such as ‘b’ and ‘p’ or ‘d’ and ‘t’ is usually said
to be one of voicing (vocal chord vibration): with ‘b’ and ‘d’, voicing begins relatively
earlier than with ‘p’ and ‘t’. However, in Chinese, the onset of voicing of the row I
consonants is different from that of English. The that the sound of pinyin ‘b’ is actually
between English ‘b’ and ‘p’, that of pinyin ‘d’, between English ‘d’ and ‘t’, etc. That is
why the Wade-Giles system of Romanization (mentioned in the introduction) writes ‘p/p’’
rather than ‘b’ and ‘p’ (T’aipei rather than Taibei); in phonetic terms, both are voiceless,
but the first is unaspirated, the second aspirated. Being aware of this will help you to
adjust to what you hear; and remembering to articulate the column I initials ‘lightly’
should keep you from sounding too foreign.
Row 1
These consonants are ‘labials’ – all involve the lips. Pinyin writes the sound ‘waw’ (cf.
English ‘paw’) with just an o only after the labials; otherwise it writes it uo. Thus bo, po,
mo, fo rhyme with duo, tuo, nuo, luo (the latter set not shown in the table above). In other
words, o by itself always equals uo (and never ou). Apparently, the creators of pinyin felt
that after the labial initials it was unnecessary to indicate the labial onset with ‘u’. It will
be important to keep the sound of o / uo separate from that of ou, which rhymes with both
syllables of English ‘oh no’.
Rows 3, 4 and 5 – the crucial rows!

With z, c, and s in row 3, the tongue is flat and touching the back of the teeth at the gum
line. The letter i following row 3 initials is not pronounced ‘ee’; it simply represents a
continuation of the voicing of the consonantal sound. So for zi, ci, si, think ‘dzz’, ‘tsz’,
‘ssz’ (as indicated on the left of the chart). English does not have consonants comparable
to the first two row-3 initials, z and c, except at the end of words and across root
boundaries: pads; cats. In German and Russian, though, similar sounds do occur at the
beginning of words, eg German zehn [dz-] ‘ten’, or Russian cená [ts-] ‘price’. [The last,
also written with a c, suggests the source of the pinyin convention.]
With zh, ch, sh and r in row-4, the tip of the tongue is raised towards the roof of
the mouth (on or near the rough area behind the teeth known as the alveolar ridge) in
what is called a retroflex position. As with the row-3 initials, the letter i in this position
23
represents only a persistence of the consonantal sound. So for zhi, chi, shi and ri, think
‘zhr’, ‘chr’, ‘shr’, and ‘rr’. In English, an ‘r’ following a consonant will often produce the
retroflex articulation of the tongue that is characteristic of the row-4 consonants; so
another way to get your tongue in the correct position for those initials is to make
reference to English, and match zh to the ‘dr’ of ‘drill’, ch to the ‘tr’ of ‘trill’, sh to the
‘shr’ of ‘shrill’ and r to the ‘r’ of ‘rill’.
Finally, with j, q, and x of row-5, the tongue is positioned like the ‘yie’ in English
‘yield’; and this time, the letter i is pronounced ee, so for ji, qi, xi think ‘jyee’, ‘chyee’,
‘syee’. Later, you will see that row-5 initials are only followed by the written vowels i
and u. The first will always be pronounced ‘ee’ in this context, the second, always ‘ü’.
The initial-r of row-4

R-sounds vary considerably among languages: the Scots trill their tongue tips; the
Parisians flutter their uvulas; Spanish flap their tongues; and Barbara Walters (a TV news
broadcaster and interviewer) has an r that sounds like a cross been ‘r’and ‘w’. The
Chinese r is different again; it has a little bit of a buzz to it. Like zh, ch, and sh, it is
retroflex (with tongue tip up) so it resembles the initial sound of English ‘rill’ or ‘ridge’;
but it also has friction like the ‘s’ in ‘pleasure’ (or French je ‘I’). You will observe
considerable variation in the quality of Chinese r, depending on the following vowel and
on the particular speaker. Examples: rén, rè, rù, ràng, ruò, ròu, rì.
Exercise 3.
a) Try pronouncing the following syllables, randomly selected from rows 3, 4 and 5
initials, on level (ie 1st) tone:
qi si zhi zi ji qi si ri chi
xi shi ci zhi qi si chi ji xi
b) Now try pronouncing these Chinese names:
Cí Xì Qí Báishí Lǐ Shízhēn Qízhōu

th
(last empress) (famous calligrapher) (16 C herbalist, from Qizhou)
3.3 An expanded chart of initials

The conventional chart of initial consonants exhibits a rather restricted and idiosyncratic
set of rhymes. We can make the initial consonant chart a little more comprehensive by
adding one or two lines to each row, as follows:
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

(1) bo po mo fo
ban pan man fan
24
(2) de te ne le
duo tuo nuo luo
dai tai nai lai
(3) zi ci si
zao cao sao
(4) zhi chi shi ri

zhuo chuo shuo ruo
zhou chou shou rou
(5) ji qi xi
ju qu xu
jian qian xian
(6) ge ke he
gan kan han
4 Rhymes
A table showing all possible rhymes follows below. It is too long and complicated to be
quickly internalized like the chart of initials, but you can practice reading the rows aloud
with the help of a teacher or native speaker. You can also map your progress through the
rhymes by circling syllables, or adding meaningful examples, as you learn new
vocabulary. The table is organized by main vowel (a, e, i, o, u, ü), and then within each
vowel, by medial (i, u and ü) and final (i, o/u, n, ng). The penultimate column, marked
‘w/o Ci’ (ie ‘without initial consonant’), lists syllables that lack an initial consonant (with
the rarer ones placed in parentheses) and so begin with a (written) vowel or medial (the
latter always represented with an initial y or w). The final column gives pronunciation
hints. Asterisks (*), following certain numbered rows, mark sets that need special
attention. Final-r, whose special properties were mentioned above, is treated separately.
Rhymes with (a): egs w/o Ci

1 a ta cha da ma ba la a
2 a-i tai chai dai mai chai zai ai
3 a-o tao chao dao pao zao rao ao
4 a-n tan ran zhan can lan pan an
5 a-ng dang sang zhang mang lang zang ang
6 i-a jia qia xia ya
7 i-a-o jiao qiao xiao yao
8* i-a-n jian qian xian yan [yen]
9 i-a-ng jiang qiang xiang yang
10 u-a hua gua zhua shua wa
11 u-a-i chuai (wai)
12 u-a-n huan guan zhuan shuan cuan wan
13 u-a-ng huang guang zhuang shuang wang [wahng]
25
Rhymes with (e)

14 e zhe che she re le e [uh]
15 e-i zhei shei lei fei bei (ei) [ay]
16 e-n zhen shen fen cen men en [uhn]
17 e-ng leng sheng ceng deng zheng (eng) [uhng]
19 i-e jie xie lie mie ye [yeh]
20* u-e jue que xue nüe lüe yue [yüeh]
Rhymes with (i) the ‘ee’ rhymes

21a i li bi ti yi [yee]
21b ji qi xi yi [yee]
22 i-n jin qin xin lin bin yin [yeen]
23 i-ng jing qing xing ling bing ying [yeeng]
24* u-i dui gui shui rui chui [-way] wei [way]
the ‘buzzing’ i-rhymes

25* i zi ci si [dzz, tsz…]
26 i zhi chi shi ri [jr, chr…]
Rhymes with (o)

27* o bo po mo fo [-waw]
28 u-o duo tuo guo shuo zuo [-waw] wo [waw]
29* o-u zhou zou dou hou chou [-oh] ou [oh]
30 o-ng zhong dong long zong
31 i-o-ng jiong qiong xiong yong
Rhymes with (u) the ‘oo’ rhymes

32 u shu lu zhu zu cu [-oo] wu [woo]
33* u-n shun lun zhun kun cun [-wuhn] wen [wuhn]
34* i-u jiu qiu xiu liu diu [-yoo ~ -yeo] you [yeo]
Rhymes with (ü) the ‘ü’ rhymes

35* u ju qu xu lü nü [-yü] yu [yü]
36 u-n jun qun xun [-yün] yun [yün]
4.1 Notes on the rhymes

The relationship between the i- and u-rhymes and Ci
Recall that in the Ci chart presented earlier, the row-4 Ci (zh, ch, sh, r) are distinguished
from the row-5 (j, q, x) by position of the tongue. In English terms, the distinction is a ‘j’,
‘ch’ or ‘sh’ with the tongue in the position of ‘dr’, ‘tr’ or ‘shr’ (respectively), versus a ‘j’,
‘ch’ or ‘sh’ with the tongue in the position of the ‘y’ of ‘yield’ (ji, qi, xi). But this
difference, even if it is appreciated, seems, nonetheless, very slight. And, indeed, it would
be much more difficult to perceive it if the vowels that followed were identically
pronounced. But they never are!
26
Note that row-5 Ci initials (j, q, x) are ONLY followed by the sounds (not the
written letters, the sounds!) ‘ee’ and ‘ü’, written i and u, respectively. Here are some
examples:
ji, jie, jian, qi, qie, qian, xi, xie, xian; ju, jue, jun, qu, que, qun, xu, xue, xun.
Row-4 Ci, on the other hand (and the same goes for row-3) are NEVER followed by the
sounds ‘ee’ and ‘ü’:
zhi, zi, zhu, zu, zhan, zan, chi, ci, chu, cu, chan, chen etc.
Because the creators of pinyin let i and u each represent two different sounds, this
complementary distribution is obscured: the vowels of ji and zhi look alike, but they do
not sound alike; the same for ju and zhu. So if you hear ‘chee’ it must be written qi, for
‘ee’ never follows ch; if you hear ‘chang’, it must be written chang, for q can only be
followed by the sound ‘ee’. And so on.
Exercise 4.
The following syllables all contain the written vowels i and u. Practice reading them
clearly, on a single tone. As with all the exercises in this lesson, repeat daily until
confident.
chi qi xie qu chu chun jia qin cu qu shun

qun shu ju ci xu zi zhu shi xi xia qu
________________________________________________________________________
4.2 The value of the letter ‘e’

The value of e also violates the expectations of English speakers. It is ‘uh’ in all contexts
(ze, deng, chen) except where it follows written i or u, when it is pronounced ‘eh’ (xie,
nie, xue), or when it precedes a written i, where it is pronounced ‘ey’ (lei, bei, zei).
Exercise 5.
a) Practice reading the following syllables containing e:
chen wei zhen xie ben ren lei re bei jie e leng zei che bie
b) Now try pronouncing the following proper names:
[uh] [uh] [eh] [ey]

Zhōu Ēnlái Máo Zédōng Jiǎng Jièshí Běijīng
(premier) (chairman) (Chiang Kai-shek)
Lǐ Dēnghuī Éméi shān Lièníng Sòng Měilíng

(former Tw pres.) (Omei Mtn.) (Lenin) (wife of Chiang)
27
4.3 The ‘o’ rhymes: ou versus uo / o

On early encounters, it is easy to confuse pinyin rhymes that are spelled similarly, such as
-ou and -uo. This can lead to some pronunciation problems that are very difficult to
correct later, so you need to make sure you master them early. The rhyme ou, with the ‘O’
leading, is pronounced like the name of the letter ‘O’ (in English) – rhyming with ‘know’.
The rhyme, uo, on the other hand, with the ‘O’ trailing, is pronounced like ‘war’ without
the final ‘r’. However, as you now know, after the row-1 Ci , uo is spelled o: bo, po, mo,
fo rhyme with duo, tuo, nuo and luo.
Exercise 6.
a) Here are some more names (mostly), all containing ‘o’:
Bōlán Sūzhōu Mòxīgē

(Poland) (city near Shanghai) (Mexico)
luòtuo Zhāng Yìmóu Zhōu Ēnlái

(camel) (film director) (premier)
luóbo Guō Mòruò Lǐ Bó (aka Lǐ Bái)

(radish) (20th C writer) (Tang poet)
b) And more single syllables, which you can read on a tone of your choosing:
mou tuo bo fo zhou duo po dou zuo fou luo rou
4.4 The ü-rhymes

The first note in §4.1 (under the list of rhymes) makes the point that many of the ü-
rhymes are revealed by the class of consonantal initial. Written u after row-5 initials (j, q,
x) is always pronounced ü; after any other initial, it is ‘oo’; thus (with any particular
tone): zhu - ju, chu - qu, shu - xu, but pu, fu, du, ku, hu, etc. However, the sound ‘ü’ does
occur after two initials other than the j, q and x of row-5. It occurs after n and l, as well.
In these cases, ü may contrast with u, and the difference has to be shown on the vowel,
not on the initial: lù ‘road’ versus lǜ ‘green’; nǔ ‘a crossbow’ versus nǚ ‘female’. In
addition to being a core vowel, the sound ‘ü’ also occurs as a medial. Again, when it
follows row-5 initials, it is written as u: jue, que, xue; but following l or n it is written
with ü: lüèzì ‘abbreviation’; nüèji ‘malaria’. In the latter cases, it is redundant, since there
is no contrast üe versus ue.
5 Miscellany
5.1 Tonal shifts
Before leaving the survey of sounds and notation, we need to return to the subject of tone,
and take note of the phenomenon of tonal shifts (called ‘tone sandhi’ by linguists). It
turns out that in certain contexts, tones undergo shifts from one to the other. (In
Mandarin, the contexts where this occurs are very limited; in regional languages such as
28
Hokkien, such shifts are much more pervasive.) We will mention these shifts here, and
then practice producing them more systematically over the course of later units.
5.2 Low-tone shift

If two low tones (tone-3s) appear consecutively in the same phrase, the first shifts to a
rising tone:
3 + 3 > 2 + 3
low + low > rising + low
hěn + hǎo > hén hǎo ‘good’

hěn + lěng > hén lěng ‘cold’
Lǐ + lǎoshī > Lí lǎoshī ‘Professor Lee’
It is, of course, possible to have three or more low tones in a row, but such cases will be
considered later.
5.3 Two single-word shifts

The are also a few more idiosyncratic shifts that involve only single words. The negative,
bu, is falling tone except when followed by another falling tone, in which case it shifts to
rising tone: bù hǎo ‘not well’, but bú lèi ‘not tired’. In the latter case, the result is a
trajectory like the sides of a mountain, up, then down, and students in the past have kept
track of this shift by calling it the ‘Fuji shift’, after Mount Fuji (which is, of course, in
Japan, not China). Below, bu is shown in combination with some adjectival verbs (called
Stative Verbs in Chinese grammatical tradition); these sets (involving stative verbs from
the conversational material in Unit 1) should be repeated regularly until fully
internalized.
bù gāo ‘not tall’

bù máng ‘not busy’
bù hǎo ‘not well’
And exaggerated > bú lèi ‘not tired’ bú è ‘not hungry’

bú rè ‘not hot’ bú cuò ‘not bad’
Another single-word shift involves the numeral yi ‘one’. In counting, and in many
compounds, it is level toned: yī, èr, sān, sì ‘1, 2, 3, 4’; yīshēng. But where yi is
grammatically linked to a following ‘measure word’, it shows the same tonal shift as bu,
rising before a falling tone (yí fèn ‘a copy’), but falling before any other (yì bāo ‘a pack’).
yì zhāng ‘a [table]’
yì tiáo ‘a [fish]’
yì běn ‘a [book]’
but yí fèn ‘a copy [of a newspaper]’
29
Note that the low tone shift (hěn + hǎo > hén hǎo) applies to any word (or
syllable) that fits the grammatical condition (of being within a phrase); but the shift from
falling to rising affects only a few words, including bu and yi.
5.4 The apostrophe

In certain contexts, an apostrophe appears between the syllables of a compound written in
pinyin: Xī’ān [the name of a city in China]; hǎi’ōu ‘seagull’; chǒng’ài ‘dote on’. The
apostrophe is used when a syllable beginning with a vowel letter (a, e, o) is preceded
(without space) by another syllable; in other words, where the syllable boundary is
ambiguous. By convention, the apostrophe is only used when the trailing syllable begins
with a vowel; a word like yīngān, with two potential syllable divisions, is always to be
interpreted as yīn + gān, never yīng + ān (which would be yīng’ān).

Unlike earlier systems of Chinese phonetic notation, some of which were intended as
fully fledged auxiliary writing systems that could co-exist with (or even replace)
characters, pinyin was intended as an adjunct to characters, used to indicate pronunciation
and to provide a means for alphabetical ordering. For this reason, the rules and
conventions for writing connected text in pinyin were not well defined at first. However
increasing use of computers for the production of text and in everyday communication, as
well as the proliferation of contact between China and the rest of the world has put a
premium on the use of pinyin. Nowadays, in addition to its use in pedagogical materials
such as this book, pinyin is used for emailing, for input in word processing, for url or
email addresses, and to complement characters on advertisements, announcements, and
menus, particularly those intended for an international audience in Chinese cities and
abroad.
In 1988, the State Language Commission issued a document with the translated
title of “The Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography,” and with a few minor
exceptions, this textbook conforms to those proposed rules. [The ABC Chinese-English
Dictionary, cited at the end of the Background chapter, contains a translation of this
document as an appendix.] Only two general points will be mentioned here. First, normal
punctuation practices hold. Sentences begin with capital letters, as do proper names; they
end with periods, and other punctuation marks are used more or less as in English.
Second, words, not syllables, are enclosed by spaces. Thus ‘teacher’ is written lǎoshī, not
lǎo shī. Characters, by contrast, which always represent syllable-length units, are
separated by a space regardless of word boundaries. Of course, defining what a word is
can be problematical, but pinyin dictionaries or glossaries can be relied upon to make
those decisions for us. Other conventions, such as the use of the hyphen, will be noted
when needed. So when you write pinyin, it should look like this:
Gémìng bú shì qǐngkè chīfàn….

revolution not be invite-guests eat-meal
Revolution isn’t [like] inviting guests over for a meal….
Mao Zedong
30
Writing pinyin in this way makes it readable. And in fact, where emailing in
characters is restricted by technical problems, pinyin can serve even without tone marks
so long as the above orthographical conventions are observed: Geming bu shi qingke
chifan….
7 Recapitulation
That completes our survey of the sounds and transcription of Mandarin Chinese. Already
you will be able to pronounce the names of Chinese people and places considerably better
than television and radio newscasters and announcers generally do. Exercise 7 reviews
what you have covered in this lesson.
Exercise 7
a) Write out the formula for all possible pinyin syllables; list the medials; list the finals.
b) Place the tone marks given in the parentheses in the correct position in the syllables:
xue (/) bei (–) sou (v) jie (\) bie (/) suo (v)
c) List (or recite) 12 surnames, grouped by tone.
d) Write out the table of initial consonants. How many rows are there? Which rows are
particularly problematical? What sounds (and vowel symbols) can follow the row-5
initials?
e) Pronounce the pairs on the tone indicated. Note: in this exercise, as well as in (h)
below, not all syllables are actual Chinese words on the tone cited; cf. English ‘brink’
and ‘blink’, ‘bring’ and ‘bling’, but only ‘brick’ – no ‘blick’ (yet).
i. (tone 1) qi – ci, xi – si, ji – zi, qu – cu, xu – su, ju – zu
ii. (tone 2) zi – zhi, ci – chi, ji – zhi, xi – shi, si – shi, qi – chi
iii. (tone 3) de – dei, ge – gei, le – lei, zhe – zhei
iv. (tone 3) bie – bei, lie – lei, pie – pei, die – dei.
v. (tone 1) po–pou, bo–duo, luo–lou, tuo–po, ruo–rou, mo–luo, tuo–tou
f) Pronounce the following personal and place names:
Zhōu Ēnlái Máo Zédōng Jiǎng Jièshí Cáo Yǔ

(premier) (chairman) (Chiang Kai-shek) (20th C playwrite)
Lǐ Dēnghuī Lǐ Xiāngjūn Sòng Měilíng Wáng Zhìzhì

(former Tw pres.) (a patriotic courtesan) (wife of Chiang) (b-ball player)
31
Dèng Xiǎopíng Zhū Róngjī Lǐ Xiǎolóng Cáo Cāo

(post Mao leader) (recent premier) (Bruce Lee) (historical figure)
Běijīng Xī’ān Guǎngzhōu Zhèngzhōu

(capital) (in Shaanxi) (Canton city) (city in Henan)
Sìchuān Jiāngxī Chóngqìng Chǔxióng

(province) (province) (city in W. China) (city in Yunnan)
g) Apply the tone-change rules to the following phrases:
hĕn lěng bu gāo lăobăn bu guì lăo Lĭ yi běn

cold not tall ‘boss’ cheap old Lee one book
bu hăo yǔsǎn bu duì nĭ hăo bu cuò yi fèn

not good umbrella wrong hello not bad one copy
h) Read the sets listed below aloud. Each set of three syllables follows the pattern ‘rising,
rising, falling’, like the usual list intonation of English ‘1, 2, 3’, or ‘boats, trains, planes’;
lá, wéi, jìn!
lá wéi jìn!
láo tái dù!
sóu sí mìng!
zí xiá qìng!
ní zhí hòu!
lái duó zhèn!
fó qí cì!
xíng cuó shì!
móu guó shòu!
rén béi zhà!
________________________________________________________________________
32
Coda
Chinese who studied English in China in the sloganeering days prior to the 80s can often
remember their first English sentence, because in those days textbook material was
polemical and didactic and lesson content was carefully chosen for content and gravity.
So let your first sentence also carry some weight, and be appropriate for the endeavors
you are about to begin. Here it is, then:
種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆。
Zhòng guā dé guā, zhòng dòu dé dòu.
plant melon get melon, plant bean get bean
‘[You] reap what you sow.’
(Cf. xīguā ‘water melon’; dòuzi ‘beans; peas’.)
Zàijiàn. ‘Goodbye. (again-see) ’

Míngtiān jiàn. ‘See you tomorrow! (tomorrow see)’
Shrine in a Kūnmíng restaurant to Guāndì, a guardian spirit revered

by owners of small businesses, soldiers, secret societies and others. [JKW 1997]
33
UNIT 1
Jiǔ céng zhī tái, qǐ yú lěi tǔ; qiān lǐ zhī xíng shǐ yú zú xià.
9 level tower, begin by piling earth, 1000 mile journey begins with foot down
A tall tower begins with the foundation; a long journey begins with a single step.
Lǎozǐ
Contents
1.1 Conventions
1.2 Pronunciation
1.4 Stative Verbs
1.5 Time and tense
1.6 Pronouns Exercise 1
1.7 Action verbs
1.8 Conventional greetings Exercise 2
1.10 Tones Exercise 3
1.11 Summary
1.1 Conventions
The previous Unit on ‘sounds and symbols’ provided the first steps in learning to
associate the pinyin transcription of Chinese language material with accurate
pronunciation. The task will continue as you start to learn to converse by listening to
conversational material while reading it in the pinyin script. However, in the early units,
it will be all too easy to fall back into associations based on English spelling, and so
occasionally (as in the previous overview), Chinese cited in pinyin will be followed by a
more transparent transitional spelling [placed in brackets] to alert you to the new values
of the letters, eg: máng [mahng], or hěn [huhn].
In the initial units, where needed, you are provided not only with an idiomatic
English translation of Chinese material, but also, in parentheses, with a word-for-word
gloss. The latter takes you into the world of Chinese concepts and allows you to under-
stand how meanings are composed. The following conventions are used to make the
presentation of this information clearer.
Summary of conventions
a) Parentheses (...) enclose literal meanings, eg: Máng ma? (‘be+busy Q’)
b) Plusses (+) indicate one-to-many where needed, eg: nín ‘you+POL’
c) Capitals (Q) indicate grammatical notions, eg: Q for ‘question’; POL for
‘polite’. In cases where there is no easy label for the notion, the
Chinese word itself is cited in capitals, with a fuller explanation to
appear later: Nǐ ne? ‘(you NE)’
34
d) Spaces ( ) enclose words, eg: hěn hǎo versus shūfu; used instead of + in
literal glosses, eg hǎochī (‘be good-eat’).
e) Hyphens ( - ) used in standard pinyin transcription to link certain constituents, eg

dì-yī ‘first’ or mǎma-hūhū ‘so-so’. In English glosses, hyphens
indicate meanings of the constituent parts of Chinese compounds,
eg hǎochī (‘be good-eat’).
f) Brackets [ ] indicate pronouns and other material that is obligatorily expressed

in one language, not in the other: Máng ma? ‘Are [you] busy?’ Or
they may enclose notes on style or other relevant information: bàng
‘be good; super’ [colloquial].
g) Angle brackets < > indicate optional material: <Nǐ> lèi ma? ie, either Nǐ lèi ma? or
Lèi ma?
h) Non-italic / italic indicates turns in a conversation.
1.2 Pronunciation
To get your vocal organs ready to pronounce Chinese, it is useful to contrast the
articulatory settings of Chinese and English by pronouncing pairs of words selected for
their similarity of sound. Thus kǎo ‘to test’ differs from English ‘cow’ not only in tone,
but also in vowel quality.
a) kǎo cow b) xìn sin c) shòu show

hǎo how qín chin zhōu Joe
nǎo now jīn gin sǒu so
chǎo chow[-time] xìn seen ròu row
sǎo sow[’s ear] jīn Jean dōu dough
bǎo [ship’s] bow lín lean tóu toe
d) pō paw duō doo[r] e) bízi beads

bō bo[r]e tuō to[r]e lǐzi leads
mō mo[r]e luō law xízi seeds

This section contains information that can be practiced daily in class by counting off, or
giving the day’s date.
1.3.1 The numbers, 1 – 10:
yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
35
1.3.2 Beyond 10
Higher numbers are formed quite regularly around shí ‘ten’ (or a multiple of ten), with
following numbers additive (shísān ‘13’, shíqī ‘17’) and preceding numbers
multiplicative (sānshí ‘30’, qīshí ’70):
shíyī shí’èr shísì èrshí èrshíyī èrshí’èr èrshísì sānshí sānshíyī

11 12 14 20 21 22 24 30 31
1.3.3 The ordinal numbers

Ordinals are formed with a prefix, dì (which by pinyin convention, is attached to the
following number with a hyphen):
dì-yī dì-èr dì-sān dì-sì dì-wǔ, etc.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
1.3.4. Dates
Dates are presented in descending order in Chinese, with year first (nián, think [nien]),
then month (yuè, think [yu-eh]) and day (hào). Years are usually presented as a string of
digits (that may include líng ‘zero’) rather than a single figure: yī-jiǔ-jiǔ-liù nián ‘1996’;
èr-líng-líng-sān nián ‘2003’. Months are formed regularly with numerals: yīyuè ‘January’,
èryuè ‘February’, shí’èryuè ‘December’.
èrlínglíngsān nián bāyuè sān hào ‘August 3rd, 2003’

yījiǔbāwǔ nián èryuè shíbā hào ‘February 18th, 1985’
Notes
1. Amongst northern Chinese, yīyuè often shows the yi tone shift in combination
with a following day: yíyuè sān hào. Qī ‘7’ and bā ‘8’, both level-toned words,
sometimes show the same shift in dates (as well as in other contexts prior to a
fourth toned word): qíyuè liù hào; báyuè jiǔ hào.
2. In the written language, rì ‘day’ (a much simpler character) is often used in
place of hào: thus written bāyuè sān rì (八月三日), which can be read out as such,
would be spoken as bā ~ báyuè sān hào (which in turn, could be written verbatim
as 八月三号).
1.3.5 The celestial stems

Just as English sometimes makes use of letters rather than numbers to indicate a sequence
of items, so Chinese sometimes makes use of a closed set of words with fixed order
known as the ‘ten stems’ (shígān), or the ‘celestial stems’ (tiāngān), for counting
purposes. The ten stems have an interesting history, which will be discussed in greater
detail along with information on the Chinese calendar in §4.6.2. For now, they will be
used in much the same way that, in English, roman numerals or letters of the alphabet are
used to mark subsections of a text, or turns in a dialogue. The first four or five of the ten
are much more frequent than the others, simply because they occur early in the sequence.
36
The ten celestial stems (tiāngān)
jiǎ yǐ bǐng dīng wù

甲乙丙丁戊
A B C D E
jǐ gēng xīn rén guǐ

己庚辛任癸
F G H I J
1.4 Stative Verbs

The verb is the heart of the Chinese sentence. Young urban speakers of Chinese may slip
material from English or other languages into the noun position in a sentence (Wǒ yǒu
lab. ‘I have a lab’), and nouns such as jítā ‘guitar’ with foreign origins have been
incorporated in the language as a result of persistent contact with other cultures. But very
rarely does foreign language material show up in the verb position.
Some comparisons with English also reveal the centrality of the verb to the
Chinese sentence schema. In Chinese, where the context makes the participants clear,
verbs do not need to be anchored with pronouns – as they do in English:
Jiǎ Máng ma? Are [you] busy?
Yǐ Hěn máng. Yes, [I] am.
In English, ‘am’ is not a possible response to the question ‘are you busy?’. A
pronoun is required: ‘I am.’ However, in the English answer, the verb ‘busy’ does not
need to be repeated – ‘I am’ rather than ‘I am busy’. Chinese behaves oppositely from
English, as our example shows. Pronouns are often not expressed when the context
makes the reference clear. On the other hand, verbs tend to be reiterated in the answer,
without the need of an equivalent to the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ of English.
1.4.1 Types of verbs

As you encounter words in Chinese, you will find that it is useful to categorize them into
groups and subgroups (the traditional parts of speech and their subclasses), such as nouns
(with subtypes such as countable and non-countable), verbs (with subtypes such as
transitive and non-transitive), pronouns (eg, personal pronouns and demonstratives), and
adverbs (eg, manner adverbs and degree adverbs). Such categories capture useful
generalizations about how words behave. An adverb, for example, will always appear
before a verb (or other adverb).
It is also useful to be able to talk about the components of a sentence: subjects,

predicates, adverbials, modifiers, etc. A general schema for the sentence hěn máng would
be a null subject, and a predicate consisting of an adverb (hěn) and a verb (máng). It is
not necessary to be adept at using the linguistic nomenclature, but it is important to be
37
able to understand the notion of classes of words and positions within sentence structure
so that generalizations can be noted.
For Chinese verbs, it will be useful to distinguish a number of classes. In this

lesson, we will focus on two. One resembles what are called adjectives in English and
many other languages: hǎo ‘be good’, máng ‘be busy’, è ‘be hungry’. As the English
glosses show, these words do not require an additional form of the verb ‘to be’ (‘are, am,
is, etc.’) when they are used as predicates in Chinese: Lèi ma? ‘Are [you] tired?’ / Hěn
lèi. ‘[I] am.’ The difference is shown by translating the Chinese words as ‘be+tired’,
‘be+good’, etc. Because such words convey states rather than actions, they are called
‘stative verbs’, abbreviated as ‘SVs’. Strictly speaking, SVs should always be glossed as
‘be+adjective’ (when they are being used as predicates). But once the notion is familiar,
we will often fall back on the more convenient practice of glossing them with English
adjectives: máng ‘busy’; shūfu ‘comfortable’.
Another general class of verbs involve actions: chī ‘eat’; xǐzǎo ‘to wash’; zǒu ‘to
walk; leave’. These will simply be called action verbs, abbreviated Vact.
1.4.2 Questions and positive responses

You can begin by learning to ask questions with SVs, and to give either positive or
negative responses. Assuming that the context makes explicit [subject] pronouns
unnecessary, then one way to ask questions that seek confirmation or denial - yes-no
questions - is to add the final ‘question particle’ ma to the proposal:
Hǎo ma? Are [you] well?

Máng ma? Is [she] busy?
Lèi ma? Are [you] tired?
È ma? Is [he] hungry?
Kě ma? Are [you] thirsty?
Jǐnzhāng ma? Are [they] nervous?
Shūfu ma? Are [you] comfortable?
Lěng ma? Are [you] cold?
Rè ma? Is [it] hot?
Gāo ma? Is [she] tall?
Duì ma? Is [it] correct?
Notes: máng [ mahng]

lèi rhymes with English ‘say’; duì (and wèi), rhyme with ‘way’
è [uh]; cf. rè [ruh] and hěn [huhn]
jǐnzhāng [jeen-j!ahng]; shūfu [sh!oofoo] – ! reminds you to raise the
tip of your tongue towards the roof of your mouth.
Positive responses repeat the verb, usually with an adverb. The default adverb,
where no other is chosen, is hěn, usually glossed as ‘very’, however, in contexts such as
these, hěn does little more than support the positive orientation of the sentence, and so is
best left untranslated. SVs such as duì ‘correct’, which are ‘all or nothing’, do not occur
with degree adverbs, such as hěn.
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Máng ma? Hĕn máng. Yes, [I] am.

Kĕ ma? Hĕn kě. Yes, [I] am. Apply the tone rule!
Gāo ma? Hĕn gāo. Yes, [she] is.
Duì ma? Duì. Yes, [it] is.
Notice that unlike English, where the typical positive answer indicates affirmation
with ‘yes’ before going on to answer the question, Mandarin has only the direct answer.
1.4.3 Negative responses

Negative responses are usually formed with bu ‘not the case’— recall that the tone of bu
is conditioned by that of the following syllable.
Máng ma? Bù máng. No, [I]’m not.

Kě ma? Bù kě. No, [I]’m not.
Gāo ma? Bù gāo. No, [she]’s not.
Duì ma? Bú duì. No, [it]’s not.
As with positive answers, Chinese has no direct equivalent to ‘no’, but simply offers a
negated verb.
A less abrupt negative (but, again, not used with duì) is formed with bú (with tone
shift) plus tài ‘too; very’:
Hǎo ma? Bú tài hǎo. No, not very.

Máng ma? Bú tài máng. No, not too.
Lèi ma? Bú tài lèi.
È ma? Bú tài è.
[Negative questions with ma, such as Nǐ bú lèi ma? ‘Aren’t you tired?’, will be dealt with
in a later unit. While such questions are easy to form in Chinese, the responses follow
patterns unfamiliar to speakers of English.]
1.4.4 V-not-V questions

Another way to form yes-no questions is to present the verb and its negative, as though
offering both options. The negative, bu, in these constructions is often toneless in normal
speech: hǎo bù hǎo is usually pronounced hǎo bu hǎo, or even hǎo bu hao. While V-ma
questions slightly presuppose an answer congruent with the question – ie positive for
positive questions, negative for negative questions, V-not-V questions are neutral. At this
stage, you can regard the two as essentially equivalent:
Rè ma? Hĕn rè.

Rè bu rè? Hĕn rè.
Lěng ma? Bù lěng.

Lěng bu lěng? Bú tài lěng.
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Other examples
Duì bu duì? Duì.

Hǎo bu hǎo? Hěn hǎo. With tone shift!
Máng bu máng? Bù máng.
Lèi bu lèi? Hěn lèi.
È bu è? Bú tài è.
Kě bu kě? Hěn kě.
Lěng bu lěng? Hěn lěng.
Rè bu rè? Bú tài rè.
Jǐn<zhāng> bu jǐnzhāng? Bù jǐnzhāng.
Shū<fu> bu shūfu? Bù shūfu.
Note
With two-syllable SVs, the 2nd syllable of the first, positive part of V-not-V
questions often gets elided, as indicated by < > in the last two examples.
1.4.5 Three degrees of response

You can respond to the two kinds of yes-no questions positively, neutrally, or negatively;
the typical neutral response makes use of the adverb hái (or, before other adverbs, háishi)
‘still; yet’: hái hǎo ‘so so; [I]’m okay (still okay)’.
SUMMARY
SVs: hǎo, máng, lèi, è, kě, lěng, rè, gāo, shūfu, jǐnzhāng, duì
Yes-No Qs + 0 --
-ma V-not-V
Lèi ma? Lèi bu lèi? Hěn lèi. Hái hǎo. Bú lèi. Bú tài lèi.
Jǐnzhāng ma? Jǐn bu jǐnzhāng? Hěn jǐnzhāng. Hái hǎo. Bù jǐnzhāng.
Bú tài jǐnzhāng.
1.5 Time and tense

1.5.1 Today, yesterday and tomorrow
Speakers of English and other European languages take the verbal category of tense for
granted: speaking of the past generally requires past tense. For Chinese (as well as many
other languages), this is not so. Time words such as jīntiān ‘today’, zuótiān ‘yesterday’
(both of which share the root tiān ‘sky; day’), or dates (bā hào), may be added to simple
sentences containing SVs without any change to the form of the verb, or any other
addition to the sentence:
Zuótiān lěng ma? Was [it] cold yesterday? <Zuótiān> bú tài lěng.
Zuótiān rè bu rè? Was [it] hot yesterday? <Zuótiān> hĕn rè!
Zuótiān hĕn máng ma? Were [you] busy yesterday? <Zuótiān> hĕn máng!
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Jīntiān lèi bu lèi? Are [you] tired today? <Jīntiān> hái hăo!
Èrshíbā hào hěn lěng. The 28th was quite cold.
Note the differences in word order between the English and the Chinese in the previous
examples:
Was it cold? > It was cold. Lěng ma? > Hĕn lěng.
Was it cold yesterday? Zuótiān lěng ma?
The appearance of a time word such as míngtiān (or a date) can be sufficient to
indicate that an event is certain to occur in the future – something that is also true of
English.
Wǒ míngtiān hěn máng. I’m busy tomorrow.
However, at times, Chinese does require some additional acknowledgement of the fact
that, unlike the past and present, the future is uncertain. Thus, in talking about future
weather, the word huì ‘can; will; likely to’ is in many cases added to the statement of
futurity: Míngtiān huì hěn lěng ma? ‘Will [it] be cold tomorrow?’ Huì, while it does
correspond to English ‘will’ in this example, is not actually as common as the latter.
For the time being, you should be wary of talking about future states.
1.5.2 SVs plus le

Rather than the static notion of past versus present (or, more accurately, past versus non-
past), Chinese is more sensitive to a dynamic notion of ‘phase’, or ‘change’. For example,
if a speaker wishes to underscore the relevance of a new situation, he can signal it by the
addition of the sentence-final ‘particle’, le:
Zuótiān bù shūfu, jīntiān [I] didn’t feel well yesterday, but [I]’m
hăo le. okay today.
An explicit contrast between an earlier situation (zuótiān) and a current one (jīntiān)
typically triggers this use of le. However, it is quite possible state the situation at both
times without underscoring the change with le, too, as the examples below show.
Other words that can signal prior or current time include:
earlier current
yǐqián ‘formerly; before; used to [be]’ xiànzài ‘now; a present’

běnlái ‘originally; at first’; zuìjìn ‘recently; lately (most-near)’
cóngqián ‘before; in the past’ mùqián ‘at present; currently (eyes-
before)’
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Examples
Yǐqián hĕn jĭnzhāng, xiànzài [I] was nervous yesterday, but [I]’m okay
hăo le. now.
Xiànzài bú è le! [I]’m not hungry anymore!
Yǐqián bù shūfu. [It] used to be uncomfortable.
Jīntiān rè le! [It]’s gotten hot today!
Zuótiān hěn lèi, jīntiān hěn máng. [I] was tired yesterday [and] I’m busy today!
Běnlái hěn máng, xiànzài hǎo le. [I] was busy at first, but now [I]’m okay.
Mùqián hěn lěng, hěn bù shūfu. It’s quite cold at present, [I]’m not
comfortable.
Běnlái hěn lěng, zuìjìn rè le. It used to be cold, but lately it’s gotten hot.
Cóngqián wǒ bù shūfu, zuìjìn In the past, I wasn’t comfortable, but

hái hǎo. recently, [I]’m okay.
Observe that it is the new situation that is associated with le, not the original state! The
presence of le generally cancels out the need for a supporting adverb, such as hěn.
1.6 Pronouns
As many of the examples above show, Chinese often manages to keep track of people (or
things) relevant to a situation without the use of pronouns. But pronouns are available
where context alone might be insufficient – or where it might otherwise be more
appropriate to use one. The set of personal pronouns in Chinese is relatively simple, and
regular. They are presented in the following table, with notes following:
singular collective singular plural

wǒ wǒmen I, me we, us
nǐ nín nǐmen you you [polite] you [all]
tā tāmen he, she, [it] they, them

him, her
Notes
a) Tā tends to refer only to people (or to animals being treated as if they were
people); in speech, at least, it rarely refers to things, and so rarely corresponds to
English ‘it’. On those occasions when tā is used to refer to things, it is more
common in object position, so it is more likely to occur in the Chinese equivalent
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of the sentence ‘put it away’ than in ‘it’s in the drawer’. Chinese sometimes uses a
demonstrative (zhè ‘this’ or nà ‘that’) where English has ‘it’, but generally it has
no explicit correspondence at all.
b) The form nínmen (‘you+POL-MEN’) is rare, but does sometimes occur in

letters, or in formal speech. The -men suffix (not usually toned, though sometimes
cited in isolation with a rising tone) is most often found with pronouns, as shown.
With nouns designating people, it can also occur as a ‘collective’ eg lǎoshī
‘teacher’, lǎoshīmen ‘teachers’. But even in such cases, -men should not be
thought of as a plural marker, for it never co-occurs with numerals: sān ge lǎoshī
‘three teachers’,with no -men possible. In faster speech, wǒmen often becomes
wǒm, tāmen, tām, and so on.
c) Mandarin speakers from Beijing and the northeast, also make a distinction
(found in many languages) between wǒmen ‘we’ that includes speaker, addressee
and others, and zán or zánmen (pronounced ‘zámen’, as if without the first ‘n’)
‘the two of us; we’. The latter includes the speaker and the person spoken to, but
excludes others. Eg Zánmen zǒu ba! ‘Let’s leave [us, but not the others]’ – a
phrase worth storing away as a prototype example for zánmen.
1.6.1 Names
Where the identification or status of a person requires more than a pronoun, then of
course, Chinese has recourse to personal names, or names and titles (cf. §1.9.1). For now,
suffice it to say that Chinese students often refer to each other either by personal name (at
least two syllables), or by surname (xìng) prefixed by a syllable such as xiǎo ‘young’.
Thus, Liú Guózhèng may be addressed by friends as Guózhèng or xiǎo Liú; Lǐ Dān, as Lǐ
Dān (full name of two syllables) or xiǎo Lǐ.
1.6.2 The particle ne and the adverb yě

The particle ne, placed after subject nouns, has a number of uses. It may signal a pause
for reflection, something particularly useful for learners:
Zuótiān ne, zuótiān hĕn rè. Yesterday -- yesterday was hot.

Tā ne, tā hĕn jĭnzhāng. [As for] him, he’s quite anxious.
It may also be used to signal follow-up questions. The response to a follow-up question
often contains the adverb yĕ ‘also; too; as well’. Recall that adverbs are placed before
verbs (including SVs) or other adverbs (such as bu):
Jiǎ Yǐ
Jīntiān lèi ma? Hĕn lèi, nĭ ne?

Wŏ yĕ hĕn lèi.
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Jīntiān rè bù rè? Hĕn rè.

Zuótiān ne? Zuótiān yĕ hĕn rè.
Nĭ jĭnzhāng ma? Bù jĭnzhāng le. Nĭ ne?

Wŏ háishi hĕn jĭnzhāng. Ng.
Xiǎo Wáng zuótiān bù shūfu. Jīntiān ne?

Jīntiān hǎo le. Ng.
Notes
1. Háishi ‘still’; cf. §1.7.1.
2. Spoken Chinese makes use of variety of ‘interjections’. Ng (with pronunciation
ranging from a nasalized ‘uh’ to ‘n’) is one of them. On the falling tone, it
indicates agreement, or as in the above example, understanding.
Exercise 1.
Write down, and recite, what you would say under the circumstances; be prepared to
shift roles:
1. Ask him if [he] was busy yesterday?
2. Note that [it]’s quite cold today.
3. Remark that [it]’s gotten cold today.
4. Find out if young Li’s nervous.
5. Respond that [she] is [nervous].
6. Say that you are too.
7. Say [you] didn’t feel well yesterday.
8. Say that you’re better now.
9. Tell your friend [you]’re not very hungry.
10. Tell him that you’re okay today, [but] you were quite nervous before.
11. Ask your friend if [she]’s thirsty [or not].
12. Find out if your classmate is comfortable.
13. Say that [you]’re not hungry anymore.
14. Say that he was wrong.
1.7 Action verbs

While SVs attribute emotional or physical states to people or things, Vact involve deeds
such as ‘eating’ or ‘going to class’. Vact are often subdivided into ‘transitive’, ie those that
generally presuppose an object (‘read > a book’; ‘eat > a meal’); and ‘intransitive’, ie
those that do not presuppose an object (‘walk’; ‘kneel’). However, languages differ as to
how this distinction is actually realized. In English for example, when the verb ‘eat’
means ‘eat a meal’, English has the option of either not expressing an object (‘When do
we eat?’), or using the generic noun ‘meal’ (‘We had a meal earlier’).
Chinese adopts a different strategy. In comparable sentences, rather than not

mentioning an object for lack of a particular one, Chinese only has the option of
providing a generic object like ‘meal’: Nǐ chīfàn le ma? ‘Have you eaten? (you eat-rice
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LE Q)’. The core meaning of fàn, as shown in the gloss, is ‘cooked rice’, but in this
context, its meaning is extended to ‘food’ or ‘meal’. When a particular kind of food is
mentioned, then fàn will be replaced by specific words: chī miàn ‘eat noodles’, chī bāozi
‘eat dumplings’; chī zǎodiǎn ‘eat breakfast’, etc.
Another case in which Chinese provides a generic object where English has either
an intransitive verb or one of a number of specific options is xǐzǎo ‘to bathe; take a
bath/shower, etc.’ Xǐzǎo is composed of the verb xǐ ‘wash’ and zǎo, an element that no
longer has independent status, but which is treated like an object. So while English uses
an intransitive verb ‘to bathe’ or a specific object ‘take a bath’, Chinese provides a
generic object, zǎo. When a specific object is needed, it substitutes for zǎo: xǐ yīfu ‘wash
clothes’; xǐ liǎn ‘wash [one’s] face’, etc.
The following table gives verbs or verb+objects for events that tend to happen in
the course of a day. [Polite inquiries about bathing are appropriate in tropical or sub-
tropical climates.]
VERB OBJECT V-O

zǒu ‘leave’
qǐlai ‘get up; rise’
shuì ‘sleep’ jiào bound form shuìjiào ‘go to bed; sleep’
chī ‘eat’ fàn ‘cooked rice’ chīfàn ‘eat; have a [proper] meal’
xǐ ‘wash’ zǎo bound form xǐzǎo ‘bathe; take a bath etc.’
kàn ‘look at’ bào ‘newspaper’ kànbào ‘read the paper’
shàng ‘ascend’ kè ‘class’ shàngkè ‘teach a class; attend class’
xià ‘descend’ xiàkè ‘finish class; get out of class’
shàng ‘ascend’ bān ‘job; shift’ shàngbān ‘go to work; start work’
xià ‘descend’ xiàbān ‘get out of work’
1.7.1 Negative statements, with méiyou

With action verbs, the plain negative with bu usually indicates intention:
Wŏ bù zŏu. I’m not leaving.

Tāmen bù xǐzǎo. They’re not going to bathe.
Tā bù chī le. He won’t eat anymore.
Such declarations, while possible, are in fact more likely to be cast in some less abrupt
form, using verbs such as yào ‘want’ or xiǎng ‘feel like (think)’. We will get to such
verbs quite soon, but at this stage, rather than talking about intentions, we will focus on
whether events have happened or not. In such cases, the negation is formed with the
negative of the verb yǒu ‘have; exist’. This is méiyou, or simply méi. [Yǒu is the one
verb in Mandarin whose negative is not formed with bu – the one irregular verb, you
might say.]
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Méi chīfàn. [We] didn’t eat; [we] haven’t eaten.

Méiyou xǐzǎo. [I] didn’t bathe; [I] haven’t bathed.
Méi shàngbān. [She] didn’t go to work; [she] hasn’t started work.
Since the action verbs introduced in this lesson involve events that can be
expected to take place regularly over the course of the day, the adverb hái (or háishi
before other adverbs) ‘still; yet’ is common in negative answers. Hái<shi> is frequently
accompanied by the sentence-final particle, ne, which in general, conveys a tone of
immediacy or suspense (as well as being associated with follow up questions, cf. §1.6.2).
Hái méi chīfàn ne. [We] haven’t eaten yet.

Hái méiyou xǐzǎo ne. [I] haven’t bathed yet.
Hái méi shàngbān. [She] hasn’t started work yet.
1.7.2 Positive statements, with le

As noted in §1.5.2, le with SVs signals a newly relevant state: jīntiān hǎo le. With
Vact, the function of le is more diffuse, or at least it seems so from a learner’s perspective.
Le with Vact, much as it does with SVs, may signal a newly relevant situation – or phase.
But with Vact what is relevant may be the initiation of the action, or it may be the
conclusion of the action.
a) Initiation:
Zǒu le. [They]’re off.
Chīfàn le [They]’ve started [eating].
Shàngkè le. [They]’re starting class.
b) Conclusion:
Zǒu le. [They]’ve gone; they left.

Chīfàn le. [We]’ve eaten; we ate.
Shàngkè le. [They]’ve gone to class; [they] went to class.
‘Conclusion’ may seem like another way of saying ‘past tense’; but there are
reasons for avoiding any identification of le with [past] tense. You have already seen that
with SVs, it is not the past situation that is marked with le, but the current one: Zuótiān
bù shūfu, jīntiān hǎo le. And you will see many other cases where past tense in English
does not correspond to the presence of le in Chinese. But more to the point: injecting the
notion of past tense into our description of le suggests a static function quite at odds with
that other, well-established dynamic function of le, to signal what is newly relevant.
For the time being, then, note that le has two faces: it signals the current relevancy
of a new state or situation; and it signals the current relevancy of a completed event.
While in the first case, le can appear with the negative, bu (bù lěng le ‘it’s not cold
anymore’), in the second, it cannot – it can only be replaced by méi<you>, to form the
negative (hái méi chī ne).
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Lěng le [It]’s gotten cold.

Bù lěng le. [It]’s not cold anymore.
Shàngkè le. Class is beginning; [they]’ve gone to class.

Bú shàngkè le. [They]’re not going to class anymore.
Hái méi<you> shàngkè ne. [They] haven’t gone to class yet.
Confusion about the several senses of le with Vact can often be resolved by the
addition adverbs, such as yǐjing ‘already’:
Tāmen yǐjing zǒu le. They’ve already left.

Wǒ yǐjing chīfàn le. I’ve already eaten.
Yǐjing xiàbān le. [He]’s already quit [for the day].
1.7.3 Questions
Actions can be questioned with ma:
Chīfàn le ma? Have [you] eaten [a meal]?

Xǐzǎo le ma? Have [you] bathed?
Shàngbān le ma? Has [she] started work?
Or with the V-not-V pattern, with the negative option reduced to méiyou (or just méi):
Chīfàn le méi<you>?
Xǐzǎo le méi<you>?
Shàngbān le méi<you>?
1.7.4 Summary of le-patterns
positive negative
Rè le. Bú rè le.
It’s gotten warm. It’s not warm anymore.
Chī le. Shàngkè le. Wǒ bù chī le.
[We]’ve started. Let’s begin. I’m not eating anymore.
<Yǐjing> zǒu le. <Hái> méi<you> zǒu <ne>.
[He]’s <already>left. [She] hasn’t left <yet>.
Tāmen <yǐjing> chīfàn le. Tāmen hái méi<you> chīfàn <ne>.
They’ve <already> eaten. They haven’t eaten <yet>.
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1.7.5 Mini-conversations
The near synonyms kěshi and dànshi, used in the following two conversations, are both
comparable to English ‘but’.
A.
Jiă: Xǐzǎo le ma? Have [you] bathed?
Yǐ: Xǐzǎo le, kĕshì hái méi chīfàn! I have, but I haven’t eaten yet.
Jiă: È ma? Hungry?
Yǐ: Hĕn è, nĭ ne? Sure am; you?
Jiă: O, wŏ – wŏ yĭjing chī le. Oh, me – I’ve already eaten.
Yǐ: Xiăo Bì ne? And young Bí?
Jiă: Yĭjing zŏu le, shàngbān le. [She]’s gone, [she]’s at work.
Yī: O, shàngbān le. Oh, [she]’s gone to work!
B.
Jiǎ: Jīntiān hěn rè! It’s hot today.
Yǐ: Ng, hěn rè. Nǐ chīfàn le ma? Yeah, sure is. Have you eaten?
Jiǎ: Hái méi, wǒ bú è. Not yet – I’m not hungry.
Yǐ: Jǐnzhāng ma? Anxious?
Jiǎ: Xiànzài hǎo le -- dànshi [I]’m fine now—but I was before!

yǐqián hěn jǐnzhāng!
Yǐ: Chén Bó yǐjing zǒu le ma? Has Chen Bo already left?
Jiǎ: Yǐjing zǒu le, yǐjing shàngkè le. Yes, he has, he’s gone to class.
1.8 Conventional Greetings
1.8.1 The addition of guò (untoned)

Questions about eating are often used ‘phatically’, to be sociable rather than to seek
actual information. There are quite a number of variants on the basic Chīfàn le ma that
may serve this purpose. One, that is particularly common with verbs that describe
regularly occurring events (such as having meals, going to work), involves the addition of
a post-verbal guò (usually untoned), whose root meaning is ‘to pass by, over, through’.
48
Guò can occur in both the question and in responses (both positive and negative), but it
can also be dropped from the responses, as shown below.
Chīguo<fàn> le ma? Chī<guo> le.

Hái méi <chī<guo>> ne.
1.8.2 Reductions
In context, utterances are likely to reduced, along the following lines: méiyou > méi;
chīfàn > chī (but xǐzǎo does not reduce to xǐ, since xǐ alone means to ‘wash’ rather than
‘bathe’). Thus, the following are all possible – though the more elliptical questions are
likely to produce more elliptical answers. (The English glosses for the responses only
suggest the differences.)
Q A (A)
Chīfàn le ma? Chīfàn le. I’ve eaten my meal.
Chīguo fàn le ma? Chīguo fàn le. I’ve had my meal.
Chī le ma? Chī le. I have.
Chīguo le ma? Chīguo le. I’ve had it.
Chīfàn le méiyou? Hái méi chī fàn ne. I haven’t eaten my meal yet.
Chīguo fàn le méiyou? Hái méi chìguo ne. I haven’t had my meal yet.
Chīfàn le méi? Hái méi chī ne. I haven’t eaten yet.
Chīguo fàn le méi? Hái méi chìguo ne. I haven’t had it yet.
Chī le méi? Hái méi ne. Not yet.
Méiyŏu. No.
Méi. No.
Summary (showing typical expanded and reduced forms):
Done? Chīfàn le ma? Chī le ma?

Done [or not]? Chīfàn le méiyou? Chī le méi?
Done. Chīfàn le. Chī le.
Not done. Méiyou chīfàn. Méi chī.
Done? Chīguo fàn le ma? Chīguo le ma?
Done [or not]? Chīguo fàn le méiyou? Chīguo le méi?
Done. Chīguo fàn le. Chī le.
Exercise 2.
a) Ask and answer as indicated:
1. Read the paper? Not yet.
2. Started work? Yes, I have.
3. They’ve gone? No, not yet.
4. Was it cold? No, not very.
5. Have [they] got off work yet? Yes, [they] have.
6. [We]’re not nervous anymore. [You] were yesterday.
7. [I]’ve eaten. Are [you] still hungry?
8. Bathed? Yes, it was nice [comfortable].
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9. Are they out of class yet? Not yet.

10. Thirsty? Not anymore.
11. Hungry? Not anymore, I’ve eaten.
12. Has class started? Not yet.
13. Nervous? I am now!
14. Young Wang’s in bed? Yes, he’s already in bed.
15. Are they up? Yes, but they haven’t eaten yet.
b) What would you say? (Use pronouns where needed.)

1. Ask your friend if she’s eaten yet (3 ways).
2. Announce that she’s already left work [for the day].
3. Explain that it was cold yesterday, but that it’s gotten hot today.
4. Announce that she hasn’t gone to class yet.
5. Explain that they’ve bathed, but they haven’t eaten.
6. Explain that you were all unwell yesterday, but today you’re fine.
7. Explain that the first’s already gone, but the second and third still haven’t.
8. Explain that it was warm yesterday, and that it is today as well.

1.9.1 Names and titles
Because even perfunctory greetings tend to involve a name and title, you need to have
some rudimentary information about forms of address before being introduced to the
language of greeting and leave taking. Below are five common Chinese surnames,
followed by a title which means, literally, ‘teacher’, and the SV hǎo, which in this
environment, serves as a simple acknowledgement. Lǎoshī, which has no exact
correspondence in English, can be applied to both males and females, as well as to all
ranks of teachers, and even other types of white-collar workers.
Zhāng lǎoshī, hǎo. ‘Hello, Professor Zhang.’

Wáng lăoshī, hăo.
Lĭ lăoshī, hăo. [with tone shift]
Zhào lăoshī, hăo.
Chén lăoshī, hăo.
1.9.2 Hello
Using specialized greetings such as ‘hi’ or ‘bonjour’ to acknowledge or confirm the
worth of a relationship on every encounter is not a universal feature of cultures. The
practice seems to have crept into Chinese relatively recently. Whereas in the past, and
even now in the countryside, people might acknowledge your presence by asking where
you are going, or if you have eaten (if they say anything at all to a stranger), nowadays
urban Chinese often make use of phrases like nǐ hǎo in ways similar to English ‘hi’ or
‘hello’. Most people would probably regard nǐ hǎo as the prototypical neutral greeting,
but there are other common options such as the ones listed below:
50
Nǐ hǎo! Hi; Hello!

Nín hǎo! Deferential. How do you do?
Hei! Exclamation Ey! Hi!
Hǎo! Hi! Hello!
Hǎo ma? You well?
Nǐ hǎo a! Informal. How’re you doing?
A version of ‘good morning’, based on the verb zǎo ‘be+early’, has been common
usage in Taiwan, and is now becoming more current on the Mainland as well:
Zǎo! Morning! (be+early)

Zǎo ān. Good morning. (early peace)
Nǐ zǎo.
Nín zǎo. etc.
Expressions comparable to English ‘good afternoon’ or ‘good evening’ are also

starting to be used in modern China: thus xiàwǔ ‘afternoon’ and wǎnshàng ‘evening’ are
sometimes used in the expressions xiàwǔ hǎo ‘good afternoon’, wǎnshàng hǎo ‘good
evening’. Wǎn ān ‘good night (late peace)’, as a sign off at the end of the day, has a
longer pedigree, and is now commonly used by staff in larger hotels, for example.
In general, greetings of the sort listed above are used more sparingly than their
English counterparts. Colleagues or classmates passing each other, for example, are less
likely to use a formulaic greeting such as nǐ hǎo – though novelties such as fast food
counters and toll booths (where toll collectors can sometimes be heard to greet each
passing driver with nǐ hǎo) may encourage broader use. In general, though, a greeting to
someone of higher status should be preceded by a name, or name and title (as in §1.9.1).
1.9.3 Goodbye
Many cultures have conventional phrases for taking leave. Often blessings serve the
purpose (eg ‘bye’, from ‘good bye’, supposedly derived from the phrase ‘God be with
you’). Here are some Chinese ‘goodbyes’, beginning with the standard, zàijiàn, literally
‘again-see’.
Zàijiàn. neutral Goodbye. (again-see)

Yìhuǐr ~ yíhuìr jiàn. friendly See [you] soon. (awhile see)
Míngtiān jiàn. neutral See [you] tomorrow. (tomorrow see)
Huíjiàn. informal See [you] later; bye. (return-see)
Huítou jiàn. friendly See [you] shortly. (return-head see)
Màn zǒu. friendly Take it easy. (slowly walk)
Notes
a) The addition of final –r to the written pinyin syllable represents a complex of
phonetic effects that will be considered more fully later. In the case of yìhuǐr ~
yíhuìr, the final –r affects the quality of the preceding vowel, so that it is
pronounced [yìhuĕr ~ yíhuèr] rather than [yìhuǐr ~ yíhuìr].
51
b) The alternate pronunciation yíhuìr is often said to be ‘southern’.

c) Students of all kinds, and other urban youth, often end a series of farewells
with English bàibài.
d) As with greetings, when saying goodbye to an older person, or a person of
rank, it is normal to mention name and title first, eg: Wèi lǎoshī, zàijiàn.
Yílù-píng’ān [JKW 1982]
1.9.4 Bon Voyage

This is as good a time as ever to get familiar with a few phrases that are used to wish
people well when they leave on a journey, or to greet them when they arrive. The most
common expression for ‘bon voyage’, is:
Yílù-píng’ān. ‘Whole-journey peaceful.’
This expression applies to almost any journey, whether by air, ship or bus. Yílù-shùnfēng
‘whole-journey favorable-wind’, has much the same meaning, but is not used for
journeys by air. Chinese are superstitious about effect of words, and would deem it ill
advised to mention the word fēng ‘wind’ before a flight. Notice that both expressions
contain four syllables, a favored configuration in the Chinese lexicon.
In greeting someone returning from a long journey, instead of the question ‘how
was the flight/journey/voyage’, Chinese generally utter a variant of an expression that
reflects the traditional discomforts of travel:
<Lù shàng> xīnkǔ ba. ‘Tough journey, huh? (<road on> bitter BA)’
An analysis of these expressions is provided above, but at this stage, they should simply
be memorized (by repetition) and kept in storage for greeting visitors or seeing people
off.
52
1.9.5 Smoothing the transitions

a) Prior to asking a question
In more formal situations, questions are often prefaced with the expression qǐngwèn,
literally ‘request-ask’, but idiomatically equivalent to ‘may I ask’ or ‘excuse me’.
Qǐngwèn may also be preceded by a name and title.
Qǐngwèn, nǐ chīfàn le ma? Excuse me, have you eaten?

Zhào lǎoshī, qǐngwèn, nín è bu è? Prof. Zhao, mind if I ask: are you hungry?
Qǐng ‘request; invite’ also occurs in the common phrase qǐng zuò ‘have a seat (invite sit)’
and the expression, qǐng jìn ‘won’t you come in (invite enter)’.
b) Prior to leaving
In the normal course of events, just a goodbye is too abrupt for closing a conversation.
One way to smooth the transition is, before saying goodbye, to announce that you have to
leave. Here are four ways to do that, all involving the verb zǒu ‘leave; go’. These
expressions are complicated to analyze; some notes are provided below, but otherwise,
they should be internalized as units.
Hǎo, nà wǒ zǒu le. ‘Okay, I’m off then. (okay, in+that+case, I leave LE)’
Hei, wǒ gāi zǒu le. ‘Say, I should be off. (hey, I should leave LE)’
Hǎo, nà jiù zhèi- ‘Okay then, that’s it, [I]’m off! (okay, in+that+case
yàng ba, zǒu le. then this-way BA, leave LE)’
Bù zǎo le, wǒ gāi ‘[It]’s late, I’d better be off.

zǒu le. (not be+early LE, I should leave LE)’
Notes
Gāi or yīnggāi ‘should; must’; nà ‘in that case; well; then’; jiù ‘then’; ba is a
particle associated with suggestions; le [here] signals a new situation. Taking
leave obviously involves a broad range of situations, including seeing someone
off on a journey (which, in China, is an extremely important event). The four
options listed in this section serve well for closing an informal conversation.
1.10 Tones
1.10.1 Tone combos (the first 6)
Tones are easier to perceive and assimilate in pairs. Four tones form 16 possible
combinations of two, but because of the restriction on combinations of low tones (3+3 >
2+3), only 15 pairs are distinctive. The six sets below are mostly made up of words
already encountered. They should be memorized so that they can be recited by number:
dì-yī: lǎoshī, jǐnzhāng; dì-èr: xǐzǎo, hěn hǎo, etc.
53
1 2 3
lǎoshī xǐzǎo zàijiàn
jǐnzhāng hěn hǎo kànbào
4 5 6
bú rè hěn máng bù gāo
bú lèi hěn nán shàngbān
difficult
Tones in combination tend to accommodate each other to some degree, though

not to the point of shifting to another tone. In the above sets, the most salient adjustment
is probably that of 4+4, (zàijiàn) where the tone of the first syllable is not so steeply
falling as that of the last. The first of the two is some times referred to as the ‘modified-
4th’ tone.
1.10.2 Tone lock

In these first weeks of learning Chinese, you may find yourself unable to pronounce a
tone, even unable to mimic your teacher – a situation that might be called ‘tone lock’.
Tone lock can occur for many reasons, but one common one is that as a beginner, you
will often be tentative, and tentativeness in English is accompanied by a rising contour.
That’s fine if you are trying to say the name, Wáng, with rising tone. But it won’t work if
you want to say Wèi, which is falling. Other strange conditions may occur: you may hear
rising as falling, and falling as rising (flip-flop); your falling may refuses to fall (‘fear of
falling’), your level, refuse not to fall (‘fear of flying’). Regardless of the symptoms, the
best cure is to figuratively step back, and make use of your tone concepts: level is ‘sung
out,’ rising is ‘doubtful’ (Wáng? máng?), low is ‘low’ (despite the contoured symbol),
and falling is ‘final’ or ‘confidant’ (‘Wáng, Chén, Wèi; or ‘I said Wèi’).
1.10.3 The first ‘rule of 3’

If you find that the tonal cues, ‘sung out’, ‘doubt’, ‘low’ and ‘final’ do not serve you
well, there are others that have been used in the past. Walter C. Hillier, in his English-
Chinese Dictionary of 1953 (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd.) proposed ‘languid
assertion’ for the first tone, ‘startled surprise’ for the second, ‘affectionate remonstrance’
for the third, and ‘abuse’ for the fourth. Whatever the label, the important point is to
follow the rule of three: develop a concept for each tone, know what tone the word has,
and monitor yourself when you speak.
1. conceptualize the tones (sung out etc.);

2. learn the tone with the word (eg hao has low tone);
3. monitor your speech.
54
Exercise 3.
a) Read out the following sets – recall your tone concepts:
1 dá dǎ dā dà bù bǔ bú bù
2 kǒu kòu kōu kòu jīn jín jǐn jìn
3 pán pàn pān pán guō guǒ guó guò
4 wèi wěi wéi wēi hǎi hái hāi hài
b) Tone shifts: Read the following sequences aloud, supplying the tones that are omitted:
1 bu máng bu è yi tào yi tiáo
2 bu lèi bu shì yi kuài dì-yi
3 bu jǐnzhāng bu kě yi wèi yi zhāng
4 bu hǎo bu cuò yi běn yi kè
5 hen hǎo hen máng hen zǎo hen wǎn

late
6 hen lèi hen nán hai hǎo hen kě
c) Students often feel that the tones that are the most difficult to distinguish are the rising
and the low. Here is a discrimination exercise that focuses on those two. In the disyllabic
words below, the final syllables all contain either a rising tone or a low. Have a Chinese
speaker read them to you twice each (from the characters), then see if you can correctly
identify the missing tone in the pinyin versions of the words.
1.英勇 2.天才 3.当年 4.大米 5.英语

6.橡皮 7.书法 8.黑板 9.加强 10.冰球
11.号码 12.重叠 13.开展 14.开头 15.多余

16.孙女 17.天然 18.跳舞 19.构成 20.思想
1. yīngyong 2. tiāncai 3. dāngnian 4. dàmi 5. Yīngyu
6. xiàngpi 7. shūfa 8. hēiban 9. jiāqiang 10. bīngqiu
11. hàoma 12. chóngdie 13. kāizhan 14. kāitou 15. duōyu
16. sūnnü 17. tiānran 18. tiàowu 19. gòucheng 20. sīxiang
55
d) Select a tone for all, then practice reading out these syllables (across), all of which
contain pinyin ‘o’ as main vowel:
duo dou fo kuo cou zhou zhuo zou zuo
bo guo ruo shou gou shuo suo po you
e) Read out the following syllables that contain the -ui or -iu rhymes – these are toned:
guì shuí ruì chuī zuì duì (wèi)
liú niú xiū qiú diū jiǔ (yǒu)
guǐ – jiǔ liù – duì cuì – qiú liú – shuí
1.11 Summary
Main patterns
+ Hĕn lèi.
Nĭ lèi ma? 0 Hái hăo.
-- Bú tài lèi.
Nĭ máng bu máng?
Nĭ chīfàn le ma? + Chī le.

Nĭ chīfàn le méiyou? -- Hái méi ne.
Nĭ chīguo fàn le ma? + Chī<guo> le.
Nà, jiù zhèiyàngr ba. Hăo, jiù zhèiyàngr!

Zhāng lăoshī, hăo. Wáng Jié, zàijiàn..
Conversational scenarios
Greetings Development Leaving

Nĭ hăo. Máng ma? Hăo, zàijiàn, míngtiān jiàn.
Wèi lăoshī, hăo. Chīfàn le ma? Chén lăoshī, zàijiàn.
Bú è le. Míngtiān jiàn.
Tā hái méi xǐzǎo. Duì ma?
Nĭ ne? Yě hěn lèi. Tā yǐjing qǐlai le méiyou?
Zuótiān hěn rè ma? Xiànzài ne? Shàng kè le méiyou?
56

Rote learning, very highly prized in traditional and even modern China, and highly
valued at other times in our own past, is no longer generally considered a beneficial
educational method in the West. Outside class, however, people still learn parts for plays,
and they often recall song lyrics, advertising jingles and slogans without much self-
conscious effort. So we take advantage of these predilections by providing some suitable
Chinese rhymed and rhythmic material at the end of each lesson. This material ranges
from doggerel to poetry, from jingles to nursery rhymes and from satirical verse to songs
and poems. It is selected for easy recall, and eventually it will form a useful repertoire
that can be tapped for information about pronunciation, vocabulary and grammatical
patterns. What is more, you will have something to recite when you are asked to ‘say
something in Chinese’ or when you are in China and asked to sing or perform for an
audience. And closer to home, you may be asked to atone for being late to class by
reciting some short piece in front of your classmates.
The first rhyme – a nursery rhyme - tells the story of a young entrepreneur and his
struggle to set up a business. The word-for-word gloss provided will guide you towards
the meaning.
Dà dùzi
Dà dùzi, big tummy

kāi pùzi, open shop
méi běnqián, not+have root-money
dàng kùzi. pawn trousers
The second, also a nursery rhyme, has a shifting rhythm but a more mundane
subject matter: the tadpole, denizen of village ponds and urban drainage systems.
Xiǎo kēdǒu
Xiǎo kēdǒu, small tadpole

shuǐ lǐ yóu, water in swim
xìxì de wěiba, tiny DE tail
dàdà de tóu. big DE head
57
第一课 Dì-yī kè
Lesson 1
名不正则言不顺，言不顺则事不成
Míng bú zhèng zé yán bú shùn, yán bú shùn zé shì bù chéng.
‘Name not proper then words not effective, words not effective then things won’t succeed.’
On the ‘rectification of names’.
Confucius, Analects. Classical Chinese.
1.1 General features of Chinese texts

1.1.1 Size Regardless of complexity, characters are matched in overall size, fitting
into an imaginary rectangle along the lines indicated in the following
example (in simplified characters). For this reason, characters are also
called fāngkuàizì ‘squared writing’.
上海天气很热。 Shànghǎi tiānqì hěn rè.
1.1.2 Spacing Characters are evenly spaced regardless of whether they represent whole
words or components of words. Compare the character version of the
sentence above and the pinyin version. Though the convention is not
always consistently followed, pinyin places spaces between words rather
than syllables. Characters are evenly spaced ， regardless of word
boundaries.
1.1.3 Punctu- Modern Chinese written material makes use of punctuation conventions
ation that are similar in form to those of English, though not always identical in
function:
Periods, full stops: traditionally ‘。’, but nowadays also ‘.’
Commas: ‘，’ and ‘、’, the latter for lists (enumeration)
Quotes: traditionally「-」 or 《》, but nowadays also
‘ ’ and “ ”
Proper names: usually unmarked, though in a few texts, indicated
by wavy underline. There is nothing comparable to
a capital letter in Chinese.
Other punctuation will be noted as encountered.
1.1.4 Direct- Traditionally, Chinese has been written downwards, from right column to
ion left. Major writing reforms instituted in the 1950s in the PRC not only
formalized a set of simplified characters (see next item), but required them
to be written horizontally, from left to right, like modern European
languages. As a result, Chinese texts now come in two basic formats.
Material originating in Taiwan and traditional overseas communities, or
1
on the Mainland prior to the reforms, is written with traditional characters

that are – with a few exceptions such as in headlines and on forms –
arranged vertically (top to bottom and right to left). Material originating in
the Mainland, in Singapore (again, with some exceptions for religious or
special genres) and in some overseas communities，after the reforms of
the 1950s，is written with simplified characters arranged horizontally, left
to right.
(Chinese has provided the model for most of the scripts that write
vertically – at least in East Asia. Vertical writing is still the norm in Japan,
coexisting with horizontal writing. Other scripts of the region, such as
Mongolian, whose writing system derives ultimately from an Indian
prototype, have also followed the traditional Chinese format.)
1.2 The form of characters

Characters are the primary unit for writing Chinese. Just as English letters may have
several forms (eg g /g, a/a) and styles (eg italic), so Chinese characters also have various
realizations. Some styles that developed in early historical periods survive to this day in
special functions. Seals, for example, are still often inscribed in the ‘seal script’, first
developed during the Qin dynasty (3rd C. BCE). Other impressionistic, running scripts,
developed by calligraphers, are still used in handwriting and art. Advertisements and
shop signs may stretch or contort graphs for their own design purposes. Manga style
comics animate onomatopoeic characters – characters that represent sound – in
idiosyncratic ways. Putting such variants aside, it is estimated that the number of
characters appearing in modern texts is about 6-7000 (cf. Hannas 1997, pp 130-33, and
particularly table 3). Though it is far fewer than the number cited in the largest historical
dictionaries, which include characters from all historical periods, it is still a disturbingly
large number.
1.2.1 Radicals and phonetics

There are ameliorating factors that make the Chinese writing system more learnable than
it might otherwise be. One of the most significant is the fact that characters have elements
in common; not just a selection of strokes, but also larger constituents. Between 2/3 and
¾ of common characters (cf. DeFrancis 1984, p. 110 and passim) consist of two
elements, both of which can also stand alone as characters in their own right. Historically,
these elements are either roots, in which case they are called ‘phonetics’, or classifiers, in
which case they are called (paradoxically) ‘radicals’. Thus, 忘 wàng ‘forget’ contains 亡
as phonetic and 心 as classifier; 語 yǔ ‘language’ has 吾 and 言. The significance of the
terms phonetic and classifier will be discussed in a later unit. For now, it is enough to
know that the basic graphs are components of a large number of compound graphs: 亡
appears in 忙 and 氓, for example; 心 in 志 and 忠; 言 in 謝 and 說; 吾 in 悟 and 晤.
Even this set of component graphs numbers in the high hundreds, but familiarity with
them allows many characters to be learned as a pairing of higher order constituents rather
than a composite of strokes.
2
1.2.2 Simplified characters

Chinese policy makers have also tried to make the writing system more learnable by
introducing the Chinese equivalent of spelling reform, which takes the form of reducing
the number of strokes in complicated characters: 國 becomes 国; 邊 becomes 边. The
two sets are usually called ‘traditional’ and ‘simplified’ in English, fántǐzì (‘complicated-
body-characters’) and jiǎntǐzì (‘simple-body-characters’) in Chinese.
For almost 2000 years in China, serious genres of writing were written in the
kǎishū script (‘model writing’) that first appeared in the early centuries of the first
millennium. In the 1950s, the Mainland government, seeking to increase literacy,
formalized a set of simplified characters to replace many of the more complicated of the
traditional forms. Many of these simplified characters were based on calligraphic and
other styles in earlier use; but others were novel graphs that followed traditional patterns
of character creation.
For the learner, this simplification is a mixed blessing – and possibly no blessing
at all. For while it ostensibly makes writing characters simpler, it also made them less
redundant for reading: 樂 and 東 (used to write the words for ‘music’ and ‘east’,
respectively) are quite distinct in the traditional set; but their simplified versions, 乐 and
东, are easy to confuse. Moreover, Chinese communities did not all agree on the new
reforms. The simplified set, along with horizontal writing, was officially adopted by the
PRC in the late 1950s and (for most purposes) by Singapore in the 1960s. But Taiwan,
most overseas Chinese communities and, until its return to the PRC, Hong Kong, retained
the traditional set of characters as their standard, along with vertical writing.
Jiǎntǐzì and fántǐzì should not be thought of as two writing systems, for not only
are there many characters with only one form (也 yě, 很 hěn, 好 hǎo, etc), but of those
that have two forms, the vast majority exhibit only minor, regular differences, eg: 说/說,
饭/飯. What remain are perhaps 3 dozen relatively common characters with distinctively
divergent forms, such as: 这/這, 买/買. Careful inspection reveals that even they often
have elements in common. For native Chinese readers, the two systems represent only a
minor inconvenience, rather like the difference between capital and small letters in the
Roman alphabet, though on a larger scale. Learners generally focus on one system for
writing, but soon get used to reading in both.
1.3 Function
As noted earlier, characters represent not just syllables, but syllables of particular words
(whole words or parts of words). In other words, characters generally function as
logograms – signs for words. Though they can be adapted to the task of representing
syllables (irrespective of meaning), as when they are used to transliterate foreign personal
and place names, when they serve this function they are seen as characters with their
meanings suppressed (or at least, dimmed), eg: 意大利 Yìdàlì ‘Italy’, with the meanings
‘intention-big-gain’ suppressed.
3
In practice, different words with identical sound (homophones) will usually be

written with different characters.
sound jīn
meaning today metal
character 今金
Such homophony is common in Chinese at the syllable level (as the shi-story, described
in the preliminary chapter, illustrated). Here, for example, are some common words or
word parts all pronounced shì (on falling tone):
shì
是 ‘be’ 事 ‘thing’ 室 ‘room’ 试 ‘test’

.
But except for high-frequency words (such as 是 shì ‘be’), words in Mandarin are usually
compound, consisting of several syllables: 事情 shìqing ‘things’; 教室 jiàoshì
‘classroom’; 考试 kǎoshì ‘examination’. At the level of the word, homophony is far rarer.
In Chinese language word-processing where the input is in pinyin, typing shiqing and
kaoshi (most input systems do not require tones) will elicit at most only two or three
options, and since most word processors organize options by frequency, in practice, this
means that the characters for shiqing and kaoshi will often be produced on the first try.
shì
shìqing kǎoshì
‘thing’ jiàoshì ‘test’
事情 ‘classroom’ 考试
教室
1.4 Writing
1.4.1 Writing in the age of word processors
Just as in English it is possible to read well without being able to spell every word from
memory, so in Chinese it is possible to read without being able to write every character
from memory. And in fact, with the advent of Chinese word processing, it is even
possible to write without being able to produce every character from memory, too; for in
a typical word processing program, the two steps in composing a character text are, first,
to input pinyin and, second, to confirm – by reading – the output character, or if
necessary, to select a correct one from a set of homonyms (ordered by frequency).
4
There is, nevertheless, still a strong case to be made for the beginning student
learning to write characters by hand. First of all, there is the aesthetic experience. In the
Chinese world, calligraphy – beautiful writing, writing beautifully – is valued not only as
art, but also as moral training. Even if your handwriting never reaches gallery quality, the
tactile experience and discipline of using a writing implement on paper (or even on a
tablet computer) is valuable. Writing also serves a pedagogical function: it forces you to
pay attention to details. Characters are often distinguished by no more than a single
stroke:
4 strokes 天夭夫犬太
tiān yāo fū quǎn tài
sky goblin person dog grand
5 strokes 白申田甲由
bái shēn tián jiǎ yóu
white explain field ‘A’ from
Learning to write characters does not mean learning to write all characters
encountered from memory, for the immense amount of time it takes to internalize the
graphs inevitably takes away from the learning of vocabulary, usage and grammatical
structure. This course adopts the practice of introducing material in pinyin rather
exuberantly, then dosing out a subset to be read in characters. The balance of writing to
reading is something to be decided by a teacher. In my view, at least in the early lessons,
students should not only be able to read character material with confidence, but they
should be able to write most of it if not from memory, then with no more than an
occasional glance at a model. The goal is to learn the principles of writing so that any
character can be reproduced by copying; and to internalize a smaller set that can be
written from memory (though not necessarily in the context of an examination). These
will provide a core of representative graphs and frequently encountered characters for
future calligraphic endeavors.
1.4.2 Principles of drawing characters

Strokes are called bǐhuà(r) in Chinese. Stroke order (bǐshùn) is important for aesthetic
reasons – characters often do not look right if the stroke order is not followed. Following
correct stroke order also helps learning, for in addition to visual memory for characters,
people develop a useful tactile memory for them by following a consistent stroke order.
a) Form
There are usually said to be eight basic strokes plus a number of composites. They are
shown below, with names for each stroke and examples of characters that contain them.
héng ‘horizontal’ 一 shù ‘vertical’ 十
piě ‘cast aside’ ie 人 nà ‘pressing down’ 入

leftwards slanting ie rightwards slanting
5
tiǎo ‘poking up’ ie 冷把 diǎn ‘dot’ 小熱

rightward rising
gōu ‘hook’ 小心弋买 zhé ‘bend’ 马凸

[four variants, shown] [many variants]
Composite strokes can be analyzed in terms of these eight, eg ‘horizontal plus leftwards
slant’.
b) Direction
In most cases, strokes are falling (or horizontal); only one of the eight primary strokes
rises – the one called tiǎo.
c) Order
The general rules for the ordering of strokes are given below. These rules are not detailed
enough to generate word order for you, but they will help you to make sense of the order,
and to recall it more easily once you have encountered it. Begin here by drawing the
characters shown below as you contemplate each of the rules, and recite the names of the
strokes:
i) Horizontal (héng) before vertical (shù): shí 10 十
ii) Except a closing héng is often post- wáng king; surname 王

poned till last: tǔ soil 土
iii) Left stroke before right: bā 8 八

(eg piě before nà) rén person 人
mù wood 木
iv) Top before bottom: sān 3 三
yán speech 言
v) Left constituent before right: dì place 地
(eg 土 before 也)
vi) Boxes are drawn in 3 strokes:

the left vertical, then top and right,
ending with bottom (left to right): kǒu mouth 口
6
vii) Frame before innards: yuè moon; month 月

guó country 国
viii) Frames are closed last, after innards: sì 4 四

rì sun; day 日
tián field 田
ix) For symmetrical parts, dominant
precedes minor: xiǎo small 小
d) Two illustrative characters

Because of the symmetry of its form as well as the gravity of its meaning, the character
that represents the root yǒng, whose basic meaning is ‘everlasting’, is often used as an
illustration of the 8 basic strokes. Actually, yǒng is composed of only 5 strokes, but some
of the 5 can illustrate several stokes simultaneously. Also cited, on the right, is the more
common character for shuǐ, ‘water’, which is similar in form.
永水
yǒng shuǐ
eternal water
Find out the way these characters are written from a teacher (or from your flashCube
links), then see if you can follow the analysis of yǒng into the 8 basic strokes by
overlaying each stroke in the following set in red ink:
diǎn héng zhé gōu tiǎo piě piě nà
永永永永永永永永
dot horiz’l bend hook rise fall left fall right
top mid top left bottom left , bottom right
top right
7
1.5 Presentation of characters

a) Each character is introduced in large format, with number of strokes, pronunciation
and a general meaning indicated below it. Since most words are compound in Mandarin,
characters generally represent parts of compounds rather than words as such. Sometimes
combinational or historical information can suggest a general meaning for a particular
character/syllable: 明天 ‘bright + day’ for míngtiān ‘tomorrow’. But in cases where a
particular character/syllable has no independent form, it may not be possible to give a
reliable meaning: 昨天 ‘? + day’ for zuótiān ‘yesterday’ (cf. ‘yester+day’ in English). In
such cases, if a general meaning can be inferred from other combinations, it is given in
parentheses.
b) For characters with two forms, a simplified and a traditional, both forms are given,
with the traditional form above and the simplified form below.
c) Because of the difficulty of indicating the order of strokes without providing hand-
drawn characters, students are asked to seek information on stroke-order from teachers or
from internet links.
Some indication of the constituency of characters, as well as the number of strokes

needed to draw them, is provided by the two numbers underneath each large format
character. The first number is the number of strokes of the radical assigned to the
character. The second number gives the strokes that remain in addition to the radical. The
sum of the two numbers is the total number of strokes. Where the second number is 0 (eg
长 4+0 / 長 8+0), the character is itself a radical. In some cases, characters that have only
one form have been assigned a different radical in the simplified set from that of the
traditional; 弟 dì ‘younger brother’, for example, is assigned the radical 弓 in the
traditional set (ie 3+4), but 八 (the first two strokes) in the simplified (ie 2+5). In such
cases, both numbers are given, with the traditional radical assignment first.
d) Separate reading materials are provided for both traditional and simplified characters.
The former would normally be written vertically, but for reasons of practicality, they too
are presented in horizontal format.
e) Occasionally, new characters which have not been formally introduced in the character
lessons are included in texts on the assumption that they can be identified from the
context. Such material is underlined.
f) Writing exercises may be done by hand, or on a word-processor. Teachers may differ

on policy about whether to write simplified, traditional or both. One position is to allow
learners to choose one or the other, but to require consistency – no switching within a text
just to avoid complicated characters! Regardless of writing choice, learners should learn
to read both types.
g) Because written language serves different functions from spoken, it is not surprising to
find some material specialized for written functions. In Chinese, this includes particular
words, grammatical patterns, and most frequently, the use of truncated compounds (eg 已
8
alone, rather than the full compound, 已經 yǐjing ‘already’). Such forms will be noted as
encountered.
Approach
In studying the characters, the following approach is recommended:
Scan the large format characters and the analysis and notes that follow them to
prime yourself for the type of material that will follow;
then remind yourself of the words and phrases that contain the new characters by
trying to read the section entitled phrases, checking your pronunciation against
the pinyin that is shown below;
making use of context, do the readings until fluent;
finally, do the exercises, and practice writing the characters until familiar.
1.6 Numbers
一二三四五
1+0 2+0 1+2 3+2 1+3
yī èr sān sì wǔ
六七八九十
2+2 1+1 2+0 1+1 2+0
liù qī bā jiǔ shí
Notes
The graphs for 1 –3 are obviously representational. The near left-right symmetry
of the graphs for 4, 6, 8, and 10 is not entirely coincident. 四 seems to have
represented a whole easily divided into two parts; 六’s earlier form looked very
like that of 四 (with 六’s two legs matching the two inner strokes of 四 ). 八 (to
be distinguished from 人 rén ‘person’ and 入 rù ‘enter’) is also said to have
represented the notion of division (into two fours), and 十 represented a unity of
the four directions and the center. Lower multiples of 10 are sometimes
represented as unit characters: 廿 ‘20’ and 丗 ‘30’. However, they are still read
as if written 二十 and 三十.
9
Exercise 1.
a) 九九乘法表 jiǔjiǔ chéngfǎbiǎo ‘9 [x] 9 multiplication-table’
Read the following multiplications tables aloud. [When the product is only a single digit,
the rhythm is preserved by adding 得 dé ‘gets’; for similar reasons, the teens are recited
as yīshí’èr, etc. rather than just shí’èr.]
一三得三一五得五一九得九

二三得六二五得十二九一十八
三三得九三五一十五三九二十七
四三一十二四五二十四九三十六
五三一十五五五二十五五九四十五
六三一十八六五三十六九五十四
七三二十一七五三十五七九六十三
八三二十四八五四十八九七十二
九三二十七九五四十五九九八十一
b) Telephone numbers:
Although on business cards, telephone numbers are often written out in Arabic numerals,
in other contexts they appear as characters, with the exception of líng ‘zero’, which is
more often written ‘0’. Practice reading the following until you can do so fluently, with a
good rhythm. Recall that in the Mainland, ‘one’ in telephone numbers (as well as other
kinds of listings) is usually pronounced yāo rather than yī.
电话 / 電話 diànhuà ‘telephone’ 手机 / 手機 shǒujī ‘mobile’
1. 六五九六二九一八一三五 0 一七五一四四三
2 四二七九九四一五一三九三六二九六九六四
3 五四二七九四一五一三九二 0 三八五八八二
4 五一六八七二一九一三 0 二四六七九九八五
5 八二二 0 七四二六一三五一四四三六四八八
6 二三八七二七六二 0 二九二六六三四一 0 九

__________________________________________________________
10
1.7 Dates
In unit 1, you learned the components of dates: nián ‘year’, yuè ‘month’ and hào ‘day’. It
was also noted that dates, though spoken with hào, are usually written with rì ‘sun; day’.
年月日 (號/号)
1+5 4+0 4+0 3+2
nián yuè rì hào
year month day date
Notes
The characters used for yuè and rì are representational, being squared off versions
of what were originally drawings of the moon and sun. Nián, on the other hand, is
not obviously representational, so you might need to construct a nonsense
etymology, such as: ‘A year contains four seasons; the first stroke (piě) stands for
the winter, the three horizontal strokes (héng) are the growing and harvesting
seasons (spring, summer and autumn); the short fourth stroke (nà) marks the
harvest, and the vertical (shù) representing the continuity of the year – beginning
with spring.’ However, note that the short nà stroke on the 3rd horizontal is drawn
before the lowest horizontal, presumably following the stroke order principle of
closing stroke last.
Dates are frequently written using Arabic numerals, as in these examples, which
could be taken from the banners of Mainland newspapers:
1999 年 7 月 26 日
2002 年 2 月 11 日
1998 年 5 月 7 日
Interestingly, it is often the traditional, ‘lunar calendar’ dates that are written out
in full, with the numbers also represented in Chinese characters. The Chinese lunar
calendar consists of 12 months of 29 to 30 days, plus intercalary months inserted every
few years to make up the difference. The lunar new year begins some weeks after the
solar one. Lunar years are counted in cycles of 60, which exhausts all combinations of a
set of 10 ‘stems’ and 12 ‘branches’ (ie 1-1, 1-2 … 1-11, 1-12, 2-1 … 10-12, for a total of
60). Though the first lunar month has a special name, the rest are all written with yuè; rì
is usually left out of lunar dates. The correspondence is as follows:
International dating: 1999 年 7 月 26 日
Traditional Chinese: 己卯年七月二十六

jǐ-mǎo
11
Most newspaper banners give dates in both forms. But even in traditional dates, zero líng
is usually written as O rather than with its complicated character, 零.
Exercise 2.
a) The following are all significant dates in Chinese history. Practice reading them aloud,
and see if you can find out (or recall) the event that took place on each date.
一九四九年十月一日一九二一年七月一日
一九一九年五月四日一九八九年六月四日
一九四五年八月十五日一九一一年十月十日
b) Now, in the spaces provided, write the following dates in Chinese:
November 23, 1949
April 18, 2003
February 15, 1994
October 19, 2001

_____________________________________________________________
1.8 Days
今天昨天明天
2+2 3+1 4+5 4+4
jīntiān zuótiān míngtiān
today yesterday tomorrow
Notes
a) It is useful to distinguish simplex characters from compound. The latter
contain parts that can themselves be simplex characters: for example, 明 míng
‘bright’ is composed of the two graphs 日 rì ‘sun’ (or ‘day’) and 月 yuè ‘moon’
(or ‘month’). While more common characters are often simplex, the vast majority
12
are compound. The form of simplex graphs can often be said to be

representational and thereby rationalized by non-linguistic reference (eg 日
originated as a representation of the sun, 月 yuè, of the moon). Graphic elements
are compounded, however, not to form new representations, but typically, to
combine linguistic elements of sound and meaning (cf. Units 2 and 3).
b) 天 tiān has the root meaning of ‘sky; day’, and it is said to be based on a
drawing that represented the sky above the earth. 明 míng, [apparently] composed
of the characters for ‘sun’ and ‘moon’, appears in compounds with the meaning
‘bright’, so think of ‘a bright tomorrow’. 今 jīn- and 昨 zuó- are both compound,
the latter combining the semantic 日 rì ‘sun’ with the phonetic 乍 zhà.
Exercise 3.
The list of days and dates below [which could be from diary entries] is out of order. Read
the entries in numerical order, beginning with the numbers on the left. Though you would
normally read the day out as rì, once you have read it, you can pass it on as information
with hào: “Dì-yī, míngtiān wǔyuè shí rì (ie shí hào).”
七: 今天四月二十日
三: 昨天九月十八日
六: 明天三月四日
二: 昨天十二月十七日
九: 今天八月二日
一: 明天五月十日
四: 今天九月二十五日
五: 明天十一月三十日
八: 昨天六月十四日
十: 今天二月九日
_____________________________________________________________
1.9 Surnames and pronouns
王李毛周白林
4+0 4+3 4+0 2+6 5+0 4+4
Wáng Lĭ Máo Zhōu Bái Lín
king plum fine hair circle white woods
The characters used for these six surnames also represent words whose meanings (written
in italics above) are only very tangentially related to their surname functions.
13
姓她他也
3+5 3+3 2+3 1+2
xìng tā tā yě
surname<d> she; her he; him also; too
Notes
姓 xìng ‘surname<d>’ and 她 tā ‘she; her’ both have 女 (which is used to write nǚ
‘female’) as ‘radical’. (Early forms of 女 are said to depict a woman crouching or
kneeling.) In 姓, 女 is combined with 生 shēng ‘be born’, suggesting a notion
such as ‘children are born of woman and given a surname’. 她 was created in
relatively recent times as a counterpart to 他 (a contrast not represented in the
spoken language). The right element of 他 and 她 was originally distinct from the
graph, 也, used to write the word yě ‘too; also’; the modern identity is fortuitous,
probably a result of scribal confusion. Now it causes confusion for modern
students of the language.
1.9.1 Read aloud, beginning with 1 (and citing the number):
三她姓毛。七他也姓周。
五他姓李。二她姓王。
一她姓白。十她也姓白。
八他也姓林。四她姓林。
九她也姓毛。六他姓周。
Exercise 4.
a) The following list is out of numerical order. Read it in order, and following the
information given, read out the surname and the birthday (shēngrì), along the following
lines:
“Dì-yī ge: <Tā> xìng Wáng; <shēngrì ne:> yījiǔbā’èr nián, yíyuè sì rì”
六：王；1946 年 8 月 23 日
八：李；1981 年 6 月 8 日
三：毛；1979 年 10 月 29 日
14
九：周；1966 年 2 月 30 日
十：白；1961 年 10 月 2 日
十一：林；1942 年 8 月 17 日
二：毛；1983 年 4 月 14 日
一：王；1982 年 1 月 4 日
十二：周；1976 年 11 月 21 日
四：白；1959 年 9 月 21 日
七：林；1967 年 3 月 16 日
五：李；1951 年 11 月 7 日
b) The table can also provide data for a conversation along the following lines:
Cue: Dì-yī ge ne?

Response: Dì-yī ge: Xìng Wáng; shēngrì: yī-jiǔ-bā-èr nián, yíyuè sì hào.
__________________________________________________________________
1.10 More pronouns and function words
我你們不嗎呢
4+3 ~ 1+6 2+5 2+8 1+3 3+9~10 3+5
们吗
2+3 3+3
wǒ nǐ men bu ma ne
I; me you COLLECTIVE NEG Q NE
Notes
a) 我 , 你, and 们/們, like the other graphs used for pronouns (他 and 她) are
compound, though only one of the parts of 我 can still be represented
independently in the modern language; 我’s right hand element is the graph 戈 gē
‘spear’ (looking more like a harpoon with its barbed tip down). Both 你 and 们/們
have a left hand element that is a vertical version of the graph 人 ‘person’, known
as rénzìpáng ‘person at the side’ (or ‘the person radical’). Their right hand
elements, 尔 and 门/門, also appear independently (cf. next item).
15
b) 门/門, originally a representation of a door with two leaves, is a radical in some

characters (eg traditional 開 ‘start; open’) and a phonetic in others, including 们/
們 men and 问/問 wèn ‘ask’ (cf. qǐngwèn ‘excuse me’).
c) The graph 不 is said to derive from a drawing of a bird that originally served to
represent another word. It was borrowed to write bu not because of its form, but
because of similarity of sound (just as ‘4’ could be used for its sound to write
‘4get’ in ‘rebus’ writing).
d) Set §1.9 is the first to include graphs that have both a simplified and traditional
forms: 们/們 and 吗/嗎. The simplified graphs are both based on traditional
calligraphic forms, and they retain an holistic resemblance to the traditional form
even though the two share only a few strokes in common.
e) 吗/嗎 underwent a similar process to 不. The graph 马/馬 mǎ ‘horse’, was
‘borrowed’ for its sound to represent the toneless question particle (ma), but
(unlike the case of 不) the new function was explicitly signaled by the addition of
the graph 口 (kǒu ‘mouth; entrance’, but here suggesting ‘colloquial’) to form the
compound character 吗/嗎. Cf. 妈/媽 mā, the informal word for ‘mother’, also
making use of 马/馬, marked for its new meaning by the addition of the graph 女
‘woman; female’. 馬 is written with 9 strokes by some, 10 by others.
1.10.1 Reading
1. 他姓王。我也姓王。 2. 你也姓毛吗？ / 不，我姓王。
3. 他姓李吗？ / 不，他姓林。 4. 我姓王，他姓林，你呢？
5. 我姓周，他姓林，你姓王。 6. 我姓王，她姓白，你呢？
7. 我姓周，她姓林，你姓白吗？ 8. 不，我姓林，你姓白吗？
9. 你们呢？他们呢？/ 我姓周，他们呢：他姓白，他姓李，她姓林。
1.11 SVs and associated function words
好累忙冷很
3+3 6+5 3+3 2+5 3+6
hǎo lèi máng lěng hěn
be good tired busy cold very
16
還餓熱了太
3+13 8+7 4+11 1+1 3+1
还饿热
3+4 3+7 4+6
hái è rè le tài
still hungry hot LE too; very
(grand)
Notes
a) SVs: 好 is composed of the female-radical, 女, and 子 zǐ ‘child’ (the latter
without phonetic function); often explained as the paradigm of a ‘good
relationship’. 累 shows 田 ‘field’ above and the radical derived from the graph
used for ‘silk’ below: ‘a heavy and tiring burden for such as slender base’. 忙,
with heart radical (a compressed and truncated version of 心) and 亡 wáng as a
phonetic element, can be compared to 忘 wàng ‘forget’ with the same elements
configured vertically. 饿/餓 is composed of the food radical and the element 我
wǒ, chosen for its sound value. 冷, has two strokes (diǎn and tiáo) on the left
forming the so-called ‘ice radical’, found in a few graphs such as 冰 bīng ‘ice’.
The right hand element of 冷 is 令 lìng, a ‘phonetic element’ also found in 零 líng
‘zero’. The four strokes at the base of 热/熱 rè are a form of the ‘fire-radical’
which, in its independent form, is written 火.
b) ADVs: The graph 很 hěn ‘very’ is composed of 彳 as radical and 艮 gèn as
phonetic (cf. 恨 hèn, 狠 hěn, 跟 gēn). 太 tài ‘great’ is 大 dà ‘big’ with the extra
dot. The graph 还/還 is also used for the word huán ‘to give back’, which is
probably the meaning that inspired the traditional graph. The simplified version
substitutes 不 not for its sound or meaning, but for its general shape which serves
to represent the complicated right-hand element. (Cf. 環/环 huán ‘a ring;
surround’.)
c) 了 should be distinguished from 子 zǐ. In the traditional set, the radical
assigned to 了 is the second stroke, the vertical hook; but in the simplified set, it is
the first stroke, whose uncontorted form is 乙, a radical also assigned to 也.
17
1.11.1 Covering the pinyin, check your pronunciation of the following phrases:
a) Jiǎntǐzì ‘simplified set’
三月今天也好姓王昨天我们
sānyuè jīntiān yě hǎo xìng Wáng zuótiān wǒmen
很累不饿不好明天还好姓毛
hěn lèi bú è bù hǎo míngtiān hái hǎo xìng Máo
你们九月二十日姓林明年她们
nǐmen jiǔyuè èrshí rì xìng Lín míngnián tāmen
你呢他们八月很忙不太累冷吗
nǐ ne tāmen bāyuè hěn máng bú tài lèi lěng ma
不冷很热九十不饿了好不好冷了
bù lěng hěn rè jiǔshí bú è le hǎo bu hǎo lěng le
b) Fántǐzì (including graphs that have only one form)
他們很熱不冷了很餓明年我們
tāmen hěn rè bù lěng le hěn è míngnián wǒmen
不熱了餓不餓姓周你們冷嗎太好
bú rè le è bu è xìng Zhōu nǐmen lěng ma tài hǎo
1.11.2 Reading
甲乙
1。今天很忙也很累。昨天呢？
昨天还好，不太忙，也不太累。
18
2。你们饿不饿？不饿，还好！你呢？
我呢，我很饿。
3。今天很热! 昨天也很热！
4。今天冷了。昨天呢?
昨天不太冷，还好。
5。我们很热。我也很热！很热也很累！
Ng, 我们也很累。
6。饿吗？不太饿。我很累。你呢？
不累，还好。饿不饿？
不饿了。我也不饿。
1.12 Action verbs and associated function words
吃飯已經課班
3+3 8+4 3+0 6+7 7+8 4+6
饭经课
3+4 3+5 2+8
chī fàn yǐjing kè bān
eat rice; food; already class; lesson (a shift; class)
meals
上下沒/没有
1+2 1+2 3+4 1+5
shàng xià méi yǒu
on; upper; under; lower; [not] have
go up go down
19
a) 吃 is a compound of 口 kǒu ‘mouth’ and the element 乞, pronounced qǐ on its

own. It suggests ‘mouth, teeth and tongue’. 饭/飯 is a compound of the food
radical (whose independent form is 食) and phonetic 反 fǎn. Hint: ‘customer on
the left with a cap on, with FOOD on the right behind a sneeze shield’. 课/課
contains the speech radical (言 in its independent form) and 果 guǒ (meaning
‘fruit’) as an imperfect phonetic element. Hint: ‘board on an easel in a classroom’.
b) Contrast 已 yǐ with 己 jǐ, 巳 sì, and 乙 yǐ.
c) The right hand side of the traditional graph, 經 , is said to derive from the
drawing of a loom used to represent the root meaning of jīng, ie ‘warp [of a
loom]’. From the movements and result of weaving, the word derives meanings
such as ‘pass through’ or ‘regulate’ as well as ‘classic texts’ [cf. English ‘text’
and ‘textile’]. The etymological meaning of the compound 已經 is harder to see,
but probably derives from a notion of ‘completing the task’.
d) 没 (whose traditional form, 沒, is only slightly different) has a version of the
water radical on the left (three strokes in contrast to the two of 冷) and an
element pronounce shū on the right (with 4 strokes). The graph is also used for the
word mò ‘submerge’, which probably explains the presence of the water radical.
1.12.1 Phrases
a) Jiǎntǐzì ‘simplified set’
吃饭吃了还没没有你呢
chīfàn chī le hái méi méiyou nĭ ne
上课已经走了下班饭很好
shàngkè yĭjing zŏu le xiàbān fàn hĕn hăo
没有了上课没课明天很累
méiyou le shàngkè méi kè míngtiān hĕn lèi
上班还没吃呢已经吃了走了没有还没
shàngbān hái méi chī ne yǐjing chī le zǒu le méiyou hái méi
20
b) Fántǐzì ‘traditional set’:
熱了上課還好吃飯已經走了
rè le shàngkè hái hǎo chīfàn yǐjing zǒu le
明天沒課不太餓你們不餓了下課了
míngtiān méi kè bú tài è nĭmen bú è le xiàkè le
1.12.2 Reading
a) Jiǎntǐzì
甲乙
1。吃了吗? 吃了。你呢？
还没，我不饿。
2。吃了没有？还没，你呢。
没有，我不饿。我也不饿，今天太热了。
3。你吃饭了吗？还没。你呢？
我已经吃了。
4。今天好不好？还好。
吃饭了吗？吃饭了。你呢？
我也已经吃了。
5。他们走了没有？已经走了，上课了。
哦，上课了。
6。他吃了没有？没有，太忙了。
他不饿吗？不饿，还好。
7。他们已经上课了吗? 还没，他们还没有吃饭呢。
哦，没吃饭呢。没有。
8。明天有没有课？没有，明天十月一号。一号
没课。
二号呢？二号有，三号也有。
21
b) Fántǐzì
甲：我今天很累！乙：吃飯了嗎？
還沒呢，太忙了。餓嗎？
很餓。你呢？我不餓，已經吃了。
李白呢，他已經上課了嗎？他今天很忙，沒有上課。
你熱嗎？熱！？我不熱，昨天很熱
今天好了。
昨天很熱，今天也很熱. 今天還好，不熱。
Exercise 5. Fill in the blanks:
1。我___ 没吃饭呢，你呢？ / 我___ 经吃了。

2。今天很好，不___ 也不冷。/ ___ 天也很好。
3。昨天不___ 冷，还好。 / 昨天很好，可是今天热___。
4。我姓林，她___ 姓林。 / 是吗？你们姓林？我也___ 林。
5。我昨天很忙，今天也很___ 。 / 明天___ ？
6。吃___ 了没有？ / 吃___ 。
Notes
可是 kěshì ‘but’
是 shì ‘be the case’
__________________________________________________________
22
1.13 On the streets

This section appears regularly in the lessons to introduces you to words and phrases
commonly seen on signs, notices, shop fronts and billboards across China (as well as in
Chinese communities across the world). Though notes and annotations are still provided
for them, the focus is on recognizing the combinations rather than writing them.
入口出口雨水
rùkǒu chūkǒu yǔshuǐ
enter opening exit opening rainwater
entrance exit [on manhole covers]
有限公司銀行
银行
yǒuxiàn gōngsī yínháng
have-limit company silver-shop
CO.LTD. bank
Notes
a) Left leaning 入 has, in earlier notes been contrasted with right leaning 人 rén,
as well as with balanced 八 bā
b) 限 and 銀/银 are part of a phonetic set based on 艮 that includes 很 hěn ‘very’
c) 行 writes two (historically related) words: háng, with a number of meanings
including ‘shop; firm’ and ‘row’; and xíng ‘to go; do; be okay’ (as in 還行).
Don't! [JKW 2002]
23
Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
MIT * A I Lesson 1
Stroke Order of Characters in Lesson 1
The number before each stroke indicates where the stroke starts as well as
the stroke order.
Page 1 of 6
MIT 9% I Lesson 1
shi niin yuk
ri hio (T) hio (S)
ming zuo jin
tih Wing Li
JZh Page 2 of 6
MIT 9% I Lesson 1
Mho Zhau Bhi
Lin xing tB
t3 yE w6
ni men (T) men (S)
JZh Page 3 of 6
MIT I Lesson 1

-6
bidbii ma (T) ma (S)
ne h5io lki
4-
mang lEng hEn
lr
rb
hai (T) hai (S) le
Page 4 of 6
MIT 9 %I Lesson 1
i: (T) (S) tii
ri: (T) rk (S) chi
fan (T) fin (S) yi
jing (T) jing (S) ban
JZh Page 5 of 6
MIT 92I Lesson 1
3-
kk (T) kk (S) shhg
xi8 mki (T) mki (S)
y6u y6ng shui
JZh Page 6 of 6
Unit 2
Yù bù zhuó, bù chéng qì.
jade not carve, not become implement
A saying, in classical style, conveying the importance of discipline and perseverance in achieving success.
The root meaning of qì (器) is a ‘vessel’, ie something that can be put to use. Its extended meanings include
‘utensils’, and ‘talent’.
Contents
2.1 Pronunciation
2.2 Adverbs
2.3 More SVs Exercise 1
2.4 Nouns and modification Exercise 2
2.5 Identity Exercise 3
2.6 Names and titles Exercise 4
2.7 Location and existence Exercise 5
2.8 Miscellany
2.9 Dialogue: at the airport Exercise 6
2.11 Pinyin notes and practice Exercise 7
2.12 Summary
2.1 Pronunciation
As before, to set the articulatory positions of your mouth and tongue for Chinese speech,
contrast the following sets of Chinese and English words:
a) lèi lay b) lái lie c) chū chew

méi May shāi shy shū shoo
zhèi Jay mài my shén shun
bēi bay pái pie zhuō jaw
péi pay bái buy zhōu Joe
fēi Fay shòu show
d) dízi deeds xízi seeds

tóuzi toads qícì cheats
luózi lords bǐcǐ beets (or beats)
2.2 Adverbs
In the first unit, you were introduced to a number of words that are classed ‘adverbs’:
hěn, bù, yě, hái or háishi and yǐjing. It is difficult to characterize the general function of
adverbs beyond rather abstract notions like ‘degree’, ‘amount’, or ‘manner’; but they can
be defined positionally as words that are placed before, and are semantically linked to, a
following verb (or other adverb).
58
2.2.1 Tài with le

Tài, seen only in negative sentences in the first unit (bú tài lèi), is also common in
positive sentences, where it is frequently found with a final le: Tài hǎo le. ‘Great!’; Tài
jǐnzhāng le. ‘[I]’m real anxious!’; Tài nán le. ‘[It]’s too difficult!’ Le in this context
conveys a sense of excess (cf. English ‘exceedingly’), and as such, can be regarded as a
special case of the notion of ‘new situation’. Notice that negative sentences with tài often
suggest moderation rather than excess, so do not attract final le in the same way: bú tài
hǎo.
2.2.2 Other adverbs

Below are examples of some additional common adverbs: dōu ‘all’, gèng ‘even more’,
bĭjiào (pronounced bĭjiăo by some) ‘rather; quite; fairly’, and zǒngshi ‘always’.
dōu Tāmen dōu hěn è. [They]’re all hungry.

‘all’ Dōu duì. [They]’re all right.
Dōu méi chī ne. None [of them] has eaten [yet].
gèng Xiànzài hĕn lěng, kěshi [It]’s cold now, but [it] was even
‘even more’ yǐqián gèng lěng. colder before.
bĭjiào Wŏ jīntiān bĭjiào máng. I’m fairly busy today.

‘quite’ Zuótiān bĭjiào rè. Yesterday was fairly warm.
zǒngshi Xuéshēng zǒngshi hĕn Students are always busy

‘always’ máng hĕn lèi; dànshi and tired, but teachers are
lǎoshī gèng máng gèng lèi. even more so.
2.2.3 Intensifying or backing off

a) Fēicháng ‘very; especially; unusually’
Rather than answering a yes-no question about a state with a neutral positive response (Nǐ
lèi ma? / Hěn lèi.), you may want to intensify your answer. Fēicháng, an adverb whose
literal meaning is ‘not-often’, is one of a number of options:
Jīntiān fēicháng rè! [It]’s really hot today!

Fēicháng hǎo! [It]’s unusually good!
b) ADVs tǐng and mán ~ mǎn as intensifiers

Some mention needs to be made here of two adverbs that are very common in certain
phrases in colloquial speech. One is tǐng, whose core meaning is actually ‘straight; erect’,
but which, as an ADV, carries the force of English ‘very’ or ‘really’. The other is mán,
which has a variant in low tone, mǎn. The variants may reflect confusion between two
different roots, one, mán, with a core meaning of ‘fierce’ and an adverbial meaning of
‘entirely; utterly’; and the other mǎn, with a core meaning of ‘full’, extended to ‘very;
full’ in the adverbial position. The distinction may have been obscured in part by the fact
that the two merge to mán when the low-tone rule applies in common phrases such as
59
mán hǎo. For whatever reason, they seem to be treated as synonymous in colloquial
speech by many speakers.
Exclamations with mǎn or tǐng often occur with a final de (written with the same
character as possessive de, 的, and sometimes referred to as situational-de):
Tǐng hǎo de. Perfect; great!

Mán hǎo de. [That]’s great!
Here are some common collocations, roughly glossed to convey the tone of the Chinese;
mán is given in rising tone, but you may find that speakers from Taiwan and parts of
southern China tend to say mǎn in contexts where the low tone is permitted.
Tǐng bú cuò de. Not bad!

Tǐng shūfu. [It]’s quite comfortable.
Tǐng yǒu yìsi de! How interesting!
Mán hǎochī de! [It]’sdelicious!

Mán piàoliang. [She]’s real attractive.
Mán bú cuò de! [That]’s pretty darn good!
Mán bú zàihu. [He] doesn’t give a damn. (‘to care; be concerned’)
c) -jíle ‘extremely’
Another option is the intensifying suffix -jíle, which follows SVs directly (and is
therefore not an adverb). Jíle is a compound of jí ‘the extreme point’ or ‘axis’(cf. Běijí
‘North Pole’), plus le. It is quite productive and can follow almost any SV to mean
‘extremely SV’.
Hǎo jíle! Excellent!

Tiānqì rè jíle! The weather’s extremely hot!
d) Yǒu <yì>diǎnr ‘kind of; a bit’

Rather than intensifying your answer, you may want to back off and answer ‘kind of;
rather; a bit’. The construction is yǒu <yì>diǎnr + SV ‘(have a-bit SV)’, a phrase that
appears in the adverbial slot and can be interpreted as a complex adverb. The yi of
<yì>diǎnr is often elided (hence the < >). Taiwan and other southern Mandarin regions,
where the final ‘r’ is not usual, say yǒu yìdiǎn SV, without the -r. Like the English ‘a bit’,
this construction conveys some sort of inadequacy. So tā yǒu yìdiǎnr gāo ‘he’s a bit tall’
suggests that his height is problematical. [Note the presence of yǒu ‘have’ in the Chinese,
with no direct correspondence in the English equivalent!]
Wǒ jīntiān yǒu (yì)diǎnr máng. I’m kind of busy today.

Jīntiān yǒu (yì)diǎnr rè. It’s rather hot today.
Wǒmen yǒu (yì)diǎnr è. We’re a bit hungry
60
Summary of Adverbs (and other expressions of degree)
ADV ~Eng equivalent with SVs with Vact

bù not bú lèi bú shàngbān
yě too; also yě hěn lèi yě chī le
hái ~ still hái hǎo hái méi zǒu ne
háishi háishi hěn lèi
dōu all dōu hěn gāo dōu shuìjiào le
yǐjing already yǐjing zǒu le
tài very; too tài máng le;
bú tài máng
hěn very hěn lèi
tǐng, mǎn ~ mán very; really mǎn bú cuò
gèng even more gèng rè
bǐjiào ~ bǐjiǎo rather; relatively bǐjiào lěng
zǒngshi always zǒngshi hěn
máng
fēicháng extremely; very fēicháng lěng
SPECIAL ~Eng equivalent with SVs with Vact

CONSTRUCTIONS
jíle ‘very; extremely’ hǎo jíle
yǒu<yì> ‘kind of; rather; yǒu diǎnr guì
diǎn<r> a bit’
2.2.4 Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that conjoin linguistic units, either as equal partners, as in the
case of ‘and’ or ‘but’ (called ‘coordinating conjunctions’), or in a skewed partnership, as
in the case of ‘if’ and ‘because’ (called ‘subordinating conjunctions’). In Chinese, there is
no word quite comparable to English ‘and’ that connects sentences; that function is often
served by the adverb, yĕ:
Zuótiān wŏ bù shūfu, jīntiān yĕ bú tài hăo. I wasn’t very well yesterday,

and [I]’m not too well today,
either.
Zuótiān hĕn rè, jīntiān yĕ hĕn rè. It was hot yesterday, and it’s
hot today, too.
As noted in §1.7.5, conjunctions kĕshi and dànshi (the latter probably more
common in non-northern regions) correspond to English ‘but’ or ‘however’. A third
word, búguò, can also be mentioned here; though its range of meaning is broader than
that of the other two, it has considerable overlap with them and can also often be
translated as ‘but; however’.
61
Tāmen hái méi chīfàn, kĕshì dōu bú è. They haven’t eaten, but they
aren’t hungry.
Wŏ chīfàn le, dànshi hái méi xǐzǎo. I’ve eaten, but I haven’t
bathed yet.
Tā zŏu le, búguò jīntiān bú shàngbān. She’s left, but she’s not going
to work today.
cf. Tā zŏu le, búguò jīntiān méi shàngbān. She’s gone, but she didn’t go to
work today.
2.3 More SVs

Here are some additional SVs that can be incorporated in the patterns introduced in the
first two units.
Of people
yán ‘strict’ lìhai ‘formidable; tough’
Of tasks
nán ‘difficult’ róngyì ‘easy’
Of things
hǎochī ‘nice hǎotīng ‘nice guì ‘expensive’
[to eat]’ [sounding]’
Of people or things
qīngchu ‘clear’ hǎokàn ‘nice [looking]’ piàoliang ‘pretty’
qíguài ‘strange; odd; surprising’

Of situations
xíng ‘be okay; be satisfactory; [it’ll] do’
Several of these SVs can be applied to people such as lǎoshī ‘teachers’ and xuésheng
‘students’; others, as noted, are more like to apply to things such as Zhōngwén ‘Chinese
language’ or dōngxi ‘[physical] things’.
2.3.1 Questions with zĕnmeyàng ‘how [is it]’

The question word zĕnmeyàng (pronounced [zĕmeyàng], without the first ‘n’) is used to
ask questions corresponding to ‘how is X’. Zĕnmeyàng is also used as an informal
greeting, rather like English ‘how’s it going’.
Jīntiān zĕnmeyàng? How is [it] today?

Hĕn rè. [It]’s hot.
Zhōngwén zĕnmeyàng? How’s Chinese [class]?

Hĕn nán! Lăoshī hĕn yán. [It]’s difficult. The teacher’s strict.
2.3.2 Examples
Lăoshī zĕnmeyàng? How’s the teacher?

Hěn lìhài, tā fēicháng yán. [She]’s formidable; she’s really strict.
62
Tā zĕnmeyàng? How is he?

Hĕn lèi, shuìjiào le. [He]’s tired, [he]’s gone to bed.
Tāmen zĕnmeyàng? How are they doing?

Bù shūfu, méi shàngkè. [They]’re not well, [they] weren’t in class.
Zhōngwén zĕnmeyàng? What’s Chinese like?

Bù nán yĕ bù róngyì. [It]’s not difficult, nor is [it] easy.
Zĕnmeyàng? Hăochī ma? How is [it]? Good?

Hái kĕyĭ. [It]’s okay.
Guì bu guì? Is [it] expensive?
Bú tài guì, hái xíng. Not too – [it]’s reasonable.
Tiānqì zĕnmeyàng? How’s the weather?

Zuótiān fēicháng lěng, Yesterday was very cold, but
kĕshi jīntiān hăo le. today’s okay.
2.3.3 Juéde ‘feel; think’

Zěnmeyàng may be combined with, or may elicit the verb juéde ‘feel; think’ to form a
more specific question about internal states:
Xiànzài nĭ juéde zĕnmeyàng? How do you feel now?
Wŏ juéde bù shūfu. I’m not feeling well.

Wŏ hĕn jĭnzhāng. I’m nervous.
Wŏ juéde hĕn lèi. I feel quite tired.
Hái xíng. Okay.
2.3.4 Zĕnmeyàng as a greeting

Responses to zěnmeyàng as an informal greeting include the following:
Zěnmeyàng? Hái hǎo. [I]’m fine.

Hái xíng. [I]’m okay. (still alright)
Hái kěyǐ. Passable. (still be+possible)
Bú cuò. Not bad. (not be+erroneous)
Mǎma-hūhū. So-so.
Lǎo yàngzi. The usual. (old way)
Notes
a) Kěyǐ is a verb meaning ‘may; be acceptable’.
b) Cuò is a SV meaning ‘be wrong; be mistaken’.
c) Mǎma-hūhū is a complex SV that is formed by repetition of the parts of the SV
mǎhu ‘be casual; careless’.
63
Exercise 1.
Perform a dialogue between the two students, Máo Dàwéi and Lǐ Lìsān, along the
following lines:
Máo Dàwéi Lǐ Lìsān

Hi, Lìsān! Hello, Dàwéi. How’re you feeling today?
Tired. How about you? I’m a bit tired too – I still haven’t eaten. How
about you – hungry?
No, I already ate. Was it good?
It was okay. How’re your

teachers? Strict? Very, they’re formidable! Chinese is tough!
But Japanese is even harder. They’re both hard! …Well, I must be off.
Okay, see you later. Okay, bye, take it easy.

___________________________________________________________________
2.4 Nouns and modification

This section begins with some additions to your repertoire of inanimate nouns. You will
have a chance to practice these in context later in this unit as well as subsequently.
yàoshi keys yǎnjìng glasses (eye-mirror)

shū books shūbāo backpack (book-bundle)
hùzhào passport xié shoes [xiézi in the South]
xíngli luggage <yǔ>sǎn [rain]umbrella
bǐ pen bǐjìběn notebook (pen-note-book)
qiānbǐ pencil (lead-pen) shǒujī cell-phone (hand-machine)
màozi cap; hat xìnyòngkǎ credit card (credit-card)

píbāo wallet (leather-pack) dōngxi [physical] things
tiānqì weather (sky-air) yīfu clothes
bào<zhi> newspaper (report-paper) zìdiǎn dictionary (character-records)
zìxíngchē bike (self-go-vehicle) chēzi small vehicle; car
dānchē bike (unit-vehicle) qìchē car; automobile
2.4.1 Measure-words
Nouns lead to the subject of ‘measure-words’. In English, one can distinguish two kinds
of nouns: those that can be counted directly, and those that can only be counted in terms
of a container or amount.
64
countable non-countable:
[can be counted directly] [counted by way of a container, amount, etc.]
book Æ 2 books wine Æ 10 bottles of wine

fish Æ 1 fish soup Æ 4 bowls of soup
pen Æ 3 pens tea Æ 5 cups of tea
It is true that wine, soup and tea can also be counted directly if the meaning is ‘varieties
of’: 10 wines; 4 soups; 5 teas. But otherwise, such nouns need to be measured out. In
Chinese (as well as in many other languages in the region, including Thai, Vietnamese
and Burmese), all nouns can be considered non-countable, and are counted through the
mediation of another noun-like word. [The vocabulary in these examples is only for
illustration – it need not be internalized yet.]
shū Æ sì běn shū jiǔ Æ shí píng jiǔ

book 2 spine book wine 10 bottles wine
2 books 10 bottles of wine
yú Æ yì tiáo yú tāng Æ sì wǎn tāng

fish 1 length fish soup 4 bowls soup
a fish 4 bowls of soup
bǐ Æ sān zhī bǐ chá Æ sān bēi chá

pens 3 stub pen tea 3 cup tea
3 pens 3 cups of tea
Often a distinction is made between ‘measures’ and ‘classifiers’. The phrases on

the right all involve measures, which serve to portion out a substance that is otherwise not
naturally bound; all the examples are, in fact, liquids. Chinese often uses Measures where
English would use them, as the examples show. Classifiers, on the other hand, are rare in
English, though perhaps ‘block’ is an example, as in ‘block of apartments’. Classifiers
serve to classify nouns along various physical dimensions. Tiáo for example is a classifier
used typically for sinuous things, such as roads, rivers, and fish:
yì tiáo lù ‘a road’ liăng tiáo yú ‘2 fish’

sān tiáo hé ‘3 rivers’ sì tiáo tuǐ ‘4 legs’
Interestingly, in many cases, the original impetus for a particular classifier has
been obscured by cultural change. Items of news, for example, are still classified with
tiáo (yì tiáo xīnwén ‘an item of news’) even though news is no longer delivered by way
of a sinuous tickertape. The use of tiáo for watches may also be a relic of those days
when people carried a fob watch on long, sinuous chains.
Rather than keep the notional distinction between classifiers and measures, both
will be referred to as ‘Measure-words’, abbreviated as M’s. Before you encounter M’s in
sentences, it will be useful to practice them in phrases. We begin with the default M, gè
65
(usually untoned). It appears with many personal nouns, including rén ‘person’ and
xuésheng ‘student’. Note that when combined with an M, the number ‘two’ (but not a
number ending in ‘two’, such as 12 or 22) is expressed as liǎng (‘pair’) rather than èr:
liǎng ge ‘two [of them]’. And as that example shows, in context, the noun itself may be
omitted.
Recall that the tone of yī ‘one’, level when counting or when clearly designating
the number ‘1’, shifts to either falling or rising when yi is in conjunction with a following
M. The basic tone of gè is falling (hence yí gè) and even though, as noted, gè is often
toneless, it still elicits the shift before ‘losing’ its tone: yí ge.
The following sets can be recited regularly until familiar:
yí ge rén liǎng ge rén sān ge rén wǔ ge rén shí ge rén.

1 person 2 people 3 people 5 people 10 people
yí ge xuésheng liǎng ge xuésheng sān ge xuésheng

1 student 2 students 3 students
yí ge liǎng ge dì-yī ge dì-èr ge dì-sān ge

1 of them 2 of them the 1st [one] the 2nd [one] the 3rd [one]
The particle le following phrases like these (as in the main dialogue below) underscores
the relevance of the ‘new situation’: Sì ge rén le. ‘So that’s 4 [people].’
Another particularly useful M is kuài ‘lump; chunk; piece’, which in the context
of money (qián), means yuan, generally translated as ‘dollar’. The yuán is a unit of the
currency known as rénmínbì [MB] ‘people’s currency’.
yí kuài qián liăng kuài qián sān kuài qián wŭ kuài qián shí kuài qián
yí kuài liăng kuài sān kuài wŭ kuài shí kuài
2.4.2 Possessive pronouns

In English, possessive pronouns have quite a complicated relationship to ordinary
pronouns (eg ‘I > my >mine’; ‘she > her >hers’), but in Chinese, they are formed in a
perfectly regular fashion by the addition of the ‘possessive marker’, de: wǒ ‘I’ > wǒ de
‘my; mine’. The full system is shown below:
wǒ de wǒmen de my; mine our; ours

nǐ de nǐmen de your; yours your; yours [plural]
tā de tāmen de his; her; hers their; theirs
These may combine with nouns, as follows:
wŏ de zìdiǎn my dictionary
tā de hùzhào her passport
66
wŏmen de xíngli our luggage

wŏ de xié<zi> my shoes
nǐ de dōngxi your things
The possessive marker de may also link noun modifiers to other nouns:
xuésheng de shūbāo students’ bags

lăoshī de shū teachers’ books
Zhāng lǎoshī de yǎnjìng Professor Zhang’s glasses
zuótiān de tiānqì yesterday’s weather
jīntiān de bào<zhi> today’s newspaper
2.4.3 Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns (‘this’ and ‘that’) and locational pronouns (‘here’ and ‘there’)
are shown in the chart below. Examples in context will follow later in the unit.
proximate distal question

zhè ~ zhèi ‘this’ nà ~ nèi ‘that’ nǎ ~ něi ‘which’
zhèr ~ zhèlǐ ‘here’ nàr ~ nàlǐ ‘there’ nǎr ~ nǎlǐ ‘where’
Notes
a) The forms, zhèi, nèi and něi, are generally found only in combination with a
following M: zhè but zhèi ge ‘this one’; nà but nèi ge ‘that [one]’.
b) On the Mainland, where both forms of the locational pronouns occur, the r-
forms are more colloquial, the lǐ-forms, more formal. Non-northern speakers of
Mandarin, who tend to eschew forms with the r-suffix, either merge the locational
pronouns with the demonstratives, pronouncing zhèr as zhè, nàr as nà, and nǎr as
nǎ, or [particularly in Taiwan] use zhèlǐ, nàlǐ and nǎlǐ (> nálǐ). Notice that in all
cases, the distal forms differ from the question forms only in tone: nà / nǎ; nèi /
něi, etc.
c) Before a pause, nà is often used in an extended sense, translated in English as
‘well; so; then; in that case’:
Nà, wǒmen zǒu ba. Well, let’s go then. (so we leave BA)
Nà, nǐ de xíngli ne? So how about your luggage then?
Exercise 2.
Provide Chinese equivalents for the following phrases and sentences:
my wallet 3 teachers their clothes

her glasses 2 people the newspaper on July 4th
his things 4 students Prof. Zhang’s passport
yesterday’s paper 2 dollars her bike
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How’s Liáng Zhìfǔ doing today? / She’s better.

How was the weather yesterday? / It was ‘freezing’ cold!
2.5 Identity
Statements such as ‘Today’s Monday’ or ‘I’m Oliver’ or ‘She’s an engineer’ involve
identity or category. In English, the primary verb that serves to identify or categorize is
‘be’ (whose forms include ‘is’, ‘are’, ‘was’, etc.). In Chinese, the relationship is
sometimes expressed by simple juxtaposition, with no explicit linking verb. Dates, for
example, can be linked to days, as follows:
Jīntiān jiǔyuè bā hào. Today’s the 8th of September.

Zuótiān qī hào. Yesterday was the 7th.
Míngtiān jiǔ hào. Tomorrow’s the 9th.
But the addition of an adverb, such bu, requires a verb, and in such cases, shì [usually
untoned] must be expressed:
Jīntiān bú shi bā hào, It’s not the 8th today, it’s the 9th.
shi jiǔ hào.
And an untoned shi can also be present in the positive sentences:
Jīntiān <shi> jiǔyuè shí hào. Today’s September 10th.

Míngtiān <shi> Zhōngqiū Jié. Tomorrow’s the ‘Mid-Autumn Festival’.
[ie the ‘Moon Festival’]
Naming and other kinds of identification sometimes omit shì in fast speech, but
more commonly it can be heard as a toneless whisper, ‘sh’.
Tā shi Wáng Shuò, wǒ de lǎoshī. He’s Wang Shuo, my teacher.
Wǒmen shi xuésheng, tā shi lǎoshī. We’re students, he’s a teacher.
Zhè shi jīntiān de bào. This is today’s paper.
Shi nĭ de yàoshi ma? Are [these] your keys?
Bú shi wŏ de sǎn, shi tā de. [That]’s not my umbrella, [it]’s his.
Tāmen dōu shi xuésheng. They’re all students.
But don’t forget, shì is not required with SVs:
Xuésheng zǒngshi hĕn lèi, The students are always tired, right?
duì bu duì?
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2.5.1 Questions
Now we can introduce the question words shéi (or shuí) ‘who, whom’ and shénme ‘what’
(which, like zĕnme, is pronounced [shéme], without the ‘n’). Unlike English, where
question words generally appear at the head of the sentence, in Chinese, they remain in
the position of the information supplied in the answer. Note the differences in word order
between the English sentences and the Chinese:
Tā shi shéi? Who’s that?

Tā shi wŏ de lăoshī. That’s my teacher.
Nà shi shénme? What’s that?

Nà shi wŏ de hùzhào. That’s my passport.
<Shi> shéi de yàoshi? Whose keys are [these]?

<Shi> wŏ de – xièxie. [They]’re mine – thanks.
<Shi> shuí de xíngli? Whose luggage?

<Shi> wŏmen de. It’s ours.
Zhè shi shéi de? Whose is this?

Shi wŏ de. It’s mine.
Shéi shi dì-yī ge? Who is the first [one]?

Tā shi dì-yī ge. He’s the first.
Dì-èr ge ne? And the second?
Tā shi dì-èr ge. She’s the second.
2.5.2 Hedging your answer

Frequently, when asked about identity, the answer is less than certain, so you may want
to hedge your reply with a word like hăoxiàng ‘seems like (good-resemble)’. The
following short interchanges involve trying to guess the contents of a series of wrapped
packages by feeling them:
Dì-yī shi shénme? What’s the first?

Dì-yī hăoxiàng shi yàoshi. The first seems like keys.
Zhè shi shénme? What’s this?

Hăoxiàng shi shū. Seems like a book.
Nà, zhè shi shénme? Well, what’s this?

Hăoxiàng shi xiézi. Seems like shoes.
2.5.3 Naming
Naming is also a form of identification. And in fact, if you were to go round the
classroom naming all your tóngxué ‘classmates’, you could do so with the verb shì as
follows:
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Nà shi Máo Xiān’ān. That’s Mao Xian’an.

Nà shi Léi Hànbó. That’s Lei Hanbo.
Nà shi Lĭ Dān. That’s Li Dan.
Nà hăoxiàng shi Luó Zhìchéng. Looks like that’s Luo Zhicheng.
Nĭ shì bu shi Luó Zhìchéng? Are you Luo Zhicheng?
Tā shi Léi Fēng! He’s Lei Feng.
Exercise 3.
Provide Chinese for the interchanges:
Q A
th
Is it the 29 today? No, it’s the 30th.
Is this your umbrella? No, that’s Prof. Zhang’s.
Who’s first? Seems like Wáng Jié is 1st and Liú Guózhèng is 2nd.
Are you all students? Yes, we’re all Prof. Wèi’s students.
Is that your bike? No, it’s Léi Fēng’s.
2.6 Names and titles

Names need not be introduced by shì. In some contexts more specialized verbs must be
used. One you encountered in Unit 1: xìng ‘be surnamed’ (which also functions as a noun
meaning ‘surname’). Another is jiào ‘to be named; to call’. But before we illustrate their
use, we should add to the brief remarks about names and titles made in §1.6.1 and §1.9.1.
2.6.1 Names
Some common English names are directly transliterated into Chinese: Yuēhàn Shǐmìsī
‘John Smith’, keeping the English word order of given name before surname. Students of
Chinese are usually given Chinese names, based on their own (either their surnames if
they have enough syllables, or their full names), and these conform to Chinese types of
two or three syllables. In such cases, Chinese word order, with surname before given, is
followed. (In all but the first example below, English surnames are reduced to single
syllables in the Chinese, as shown by the highlighting.)
Wèi Délì Paul Wheatley

Táng Lìlì Lily Tomlin
Máo Xiān’ān Anne Mauboussin
Léi Hànbó Robert Leonhardt
Lǐ Dān David Lippmann
Such names are indistinguishable from names of actual Chinese, such as these:
Cuī Lín Kāng Yòuwéi Yuán Shào Zhèng Chénggōng

Zhèng Hé Máo Qílíng Wáng Lì Bái Sùzhēn
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2.6.2 Xìng
Chinese names consist of a surname, or xìng, in initial position, followed by a given name
or míngzi, literally ‘name-characters’. Xìng are usually – but not always – single
syllables. As a verb, xìng is almost always used when asking for, or responding with,
someone’s surname:
Tā xìng shénme? What’s her surname?

Tā xìng Huáng. She’s surnamed Huang.
Xìng Wáng? Wang?
Bú shi xìng Wáng, tā xìng Huáng. No, not Wang, she’s named Huang.
When addressing someone directly, the honorific expression guìxìng ‘worthy-

surname’ (cf. guì ‘expensive’), with or without a pronoun, is the usual question:
<Nín> guìxìng? May [I] ask your surname [please]?

Wǒ xìng Wèi. I’m surnamed Wei.
2.6.3 Jiào
In much of the English speaking world, where informality tends to be considered a virtue,
the shift from surname to given name can proceed very quickly. However, in Chinese,
address in a professional setting is likely to persist longer as xìng plus title. So under
normal levels of politeness, you would question someone about their xìng, not about their
míngzi. However, in the appropriate context, it is possible to seek someone’s full name
(regardless of the number of syllables). In such cases, the verb jiào ‘be called’ is used.
Jiào can take either the person or the word míngzi as its subject; and it takes as its object
at least two syllables of a name, never a single syllable. Below are some options, first for
Lǐ Xiāngjūn, a three-syllable name, then for Zhèng Hé, with only two.
Q A
Tā jiào shénme míngzi? Tā jiào Lǐ Xiāngjūn.
Tā de míngzi jiào shénme? Tā <de míngzi> jiào <Lǐ> Xiāngjūn.
Tā jiào shénme míngzi? Tā jiào Zhèng Hé.

Tā de míngzi jiào shénme? Tā <de míngzi> jiào Zhèng Hé.
2.6.4 Asking and giving a name

Typically, in face-to-face interaction, one asks politely for a surname, and in many cases,
the response will be just a surname. However, where statuses are more or less matched,
once the surname is provided, it is often followed by the full name, and this is a good
model for the foreign student to copy:
<Nín> guìxìng?
[Bái Sùzhēn] Wo xìng Bái, jiào Bái Sùzhēn.

[Xǔ Xiān] Wǒ xìng Xǔ, jiào Xǔ Xiān.
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2.6.5 Titles
Here is a short selection of titles to add to lǎoshī. All of them follow a xìng, though some
may be used alone under certain conditions. Xiānshēng ‘mister (first-born)’ is the
generic title for adult males. In Taiwan, or overseas communities, xiǎojie ‘Miss; Ms
(small older-sister)’ is quite a common title for unmarried women up to a certain age or,
still with the woman’s xìng, even for young married women. In the same communities,
married women can be addressed, with the husband’s xìng, as tàitai (etymologically
related to tài, the adverb). The latter term is hardly ever used on the Mainland, and even
xiǎojie is used much less there. On the Mainland, if no professional title (such as lǎoshī)
is available, the options are to use full name or mingzi, or simply to avoid direct address
completely.
Shīfu, literally ‘craftsman’, but often translated as ‘master’, has shifted in its
usage in the last few decades, but traditionally, it has been used to address blue-collar
workers (male or female). Finally, jīnglǐ ‘manager’, is a professional title for males or
females, of the sort that might appear on a business card. Note the order surname before
title:
surname (given name) title
Wèi <Bóyáng> lǎoshī Professor
Shí <Jìlóng> xiānsheng Mr.
Chén <Yuè> xiǎojie Miss; Ms
Wáng <Guóbǎo> shīfu ‘master’
Zhōu <Lǐ> jīnglǐ manager
2.6.6 Shì with names

As noted above, while surnames [alone] can only be introduced with the verb xìng, full
names can be introduced by shì as well as jiào. In fact, unlike the other two verbs, shì can
also introduce name and title. The shì option identifies one of a known group, and as
such, is often appropriate to a classroom setting:
Tā shi Lǐ Guānghuī; tā shi Wáng Shuò; tā shi Táng Bīn; wǒ shi Wèi lǎoshī.
Dì-yī ge shi Xiāo Míngzuǒ, dì-èr ge shi Lǐ Míng, dì-sān ge shi Xiè Jìng.
Nĭ shì bu shi Zhāng xiānsheng? Are you Mr. Zhang?

Zhāng jīnglǐ, hǎo. How are you, Manager Zhang?
Zhè shi Dù shīfu. This is Master Du.
Wŏ shi Wáng lăoshī; tāmen dōu shi I’m Prof. Wang and these are my students.
wŏ de xuéshēng.
Chén xiǎojie shi Běijīng rén. Miss Chen is from Beijing.
Exercise 4.
a) Assuming you were an official of appropriate rank and eminence to address the
question, write out how the following people might respond (in the modern world) to
<Nín> guìxìng?
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1. Hú Shì, (20th C. philosopher Wǒ xìng Hú, jiào Hú Shì.

and reformer, graduate
of Cornell University):
2. Sīmǎ Qiān (the Han
dynasty historian):
3. Zhāng Xuéliáng
(Manchurian warlord):
4. Hán Yù (Tang dynasty
scholar):
5. Yáng Guìfēi (courtesan, from
the late Tang dynasty):
6. Cuī Jiàn (rock musician):
b) Translate the following, being careful to follow Chinese word order:
1. I’m a teacher. 2. Who’s she?

3. Her surname’s Sòng, her 4. Hi, my name’s Lǐ Dān.
full name’s Sòng Měilíng.
5. Who’s he? / He’s my teacher. 6. That’s Zhōu Lì.
7. His surname’s Chén, full 8. And him? / His surname’s Xǔ, full
name, Chén Bó. name, Xǔ Xiān.
11. This is master Wèi. 12. Her name’s Smith [Shǐmìsī].
_______________________________________________________________________
2.7 Location and existence

In English, location is expressed with the same verb as identity (or category): the verb ‘to
be’ (is, am, are, etc.). Chinese, however, uses entirely different verbs. Identity is signaled
by shì; location, by zài ‘be at’:
I D Tā shi xuésheng. She’s a student.

LOC Tā zài Běijīng. She’s in Beijing.
2.7.1 Some Chinese place names

China is called Zhōngguó, often given the literal gloss of ‘middle kingdom’, a name
which goes back to the time when it designated the ruling principality among the many
that owed it fealty. The Chinese are then Zhōngguó rén ‘Chinese-people’.
Administrative units of the People’s Republic include provinces (省 shěng),

prefectures (地 dì), counties (县 xiàn), townships (乡 xiāng) and villages (村 cūn). Of
these, the county (xiàn) is the unit with the longest historical continuity, dating back some
2500 years. In modern mainland China the highest, or provincial level contains 33
divisions: 22 provinces (with Taiwan considered a 23rd), 5 autonomous regions, 4
municipalities, which are cities ruled by the central government (Bĕijīng, Shànghăi,
Tiānjīn and Chóngqìng), and 2 special autonomous districts (Hong Kong [Xiāng Gǎng]
and Macau [Àomén]).
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Taiwan, which administers the island of Táiwān, the Pescadores Islands (Pēnghú),
as well as 13 small, scattered offshore islands, has a slightly different administrative
structure. It has two centrally administered cities, Taipei (Táiběi) and the south-western
city of Kaohsiung (Gāoxióng).
The chart below lists important cities. They can be located in terms of their
province (using the verb zài), or in terms of their proximity to another place (using the lí
pattern that follows in §2.7.2).
Quadrant The city of: is in the province (shěng) of:
NW Xīníng zài Qīnghǎi <shěng>.

NW Wūlǔmùqí Xīnjiāng.
N Hūhéhàotè *Nèiménggǔ.
NE Shěnyáng Liáoníng.
NE Chángchūn Jílín.
NE Hā’ěrbīn Hēilóngjiāng.
W Lāsà *Xīzàng.
C Xī’ān Shǎnxī.
E Nánjīng Jiāngsū .
E Guăngzhōu Guăngdōng.
SW Guìlín *Guǎngxī.
SW Chéngdū Sìchuān.
SW Kūnmíng Yúnnán.
Notes
a) The asterisks (*) before Nèiménggǔ ‘Inner Mongolia’, Xīzàng ‘Tibet’ and
Guǎngxī indicate that they are autonomous regions, zìzhìqū, not shěng.
b) Shěnyáng was formerly called by its Manchu name, Mukden.
c) The names of two provinces are distinguished only by tone: Shānxī
‘mountains-west’ (which is west of the province of Shāndōng ‘mountains-east’),
and Shǎnxī (‘pass-west’) – sometimes romanized as ‘Shaanxi’ or ‘Shenhsi’ to
distinguish it, which is west again of Shānxī.
2.7.2 Proximity
Relative proximity of one place to another can be expressed by a construction that
involves the word lí ‘[away] from’, and the SVs jìn ‘be close’ and yuǎn ‘be far’. Notice
the difference in word order from English.
Place-1 lí place-2 proximity

Bĕijīng lí Guăngzhōu hĕn yuăn / hĕn jìn.
Beijing from Canton very far / close.
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Usage
Tiānjīn lí Bĕijīng bĭjiào jìn. Tiānjīn’s quite close to Beijīng.
Xī’ān zài Shǎnxī, lí Bĕijīng Xi’an’s in Shanxi, quite far from Beijing.
bǐjiào yuăn.
Xīníng lí Chéngdū hĕn jìn ma? Is Xining near Chengdu?

Bú jìn; Xīníng lí Lánzhōu hěn jìn. No, it’s not; it’s close to Lanzhou.
Xī’ān lí Bĕijīng hĕn yuăn, dànshì Xi’an is far from Bĕijīng, but
Xīníng gèng yuăn. Xining is even farther.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:China_administrative.png
2.7.3 Zài ‘be+at’

In certain contexts, zài may appear without a [following] object, typically when it means
‘be at home’, or as a euphemism for ‘be alive’: tā bú zài ‘he’s not at home’ or ‘he’s
passed away’ (the latter meaning more often with le, bú zài le, since that is likely to be
news). Otherwise, zài is followed by words or phrases that are locations. But just what
constitutes a location is not always obvious. Place names are locations as the examples in
§2.7.1 show. So are the locational pronouns:
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zài zhèr ~ zhèlǐ ‘here’

nàr ~ nàlǐ ‘there’
nǎr ~ nǎlǐ ‘where’
Otherwise, most nouns need to be followed by one of a number of position words,

such as shàng ‘on’ or lǐ ‘in’, before they can be locations and thereby act as objects to zài:
zài fēijī shàng on the plane

zài shūbāo lǐ in [my] bookbag
However, some common words for places do not always require following position
words like shàng or lǐ. Sometimes additional position words are optional; sometimes they
add a slight nuance of difference.
zài jiā <lǐ> at home

cāntīng <lǐ> in the cafeteria
jīchǎng at the airport
Before pronouns can act as objects of zài, they need support from one of the
locational pronouns, such as zhèr ~ zhèlǐ: zài wǒ zhèr, literally ‘at me here’; zài tā nàr ‘at
her there’. English actually expresses the notion more naturally with the verb ‘have’:
Qĭngwèn, jīntiān de bào Excuse me, where’s today’s paper?

zài nǎr ~ nǎlǐ?
Zài wŏ zhèr ~ zhèlǐ. I have it.
Xíngli ne? And the luggage?
Xíngli zài tā nàr. He has the luggage.
2.7.4 Zài as a main verb; zài as a co-verb

Zài may be used as a main verb (as in §2.7.1 and below), but it can also introduce a
location and appear prior to another verb, in which case it is called a co-verb in Chinese
grammatical tradition (CV).
a) Examples of zài as a main verb
Qĭngwèn, Mǎ lăoshī zài ma? Excuse me, is Prof. Ma here?

Mǎ lăoshī xiànzài zài Yúnnán. Prof. Ma is currently in Yunnan.
Yàoshi zài nǎr? Where are the keys?

Zài nàr. / Zài tā nàr. [They]’re over there. / She has [them].
Nánjīng lí Héféi bú tài yuǎn, Nanjing’s not far from Hefei,

kĕshì Nánjīng zài Jiāngsū, but Nanjing’s in Jiangsu, [and]
Héféi zài Ānhuī. Hefei’s in Anhui.
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Wŏ de hùzhào zài nĭ nàr ma? Do you have my passport?

Bú zài wŏ zhèr! I don’t have [it].
Nǐ de xíngli zài nǎr? Where are your bags?

Hái zài fēijī shàng. [They]’re still on the airplane.
b) Zài as a co-verb
Co-verbs are like verbs in allowing direct modification by adverbs, but they frequently
correspond to prepositions in English.
Xuésheng zhǒngshi zài cāntīng Students always eat in the cafeteria.

chīfàn.
Wŏmen zài fēijī shàng shuìjiào le. We slept on the plane.
Zài jiā lǐ chīfàn bǐjiào hǎo. It’s better to eat at home.
In such cases, the zài-phrase expresses the location of an action. Later, you will see that
zài-phrases also follow certain verbs (where zài is usually untoned): shēng zai Běijīng
‘born in Beijing’.
2.7.5 The verb yǒu ‘have’

The verb yǒu, with an ‘irregular’ negative méiyou or simply méi, was encountered in the
previous unit as the negative counterpart of le with action verbs: Chīfàn le méiyou? Used
alone, as a main verb, it conveys possession and existence:
Possession Wǒ yǒu sān ge hùzhào. I have 3 passports.

Wǒ méiyou sǎn. I don’t have an umbrella.
Xuéshēng dōu yǒu zìdiǎn. The students all have dictionaries.
Existence Wǒ méiyou xíngli. I don’t have any baggage.

Nánjīng méiyou dìtiě. There’s no underground railway in
Nanjing.
Chēzi lǐ yǒu yīfu, yě yǒu There are clothes and bookbags in the car.
shūbāo.
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Summary
Identity; (bú) shì Nà shi jīntiān de bào. is That’s today’s paper.

category Tā shi lăoshī. She’s a teacher.
Location (bú) zài Chéngdū zài Sìchuān. is (in etc.) Chengdu’s in
Sichuan.
Existence (méi)you Xī’ān méiyou jīchăng. [there] is There’s no airport in
/are Xi’an.
Possession (méi)you Wŏ méiyou hùzhào. have I don’t have a
passport.
Proximity lí…(bú) jìn Tiānjīn lí Bĕijīng bù yuăn. is close to Tianjin’s close to
/ (bù) yuăn / is far Beijing.
from
Exercise 5.
Render the following short exchanges in idiomatic Chinese. [Hint: Chinese would
probably not make use of the verb yǒu ‘have’ in the A and C -dialogues.]
Jiǎ Yǐ
A. -Where’s the paper please? -Yesterday’s?
-No, today’s. -Sorry, I don’t have it.
-You had it earlier. -But I don’t have it now.
B. -Have you eaten yet? -I have.

-Oh, you’ve already eaten! -Yes, in the dorm.
-Is your dorm far from here? -It’s kind of far.
C. -Whose bookbag? -Not mine, I don’t have a

bookbag.
-Is it Lǐ Dān’s? -No, I have Li Dan’s.
-Is it ‘young’ Liú’s? -No, he’s not up yet.
-Then it’s Sūn Hào’s. -Is it?
_______________________________________________________________________
2.8 Miscellany
2.8.1 Welcome
The dialogue at the end of this unit contains an expression used for welcoming someone
to a place. Explicit welcomes are probably more likely to be seen written on signs in
shops than spoken, but they are not out of place with foreigners. The verbs are huānyíng
‘welcome’ and lái ‘come’. With the verb lái, destinations (rather than locations per se)
can follow directly without any equivalent to the English preposition ‘to’: lái Běijīng, lái
Guǎngzhōu. Notice that in English, the people being welcomed (‘you’) are not
mentioned, while in Chinese, they are (nǐmen):
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Huānyíng nǐmen lái Chéngdū! Welcome to Chengdu.
In Chinese settings, explicit thanks are usually reserved for favors that go beyond
the expected. But given the airport context, an expression of gratitude as a response to the
welcome is not inappropriate. This one involves the verbs xiè ‘to thank’ – frequently
repeated as xièxie – and the verb, jiē ‘to meet; join’. The order is like that of English, but
Chinese eschews connective words like ‘to’ and ‘for’. (‘Thank you for coming to meet
us’ appears in Chinese as simply ‘thank you come meet us’.)
Xièxie nǐmen lái jiē wǒmen. Thanks for coming to meet us.
In China, shops and other business establishments often have a formal expression
of welcome written near the entrance. This expression is: 欢迎光临 huānyíng guānglín,
or xièxie guānglín (both with the preferred four syllables). Guānglín, literally ‘illustrious
presence’, is a fancy word for ‘guest’ or ‘visitor’. Sometimes, especially at openings or
sales, ‘welcome hostesses’ (huānyíng xiǎojie), stationed at the shop entrance wearing red
costumes, will welcome or thank you with the same phrases.
Huānyíng nǐmen! [JKW 2003]
2.8.2 Particles
In addition to ma and ne, there are two other common final particles which have been
encountered in the first two units. One is the particle a, which among its diverse
functions, gives a hearty tone to statements or exclamations, and which slightly softens
the abruptness of questions:
Lěng a! [Wow, it]’s cold!

Máng a! Busy, huh?!
Shéi a? [Knock, knock.] Who [is it]?
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The other is ba, which is associated with suggestion or consensus:
Zǒu ba. Let’s go.

Nà hǎo ba. That’s fine then.
Shàngchē ba. Let’s board the bus.
2.8.3 Praise
Chinese will praise your efforts to speak their language (called Zhōngwén or Hànyǔ), and
will typically make use of an expression involving the verb shuō ‘speak’ (or, in southern
Mandarin, jiǎng) followed by the particle +de. If you wonder whether this +de is the
same as the possessive de introduced earlier in this unit, the answer is that it is not. This
+de is followed by SV expressions (eg an adverb plus a SV): shuō+de hěn hǎo. The other
is either followed by a noun (wǒ de shūbāo) or has the potential to be followed by a noun
(wǒ de [shūbāo]). Were meaning and distribution not sufficient evidence for positing two
different de’s, we should cite the fact that they are also written with different characters,
的 (wǒ de) and 得 (shuō+de), respectively. So in order to make the distinction clear (and
prepare you for writing different characters), we write the former as de and the latter as
+de. You should do the same.
Zhōngwén shuō+de hěn hǎo. [You] speak Chinese very well.

~ jiǎng+de hěn hǎo.
To which you respond, modestly, that in fact you don’t speak at all well:
Shuō+de bù hǎo [I] speak very poorly.

~ jiǎng+de bù hǎo.
The latter can be preceded by the expression nǎlǐ (often repeated), which is the [more
formal] word for ‘where’, but which is also used to deflect praise, as if questioning its
basis:
Nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ, shuō+de bù hǎo. Nah, I speak rather badly.

~ jiǎng+de bù hǎo.
When you see more examples, you will find that nothing can intervene in the
combination shuō+de. So if Zhōngwén (or Hànyǔ) is mentioned, it cannot directly
follow shuō, but needs to be cited first, as shown in the examples above. Since Chinese
are so gracious about praising one’s feeble efforts to speak their language, it is good to
get used to this interchange early. For now, though, practice it only as it appears, and only
with the verb shuō and its southern Mandarin counterpart, jiǎng.
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2.9 Dialogue: at the airport

Given the need to restrict vocabulary and structures, the following dialogue cannot be
regarded as completely natural, but it serves as a good model for some of the material
that has been introduced in the first two units.
Situation: Professor Wáng (W) has come to the airport with a university driver to meet
half a dozen international students who are arriving in China to continue their study of
Chinese. The students all have Chinese names as well as their regular ones. One of them
(Dàwéi [Dw]) spots Wáng lǎoshī holding a sign and walks over to introduce himself;
some of the others follow and introduce themselves too. [X designates any one, or a few.]
Dw Nín hǎo, wǒ shì Máo Dàwéi. How are you, I’m Mao Dawei.
W. O, Máo Dàwéi, wǒ shì Wáng lǎoshī. Oh, Mao Dawei, I’m Prof. Wang.
An Wáng lǎoshī, nín hǎo! Wǒ shì Prof. Wang, how are you? I’m Li Anna.
Lǐ Ānnà.
W. Lǐ Ānnà, nǐ hǎo. Li Anna, how are you?
Ym Wáng lǎoshī, wǒ shi Xiǎolín Professor Wang, I’m Xiaolin Youmei.

Yóuměi.
W. Xiǎolín Yóuměi, nǐ hǎo. Xiaolin Youmei, hi. Okay, [that’s] 3.

Hǎo, sān ge rén le.
Ym Hái yǒu tā – tā xìng [pointing] And her too -- her name is

Kǒng, jiào Kǒng Měi. Kong, she’s called Kong Mei.
W. Hǎo, Kǒng Měi, nǐ hǎo! Fine, how are you Kong Mei? [That’s] 4
Sì ge rén le. Nǐ ne? then. And [ who are] you?
Jf Wǒ shì Bái Jiéfēi. I’m Bai Jiefei.
W. Bái Jiéfēi, nǐ hǎo…. Bai Jiefei, hi….

Nà hǎo, huānyíng nǐmen lái Běijīng! Okay, then, welcome to Beijing!
All Xièxie, xièxie nǐmen lái jiē wǒmen. Thanks; thank you for coming to meet us.
W. Zhè shì Gāo shīfu. This is Mr. Gao.
All Gāo shīfu, nín hǎo. Mr. Gao, how are you?
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Gāo Èi, nǐmen hǎo, nǐmen hǎo. Ah, how are you, how are you?
Zhōngwén shuō+de hěn hǎo! [You] speak Chinese very well!
All Nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ, shuō+de bù hǎo! Nah, we don’t speak very well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W. Nǐmen hěn lèi ba. You’re probably tired.
X. Bù, bú tài lèi, hái hǎo. No, not too, [we]’re okay.
W. È ma? Chīfàn le ma? Are [you] hungry? Have [you] eaten?
X.. Bú è, zài fēijī shàng chī le. No, [we]’re not, [we] ate on the airplane.
W. Nà, nǐmen de xíngli ne? And your bags?
X. Zài zhèr: yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù. [They]’re here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Dōu zài zhèr. [They]’re all here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W. Nà hǎo, wǒmen zǒu ba. Shàng Fine, let’s go then. All aboard!
chē ba.
X. Hǎo, hǎo. Okay.
W. Jīntiān yǒu diǎnr rè, nǐmen rè ma? [Aboard the minibus.] [It]’s kind of hot
today; are you hot?
X. Bù, bú rè, hái hǎo. Wǒmen dōu hěn No, [we]’re not, [we]’re fine. We’re
shūfu. all comfortable.
W. Xíngli, hùzhào, sǎn dōu yǒu ma? [You] have [your] bags, [your] passports,
umbrellas?
X. Dōu yǒu, dōu yǒu, xièxie. [We] have them all, thanks.
W. Hǎo, nà wǒmen zǒu ba. Fine, so… let’s go then!
X. Bĕijīng hĕn yuăn ma? Is Beijing far?
W. Bù, lí zhèr bù yuǎn – hěn jìn! No, it’s not far from here – quite close!
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This model conversation is quite ambitious. All its vocabulary is fairly new, of course,
and it also introduces quite a few grammatical patterns and features. But a bold beginning
has the advantage of giving you interesting material to work with from the start. To make
it more manageable, it is divided into four sections. The first involves collecting all the
people; the second, with welcoming them; the third, with finding out how they are; and
the fourth, with getting to the minibus to drive to Beijing. Get familiar with the scenario
first, then visualize the conversation. You should be able to re-enact it more or less as
presented before trying it out with partners.
Exercise 6.
a) Translate the following
1. Okay, that’s three people.

2. Who’s the first person? The second?
3. That’s it then, I’m off.
4. It’s late, I should be going.
5. We’ve all eaten, we ate on the plane.
6. We’re not hungry, we’re fine.
7. Welcome to [….].
8. Thanks for coming to meet us.
9. That’s it then, see you tomorrow.
10. Okay, bye, take it easy.
11. How about you – you thirsty?
12. That looks like my umbrella.
b) Comment that
1. you haven’t eaten yet.
2. they haven’t left yet.
3. she hasn’t had her shower yet.
4. he hasn’t got out of class yet.
5. you haven’t read the day’s paper yet.
6. you were tired yesterday, but today you’re fine.
7. you’re not nervous anymore.
8. you were cold on the plane, but you’re fine now.
9. they’ve already gone to bed.
2.9.1 Airports and airlines

China has invested heavily in infrastructure projects in the last few decades, including the
construction of new airports (jīchǎng) and the reconstruction of old ones. An airport said
to be the world’s largest is due to be completed near Beijing in time for the 2008
Olympics. Some of the better known airports are Capital (Shǒudū) in Beijing, Báiyún
(‘white clouds’) in Canton, and Hóngqiáo (the old airport) and Pǔdōng (the new) in
Shanghai – the last two both named after districts. Pǔdōng, which like so many of the
new airports is far out of town, is served by a German-built mag-lev (magnetic levitation)
train (officially called a cíxuán-fúchē ‘magnet-suspend float-vehicle’, but colloquially
83
referred to as a diàncíchē ‘electromagnetic-vehicle’). It reaches a top speed of 430

kilometers an hour during its 7-8 minute run between the airport and its city terminus at
an outlying subway station.
Airlines are proliferating and consolidating in China. ‘Airline’ is hángkōng

gōngsī, literally ‘aviation company’. Here is a list of some of the larger Chinese airlines
for you to practice saying:
Zhōngguó Hángkōng Gōngsī Air China

Zhōngguó Dōngfāng Hángkōng Gōngsī China Eastern Airlines
Zhōngguó Bĕifāng Hángkōng Gōngsī China Northern Airlines
Zhōngguó Xīběi Hángkōng Gōngsī China Northwest Airlines
Zhōngguó Nánfāng Hángkōng Gōngsī China Southern Airlines
Zhōngguó Xīnán Hángkōng Gōngsī China Southwest Airlines
Xīnjiāng Hángkōng Gōngsī Xinjiang Airlines
Yúnnán Hángkōng Gōngsī Yunnan Airlines
Gǎnglóng Hángkōng Gōngsī Dragonair [Hong Kong-dragon…]
Arriving at Xīníng, the capital of Qīnghǎi. [JKW 2005]

2.10.1 Words
Short words predominate. Most, but not all, Chinese words longer than a syllable are,
historically at least, compounds: lǎoshī ‘old-teacher’ (with ‘old’ having the respectful
connotations of ‘venerable’); xǐzǎo ‘wash-bathe’; hǎoxiàng ‘good-likeness’.
2.10.2 Meaning
In learning a foreign language, particularly a language that is linguistically and culturally
distant from one’s native tongue, you quickly learn about the difficulties of translation.
This is true for sentences as well as words. Hái hǎo, for example, as a response to Lèi bu
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lèi? is composed of two words which, in other contexts, mean ‘still’ and ‘be+good’. But
‘still good’ does not make sense as a translation. ‘Not too’ or ‘no, I’m fine’ are closer to
the Chinese sense, a fact we can only know from understanding how the Chinese
functions in its context, then seeking an English expression that serves the same function
(or has the same meaning in the context). As translators will tell you, this can be difficult
to do, and in some cases nearly impossible without extensive circumlocution.
For learners, it is not enough to know the meaning of the sentence in context;
learners want, and need to understand the role of sentence parts – words – in the
formation of that meaning. One reason for this is that word meanings, or glosses, being
more abstract, are more stable. ‘Good’ (or ‘be good’) is abstracted from the meaning of
the word in specific contexts (where it may be translated variously as ‘be well’, ‘be
okay’, ‘hello’, ‘nice’). That is why, in addition to citing a meaning appropriate to the
context, word meanings are also provided in parentheses: eg: Hái hǎo ‘[I]’m okay. (still
be+good)’
Providing word-for-word glosses serves another purpose. It takes us into the

world of the foreign language and reveals conceptual differences that help to define the
other culture. The fact that chīfàn ‘have a meal’ (and, by extension, in other contexts
‘make a living’) is composed of chī ‘eat’ and fàn ‘cooked rice’, reveals the role of that
staple in the Chinese diet. It is a moot point whether translators should try to capture that
fact by translating chīfàn as ‘eat-rice’ rather than simply ‘eat’ or ‘have a meal’. What do
you think?
2.11 Pinyin notes and practice

2.11.1 Toneless syllables
As you have observed, not all syllables in Mandarin have a tone, eg: the second syllables
in xíngli and máng ma. In this respect, Mandarin contrasts with some of the regional
languages such as Cantonese, in which most syllables are toned. There are several types
of toneless syllable (called qīngshēng ‘light-tone’) in standard Mandarin:
(i) Particles such as ma, ne and ba never appear with a full tone, and so we can only
write them with qīngshēng.
(ii) Many words show qīngshēng in the final syllable: shūfu ‘comfortable’, or wǒmen
‘we; us’. On the evidence of compounds and other relatable expressions, these
toneless syllables often turn out to have fully toned versions: shūfu has an
adverbial form, shūshufúfú in which final fú appears with a rising tone. But
dictionaries list words such as wǒmen and shūfu without tone on the second
syllable, and we will do the same.
(iii) Certain words (syllables) are toned in some contexts, toneless in others: bú lèi
(with bu toned) but hǎo bu hǎo (with bu toneless). We will follow pronunciation
in such cases, writing the tone in citation in contexts where it is pronounced, but
omitting it in appropriate grammatical contexts.
85
(iv) Finally, the incidence of qīngshēng varies with the rate and formality of speech as
well as the region (with the northeast being particularly susceptible to toneless
syllables). Thus in fast speech, jīntiān ‘today’ may be pronounced jīntian, without
tone on tian. In these cases, we will still write the full tone, using current
dictionaries as our guide.
For students’ purposes, the general rule is: you are always safe in writing the word in its
lexical, careful, slow speech form, e.g.: wǒmen, shūfu, hǎo bù hǎo, jīntiān.
a) Writing changed tones

In this text, we do not write the changed tone for combinations of low tones; we write hěn
hǎo, and apply the rule. This accords with the standard rules for writing pinyin entries in
dictionaries or in continuous text. We do make an exception in writing the changed
tones for bu and yi, however: bù gāo but bú lèi; yì zhāng but yí ge.
2.11.2 A pinyin quirk

Standard pinyin writes shénme, zěnme (‘how’) and zánmen (‘we [inclusive]’), all with a
medial ‘n’ that is not reflected in the pronunciation. This compares to other systems of
transcription, such as Yale which writes shéme, National Romanization, which writes
sherme (with the ‘r’ representing the rising tone), and Zhuyin Fuhao which writes ㄕㄜ
ㄇㄜ, ie she me – none of them with an internal ‘n’. The reason pinyin writes a silent -n in
these words has to do with the characters that represent them. The first syllable of
shénme, zěnme and zánmen are written with characters that are, in other contexts,
pronounced shèn (with falling tone), zěn and zán respectively. While one is tempted to
rectify the system and simply write shéme, zěme and zámen in conformity with actual
pronunciations, pinyin is now regarded as a standard transliteration in the Chinese
speaking world and we should accept it as it is, if for no other reason than the fact that
reference materials as well as computer input systems are based on it.
2.11.3 Tone combos (the next 6)

Recall the prototype examples of the six sets of tone combos presented in Unit 1: lǎoshī
hái hǎo, zàijiàn, bú rè, hěn máng, bù gāo. Now we add six more combos – the first three
all beginning with level-toned syllables – for a total of 12 of the 15.
7 8 9
Kūnmíng jīchǎng chīfàn
Zhōngwén Wēiruǎn (Microsoft) qī hào
huānyíng Qīnghǎi tiānqì
10 11 12
Héféi qǐngwèn zìdiǎn
Yúnnán hǎokàn dìtiě (underground train)
tóngxué (classmate) yǎnjìng Hànyǔ
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Exercise 7.
a) Place the tone marks over the following words. (You may need to review the
appropriate part of the lesson on sounds and symbols.)
level tone jie qiao nao jiu cui
low zei pou shao xiao bie
rising xue bei tuo zhui liao
b) Now focus on the problematical initials – those found on lines 3,4,5 of our initial
chart. Assign a tone, and the practice reading down:
ti ta dang dou dao

ci ca zang si zou zao
ch!i ch!a zhang shi zhou zhao
qi qia jiang xi jiu jiao
____________________________________________________________________
2.12 Summary
tài…le Tài máng le. (Bú tài máng.)
Adverbs Zǒngshi hĕn máng hĕn lèi; gèng máng; yǒu yìdiănr lěng; etc.
SVs Hĕn nán; Bù hăochī; Hĕn lìhai.
Zĕnmeyàng Jīntiān zĕnmeyàng? Nĭ juéde zĕnmeyàng?
Nouns yàoshi, xíngli, dōngxi, zìxíngchē, etc.
M-words èrshí ge <xuéshēng>; sān kuài <qián>

DE wŏ de zìdiăn; zuótiān de bào
Demonstr. zhè ~ zhèi; zhèr ~ zhèlǐ
Identity Jīntiān qī hào; Dōu shi wŏ de xuésheng.
QWs shéi, shénme, nǎr ~ nǎlǐ, guìxìng, zĕnmeyàng
Naming Tā xìng Zhāng, jiào Zhāng Démíng; tā shi Zhāng Démíng.
Titles Wèi lăoshī; Gāo shīfu; Zhōu jīnglĭ
Location Xíngli dōu zài zhèr; Dōu zài wŏ zhèr.
Loc’n with V Wŏmen zài fēijī shàng chī le.
Proximity Tiānjīn lí Bĕijīng hĕn jìn.
Possession Wŏ méiyou xíngli.

Existence Nánjīng méiyou dìtiě.
Welcome Huānyíng nĭmen lái Bĕijīng. / Xièxie nĭmen lái jiē wŏmen.
PTs Shàngchē ba.
Praise Zhōngwén shuō+de hĕn hăo! / Nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ, shuō+de bù hăo.
Airports Zhōngguó Hángkōng Gōngsī; jīchǎng; guónèi, guójì
Qīngshēng xíngli; zŏu ba
87

First a short rhyme that gives you practice with M-words: zhī (written with a different
character from the zhī used with bǐ ‘pen’) is the M for animals such as chickens (yì zhī jī)
and, as below, frogs; zhāng is a M for flat things such as tickets, tables, maps, lawns, as
well as mouths; tiáo is a M for sinuous objects. Yǎnjing ‘eye’ is tonally distinct from
yǎnjìng ‘glasses’; eyes are counted by way of the default M, ge. Dàshēng, literally ‘big-
sound’, is ‘loud’; xiǎoshēng is the opposite.
Yì zhī qīngwā
Yì zhī qīngwā, yì zhāng zuǐ, one frog, one mouth

liǎng ge yǎnjing, sì tiáo tuǐ. two eyes, four legs.
Nǐ shuō: You say it:

Shuō dàshēng yìdiǎnr: Say it louder:
Shuō xiǎoshēng yìdiǎnr: Say it softer:
Dà jiǎo
Dà jiǎo dà, dà jiǎo dà, Big feet big, big feet big,
yīntiān xiàyǔ bú hàipà; cloudy fall+rain not fear;
dà jiǎo hǎo, dà jiǎo hǎo, big feet good, big feet good,
yīntiān xiàyǔ shuāibùdǎo. cloudy fall rain slip-not-fall.
Nursery rhyme (colloquial) ‘Big feet’ in contrast to

bound feet, presumably.
Ràokǒulìng ‘tongue twisters’
[Traditional] characters are included to show how the phonetic components of Chinese
characters provide visual support for these two tongue twisters.
Māma qímǎ, mǎ màn, māma mà mǎ.

媽媽騎馬，馬慢，媽媽罵馬。
Mum rides horse, horse slow, mum scolds horse.
Niūniu qiān niú, niú nìng, niūniu niǔ niú.

妞妞牽牛，牛佞，妞妞扭牛。
Little-girl leads ox, ox cunning, little-girl wrenches ox.
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第二課 Dì-èr kè
Lesson 2
他一我百，他十我千。
Tā yī wǒ bǎi, tā shí wǒ qiān.
Others 1 me 100, others 10 me 1000.
Characterizing one’s determination to outdo others to succeed.
2.0 Review
Fántǐzì ‘traditional characters’
甲乙
今天很熱！很熱！你吃飯了嗎?
還沒，我不餓，今天太忙了。我也很忙。你累嗎？
今天好了，但是昨天很累。小李已經上班了嗎？
已經上班了。哦，上班了.
明天有課嗎？沒有，你呢？
明天三十號嗎？… 沒有；我呢，三十號有課，一號也
三十號沒有，一號有。有課！
你太忙了！我們都很忙！
a) Compound characters
As noted in Unit 1, the majority of characters can be resolved into two immediate
constituents which, allowing for minor modifications, can stand alone as characters in
their own right. The configuration of constituents can be horizontal (很), vertical (李), or
superimposed (国/國 guó ‘country’). The most recurrent of these constituents are the
radicals. They serve as tags for classifying characters into groups for purposes of retrieval
(in dictionaries or filing systems, for example). Thus, compound characters with the
radical 口 kǒu ‘mouth; entrance’ can be grouped together: 吃，吗，喝，呢; or those
with 言/讠 yán ‘speech’: 說/说，話/话，請/请，誰/谁。 The radicals have names,
based on either their position in the character, or their meaning: thus 口 kǒu ‘mouth;
entrance’ on the left is called kǒuzìpáng (‘mouth-character-beside’) in Chinese, or ‘the
mouth radical’ in English; 雨 (yǔ ‘rain’) when it appears on the top of a graph (零) is
called yǔzìtóu ‘rain-character-on top’ in Chinese, or the ‘rain radical’ in English. Here,
for review, are some of the Unit 1 compound characters organized by radical:
24
Note: Where the combining form of the radical cannot be printed on it own, the
equivalent free form, if one still exists, is given in parentheses; if no free form is current,
the parentheses enclose a blank.
radical general Chinese name examples

character meaning
木 wood; tree mùzìpáng 林
mùzìtóu 李
口 mouth; opening kǒuzìpáng 嗎/吗，呢，吃
日 sun rìzìpáng 昨，明
言/讠 speech yánzìpáng 課/课
女 woman nǚzìpáng 她，姓
(人) man; person rénzìpáng 他，你，們/们
(水) water sāndiǎnshuǐ 沒/没

3 dots water
( ) tóngzìkuàng 周，(同)
‘tong’-character-frame
(辵) movement zǒuzhīpáng 還/还

食/饣 food shízìpáng 餓/饿，飯/饭
(心) heart shùxīnpáng 忙

vertical-heart-beside
糹 silk jiǎosīpáng 經/经

twisted-silk-beside
(火) fire sìdiǎnshuǐ 熱/热

four-dots-water
彳 shuānglìrén 很，得 (dé)

double-stand-person
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2.1 First set
是男的女第小
4+5 2+5 5+3 3+0 6+5 3+0
shì nán de nǚ dì xiǎo
be male ‘s ~ s’ female ordinal small; young
馬陳張誰這都
9~10+0 3+8 3+8 7+8 3+7 8+3
马陈张谁这
3+0 2+5 3+4 2+8 3+4 8+2
mǎ Chén Zhāng shéi ~ shuí zhè ~ zhèi dōu
surname surname surname
horse who; whom this all; none
Hong Kong: 押 yā ‘pledge’, the sign for pawn shops. [JKW 2004]
26
Notes
a) 是 ‘be the case’, like 明 and 昨, assigns 日‘sun’ as radical (in this case
combined vertically with 疋). One [nonsense] account of the graph goes: ‘the sun,
over the horizon (the horizontal stroke) feeding sustenance (‘being’) through the
vertical pipe – with a valve – to mankind (人)’.
b) The graph 女, said to originate as a drawing of a woman, appears as ‘radical’ in
姓 xìng ‘surname<d>’ , 她 tā ‘she; her’, and 好 hǎo ‘good’. 男 ‘man; male’ is a
compound graph, with the elements 田 tián ‘field’ and 力 lì ‘strength’ arranged
vertically (looking vaguely like a ‘man working in the fields’). In colloquial
speech, nán and nǚ appear in compounds such as nánde and nǚde, with de
representing the possessive and attributive marker (ie, ‘the male one’ and ‘the
female one’).
c) 第 dì introduces the ‘bamboo’ radical, which when appearing on top is called
zhúzìtóu ‘bamboo-character-on top’. The radical appears in graphs associated
with bamboo (eg 筷子 kuàizi ‘chopsticks’) or with properties of bamboo such as
segmentation (節/节 jié ‘segment; program’) or splitting (笑 xiào ‘laugh’). The
‘body’ of 第 contains 弓 gōng ‘a bow’, which appears as the assigned radical of
張/张 zhāng.
d) 小 xiǎo ‘small’ is to be distinguished from 少 shǎo ‘few’. The stroke order is
dominant (the gōu-stroke), followed by left and right diǎn – as in the body of 你
nǐ.
e) The surnames: 馬 ‘horse’, originating as a drawing of the animal, is used for its
sound value in 嗎 and 媽, but is assigned as radical in graphs used for words
connected with horses, such as 馳 chí ‘to speed; gallop’ or 騎 qí ‘to straddle; ride’
(cf §2.5.5 below). The graph 陳/陈, also a surname, contains 東/东 dōng ‘east’
(use for its sound value) and a radical called ‘left ear’ in Chinese: zuǒ’ěrduō. Its
right hand counterpart, seen in 都 dōu, is called yòu’ěrduō ‘right ear’ and is
considered a different radical (and in fact, has a different source character
historically). 張/张, the last of the three surnames introduced in this set, contains
弓 gōng ‘a bow’ (seen in 第), and 長/长 cháng ‘long’, used for its sound value.
f) The right hand element of 誰, 隹 (pronounced zhuī on it own), which occurs in
a family of characters that includes 推 tuī ‘push’ (cf §2.7), should be noted as ‘8
strokes’ in order to distinguish it from another commonly occurring element in
compound characters, 住 zhù ‘live’, with only 7.
g) The element on the left of 這 (sometimes printed with two dots instead of one)
is a left-side version of a more complex graph, 辵，whose core meaning is
‘stopping and starting’. As a radical, it goes under the name of zǒuzhīr, and
appears in graphs such as 迎 yíng ‘welcome’ and 近 jìn ‘near’. 言, which is given
radical status when it appears on the left of the graph (or at the bottom), forms the
core in this case. Notice that when it is a core element, 言 does not simplify to 讠
as it would if it were the radical; instead, the graph 文 wén ‘language’ (see §2.2
below) is used (这 ), presumably because its first two strokes match those of 言.
27
h) 者 zhě is the root element of a set that includes 都 dōu, 煮 zhǔ ‘to boil’ and 堵
dǔ ‘to obstruct’. (Can you identify the radicals of each?) Though there is no
simplified version of 都, the element on the right (yòu’ěrduō) which is assigned as
its radical, is written with three strokes in the traditional set, but only two in the
simplified. A [nonsense] account of the graph, 都, goes: ‘土 ‘earth’ over 日 ‘sun’,
connected by a line (丿) to suggest ‘all; everything’, with the ‘3’ at the right
indicating ‘all’ 3 states of matter.’
2.1.1 Phrases
是不是男的女的第一第三很小
shì bu shì nánde nǚde dì-yī dì-sān hěn xiǎo
小李姓马姓张姓陈谁的这是
xiǎo Lǐ xìng Mǎ xìng Zhāng xìng Chén shéi de zhè shi…
都是不都是男女我的你们的也是
dōu shì bù dōu shì nánnǚ wǒ de nǐmen de yě shì
Exericise 1
Refer to the table to answer the questions below:
第—x ge 姓？男/女 ? ？
第四个姓马是男的很饿，还没吃饭呢。
第七个姓毛是女的不饿，已经吃饭了。
第一个姓王是女的还没上课呢。
第九个姓张是男的吃饭了，但是还没上班。
第二个姓周是女的很忙，也很累。
第五个小马是女的很累，还没上课。
第三个小陈是男的昨天很累，今天好了。
第六个姓白是男的今天没有课。
第八个姓林是女的还没下班。
第十个姓李是女的已经吃了，不饿了。
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Questions
1。谁是第一个？第一个是男的吗？
2。第二个是不是姓李？第二个忙不忙？
3。第三个姓陈吗？他今天很累吗？
4。第四个是男的吗？他吃饭了没有？
5。第五个是不是小白？她上班了吗？
6。第六个是男的吗？他今天忙不忙？
7。第七个姓马吗？她吃了没有？
8。第八个是女的吗？她下班了没有？
9。第九个已经上班了吗？他吃了吗？
10。第十个也吃了吗？她姓陈吗？
________________________________________________________________________
2.2 Second set
學生老師點兒
3+13 5+0 6+0 3+7 12+5 2+6
学师点儿
3+5 3+3 4+5 2+0
xué shēng lǎo shī diǎn ér > r
study; school pupil old teacher point; bit diminutive
29
怎麽樣對難中文
4+5 3+11 4+11 3+11 8+11 1+3 4+0
么样对难
1+2 4+6 3+2 8+2
zěn me yàng duì nán zhōng wén
how interrogative kind; type correct; right difficult middle; script;
‘China’ lg
Notes:
(a) A nonsense account of 學 goes: ‘a child looking at a blackboard on a stand;
the backboard has two x’s, each registered on both sides’. For 生 ‘be born; pupil’:
‘three horizontals represent the three stages of life – youth, maturity, old age, with
the first marked (with a piě stroke) as the time of education’.
(b) 老 (‘old’) is itself a radical (as indicated by the numerical designation, 6+0),
though one occurring in very few characters. Distinguish 老 from the left-hand
side of 都. For the graph, think: ‘elderly person taking a rest under an awning’. 師
/师, with 巾 ‘cloth’ (3 strokes) designated the radical: ‘teacher wearing a mortar-
board, standing before a podium covered by a cloth.’ (The right-hand element of
師/师 – the podium – has a clear top, unlike the graph 市 shì ‘market; city’,
which has an extra dot.)
c) In 點, 占 is phonetic (cf. 店 diàn ‘shop’) and the radical is 黑 hēi ‘black’ (with
the 4 dots, a combining form of the fire-radical); hence ‘specks [of soot]’ and ‘a
little bit’. 兒, originally a picture of a child with a large head, appears in
compounds such as 兒子 érzi ‘son’ and 女兒 nǚ’ér ‘daughter’ and has a root
meaning of ‘child’. 兒 is one source of the noun suffix -r (seen in words such as
yìdiǎnr).
d) 怎 and 昨 are members of a phonetic set based on the element 乍 zhà. 麽 is
simplified by letting a part of the original stand for the whole: 麽 > 么. In the
traditional form, the lower right element has two slightly different variants: 麼
and 麽. A nonsense account: ‘a shed (广), 2 trees (林), and a nose (么) sniffing
them to find out WHAT they are’. 樣 yàng consists of 木 as radical (mùzìpáng),
羊 yáng (a phonetic element), and 永 yǒng. 樣 may originally have referred to a
wooden mold or pattern, from which the meaning of ‘type; kind’ derived.
e) In both 對 > 对 and 難 > 难, the complicated left hand elements are replaced
with the simple 又 (yòu). In 難 , 隹(zhuī) is assigned as radical; in 誰, 言 is
30
radical, 隹 is phonetic (cf. zhuī / shuí ~ sheí). The left-hand side of 難 shows 夫
inserted through a flattened 口.
f) 文 wén originally meant decoration (and was probably a drawing of a design);
later it came to mean written language, and is now often used for language in
general. The earlier meaning of ‘decoration’ is now represented by 紋 wén (with
the silk radical added).
2.2.1 Compounds
学生老师一点儿一点点有一点难不对

xuéshēng lăoshī yìdiănr yìdiăndiăn yǒu yìdiăn nán bú duì
中文不太难是学生吗? 怎么样三个日文

Zhōngwén bú tài nán Shi xuéshēng ma? zĕnmeyàng sān ge Rìwén
三个男的没有女的难不难对不对陈老师男的

sān ge nánde méiyou nǚde nán bù nán duì bu duì Chén lăoshī nánde
2.2.2 Set 1 in Fántǐzì
第一个是誰? 姓陳都是這樣小張，你好? 都是
Dì-yī ge shi shéi? xìng Chén dōu shi zhèiyàng Xiăo Zhāng, nĭ hăo? dōu shì
是第二个嗎? 不是. 是誰的? 我的. 小李很累.
Shi dì-èr ge ma? Bú shì. Shi shéi de? Wŏ de. Xiăo Lĭ hĕn lèi.
Hong Kong: 藥/药 yào ‘medicine’ over a pharmacy. [JKW 2004]
31
Exercise 2
第一：她姓毛，是女学生；今天有一点儿累。
第二：他姓陈，是男学生；他有一点儿忙。
第三：他姓张，是大学的老师；今天是第一天，他很忙。
第四：她姓白，是小学的老师；昨天很累，可是今天好了。
第五：她姓林，是中学的老师；今天没有课。
第六：他姓周，是男学生；是张老师的学生。
第七：他姓马，是男学生；今天有点儿饿，还没吃饭呢。
第八：她姓王，女的；是老师，昨天是她的生日。
第九：他姓林，男的；中文老师，还没上班。
第十：她姓李，女的，学中文；中文不太难。
Questions
1. 姓马的是男的，对吗？
2. 姓毛的是不是学生？
3. 姓周的没有老师，对不对？
4. 姓张的是小学的老师，对吗？
5. 姓白的今天很累，对吗？
6. 姓林的已经上班了，对吗？
7. 姓马的今天怎么样？
8. 今天是王老师的生日，对吗？
9. 姓张的今天怎么样？
10. 谁是学生，谁是老师？
11。姓林的是男的还是女的？
12。老师是不是都是男的？
32
生字 shēngzì ‘vocabulary (raw-characters)’
姓马的 xìng Mǎ de [rén] ‘the one named Ma’；姓林的, etc.

小学 xiǎoxué ‘elementary school’
中学 zhōngxué ‘high school’
大学 dàxué ‘university’
生日 shēngrì ‘birthday’
还是 háishi ‘or’ [with choice questions]
_____________________________________________________________________
2.3 Third set
高緊張個現在
10+0 6+9 3+8 2+8 4+7 3+3
紧张个现
6+4 3+4 2+1 4+4
gāo jǐn zhāng gè xiàn zài
tall tight spread individual manifest now
起來看報以前
7+3 2+6 5+4 4+8 2+3 2+7
来报
1+6 3+4 2+2
qǐ lái kàn bào yǐ qián
rise come look report [take] before; front
33
但可那哪走
2+5 3+2 3+4 / 2+4 3+7 / 3+6 7+0
dàn kě nà; nèi nǎ; něi zǒu
but able that which walk; leave; go
a) 高 gāo, used as a surname, but also a SV ‘tall’; think of the graph as

representing ‘a tall structure (with a flat roof and a chimney)’.
b) 緊張/紧张. Recall the radicals: 糹 the silk radical (twisted); and 弓,
representing a bow (under tension). Both suggest ‘tension or anxiety’.
c) 个, the simplified version of 個, is an old handwriting form elevated to formal
status in the new simplified set.
d) 現 (like 班 and many other graphs) contains the element 王 as radical. Though
the element is virtually identical with the surname 王 Wáng (‘king’), it actually
derives from the combining form of a different character: 玉 yù ‘jade’ (found
intact in the simplified 国 guó ‘country’). So traditionally, the radical is called
yùzìpáng ‘jade character at the side’; but on the Mainland at least, it is also called
wángzìpáng ‘king on the side’.
e) 起 contains 走 as radical and 己 jǐ, as phonetic; cf. graphs such as 超 and 越
which are formed along the same lines. 來, originally a drawing of a kind of
cereal grain, cf. 麥 mài ‘wheat’, which is now differentiated from 來 by the lower
radical element. The meaning of ‘come’ may represent a metaphorical extension
(grain > sprouting > coming out); or the graph may have been borrowed to
represent a near homophone.
f) 看 contains 手 ‘hand’ and 目 ‘eye’ (both of whose earlier forms suggest
drawings); hence ‘hand over the eyes, looking’. 報/报 bao ‘report; newspaper’,
with the right-hand component looking like ‘a comfortable armchair where you
might read the paper’. (Note the vertical symmetry of the left-hand side of the
traditional graph, 幸.)
g) 以 yǐ has 人 as its radical. In the modern language, the syllable is a common
‘bound form’, occurring in words such as 可以 kěyǐ ‘can’ and 所以 suǒyǐ ‘so’;
but in the classical language, it appears as a verb with the meaning of ‘take’. So
以前 ‘formerly’ is literally ‘take as before’. In the simplified set, 以 is written
with 4 strokes (2+2) rather than 5.
f) 那 nà ‘that’, with yòu’ěrduō ‘right-ear’ (or yòu’ěrpáng) assigned as radical (cf.
都). 哪 nǎ, the question word, has kǒuzìpáng as its radical.
34
2.3.1 Compounds
不高姓高很紧张但是不紧张可是
bù gāo xìng Gāo hěn jǐnzhāng dànshi bù jǐnzhāng kěshì
以前现在在哪儿？三个看报起来
yǐqián xiànzài zài nǎr? sān gè kànbào qǐlái
她们走了. 已经走了紧不紧张? 在这儿陈老师九个

Tāmen zŏu le. yĭjing zŏu le Jǐn bù jĭnzhāng? zài zhèr Chén lăoshī jiŭ gè
2.3.2 Set 2 in fántǐzì
老師學生怎麽樣學中文都很難那樣

lǎoshī xuéshēng zěnmeyàng xué Zhōngwén dōu hěn nán nèi yàng
有一點兒累也很累張老師這樣不對

yǒu yìdiǎnr lèi yě hěn lèi Zhāng lǎoshī zhèi yàng bú duì
不太難男的哪年日文生日老王
bú tài nán nánde něi nián Rìwén shēngrì lǎo Wáng
Exercise 3
Answer the questions at the end, taking your cue from the information given in the ‘chart’
below. Note that the chart takes the form of lists: ‘3 students: 1 male, 2 female’. The
questions (like your responses) have the form of sentences: ‘The students are all female,
right?’
第一：三个学生，一个男的，两个女的；
他们都已经起来了，可是还没看今天的报。
第二：一个学生，一个老师，都是男的；
他们以前很累，但是现在好了。
第三：两个老师，一个中文老师，一个日文老师；
他门已经下班了。
35
第四: 一个中文学生，没有老师；
中文很难，他很累。
第五：四个学生，都很紧张；
都是陈老师的学生。
第六：五个学生，两个老师；
学生很紧张，老师很忙。
第七：一个男的，一个女的；
男的起来了还没吃饭呢；女的已经走了。
第八：两个学生，一个对，一个不对；
一个是 MIT 的，一个不是。
第九：两个学生，一个姓张，一个姓高。
姓张的很紧张，可是姓高的还好。
第十：十个学生，都是张老师的学生。
张老师的学生很忙也很累。
Questions
1. 第六个，学生，老师都很紧张吗？
2. 第二个，他们还是很累吗？
3. 第三个，那两个老师是中文老师吗？他们下班了没有？
4. 第八个，谁对，谁不对？
5. 第四个，学中文，没有老师，难不难？
6. 第十个，谁的学生都很忙很累？
7. 第五个，那四个学生怎么样？
8. 第一个，学生都是女的，对吗？今天的报看了，但是昨天
的还没看，对不对？
36
9. 第七个，他们两个已经走了，对吗？已经上课了。
10. 第九个，姓陈的是学生但是姓张的不是，是老师，对吗？
_____________________________________________________________
2.4 Fourth set
(甚)麽東西手機
5+4 3+11 4+4 6+0 4+0 4+12
什么东机
2+2 1+2 1+4 4+2
shénme dōng xī shǒu jī
what east west hand machine
書包筆車子傘貴
4+6 2+3 6+6 7+0 3+0 2+10 7+5
书笔车伞贵
1+3 6+4 4+0 2+4 4+5
shū bāo bǐ chē zǐ sǎn guì
book pack; writing vehicle (child) umbrella expensive;
bundle implement with nouns worthy
字典行您
3+3 2+6 6+0 4+7
zì diǎn xíng nín
character records walk; go; be okay you [POL]
37
a) Simplification is not a new process; it has been going on since the creation of
the writing system. It continues even in the traditional set. The first character of
什麽, for example, is an older simplification of 甚 that substitutes the phonetically
close 十 for the more complicated original, then marks it with rénzìpáng. The 台
of 台北 is another substitution that has gained currency in the traditional font as
an alternative for original 臺. Both simplifications have a long history, and have
now gained acceptance in Taiwan and traditional communities. Both can now be
used in the traditional set.
b) East, in its traditional form (東) shows ‘dawn in the east, with the sun (日)
coming up through the trees (木)’. The characters, 東西/东西, suggest that the
compound is derived from ‘east-west’, ie the plane of existence, ‘where all things
are’. 東 was employed as a phonetic element in 陳, and the relationship remains
in the simplified forms: 东/陈.
c) 手 ‘hand’, itself a radical (with a pictographic origin), has a rather different
combining form, seen on the left of characters such as 报，把，拉，押. The
traditional version of the two graphs (機/机), with its complicated right-hand
element, is more suggestive of the meaning ‘machine’. (Cf. 飛機/飞机 feījī
‘airplane’.)
d) 書 consists of 聿 yù ‘a writing implement’ and 曰, the latter, distinct from 日.

In 筆, 聿 is determined by the element at the top, the bamboo radical (a
combining version of 竹 zhú ‘bamboo’); early writing implements were made out
of bamboo. 包 ,whose root meaning is ‘to wrap’ or ‘a bundle’, looks quite like a
bundle.
e) The rule of 5: characters like 書(or 筆 bǐ ‘writing implement’ that also contains
聿), which exhibit many horizontal layers are sometimes difficult to resolve.
Fortunately, for many such graphs, the RULE OF 5 applies. The rule of 5 states
that if the character seems to have a lot of horizontal levels, it has five! Boxes
count as one layer; boxes with an internal horizontal (日) count as 2, etc. 書 (as
well as 聿, 筆) is an example; so is the left-hand side of nán 難 (the top counts for
2, the box 1 and the lower horizontals, another 2, for a total of 5).
f) The traditional form 車 , originally a drawing from overhead of a cart, is itself a

radical (appearing in characters such as 輪，輛，軟). The graph 子 zǐ (distinct
from 字 zì ‘written character’) was originally a drawing of a child. If fully toned,
it generally means ‘young; child of; seed of’: 王子 wángzǐ ‘prince (king’s son)’,
天子 tiānzǐ ‘emperor (son of heaven)’, 松子 sōngzǐ ‘pine nut (child of pine)’, 蝦
子 xiāzǐ ‘shrimp roe (child of shrimp)’. However, in its untoned form, 子 acts as a
noun suffix, appearing with nouns that refer to things from everyday life: 桌子
zhuōzi ‘table’; 椅子 yǐzi ‘chair’; 鼻子 bízi ‘nose’; 板子 bānzi ‘spanner; wrench’.
g) 傘/伞 look like umbrellas.
38
h) 貴/贵 guì ‘expensive’ introduces the important element 貝/贝 bèi, a graph that
is said to originate as a drawing of a cowrie shell, used as currency along the
southwest coast of China in ancient times. 貝/贝 appears as radical in characters
for many word involving transactions, such as 買 mǎi ‘buy’, 賣 mài ‘sell’ and 寶
bǎo ‘valuable’.
i) 字 zì ‘characters’ (‘a child, 子, under a roof, studying characters’). 典 is said to

be composed of 冊 ‘classic books’ on a stand, suggesting ‘a repository of
information’.
j) 行 is its own radical (said to have originated as a picture of crossroads). It

generally combines with other elements placed internally, eg 街, 衍. The core
meaning of xíng is ‘street; walk’, or by extension, ‘to work (of machines)’, ‘be
okay’ etc. The same graph is also used for háng ‘row’, and by extension (via
things that are arranged in rows), ‘firm; business’, eg 銀行 yínháng ‘bank (silver-
business)’. The word has entered English historical writing, from Cantonese, as
hong, meaning ‘factory; warehouse’.
2.4.1 Compounds
我的伞她的书你的笔手机书包什么

wǒ de sǎn tā de shū nǐ de bǐ shǒujī shūbāo shénme
东西车子字典行李您好行吗
dōngxi chēzi zìdiǎn xíngli Nín hǎo. Xíng ma?
谁的书? 没有笔. 上车贵姓? 不太贵东西

Shéi de shū? Méiyou bǐ. shàngchē Guìxìng? bú tài guì dōngxi
什么东西很贵车子姓李手机不贵没笔
shénme dōngxi hěn guì chēzi xìng Lǐ shǒujī bú guì méi bǐ
很緊張可是三個現在起來了走了
hěn jǐnzhāng kěshì sān ge xiànzài qǐlái le zǒu le
已經看報了高老師現在好了. 還沒起來不對

yǐjing kànbào le Gāo lǎoshī Xiànzài hǎo le. hái méi qǐlái bú duì
39
看報以前現在在這兒在報上起來
kànbào yĭqián xiànzài zài zhèr zài bào shàng qĭlái
可是不對老高的緊張還可以但是
kĕshì bú duì lăo Gāo de jĭnzhāng hái kĕyĭ dànshì
三個學生那樣在我這兒走了昨天的報不高
sān ge xuéshēng nèi yà ng zài wŏ zhèr zŏu le zuótiān de bào bù gāo
2.4.3 Readings
a) A Narrative (fántǐzì) with questions
王明是中文老師，有十二個學生。他們已經上課了。中文很難，但是
學生都好，都行。今天九月一日，上學第一天。老師學生都很緊張，
很忙，也很累。那兒有個學生姓陳，男的。小陳的中文很好。他也是
王老師的學生。他今天沒有飯吃，很餓。很餓，上課，不行，對嗎？
Questions
1. 王明是學生嗎？ 2. 老師有二十個學生，對嗎？
3. 他們上班了嗎？ 4. 中文怎麽樣？
5. 王老師的學生怎麽樣？ 6. 學生緊張嗎？
7. 姓陳的是男的嗎？ 8. 小陳的中文怎麽樣?
9. 他是誰的學生？ 10. 不吃飯，上課，行不行？
40
b) A Dialogue
小马小张
小张，你好。小马，你好。今天怎么样？
很累，你呢？我今天也有一点儿累-- 我没
吃饭。你呢？你饿不饿？
我呢，不饿，我已经吃了。好吃吗？
还行。好，那，我走了。上课去 (qù ‘go’) 吗？
不，今天没课。好，那，明天见吧。
明天见。
Exercise 4.
Answer the questions below by checking the information in the following table:
第一手机高老师的有一点贵
第二毛笔学生的不太贵
第三小车子大学的有一点儿贵
第四书包小李的不贵
第五中文字典周老师的不贵
第六伞李明的好看，可是不贵
第七书小毛的不贵
Questions
1. 第一是什么东西？ 2. 第一是谁的？
3. 毛笔贵不贵？ 4. 学生有毛笔吗？
5. 小车子很贵，对不对？ 6. 小李的东西是什么？
7. 周老师有什么样的字典？ 8. 李明的伞怎么样？
9. 有书的姓什么？ 10. 您贵姓？你是不是学生？
41
2.5 Form of characters

Traditionally, Chinese characters are subdivided into six categories according to the way
they are thought to have been formed. These categories are called the 六書 liù shū ‘six
scripts’, and include graphs that are derived from drawings (like 馬 mǎ ‘horse’ the
earliest versions of which look quite like a horse), those that are formed as indications
(like 上 and 下, which represent meaning diagrammatically), or those that are borrowed
(like the graph 不 which was borrowed to represent a word of nearly identical sound, like
4 in the shorthand 4U).
Though the ‘six scripts’ are sometimes claimed to be descriptive, in fact it

requires considerable historical knowledge to decide to which type a graph belongs. For
the beginner, seeking a way to gain a foothold on the sheer face of the [written] language
by trying to rationalize the relationship between the sound/meaning of a word and the
form of its character, there are only two useful kinds of relationship. One is pictorial, or
representational: the shape of the character suggests its meaning; 上 ‘on’, 下 ‘under’, 中
‘middle’, 心 ‘heart’. The other is relational: the character resembles another of the same
or similar sound: 嗎 ma ‘Q’, sounds like 馬 mǎ ‘horse’ and 媽 mā ‘mother’. These two
types can be labeled ‘representational’ and ‘phonosemantic’, respectively. The former are
often cited for their pictorial qualities; but it is the latter, the phonosemantic, that are the
most common. New characters are almost always created on the phonosemantic model.
2.5.1 Representational characters

As noted earlier, compound characters are those that can be decomposed into constituents
that are themselves characters (or combining versions of characters). Non-compound
characters, such as 中, 馬 or 王 (or the parts of compound characters such as 女 , 生, 木
and 日) can be called ‘simplex’. It is probably true that most simplex characters derive
ultimately from drawings or indications that relate to the original meaning of the graph.
The following characters all have forms that can be rationalized fairly easily in terms of
their meaning:
一二三上下中心必火雨
yī èr sān shàng xià zhōng xīn bì huǒ yǔ
one two three on below middle heart must fire rain
米木月山凸叉弓鱼/魚鸟/鳥伞/傘

mǐ mù yuè shān tǔ chā gōng yú niǎo sǎn
rice (tree) moon hill convex fork bow fish bird umbrella
wood
A particular graph can be viewed as representational regardless of whether the

historical data supports the notion. Thus, if you agree that 伞/傘 sǎn looks [vaguely] like
an umbrella, then you are regarding the graphs as representational, and that image can
help you to remember them. Similarly, once the graph for xīn ‘heart’ is known, ie 心,
42
then 必 bì ‘must; have to’ can be viewed as representing the notion of obligation as ‘a
line crossing the heart’. Conversely, the pictorial origins of some graphs may have been
obscured by historical change. The graph 象 used for xiàng ‘elephant’ may not look like
an elephant until someone makes the case either by citing a more realistic earlier graph,
or by drawing attention to a trunk, head, body, tail, in the modern character.
Beginning students show great skill at creating nonsense etymologies (even for
compound characters). Thus the character 哭 kū ‘to cry’ is seen as ‘two eyes and a tear’;
or 電/电 diàn ‘electricity’ is seen as ‘an appliance with an electrical cord running out the
bottom’. Or – to cite a more extreme case – 會 (会 in simplified form) ‘to be able;
capable’ (among other meanings) is seen as Darth Vader, complete with helmet and
breathing equipment – a man of impressive capabilities. But while it is useful to find
representational elements in complex characters, it is often not possible even with a high
degree of creative license. There is not much to be said for, say, 皮 pí ‘skin’, 衣 yī
‘clothes’, or 豆 dòu ‘beans’. They are simplex (and may well derive directly from
representations) but their forms are difficult to account for without historical research –
or a very creative imagination.
2.5.2 Additive characters – or blends

A small set of compound graphs can be interpreted as semantic blends, in which the
meaning of the whole seems to be related to both its parts. Occasionally, as in the (b)
examples, both meaning and sound are involved.
a) Semantic blends
尖 jiān ‘sharp’, made up of 小 xiǎo ‘small’ and 大 dà ‘big’, ie ‘wedge shaped’;
忠 zhōng ‘loyal’, made up of 中 zhōng ‘middle’ and 心 xīn ‘heart’;
信 xìn ‘believe; letter’, made up of イ rén ‘person’ and 言 yǔ ‘language’;
孕 yùn ‘be pregnant’, made up of 乃 nǎi ‘exist’ and 子 zǐ ‘child’;
好 hǎo ‘be good; well’, made up of 女 nǚ ‘woman’ and 子 zǐ ‘child’, ie ‘goodness’
尿 niǎo ‘urine’ made up of 尸 shī ‘body’ and 水 shuǐ ‘water’;
屎 shǐ ‘shit’ made up of 尸 shī ‘body’ and 米 mǐ ‘rice [grain]’.
b) Blends of sound and meaning (rare)
甭 béng ‘no need to’, made up of 不 bú ‘not’ and 用 yòng ‘use’.
乒乓 pīngpāng ‘pingpong’, whose graphs suggest a pingpong table, but which also take
their sound from the graph, 兵 bīng ‘soldier’.
43
Blends are one of the traditional character types (one of the liùshū), but most
cases represent more of an apparent than a real historical process of character creation.
As with the simplex characters, students and teachers frequently ignore the historical
facts and enlarge the category of blends with their own etymologies: 名 míng ‘name’
from 夕 xī ‘evening’ and 口 kǒu ‘mouth’, explained as ‘at dusk, you have to call out
names to identify people’; or 東 dōng ‘east’, made up of 日 rì ‘sun’ superimposed on 木
mù ‘wood’ (originally ‘tree’) and explained as ‘sunrise through the eastern trees’; or 杯
bēi ‘cup’, made up of 木 mù ‘wood’ and 不 bu ‘not’, because ‘cups aren’t make of
wood’.
2.5.3 Phonosemantic characters

Once the repertoire of characters begins to grow, it becomes more effective to relate
characters not to things (their referents), but to each other. Thus, as noted earlier, once 馬
mǎ ‘horse’ is learned, then it is easy to relate it to 嗎 ma ‘Q’, or 媽 mā ‘mother’ – or
eventually to 螞 mǎ ‘ant’ and 碼 mǎ ‘number’. The historical process that gives rise to
such ‘phonetic sets’ is borrowing followed by specification: 馬 is borrowed to write
words similar in sound (mother, ant, number, etc.); then to prevent confusion, the graph is
specified by the addition of a classifying character (口, 女, 石 or 虫, etc.)
Many phonetic sets are quite regular, like the 馬 set, or the following set based on
青 qīng (which, as a free form, means ‘green’ or ‘young’):
請，情，晴，清，氰，蜻，鯖
qǐng qíng qíng qīng qíng qīng qīng
invite feelings clear clean hydrogen dragonfly mackeral
In some cases, phonetic correspondences that were once regular have been
obscured by historical changes in the language; such is the case for 饿 and 我, or 陳 and
東, where the pronunciation of members of the set (è and wǒ, in the first case, chén and
dōng in the second) remains close but no longer identical. But even the ‘irregular’ sets
show patterns of correspondence, as illustrated by the set based on 重 below, which either
begins with zh or with d (initials that differ only slightly in their place of articulation).
重，種，踵，腫，動，懂，董

zhòng zhǒng zhǒng zhǒng dòng dǒng dǒng
heavy category heel swell move understand to lead
The common sound elements, the phonetics, are called shēngpáng in Chinese; the
specifying elements, the radicals are bùshǒu. As shown at the beginning of this lesson,
radicals do have concrete meanings (言 ‘speech’, 心 ‘heart’, 日 ‘sun’, 水 ‘water’ etc.),
and initially the selection of a particular radical to form a compound character would
have been inspired by meaning. But in many cases, the original impetus has been
obscured by linguistic and cultural change. The presence of the water radical in 海 ‘sea’,
44
河 ‘river’ and 洗 ‘wash’ reflects a connection with water; but its presence in 漢 Hàn
‘Chinese’, 溫 wēn ‘warm’ and 活 huó ‘to live’ is harder to explain. Ultimately, the
function of radicals in compound characters is one of differentiation (活 is not 适 or 括;
漢 is not 難, 嘆 or 艱); and classification (活 and 漢 are found under the water radical).
2.5.4 Character retrieval

Alphabetic writing systems, regardless of the regularity of their spelling, make use of
relatively few symbols, so ordering titles in filing systems or words in dictionaries is a
matter of alphabetization – establishing an order for the symbols and remembering it. For
character writing systems, in which the number of symbols ranges in the thousands,
retrieval is much more problematical.
The most common method of ordering characters (and ultimately, retrieving

them) was suggested by the large number of compound characters that arose from
processes of borrowing and specification described above. Compound characters could
be grouped by radical, and then subgrouped by number of additional strokes (the second
of the figures written under each large-format characters introduced in the sets of
characters in each lesson). Thus 請 could be found under the speech-radical,言, amongst
those characters with 8 (additional) strokes; 蜻 would be under the insect-radical, 虫, 8
strokes, etc. Simplex characters that were themselves radicals (such as 言, 日, 气, 魚)
would be listed at the head of their own set. Other simplex characters were brought into
the same system by designating parts of their graphs – sometimes rather arbitrarily – to
be radicals. Thus 中, 北, 甲 (all simplex) are assigned the radical | (the vertical stroke
called shù); 也 is assigned the radical 乙 (even though the character does not contain a
stroke of that shape); 元 is assigned 儿, and so on.
Eventually, by Qing times, with the publication of the great Kangxi dictionary,
the number of radicals was settled at 214, ordered by numbers of strokes in each.
Students of the language, like literate Chinese, who had to be able to look up characters
efficiently or search through indexes ordered by radical, came to know the radical chart
virtually by heart. Because of their important classificatory role, and because they are
stable (each character having one radical assigned to it) and of fixed number, introductory
textbooks have tended to focus on radicals (noting general meanings where possible)
rather than phonetic sets. Yet both are useful, and in fact, the information on
pronunciation obtained from phonetic elements is probably more useful to the learner (in
allowing dictionary searches by pronunciation, for example) than the information on
meaning provided by radicals, which is often too general to be of much use.
The radical system of retrieval is not the only one in use, but it remains one of the
more popular systems for looking up characters in dictionaries or other reference works
in cases where the pronunciation is not known. Adoption of the simplified set of
characters was accompanied by some changes in the assignment of radicals, and altered
the arrangement and number of radicals in the chart. The new system has 189 rather than
the traditional 214.
45
The main difficulty in using the radical system is identifying the radical –
particularly in simplex characters which are not themselves radicals and which were
assigned a radical to make them conform to the system. Nowadays, most dictionaries are
organized alphabetically by the pinyin pronunciation of the first character, but they also
contain lists organized by radicals that allow a user to look up characters when the
pronunciation is unknown. Only one dictionary, The ABC Chinese-English Dictionary
(cited in the bibliography) is organized by pinyin and word (rather than character), so that
words are ordered uniquely, irrespective of the particular character of the first syllable.
2.5.5 An illustration
The couplet pictured on the next page was observed on a shop door in the city of
Zhenjiang, not far downstream from Nanjing. It provides some good examples of
phonosemantic characters. Despite being a product of the Mainland, the ‘scroll’ reads
vertically in the traditional fashion, right to left, ie Jùn jì ào chí, etc. Each character
contains the now familiar element 馬, but this time, not as a phonetic, but as a radical, so
that the set of characters shows no particular commonality of sound. Rather, they all refer
to types of horses or to attributes of horses.
The word-for-word glosses below are only very rough indications of meaning.
Each set of 4 characters in a column forms a sentence consisting of an adjective and a
noun, followed by an adverb and a verb. The sense is one of aspiration and hope.
↓ ↓ ↓
驤駿 xiāng Jùn Adj galloping Outstanding
駒驥 jū jì N foal fleet+horse
驩驁 huān ào Adv joyously proudly
騰馳 téng. chí, V soars. races,
The saying is not a well known one; in fact, though they would get the gist of the
meaning, many Chinese would be hard pressed to say precisely what the difference was
between a jì and a jū , (the second characters of each [vertical] line).
Chinese encountering rare characters such as [some of] those in the couplet, are
quite likely to make use of radical and phonetic to remind them of meaning and
pronunciation, respectively. Students of the language need the hints even more. With
some allowance for 馳 which needs to be referred to other compounds (池 chí, 弛 chí)
rather than just the right-hand element (也 yě), the pronunciation of the phonetic element
alone matches that of the compound (except in tone). Thus 驥 and 冀 are both
pronounced jì; 驁 is ào, 敖 is áo, 驤 and 襄 are both xiāng, etc.
46
Front door, Zhènjiāng, near Nánjīng. [JKW 1996]
2.6 Miscellany:
2.6.1 Tone sets
a) Jiǎntǐzì
老师很好再见不热很忙不高
紧张还好看报不累很难上课
Fántǐzì
緊張還好看報不餓很難上課
老師很好再見不熱很忙不高
47
b) 甲乙丙丁
不忙很好不太累忙吗？
不饿很累不太好紧张吗？
不累很忙不太忙饿吗
不紧张很高不太高好吗
不高很饿不太饿累吗
2.6.2 Set 4 characters in fántǐzì
沒有傘沒有筆還沒起來書包她的書什麽

méiyou sǎn méiyou bǐ hái méi qǐlái shūbāo tā de shū shénme
上車字典東西很貴您好！貴姓？手機
shàngchē zìdiăn dōngxi hĕn guì. Nín hăo! Guìxìng? shŏujī
那不行。字典很貴你的行李呢？在這兒。看書

Nà bù xíng. zìdiăn hĕn guì Nĭ de xíngli ne? Zài zhèr. kànshū
Lucky poster. [JKW 2006]
48
歡迎光臨公話
欢迎光临公话
huānyíng guānglín gōnghuà
welcome bright-presence public+speech
Welcome [to you our] guests. public phone
推拉空車 / 空车
tuī lā kōngchē
push pull empty-vehicle
[written on doors] [on taxis]
Notes
a) The formal expression for welcoming customers huānyíng guānglín, or
thanking them xièxie guānglín, is often written at the entrances of shops (eg on
entrance doors, on walls, on floors).
b) Pay phones in China (at least up until the current year of 2005) can be found on
the street or in other public places. While they do accept coins, most customers
make use of one of the many brands of phone cards that can be brought from
newspaper stands and small shops (at about 30 – 50% or more below face value).
However, many people prefer using the ordinary telephones that small shops
make available for public use. These are announced by small signs with 公話
written on them. Normally, before making your call, you let the shopkeeper know
the type of call (shìnèi ‘within the city’, shìwài ‘out of the city’ or guójì
‘international’ – though the last are not always possible from shop phones). You
are charged afterwards; fees are usually very modest.
c) 推 and 拉 contain the ‘hand-radical’, a combining version of 手, called

tíshǒupáng ‘raise-hand-beside’. It is associated with words having to do with
manipulation.
49
MIT + A I Lesson 2
the stroke order.
shi niin de
ni'i di xi50
ma (T) ma (s) dou
JZh Page 1 of 8
MIT Qk I Lesson 2
chen (F) sheilshui (F) zhsng (F)
chen (S) sheilshui (S) zhiing (S)
zhelzhei (T) xue (T) sheng
zhelzhei (S) xue (S) liio
JZh Page 2 of 8
MIT + A I Lesson 2
shi (T) dign (T) erl-r (T)

L
shi (S) dign (S) erl-r (S)
zEn me (T) (TI
'
.
gao me (S) (S)
JZh Page 3 of 8
MIT 92I Lesson 2
zhong dui (T) nin (T)

4
wkn dui (S) nan (S)
jin (T) gdge (T) gklge
jin (S) ~i qian
JZh Page 4 of 8
MIT QA I Lesson 2
3% 3% TL
* lo
8
10 "
'I b
xian (T) xiin (S) zai
kan
3 ;*J&
bao (T)
a. #E
bao (S)
nynei
agp
3
dan

-1
qJ-
kg
pap bg
niilngi shkn (T)

7
shkn (S)
JZh
Page 5 of 8
MIT Q aI Lesson 2
dong (T) dong (S) xi
sh6u ji (T) ji (S)
shii (T) shii (S) bao
I bi (T) I
I bi (S)
I
I z6u
Page 6 of 8
Learning Chinese: A Founhtion Course in Manhrin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
MIT 9 %I Lesson 2
che (T) s5n (T) !Pi (T)
che (S) s5n (S) gui (s)
zi/zi zi di5n
qi3 lai2 (T) lai2 (S)
JZh Page 7 of 8
Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Manhrin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
MIT 4% I Lesson 2
xinglhang nin
JZh Page 8 of 8
Unit 3
Zǐ yuē: Xué ér shí xí zhī, bú yì yuè hū?

Master said: study and timely review it, not also pleasing Q.
The Master said, ‘To learn and in due time rehearse it: is this not also
pleasurable?’
Opening lines of the Analects of Confucius.
(Brooks and Brooks translation) Classical Chinese
Contents
3.1 Pronunciation
3.2 Amount
3.3 Nationality
3.4 The Cardinal Directions: NSEW Exercise 1
3.5 Yes and no Exercise 2
3.6 Thanks and sorry Exercise 3
3.7 Things to drink Exercise 4
3.8 Why, because, so Exercise 5
3.9 Money Exercises 6,7
3.10 Other numbered sets Exercise 8
3.11 Courses and classes Exercise 9
3.12 Dialogue: courses and classes Exercise 10
3.13 Sounds and pinyin Exercise 11
3.14 Summary Exercise 12
Appendix: Cities, countries and nationalities
3.1 Pronunciation: initials of rows 3 and 4

The sounds symbolized as z and c in pinyin (in row-3 of the initial chart) can be
problematical for speakers of English, since they do not appear in initial position in
English words. The word ‘tsunami’ for example, though represented in English
dictionaries with the foreign ‘ts’ sound, is often anglicized as ‘tunami’ or ‘sunami’ by
English speakers. [Tsunami is a Japanese word, written with characters whose Chinese
meanings are ‘shallows’ and ‘wave’; the Chinese word is hǎixiào ‘sea roar’.]
The row-4 initials, the retroflex consonants pronounced with the tongue tip raised
[!], also present difficulties, not just for English speakers, but for the many Chinese in
southern regions (including Taiwan) who, in colloquial speech, pronounce zh, ch and sh
as z, c, and s, respectively. [Standard] Mandarin is unique to the region in having both the
dental (row-3) and retroflex (row 4) series. Speakers of regional Chinese languages such
as Cantonese and Hakka, or those who speak Southeast Asian languages such as Thai and
Vietnamese usually have one or other of the series, but not both.
The following sets, then, focus on lines 3 and 4 of the initial consonant sounds.
Read them across, assigning a single tone; ! reminds you to raise the tip of your tongue.
89
1. cu > tu > ch!u > su > zu > du > zh!u
2. ta > ca > sa > ch!a > sh!a
3. zh!e > de > ze > ce > te > ch!e > se
4. duo > zuo > zh!uo > tuo > cuo > ch!uo > suo > sh!uo
5. tou > cou > ch!ou > zh!ou > zou > dou > sou > sh!ou
3.2 Amount
3.2.1 Larger numbers
As you know, numbers in Chinese are well behaved: 11 is 10-1, 12 is 10-2; 20 is 2-10
and 30, 3-10; 41 is 4-10-1, etc. Higher numbers, also quite regular, are based on bǎi
‘100’, qiān ‘1000’ and wàn ’10,000’.
sānshí sìshísān jiǔshijiǔ yìbǎi 30 43 99 100
yìbǎi wǔshísān bābǎi sānshí 153 830
yìqiān yíwàn yìbǎiwàn 1000 10,000 1 million
Notes
a) Notice the use of the apostrophe to clarify syllable boundaries in those cases
where a final vowel of one syllable meets an initial vowel of another: shí’èr. In
large numbers, pinyin conventions write spaces between numbers built around a
particular multiple of ten, eg: yìbǎi bāshíbā ‘188’.
b) You will have more need to use large numbers when the subject is population,
as in §8.3. In Chinese, there is a root for 10,000 (wàn), but not for a million; the
latter is based on wàn: liǎngbǎiwàn ‘2 million’ (ie 200 x 10,000).
3.2.2 Some more measure phrases

Drinks can be measured with bēi ‘cup; glass’ or píng ‘bottle’. Cups, bēizi, on the other
hand, and bottles píngzi, are measured with gè. Books are measured with bĕn ‘stem;
binding’. Vehicles, including bicycles, are measured with liàng (falling tone); however,
in Taiwan Mandarin, bicycles are often measured with jià ‘frame’.
yì bēi chá liăng bēi kāfēi sān bēi qìshuǐ sì bēi

a cup of tea 2 cups of coffee 3 glasses of soda 4 cups [of…]
yì píng píjiŭ liăng píng kĕlè sì píng jiŭ sān píng

a bottle of beer 2 bottles of cola 4 bottles of wine 3 bottles [of…]
yí ge bēizi liăng ge píngzi sān ge bēizi sì ge

1 item cup 2 items bottle 3 items cup 4 [of them]
90
yì bĕn shū liăng bĕn zìdiăn sān bĕn shū shí bĕn
a book 2 dictionaries 3 books 10 [of them]
yí liàng chēzi liăng liàng qìchē yí liàng zìxíngchē sān jià dānchē
a car 2 automobiles a bike 3 bikes [Taiwan]
3.3 Nationality
3.3.1 Country names
Zhōngguó Rìbĕn Yìnní Yìndù Hánguó
Àodàlìyà Jiānádà Mĕiguó Mòxīgē Éguó
Făguó Yīngguó Déguó Yìdàlì Xībānyá
Some country names – mostly those with a history of independence and national power –
are composed of a single syllable plus guó ‘country; nation’, on the model of Zhōngguó
‘China (middle-country)’. For these countries, the first syllable is chosen for its sound as
well as meaning: Měiguó ‘the USA (beautiful-country)’; Yīngguó ‘England; Britain
(hero-country)’; Fǎguó ‘France (law-country)’; Déguó ‘Germany (virtue-country)’;
Tàiguó ‘Thailand (peace-country)’.
Countries with deep historical ties to China retain their old names. Nippon, a
name that is cognate with the English name Japan, is the source of the Chinese name,
Rìběn, literally ‘sun-root’, ie from the Chinese perspective, the direction of the sunrise.
Vietnam, a name that contains the Chinese root nán ‘south’ and the name of an ethnic
group called Yuè in Chinese, is Yuènán in Mandarin. Most other countries are simply
transliterated: Jiānádà, Yìdàlì, Fēilǜbīn, Yìndù. City names, except for those in Japan and
Korea, are almost all transliterated: Zhījiāgē, Bèi’érfǎsītè, Tèlāwéifū. A few are translated
rather than transliterated, eg Salt Lake City, Yánhúchéng ‘salt-lake-city’. A more
extensive list of country and city names, with English equivalents, is provided in the
appendix to this unit.
3.3.2 Asking about nationality
rén ‘person’ -guó ‘country’ dìfang ‘place’

Zhōngguó rén ‘a Chinese’ Zhōngguó ‘China’ shénme dìfang ‘what place’
There are several ways of asking about nationality, all of them involving the categorial
verb shì. Recall that nǎ and něi represent the same word, as do nà and nèi; the first
members of each pair (nǎ, nà) tend to be ‘free’ forms; the second (něi, nèi) tend to be
bound to measures: nǎ but něi ge.
i) Nĭ shi nĕiguó [~ năguó] rén? (‘you be which-country person’)
ii) Nĭ shi năr ~ nǎlǐ de <rén>? (‘you be where DE person’)
91
iii) Nĭ shi shénme dìfang rén? (‘you be what place person’)
iv) Nĭ shi <cóng> shénme dìfang (‘you be from what place come one’)
lái de?
Options (ii- iv) do not, strictly speaking, ask about nationality, but about place,
and can be answered with a city or town, as well as a country name. The last, (iv)
represents two options: with cóng [ts-] ‘from’, the question is, strictly speaking, about the
country of residence – or by implication, where you were born. Without cóng, it could
simply mean ‘where do you [happen to have] come from’.
The responses to the questions usually take the same form as the question, eg:
Nĭ shi < cóng > shénme dìfang lái de? Where are you from?
Wŏ shi <cóng> Rìbĕn lái de. I’m from Japan.
Nĭ shi nĕiguó rén? Which country are you from?

Wŏ shi Hánguó rén. I’m from Korea.
Occasionally in conversation, people will ask about nationality using the more
formal word, guójí ‘nationality’:
Nĭ de guójí shi shénme? What’s your nationality?

Wŏ shi Mĕiguó guójí. I’m an American citizen.
Nǐ shi shénme guójí? What’s your nationality?

Wǒ de guójí shi Jiānádà. My nationality is Canadian.
or Wŏ shi Jiānádà rén. I’m from Canada.
3.3.3 Foreigners
‘Foreign’ in Chinese is wàiguó ‘outside-country’; ‘foreigners’ are wàiguó rén. Foreigners
are also called yángrén. Yáng actually means ‘seas’, but with implications of ‘overseas’;
cf. words such as yángwáwa ‘a doll [with European features]’ or the now archaic
yánghuǒ ‘matches ([over]seas fire)’.
In China, foreigners of European ancestry are generally called lǎowài ‘venerable

foreigners’: Ei, nǐ kàn, lǎowài lái le ‘Hey, look, here comes the foreigner!’ In southern
China, local equivalents of the Cantonese term, guailo ‘ghost people’ (incorporated in
regional Mandarin as guǐlǎo) is used much like lǎowài. The presence of the rather
respectable prefix lǎo makes both terms acceptable. Yáng guǐzi ‘foreign devils’, however,
is regarded as rather disparaging; one recent and widely used Chinese-to-Chinese
dictionary gives its definition as [translated] ‘an archaic term of disparagement for
Westerners who invaded our country’. So even though one may occasionally use it
tongue-in-cheek to refer to oneself, generally, it is better to avoid it.
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3.3.4 Have you been there? V-guo

Talking about nationality or place of origin is likely to lead to questions about prior
travel, so it is worthwhile taking a short digression to introduce the basics of the verb
suffix guò [usually untoned] prior to a more detailed exposition in a later unit. Here we
concentrate on two exchanges, the first involving the verb qù ‘go’, and the second
involving the verb chī ‘eat’:
Nĭ qù-guo Zhōngguó ma? Have you [ever] been to China?

+ Qù-guo. [I] have.
– Méi<you> qù-guo. [I] haven’t.
Nǐ chī-guo hǎishēn ma? Have you [ever] eaten sea cucumber?

+ Chī-guo. I have.
– Méi<you> chī-guo. No, I haven’t.
Note that responses to questions with guò retain the guò in negative responses as well as
positive. The negative response, like that with le, is formed with méi<you>.
‘Experiential’ guò should remind you of a construction that you encountered in

Unit 1. There you learned several ways to ask if someone had had their meal, one way
involving final le, and another that involved both le and the post-verbal guò: Nǐ chīguo
fàn le ma? / Chī<guo> le. ‘Have you had your meal? / I have.’ Clearly the question does
not mean ‘have you ever eaten’, along the lines of: Nǐ chī-guo hǎishēn ma? ‘Have you
[ever] eaten sea cucumber?’
In this book, the two uses of guò are kept distinct by a convention not found in
standard pinyin: the guò from Unit 1, that co-occurs with le, follows the verb directly
(chīguo); the one introduced in this lesson, not associated with le and meaning ‘have ever
done something’, follows the verb with a hyphen (chī-guo). In fact, even without this
signal, context resolves most cases of potential ambiguity, just as it does in English with,
eg ‘Have you eaten sea-cucumber?’ and ‘Have you eaten?’.
1 Nĭ shi Zhōngguó shénme dìfang Where abouts in China are you from?
lái de?
Wŏ shi Xī’ān rén. I’m from Xi’an.
Xī’ān, wŏ qù-guo Xī’ān. Xī’ān Xi’an, I’ve been there. Xi’an’s famous!
hĕn yŏumíng!
Shì ma? Is it?
2 Nĭ shi Mĕiguó rén ba? I take it you’re American.

Bù, wŏ shi Jiānádà rén. No, I’m from Canada.
<Nĭ shi> Jiānádà shénme dìfang rén? Where abouts in Canada [are your from]?
Wēngēhuá. Nĭ qù-guo ma? Vancouver. Have you been?
Méi qù-guo, kĕshì hĕn xiǎng qù. No, but I’d love to go.
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Notes
a) hěn yǒumíng ‘quite have-name’; the Chinese speaker responds unassumingly
even though he probably feels that Xi’an, with 2500 years of history, should be
hěn yǒumíng.
b) xiǎng, literally ‘think; think of’ but often, as here, used to indicate intention
‘want to; feel like’.
3.3.5 More on proximity

Cóng should be distinguished from lí, which has a similar meaning and appears in the
same place in sentence structure. While cóng is associated with movement, lí is
associated only with distance, and with the SVs jìn ‘close’ and yuăn ‘far’.
Tā cóng Dàlián lái de; Dàlián She’s from Dalian; Dalian’s in

zài Liáoníng shěng, lí Bĕijīng Liaoning province, not far from Beijing.
bù yuăn.
An actual distance may be substituted for jìn and yuăn. Distances in Chinese are
measured in lǐ (low tone), equivalent to half a kilometer (or a third of a mile), or in gōnglǐ
‘kilometers’, but not usually in English miles (Yīnglǐ). All are M-words, so 100 kms.
would be yībǎi gōnglǐ. The noun lù ‘road’ can, in certain cases, be added to the measure
phrase, optionally mediated by de: yībǎi gōnglǐ <de> lù ‘100 kms [of road]’. Since
mileage is a noun, a verb still has to be provided, and in Chinese it is usually yǒu ‘have’
(unlike English, which uses ‘is’). Distances are often approximate, of course, so it is also
useful to learn the adverb dàgài ‘approximately’.
Jīchăng lí wǒ de jiā yǒu The airport is 5 kms. from my house.

wŭ gōnglǐ <lù>.
Xīníng lí Xī’ān dàgài yǒu yīqiān Xining is about 1000 kms. from Xī’ān –
gōnglǐ – hĕn yuăn. [it]’s a long way off.
Wŏ de jiā lí huŏchēzhàn yǒu My house is 2 ‘miles’ from the station –

liăng lǐ lù – bú tài yuăn. not so far.
3.4 The cardinal directions: NSEW

Most of the cardinal directions are already familiar from place names (as well as from
airline names). Běijīng, with běi, is the ‘northern capital’. Until the early 15th century,
Nánjīng was the ‘southern capital’. The Japanese capital, Tokyo, is actually the Japanese
reading of the characters that, in Mandarin, are pronounced Dōngjīng the ‘eastern
capital’. That leaves xī ‘west’, which is represented in the Chinese city of Xī’ān
(‘western-peace’), as well as in the Chinese name for Tibet, Xīzàng ‘western-repository’.
The four directions are conventionally ordered either dōngnán-xīběi ‘ESWB’, or dōngxī-
nánběi ‘EWSN’.
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The ordering of the directions in Chinese reflects the primacy of the east-west
axis, a primacy that is underscored in the names of the diagonal quadrants: dōngběi ‘NE’,
dōngnán ‘SW’, xīběi ‘NW’ and xīnán ‘SW’. Dōngběi (with a capital intitial) is also the
name of the northeast region of China that includes the three provinces of Hēilóngjiāng
(‘black-dragon-river’), Jílín, and Liáoníng. This is roughly the area that was colonized by
Japan before World War II and at the time, referred to (in English) as ‘Manchuria’ (ie,
home of the Manchus, who ruled China as the Qing [Ch’ing] dynasty from 1644-1912).
Although Beijing and Tianjin might be considered to be in the northeast of China, they
are usually described as being in the north, zài běibiānr, with dōngběi reserved for cities
that are actually in the Dōngběi region. The northwest region that includes Xīnjiāng and
Qīnghǎi, is referred to as the Dàxīběi ‘The Great Northwest’; while the southwest region
that includes Yúnnán, Sìchuān and Guìzhōu, is called the Xīnán.
On the whole, the directions require two syllables to function as nouns. So the
diagonals may stand alone: Jílín zài dōngběi; Kūnmíng zài xīnán. But otherwise, the
direction words need to combine with either biān<r> ‘side; bank’, bù ‘part’, or fāng ‘side;
region’.
Bĕijīng zài běibù. Beijing’s in the north.

Tiānjīn zài bĕibiānr; Tianjin’s to the north.
Dàtóng zài běifāng. Datong’s in the northern region.
The three options differ. Fāng, in particular, refers not to relative direction, but to
a quadrant of the country: běifāng ‘the northern region’ or ‘the North’; nánfāng ‘the
southern region’ or ‘the South’. Xīfāng and dōngfāng not only mean ‘the western region’
and ‘the eastern region’ respectively, but also (capitalized) ‘the West’ (ie the Occident)
and ‘the East’ (the Orient). Combinations with bù (a combining version of bùfen ‘part’)
refer to position within a whole; combinations with biānr are the least restricted, simply
indicating a direction. So the southern province of Guǎngdōng is zài nánbù (since it is
within China) as well as zài nánbiānr. But Yuènán ‘Vietnam’, since it is a separate
country, is only zài nánbiānr, not zài nánbù (at least, with reference to China).
Central regions can be referred to as zhōngbù (zhōng as in Zhōngguó and

Zhōngwén).
Wǔhàn zài zhōngbù. Wuhan is in the center [of the country].

Chóngqìng yě zài zhōngbù ma? Is Chongqing in the middle as well?
Location with reference to the country is expressed with the larger unit first,
unlike the English order: zài Zhōngguó běibù ‘in the north of China’. There is usually the
option of inserting a possessive de between the country of reference and the direction (zài
Zhōngguó de běibù, zài Zhōngguó de běibiānr). De makes a nuance of difference, and
reveals the source of the Chinese word order as a possessive (or more accurately, an
attributive) construction: ‘in China’s north’.
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Bĕijīng zài Zhōngguó <de> běibù. Beijing’s in the north of China.

Niŭyuē zài Mĕiguó <de> dōngběi. New York’s in the northeast of the US.
Yuènán zài Zhōngguó <de> nánbiānr. Vietnam is south of China.
Summary of cardinal directions
xīběi<biānr> běibiānr dōngběi<biānr>
[bĕifāng]
xīběi<bù> běibù dōngběi<bù>

xībiānr
[xīfāng] xībù zhōngbù dōngbù [dōngfāng]
dōngbiānr
xīnán<bù> nánbù dōngnán<bù>
[nánfāng]
xīnán<biānr> nánbiānr dōngnán<biānr>
Exercise 1.
State, then write down the following geographic facts:
Tiānjīn’s in the north of China, about 100 kms. from Běijīng. Shěnyáng is in the
northeast, not far from Běijīng either. Shěnyáng is in Liáoníng. Chéngdū is in the middle
of Sìchuān, Chóngqìng is south of Chéngdū, but it’s not in the southern part of Sìchuān;
it’s a zhíxiáshì [ie under central administration]. Kūnmíng is in Yúnnán. Yúnnán isn’t
Yuènán. Yúnnán is a part of China (yí bùfen), but Yuènán isn’t part of China – it’s
southwest of China.
3.4.1 Dialogues
a) At a reception, Jiǎ, a student in London, finds himself next to Chén Yuè, a Chinese
graduate student, and initiates a conversation in Chinese:
Jiă Qĭngwèn, nín guìxìng? May I ask what your name is?
Ch Wŏ xìng Chén, jiào Chén Yuè. My name’s Chen, Chen Yue.
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Jiă Chén Yuè, nǐ shi Zhōngguó Chen Yue, you’re from China, I
lái de ba. take it.
Ch Shì, wŏ shi Zhōngguó rén. Right, I am.
Jiă Zhōngguó shénme dìfang rén? [From] where abouts in China?
Ch Chángchūn. Changchun.
Jiă O Chángchūn. Nà, Chángchūn O, Changchun. Now, Changchun’s

zài Dōngběi, shì bu shi? in the NE, isn’t it?
Ch Shì, zài Jílín shěng. Yes, in Jilin province.
Jiă Lí Běijīng bǐjiào yuǎn ba. Quite far from Beijing, right?
Ch Ng, lí Běijīng hěn yuǎn, dàgài Yes, quite far from Beijing – about
yìqiān gōnglǐ! 1000 kilometers!
Jiă O, shì hěn yuǎn! Oh, [that] IS a long way!
b) Léi Hánbó, an overseas student, thinks she recognizes Zhāng Yīng from an encounter
earlier in the week:
Léi Nín shì bu shi Zhāng Yīng? Are you Zhang Ying?
Zh Wŏ shi Zhāng Yīng. Yes, I’m Zhang Ying.
Léi Zhāng Yīng, wŏ shi Léi Hànbó, Zhang Ying, I’m Lei Hanbo,
Wèi lăoshī de xuésheng. Prof. Wei’s student.
Zh O, Léi Hànbó, nĭ hăo. Nĭ shi O, Lei Hanbo, how are you. You’re
Mĕiguó rén ba? American, right?
Léi Shì, wŏ shi Mĕiguó Bōshìdùn rén. Yes, I’m an American from Boston.
Zh O, Bōshìdùn. Bōshìdùn hĕn O, Boston. Boston’s quite well

yŏumíng! known (‘very have name’)!
Léi Shì ma? Really?
c) Jiă, a foreigner, and Yǐ, a Chinese, are looking at a series of numbered illustrations of
political leaders in an old copy of China Reconstructs; Jiă – the foreigner, is asking
questions about who’s who:
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Jiă Nà, dì-yī ge shi Máo Zédōng ba. Well, #1 is Mao Zedong, I take it.
Yǐ Shì, dì-yī ge shi Máo Zédōng. Yes, #1 is Mao Zedong.
Jiă Máo Zédōng shi Húnán rén ba? Mao Zedong’s from Hunan, right?
Yǐ Shì, shi Húnnán rén. Yes, [he]’s from Hunan.
Jiă Nà, dì-èr ge ne? And #2?
Yǐ Dì-èr ge shi Zhōu Ēnlái. #2 is Zhou Enlai.
Jiă O, Zhōu Ēnlái. Tā shi shénme Oh, Zhou Enlai. Where’s he from?
dìfāng rén?
Yǐ Zhōu Ēnlái ne, tā shi Huái’ān rén. Zhou Enlai, he’s from Huai’an.
Jiă Huái’ān ne, zài Jiāngsū, shì bu shi? Huai’an, [that]’s in Jiangsu , isn’t it?
Yǐ Shì, zài Jiāngsū, lí Shànghăi Yes, in Jiangsu, not far from

bù yuăn. Shanghai.
Jiă Dì-sān ge ne? #3?
Yǐ Dì-sān ge, nà shi Péng Déhuái. #3, that’s Peng Dehuai.
Jiă Péng Déhuái a, tā shi cóng shénme Peng Dehuai, where’s [he] from?
dìfāng lái de?
Yǐ Péng Déhuái hǎoxiàng yĕ shì Seems like Peng Dehuai’s also from
Húnán rén ba. Hunan.
Dì-yī ge shi Máo Zédōng. [JKW 1982]
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3.5 Yes and no

As observed throughout the first two units, where English tends to include ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in
answers to ‘yes-no’ questions, Chinese often answers them by simply reiterating the verb,
or verbal parts, in positive form or negative, as the case may be. Agreement can be
emphasized by the addition of an initial duì ‘be correct’, though disagreement frequently
requires a more subtle expression than the judgemental bú duì ‘wrong’.
Hăotīng ma? Do you like [the music]? (nice-sound Q)

<Duì,> hĕn hăotīng. Yes, [I] do.
Xǐzǎo le ma? Have [you] bathed?

Hái méi ne. No, not yet.
Tāmen yĭjing shuìjiào le ma? Are they in bed already?

<Duì,> yĭjing shuì le, kĕshi Léi Bīn Yes, he has, but Lei Bin’s still up.
hái méi ne.
Léi Bīn a, Léi Bīn shi shéi? Lei Bin? Who’s Lei Bin?
Léi Bīn shi tāmen de tóngxué. Lei Bin’s their classmate.
O, míngbai. Oh, I see.
When the main verb is itself shì, then shì confirms, with initial duì available for
emphasis, and bù ~ bú shì denies:
Nĭ shi dì-yī ge ma? You’re the1st?

Duì, wǒ shi dì-yī ge. Yes, I am.
Nà, tā shi dì-èr ge ma? And…she’s 2nd?
Bù, tā shi dì-sān ge. No, she’s #3.
Shì ma? Is that so?
Shì, dì-sān ge shi tā. Yes, she’s 3rd.
Tā shi Mĕiguó rén ba. He’s American, I take it.

Duì. Right.
Tā àiren yě shì ma? His spouse too?
Bú shì, tā shi Zhōngguó rén. No, she’s Chinese.
A, míngbai. Oh, I see!
3.5.1 Negative questions

So far so good: with ordinary yes-no questions, reiterating the verb in the positive
confirms (with or without an initial duì); reiterating it in the negative denies. Negative
questions, however, are not quite so forthright. Negative questions convey a change in
expectations: Haven’t you eaten? [I thought you had, but apparently you haven’t.]
Negative questions expect a negative answer: Haven’t you eaten? / No, I haven’t. In
Chinese, as in English, it is still possible to reiterate the verb – in the negative – to
confirm the new expectation. But while English generally responds to a negative question
with ‘no’ (anticipating the negative verb), Chinese responds with duì ‘correct’
(confirming the negative statement).
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Nǐ hái méi chīfàn ma? Haven’t you eaten yet?

<Duì,> hái méi ne. No, not yet.
Tāmen bú shi Měiguó rén ba. They’re not Americans, right.

<Duì,> tāmen bú shì Měiguó rén. No, they’re not.
It is this incongruency between English and Chinese that gives rise to the observation that
Chinese (along with Japanese and other languages in the region) has no equivalent to
English ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
What if, in the last example, counter to new expectations (but in conformity to the
original ones), the people in question turned out to be Americans after all? In that case,
the responses in both Chinese and English are less predictable. But typically, Chinese
would change the value of the verb to positive and put emphasis on it: Tāmen shì Měiguó
rén. And an introductory negative – bù, bù – would indicate the change from the new
expectations back to the old.
Tāmen bú shi Měiguó rén ba? They’re not Americans, are they?
Bù, bù, tāmen SHÌ Měiguó rén. Yes they are.
Here again, while the English ‘yes’ matches the positive verb (‘they are Americans’),
Chinese bù (or bú shì) denies the anticipated answer (‘it’s not the case that they aren’t
Americans’).
Nà bú shi nǐ de hùzhào ma? Isn’t that your passport?
Duì, bú shi wǒ de. No, it’s not.

Bù, bù, SHÌ wǒ de. Yes it is.
3.5.2 Tag-questions
Sometimes, it is appropriate to indicate doubt, or seek confirmation by the use of tag-
questions. The addition of questions formed with shì or duì to the foot of the sentence
serve such a function.
Sūzhōu zài Jiāngsū, duì ma? Suzhou’s in Jiangsu, correct?

Duì a, Sūzhōu zài Jiāngsū. [That]’s the case, Suzhou’s in Jiangsu.
Tā shi Yīngguó rén, shì bu shi? He’s English, right?

Bú shì, tā shi Jiānádà rén. No, he’s Canadian.
Nĭ de sǎn, shì bu shi? [This] is your umbrella, isn’t it?

Shì, xièxie. [It] is, thanks.
Tā shi Dài Sīyí, duì bu duì? That’s Dai Siyi, right?

Duì, shi Dài Sīyí. Right, Dai Siyi.
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3.5.3 Is it the case that…?

Shì bu shi can also be inserted before sentence elements to seek confirmation; and
responses can be re-asserted by inserting a (fully stressed) shì ‘it is the case that’, as the
following examples show:
Zhènjiāng shì bu shi zài Ānhuī? Is Zhenjiang really in Anhui?

Bù, Zhènjiāng zài Jiāngsū, lí No,it isn’t. Zhenjiang’s in Jiangsu,
Nánjīng bù yuăn. not far from Nanjing.
Shì bu shi in such sentences questions an underlying assumption: Zhenjiang’s in

Anhui. Shì in the response confirms it. These shì’s are particularly common as a way of
questioning adverbs:
Zhōngwén lǎoshī shì bu shi hěn yán? Is it the case that Ch. teachers are strict?
Duì, tāmen shì hěn yán. Yes, they [really] are!
Zhèr de lăoshī shì bu shi zǒngshi Is it the case that the teachers here are
hĕn lèi? always tired?
Tāmen shì hĕn lèi, kĕshì xuéshēng They are quite tired, but aren’t students
bú shi gèng lèi ma. even more tired?
Tāmen shì bu shi dōu yĭjing qĭlái le? Is it the case that they’re all up already?
Bù, xiăo Liáng hái méiyou qĭlái, No, young Liang isn’t up yet, he’s not
tā yǒu yìdiănr bù shūfu. very well.
The appearance of shì with SVs in such sentences should not undermine your
understanding that shì does not appear with SVs in neutral, unemphatic contexts.
Exercise 2.
Provide Chinese equivalents for the following interchanges:
You were born in Thailand, right?

Yes, but my nationality is American.
Is it the case that Nanjing isn’t far from Shànghǎi?

That’s right, it isn’t that far away, about 200 kms.
Aren’t they Chinese?

No, they’re not. None of them is. Two of them are Korean, and two are Thai.
Isn’t that your umbrella?

No, it’s not mine. / I think it is!
Is Tianjin near Beijing?

Yes it is. It’s about 180 kms from Beijing.
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3.6 Thanks and sorry.

3.6.1 Responses to thanking
Thanking is not quite as perfunctory in Chinese as in English. In English, thanks are often
given even after making a purchase, or when a waiter serves a dish or brings a drink. In
Chinese, such transactions are more likely to be acknowledged with just hǎo ‘fine’ – if
anything. Explicit thanking is not common, but where an action is worthy of thanks, then
in informal or colloquial situations, xièxie or duōxiè (the latter, under the influence of
Cantonese) suffices, while in more formal situations, the verb gǎnxiè ‘feel thanks’ can be
used: hěn gǎnxiè <nǐ>. Responses to xièxie (or gǎnxiè), corresponding to English ‘you’re
welcome’, vary considerably in Chinese. The main ones are listed below, with literal
meanings.
Xièxie <nǐ>. Thanks.
You’re welcome. >

Bú xiè. not thank
Bú yòng xiè. not use thank
Bú kèqi not be+polite

Bié kèqi! don’t be+polite
Bú yào kèqi. not want be+polite
Bú yòng kèqi. not use be+polite
Béng kèqi. [northern] no-use be+polite
Yīnggāi de! ‘[It]’s what [I] should [do]!’
Notes
a) Yòng’s core meaning is ‘to use’; yào’s is ‘want’.; but in the above contexts, the
meanings of both are closer to ‘need’. Béng is a telescoped version of bú + yòng.
b) Kèqi is composed of roots for ‘guest’ and ‘air; spirit’, so the literal meaning is,
roughly, ‘adopt the airs of a guest’. Kè appears in expressions such as qǐngkè
‘entertain guests; to treat [by paying] (invite-guests)’ and words like kèrén ‘guest
(guest-person)’ and kètīng ‘living room; parlor (guest-hall)’. Qì appears in words
such as tiānqì ‘weather’ and qìfēn ‘atmosphere’.
Tā hěn kèqi (S)he’s very polite.

Nǐ bié kèqi, wǒ qǐngkè. Don’t worry, I’m treating.
c) Yīnggāi de, containing the ‘modal verb’ yīnggāi ‘should; ought’ (cf. gāi), is a
common response to a serious expression of gratitude. Xièxie nǐ lái jiē wǒ! /
Yīnggāi de!
When someone fills your glass when you are conversing at a meal, or at other
times when you might want to indicate appreciation without actually saying anything,
you can tap the index finger, or the index and middle fingers on the table to express
thanks. The practice is said to represent with bent fingers, the act of bowing.
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3.6.2 Sorry
Regret for minor infractions or potential shortcomings is most commonly expressed as
duìbuqǐ, an expression built on the root duì ‘to face squarely’ (and hence ‘to be correct’),
plus the suffix bùqǐ ‘not-worthy’. The typical response makes use of the culturally very
significant noun, guānxi ‘connections’.
Duìbuqǐ! Sorry! [I didn’t hear, understand, etc.]

Méi guānxi. Never mind.
Duìbuqǐ, lǎoshī, wǒ lái wǎn le. Sorry, sir, I’m late. (come late LE new sit’n)
Méi guānxi. Never mind.
In a more serious context, regret may be expressed as hěn bàoqiàn ‘[I]’m very sorry’,
literally ‘embrace shortcomings’.
3.6.3 Refusal
No matter whether you are stopping by someone’s home or office, or staying for a longer
visit, your host will usually serve you tea or soft drinks, often together with some fruit or
other snacks. Depending on the situation and the degree of imposition, it is polite to
ritually refuse these one or more times, and then if you ultimately accept, to consume
them without showing desperation (much as you would in other countries). Some phrases
for ritual refusal are provided below:
hē yòng yào mǎi máfan

drink use want buy to bother; go to the trouble of
Offers
Lǐ Dān, hē yì bēi chá ba. Li Dan, why don’t you have a cup of tea?!
Zhāng lǎoshī, hē diǎnr shénme? Prof. Zhang, what’ll you have to drink?
Responses
Bú yòng le, bú yòng le. No need, I’m fine. (‘not use’)
Bú yòng kèqi le! Don’t bother! (‘not use politeness LE’)
Bié máfan le. Don’t go to any trouble. (‘don’t bother LE’)
Often, phrases pile up: Bú yòng le, bié máfan le, wǒ bù kě le!
More abrupt refusals are appropriate when there is a perceived violation, as when
merchants try to tout goods on the street:
Guāngdié, guāngpán! CDs, DVDs!

Bù mǎi, bù mǎi! Not interested (‘not buy’)!
Bú yào, bú yào! Not interested (‘not want’)!
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3.6.4 Don’t
The several responses to thanking and apologizing actually provide examples of the three
main words of negation, bu, méi, and a third found in imperatives [orders], bié ‘don’t’.
The last can be combined with the verb wàng ‘forget; leave behind’, as follows:
Nĭ de sǎn, bié wàng le. Your umbrella, don’t forget [it]!

O, duì, xièxie. O, right, thanks!
Bú xiè. You’re welcome.
Nĭ de píbāo, bié wàng le! Don’t forget your wallet!

O, tiān a, wŏ de píbāo! Duōxiè, Oh, gosh, my wallet!
duōxiè. Many thanks!
Bú yòng kèqi. You’re welcome.
Exercise 3.
Provide Chinese interchanges along the following lines:
Excuse me, where abouts is the office?

The office is upstairs.
Don’t forget your passport!

O, ‘heavens’, my passport, thanks.
You’re welcome!
Your bookbag, don’t forget [it].

Yikes, thanks!
You’re welcome.
Have some tea!

No, I’m fine, thanks.
What’ll you have to drink?

You have tea?
3.7 Things to drink

Traditionally, Chinese quenched their thirst with soup (often simply the water used to
boil vegetables) or, if they could afford it, tea (which was introduced to China from India
around the beginning of the Tang dynasty). For formal occasions, there were varieties of
jiŭ, alcoholic drinks made from grains, such as rice and millet.
Nowadays, soup, tea and boiled water (kāishuĭ ‘open water’) are still probably the
main beverages, but with increasing affluence and foreign commercial influence,
drinking practices are changing, particularly in urban areas. Iced drinks, which were
traditionally regarded as unhealthy – as they probably are – are now common. Soy milk
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drinks are popular, and even cow’s milk is gaining acceptance (despite widespread
lactose intolerance). With the rise of fancy restaurants and cocktail bars, alcohol drinking
practices are changing too. A Franco-Chinese joint enterprise is producing wines made
with grapes under the Dynasty (Cháodài) label. Brandies and whiskeys are quite popular.
Foreign wines and spirits (yángjiŭ), are drunk in different fashion in China. Grape wines
and spirits, for example, are sometimes mixed with carbonated drinks, or are watered
down and drunk with meals. Spirits, served in small glasses or cups, are more compatible
with Chinese practices of toasting (cf. §8.4.5) than are grape wines served in larger
amounts.
Non-alcoholic
chá tea kāfēi coffee
kĕlè cola [generic] kāishuĭ boiled water
qìshuĭ carbonated drinks; soda júzi shuǐ orange juice
guǒzhī fruit jiuce níngméngzhī lemonade
niúnăi milk dòujiāng soybean milk
kuàngquánshuǐ mineral water (mineral-spring-water)
Kékŏu kĕlè Coke Băishì kĕlè Pepsi

Xuĕbì Sprite (snow-azure)’ Qī Xǐ 7 Up
Alcoholic (jiŭ)
yángjiŭ (‘foreign-wine’); any foreign alcoholic drinks,
both wines and spirits
Milder píjiŭ beer

drinks -- zhāpí, shēngpí draft beer
‘wines’ mĭjiŭ rice wine
and beers pútaojiŭ wine (grape-wine)
hóngjiŭ red wine
hóngpútaojiŭ red wine (red+grape-wine)
báipútaojiŭ white wine
Shàoxīngjiŭ a smooth rice wine, often served hot, from Shàoxīng
in Zhèjiāng province.
Spirits báijiŭ generic white spirit, with high alcohol content.

liángshíjiŭ generic name for wines made from grains.
gāoliang<jiŭ> a white spirit made from gaoliang, or ‘sorghum’.
Máotái<jiŭ> the most famous of Chinese liquors, from Maotai in
Guìzhōu.
Wŭliángyè (‘5-grains-liquid’); a popular grain liquor with
a medicinal taste.
The syllable pí in píjiŭ derives from the English word ‘beer’; jiŭ is generic for
alcoholic drinks. Nowadays, there are a large number of popular beers in China, eg
Yànjīng píjiŭ (from Yànjīng, an old name for Bĕijīng), Shànghăi píjiŭ, Wŭxīng píjiŭ (‘5
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star’), Xuĕlù píjiŭ (‘snow deer’) and Qīngdăo píjiŭ, named after the city of Qīngdăo in
Shandong. The Qīngdăo Co. was originally a German brewery, set up in the German
concession in Shandong.
Exercise 4
You can practice ordering drinks in succinct language, stating the item first, and then the
amount: Niúnǎi, yì bēi. ‘A glass of milk.’ Typically, soft drinks are now served cold
(albeit sometimes at a slightly higher price), but if not, you can request a cold one by
saying bīng de ‘ice one’, or yào bīng de ‘want ice one’. In ordinary places, ice is not
usually added to drinks, possibly because people are aware that it may be made from non-
potable sources. But to be sure, you may want to add bú yào bīngkuài ‘not want icecubes’
or, more politely, qǐng bié jiā bīngkuài ‘request don’t add icecubes’. Now, following the
model above, try ordering the following:
1. A glass of coke; check to see if they have cold ones.

2. A bottle of orange juice.
3. 2 bottles of cold beer.
4. Tea for two; and a cup of boiled water.
5. 2 bottles of mineral water.
6. Find out if they have draft beer; if so, order two mugs.
7. 2 cups of coffee with milk.
8. Find out what kinds of soda they have; order two bottles or glasses.
_______________________________________________________________________
Lái yì bēi lǜchá ba. [JKW 2002]
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3.7.1 Dialogue
Huáng Jūrén (male) hears a knock on the door and recognizes his friend, Zhèng Chūnhuá
(female). He addresses her with the personal xiǎo+last syllable of míngzi:
Hg. Shéi a? Who is it?
Zh. Wŏ shi Zhèng Chūnhuá. I’m Zhèng Chūnhuá.
Hg. O, Xiăohuá, qǐngjìn, qǐngzuò. Oh, Xiăohuá, come on in, have a seat.
Zh. Xièxie. Ài, jīntiān rè jíle! Thanks. Gosh, it’s so hot today!
Hg. Ng. Nà nĭ hē yìdiănr shénme? Sure is. What’ll you have to drink?
Yǒu kĕlè, níngméngzhī, píjiŭ. There’s cola, lemonade, beer.
Zh. Bú yòng le, bú yòng le. No need! [I’m fine.]
Hg. Nĭ bié kèqi. Hē ba! Relax! Have something!
Zh. Hăo, nà lái <yì> bēi lǜchá ba. Okay, bring a cup of green tea, please.
Hg. Hăo, lǜchá….Nĭ zuìjìn zĕnmeyàng? Okay, green tea….How are you doing
these days?
Zh. Hái kěyǐ. Zuótiān yǒu diănr I’m okay. I didn’t feel too well
bù shūfu, dànshì xiànzài hăo le. yesterday, but I’m okay now.
Hg. Nĭ tài máng le! You’re too busy!
Zh. Shì yǒu diănr máng! Nĭ yĕ shì. I am a bit! You too! Students are
Xuéshēng zǒngshi hĕn always tired and busy.
máng hĕn lèi a!
Notes
1. Other teas: lóngjǐng chá a type of green tea; wūlóng chá ‘oolong tea’; júhuāchá
‘chrysanthemum tea; [Yīngguó] nǎichá ‘(English milk-tea)’.
2. Zuìjìn ‘recently; these days’.
3.8 Why, because, so

If someone says they are tired or anxious, you will want to find out why. ‘Why’,
wèishénme, is made up of wèi ‘for [the sake of]’ and shénme ‘what’. The response will
often be introduced with yīnwèi ‘because’. Suǒyǐ ‘so’ introduces the consequences.
Before you can give good reasons, you need some additional vocabulary. The following
nouns all have to do with classwork:
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kǎoshì gōngkè zuòyè bàogào shíyàn

test; exam assignments homework reports experiments
Notes
Kǎoshì and shíyàn are also [two-syllable] verbs, meaning ‘to do a test’ and ‘do an
experiment’. ‘To test someone’s ability in a subject’ is simply kǎo: Yīnggāi kǎo
tāmen de Zhōngwén ‘[We] should test their Chinese’. For now, concentrate on the
use of these words as nouns.
Dialogues
A. Jīntiān zĕnmeyàng? How are you today?

Yǒu kǎoshì suǒyǐ yǒu yìdiănr [I] have a test, so I’m a bit nervous.
jĭnzhāng.
B. Nĭ wèishénme jĭnzhāng? How come?

<Yīnwei> míngtiān yǒu kăoshì. [I] have an test tomorrow.
Shénme kăoshì? What kind of test?
Zhōngwén kăoshì. A Chinese test.
3.8.1 A lot of
Duō (a word to be carefully distinguished from dōu ‘all’) is a SV meaning ‘much; many;
lots, etc.’ Its opposite, shǎo, can mean ‘few; not many’ but is also common as an adverb
meaning ‘seldom; rarely’. Duō has some rather idiosyncratic properties: it may modify
nouns directly (without de), but to do so, it requires the presence of at least a modifying
adverb, such as hěn:
yǒu hěn duō <de> gōngkè lots of assignments

yǒu hěn duō <de> kǎoshì lots of tests
yǒu hěn duō <de> zuòyè lots of homework
Instead of hěn, the two more or less synonymous adverbs zhème ‘in this way; so;
such’ and nàme ‘in that way; so; such’, can also be used in conjunction with duō (and
shǎo):
zhème duō gōngkè such a lot of assignments

nàme duō bàogào so many reports
Duō and shǎo can also be used as predicates – that is, main verbs. English finds
the literal translation of the construction awkward (ie ‘exams are numerous’), preferring
instead an existential ‘there is/are’, or a possessive ‘we have’:
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Shíyàn duō bu duō? Are there lots of experiments?

Gōngkè bǐjiào duō. There are relatively many assignments.
Bàogào yĕ hĕn duō. [We] also have lots of reports.
Zuòyè gèng duō. There is even more homework.
Kăoshì bù shǎo. [I] have quite a number of tests.
Zuòyè wèishénme nàme shǎo? How come so little homework?
Reference can be made to the course by simply presenting it at the head of the
sentence as a ‘topic’:
Zhōngwén, zuòyè hĕn duō. Chinese [class] has a lot of homework.

Rìwén, zuòyè duō dànshì Japanese [class] has a lot of homework, but
kăoshì shǎo. few tests.
Sentences of the above type can usually be re-formed with yǒu, ‘have’, which
makes them look rather more like the English:
Zhōngwén yǒu hĕn duō zuòyè. Chinese has lots of homework.

Rìwén méiyŏu nàme duō kăoshì. Japanese does have so many tests.
Zhōngwén, zuótiān yǒu kăoshì, [We] has a test in Chinese yesterday,

jīntiān yǒu bàogào. [and] today we have a report.
Summary (* not possible)
Yǒu Zhōngwén zuòyè. [We] have Chinese homework.

*Yǒu duō Zhōngwén zuòyè.
Yǒu hěn duō Zhōngwén zuòyè. There’s a lot of Ch. homework.
OR: Zhōngwén, zuòyè hěn duō. [Chinese has lots of homework.]
Yǒu zhème duō Zhōngwén zuòyè. There’s so much Ch. homework!
Yǒu nàme duō Zhōngwén zuòyè. There’s so much Ch. homework!
Exercise 5.
In Chinese:
1. Explain that students have lots of homework each day so they’re always tired.
2. Ask why Japanese doesn’t have a lot of tests.
3. Explain that there are no classes tomorrow because it’s May the 1st.
4. Explain that your Chinese teacher is quite strict, and that you have lots of tests.
5. Explain that you didn’t have any homework yesterday.
6. Ask why they have so many reports.
7. Explain that you feel quite nervous today because you have a test.
8. Explain that you have lots of tests, and even more assignments.
9. Explain that physics [class] isn’t hard, but it has lots of homework.
10. Ask why they all have so many keys?
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3.9 Money
G.E. Morrison, who wrote a book called An Australian in China, about his journey across
southwest China to northern Burma at the very end of the 19th century, described how he
managed his money:
Money in Western China consists of solid ingots of silver, and copper cash. The
silver is in lumps of one tael or more each, the tael being a Chinese ounce and
equivalent roughly to between 1400 and 1500 cash. … From Hankow to Chungking
my money was remitted by draft through a Chinese bank. … I carried some silver
with me; the rest I put up in a package and handed to a native post in Chungking,
which undertook to deliver it intact to me in Yunnan city, 700 miles away,
within a specified period. … Money is thus remitted in Western China with complete
confidence and security. [Morrison 1902: 95]
Round coins (often bearning a niánhào or ‘reign name’) with square holes in
the middle (round said to be symbolic of heaven, square, of earth) were in use in China
from several centuries BCE. In later times, these were often called ‘cash’, a translation of
qián. Carried in strings of 1000, they were the medium of exchange for small purchases.
Morrison also carried lumps of silver, useful for larger transactions. These were measured
in taels [from Malay tahil], a weight that often translates the Chinese liǎng. Liǎng is still
a regular measure of weight in markets in China. Originally 16 liǎng made up a jīn, but in
the modern system, it is 10. Jīn is usually translated with another term derived from
Malay, the ‘catty’. Paper money, reimbursable for silver (at least in those periods when
the economy was well managed), has been in circulation in China for well over 1000
years. Dollars, that come into circulation in China from the 16th century, were not US
dollars but Spanish (or Mexican).
Modern currencies
Nowadays, currency on the Mainland is the Rénmínbì ‘people’s-currency’, often
abbreviated in English as ‘RMB’. Its main unit is the yuán, called kuài colloquially and
translated as ‘dollar’ or ‘Chinese dollar’. Below the yuán is the jiǎo (máo colloquially)
‘ten cents’ and the fēn ‘cent’. Thus, in speech, $1.25 is yí kuài liǎng máo wǔ ‘one dollar
two dimes five’ (rather than a dollar and 25 fēn). Bills (as of 2003) have values of one,
two, five, ten, fifty and a hundred. There are some small sized bills for values below one
yuán. Coins are for low values only (some of which duplicate bills), including a one yuán
piece, a 5 máo (50 cents), one máo (10 cents) and various very small denominations.
During the height of the communist period, foreign currencies were exchanged
not for RMB, but for wàihuìjuàn, ‘Foreign Exchange Certificates’ or simply ‘FEC’. FEC
were denominated like RMB and had the same official value, but since FEC were
required for the purchase of foreign goods, they gained value on unofficial ‘black’
markets. FEC were abandoned in the early 90s. [The Chinese government, apparently,
sold their remaining FEC to the government of neighboring Burma [Myanmar], who
adopted the FEC system at about the time the Chinese abandoned it.]
In Taiwan (the ROC), the unit of currency is the Xīn Táibì, called the ‘new
Taiwan Dollar’ in English (and abbreviated $NT). Like its Mainland counterpart, it is
called the yuán (kuài colloquially), with smaller units called jiǎo (máo) and fēn. Hong
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Kong also retains its own currency, called Gǎngbì. Current (9/05) exchange rates for
RMB are approximately 8.1 to the US dollar; for $NT, approximately 31 to the dollar,
and for HK$, approximately 7.7 to the dollar.
In Unit 2, you learned that money, qián, is counted with kuài ‘yuan; dollar’. In
fact, in formal language, yuán itself is the M-word, so that yí kuài qián is usually written
(and sometimes spoken) as yì yuán (一圆 or 一元 ; both characters are used, but the latter
is more common).
3.9.1 Dollars and cents

Currency is subdivided into the following units (which are all M’s):
informal, formal,
spoken literal meaning written value
kuài ‘lump; piece’ yuán ‘round’ RMB 1.00

máo ‘hair; small amount’ jiǎo RMB 0.10
fēn ‘part’ fēn RMB 0.01
Note that qián is the noun, kuài, máo, fēn etc. are M’s by which qián is counted:
yí kuài qián liăng kuài qián sān kuài qián wŭ kuài qián shí kuài qián
yí kuài liăng kuài sān kuài wŭ kuài shí kuài
RMB 1 RMB 2 RMB 3 RMB 5 RMB 10
liǎng máo bā máo sān fēn <qián> jiǔ fēn <qián> liǎng máo wǔ
RMB 0.8 RMB 0.4 3 cents 9 cents 25 cents
Notes
Kuài and máo are the normal spoken forms. However, yuán and jiǎo, while
primarily written forms that appear on currency, on menus, and bills, are, in
certain formal settings like hotels and banks, sometimes spoken: eg: sì yuán wǔ
jiǎo ‘Y4.50’.
Exercise 6.
Practice citing the following prices until fluent:
1. 30 cents 11. 25.00
2. 50 cents 12. 11.85
3. 1.00 13. 35.00
4. 1.40 14. 39.95
5. 2.00 15. 19.35
6. 85 cents 16. 15 cents
7. 95 cents 17. 75 cents
8. 3.60 18. 1.85
9. 9.95 19. 99.00
10. 15.00 20. 102.00
______________________________________________________________________
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3.9.2 How many?

a) Duōshao
The opposites duō ‘many’ and shǎo ‘few’ combine to form the question word duōshao
‘how many’ (with qīngshēng on the second syllable).
Jīntiān yǒu duōshao xuéshēng? How many students today?

Yǒu èrshísān ge. 23.
Zuótiān ne? And yesterday?
Zuótiān yǒu èrshísì ge! 24, yesterday.
Duōshao qián? How much money?

Liǎng kuài. Y2.00.
b) Jǐ ge?
When the expected number is low, the question word is not duōshao, but jǐ + M. Smaller
than expected numbers and amounts may attract the adverb zhǐ ‘only’.
Yǒu duōshao xuésheng? How many students are there?

Yǒu èrshísì ge. 24.
Yǒu jǐ ge lăoshī? How many teachers are there?
Zhǐ yǒu yí ge. Only one.
Nǐ yǒu jǐ kuài qián? How much [money] do you have?

Wǒ zhǐ yǒu yí kuài. I only have a dollar.
Wǒ de jiā lí jīchǎng zhǐ yǒu My house is only 3 kms. from the

sān gōnglǐ. airport!
Nà hěn jìn! That’s close!
c) Prices
Prices can be asked with duōshao (usually without M) or jǐ + M; the item in question can
be placed first, with the sense of ‘cost’ left implicit:
Bĭjìbĕn duōshao qián? How much are notebooks?

Yǔsǎn jǐ kuài qián? How many dollars for an umbrella?
Where items are sold by particular amounts, Chinese will use an appropriate M:
Sān kuài bā yí ge. $3.80 each (‘for one’).

Wǔ máo yí fèn. $0.50 each. [newspapers]
Shí’èr kuài sān yì běn. $12.30 each [notebooks]
3.9.3 Making a purchase

In China, shopping often takes place under adverse conditions: markets are noisy and
crowded; vendors often have strong local accents; tickets are sold through small windows
jammed with customers. So it pays to reduce grammatical complexity, and speak in short,
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sharp phrases. We will start with food and drink. To earlier drink vocabulary, we can add
some fruit. (For health reasons, Chinese peel fruit before eating – many even peel
grapes.)
píngguǒ xiāngjiāo xīguā mángguǒ chéngzi

apples bananas water melons mangoes oranges
yí ge yí ge yí kuài /piàn yí ge yí ge
yí chuàn yí ge
These are purchased as wholes (yí ge), as parts (yí kuài ‘a piece’, yí piàn ‘a slice’), or
bunches (yí chuàn ‘a bunch; cluster’). Or they are bought by weight (typically by the jin
or ‘catty’ in China).
yì jīn ‘a catty’ ½ a kilogram; 1.2 lbs

yì liǎng ‘a tael’ 10 liang in a jin
yì gōngjīn ‘a kilogram’ 2 catties, or 2.2 lbs

yí bàng ‘a pound’
Notes
a) Not so long ago, the liǎng was 1/16 of a jīn (hence the term ‘Chinese ounce’).
b) People say èr liǎng ‘2 taels’ rather than the awkward *liǎng liǎng .
Other items:
bǐnggān miànbāo gāodiǎn miànjīnzhǐ bīngjilín

biscuits bread pastries tissues icecream [stick]
bāo gè gè bāo gēn
Notes
a) bǐng is the generic for tortilla or pancake like foods; gān means ‘dry’.
b) gāo is generic for ‘cakes’; diǎn is ‘a bit’ or ‘a snack’.
c) bīngjilín, also pronounced bīngqilín (and sometimes bīngjilíng) ‘ice-cream’
(with jilín ~ qilín, etc. representing English ‘cream’); ice-cream comes on a stick
(yì gēn), in tubs (yì xiǎobēi) and in cartons (yì hé).
Exercise 7.
What would you say to purchase the following items in the amounts indicated?
Work with a partner, if possible, with one of you buying and the other selling. Keep the
small talk to a minimum. The buyer should begin with a perfunctory (but friendly)
greeting (hǎo), then state the item – pointing to it if possible – and the number needed.
The seller is likely to volunteer the price (per unit, if relevant), and the buyer can then
repeat it to himself, or for confirmation, and close with: Hǎo, jiu zhèiyàngr ba. You
would be expected to bargain a bit at street stalls (cf. §8.4) – less so in shops. For now,
you are buying small things and you won’t lose much!
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1. apple 1 / 0.30 cents each

2 bananas 1 bunch / 2.50 for a bunch
3. apples 1 catty / 1.50 for a catty
4. biscuits 1 pack / 3.00 a pack
5. spring water 1 bottle / 1.00 a bottle
6. cola 2 bottles / 5.00 for 2 bottles
7. bread 1 loaf / 4.00 a loaf
8. bun 3 / 1.50 for 3
9. orange juice 1 bottle / 1.75 a bottle
10. water melon 1 slice / 0.80 per slice
11. water melon whole / 1:30 per jin
12. cigarets 1 pack / 4.00 per pack
13. bananas 2 / 0.60 for 2
14. tissue 2 packs / 3.00 per pack
15. ice-cream 1 tub / 1.40 per tub
16 Mènglóng 1 stick / 6.00 per stick.
(Mènglóng is the Chinese translation of ‘Magnum’, the name of a Wall’s [brand] of

chocolate covered vanilla icecream, one of a number of ‘popsicles’ sold widely at street
stands and small shops throughout China.)
______________________________________________________________________
Duōshao qián yì jīn? [JKW 1997]
3.10 Other numbered sets

3.10.1 Telephone numbers
‘Telephone number’ is diànhuà hàomǎ (‘telephone + number’). Asking about phone
numbers makes use of the question words duōshao or shénme:
<Nǐ de> diànhuà <hàomǎ> shi duōshao? What’s your phone number?
<Nǐ de> diànhuà <hàomǎ> shi shénme?
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Local phone numbers in major Mainland cities generally have 7 or 8 digits, ie 3 + 4 or 4

+ 4. (Area codes have 0 + 2 or 3 digits.) To state phone numbers, you need to know that
‘zero’ is líng; and that on the Mainland (but not Taiwan), the number ‘one’ (in strings of
numbers, such as telephone numbers) is yāo rather than yī.
Wŏ jiā lĭ de diànhuà shi: (bāliùyāolíng) liù’èrwǔliù-jiŭ’èrsānsān.

Wŏ de shŏujī shì: (yāosānliùbā) yāosìbā sānqī’èrbā. Zài shuō yì biān:
(yāosānliùbā) yāosìbā sānqī’èrbā.
My home phone is: (8610) 6256-9233. My cell is (1368) 148-3728.

[I]’ll repeat it (‘again say one time’): (1368) 148-3728.
Diànhuà ‘electric-speech’ is the word for an ordinary telephone, but in China

people are more likely to talk about their shǒujī ‘mobile-phone (hand-machine)’. A
variation on shǒujī is xiǎolíngtōng ‘small-lively-communicator’, a cheap mobile phone
that can be used only in a single locale.
3.10.2 Days of the week

The traditional Chinese lunar month was divided into three periods (xún) of 10 days each.
But when the western calendar was adopted, a term lǐbài, itself a compound of lǐ
‘ceremony; reverence’ and bài ‘pay respects’, which had been adapted by Christians to
mean ‘worship’, was used to name days of the week. Nowadays, the word xīngqī ‘star-
period’ is preferred in print, at least on the Mainland, but lǐbài continues as the main
colloquial form. The days of the week are formed by the addition of numerals, beginning
with yī for Monday. [Unlike in the US, the calendrical week begins with Monday in
China, not Sunday.]
Monday lǐbàiyī xīngqīyī

Tuesday lǐbài’èr xīngqī’èr
Wednesday lǐbàisān xīngqīsān
Thursday lǐbàisì xīngqīsì
Friday lǐbàiwǔ xīngqīwǔ
Saturday lǐbàiliù xīngqīliù
Sunday lǐbàitiān xīngqītiān
(Sunday lǐbàirì xīngqīrì )
Since the variable for days of the week is a number, the question is formed with jǐ
‘how many’: lǐbàijǐ ~ xīngqījǐ ‘what day of the week’. Notice that there is no *lǐbàiqī or
*xīngqīqī to confuse with lǐbàijǐ and xīngqījǐ.
‘Daily’ can be expressed as měitiān ‘everyday’. And a period of time covering

several consecutive days can be expressed with cóng ‘from’ and dào ‘to’: <cóng> lǐbàiyī
dào <lǐbài>sì ‘<from> Monday to Thursday’.
Jīntiān lǐbàijǐ? What’s the day today?

Jīntiān lǐbàiyī. It’s Monday.
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Míngtiān lǐbài’èr, shì bu shi? Tomorrow’s Tuesday, isn’t it?

Shì, zuótiān shi lǐbàitiān. Yes, yesterday was Sunday.
Lǐbài’èr yǒu kǎoshì ma? Is/was there an exam on Tuesday?

Yǒu, dànshi lǐbàisān méiyou kè. Yes, but there are no classes on Wednesday.
Xīngqīsì hěn máng . [I]’m busy on Thursday.

Xīngqīwǔ xíng ma? Will Friday work?
Mĕitiān dōu yǒu kè ma? Do you have class everyday?

Bù, xīngqīyī dào <xīngqī>sì dōu No, Monday to Thursday I do, but
yǒu, dànshì xīngqīwŭ méiyŏu. not on Friday.
Notes
Recall that in giving dates, eg jīntiān xīngqīyī, shì is often omitted if no adverbs
are present. In the negative, shì would appear as support for the adverb, bu:
Jīntiān bú shì xīngqīyī.
3.10.3 Days of the month

Days of the month are formed, quite regularly, with hào, which in this context means
‘number’:
Jīntiān jǐ hào? What’s the date today?
Èrshísān hào. The 23rd.
Èrshíwǔ hào hěn máng – yǒu [We]’re busy on the 25th – there’s
Zhōngwén kǎoshì. a Chinese test.
a) Names of the months

The names of the months are also quite regular, formed with the word yuè ‘moon; month’
(often expanded to yuèfèn) and a number: sānyuè ‘March,’ liùyuèfèn ‘June’, shíyīyuè
‘November’. As with the other date elements, the question is formed with jǐ ‘how many’:
Jīntiān jǐyuè jǐ hào? What’s the date today?

Jīntiān liùyuè èrshí’èr hào. Today’s June 22st.
Shíyuè sān hào yǒu kǎoshì. There’s a test on October 3rd.
Wǔyuè yí hào shi Guóqìng jié May 1st is National Day so there are
suǒyǐ méiyou kè. no classes.
Notice that expressions that designate ‘time when’ precede their associated verbs!
3.10.4 Siblings
The collective for brothers and sisters is xiōngdì-jiěmèi. Older brother is gēge; xiōng is
an archaic equivalent; but the other syllables are all single-syllable reflections of the
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independent words for siblings: dìdi ‘younger brother’, jiějie ‘older sister’ and mèimei
‘younger sister’.
Nĭ yǒu xiōngdì-jiěmèi ma? Do you have any brothers or sisters?

Yǒu <yí> ge dìdi, yí ge mèimei. [I] have a younger brother, and a y. sis.
Yǒu méiyou xiōngdì-jiĕmèi? Do [you] have any brothers or sisters?

Wŏ zhǐ yǒu <yí> ge jiĕjie. I only have an older sister.
Hăoxiàng nĭ yǒu <yí> ge gēge, Seems like you have an older brother, right?
duì ma?
Méiyou, zhǐ yǒu <yí> ge jiĕjie. No, only an older sister.
Note
In object position, the yí of yí ge is often elided, as indicated by <yí> ge.
3.10.5 Yígòng ‘altogether; in all’

Yígòng is an adverb meaning ‘all together; in all’, but because it is more versatile than
prototypical adverbs such as yě and dōu, it is classified as a ‘moveable adverb’.
Moveable adverbs, unlike regular ones, can sometimes appear without a following verb:
Jīntiān yígòng yǒu duōshao How many students today?

xuésheng?
Yígòng yǒu shíqī ge. There are 17 altogether!
Yígòng duōshao qián? How much money altogether?

Yígòng yìqiān liǎngbǎi kuài. Altogether, Y1200.
Exercise 8.
1. Tell them what your phone number is.
2. Let them know today’s date.
2. Ask how many students there are today altogether?
3. Explain that you have a younger brother and an older sister.
4. Explain that there’s an exam on October 30th.
5. Explain that you only have a dollar.
6. Explain that you’re feeling quite anxious -- because you have so many exams!
7. Explain that you have an exam everyday from Monday to Thursday.
3.11 Courses and classes

3.11.1 Subjects of study
Subjects of study – courses – frequently end in xué ‘study; learning’ (cf. xuésheng);
however, when a subject consists of two or more syllables, the xué is optional. Here are
some examples:
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shùxué (numbers-study) mathematics

lìshǐ<xué> history
wùlǐ<xué> (things-principles) physics
jīngjì<xué> economics
wénxué (language-study) literature
gōngchéng<xué> engineering
guǎnlǐxué management
Tǐyù ‘physical education’, however, is more ‘sports’ than a subject of study, so it does
not usually occur with xué.
3.11.2 Talking about classes

a) Classes, courses, sessions:
Many words function as both nouns and measure words. Kè, for example, as a noun
means ‘subject; course’, but as an M, it means ‘lesson’. M’s only appear after numbers
(or demonstratives), and are optionally followed by nouns: yí ge <xuésheng>; zhèi ge
rén, yí kuài <qián>. But where there is no number (or demonstrative), there will be no
measure words:
Jīntiān méiyou kè. [I] don’t have class today.

Kè hěn nán. The course/class is tough.
Méiyou píjiǔ le. [We]’re out of beer!
Nouns may be counted with different measures, each conveying slightly different
nuances. Kè, as a noun meaning ‘subject’ or ‘class’, for example, can be counted with the
M mén (whose root-meaning is ‘door’) when the sense is ‘a course’; with jié (root-
meaning ‘segment’) or táng (root-meaning ‘hall’), when the meaning is ‘a class session’.
word kè táng jié mén bān

as NOUN subject hall segment door session; class
as M. lesson class class course/subj [flight etc.]
Examples
M: mén Zhèi ge xuéqī, nĭ yǒu jǐ mén kè? How many courses do you have
N: kè Wŏ yǒu sì mén kè. this term? / I have four.
N: kè Jīntiān hái yǒu biéde kè ma? Do [you] have other classes today?
M: táng Hái yǒu liǎng táng. I still have two more.
M: jié Jīntiān yǒu jǐ jié? How many [classes] today?

N: kè Jīntiān méiyou kè. I don’t have any classes today.
M: jié Nà, míngtiān ne, míngtiān yǒu Well, what about tomorrow, how
jǐ jié? many [classes] tomorrow?
Míngtiān zhǐ yǒu yì jié: shùxué. Tomorrow, I just have one –
mathematics.
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N: kè Jīntiān yŏu kè, kĕshi míngtiān There’s class today, but not
méiyŏu! tomorrow.
M: kè Zhè shì dì-yī kè This is the first lesson.

M: kè Yígòng yŏu sānshí kè. There are 30 lessons altogether.
Besides the noun kè ‘class’, the noun bān, whose root meaning is ‘shift’ or
‘session’ (cf. shàngbān ‘go to work’), is also relevant to the subject of taking classes.
Large sessions (or ‘lectures’) are dàbān; small sessions (or ‘sections’) are xiǎobān. These
are counted with the general-M, gè:
Yígòng yŏu wŭ ge bān, [There are] five sessions altogether,

liăng ge dàbān, sān ge xiǎobān. 2 lectures and 3 sections.
Like kè, bān can also be a M, but not for classes or the like. Bān is common as a
M for trips of regularly scheduled transport, such as busses and airplanes: Xīngqīyī-sān-
wǔ yǒu yì bān. ‘There’s a flight/bus/train on MWF.’
b) ‘Taking’ classes
In the examples under a), ‘taking a class’ was construed as ‘having a class’: yǒu wǔ mén
kè. However, you should be aware that just as English allows the option of saying ‘how
many courses do you have’ and ‘how many are you taking’, so Chinese offers options
with shàng ‘(attend) take’; and [particularly in Taiwan] xiū ‘(cultivate) take’, along with
yǒu ‘have’:
Nĭ zhèi ge xuéqī shàng / yǒu / xiū How many courses are you taking
jǐ mén kè? this semester?
Wŏ shàng / yǒu/ xiū wŭ mén. I’m taking 5.
3.11.3 Moveable adverbs (dāngrán; yídìng)

a) Dāngrán ‘of course’
Dāngrán, like yígòng, is classed as a moveable adverb, because some of the positional
requirements of typical adverbs (such as the requirement of a following verb) are relaxed:
Lǐbàiwǔ yǒu kè ma? Are there classes on Friday?

Dāngrán, mĕitiān dōu yǒu kè. Of course, there are classes everyday.
Yǒu zuòyè ma? Any homework?
Dāngrán yǒu zuòyè, mĕitiān Of course there’s homework,
dōu yǒu zuòyè. there’s homework everyday!
b) Yídìng ‘for certain; for sure’
Xīngqīliù yídìng méi kè ma? Is [it] certain that there’s no class on Sat.?
Xīngqīliù, xīngqītiān yídìng For certain there are no classes on Saturday
méiyou kè. and Sunday.
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Yídìng is especially common in the negative, bù yídìng ‘not necessarily’, when it

often stands alone. Frequently, bù yídìng can be followed by a comment beginning with
yǒude ‘some’, literally ‘there are some of them [which]’:
Kǎoshì dōu hěn nán ma? Are the tests all difficult?
Bù yídìng. Yǒude hěn nán, Not necessarily. Some are difficult,
yǒude bù nán! some aren’t.
Xuésheng yídìng hěn lèi ma? Are students necessarily always tired?
Bù, lǎoshī hěn lèi, xuéshēng No, teachers are tired, students aren’t
bù yídìng. necessarily.
Exercise 9.
Express the following:
1. In all, you’re taking 5 courses this semester, and they’re all hard.
2. In Beijing, November isn’t necessarily cold but July is certainly hot.
3. You have lots of classes on Tuesday and Thursday, but only one on Wednesday.
4. The lecture has 120 students, but the sections only have 12.
5. The mathematics teacher isn’t too strict, but the tests are hard.
6. You don’t have any more classes today.
7. You were nervous yesterday, but you’re okay today.
8. The physics teacher’s very strict, so I’m nervous in class.
3.11.4 Question words as indefinites

Question words in Chinese have two faces: they can function in questions (corresponding
to the wh-words of English – ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, etc.), and they can function as
indefinites (corresponding to ‘anyone’, ‘anything’, ‘anywhere’, etc.) So shénme, in
addition to its interrogative use, can also mean ‘anything’ in a non-interrogative context.
The sense is often ‘anything in particular’:
Méi shénme wèntí. [I] don’t have any questions [in particular].
Méi shénme gōngkè. [We] don’t have any homework

[in particular].
Xièxie nǐ lái jiē wǒ. Thanks for coming to pick me up.

Méi shénme. Hěn jìn! [It]’s nothing – it’s close by.
Duìbuqǐ, nǐ xìng shénme, wǒ wàng le. Sorry, what was your name – I’ve forgotten.
Méi shénme. Wǒ xìng Zōu. That’s all right. My surname’s Zou (sic!)
Many more examples of question-words used as indefinites will be encountered in later

units.
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3.12 Dialogue: courses and classes

Jiǎ and Yǐ are classmates at school, chatting over breakfast before going to class.
Jiǎ Èi, nǐ hǎo, jīntiān zěnmeyàng? Hi, how are you? How’s it going today?
Yǐ Hái hǎo, hái hǎo. Fine, fine.
Jiǎ Nǐ jīntiān máng bu máng? You busy today?
Yǐ. Hěn máng! I am!
Jiǎ. Wèishénme? How come?
Yǐ. Yīnwèi yǒu kǎoshì. Because I have a test.
Jiǎ. Yǒu shénme kǎoshì? What test?
Yǐ. Zhōngwén kǎoshì. A Chinese [language] test.
Jiǎ Nà míngtiān ne? Well how about tomorrow?
Yǐ Míngtiān méiyou. Míngtiān hái hǎo. None tomorrow, tomorrow’s fine.
Jiǎ Yǒu gōngkè ma? Do [you] have any homework?
Yǐ Yǒu, dāngrán yǒu. Sure, of course [we] do.
Jiǎ Zhōngwén, gōngkè duō bu duō? Is there a lot of homework in Chinese?
Yǐ Hěn duō, kěshi hěn yǒuyìsi! There’s a lot, but it’s interesting!
Jiǎ Hěn nán ba! It must be difficult!
Yǐ Bú tài nán, hái hǎo. It’s not so bad, it’s fine.
Jiǎ Nǐ hái yǒu shénme biéde kè? What other classes do you have?
(you still have what other classes)
Yǐ Jīntiān, hái yǒu wùlǐ, shùxué, I still have physics and maths today,
míngtiān yǒu lìshǐ. tomorrow I have history.
Jiǎ Zhōngwén měitiān dōu yǒu ma? Do you have Chinese everyday?
(Chinese daily all have Q)
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Yǐ Xīngqiyī dào sì dōu yǒu, Everyday [from] Monday to Thursday, not

xīngqiwǔ méiyǒu. on Friday. (Monday to Thurs all have,
Friday not-have)
Jiǎ Zhèi ge xuéqī yígòng shàng You’re taking 4 courses altogether this
sì mén kè ma? semester? (‘this M term altogether take…’)
Yǐ Yígòng shàng wǔ mén, hái yǒu tǐyù. Five altogether; there’s PE as well.
Kěshì tǐyù méi shénme gōngkè. But PE doesn’t have any homework.
Jiǎ Wǔ mén kè, yídìng hěn lèi! Five courses, [you] must be tired!
Yǐ Hái kěyǐ. [I] manage.
Variations:
Instead of: Nǐ jīntiān máng bu máng?
Jīntiān nǐ jǐn<zhāng> bù jǐnzhāng? Are you nervous today?

Jīntiān nǐ lèi bu lèi? Are you tired today?
Jīntiān hǎo ma? Are things okay today?
Nǐ shū<fu> bù shūfu? Are you comfortable?
Instead of: Yǒu kǎoshì.
Yǒu gōngkè. There’s/[we] have homework

Yǒu zuòyè. There’s/[we] have an assignment.
Yǒu bàogào. There’s/[we] have a report.
Yǒu shíyàn. There’s/[we] have a lab.
Exercise 10.
Here are some sentences written by students learning Chinese; identify the likely
mistakes and explain (if you can); then correct them.
1. *Wǒmen hái méi chī le.

2. *Méiyou kǎoshì míngtiān.
3. *Zhōu, nǐ è bu è?
4. *Míngtiān yǒu shénme kǎoshì? / Míngtiān méiyou.
5. *Chī fàn le ma? / Hái méi ne? / Wǒ yě. (‘Me neither!’)
6. *Tā hěn hǎochī.
7. *Míngtiān shémme kǎoshì nǐ yǒu?
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3.13 Sounds and Pinyin
3.13.1 Tone combos (the last three sets)
13 14 15
kāfēi bù nán Táiwān
fēijī dàxué Chéngdū
cāntīng shùxué zuótiān
3.13.2 Initials
Recall your initials chart, and the complementary distribution of initial and rhymes for
rows 3 and 4 on the one hand, and 5 on the other:
3,4 -i is never ‘ee’ -u is ‘oo’, never ‘yu’

zi zhi zu (zun...) zhu (zhun...)
ci chi cu (cun...) chu (chun...)
si shi su (sun...) shu (shun...)
ri ru (run...)
5 -i is ‘ee only’ -u is ‘yu’ never ‘oo’

ji (jie, jian...) ju (jue, juan...)
qi (qie, qian...) qu (que, quan...)
xi (xie, xian...) xu (xue, xuan...)
Exercise 11.
a) Write lines 3, 4, and 5 of your initial chart (z, c, s etc.) on a small sheet of paper, one
for every three students. Then, as your teacher recites the list of words twice, determine
by consensus which initial is involved:
[Samples: xie, chu, xi, qu, su, shu, zhun, jun, xian, ci, shuai, xu, cai, shi, xi, shun etc. ]
b) By column, read aloud the following sets
yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí

dou zh!uo gou tuo lou po zou sh!uo r!ou mo
duo zh!ou guo tou luo pou zuo sh!ou r!uo mou
Notice that row-5 initials do not appear in this exercise; why is that?
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c) Practice reading the following sets aloud:
1) rè > lè > hé > è > kě.

2) rén > bèn > hěn > gēn > mén.
3) mèng > lěng > pèng > gèng > fēng.
4) zhāng > cháng > pàng > tàng > ràng.
5) hǎo > zhào > pǎo > mǎo > zǎo.
6) xiè > bié > jiè > tiē > liè.
7) lèi > bēi > méi > fēi > zéi.
8) lái > tài > mǎi > pái > zài
__________________________________________________________
3.14 Summary
Numbers yìbǎiwàn (~ yībǎiwàn)
M-words yì bēi chá; yí ge bēizi
Nationality Nĭ shi nĕi guó rén? Tā shi cóng shénme dìfang lái de?
Ever been? Nǐ qù-guo Zhōngguó ma? / Méi qù-guo.
Miles away Jīchǎng lí wŏ jiā zhǐ yǒu sān lĭ <lù>.
NSEW Bĕijīng zài Zhōngguó běibiānr; Wúhàn zài zhōngbù.
Yuènán zài Zhōngguó de nánbiānr.
Confirmation Nĭ shi dì-yī ma? / Shì de; Tā bú shi Mĕiguó rén ba. / Shì.
Jīntiān shì hĕn rè!
Tag-Qs Nĭ de sǎn, shì bu shi?
Thanks Xièxie. / Bié kèqi.
Sorry Duìbuqĭ. / Méi guānxi.

Refusal Hē yìdiănr shénme? / Bú yòng le, hái hăo.
Don’t forget Nĭ de sǎn, bié wàng le.
Why? Wèishénme hĕn máng? / Yīnwèi yǒu hĕn duō kăoshì.
Lots of Zhōngwén zuòyè hĕn duō; Zhōngwén yǒu hĕn duō zuòyè.
How many? Yǒu duōshao xuéshēng? Jǐ ge lăoshī?
Duōshao qián? / Liăng kuài.
Prices Píngguŏ duōshao qián yì jīn?
Telephone Nĭ de diànhuà shi duōshao?
Week days Lǐbàiwǔ méiyou kè.
Siblings Yǒu xiōngdì-jiĕmèi ma?

All together Yígòng yǒu/shàng/xiū jǐ mén kè?
Classes Jīntiān hái yǒu jǐ táng kè?
Any Méi shénme wèntí.
Other Hái yǒu shénme biéde kè?
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Exercise 12.
Distinguishing words. Read each row aloud, then provide a distinguishing phrase for each
word, eg, for the first set: Wǒ bù shūfu; Gāo shīfu, hǎo; Shùxué hěn nán ba.
1. shūfu shīfu shùxué shūbāo

2. lăoshī kăoshì lìshĭ kĕshi
3. gōngkè kèqi yígòng gōnglĭ
4. xīngqīyī xīngqījĭ xíngli xìng Lĭ
5. mĕitiān tiānqì zìdiǎn tǐng hǎo
6. zàijiàn zuìjìn jĭnzhāng zài zhèr
7. qián xiānsheng hǎoxiàng xuésheng
8. xìng xíng xíngli qǐng
9. xiànzài xǐzǎo zǒngshi hǎochī
10. búguò bú guì bù gāo bǐjiào
11. cóngqián cāntīng gōngjīn gāodiǎn
12. qùguo chīguo qí ge kèqi
________________________________________________________________________

Heads up!
Dàtóu, dàtóu, Big-head, big-head,

xiàyǔ, bù chóu; falls rain, not worry;
biérén yǒu sǎn, other-people have umbrella,
wǒ yǒu dà tóu. I have big head.
Sheila Yong, from Boston University, made up an equally good – or better – version:
Tūtóu, tūtóu, Bald-head, bald-head,

dà fēng, bù chóu; big wind, not worry;
biérén luàn fà, other-people messy hair,
wǒ béng shūtóu! I no-need comb-head!
On the money!
Sānlúnchē, pǎo+de kuài, 3-wheel-vehicle, runs+DE fast,

shàngmiàn zuò <yí> ge lǎo tàitai; top-side sits old woman;
yào wǔ máo, gěi yí kuài, [driver] wants 5 dimes, [she] gives a dollar,
nǐ shuō qíguài bù qíguài? you say strange or not?
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Appendix: Countries and nationalities
Addition of rén to the country name regularly gives the name of the person from that
country.
Countries (Guójiā)
China Zhōngguó Taiwan Táiwān

Singapore Xīnjiāpō Japan Rìběn
Indonesia Yìnní Vietnam Yuènán
Thailand Tàiguó Burma=Myanmar Miǎndiàn
India Yìndù Pakistan Bājīsītǎn
Bangladesh Mèngjiālā (S) Korea Hánguó
(N.) Korea Cháoxiǎn Philippines Fēilǜbīn
Ireland Ài’ěrlán USA Měiguó
Canada Jiānádà Mexico Mòxīgē
Brazil Bāxī Argentina Āgēntíng
Australia Àodàlìyà New Zealand Xīn Xīlán
South Africa Nánfēi Nigeria Nírìlìyà
Egypt Āijí Iran Yīlǎng
Afghanistan Āfùhàn England/UK Yīngguó
Spain Xībānyá Germany Déguó
Italy Yìdàlì France Fǎguó (some: Fàguó)
Russia Éguó (some: Èguó) Greece Xīlà
Israel Yǐsèliè Iraq Yīlàkè
Cities (chéngshì)
Shanghai Shànghǎi Hong Kong Xiānggǎng

Beijing Běijīng Shenyang Shěnyáng
Canton Guǎngzhōu Shenzhen Shēnzhèn
Beidaihe Běidàihé (a resort on the coast near Beijing)
Qingdao Qīngdǎo Tianjin Tiānjīn
Chungking Chóngqìng Si-an Xī'ān
Nanking Nánjīng Kunming Kūnmíng
Gweilin Guìlín Lhasa Lāsà
Tokyo Dōngjīng Osaka Dàbǎn
Seoul Hànchéng ~ Shǒu’ěr Jakarta Yǎjiādá
Kuala Lumpur Jílóngpō Bangkok Màngǔ
Hanoi Hénèi Saigon Xīgòng
Delhi Délǐ Calcutta Jiā’ěrgēdá
Manila Mǎnílā Dacca Dákǎ
Mumbai/Bombay Mèngmǎi Baghdad Bāgédá
Boston Bōshìdùn Chicago Zhījiāgē
New York Niǔ Yuē Philadelphia Fèichéng
Washington Huáshèngdùn San Francisco Jiùjīnshān
Los Angeles Luòshānjī Salt Lake City Yánhúchéng
126
Houston Xiū ~ Háosīdùn Dallas Dálāsī

London Lúndūn Manchester Mànchèsītè
Glasgow Gèlāsēgē Belfast Bèi’érfǎsītè
Dublin Dūbólín Paris Bālí
Rome Luómǎ Athens Yádiǎn
Cairo Kāiluó Tel Aviv Tèlāwéifū
Sydney Xīní Perth Bōsī
Notes on country and city names

Korea. The PRC calls (North) Korea Cháoxiǎn, while Taiwan and overseas communities
call (South) Korea Hánguó. Cháoxiǎn is a Chinese version of what is usually rendered
Choson in English, the name of the dynasty that came to an end in 1910. Hán (distinct
from falling toned Hàn of Hànrén ‘Chinese’) is also a traditional name, historically
applied to ‘states’ on the south and western parts of the Korean peninsula. In the past, the
name Gāolì was also applied, based on the same root that gave us the name Korea; cf. the
Koryo dynasty. Paradoxically, the capital of S. Korea, Seoul, was until very recently
called Hànchéng in Chinese – Hàn not Hán; nowadays, Seoul is transliterated as Shǒu’ěr.
San Francisco. The Cantonese name, pronounced Sānfānshì (shì ‘city’) in Mandarin, is
obviously a transliteration of the English. The name commonly used in Mandarin,
Jiùjīnshān means literally ‘old gold mountain’, a reference to Gold Rush days, when
numerous Chinese migrated to California from the coast of Canton province.
Huáshèngdùn. Also referred to in the US Chinese newspapers as Huáfǔ ‘national capital’.
Paris and Bali: If Paris is Bālí, you may wonder what the Chinese name for the island of
Bali [Indonesia] is. It’s also Bālí. The distinction is made by adding dăo ‘island’ to the
latter: Bālídăo. Cf. Hǎinándǎo ‘Hainan Island’ (off the southern coast of China).
Philadelphia. Fèichéng. Chéng is ‘city’ (originally ‘wall,’ a feature characteristic of

cities). Fèi is a rendering of the first syllable of Philadelphia.
Tokyo. Dōngjīng, literally ‘eastern capital’; cf. Bĕijīng ‘northern capital’ and Nánjīng
‘southern capital’.
Russia. Éluósī or Éguó on the Mainland, but often Èguó in Taiwan. The USSR was called
Sūlián, ie Sū from Sūwéi’āi ‘Soviet’ + lián meaning ‘unite’.
Canton, Chungking, Nanking, Peking etc. English spellings of Chinese names are not as
irrational as they may at first seem. These spellings reflect spelling conventions adopted
by the British and probably based on Cantonese pronunciation. In the Wade-Giles
transcription, which still has some currency, the distinction between (pinyin) b, d, g and
p, t, k etc. was represented as p, t, k and p’, t’, k’, respectively. In common practice, the
apostrophes were omitted, hence Peking, Taipei, the Tao Te Ching (the Taoist classic)
rather than pinyin Beijing, Taibei, Dao De Jing (the Daoist classic). The name ‘Canton’ is
based on the name of the province, Guǎngdōng, rather than the city, Guǎngzhōu.
127
第三課 Dì-sān kè
Lesson 3
三人行，必有我師焉。
Sān rén xíng, bì yǒu wǒ shī yan.
[Among] three people walking, surely exist my teacher among+them.
[Even] a party of three will surely include one from whom I can learn.
Confucius, The Analects (Classical Chinese)
3.0 Review
a) Fántǐzì
馬：你好，我是馬小東。
王：哦，馬小東，我是王老師。
李：王老師，您好，我是李明。
王：李明，你好。
李：還有他呢，他姓毛，叫毛明。
王：毛明，你好。三個人了。你呢？
張：我是張生明。
王：張生明，你好。那好，歡迎你們來北京。
馬, 李…: 謝謝。
王：你們很累吧。
馬, 李…: 不累，還好。
王：餓嗎？吃飯了嗎？
馬, 李…: 不餓，在飛機上吃了。
王：那，你們的行李呢？
50
馬, 李…: 在這兒，一二三四五。都在這兒。
王：那好，我們走吧，上車吧。
馬, 李…: 好，好。
王：今天有一點兒熱，你們熱嗎？
馬, 李…: 不熱，還好。
王：行李，雨傘，書包呢？
馬, 李…: 都在這兒。
王：好，那我們走吧。
b) Radicals and phonetics

Try to recall characters from Units 1 and 2 that have the following character-istics:
1. Two containing the phonetic element 乍 (zhà):
2. Two containing the element 隹 (zhuī):
3. Two containing zǒuzhīpáng, the movement radical (whose independent form is 辵):
4. Three containing kǒuzìpáng (口), the mouth radical:
5. Two containing mùzìpáng (木), the tree radical:
6. One with zuǒ’ěrduō (‘left ear’) as radical, and one with yòu’ěrduō:
7. One with jiǎosīpáng (‘twisted silk beside’), and two with silk on the bottom:
8. One with sāndiǎnshuǐ (the water radical) and one with the ice radical:
c) Add a character before or after (as indicated) to form a word or phrase:

1 可 ___ 5 ____ 经
2 学 ____ 6 ____ 报
3 书 ____ 7 ____ 典
4 中 ____ 8 ____ 以
51
3.1 First set
名字叫地方美吧
3+3 3+3 3+2 3+3 4+0 3+5 3+4
míng zì jiào dì fāng mĕi ba
name-character be named; place region beautiful BA
name be called; call [USA] consensus
國英過氣想去兩
3+8 4+5 3+9 4+6 4+9 2+3 2+6
国英过气两
3+5 3+5 3+3 4+0 1+6
guó yīng guò qì xiǎng qù liǎng
country hero pass air; spirit think; go 2 [+M]
[England; UK] ever feel like
Notes
a) 名 contains the elements 夕 ‘evening’ (originally a drawing of the setting
moon?) and the ‘mouth radical’ (口); for mnemonic purposes, think ‘moon, low in
the sky at evening, so you need to call out your name to identify yourself’.
b) 字 zì ‘character’ contains 子 zĭ (‘child’) as phonetic; think ‘a pupil under a roof,
studying characters’. (Míngzì means ‘the characters which form the name’.)
Distinguish 字 from 子 zĭ and 了 le.
c) 叫 mouth plus ‘4’, so: ‘calling out ‘4’ on the golf course’.
d) 地 is a third character to show 也 as right-side element; cf. 她 and 他. The
presence of 也 in these characters seems to have resulted from orthographic
confusion, and does not represent its use as a phonetic element. 地 exhibits the
radical form of 土 tǔ ‘earth, called tǔzìpáng.
e) 美 is a compound made up of 羊 ‘sheep; goat’ (with its stem truncated) and 大
‘big’, and the usual ordering of its strokes (with 大 beneath truncated 羊) reflects
that fact. 美 obeys the ‘rule of 5’ if the top two strokes are made to count as a
horizontal.
f) Like many of the other final particles (吗, 呢, 啊), 吧 is phonosemantic, with 巴
bā as phonetic, and 口 as radical.
52
g) The inner part of 國, 或, is phonetic: huò. The simplified 国 (a Japanese

innovation) has been formed with an entirely different inner constituent, 玉 yù
(jade), which has neither a semantic nor a phonetic connection to the word guó.
h) 英 contains 央 yāng as phonetic; the radical is cǎozìtóu ‘grass character on top’,
a combining form of the graph 艸. 美 měi ‘beautiful’ and 英 yīng ‘hero’ are
selected for the country names of Měiguó and Yīngguó both for sound and for
meaning. Students have observed the similarity of 英 to the shape of Britain
(cǎozìtóu representing Scotland, etc.)
i) 過, with phonetic element shared by eg 鍋 guō (a word that comes into English
through Cantonese as a ‘wok’, or ‘frying pan’), substitutes the non-phonetic (and
semantically irrelevant but suitable simple) 寸 cùn ‘inch’ for the complicated 咼.
j) 氣 has 气 as radical; also found with eg the gaseous elements, such as 氫 qīng
‘hydrogen’, 氖 nǎi ‘neon’ etc. The internal element in 氣 is 米 mǐ ‘(husked) rice’,
so the compound graph suggests ‘steam rising from cooking rice’. The simplified
form simply omits the internal element. Contrast 气, with two upper strokes, and
吃, with only one; ‘the other’s been eaten.’
k) 想 contains the elements 相 as phonetic (seen also in 箱子 xiāngzi ‘trunk; box’)
and 心 ‘heart’ as radical. 相, in turn, contains the basic components 木 ‘tree;
wood’ and 目 ‘eye’, both pronounced mù. Think ‘sitting under a branch, eying the
horizon, and contemplating the curvature of the earth’, hence ‘think; feel like’.
l) 去 looks like a yacht ‘skimming across the water, going from island to island’.
m) 兩/两 derives from a drawing of a balance (or pair of scales). The innards of
the fántǐzì and jiǎntǐzì differ; the first has 入, which is also assigned as radical, but
the second has 人, which is not the assigned radical; instead, the first stroke of the
simplified character, the horizontal, is the assigned radical.
3.1.1 Phrases
名字叫什么地方美国美国人走吧
míngzi jiào shénme dìfang Měiguó Měiguó rén zǒu ba
英国很想去两个天气去过有名
Yīngguó hěn xiǎng qù liǎng ge tiānqì qùguo yǒumíng
好吧没吃过英国人姓方的看过不对
hǎo ba méi chīguo Yīngguó rén xìng Fāng de kànguo bú duì
哪国人那个地方中英字典天气好了英文姓名
něiguó rén nèi ge dìfang Zhōng-Yīng zìdiǎn tiānqì hǎo le Yīngwén xìngmíng
53
3.1.2 Short descriptions
1. 小白，女的，名字叫美文，中国人，去过美国；没去过英国，不
过很想去。
2. 老高，男的，名字叫英明，美国人，去过中国，中文很好。
3. 周老师，男的，名字叫以天，中国人，昨天很紧张，现在好了。
4. 李四方，男的，中国来的，以前是小学的老师，现在是大学的。
5. 姓陈的，名字叫现中，英国的中国人，英文中文都很好；去
过美国，很想上美国的大学。
6. 美国的天气，现在有的地方冷，有的地方热；中国呢，一样，有
的地方冷，有的地方热。英国呢?
Exercise 1
Answer the questions given below, according to the information given in the chart:
第- 姓名字男/女哪国人？今天怎么样？吃过饭了没有？
1 王美月女中国人很累还没吃过饭呢
2 高太白男中国人很忙已经吃过饭了
3 陈贵儿男美国人现在好了还没吃过饭呢
4 周班贵女美国人很紧张吃过了
5 张林生男中国人很饿还没吃饭呢
6 毛在中女英国人不冷不热吃过了
7 林明月女美国人还好，不累吃了
54
Questions
1. 姓高的名字叫什么？他是哪国人？他今天怎么样？他吃过饭

了吗？
2. 第一个人姓什么，名字叫什么？是女的吗？是什么地方来的？

她今天怎么样？她吃过饭了吗？
3. 陈贵儿是男的吧！是哪儿的人？他以前怎么样？现在呢？他

吃过饭了没有？
4. 姓毛的名字叫什么？在中是不是他的名字？他是美国人吧。

你去过那个地方吗？他今天怎么样？他很饿吧!?
5. 第七个姓林，对吗？那，她的名字是什么？她是哪国人？她

吃过饭了吗？她怎么样？
6. 那，第五个也姓林吗？是女的吗？是不是美国人？他饿不

饿？他吃过了吗？
7. 是不是有三个女的四个男的？有没有姓王的？有姓马的吗？

____________________________________________________________
“Sān rén tóng xíng, jiù gāi zhǎo ge dìfang hē yì bēi...”

Cf. the citation from Confucius at the beginning of this lesson. [JKW 2005]
55
3.2 Second set
北京南西安海
2+3, 1+4 2+6 2+7 6+0 3+3 3+7
běi jīng nán xī ān hǎi
north capital south west peace sea
外到近省川州
3+2 2+6 3+4 5+4 1+2 1+5
wài dào jìn shěng chuān zhōu
outside arrive; to be close province (river) admin. div’n
從離遠邊錯部
3+8 8+10 3+10 3+15 8+8 3+8
从离远边错
2+2 2+8 3+4 3+2 5+8 2+8
cóng lí yuǎn biān cuò bù
from dist. from be far side mistake; wrong part
Notes
a) 北 běi could be said to resemble ‘two people sitting back to back for warmth
against the cold north wind’, hence ‘north’. 北 can be contrasted with 比 (bǐ
‘compare; than’, as in 比较 bǐjiào), in which the two parts are in line (and
therefore easier to compare).
b) 京, meaning ‘capital’. Think: ‘the gateway to the capital with a slit window
and buttresses’. Chinese cities are oriented towards the south; the emperor sat
with his back to the north. 南 nán ‘south’, then, might be said to be a drawing of
‘an elaborate southern gate to a city, with observation tower, wide opening, and
customs check beneath’.
56
c) 西安, literally ‘western peace’. Contrast 西 and 四 (and later 酒 jiǔ ‘liquor’,
whose right side has an extra stroke). 安 shows 女 under a roof, for some ‘an
image of peace’.
d) 海 consists of 氵(the water radical) plus 每 měi ‘each; every’, originally
probably phonetic, and now also found in eg 悔 huǐ. Shanghai does not mean on
the sea (which would be hǎishàng) but ‘rising to the sea’.
e) 外 composed of 夕 xī ‘evening’ (seen also in 名) and 卜. Think of ‘the wall of
the house, with the moon setting outside’.
f) The right-hand element of 到 dào ‘arrive; to’ is the ‘knife-radical’ (dāozìpáng),
a combining form of 刀 dāo ‘knife’ that appears in characters for words having to
do with cutting, as well as sharply demarcated events, such as ‘arriving’.
g) 省 contains 少 shǎo and 目 mù ‘eye’ as radical. 州 zhōu was originally a
representation of islands or high ground in a river valley, but came to refer to
towns or administrative centers that grew up in such places. So it is a common
second element for cities, eg 廣州 Guǎngzhōu, 蘇州 Sūzhōu, 杭州 Hángzhōu , 徐
州 Xúzhōu. It is also used to translate ‘state’ in US state names: 加州 Jiāzhōu
‘California’, 德州 Dézhōu ‘Texas’, 康州 Kàngzhōu ‘Connecticut’. The original
graph has been differentiated into 州 and 洲 (also zhōu), with the latter used as
the second element in the names of continents, eg: 亞洲 Yàzhōu ‘Asia’ and 歐洲
Ōuzhōu ‘Europe’. 川, without the ‘islands’, shows just the river, and is an old
word for ‘streams’, now associated only with the province of 四川, named for the
four rivers which flow south into the Yangtze River.
h) 從’s core meaning of ‘follow; obey’ is suggested by the two 人 in the upper
right – which also form the basis of the simplified character (从).
i) 離 is a particularly complicated character (with a total of 18 strokes). The
simplified form (离) drops the traditional radical (隹) and assigns the first two
strokes (on the top) as radical. That element can be viewed as ‘a diagram of a
route, with the first two strokes and x marking the starting point, the lower box
and its contents, the destination, and a line connecting the two, indicating
distance’.
j) 邊 with the ‘movement radical’ and a complex of three components: 自, 穴 and
方; the simplified graph seems to be based on the last of those three.
k) 錯 cuò consists of the metal (or ‘gold’) radical 金 (cf. 錢) and an element, 昔,
pronounced xī on its own, but also found in 厝 cuò and 措 cuò, where its phonetic
value is clearer. 錯 has an ancient meaning of ‘grindstone’, which accounts for the
metal radical and suggests an evolution from ‘burrs’ to ‘errors’.
l) 遠 has 袁 yuán (a surname) as phonetic; the simplified form substitutes a
simpler phonetic 元 yuán (the unit of Chinese currency). 近 combines the same
‘movement’ radical with the phonetic element 斤 jīn ‘catty’ (see below).
57
3.2.1 Phrases
北京南京西安上海西北
Běijīng Nánjīng Xī’ān Shànghǎi Xīběi
外国到明天从昨天很近北边
wàiguó dào míngtiān cóng zuótiān hěn jìn běi biān
四川南方四川省广州广东省
Sìchuān nánfāng Sìchuān shěng Guǎngzhōu Guǎngzhōu shěng
外国人从什么地方离这儿不远南部

wàiguó rén cóng shénme dìfang lí zhèr bù yuǎn nán bù
不错离北京东北东京海边儿
bú cuò lí Běijīng dōngběi Dōngjīng hǎi biānr
Exercise 2
Answer the questions based on the information given in the chart:
第- 姓哪国人什么地方那个地方的天气去过的地方

第八毛中国人北京有一点冷英国
第二林中国人上海还好，不冷不热 -------
第一张英国人西北不错中国
第九陈美国人南边很热英国
第三白美国人东北有一点冷中国
第七周英国人中部很好，很热美国
第九马中国人西安昨天冷，今天好美国
第四李美国人北边不太好中国
第五王中国人南京昨天冷，今天好 -------
第十方中国人四川有一点热东京
第六安中国人广州很热海外
58
Questions
1. 第一个人姓什么？是哪国人？什么地方来的？那儿的天气怎么
样？他去过英国吗？
2. 第二个人是谁？是什么地方来的？那儿的天气是不是很热？

他去过外国吗？
3. 第三个姓什么？他是哪儿的人？那个地方的天气好不好？他去

过英国吗？
4. 第四个是中国人吗？他是哪国人？那儿的天气怎么样？他去过

中国吗？
5. 第五个姓什么？他是什么地方人？那个地方的天气怎么样？

他去过外国吗？
6. 第六个是不是姓安的？姓安的是哪过人？那儿的天气有点儿热

吧！姓安的去过外国吗？
7. 第七个姓什么？他是什么地方来的？那儿的天气很热吗？他

去过美国吗？
8. 第八个姓毛吧? 是中国人吧? 什么地方呢？那儿的天气呢？他

去过美国没有？
9. 第九个姓什么？是什么地方人？那儿的天气怎么样？他去过

英国吗？英国天气怎么样？
10. 第十个姓方吗？他是中国什么地方来的？你去过那个地方吗？

那个地方天气怎么样？
_____________________________________________________________
59
3.2.2 Set 1 in fantizi
美國去過美人天氣不想去
Měiguó qùguo měirén tiānqì bù xiǎng qù
英國什麽地方天氣很熱兩個人叫什麽

Yīngguó shénme dìfang tiānqì hěn rè liǎng ge rén jiào shénme
吃過了哪國人天氣怎麽樣起來了

chīguo le něi guó rén tiānqì zěnmeyàng qǐlái le
3.3 Third set
別忘非常家本
2+5 4+3 1+7 3+8 3+7 4+1
bié wàng fēi cháng jiā běn
don’t; other forget not often home; family (root; stem)
說得電話碼裏
7+7 3+8 8+5 7+6 5+10 6+7
说电话码里
2+7 1+4 2+6 5+3 7+0
shuō de; děi diàn huà mǎ lǐ
speak; talk DE; must electric words; lg (number) inside; in
Notes
a) 别 has the ‘knife radical’ on the right (cf. 到 dào ‘arrive’). The core meaning is
‘separate’, with the knife suggesting a line of separation; hence ‘other’ and ‘don’t’.
b) 忘 organizes the same components as 忙, ie the heart radical and the phonetic
亡 wáng, but arranges them vertically rather than horizontally. If 亡 on the right
60
side of the graph is ‘a container busily hoovering up things that need doing’, then
placed above the heart, and empty, it represents ‘those things you forgot to do’.
c) 非, an older negative; the graph may represent two sides in opposition. 常
contains the cloth radical 巾(said to be a drawing of a kerchief and also found in
帽子 màozi ‘hat’) and the phonetic element 尚 shàng, seen in 裳 shāng，廠
chǎng，當 dāng.
d) 家 contains 豕 shǐ, an archaic word for ‘pig’ (derived from a drawing) placed
beneath the ‘roof radical’.
e) 木, now ‘wood’ but originally ‘tree’; 本 marks the stem or trunk, hence the M-
word for ‘books’ (一本書), and by extension, ‘root; origin’ (本來).
f) 說 is sometimes printed as 說, with the upper right-hand strokes written as 八.
說 shuō, the verb, obviously needs to be distinguished from 話 huà, the noun. The
latter contains 舌 shé ‘tongue’ (protruding from the mouth 口), so ‘words;
language’. In many cases, you can be guided by the order of the words,
verb+noun: 說話. But note that the reverse order can also appear in certain
syntactic constructions, eg: 中國話說得很好。
g) 得 pronounced dé, is a verb meaning ‘obtain’; untoned, it is the particle (+de)
that connects verbs with a SV phrases; pronounced děi, it is a modal verb
meaning ‘have to; must’.
h) The form of the graph 裏 lǐ, with phonetic 里 lǐ inserted into the radical 衣 yī
‘clothing’ (cf. 褒 and 哀), recalls another sense of the word, ‘lining of clothes’,
that is clearly related to the meaning ‘inside’. The graph is also written 裡, with
the same components organized horizontally – the clothing radical on the left of
the phonetic. The simplified graph isolates the phonetic element, with the result
that the two words, lǐ ‘inside’ and ‘mile’ get written with the same graph, 里.
Kūnmíng: locksmith (电子配匙 diànzǐ pèi[yào]shi ‘electric match-key’) [JKW 2002]
61
3.3.1 Phrases
别人忘了别忘了非常日本
biérén wàng le bié wàng le fēicháng Rìběn
家里都忘了别客气说得很好哪里

jiā lǐ dōu wàng le bié kèqi shuō+de hěn hǎo nǎlǐ
本来以前现在二三得六电话
běnlái yǐqián xiànzài èr sān dé liù diànhuà
号码非常好三本书没有电话我的家

hàomǎ fēicháng hǎo sān běn shū méiyou diànhuà wǒ de jiā
别说了马家说得不好不想去不太有名

bié shuō le Mǎ jiā shuō+de bù hǎo bù xiǎng qù bú tài yǒumíng
上海外國海邊四川不遠很近
Shànghǎi wàiguó hǎi biān Sìchuān bù yuǎn hěn jìn
北京英國四川省南邊離這兒東北
Běijīng Yīngguó Sìchuān shěng nán biān lí zhèr dōngběi
不錯還好從昨天到今天北部中部
bú cuò hái hǎo cóng zuótiān dào jīntiān běi bù zhōng bù
從什麽地方廣州東北邊離西安很近

cóng shénme dìfang Guǎngzhōu dōngběi biān lí Xī’ān hěn jìn
62
Exercise 3. Questions on the following pairs of comment and response:
王：你的伞，别忘了。李：不是我的，我没有伞。
白：我的手机呢？周：在我这儿。别忘了。
毛：你家离这儿很远吗？林：不太远，两里。
张：你中文说得很好。高：哪里，说得不好。
马：你的电话号码呢？方：家里：5-6021; 手机：13501 102130
安：你是中国人吧?! 林：不是，我是日本人，日本东京人。
高：广州天气怎么样？周：七月八月非常热，一月二月不错，
不冷也不热。
张：你的书包，别忘了。毛：不是我的，我的在家里。
李：这儿有没有电话？王：这儿没有；学生中心有一个，
你可以从这边去，不太远。
张：你的字典，别忘了。马：哦，太好了，上课没有字典不行。
Questions
1. 小李有没有伞？
2. 伞现在在哪里？
3. 小白的手机在哪儿？
4. 林家离这儿远不远？
5. 姓高的中文说得怎么样？
6. 姓方的有手机吗？号码呢？
7. 姓林的是中国人吗？东京在日本什么地方？
8. 广州天气怎么样？
63
9. 姓毛的，书包在哪里？
10 学生中心离那儿远不远？
11 学生中心有没有电话？
12 上课，没有字典行吗？那，上班呢？
______________________________________________________________________
3.4 Fourth set
喝渴多少斤百
3+9 3+9 3+3 3+1 4+0 5+1
hē kě duōshao jīn bǎi
drink thirsty many few a catty 100
杯酒再瓜
4+4 3+7 1+5 5+0
bēi jiǔ zài guā
cup liquor again gourd
幾塊錢見茶
3+9 3+10 8+8 6+0 4+6
几块钱见茶
2+0 3+4 5+5 4+0 3+6
jǐ kuài qián jiàn chá
how many piece; $ money see; meet tea
64
Notes
a) 喝 hē and 渴 kě share the phonetic element 葛 gě. ‘Drink’ is suggested by 口
‘mouth’, ‘thirst’ by 氵’water’.
b) 多少 is composed of the opposites ‘many’ and ‘few’; the former is made up of
夕 xī ‘evening’; the latter is based on 小 xiǎo ‘small’ (from which it needs to be
distinguished). For 多, reduplication suggests many.
c) 斤, was originally a drawing of an axe (now 斧 fǔ); early weights were
apparently shaped like small axes, hence modern ‘catty’. For 百 ‘100’, cf. 白
‘white; surname’.
d) 杯 apparently composed of 木 and 不 (the latter possibly originally phonetic).
‘Cups are not make out of wood.’
e) 酒 is composed of 氵 and 酉 yǒu (as phonetic). ‘Liquor in a bottle with a bung;
the horizontal dash in the bottom is sediment.’
f) 再’again’: ‘a plunger for setting off explosives, blowing up bridges, which have
to be built again’. Contrast 在 ‘at’. 見 ‘see’ is actually the same root as the 現 of
現在, the latter originally meaning ‘cause to be seen; be manifest’, hence ‘now’.
g) 瓜, originally a drawing of a gourd on the vine (?), appears as radical in a few
graphs for words associated with gourds (瓠).
h) 幾: the radical is the top left cluster of three strokes. 幾 contains 戈 gē ‘spear’
on the right, also seen in 國. The simplified graph uses 几 jī ‘a stool; bench’,
instead of the much more complicated 幾.
i) 塊 composed of 土, the earth radical, with 鬼 guǐ as phonetic. 錢 is composed
of 钅 ‘gold’, plus the element seen in characters such as 淺. The piled up ‘spears’
(gē) on the right can be regarded as ‘weapons guarding the money’.
j) 茶, with the grass radical (on top) and a unique component on the bottom,
which can be regarded as ‘a shed, where tea from bushes or trees (木) is drying’.
3.4.1 Phrases
喝什么很渴多少不多喝酒
hē shénme hěn kě duōshao bù duō hē jiǔ
不太渴一百喝茶喝咖啡一斤
bú tài kě yìbǎi hē chá hē kāfēi yì jīn
多少钱不少不喝酒两杯杯子
duōshao qián bù shǎo bù hē jiǔ liǎng bēi bēizi
西瓜木瓜三块钱再见南瓜
xīguā mùguā sān kuài qián zài jiàn nánguā
65
几块钱三块钱钱不多明天见几个老师

jǐ kuài qián sān kuài qián qián bù duō míngtiān jiàn jǐ ge lǎoshī
多不多一块西瓜一杯三毛非常多三百块

duō bu duō yí kuài xīguā yì bēi sān máo fēicháng duō sān bǎi kuài
三百不多西瓜好吃一斤八毛两百中国白酒

sānbǎi bù duō xīguā hǎochī yì jīn bā máo liǎng bǎi Zhōngguó báijiǔ
書包別忘了非常熱你的手機別忘了非常累

shūbāo bié wàng le fēicháng rè nǐ de shǒujī bié wàng le fēicháng lèi
電話號碼說得不錯筆還在家裏日本

diànhuà hàomǎ shuō+de bú cuò bǐ hái zài jiā lǐ Rìběn
非常緊張中國西南邊東西在家裏天氣不錯

fēicháng jǐnzhāng Zhōngguó xīnán biān dōngxi zài jiā lǐ tiānqì bú cuò
兩個東西車子非常貴從昨天到明天非常餓

liang ge dongxi chezi feichang gui cong zuotian dao mingtian feichang e
已經吃飯了不過還是很餓說外國話很難
yǐjing chīfàn le búguò háishi hěn è shuō wàiguó huà hěn nán
他有個日本人的名字已經起來了，但是還沒吃飯
Tā yǒu ge Rìběn rén de míngzi. Yǐjing qǐlai le, dànshi hái méi chīfàn.
66
Exercise 4
东西几块钱 / 多少钱
西瓜一个四块二一斤
冬瓜一块三块五分钱一斤
南瓜一个四块八毛五一个
茶一杯五块四毛一杯
咖啡一杯一杯二十五块钱
白酒一瓶 (píng) 一百十五块钱
汉(Hàn)英字典一本二十八块钱
英汉字典一本三十二块钱
杯子一个十八块
手机一个一百二十五块钱
伞一把 (bǎ) 二十二块
笔一只 (zhī) 两块五毛钱
中文报一份 (fèn) 一块二
英文报一份六块八毛钱
Questions
1. 西瓜好吃吗？多少钱一斤？那是不是有一点贵？
2. 英文，冬瓜怎么说？好吃吗？几块钱？一斤多不多?
3. 南瓜呢，美国南瓜很多，可是中国呢，中国也有南瓜吗？南瓜
贵不贵？多少钱一个？你说一个南瓜有几斤？
4. 中国人喝茶，那美国人喝什么？你现在渴不渴？想喝一点

什么？
67
5. 一杯茶几块钱？那，咖啡呢，一杯几块? 咖啡更贵对吗？在美

国咖啡也很贵吗？茶咖啡你都喝吗？
6. 美国一块钱是中国几块？你去过中国吗？
7. 你喝过中国白酒吗？好喝吗？白酒多少钱一瓶？
8. 美国人吃饭喝不喝酒？中国人呢？
9. 汉英字典多少钱？上课没有字典难不难？那，英汉字典呢？
10. 一杯茶几块？一个杯子几块？酒杯是不是更贵？茶杯呢？
11 中国人说: “再见”，那美国人怎么说？
12 中国人说：“你渴吗？想喝一点什么？“ 美国人怎么说？
13 伞多少钱？那，伞在中国多少钱？
14 看过今天的报了吗？在这儿，报多少钱？在中国呢？你看过

什么中国报吗？
_____________________________________________________________
Barber at the Saturday market on the Dàlǐ to Lìjiāng road. [JKW 2005]
68
3.5 Creating new characters
Characters, you now know, represent words; and since words are constantly being added
to spoken languages, there needs to be some way for new words to be represented in the
writing system. In language, new words are typically formed from old by processes such
as extension (‘shuttle’ extended from ‘part of a loom’ to ‘reusable spacecraft’),
compounding (‘spaceship’), coinage (‘blooper’), borrowing (‘sputnik’), or sound
symbolism (‘screech; blip’). In alphabetic languages, these can easily be represented in
writing. But in logographic scripts, the process is more contrived. In Chinese, where new
characters are needed (to represent new words) they are almost always formed on
phonosemantic principles: a graph chosen for its suitable sound is combined with a
radical of appropriate meaning. We can illustrate from the graphic representation of two
types of words: onomatopoeia (words inspired by sound) and terms for chemical
elements in the periodic table.
3.5.1 Representing sounds – onomatopoeia.

A good source for onomatopoeia is manga style comics. [Incidentally, the word manga is
a Japanese rendition of the Chinese mànhuà ‘comic; cartoon (unrestrained-drawing)’.]
The list below contains a selection of graphic representations with their pronunciation.
They are taken from comics published in Hong Kong in the late 20th century. Though the
comics are written in Mandarin, the language – and particularly the onomatopoeic
expressions – may have been influenced by Cantonese, so some Chinese speakers may
find items on the list strange or non-standard. Northerners, for example, might be more
used to the expression pāchā (啪嚓) for ‘splash’ (as well as ‘crash’) than pāle (啪嘞). But
the point is that comics represent not only a genre in which the written language
converges on the spoken, but one that is less subject to the usual prescriptions and
constraints associated with writing and publication. Authors of comics (particularly in a
place like Hong Kong in the late 90s) are freer to create their own words and use the
resources of the written language to represent them as they see fit. The fact that graphs
used to represent sounds in these comics are not all found in dictionaries (nor in printing
sets) shows how productive the process of forming phono-semantic characters is.
As befits the genre of anime, onomatopoeia are usually drawn in highly stylized
animated graphs whose very size and shape adds to the effect. In the examples below, the
radical element is consistently the ‘mouth’ radical, 口, which has the effect of signaling
that the graph represents a sound. (In the list, boxes 嘞 appear where a version of the
character with 口 is unavailable in the standard character set. Speakers may give different
readings for the graphs, particularly their tones.)
69
graph contains the equivalent English noise,

and pronunciation: phonetic element: or event:
啪 pā 拍 pāi bang
啪嘞 pāle 拍,勒 pāi, lè exploding noise
嚓 cā 察 chá screech
唧 jī 即 jī spurt
嘭 pēng 彭 péng popping noise
叮 dīng 丁 dīng light metallic noise; ping
噹 dāng 當 dāng heavy metallic noise; bong
嘞 lóng 隆 lóng reverberating noise; boing; boom
嘞 fú 伏 fú swishing noise
嘞 shā 夏 xià hissing or whizzing noise
嘞 kǎ 卡 kǎ enormous crashing noise
啵 bō 波 bō rain drumming on the ground
3.5.2 Atomic elements

Characters also have to be created for more formal genres of writing. The periodic table
of elements, for example, contains names of elements long known to Chinese science,
such as mercury, 汞 gǒng (工 gōng over 水 shuǐ ‘water’) and lead, 鉛 yán. But there are
also many recently discovered elements for which names have had to be provided. These
names are created on the traditional pattern of phonetic and radical. So, for example, the
first set below (all gasses) are compound graphs consisting of an appropriate phonetic
element combined with the gas radical (气); the second set (all metals) are formed with
the metal radical (金); and the third set (all stony or sandy elements) are formed with the
stone radical (石).
graph phonetic radical
Helium 氦 hài 亥 hài 气 gas

Neon 氖 nǎi 乃 nǎi 气 gas
Argon 氬 yà 亞 yà 气 gas
Thorium 釷 tǔ 土 tǔ 金 metal
Palladium 鏷 pú 菐 pú 金 metal
Uranium 鈾 yóu 由 yóu 金 metal
Silicon 硅 guī 圭 guī 石 stone

Phosphorus 磷 lín 鄰 lín 石 stone
Sulphur 硫 liú cf. 流 liú 石 stone
70
Notice that, unlike the graphs for onomatopoeia which are often the result of
informal coinage, making use of imperfect phonetic elements, the graphs for new atomic
elements (like other technical additions to the language) are formal coinages that display
complete regularity. A reader unfamiliar with the name of a particular element can read
off the pronunciation in terms of a common word with which s/he is sure to be familiar.
Regardless of whether it proceeds formally or informally, the phono-semantic principle
of character construction reduces the complexity of the writing system by reducing the
amount of information needed to read or write it.
Note that while the compound construction of characters may be useful for native
speakers encountering highly specialized words in written texts, or for language learners
trying to find useful connections between characters that will allow them to retain them,
the way a character is or has been constructed is unlikely to bear directly on the process
of reading. Regardless of how they came to have their current form, characters are
processed as words or parts of phrases, and even if the eye occasionally comes to rest on
a character and sees the aptness of its form, such actions are – with the possible exception
of reading certain kinds of poetry – a lapse from reading rather than part of the process.
3.6 Miscellany
喝酒很渴多少錢一斤四塊
hē jiǔ hěn kě duōshao qián yì jīn sì kuài
一百塊南瓜很好吃再見，明天見白酒

yìbǎi kuài nánguā hěn hǎochī zàijiàn, míngtiān jiàn báijiǔ
幾塊錢不多也不少多少學生茶杯

jǐ kuài qián bù duō yě bù shǎo duōshao xuéshēng chábēi
喝一點酒去過酒吧嗎喝太多不行再說

hē yìdiǎnr jiǔ qùguo jiǔbā ma hē tài duō bù xíng zài shuō
酒杯杯子裏有什麽一杯兩塊五幾個老師

jiǔbēi bēizi lǐ yǒu shénme yì bēi liǎng kuài wǔ jǐ ge lǎoshī
71
3.6.2 Distinguish the following characters by citing words or phrases:
斤- 今 - 近在-再美-没钱-前
典 -电 -店手-说难-男对-贵
不-还我-饿日-热是-师
七-起小-少陈-车伞-三
到-别百- 白川-州毛 -笔
忙-忘渴-可一-以本-杯
3.6.3 In the following compounds or phrases, provide the missing characters, which
have similar or identical sounds:
1. 车 __ 名 __ 9. 姓 __ 一 __ 钱
2. 一块 __ 以 __ 10. __ 哪儿? __ 见！
3. __ 有 __ 国 11. __ 以很 __
4. __ 这儿不远在家 __ 12. __ 机 __ 话
5. __ 经可 __ 13. 上 __ 很 __
6. __ 女不太 __ 14. __ 个还没 __来
7. 号__ 好 __ ？ 15. __ 儿? __ 儿!
8. 一 __ 儿 __ 话号码 16. __ 张 __ 天
72
Intersection in Shànghǎi. [JKW 2005]
a) Roads (illustrated above)
南京西路 Nánjīng Xī Lù 昌化路 Chānghuà Lù

北京西路 Běijīng Xī Lù 常德路 Chángdé Lù
Notes
路 lù ‘road’, with 足 ‘foot’ as radical and 各 gè as an orphaned phonetic –
one whose original motivation has been obscured by language change.
街 (not illustrated) jiē ‘street’, consisting of 行 ‘crossroads’ as radical and
圭 guī, another obscured phonetic.
b) Airlines
航空公司 hángkōng gōngsī ‘airline company’
中国航空公司中国东方航空公司
中国北方航空公司中国南方航公司
中国西北航空公司中国东方航空公司
73
MIT I Lesson 3
the stroke order.
7
8
rnei gu6 (T) gu6 (S)
rkn ~ i n (gTI ~ 7 %(S)
'\
.-\
1
~p -

- -
pp
iao
JZh Page 1 of 7
MIT I Lesson 3
I,
ba guo (T) guo (S)
qi (TI qi (S) xi5ing
. qu di fang
liang (T) liang (S) whi
JZh Page 2 o f 7
Learning Chinese: A Founhtion Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
MIT 9% I Lesson 3
bei nh jing
xi 5in h5i
I
dao j in shgng
chusn zh6u bu
JZh Page 3 of 7
MIT 9 %I Lesson 3
a.
cong (T) li (T) yugn (T)
cong (S) li (S) yu5n (S)

I
biiin (T) cuo (T) bik
biiin (S) CUO (S) wang
JZh Page 4 of 7
Learning Chinese: A Founhtion Course in Mandarin Julian K. Wheatley, MIT
MIT + A I Lesson 3
fei chang j is
bEn de/dk/dEi biii
d i h (T) hua (T) shu6 (T)
d i h (S) hua (S) shu6 (S)
JZh Page 5 of 7
MIT +aI Lesson 3
m3 (T) li (T) kuAi (T)
. m3 (S) li (s) kuai (S)
qian (T) cha (T) kg
q i h (S) cha (S) he
Page 6 of 7
MIT * A I Lesson 3
- -
-
zai jian (T) jian (S)
gu2 jin bei
-
j iii du6 sh5o
(TI jr (S)
JZh Page 7 of 7
Unit 4
Hǔ sǐ liú pí, rén sǐ liú míng.
‘Tiger dies leaves skin, person dies leaves name!’
Classical Chinese saying
Contents
4.1 Tone contrasts
4.3 Time phrases Exercise 1, 2
4.4 DE revisited Exercise 3
4.5 Names in detail
4.6 Years
4.7 Studying and working Exercise 4
4.8 Forms of address Exercise 5
4.9 Introductions Exercise 6
4.10 Dialogue: on the bus to Mianyang
4.11 Food (1)
4.12 Pinyin: initial w and y Exercise 7
4.13 Summary Exercise 8

4.1 Tone contrasts

Practice the following tonal contrasts by reading the columns of paired words. Place a
short pause between each member of the pairs so as to keep their tonal contours distinct.
a) – versus / b) – versus \ c) / versus v
cōng cóng cū cù chú chǔ

cuō cuó cūn cùn chóu chǒu
jiā jiá jiāng jiàng jiáo jiǎo

qiān qián qī qì qíng qǐng
tiān tián tōng tòng tú tǔ

mō mó niē niè miáo miǎo
xiā xiá xiāng xiàng shéng shěng

shāo sháo zāng zàng zháo zhǎo
128

4.2.1 Places
fànguăn<r> tǐyùguǎn túshūguăn lǚguǎn

food-hall PE-hall map-book-hall travel-bldg
restaurant gymnasium library hotel; hostel
shūdiàn shāngdiàn fàndiàn xǐshǒujiān

book-shop trade-shop food-shop wash-hands-room
bookstore shop; store hotel lavatory
cèsuǒ zhāodàisuǒ bàngōngshì yínháng

lean-place reception-place do-work-room silver-comp.
toilet; WC guest house office bank
dìtiě huǒchēzhàn sùshè cāntīng

ground-iron train-station lodge-inn food-hall
underground train train station dormitory cafeteria
Notes
a) Several generic words for various kinds of buildings or rooms are to be found
in last position in a number of these compounds: jiān; guǎn; suǒ; shì; diàn; etc.
Because these forms only occur in compounds (at least in modern Mandarin), it is
difficult to give them distinct meanings, so the [syllable] glosses provided above
are only suggestive.
b) Cèsuŏ (‘leaning-place’) is the standard word for ‘toilet’, and is often found on
signs; xǐshǒujiān ‘wash-hands-room’ is the term commonly used in public
buildings and hotels. (Cf. §4.2.4.)
c) In spoken language, fànguăn<r> is often generic for restaurants, along with
cānguăn and càiguǎn (neither with the ‘r’ option). Dining halls or cafeterias at
universities or businesses are often called cāntīng. However, other terms,
including several that contain the word jiǔ ‘wine’, also appear in restaurant
names. These include fànzhuāng ‘food-place+of+business’ [large restaurants],
and jiǔjiā ‘wine-house’ and jiǔlóu ‘wine-building’ [the last two common in Hong
Kong]. Words for hotel also vary. Lǚguǎn is generic for small, local hotels.
Kèzhàn (‘guest-shelter’) is used for inns in picturesque regions such as Lijiang in
northwest Yunnan. Large hotels of the sort deemed suitable for foreigners are
often referred to as fàndiàn (which, as the name suggests, were originally known
for their fancy restaurants). Chinese government offices, universities, and even
businesses often have at their disposal zhāodàisuǒ ‘hostels (reception-places)’,
with basic amenities, for official (non-paying) or other (paying) guests.
4.2.2 Locations
Earlier, in §2.7.3, you encountered a number of position words, like shàng ‘on’ and lǐ
‘in’, that could be attached to nouns to form location phrases to follow zài ‘be at’: zài fēijī
shàng ‘aboard the airplane’, zài sùshè lǐ ‘in the dormitory’.
129
When position words are used alone (directly after zài), with no reference noun,
they have to appear in more substantial form, with suffixes miàn<r> ‘face; facet’, biān<r>
‘border; side’ or (more colloquially) tou (which, in its toned form, tóu, means ‘head’): zài
fēijī shàng ‘on the airplane’, but zài shàngmian<r>, zài shàngbian<r>, or zài shàngtou, all
‘on top; above; on board’. The choice of the two-syllable position word is not ruled out
by the presence of a reference noun. Rhythmic considerations play a role, with a single-
syllable noun being more likely to attract a single-syllable position word; thus, jiā lǐ ‘in
the house’ rather than jiā lǐtou, and shān shàng ‘on the hill’ rather than shān shàngtou.
But that is a tendancy rather than a hard and fast rule.
The repertoire of position words together with their possible suffixes is presented
in the following table:
Position nouns
combining rough meaning + mian<r> + tou + bian<r> other

form
shàng on; above shàngmian shàngtou shàngbianr
xià under; below xiàmian (xiàtou) (xiàbianr) dǐxia
qián in front; before qiánmian qiántou qiánbianr
hòu behind; after hòumian hòutou hòubianr
lǐ in; inside lǐmian lǐtou (lǐbianr) nèi
wài outside wàimian wàitou wàibianr
zuǒ left zuǒbianr
yòu right yòubianr
páng next to; beside pángbiānr
dōng east dōngbianr
nán south nánbianr
xī west xībianr
běi north bĕibianr
vicinity fùjin
Notes
a) Though dǐxia is more common than xiàmian and the other xià-combinations,
this may be a product of the slight difference in meaning between xià ‘below’ or
‘lower’ and dǐxia ‘underneath’; thus, shān xià ‘at the foot of the mountains’ but
chēzi dǐxia ‘underneath the car’.
b) While lǐ and its compounds are used for ‘in; inside’, nèi (with no compound
forms) usually has a more abstract sense of ‘within’: guónèi ‘within the country’
(versus guówài); shìnèi ‘in town’ (versus shìwài).
c) Biānr, untoned in most combinations, is fully toned in pángbiānr ‘next to’
d) Zhōngxīn, literally ‘center (middle-heart)’, eg shì zhōngxīn ‘the town center’,
xuésheng zhōngxīn ‘student center’.
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To begin with, you can focus on some combinations of noun and position noun
that are particularly common. Here are some examples, along with some other phrases
that can act as locations (after zài):
lóushàng lóuxià shānshàng shísìhào lóu lǐ fùjin

bldg upper bldg-below mtn-on 14 number bldg attach-near
upstairs downstairs on the mtn in building #14 in the vicinity
chénglǐ chéngwài gébì

city-inside city-outside separate-wall
in town out of town next door
4.2.3 Existence versus location

As noted in Unit 2, the verb yǒu indicates existence, as well as possession. Existential
sentences (‘there is/are’) in Chinese have the order: Location – yǒu – item.
location yǒu item

Zhèr ~ zhèlǐ yǒu diànhuà ma?
<Zhèr ~ zhèlǐ> méiyou <diànhuà>.
Note that although zài is not usually present, the type of phase that can constitute
locations in this pattern are the same as those that typically follow zài, ie places (Běijīng),
position words (qiántou, zuǒbianr) or combinations of noun and position words (jiā lǐ, shì
zhōngxīn):
Shànghăi yǒu dìtiě, kĕshi Nánjīng There’s a metro in Shanghai, but

méiyou. not in Nanjing.
Zuǒbianr yǒu yí ge diànhuà. There’s a phone on the left.
Huŏchēzhàn zài shì zhōngxīn ma? Is the train station in the town center?
Fùjin yǒu liăng ge huŏchēzhàn: There are 2 stations in the vicinity:
yí ge zài shì zhōngxīn, yí ge one’s in town, one’s out of town.
zài chéngwài.
In many cases, a question about existence will elicit a response about location.
Location, as noted earlier, is conveyed by a pattern built around zài, with the thing to be
located mentioned before the position noun: zài chéngwài ‘out of town’.
item zài location

Diànhuà zài nǎr?
<Diànhuà> zài lóushàng.
Usage
Zhèr yǒu xǐshǒujiān ma? Is there a ‘lavatory’ here?
Yǒu, xǐshǒujiān zài hòutou. Yes [there is]; the lavatory’s in the back.
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Qĭngwèn, yǒu méiyou cāntīng? Is there a cafeteria?

Yǒu, zài gébì. Yes, there is, [it]’s next door.
Wèi lăoshī de bàngōngshì ne? And [where’s] Prof. Wei’s office?

Zài lóushàng. Upstairs.
Zhèr fùjin yǒu fànguănr ma? Are there any restaurants around here?
Yǒu, lí zhèr bù yuăn. There are, not far away.
Qĭngwèn, dìtiě zài nǎlǐ? May I ask where the Metro is, please?
Dìtiě ne, dìtiě zài qiánmian – The Metro, the Metro’s ahead – not far.
bù yuăn.
Qĭngwèn, dìtiě zài nǎlǐ? [JKW 2004]
Zhèr fùjin yǒu cèsuŏ ma? Is there a toilet around here?

Lóuxià hăoxiàng yǒu. Seems there’s one downstairs.
Liúxuéshēng sùshè zài nǎr? Where’s the foreign student dorm?

Liúxuéshēng sùshè zài Xuéshēng The foreign student dorm is next to the
Zhōngxīn pángbiānr. Student Center.
Shūdiàn zài nǎr? Where’s the bookshop?

Shūdiàn dōu zài chéng lĭ. The bookshops are all in town.
Qĭngwèn, diànhuà zài nǎr? May I ask where the phone is?
Diànhuà ne, diànhuà zài nàr, The phone’s over there – on the
zài zuǒbiānr. left.
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Note
Liúxuéshēng, literally ‘remain-students’, are students studying abroad (‘overseas
students’). At Chinese universities, they are frequently placed in a single
dormitory or dormitory complex, often with better facilities.
4.2.4 Comfort stations

Traditionally, as expected from a society where the majority of people have been farmers
and human waste has been an important fertilizer, Chinese have generally been less prone
to create euphemisms about the waste products of the human body and the places where
they are deposited. As noted above, the most common term nowadays for the latter is
cèsuǒ. However, hotels and fancy restaurants are more prone to euphemisms such as
xǐshǒujiān ‘lavatory (wash-hands-room)’ or guànxǐshì ‘bathroom’; and the urban middle
classes, particularly in Taiwan and overseas communities might also use huàzhuāngjiān
‘powder room (make up-room)’ or wèishēngjiān ‘(hygiene-room)’. The latter is
abbreviated in house listings, such as sānshì liǎngwèi or sānfáng liǎngwèi, both ‘3 rooms,
2 bathrooms’. Examples:
Qǐngwèn, cèsuǒ zài nǎr? Where’s the toilet, please?

Zài hòubianr de yuànzi lǐ. In the back yard.
Qǐngwèn, zhèr yǒu méiyǒu cèsuǒ? Excuse me, is there a toilet [around] here?
Cèsuǒ ne, hǎoxiàng zài lóuxià. A toilet…uhm, [I] believe it’s downstairs.
Qǐngwèn, zhèr yǒu xǐshǒujiān ma? Excuse me, is there a lavatory here?
Xuésheng Zhōngxīn yǒu. There’s one in the Student Center.
In the countryside, you are also likely to hear máofáng ‘outhouse (thatched-
house)’. The actual item, the bowl – the commode – is mǎtǒng ‘horse-tub’or gōngtǒng
‘public-tub’. The acts are sāniào ‘to piss (release urine)’, niàoniào ‘to urinate; piss’, or
more euphemistically, xiǎobiàn, literally ‘small-convenience’, which can be a noun
‘urine’ as well as a verb ‘urinate; pee’. Its larger complement is, unsurprisingly, dàbiàn N
‘excrement’ or V ‘to defecate’. The less euphemistic version is lā shǐ ‘to shit (pull shit)’.
While it is interesting to know the gritty details, as a novice, you should probably limit
yourself to questions about location, of the kind illustrated above; if someone needs to
know ‘what kind’, then xiǎobiàn and dàbiàn are appropriate: qù xiǎobiàn, qù dàbiàn.
4.2.5 Born, grow up and live

In examples seen so far, zài phrases have preceded their associated verbs: zài fēijī shàng
chī le. However, such is not always the case. With verbs of shifting (such as fàng ‘put’),
the zài-phrase appears after the verb (as a destination). And some verbs allow both pre-
and post-verbal position of zài-phrases. This is true of the common verbs shēng ‘be born’,
zhǎng ‘grow up’ and zhù ‘live; reside’. But because the pre-verbal position has
grammatical consequences that will not be properly introduced until a later unit, here we
will focus on the post-verbal position, that is quite appropriate for making some
introductory biographical notes:
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Tā shēng zài Bĕijīng, yĕ zhǎng She was born in Beijing and grew up in
zài Bĕijīng, kĕshi xiànzài zhù zài Beijing, but now she lives in Xi’an.
Xī’ān.
Wŏ shēng zài Duōlúnduō, zhǎng I was born in Toronto; I grew up in NY;

zài Niŭ Yuē, xiànzài zhù zài and now I live in SF.
Jiùjīnshān.
4.3 Time Phrases

4.3.1 Topic--comment
Phrases conveying ‘time when’ (as opposed to duration), like those that convey location
of action (as opposed to destination) also generally appear before their associated verb:
Tā zuótiān bù shūfu, kĕshi jīntiān He wasn’t well yesterday, but he’s

hăo le. okay today.
However, time phrases – but not usually location phrases – may also appear before the
subject:
Zuótiān tā zĕnmeyàng? How was she yesterday?

Zuótiān tā bù shūfu, hĕn lèi, yĕ hĕn Yesterday, she didn’t feel well, [she] was
jĭnzhāng, suǒyǐ méiyou qù shàngkè. tired and nervous, so [she] didn’t go to
class.
Lǐbàiwǔ wǒmen dōu méiyou kè. None of us has class on Fridays.

Xiètiān-xièdì! Thank heavens!
The difference – position before or after the subject – has to do with what you are
talking about. Typically, first position in a Chinese sentence introduces the topic, and
what follows is a comment on that topic:
Zuótiān tā zĕnmeyàng? [About yesterday:] How was he yesterday?

Zuótiān tā bù shūfu, jīntiān hăo le. He wasn’t well yesterday, but he’s fine today.
Tā zuótiān zĕnmeyàng? [About him:] How was he yesterday?

Tā zuótiān juéde bù shūfu, hĕn lèi, He didn’t feel well yesterday; he was tired,
yĕ hĕn jĭnzhāng. and anxious.
4.3.2 Clock time

a) The hours
Clock times are also ‘time when’ phrases, often appearing in conjunction with jīntiān,
zuótiān or with words for divisions of the day like the following, based on roots zăo
‘early’, wăn ‘late’, and wŭ ‘noon’:
zăoshàng shàngwŭ zhōngwŭ xiàwŭ wănshàng

morning mid-morning noon afternoon evening
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Like English, where the term ‘o’clock’ derives from ‘of the clock’, clock time in
Chinese is based on the word zhōng ‘clock’ (originally ‘bell’). Zhōng is measured out by
diǎn ‘dots; points’ (cf. yìdiǎn ‘a bit’) to form phrases such as jiǔ diǎn zhōng (reduceable
to jiǔ diǎn) ‘9 o’clock’. Time is questioned with jǐ: Jǐ diǎn zhōng? ‘What time is [it]?’ In
asking or giving clock time, le is often present in final position, suggesting ‘by now’.
Complex time phrases in Chinese move, like dates, from large units to small: zǎoshàng
jiǔ diǎn ‘9 in the morning’; míngtiān xiàwǔ sān diǎn ‘tomorrow afternoon at 3’.
Xiànzài jǐ diǎn <zhōng> le? What time is it now?

Shí diǎn. [It’s] 10:00.
Zǎoshàng jiǔdiǎn dào shídiǎn I have a class from 9 -10 in the morning.
yǒu kè.
Zhōngwén kè <shi> jiǔdiǎn dào Chinese class is 9 -10.

shídiǎn.
b) Details
Fēn, literally ‘divide; a part’, is used for minutes (as well as cents); seconds are miǎo –
both are measure words (so they can be counted directly):
jiǔ diǎn shí fēn 9:10 sān diǎn sānshíwǔ fēn 3:35
shí’èr diǎn líng sì 12:04 liù diǎn shíwǔ fēn 6:15
The half hour is either 30 minutes (sānshí fēn) or bàn ‘half’ (after diǎn, the M-word):
Xiànzài jiǔ diǎn bàn le. It’s now 9:30.

Xiànzài jiǔ diǎn sānshí fēn le.
Quarter to and quarter past are expressed with kè, literally ‘a cut’ (from the notch
that marked the measuring stick on old water clocks): yí kè ‘quarter’. ‘Quarter past’ is yí
kè (some say guò yí kè) added to the hour; ‘quarter to’ is chà yí kè ‘less by one quarter’,
placed either before or after the (coming) hour. Older speakers, and people from Taiwan,
sometimes use sān kè ‘three quarters’ for ‘quarter to’.
jiǔ diǎn <guò> yí kè ‘quarter past 9’

chà yí kè shí diǎn ‘quarter to 10’
shí diǎn chà yí kè ‘quarter to 10’
In general, time past the half hour can be expressed as a lack, using chà + minutes, placed
either before or after the hour:
chà wǔ fēn shí diǎn ‘five to 10’

shí diǎn chà wǔ fēn
chà yí kè sì diǎn ‘quarter to 4’
sì diǎn chà yí kè
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Clock time – summary
Day and segment to hour minutes (to/after) <o’clock>

jīntiān zǎoshàng yì diǎn líng wǔ fēn <zhōng>
zuótiān shàngwǔ liǎng diǎn shí fēn
míngtiān zhōngwǔ shí’èr diǎn shíwǔ fēn ~
<guò> yíkè
xiàwǔ … èrshíwǔ fēn
wǎnshàng … sānshí fēn ~ bàn
[sān kè]
chà shí fēn … chà shí fēn
chà yíkè … chà yíkè
Jǐ diǎn <zhōng>?
In colloquial language, wǎnshàng extends until bedtime, even if it’s very late;
similarly, zǎoshàng is when you get up, even if it’s very early:
Wǒ wǎnshàng liǎng diǎn shuìjiào, zǎoshàng shí diǎn qǐlai,

cóng shàngwǔ shíyī diǎn dào xiàwǔ sì diǎn yǒu kè.
Tiānwén kè shi xīngqīsì wǎnshàng Astronomy (‘heaven-inscription’) class is

shíyī diǎn dào liǎng diǎn. Thursday evenings, 11 to 2 am.
Where needed, more specialized time words are available, of course, eg: yèlǐ ‘in the
night’, bànyè ‘at midnight; late at night’, língchén ‘very early in the morning; before
dawn’, qīngzǎo ‘early morning’.
Exercise 1.
Buying train tickets
To buy a train ticket, you need to state the time and destination. Tickets are usually one-
way, so that is not a variable. On short-distance express trains, such as the one from
Shànghǎi to Nánjīng (stopping at Sūzhōu, Wúxī and Zhènjiāng), there is an option
between soft seat (first class) and hard seat. But on long distance inter-city trains, there
are commonly four types of ticket, plus a standing ticket.
yìngzuò ~ yìngxí ‘hard-seat’ yìngwò ‘hard-berth’

ruǎnzuò ~ ruǎnxí ‘soft-seat’ ruǎnwò ‘soft-berth’
zhànpiào ‘standing-ticket’
Zhànpiào are sold (often for the same price) when yìngzuò ~ xí are sold out. Berths are 4
(ruǎnwò) to a cabin, or 6 (yìngwò) to a section, with egress to toilets and washrooms as
well as dining car by way of a corridor along the station side of the carriage. A team of
service staff (fúwùyuán) keep the cabins clean, make beds, sell snacks and reading
matter, and on some lines, even rent out portable TVs and other electronic equipment for
the duration of the journey.
136
It is possible to buy tickets through hotels up to three days in advance, and most travelers
do that (paying a service fee, shǒuxùfèi ‘procedure-fee’). Buying at the station is more
difficult. There, you generally have to work your way up to a small ticket window and
state your needs succinctly, along the lines indicated below. Tickets are counted with
zhāng, the measure for flat things (tables, maps, photographs, etc.)
Place Time Type Number

Chéngdū shàngwǔ jiǔ diǎn ruǎnwò liǎng zhāng
Now practice buying tickets according to the specifications indicated:
1. Xīníng 4:00 this afternoon hard berth 1

2. Xī’ān 8 tomorrow morning soft seat 2
3. Hūhéhàotè 7 this evening soft berth 3
4 Lánzhōu 2:30 this afternoon hard seat 1
5. Hā’ěrbīn tomorrow morn. 7 soft seat 2
6. Guìlín this afternoon 3:25 hard berth 1
7. Chóngqìng July 7, 7:00 pm soft berth 4
_______________________________________________________________________
Yìngwò, nǐ juéde shūfu ma? [JKW 2003]
4.3.3 Time of events (meals)

Meals are named by time of day added to roots such as fàn ‘rice; food; meals’, cān [tsān!]
‘meal’, or in the case of breakfast, diǎn ‘snack’ (cognate to yìdiǎn ‘a little’):
zăofàn zhōngfàn wănfàn

zǎocān zhōngcān wǎncān
zǎodiǎn
137
Recall that it is possible to express some uncertainty about time with the adverb
dàgài ‘approximately; probably’. Other ‘hedging’ words include yěxǔ ‘maybe; probably;
possibly’ and chàbuduō ‘approximately (less-not-much)’.
For now, it will only be possible to ask generic questions, such as ‘at what time do
you eat breakfast’; questions about the past introduce a number of complications that will
be dealt with later. So in addition to měitiān ‘everyday’ it will be useful to learn the
following expressions, all built on cháng ‘often’, that have to do with habitual events:
cháng ~ chángcháng often

píngcháng usually
jīngcháng frequently; often; regularly
tōngcháng generally; normally
Usage
1. Zhōngguó rén píngcháng jǐ diǎn What time do Chinese usually

chī zăofàn? eat breakfast?
Dàgài liù dào qī diǎn ba. About 6 to 7. How about

Mĕiguó rén ne? Americans?
Mĕiguó rén ne, jīngcháng jiŭ diǎn Americans generally start work
shàngbān. Yĕxŭ qī diǎn bàn, bā at 9. So maybe they eat breakfast
diǎn chī zăofàn. at 7:30 [or] 8:00.
2. Xuéshēng ne, yīnwèi hĕn máng, Students, because they are so busy,
chángcháng zhǐ hē kāfēi bù chī they often just drink coffee and don’t
zǎodiǎn. eat breakfast.
Zhōngguó xuéshēng hĕn shǎo shi Chinese students are rarely like that.
zhèi yàngr. Zhōngguó xuéshēng Chinese students regularly eat breakfast.
tōngcháng chī zǎodiǎn.
Tāmen chī shénme? What do they eat?

Chī xīfàn, miàntiáo<r>. Rice porridge, noodles.
3. Jĭdiăn shàngkè? Jĭdiăn xiàkè? What time does class start? What time
do [you] get out of class?
Wŏmen chàbuduō shí diǎn shàngkè We start class at about 10 and end at 11.
shíyī diǎn xiàkè.
4. Chīguo zǎofàn le méi? Have you eaten breakfast?
Hái méi ne. Not yet.
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Nĭ bú shi jiŭ diǎn yǒu kè ma? Isn’t is the case that you have class at 9:00?
Zěnme hái méi chī zǎofàn ne? How come you haven’t eaten breakfast yet?
Ai, wǒ bù xiǎng chī, wǒ hē I don’t feel like [any], I’ll just have
kāfēi jiù xíng le. coffee [and that’ll be fine].
Notes
a) Xīfàn ‘watery-rice’, a kind of gruel, to which pickles, preserved meats,
vegetables and other items are added; similar to what is often called zhōu in some
parts of the country.
b) Miàntiáo ‘wheat[flour]-lengths’, generic for noodles.
c) Nǐ bú shi…. ‘isn’t it the case that…’
d) Xiǎng ‘think > feel like’
4.3.4 Business hours
bàngōng shíjiān office hours

yíngyè shíjiān business hours
Most urban communities in China have long operated on international business hours,
often with adjustment for a longer lunch hour than most English speaking countries.
Business hours (banks, offices) vary with region, but typically they are M-F, 8:30 – 5:30.
Shops often keep much longer hours, and stay open on the weekend. Lunch breaks can
run from 12 – 1:30 or even 2:00. Any sort of official meeting begins punctually. Here,
more for reference at this point, are some basic queries about business hours:
Yíngyè shíjiān jǐ diǎn dào jǐ diǎn? What are [your] business hours?
Nǐ jǐ diǎn kāimén? When do you open (open door)?
Jǐ diǎn guānmén? When do you close (close door)?
4.3.5 Time zones (shíqū)

It comes as a surprise for many people to find out that China operates on a single time
zone, eight hours in advance of Greenwich Meantime (and conveniently, 12 hours in
advance of the Eastern time zone of the US). Chinese lands far to the west are sparsely
populated, so this system causes minimal disruption. For a period beginning in 1986,
there was a daylight-savings shift (xiàshízhì ‘summer-time-system’), but this was found
impracticable and was abandoned a few years ago (as of 2003). The word shíchā literally
‘time difference’, also means ‘jetlag’. (The noun form, chā, with level tone, is related to
the verb form chà ‘to lack’, with falling tone.)
Shíchā hěn lìhai. The time lag / jet lag is bad!

Wo háishi hěn lèi – yīnwèi I’m still tired – because of the time lag.
shíchā.
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Exercise 2.
Ask or explain:
1. What time do you bathe?
2. I generally bathe in the morning at 6 or 7.
3. I don’t eat any breakfast, I just have some tea.
4. But I usually eat lunch and dinner. Lunch at noon, dinner at 7.
5. We start class at about 2 and end at 3.
6. I have two classes today, one at 10 and one at 2.
7. The lecture is at 9, the section at 10.
8. From 2:00 to 4:00 this afternoon, we have a Chinese test.
9. I’ve already bathed, but I haven’t eaten yet.
10. Do you always eat a breakfast? / Not necessarily.
11. What time do you close, please?
12. Have you ever been to Xichang? It’s in Sichuan, about 400 kms from Chongqing.
____________________________________________________________________
4.4 DE revisited
As noted in §2.4.2, the addition of de turns a noun into an attribute of another noun,
serving a function similar to the apostrophe-s of written English, or to prepositions such
as ‘on’ or ‘of’:
Zhāng xiānshēng de xíngli Mr. Zhang’s luggage

Mǎ shīfu de dìdi Master Ma’s younger brother
xuésheng de zuòyè students’ homework

jīntiān de bàozhi today’s newpaper
zhèi ge xīngqītiān de piào tickets for this Sunday [upcoming]

sān suì de nǚháir a 3 year old girl (‘female-child’)
yǐqián de lǎoshī a former teacher
Shìjiè Bēi de xiāoxi hěn yǒuyìsi. The news about the World Cup is quite
interesting.
Yǒu shénme Àoyùnhuì de Any news on the Olympics?

xiāoxi ma?
Notes
a) Shìjiè Bēi ‘World Cup’; cf. Ōuzhōu Bēi ‘Euro Cup’; Àoyùnhuì ‘Olympics
(Ol[ympic]-sports-meeting)’.
b) Xiāoxi ‘report; news’.
Defining or disambiguating words, or identifying the character associated with a

particular syllable, often involves DE in its function of linking attributes to nouns:
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i) Něi ge ‘shēng’? Which ‘sheng’?

Shēngrì de shēng. The sheng of ‘shengri [birthday]’.
ii) Dōngnánxīběi de xī ma? The xi of ‘dongnan-xibei’?

Bù, xiāoxi de xī No, the xi of ‘xiaoxi’.
iii) Wǒ xìng Lù (路)! My [sur]name’s Lu.

Dàlù de Lù (陆) ma? The Lu of ‘mainland’?
Bù, mǎlù de Lù (路). No, the Lu of ‘mainroad’.
Mǎlù de lù shì bu shi Is the ‘lu’ of ‘malu’ [main road] the
zǒulù de lù? ‘lu’ of ‘zoulu’ [to walk]?
Duì, shi zǒulù de lù. That’s right, the ‘lu’ of ‘zoulu’.
iv) Zǒulù de lù zěnme xiě? How do you write the lu of zoulu?
Shi zhèi yàngr xiě: 路; This way: 路; 13 strokes in all. Have you
yígòng 13 ge bǐhuà. Lù nèi already studied the character for road?
ge zì nǐ yǐjing xué-guo ma?
Xué-guo, kěshi wàng le. [We]’ve studied [it], but [we]’ve forgotten [it].
4.4.1 Where the noun head is omitted

In many cases, the noun following de is implied, in which case it can be glossed as ‘the
one/thing associated with’; in some cases, the form without the head noun is more
natural.
Zhè shi tā de xíngli. > Zhè shi tā de. These are his.
Shi xuésheng de zuòyè ma? > Shi xuésheng de ma? Are [these] the
students’?
Nà shi zuótiān de bào. > Nà shì zuótiān de. That’s yesterday’s.
Tā shi IBM de ma? Is she from IBM?

Bù, tā shi Wēiruǎn de. No, she’s from MS.
Xìng Máo de yě shi lǎoshī ma? Is the person named Mao also a teacher?
Wǒ bú tài qīngchu. I’m not sure.
Xìng Zhào de shi lǎobǎn, The person named Zhao’s the boss; the
xìng Lǐ de shi tā qīzi. one named Li is his wife.
4.4.2 Where de does not appear

a) Country names
Expressions like Zhōngguó rén, Zhōngwén lǎoshī, or Běijīng dìtú ‘map of Beijing’ do not
usually require an intervening de. The rule is that country names (and language names)
may be directly attributed to following nouns.
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b) Pronouns with kin terms

While tā de lǎoshī requires de, tā dìdi often omits it. Why? The rule is that pronouns
(only!) tend to attach directly to kin terms.
Zhè shì wŏ de péngyou. This is my friend.

but Zhè shì wŏ dìdi. This is my younger brother.
Zhè shì wŏ de lăoshī. This is my teacher.

but Zhè shì wŏ shūshu. This is my uncle [‘father’s y. bro.’]
Zhè shì Chén lăoshī de jiĕjie. This is Prof. Chen’s older sister.
but Zhè shì tā jiĕjie. This is her older sister.
c) SVs without modifiers

SV phrases such as hĕn hăo, hĕn hăokàn, bù hăochī, nàme guì, hĕn hăotīng are generally
followed by de when they modify a noun:
bù hăokàn de dìfang an unattractive place

hĕn hăochī de Zhōngguó cài delicious Chinese food
nàme yuăn de dìfang such a distant place
bù hăotīng de yīnyuè horrible sounding music
But bare (unmodified) SVs (especially single-syllable ones) may be so closely associated
with a following noun that de does not intercede – or at least, is not required. Such
combinations verge on becoming compound words. Compare the following:
lăo péngyou old friends

but
hĕn hăo de péngyou good friends
hăo cài good food

but
bù hăochī de cài food that’s not good
dàyú big fish

but
nàme dà de yú such a big fish
A similar distinction is possible with some combinations of nouns. Those that

combine as compound words do not require an intervening –de: yúdǔ ‘fish stomach’;
mǎchē ‘horse cart’. Those that are less word-like require –de: xiàng de bízi ‘an elephant’s
nose’; sùshè de dàmén ‘the main door of the dormitory’.
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d) Duō (and shǎo) as attributes

As noted in §3.8.1, duō (and shǎo) are exceptional as SV attributes in (i) requiring a
modifying adverb, such as hěn, and (b) not requiring a connecting de:
Tā yǒu hĕn duō Zhōngguó péngyou. He has lots of Chinese friends.
Zhèi ge dìfang wèishénme yǒu How come this place has so many
nàme duō rén? people?
Nĭ yǒu zhème duō xíngli! You have such a lot of luggage!
e) Several de’s in the same phrase

Finally, where several de’s might appear in the same phrase, the first is often omitted:
wǒ <de> péngyou de lǎoshī my friend’s teacher
But sometimes, having several de’s in the same phrase is unavoidable. The presence of
several de’s in the following sentence is just as awkward and unavoidable as the several
of’s in the English equivalent:
Wŏ mèimei de xiānshēng de lăoshī The teacher of the husband of my younger

shi wŏ shūshu de tàitai. sister is my uncle’s wife.
Exercise 3.
1. Explain that big ones aren’t necessarily tasty, and small ones aren’t all bad. [tomatoes]
2. Introduce your good friend, Liú Shíjiǔ.
3. Ask her if the keys belong to her.
4. Explain that your bags aren’t here; they’re still on the plane.
5. Explain that he’s not your brother; that you don’t have any brothers.
6. Explain that she’s the boss’s wife.
7. Explain that his older brother’s wife is your Chinese teacher.
8. Announce that there’s a report on the Olympics in yesterday’s paper.
9. Ask how he (the addressee) feels about present day music [yīnyuè]?
10. Explain that you don’t usually drink coffee in the morning.
11. Ask how to say ‘tomato’ in Chinese; then ask how it’s written.
4.5 Names in detail

Some basic information about names and titles was presented in Unit 1 (§1.6.1 and 1.9.1)
and Unit 2 (§2.6). This section adds further details.
4.5.1 The form of names

Chinese names are usually either two or three syllables long:
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Wáng Mǎng Lǐ Péng Liú Bāng

Dù Fǔ Cuī Jiàn Jiāng Qīng
Dèng Xiǎopíng Lǐ Dēnghuī Lǐ Guāngyào

Jiāng Zémín Zhū Róngjī Máo Zédōng
Names of four or more syllables are usually foreign:
Zhōngcūn Yángzǐ (Japanese)

Yuēhàn Shǐmìsī John Smith
Notice that two-syllable xìng, like two-syllable míngzi are, by convention, written
without spaces. (English syllabification practices are not suitable for pinyin; so, for
example, a name like, Geling, will by English syllabification rules ‘wrap around’ as Gel-
ing rather than the correct Ge-ling.)
4.5.2 Xìng
Xìng are rather limited in number. In fact, an expression for ‘the common people’
lǎobǎixìng ‘old hundred names’ suggests that there are only 100 xìng, though in fact,
there are considerably more (and bǎi in that expression was not intended literally). Most
[Chinese] xìng are single-syllable (Zhāng, Wáng, Lǐ), but a few are double-syllable
(Sīmǎ, Ōuyáng, Sītú). Sīmǎ, you should know, was the xìng of China’s first major
historian, Sīmǎ Qiān (145-86 BC), who wrote the Shǐ Jì, a history of China from earliest
times to the Han dynasty, when he lived.
The character primer called the Bǎijiāxìng ‘Multitude of Family Names (100-
family-names)’, that first appeared in the 10th century, gives over 400 single-syllable
surnames and some 40 double. In modern times, rare surnames would enlarge those
numbers, but relatively few surnames account for a large percentage of the population. It
has been estimated that 20 surnames account for about 50% of the population; people
named Lǐ alone may number as many as 100 million. Some xìng have meanings: Bái
‘white’, Wáng ‘king’. But others are (now) just names, eg Wú (of persons, as well as the
name of several historical states). Some names are homophonous, differing only in
character (eg the two Lù’s [路，陆] cited in an earlier example); others differ only in
tone, eg: Wáng (王) and Wāng (汪).
4.5.3 Other names

In addition to their public names (xìng), Chinese traditionally had (and some still have) a
number of other names, including the zì, a disyllabic name taken (mostly by males) for
use outside the family, and hào, adult nickname (again, more for males). Still other names
were given in infancy (rǔmíng or xiǎomíng), in childhood (míng), or, at the other
extreme, after death (shìhào). In modern times, the míng and the zì combine to form the
míngzì ‘given name’; rǔmíngs are still common, eg xiăobăo ‘little treasure’.
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It is worth examining the first lines of traditional biographical entries to see how
names are cited. Here are two examples, one about a modern leader, Dèng Xiǎopíng
(from an exhibit in the Hong Kong Museum of History), the other, from an entry in the
Cí Hǎi (‘word sea’), one of the more comprehensive of modern Chinese-to-Chinese
dictionaries. It is introducing Confucius, who lived in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Both
entries are rendered in pinyin, with underscoring and highlighting to make the
correspondences clearer:
i) Dèng Xiǎopíng yuánmíng Dèng Xiānshèng, xuémíng Dèng Xīxián,

1904 nián 8 yuè, 22 rì chūshēng….
Deng Xiaoping former name Deng Xiansheng, school [formal] name Deng
Xixian, 1904 [year] August 22 [day] born….
ii) Kǒngzǐ (gōngyuánqián 551 – gōngyuánqián 479): Chūn Qiū mòqī, sīxiǎngjiā,
zhèngzhìjiā, jiàoyùjiā, Rújiā de chuàngshǐzhě. Míng Qiū, zì Zhōngní. Lǔguó
Zōuyì (jìn Shāndōng Qǔbù dōngnán) rén.
Confucius (BC 551 – BC 479): End of the Spring and Autumn period; a
philosopher, statesman, educator and founder of the Confucian School. His
‘ming’ was Qiū, his ‘zi’ was Zhōngní. He was a man from Zōuyì in the state of
Lǔ (near modern southeast Qǔbù in Shāndōng).
4.5.4 Míngzi (‘name-character’)

Given names, míngzi, are more various than xìng and often selected for their meaning
(along with well the appearance of their characters): Cài Qiáng ‘Cai strong’; Cài Pǔ ‘Cai
great’; Cáo Hóng ‘Cao red’ [red being an auspicious color]; Lín Yíxī ‘Lin happy-hope’;
Zhāng Shūxiá ‘Zhāng virtuous-chivalrous’; Luó Jiāqí ‘Luo family-in+good+order’. In
many cases it is possible to guess the sex of the person from the meanings of the name.
(Of the 6 names mentioned in this paragraph, #3,4,5 are female, #1,2,6 are male, as it
turns out.)
It is common practice to incorporate generational names in the míngzi by

assigning a particular syllable (often chosen from a poem) to each generation. So for
example, Máo Zédōng’s younger brothers were Máo Zémín and Máo Zétán; his younger
sister was Máo Zéhóng . All contain the syllable Zé (泽). Such practices allow people
from the same district to work out – and remember - their kinship when they meet.
4.5.5 Usage
At pre-arranged meetings, people will introduce themselves and immediately present a
business card. But at other times, people may wait to be introduced. If you do ask a
stranger a name (say, someone seated next to you on a train) you would – as noted in
Unit 2 -- use the polite form, guìxìng, often with the deferential pronoun nín. And
generally, the response would supply xìng and míngzi:
[Nín] guìxìng? Wǒ xìng Liú, jiào Liú Shíjiǔ.
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In Taiwan, and sometimes on the Mainland, people may answer with humble
forms:
(Taiwan) Guìxìng? / Bìxìng Wèi. (Lit. ‘shabby surname…’)

(Mainland) Guìxìng? / Miǎn guì, xìng Wèi. (Lit. ‘dispense with guì…’)
4.6 Years
4.6.1 Dates
As noted in §1.3.4, years in dates are usually expressed as strings of single digits (rather
than large numbers) placed before nián ‘year’. The only exception is the millennium year,
2000, which is sometimes expressed as ‘two thousand’ (making it, at a stretch, potentially
ambiguous with 2000 years [in duration]).
2002 èrlínglíng’èr nián

1998 yījiǔjiǔbā nián
1840 yībāsìlíng nián
2000 èrlínglínglíng nián or liǎngqiān nián
The question word used to elicit a year as a date is něi nián ‘which year’. [Recall
něi is the combining form of nǎ ‘which’, just as nèi is the combining form of nà.] But
asking about dates in the past introduces some grammatical features that will have to wait
until a later unit.
In the Republic of China – Taiwan, years are numbered formally from the
establishment of the Republic, with 1912 as year #1. Here are the dates on two
newspapers, one from the Mainland, and one from Taiwan:
Zhōngguó Dàlù [PRC] Táiwān [ROC]

èr líng líng èr nián jiǔshíyī nián
shíyuè shíyuè
èrshíyī rì èrshíyī rì
xīngqīyī xīngqīyī
Observe the year: Mainland 2002 - Taiwan 91. If you subtract the Taiwan year, 91, from
2002, you get 1911, the date of the fall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of a
republic (gònghéguó). In Chinese, the official name of Taiwan is still Zhōnghuá Mínguó
‘The Republic of China [ROC]’; the Mainland is called Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó
‘The People’s Republic of China [PRC]’. So to translate the ROC date into the PRC, or
western calendar date, you add 1911 years. In speech, the ROC year is only used on
formal occasions in Taiwan, but it is still usual in official writing.
4.6.2 Historical notes on dating

In Unit 1, you were introduced to a set of 10 terms of fixed order, the tiāngān or
‘heavenly stems’, which the Chinese use to designate members of a sequence.
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Traditionally, these tiāngān were used in combination with another set of 12, known as
the dìzhī ‘the earthly branches’. The two sets formed a cycle of 60 gānzhī.
tiāngān 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛任癸 (10)
jiǎ yǐ bǐng dīng wù jǐ gēng xīn rén guǐ
dìzhī 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥 (12)
zǐ chǒu yín mǎo chén sì wǔ wèi shēn yǒu xū hài
A sequence of 60 is achieved by combining the two sets in pairs, 甲子 jiǎzǐ, 乙丑 yǐchǒu,

丙寅 bǐngyín, and so on until the tenth, 癸酉 guǐyǒu, at which point the tiāngān begin
again while the dìzhī continue: 甲戌 jiǎxū, 乙亥 yǐhài, 丙子 bǐngzǐ. After six repetitions
of the tiāngān and five of the dìzhī, ending on 癸亥 guǐhài, all 60 possible combinations
of the two sets will have been used, and the cycle begins again.
The gānzhī sets are attested as early as the Shang dynasty (1523-1028 BCE) on
oracle bone inscriptions, when they were apparently used to count days (Wilkenson: 176).
But the sets, individually as 10 or 12, or in combination as a set of 60, also came to
designate other temporal units, such as years and hours. The 60 gānzhī were used to
specify the dates of specific historical events. This was done by specifying the ruling
emperor, either by name, or more usually, by reign name (niánhào), and then by counting
from the first year of his reign using the gānzhī pairs.
Reign names of which several were often used over a single reign, were chosen
for their auspicious meanings. The better known emperors are often known only by their
reign names. Thus, Kāngxī, meaning ‘vitality and brilliance’ is the reign name of the
great Qing emperor who ruled from 1661-1722. The well-known dictionary compiled
during his reign is referred to, in English, as the Kangxi Dictionary. It contains almost
50,000 entries, and is still sold in Chinese bookshops. Kangxi’s grandson, the Qiánlóng
emperor (also known by is reign name) is also well-known in the West. His long and
eventful rule from 1736 - 96 just exceeded a 60 year gānzhī cycle. Some historical events
are still commonly referred to by their gānzhī names, eg the Xīnhài Gémìng ‘the 1911
Revolution’ (xīnhài being year 48 of the 60 cycle).
The 12 dìzhī were also used to designate time of day, each one being assigned a
two-hour period, beginning with 11pm to 1 am. These ‘hours’ (or shí) also correlated
with the shēngxiào, the 12 animals of the zodiac (§4.6.4), so that the first dìzhī, 子 zǐ,
linked to the first animal shǔ ‘rat’, designated the two hours from 11 pm to 1 am, the
second, 丑 chǒu , linked with niú ‘ox’, designated the ‘hour’ 1 am to 3 am, and so on.
The five ‘hours’ that fall in the night (at least in the most populated regions) were also
called the wǔgēng, or ‘five changes’ or ‘shifts’ (yìgēng to wǔgēng). In cities, daytime
‘hours’ were announced by rhythmical beats from the official drum (gŭ), often lodged in
drum towers (gŭlóu) of the sort that survive in cities such as Xi’an and Beijing. The
drumming would then be repeated in more distant neighborhoods.
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In addition to the dìzhī ‘hours’, from very early times time was also kept by
means of water clocks or ‘clepsydra’ (a word derived from Greek roots for ‘steal’ and
‘water’). Water clocks measured time by the flow of water through a small aperture.
Chinese water clocks traditionally divided the day into 100 equal divisions, called kè.
The root meaning of kè is ‘to inscribe’, suggesting markings on a gauge; the usage
survives in the modern terms for for ‘quarter past’ and ‘quarter to’ the hour, yíkè and
sānkè. One kè represented 14.4 minutes, or approximately 1/8th of a ‘double hour’ (or
1/100 of a day).
In 1912, the new Republic of China officially adopted the Gregorian calendar,
and 1912 was named year one of the new era (so 2004 is year 93). In the modern era,
Chinese have sometimes dated from the birthdate of Huángdì ‘the Yellow Emperor’ (one
of the five mythical founding emperors). At the beginning of the Republic, this date was
fixed as 4609 years before year one of the Republic, ie 2698 BCE.
4.6.3 Age
While in English, age and duration are both given in years (‘3 years old’, ‘for 3 years’), in
Chinese there is a distinction. Years of duration are counted with nián (originally ‘a
harvest’ or ‘harvest year’): sān nián ‘3 years’; sānshí nián ’30 years’. But years of age are
counted with suì (originally used for the planet ‘Jupiter’, with its revolutionary period of
12 years, then for the yearly cycle of seasons). Thus: shíbā suì ’18 years old’, èrshíyī suì
’21 years old’, jiǔ suì ‘9 years old’.
Asking about the age of adults, one can safely use the following expression:
Tā duō dà le? (S/he how big by+now?)

Tā èrshíbā <suì> le. S/he’s 28.
The addition of the noun niánjì ‘age’ makes the expressions a little more formal, and
therefore more appropriate for a direct inquiry:
Nǐ duō dà niánjì? (You how big age?)

Tā niánjì duō dà le? (S/he age how big by+now?)
As the examples show, age can be expressed without a verb, much like dates in, where
shì can be omitted in cases where there is no adverbial modification. Shì may also appear
when rejecting an age:
Tā bú shi sìshí suì, tā shi She’s not 40, she’s 14.

shísì suì.
But otherwise, when a verb has to be supplied for an adverbial modifier, it is usually yǒu
(rather than shì):
Tā duō dà? How old is he?
Tā zhǐ yǒu bā suì. He’s only 8.
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With children, it is possible to ask about age directly using the basic expression:
Nǐ jǐ suì? ‘How many years old are you?’ There are also deferential ways of asking about
the age of older people. Sometimes, using the respectful form of address for old people,
lǎorénjiā, will convey sufficient deference:
<Lǎorénjiā> jīnnián duō <Kind sir> may I ask how old [you]
dà niánjì? are this year?
Other expressions are also available that convey the tone of English ‘May I ask your age,
sir?’
<Lǎorénjiā> guì gèng? (<venerable+sir> worthy-age?)

<Lǎorénjiā> gāoshòu? (<venerable+sir> long-life?)
One additional point: age is frequently given as an approximation, in which case

lái (cognate with lái ‘come’) can be inserted between the number (typically a multiple of
ten) and the M, suì:
Tā duō dà? How old is he?

Tā <yǒu> wǔshí lái suì She’s about 50 [50 ~ 55];
she’s 50 something.
Notes
a) Notice that duō in duō dà functions as a question word meaning ‘ to what
degree’.
b) Le often appears with expressions of age in the sense of ‘so far; by now’;
however, the restrictive adverb zhǐ, is not compatible with final le.
d) Suì can be omitted where the number is above a single digit: èrshíbā <suì>.
4.6.4 The animal signs

At times, it may be inappropriate to ask someone directly about his/her age, but it is
nevertheless important to know roughly how old a person is so as to be able to use proper
levels of deference. So Chinese often ask what one’s zodiac sign is instead, and infer age
from that. Birth signs, called shēngxiào (‘born-resemble’) or shǔxiàng ‘(belong-
appearance)’ are the 12 animals associated with the Chinese zodiac, begining with the rat
and ending with the pig. For reference, two recent cyles of years are noted here:
shǔ > niú > hǔ > tù > lóng > shé > mǎ > yáng > hóu > jī > gǒu > zhū.
rat > ox > tiger > hare > dragon > snake >horse >goat > monkey >chicken >dog > pig
1984 > 85 > 86 > 87 > 88 > 89 > 90 > 91 > 92 > 93 > 94 > 95
1972 > 73 > 74 > 75 > 76 > 77 > 78 > 79 > 80 > 81 > 82 > 83
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Comments about birth signs generally make use of the verb shǔ ‘belong to’: Wǒ
shǔ mǎ, tā shǔ tù! ‘I’m the horse [year], she’s the hare.’ So to discover a person’s age,
you can ask:
Qǐngwèn, nǐ <shi> shǔ shénme de? What’s your animal sign, please?
Wǒ <shi> shǔ lóng de. I’m the year of the dragon.
Notes
a) The pattern here with shi and de translates literally ‘you be belong [to] what
one’, which suggests a permanent status rather than a fleeting one; however,
people do ask the question in its leaner form as well: Nǐ shǔ shénme?
b) In 2005, a person born in the year of the dragon is either 17, 29, 41, etc. In
most cases, the correct choice will be obvious.
Though traditionally, they have played a relatively small role in the casting of
horoscopes and predicting the future, in recent years, particularly in more cosmopolitan
places such as Hong Kong, the zodiac signs have come to play a more important role in
the matching of couples for marriage, as well as in other social activities.
4.6.5 Year in school or college

‘Year’ or ‘grade’ in school or college is niánjí (unfortunately close to niánjì ‘age’,
introduced in the previous section). Niánjí is a compound consisting of nián ‘year’ and jí
‘level’. Different levels are expressed as yīniánjí ‘first year (freshman)’; èrniánjí ‘second
year (sophomore)’, etc. The question, ‘which level’, is formed with the low toned jǐ ‘how
many; how much’; hence, jǐniánjí ‘what year’:
Q. Qǐngwèn, nǐ shi jǐniánjí de <xuésheng>? Excuse me [may I ask], what grade

you’re in?
A. Wǒ shi sìniánjí de <xuésheng>. I’m a fourth year student.

Wǒ shi Qīng Huá sānniánjí de xuésheng. I’m a 3rd year student at Tsinghua.
Wǒ bú shi xuésheng. I’m not a student.

Wǒ shi yánjiūshēng. I’m a graduate (or Brit. ‘ post-
graduate’) student. (research-
student)
4.7 Studying and working

4.7.1 Vocabulary
N N or V V+O V+O V V
zhuānyè zhǔxiū dúshū niànshū xuéxí xué
a major [PRC]; a major; study; attend read; study to study; study;
a specialty; to major in school [Tw] to learn; learn;
a discipline [Tw] emulate imitate
[PRC]
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V+O V+O V V+O V+O

shàngxué kāixué gōngzuò gànhuór bìyè
attend-school begin-school a job; do-livlihood conclude-undertaking
attend school; start school to work; to be doing s/t; to graduate
go to school have a job to work [PRC]
In later units, you will discover that the difference between a two-syllable verb such as
xuéxí or gōngzuò and a verb + object (V+O) such as gànhuór or bìyè is that the latter
combination is much less stable. With V+O constructions, the O can be detached from
the verb: Gàn shénme huó ne? ‘What’s [he] doing?’
4.7.2 Major; specialization

A major subject of study, or a specialization, is zhuānyè ‘special-study’ or, particularly in
Taiwan, zhǔxiū ‘main-study’; the latter is also a verb, ‘to specialize; to major’.
Nĭ de zhuānyè / zhŭxiū shi shénme? What’s your specialty/major?

Shi wùlĭ(xué). Physics.
Shi yīnyuè(xué). Music
4.7.3 To study
There are a number of verbs used for studying and learning, with differences in usage
between the Mainland and Taiwan.
a) One set includes the verbs xué and xuéxí ‘study; learn’, the latter rarely used in
Taiwan. Xuéxí is often used for the activity of studying (often expressed as niànshū in
Taiwan).
Dàjiā dōu zài nǎr? Where is everyone?
Dōu zài túshūguǎn xuéxí ~ niànshū; They’re in the library studying;

míngtiān yǒu kǎoshì. there’s a test tomorrow.
But in many contexts, both the single and [except in Taiwan] the disyllabic form are both
possible:
Xuésheng dōu yīnggāi xué<xí> Students should all study foreign

wàiyŭ, bú duì ma? languages, no?
Ng, dōu yīnggāi xué! Yes, they should!
However, xué is preferred in the following examples (both of which translate ‘learn’
rather than ‘study’):
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Zhōngwén hĕn nán xué ba. Chinese must be tough to learn.

Yǒu diănr nán, kĕshì fēicháng yǒu yìsi. It is a bit, but it’s fascinating!
Tā hěn cōngmíng, xué+de hěn kuài. She’s quite bright -- [she] learns fast.
b) Xuéxí also means ‘emulate’, with the model, usually introduced by xiàng ‘towards’:
Xiàng Léi Fēng xuéxí! ‘Learn from Lei Feng (Emulate Lei Feng)’. [Lei
Feng is a well-known labor hero from the 1960s.]
c) When the question ‘what are you studying’ is not about what you happen to be
studying at that moment, but rather what field of study you are committed to, then the
question (and answer) is usually cast as a nominalization, ie ‘you be one [de] who studies
what’. (cf. Nǐ <shi> shǔ shénme de? in §4.6.3.)
Q Nǐ shì xué shénme de? What are you studying?

A Wo shi xué wùlǐxué de. I’m studying physics.
4.7.4 Zài + verb ‘action in progress’

Talking about being in school versus working often leads to comments that express
ongoing action, such as: ‘she’s still in school’ or ‘he’s working now’. So here we take a
brief detour to consider how to express action in progress in Chinese.
It turns out that zài ‘be at’ not only occurs with noun objects to form location
phrases (zài bàngōngshì ‘in the office’; zài wàitou ‘outside’) and post-verbal phrases (tā
shēng zài Sūzhōu), but it occurs in the adverb position, before a verb, to emphasize
‘action in progress’ – often in conjunction with a final ne, which suggests a level of
immediacy and engagement.
Tā chī zăofàn le ma? Has she eaten?

Hái méi ne, tā hái zài xǐzǎo ne. No, not yet; she’s still showering.
Zhāng Héng zài nǎr? Where’s Zhang Heng?

Tā zài kànbào ne. He’s reading the paper.
Duìbuqĭ, wŏ hái zài chīfàn ne. Sorry, I’m still eating.

Nĭ <zài> chī shénme ne? What are you eating?
Zhōu Shuǎng qĭlai le ma? Is Zhou Shuang up?

Hái méi ne, tā hái zài shuìjiào ne. No, not yet, he’s still sleeping.
Ongoing action need not always be explicitly marked with zài; sometimes the
final ne suffices to suggest that the action is in progress:
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Nĭ chī shénme ne? What are you eating?

Chī kŏuxiāngtáng ne. Chewing gum (‘mouth-fragrant-
candy’)
Nĭ kàn shénme ne? What are you reading?

Kàn Shìjiè Bēi de xiāoxi ne! An article on the World Cup.
4.7.5 Studying; being in school

Studying in the sense of being in school (or college) is expressed by one of a set of words
that includes the synonymous verb+object compounds, dúshū and niànshū, literally ‘be
studying (study books)’. The two overlap with shàngxué, also a verb+object, which has
the sense of ‘being in school; studying’ as well as ‘starting school’ – at the beginning of
the day. In the following interchange, all three V+Os are acceptable:
Jiă Nĭ mèimei duō dà le? How old is your sister?

Yǐ Èrshíqī 27.
Jiă Tā hái zài dúshū ma? Is she still in school?
Yǐ Duì, tā hái zài dúshū, shi dàxué de Yes, she is, she’s a university
xuésheng, zài Qīnghuá Dàxué xué student, studying medicine at
yīxué de. Tsinghua University.
However, in the following interchange, where the sense is ‘go to school; begin
school for the day’, shàngxué is more likely:
Mĕitiān jǐ diǎn <qù> shàngxué? What time does [he] go to school?

Tā mĕitiān qī diăn bàn qù shàngxué. He goes to school every day at 7:30.
‘To begin the term at a school (or university)’ is kāixué (the kāi of kāihuì ‘hold/attend a
meeting’ or kāichē ‘drive [a vehicle]’):
Wǒmen jiǔyuè èr hào kāixué. We start classes on September 2nd.

Zhōngguó xuésheng yě shi jiǔ Chinese students start in September, too.
yuèfen kāixué.
O, Zhōngguó dàxué yě shi Oh, Chinese universities also begin in
jiǔyuèfèn kāixué ma? September?
Shì de. That’s right!
4.7.6 Work
Students graduate and get jobs. In which case, the interchange in the previous section
might read:
Jiă Nĭ mèimei duō dà le? How old is your sister?

Yǐ Èrshíqī 27.
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Jiă Tā hái zài dúshū ma? Is she still in school?

Yǐ Tā bìyè le, tā gōngzuò le. She’s graduated, she’s working.
Jiǎ Shénme gōngzuò? What sort of job?
Yǐ Tā shi gǎo diànnǎo de. She does computing.
Note:
gǎo a verb with a broad range of meaning: ‘do; make; manage; deal with; set
up; pick up; etc.
Other examples
Jiă Tā zài shénme dìfang gōngzuò? Where does he work?

Yǐ Tā zài băoxiăn gōngsī gōngzuò. He works in an insurance company
Jiă Nĭ zhǎo shéi? Who are you looking for?

Yǐ Zhǎo xiăo Féng – Féng Xiǎoquán. Young Feng – Feng Xiaoquan.
Jiă Tā zài gànhuó ne, zài cāngkù. He’s working, in the warehouse.
Yǐ Zhème wǎn, hái zài gànhuó ne? So late [and ] he’s still at work?
Jiă Ng, tā shìr ~ shìqing tài duō le! Yup, he’s got too much [to do].
4.7.7 College and department

Establishing a person’s department (xì) or school or university (dàxué) makes use of the
question word něi (nǎ) and the general M gè: něi ge xì; něi ge dàxué. There are two ways
to ask about university and department. One uses zài:
Nǐ shi zài něi ge dàxué? Which university are you at?

Nǐ shi zài něi ge xì? Which department are you in?
The other does not use zài, but rather, the nominalizing pattern but with shi and final de,
along the lines of the earlier statements of a major: wǒ shi xué wùlǐ de ‘I study physics.’
Nĭ shi něi ge dàxué de? Which is your university?

Nĭ shi něi ge xì de? Which is your department?
So, for example:
Jiă. Qĭngwèn, nĭ shi nĕi ge dàxué de? Which university are you at?
Yǐ. Wŏ shi Bĕijīng Dàxué de. I’m at Peking University [sic].
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Jiă. O, Běi Dà; nà nĭ shi xué Oh, Bei Da; so what are you
shénme de? studying?
Yǐ. Wŏ shi xué guǎnlǐxué de. I’m studying management.
Jiǎ Zài něi ge xì? In which department?
Yǐ Zài Jīngji xì. Economics.
Exercise 4.
Explain: that you are [years old];
that you’re at [university / school];
that you’re an [grad / undergrad];
that you’re a [grade-level] student there;
that your major is […];
that you’re in the department of […];
that you are taking [number] of subjects this semester; [list]
that you have [number] of classes today;
that you have classes today at [time] and [time];
that you have classes everyday except Wednesday.
that you were born and grew up in Chengdu, but now you live in Nanjing.
________________________________________________________________________
4.8 Forms of address

In general, Chinese place more importance on address forms of all kinds than Americans,
a fact that reflects the importance of status in Chinese society. We can make a distinction,
on the one hand, between forms of address that take the place of names of either strangers
(like English ‘sir’, ‘buddy’, ‘mac’) or intimates (like ‘sis’, ‘dad’ and ‘auntie’) and, on the
other hand, titles, that can occur with surnames (eg ‘Mr.’, ‘Mrs.’ and ‘Professor’).
4.8.1 Forms of address used instead of names

The safest course for foreigners may be to avoid forms of address when speaking to
strangers, particularly to women, and to simply begin with qǐngwèn ‘may I ask [you]’, or
with the more courtly expression, láojià ‘excuse me; may I bother you’ [more used in
northern regions and by older speakers]. Otherwise, lǎoshī can be used to address male or
female clerks and civil servants (as well as teachers, of course); xiānshēng ‘sir’ may be
used to address adult males of the salaried classes; and shīfu ‘master’ (or lǎo shīfu for
older people) can be used to address blue collar workers. Shop-keepers, male or
female, can be addressed as lǎobǎn, which is similar in tone to English ‘boss’ [of a shop
or small business]. Tóngzhì ‘comrade’ [modeled on Russian usage], in use into the 80s,
was never an appropriate term of address for foreigners to use to Chinese. [Nowadays, it
is said to be current among male urban homosexuals.]
Xiānshēng, jièguāng, jièguāng Sirs, can I get through? (‘borrow light’)
Láojià ~ qǐngwèn, xǐshǒujiān Excuse me, is the restroom on this floor?

shì bu shi zài zhèi lóu?
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Shīfu, qǐngwèn, Pān yuànzhǎng de Excuse me sir, [could you tell me]
bàngōngshì zài nǎr? where Dean Pan’s office is?
Lǎobǎn, yǒu méiyou bǐjìběn? Sir, do you have any notebooks?
In Chinese, as in English (Miss? M’am?), there is probably no really appropriate

way to address a female stranger, at least not on the Mainland. Xiǎojie ‘Miss’, that had
some currency there in the past, and may still survive as a term of address in overseas
communities, is now rare, possibly because the term has been contaminated by
association with expressions such as sānpéi xiǎojie, ‘3 [ways]-keep+company girls’.
Chinese, like many cultures often uses kin terms for address where no actual
relationship exists, in the same way that English-speaking children often use the terms
‘uncle’ and ‘auntie’ for adults of their parents’ generation. In China, usage varies greatly
with region and age of speaker, but some typical examples are listed below – more for
reference at this point than for usage. Unless otherwise stated, these terms are not used as
titles (ie not with a xìng).
shūshu ‘uncle (father’s younger brother)’, eg a child to a male of his

parents’ age.
dàshū as with shūshu, but by older speakers rather than children.
āyí ‘auntie; nanny’, eg a child to a woman of his parents’ age.
bófù ‘uncle (father’s elder brother)’, eg a young adult addressing the

father of a good friend.
bómǔ ‘aunt (wife of father’s elder brother)’, eg a young adult addressing
the mother of a good friend.
dàye ‘uncle’ (yéye = ‘paternal grandfather’); ‘sir’, to an elderly man.

lǎorénjia ‘Sir [to old men]’; a respectful term of address to elderly men.
dàmā ‘madam (father’s elder brother’s wife); to elderly women. Dàmā is

more used in the north; dàniáng is more common in the south.
dàshěnr ‘aunty’; used more in the countryside, as an affectionate term for
women near the age of one’s mother. Also after a xìng as: Wáng
shěnr ‘Aunt(ie) Wang’.
xiǎo dì; xiǎo mèi<r> ‘little brother; little sister’: used by some to address young
waiters or other attendants, acquaintances; can be patronizing.
xiǎo péngyou ‘little friend’ > adult to child.

gērmen ‘brother-plural’; form of address used by young men amongst
themselves (cf. English ‘man; buddy; dude; brother’).
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4.8.2 The changing scene

As noted above, there has been considerable shift in the use of titles and address forms in
the Mainland since the days of Mao Zedong. When the Communist Party was taken more
seriously there, tóngzhì ‘comrade’ was the common form of address, and with the
prestige of the proletariat, shīfu ‘master in trade’ spread from blue collar factory workers
to workers in other professions as a form of address. Now lǎoshī seems to be taking over
from shīfu, spreading from being a form of address for teachers to civil servants and
people in other professions.
4.8.3 General titles

Most of the non-professional titles have been mentioned in earlier units, so we will only
summarize them here:
as title general meanings example notes

xiānsheng Mr. [other’s] husband; Wáng xiānsheng general
or professor [m,f] Mainland
lǎoshī Mr. or Ms. teacher Wáng lǎoshī general
shīfu ‘Master’ Gāo shīfu Mainland
tàitai Mrs. [other’s] wife Wáng tàitai Taiwan
fūrén Mrs.; Lady [other’s] wife Wáng fūrén general
nǚshì Ms. Téng nǚshì mostly written
xiǎojie Miss young woman Téng xiǎojie more Taiwan
Notes
a) Titles such as xiānsheng can also follow full names: Wáng xiānshēng; Wáng
Nǎi xiānshēng. For a time, xiānshēng was also used as a deferential title for older
and eminent professors – male or female; this usage now seems rarer.
b) Tàitai ‘Mrs. (great; grand)’ and fūrén ‘Lady’ are both used with husband’s
xìng. Téng xiǎojie married to, say, Zhū xiānsheng could be addressed as Zhū
tàitai, or Zhū fūrén, if appropriate.
c) Nǚshì, a formal term for ‘Miss’, or ‘Ms’ – again always with the woman’s own
xing – might be starting to fill the gap left by the decline of xiǎojie, but at present,
the preferred form of address for women without professional titles seems to be
full name or mingzi (when appropriate). In certain regions, jiě ‘older sister’ is
appended to the xìng to form a name used between good friends: Hóngjiě ‘sister
Hong’.
d) Fūrén is a common form of address for wives of high officials, Zhū Róngjī
fūrén. Mrs. Thatcher, former Prime Minster of Great Britain is called Dài Zhuō’ěr
fūrén or Sàqiè’ěr fūrén, as well as Tiě Niángzǐ ‘the Iron Lady’.
e) Lǎoshī can be used for self, eg to students: Wǒ shì Liú lǎoshī. Though the
expression lǎoshī, hǎo does occur as a passing greeting or acknowledgement, a
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more considered greeting is more appropriate – one that includes the xìng: Wèi
lǎoshī, hǎo, etc.
4.8.4 Other terms

There are a number of other terms that fit in the category of ‘address forms’ but which
beginning students, and foreigners in general, are less likely to use. Here are two
examples, using the surname Chén. Later, if you get a chance to work in a Chinese
enterprise, you can observe the variety of titles and forms of address in more detail.
Chén lǎo used to address older people (male or female) of some eminence.
Chén gōng to engineers or others who have, or had, positions in industry; gōng
is short for gōngchéngshī ‘engineer’.
4.8.5 Professional titles

Professional titles are job titles, the sort that would be inscribed on a business card. They
are used on first meeting, during the introductions, but later such titles are likely to be
replaced by something less formal such as lǎoshī, xiānsheng or even full name
(xìng+míngzi). Here is a selection of professional titles:
jiàoshòu ‘professor (teaching-instruct)’

Zhōu jiàoshòu; ZhàoYuánrèn jiàoshòu. Nowadays on the Mainland,
teachers of all ranks are usually addressed, and often address each other,
as lǎoshī. Jiàoshòu is more likely to be used in formal settings, eg
introductions, where it is important to indicate rank explicitly.
jīnglǐ ‘manager [of a company etc.]’; Qián jīnglǐ
zhǔrèn ‘director; head; chairperson (main-official+post)’ [of a company,

academic department, etc.]; Liào zhǔrèn
dǒngshì ‘director; trustee’; Huáng dǒngshì
zǒngcái ‘director-general; CEO (overall-rule)’; Cáo zǒngcái
dáoyǎn ‘director [of films or plays]’ Zhāng [Yìmóu] dáoyǎn
(...)-zhǎng ‘head of; chief of (...)’
eg xiàozhǎng principle of a school (xiào ‘school’)

yuànzhǎng dean; director of hospital etc. (yuàn ‘public facility’)
shìzhǎng mayor (shì ‘city’)
shěngzhǎng governor (shěng ‘province’)
kēzhǎng department head (hospital) (kē ‘section’)
chùzhǎng section chief (government) (chù ‘office’)
huìzhǎng president of an association (huì ‘association’)
chǎngzhǎng head of a factory (chǎng ‘factory’)
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zǒngtǒng ‘president’ Lǐ zǒngtǒng; Kèlíndùn zǒngtǒng; Bùshí zǒngtǒng
zhǔxí ‘chairman (main-seat)’ Máo zhǔxí
The titles on this list can be prefixed with fù- ‘vice; deputy; associate’. But while
fù- might appear on a business card as part of the description of a person’s rank, office or
function, it is not usually used in direct address. Thus a Mr. Lee who is a fùzhǔrèn
‘associate director’ would be introduced and addressed simply as Lǐ zhǔrèn. A variety of
possible fù-titles are listed below:
fùjiàoshòu associate professor fùxiàozhǎng vice principal

fùzhǔrèn associate director fùshìzhǎng vice mayor
fùjīnglǐ deputy manager fùzǒngtǒng vice president
4.8.6 From title to prefix

As friendships among Chinese develop, there comes a point when address shifts from the
relatively formal xìng + title to other forms, including full name, míngzi or hào
‘nickname’. One of the possibilities, common amongst males, makes use of the prefix lǎo
‘old; venerable; etc.’ So instead of Wáng xiānsheng, friends might address Wáng as lǎo
Wáng (nicely translated in Yuan and Church’s The Oxford Starter Chinese Dictionary, as
‘my pal [Wáng etc.]’). The factors that condition this shift involve age, relative status and
other aspects of the relationship. Because it involves a degree of camaraderie that is not
easily extended to non-locals, foreigners should probably wait for an explicit invitation
before making such a shift.
In Cantonese speaking areas, the equivalent of lǎo is a (without tone), and so in

southern regions (as well as in many communities of Southeast Asian Chinese), this
prefix is borrowed into Mandarin, eg Abāo = lǎo Bāo, Améi = lǎo Méi.
Another prefix, xiăo, is also used before xìng, as a term of endearment for young
adults, particularly women (xiǎo Bì ‘young Bi’) or by contrast with another of the same
surname who is older or has other features (size, maturity) that sets her or him apart.
Finally, it should be noted that intimates will (more in the northeast than south?)
sometimes use xiăo in front of the last syllable of a given name: thus Chén Bó might be
addressed as Xiǎobó (rather than lǎo Chén or xiǎo Chén, or simply, Chén Bó).
full name sex informal intimate with title (formal)

Bái Sùzhēn fem. xiăo Bái Xiăozhēn Bái lăoshī
Zhāng Dàmíng male lăo Zhāng Xiăomíng Zhāng jīnglĭ
Liáng Àimín fem. xiăo Liáng Xiăomín Liáng zhŭrèn
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Exercise 5.
Greet the following people appropriately.
Eg A teacher named Zhào >> Zhào lǎoshī, nín hǎo.
1 A middle-aged, married woman whose husband’s surname is Bái:
2 A young woman surnamed Guō Měifāng:
3 The wife of an important official named Zhū:
4 A CEO named Dèng:
5 The eminent Professor Xú:
6 The deputy manager of a company, named Qián:
7 The principal of a school, named Yuán:
8 An elderly man seated on a park bench; an elderly women:
9 Your bus driver, named Zhào:
10 Your teacher’s husband, whose surname is Huáng:
________________________________________________________________________
4.9 Introductions
Making introductions usually involves names and titles (Zhào Fāngfāng, Chén lǎoshī),
pointing words (zhè, nà), set expressions of greeting (nǐ hǎo) and often, some explanation
of the connection, provided in a phrase such as zhè shì wǒ de lǎoshī ‘this is my teacher’.
A host may express his intention to introduce someone, using the disyllabic verb, jièshào
‘introduce’, as follows:
Zhāng lǎoshī, wǒ gěi nǐ Prof. Zhang, let me introduce you.

jièshao jièshao! Zhè shi…. This is….
Notice how gěi shifts in meaning from its core sense of ‘give’ to ‘for [your benefit]’
when it is subordinated to the main verb, jièshào. Instead of zhè shi, the polite measure
word for people, wèi will often be used: zhèi wèi shi….
4.9.1 Relational information

To keep things manageable, you can provide relational information about people in the
format:
Zhè <wèi> shi wǒ <de> .... This is my....
a) With de
Zhè <wèi> shi wǒ de lǎoshī. This is my teacher.

wǒ de Zhōngwén lǎoshī. Chinese teacher.
wǒ de xuésheng student.
wǒ de tóngxué. classmate.
wǒ de péngyou. friend.
wǒ de lǎo péngyou. good friend.
wǒ de lǎobǎn. boss [slightly jocular].
Zhāng lǎoshī de xuésheng Prof. Zhang’s student.
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b) Usually without de
Zhè shi wǒ fùqin. father.

wǒ bà<ba> Dad (intimate).
wǒ mǔqin mother.
wǒ mā<ma> Mum (intimate).
wǒ gēge. older brother.
wǒ dìdi. younger brother.
wǒ jiějie. older sister.
wǒ mèimei. younger sister.
wǒ àirén [not in Tw] spouse (husband, wife).
wǒ zhàngfu husband (neutral).
wǒ lǎogōng husband (neutral).
wǒ xiānshēng husband (formal).
wǒ qīzi wife (neutral).
wǒ lǎopo ~ lǎopó wife (informal).
wǒ xífu wife (regional).
wǒ tàitai [more in Tw] wife (formal).
4.9.2 A note on words for husband and wife

In Chinese, as in English, words for ‘spouse’ go in and out of fashion. The use of lǎogōng
for ‘husband’, for example, was probably influenced by films and TV programs from
Hong Kong and Taiwan, so that the term is current among younger urban people in the
Mainland. The female version of lǎogōng, lǎopó, is also quite common, though for some,
it has a slightly jocular (and some would add, disrespectful) tone, along the lines of
English ‘my old lady’. (The male equivalent would be lǎotóuzi ‘my old man’.) Terms
such as qīzi ‘wife’ and zhàngfu ‘husband’ are fairly neutral.
Máo Zédōng yǒu sì ge qīzi Mao had 4 wives.

Máo Zédōng yǒu sì ge lǎopó.
Nèirén ‘wife (within-person)’ has a humble tone. Southerners often use xífu, a
variant on xífù ‘daughter-in-law’, for wife, eg: Sǎozi shi gēge de xífu. ‘Saozi [sister-in-
law] is the wife of one’s elder brother.’
The PRC used to promote the use of àirén ‘love-person’ as a egalitarian term for
spouse (husband or wife), and the phrase zhè shì wǒ àirén is still current on the Mainland.
The term causes some giggles among non-Mainlanders, for in Taiwan, àirén sometimes
has the meaning of ‘sweetheart’. (Aìrén is not the normal word for ‘lover,’ however; that
is qíngrén ‘feelings-person’, the word used for the Chinese title of the French film, The
Lover, for example.)
Another term that has come into vogue in informal situations on the Mainland is
nèiwèi for ‘spouse’ (literally ‘that-one’). Peculiarly, it combines with a plural possessive
pronoun even when the reference is singular: wǒmen nèiwèi ‘(our spouse) my
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husband/wife’. This may be because it derives from the phrase wǒmen jiā de nèiwèi ‘our
family DE spouse’. Thus: Nǐmen nèiwèi zěnmeyàng? ‘How’s the wife / the old man?’
Foreigners, though they may hear intimate or familiar terms, should be careful not
to use them unless their relationship warrants it!
4.9.3 Responses
A typical response to an introduction uses an appropriate title with the surname, and a
conventional expression of greeting:
A, Qí lǎoshī, nín hǎo. Oh, Prof. Qi, how are you?
The response to being introduced to someone of eminence is jiǔyǎng, literally

‘long+time-look+up+to’, often repeated as jiǔyǎng jiǔyǎng ‘[I]’ve heard a lot about you’.
Sometimes dàmíng ‘great name’ is added: jiǔyáng dàmíng.
O, Qí lǎoshī, jiǔyǎng, jiǔyǎng. Oh, Prof. Qi, honored to meet you.
Children and sometimes young adults may show respect by addressing elders as
shūshu ‘uncle’ or āyí ‘auntie’: Shūshu hǎo. ‘How are you, uncle.’
In English, we feel the need to confirm the worth of meeting someone by saying
eg ‘nice to meet you’, either after an introduction, or at the end of an initial introduction,
before taking leave. Traditionally, Chinese had no comparable expression, but nowadays,
people in the more cosmopolitan cities, particularly when they are talking to foreigners,
will use a phrase hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ (‘very happy know you’), or hěn gāoxìng jiàndào
nǐ (‘very happy see you’), in more or less the same situations as English ‘nice to meet
you’. The response may have a slightly different emphasis, expressed in the word order:
Rènshi nǐ, wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng! ‘Happy to meet you too! = my pleasure!’.
A, Qí lǎoshī, hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ. Oh, Prof. Qi, nice to meet you.
4.9.4 Dialogues
a) You [Wèi] are introducing your friend Chén Huībó to your classmate, a student from
China named Cài Wénjiā. You get Cài’s attention by calling out her name, and as you
guide her towards Chén, you explain to her who he is. Cài then (re)states her full name,
and the two acknowledge each other.
(CÀI) Wénjiā (f)

CHÉN Huībó (m)
*You [Wèi]
Wèi Cài Wénjiā, wǒ gěi nǐ jièshao Cài Wénjiā, let me introduce you;
jièshao; zhè shi wǒ de péngyou, this is my friend, Chen Huibo.
Chén Huībó.
162
Cài Chén Huībó, nǐ hǎo; wo shi Chen Huibo, how are you? I’m
Cài Wénjiā. Cài Wénjiā
Chén Cài Wénjiā, nǐ hǎo. Cài Wénjiā, how are you.
b) Now a relatively formal introduction, between people sharing a train cabin. (Hng =
xìng Huáng de, jiàoshòu; Zh. = xìng Zhōu de, jīnglǐ.) Note the word for business card,
míngpiàn, literally ‘name-slice’.
Hng Ei, nín hǎo, wǒ xìng Huáng, Hi, how are you? My (sur)name’s
zhè shì wǒ de míngpiàn. Nín Huang; this is my card. What’s
guìxìng? your [sur]name?
(Looking at the card.)

Zh O, Húang lǎoshī, nín hǎo. Wǒ jiào Oh, Prof. Huang, how are you?
Zhōu Bǎolín – wǒ de míngpiàn. I’m named Zhou Baolin – my card.
(He too looks at the card.)

Hng A Zhōu jīnglǐ, nín hǎo. O Ah. Manager Wang, how do you
nín shì Wēiruǎn de! Wēiruǎn do? Oh, you’re with Microsoft!
hěn yǒumíng a! Microsoft’s famous!
Wáng Hái xíng ba! I guess [if you say so].
Note
Wēiruǎn de ‘of ~ from Microsoft (tiny-soft DE)’
Exercise 6
a) Introductions:
Liáng Mínmǐn, a teacher, meets Dèng Lìlì also a teacher (both female) and introduces her
student, Mǎ Yán (a male); fill in Dèng Lìlì' s responses:
Liáng: Nín hǎo, wǒ xìng Liáng, jiào Liáng Mímǐn.

Dèng: ??
Liáng: Dèng Lìlì, nǐ hǎo. Zhè shì Mǎ Yán, wǒ de xuéshēng.
Dèng: ??
Mǎ Dèng lǎoshī, hǎo. Rènshi nǐ, wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng.
b) Translate:
1) Miss Chén, this is my classmate, Wáng Bīnbīn.
2) This is my good friend, Bì Xiùqióng.
3) This is my younger sister, Chén Xiùxiù.
4) Professor Gāo, I’ve heard a lot about you.
5) Let me introduce you – this is Manager Wang, he’s at Intel.
6) This is Li Dawei, he’s been to China, and he’s studying Chinese.
_______________________________________________________________________
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Dào Miányáng le ma? [JKW 2004]
4.10 Dialogue: on the bus to Miányáng

Méi Tàidé (Theo Meyering), a foreign student traveling by bus from Chéngdū to
Miányáng [about 111 kms. to the northeast], is attempting to read the local paper; the
man sitting next to him, who has been watching him for a while, breaks into
conversation:
Ōu-y Kàndedǒng ma? Can you read [it]?
Méi: Néng kàndǒng yìdiǎnr. I can read a bit.
Ōu-y: Hànzì hěn duō ya! Chinese has a lohhht of characters!
Méi: Shì, tài duō le! Yes, too many!
Ōu-y: Wǒ xìng Ōuyáng – zhè shì wǒde My name’s Ouyang – here’s my

míngpiàn. card.
Méi: A, Ōuyáng xiānsheng…Ōuyáng Oh, Mr. Ouyang…Manager Ouyang,

jīnglǐ, nín hǎo! Hěn gāoxìng how do you do! Nice to meet you.
rènshi nín.
Ōu-y: Zhè shi wǒ àiren, Xiāo Měifāng. This is my wife, Xiao Meifang.
164
Méi Nín hǎo. Wǒde míngzi shi Theo Hello. My name’s Theo Meyering,
Meyering, Méi Tàidé: Tàiguó de Mei Taide: the tai of Taiguo, the de
Tài, Déguó de Dé. Duìbuqǐ, xiànzài of Deguo. I’m sorry, I’m already out
wǒ yǐjīng méiyou míngpiàn le. of business cards.
Xiāo: Méi Tàidé, Méi xiānsheng, nǐ hǎo. Mei Taide, Mr. Mei, how do you do?
Nǐ Zhōngwén jiǎng+de zhēn bàng! You speak Chinese reeeally well!
Méi: Nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ, jiǎng+de mǎmahūhū. Nice of you to say so [but] I speak
Wǒ hái zài xué ne, wǒ zài Sìchuān poorly. I’m still studying [it] – I’m
Dàxué xuéxí. studying at Sichuan University.
Ōu-y: Qǐngwèn nǐ shì cóng nǎ ge guójiā lái de? May I ask what country you’re from?
Méi: Wǒ shi Hélán rén; wǒ shēng zai Hélán. I’m from Holland; I was born in
Kěshì xiànzài wǒ shi Měiguó Mìxīgēn Holland. But at present, I’m a
Dàxué de xuéshēng. student at Michigan University.
Ōu-y O, Mìxīgēn Dàxué, hěn yǒumíng. Oh, Michigan University, it’s

Nǐ shì jǐniánjí de xuésheng? famous. What year are you?
Méi: Wǒ shi sìniánjí de. I’m a senior.
Ōu-y Nǐ shi Zhōngwén xì de ma? Are you in the Chinese department?
Méi Bù, wǒ shì Jīngjì xì de, wǒ xué No, I’m in economics, I’m studying
Zhōngguó jīngjì…Ōuyáng xiānsheng, Chinese economics. [So] you work
nín zài Chángchūn gōngzuò a? in Changchun, Mr. Ouyang?
Ōu-y Duì, wǒ zài Chángchūn gōngzuò, Yes, I work in Changchun, but I’m
búguò wǒ shi Shěnyáng rén. from Shenyang.
Méi: Dōu zài Dōngběi, duì ba? Both in the Northeast, right?
Ōu-y Duì, Chángchūn zài Jílín shěng, That’s right, Changchun is in

Shěnyáng zài Liáoníng. Shěnyáng Jilin province, Shenyang is in Liao-
lí Běijīng bù yuǎn. ning. Shenyang isn’t far from Bj.
Měi: Shěnyáng hěn dà, shì bu shi? Shenyang’s big, isn’t it?
Ōu-y Shì, yǒu chàbuduō wǔbǎiwàn rén … It is, it has about 5 million inhabit-
Nǐ chīguò zhōngfàn le ma? ants…Have you had lunch?
Méi: Chī le, zài Chéngdū chī le. I have – in Chengdu.
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Ōu-y Nǐmen zhōngfàn dōu chī You eat sandwiches for lunch,
sānmíngzhì, shì bu shi? right?
Méi: Bù yídìng. Kěshì zài Zhōngguó, Not necessarily. But in China, I eat
wǒ dāngrán chī Zhōngguó fàn. Chinese food of course.
Ōu-y Zhōngguó fàn nǐ chīdeguàn ma? Are you accustomed to eating

Chinese food?
Méi: Dāngrán chīdeguàn, zài Hélán, Of course I am, I often eat Chinese
zài Mèiguǒ, wǒ yě chángcháng chī food in Holland and in the US.
Zhōngguó fàn. …Dào Miányáng le ma? Have we reached Mianyang?
Ōu-y Hái méi dào ne. Zhè shì Déyáng. Not yet. This is Deyang. We get
Wǒmen zài zhèr xiàchē. off here. [You] get to Mianyang
Dàgài yì diǎn bàn dào Miányáng. at about 1:30.
Méi: Oh, nǐmen zài Déyáng xiàchē? Oh, you get off at Deyang?
Ōu-: Duì, wǒ yǒu ge jiějie zhù zài Déyáng. Yes, I have an older sister living in
Deyang.
Méi: Nǐmen de xíngli duō bu duō? Do you have a lot of bags?
Ōu-: Bù duō – zhǐ yǒu yí jiàn. Hǎo, wǒmen No, just one. Okay, we’re getting off.
xiàchē le. Zàijiàn! Good bye!
Méi: Hǎo, zàijian, zàijiàn! Okay, goodbye!
Notes
kàndedǒng ‘can understand [by reading] (look-able+to-understand)’. Kàndedǒng is an
example of what is sometimes known as the ‘potential construction’ (cf.
§7.1), which involves an action (kàn) and result (dǒng) and an intervening
+de (able to) or bu (unable to). Thus kànbudǒng ‘cannot understand [by
reading]’. Other examples: chīdeguàn, appearing later in this dialogue, ‘be
in the habit of eating (eat-get-accustomed)’; and earlier, in the rhyme at
the end of Unit 2, shuāibudǎo ‘won’t fall down (slip-not-fall)’. The
response to Ouyang’s question might have been kàndedǒng ‘I do’ but Méi
is more modest, and wishes to use yìdiǎnr ‘a little’. Kàndedǒng or
kànbudǒng do not permit gradations – either you do, or you don’t; so the
response with yìdiǎnr has to be néng kàndǒng yìdiǎnr ‘can understand a
bit’.
néng ‘able to; can’ [not usually for learned abilities]
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Ōuyáng An example of one of the 40 or so disyllabic surnames. Tā xìng Ōuyáng.

Méi Tàidé re-addresses him with jīnglǐ after reading his business card.
Xiāo Měifāng Notice the Méi Tàidé refrains from addressing Ōuyáng’s wife with title or
name. Neither tàitai nor xiǎojie is appropriate, and using her name might
seem too familiar. So he just says nǐ hǎo.
àirén ‘spouse; wife; husband’. This is typical usage.
zhēn bàng bàng is a noun, meaning ‘club’ or ‘cudgel’; but in colloquial speech, it has
come to function as a SV with the meaning ‘good; strong’; cf. English
‘smashing’. The expression is more common in certain regions than
others, and probably certain age groups than others.
chīdeguàn ‘in the habit of eating (eat-get-accustomed)’
jiàn M-word for ‘luggage’ (and, paradoxically, for ‘clothes’ and ‘business
affairs’ as well).
4.11 Food (1)

In China, meals are central to social life. But for the student of Chinese, who may have to
eat most meals out, learning how to read the menu and order meals takes a long time.
Eating at Chinese restaurants overseas may give the impression that there is a set of basic
dishes at the heart of every Chinese regional cuisine. But within China, menus start to
seem infinitely variable. And what is more, you will find that rather than consulting the
menu, Chinese customers are just as likely to base their orders on a conversation with the
waiter about what is seasonal or fresh, or what the restaurant’s specialties are. So we will
have to build up competence about Chinese food incrementally. We will begin with
elementary categories.
The basic distinction in food is between fàn and cài. Both words have core and
extended meanings, as follows:
fàn cooked rice > staples

cài vegetables > dishes; courses
Fàn in its extended meaning includes cooked rice, wheat, millet and other grains that – at
least in less affluent times – formed the main caloric intake. Cài in its extended meaning
would normally have been vegetables, with some dry or fresh fish, and very occasionally,
a small amount of pork. Now, of course, cài includes the vast repertoire of dishes that can
be served alongside the staples. Any ambiguity between core and extended meanings can
be eliminated through compounding:
báifàn; mǐfàn cooked rice [as opposed to other staples]

qīngcài vegetables [as opposed to other dishes]
167
Rice is the staple of southern China where it is eaten cooked (mǐfàn), or ground
into flour for noodles (mǐfěn) and dumpling wraps. In the north, wheat is the staple and
forms the basis of wheat noodles (miàn ~ miàntiáo) and wheat dumpling-wraps. At
breakfast and lunch, Chinese often eat a rice gruel or ‘congee’ (xīfàn ‘watery rice’ or
zhōu), to which can be added various kinds of vegetables, meats and sauces, as well as
broken up yóutiáo ‘fried dough sticks’.
miàn ~ miàntiáo noodles miànbāo bread (wheat-bun)

mǐfěn rice-flour noodles dòufu toufu
zhōu; xīfàn rice porridge; congee yóutiáo fried dough sticks
bāozi steamed stuffed buns
guōtiē pot stickers jiăozi dumplings
tāng soup jīdàn chicken eggs
ròu meat yā<ròu> duck
zhūròu pork jī<ròu> chicken
niúròu beef yángròu lamb
yú fish hǎixiān seafood
xiārén<r> shimp meat hǎishēn sea cucumber
Notes
a) In combinations, parts of these citation forms are often dropped. In most cases,
it is the second element: niúròu-miàn[tiáo] ‘beef noodles’. But in some cases, it is
the first: niúròu-chǎo [mǐ]fěn ‘beef fried rice-noodles’.
b) On a menu, unspecified ròu usually means ‘pork’.
c) Many Chinese avoid eating beef because of Buddhist tradition, and because of
taboos about killing work animals.
d) Xiā is ‘shrimp’, rén<r> is ‘kernal’, so xiārénr ‘shrimp meat’.
e) Sea cucumber is a euphemistic name for a kind of slug that lives on the bottom
of the sea; eaten fresh, or dried, it is considered a delicacy.
Qīngzhēn xiānjī 'Muslim fresh chicken' at a street stall in Kunming. [JKW 1997]
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4.11.1 Short narratives
a) Zhōngguórén zuì xǐhuan hē shénme?
Yǒu péngyou wèn wǒ Zhōngguó rén zuì xǐhuan hē shénme. Wǒ shuō chuántǒng de
Zhōngguó rén xǐhuan hē chá huòzhě báikāishuǐ, kěshi xiànzài hěn duō Zhōngguó rén yě
xǐhuan hē qìshuǐ, kělè, hé niúnǎi. Zhōngguó nánrén yě xǐhuan hē píjiǔ. Qīngdǎo píjiǔ shi
zuì yǒumíng de Zhōngguó píjiǔ. Wǒ yě xǐhuan hē píjiǔ, kěshì bù néng hē tài duō, yì píng
jiu gòu le! Zǎoshàng, wǒ yĕ hē kāfēi – hē yì bēi wǒ jiù bú huì juéde lèi!
b) Zuì xǐhuan chī shénme?
Nà, Zhōngguó rén zuì xǐhuan chī shénme? Zhè hěn nán shuō. Yīnwèi Zhōngguó rén chī
de dōngxi tài duō le. Kěyǐ shuō běifāng rén bǐjiào xǐhuān chī miànshí, jiùshi yòng
xiǎomàifěn zuò de shípǐn; nánfāng rén ne, tāmen bǐjiào xǐhuan chī mǐfàn. Měitiān
dāngrán chī qīngcài, yě chī yìdiǎnr ròu, xiàng zhūròu, jīròu, niúròu. Ménggǔrén yě tèbié
xǐhuan chī yángròu. Zhōngguó rén yě cháng chī hǎixiān, xiàng yú, xiārénr, hǎishēn. Yě
xǐhuan chī bāozi, jiǎozi; zhèi lèi dōngxi kěyǐ shuō shi Zhōngguó chuántǒng de kuàicān.
Língshí ne, tǐng duō de! Yǒu niúròugānr, guāzǐ<r>, huàméi.
Notes
yǒu péngyou While English comfortably begins a sentence with an indefinite
phrase such as ‘a friend’ or ‘someone’, Chinese makes use of the
existential yǒu ‘there is/are...’: Yǒu rén wèn wǒ ...; Yǒu rén shuō.
chuántǒng SV ‘traditional’.
báikāishuǐ ‘clear boiled water’
miànshí ‘cooked wheaten food’; cf. shípǐn. In Mandarin shí is a combining
root that appears in compounds having to do with food, eg shípǐn,
língshí, below. It is cognate with Cantonese sihk, the verb ‘to eat’.
jiùshi [in this context] ‘ie’
xiǎomài ‘wheat’; cf. dàmài ‘barley’, yànmài ‘oats’, qiáomài ‘buckwheat’
shípǐn ‘food; comestibles’
Ménggǔ Mongolia; cf. Nèi Ménggǔ ‘Inner Mongolia’.
tèbié SV ‘special’; ADV ‘especially’.
zhèi lèi ‘this type’, and particularly in the expression zhèi lèi dōngxi ‘these
sorts ~ categories of things’; cf. zhèi zhǒng ‘this kind’.
kuàicān ‘fast-food’
língshí ‘nibbles; snacks (zero; incidental-food)’
niúròugānr ‘beef jerky’; yí dàir ‘a bag’
guāzǐ<r> ‘water melon seeds’
huàméi ‘preserved plums’; yì bāo ‘a packet’
169
4.12 Pinyin: initial w and y

Though syllables may begin with the vowels a, o, e (eg è, ān, ōu etc.), they do not begin
with i or u. Where medial i and u might occur at the beginning of a syllable, they are
written y and w, respectively. You might think of such cases as follows:
duo, shuo, drop the Ci: uo > wo

xie, bie, drop the Ci: ie > ye
However, if i, u, ü are themselves vowels (as in nǐ, shū, nǚ), then dropping the Ci
would leave only the vowels i, u, and ü, and if these were simply rewritten as y and w,
you would end up with rather curious looking syllables like ‘w’ (shu, drop the Ci to get u
> ‘w’) or ‘wn’ (shun > un > ‘wn’). So in such cases, instead of upgrading i and u to y
and w as before, y and w are added to them:
as a syllable
ji, drop the j: i > yi
jin, drop the j: in > yin
jing, drop the j: ing > ying
shu, drop the sh: u > wu
xu, drop the x: u [ü] > yu
jun, drop the j: un [ün] > yun
xue, drop the x: ue [üe] > yue
There are a few exceptions to the pattern:
>> jiu, drop the j: iu > you; yu is taken [see above]

>> gui, drop the g: ui > wei; no syllable wi; rhymes with ei
>> zhun, drop the zh: un > wen; no syllable ‘wun’; rhymes with en
Yí duì fūfù (‘1 pair husband-wife’) zhǐ shēng yí ge háizi hǎo. [JKW 1997]
170
Exercise 7.
Recognizing foreign place names: With your knowledge of pinyin, see if you can read
out and recognize these Chinese versions of English place names and other English loans:
a) Place names hint English

Fóluólĭdá
Yàlìsāngnà
Măsàzhūsài
Nèibùlàsījiā
Éhài’é
Élègāng Yes, it’s a state.
Zhījiāgē city
Àidīngbăo in Scotland
Hóngdūlāsī Central America
Ālāsījiā
Àodàlìyà
Bāxī
Dálāsī in Texas
Xīn Ào’ěrliáng
Bājīsītăn
b) Common nouns
qiăokelì or zhūgŭlì food
sānmíngzhì food
hànbăobāo
qĭsī ~ zhīshì hànbăobāo
shālā leafy food
pĭsà bĭng fast food (bĭng ‘biscuit; cracker’)
kĕkŏukĕlè
Màidāngláo
Hànbăowáng wáng ‘king’
c) People (Mainland usage)

Shāshìbĭyà
Suŏfēiyà Luólán
Mălóng Báilándù ‘The horror, the horror!’
Àosēn Wēi’ĕrsī
Gélĭgāolì Pàikè
Yīnggélì Bāomán
Luósīfú 4 terms
Gé’ĕrbāqiáofū USSR
Shīwăxīngé ‘I’ll be back – as governor!’
Pàwǎluódì Big stage presence!
_______________________________________________________________________
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4.13 Summary
Existence Zhèr yǒu xĭshŏujiān ma? / Yǒu, xĭshŏujiān zài hòutou.
Location: Zhèr fùjin yǒu Zhōngguó fànguănr ma? / Yǒu liăng ge.
Born in… Tā shēng zài Běijīng, yĕ zhǎng zài Bĕijīng, kĕshi xiànzài zhù zài Xī’ān.
Clock time Xiànzài jǐ diǎn <zhōng> le? / Shí diǎn.
Wŏ wănshàng liăng diǎn shuìjiào, zăoshàng shí diǎn qĭlái.
Habitually Zhōngguó rén píngcháng jǐ diǎn chī zǎodiǎn?
Tickets Guìlín, jīntiān xiàwŭ 3:25, yìngzuò, yì zhāng.
DE Shìjièbēi de xiāoxi; bù hăotīng de yīnyuè
shēngrì de shēng, dàlù de lù
Tā shi IBM de.
No DE tā dìdi; lăo péngyou; zhème duō xíngli
Names Guìxìng? / Wŏ xìng Bái, jiào Bái Sùzhēn.
Age Nín <niánjì> duō dà le? / Zhǐ yǒu shíqī suì.
Sign Nĭ <shi> shǔ shénme de? / Shǔ mǎ de.
Level Nĭ shi jǐ niánjí de xuésheng? / Sān niánjí de.
Major Zhuānyè shi shénme? / Shi wùlĭ.
Department Nĭ zài nĕi ge xì? ~ Nĭ shi nĕi ge xì de?
Zài + V Tā hái zài dúshū.
Studying Tā zài túshūguăn xuéxí.
Titles Lĭ xiàozhăng; Qián jīnglĭ
Introductions Zhāng lăoshī, wŏ gĕi nĭ jièshao jièshao; zhè<i wèi> shi…
Nice to meet.. Jiŭyăng, jiŭyăng; hĕn gāoxìng rènshi nĭ.
Understand? Kàndedǒng ma? / Néng kàndŏng yìdiănr.
Work Tā zài Cháng Chūn gōngzuò. / Tā gàn shénme huó ne?
Used to doing Zhōngguó cài nĭ chīdeguàn ma?
Rice, wheat Běifāng rén bǐjiào xǐhuān chī miàntiáo, nánfāng rén bǐjiào xǐhuān chī
mǐfàn.
Someone… Yǒu rén wèn wǒ….
Exercise 8
Vocabularly practice: Incorporate each of the following in a brief phrase that shows you
know the meaning, eg: shàngwŭ > jīntiān shàngwŭ.
juéde jièshao fēicháng jīchǎng

yàoshi yǐjing yídìng yígòng
xiāoxi xiànzài mǐfěn máfan
yìqiān yǐqián qiánmiàn mùqián
shíchā zhuānyè shàngwŭ xiàwŭ
duōshao dōu shì zuǒbianr gànhuó<r>
jiŭyăng yángjiǔ shàngbān jīngcháng
zhōngwŭ Zhōngwén zhōngtou zhōngbù
bàngōngshì yánjiūshēng jīchǎng chǎngzhǎng
niánjì mǐfàn xīfàn yĕxŭ
172

a) First, a traditional rhyme for the (lunar) new year which mentions several new-year
customs, such as buying new clothes and setting off fire crackers.
Xīnnián dào, xīnnián dào, New year arrives, new year arrives
chuān xīn yī, dài xīn mào, wear new clothes, wear new hat
pīpī pāpā fàng biānpào! pipi papa set-off firecrackers.
b) This next rhyme tells the story of life in a factory – from the workers’ point of view:
Èrlóu sānlóu, chángzhǎng shūjì 2nd floor, 3rd floor, factory-head sect’y
sìlóu, wǔlóu, qīnqi guānxi, 4th floor, 5th floor, kin connections
gōngrén jiējí, dǐngtiān-lìdì, workers (social) class, salt-of-the-earth
zhīzú chánglè, zán bù shēngqì. be content with one’s lot, we not angry.
[Overheard at a seminar on Chinese language teaching, Harvard, 2002.]

Notes:
shūjì secretary of a political or other organization (‘book-note+down’)
dǐngtiān-lìdì be of indomitable spirit (‘support-sky set+up-ground’)
zhīzú chánglè be content with one’s lot and be happy (‘know-enough happiness’)
zán a reduced form of zámen

1. Courses of study
yŭyánxué linguistics (language-study)
wénxué literature (writing-study)
bĭjiào-wénxué comparative literature
lìshĭ<xué> history
rénlèixué anthropology (man-kind)
yīnyuè music
shāngyè business (business-occupation)
guănlĭ<xué> management (manage-study)
chéngshì-guǎnlǐxué urban planning (city-manage-study)
jiànzhù<xué> architecture
jīngjì<xué> economics
wùlĭ<xué> physics (things-principles)
huàxué chemistry (transformation-study)
shēngwù<xué> biology (life-matter)
yíchuánxué ~ jīyīnxué genetics (heredity-study ~ gene-study)
dànǎo-rènzhīxué brain and cognitive science
shùxué mathematics (number-study)
yīxué medicine
173
engineering
gōngchéng<xué> engineering
jìsuànjī<xué> [Mainland] computer science (calculate+machine)
diànnăo<xué> [Taiwan] computer science (electric-brain)
diànzĭ gōngchéng<xué> electrical engineering
tŭmù gōngchéng<xué> civil engineering (earth-wood)
jīxiè gōngchéng<xué> mechanical engineering
hángkōng gōngchéng<xué> aeronautical engineering
hángkōng hángtiān<xué> aero-astro (aviation space+flight)
cáiliào gōngchéng<xué> material science (material engineering)
2. The names of universities

Most non-Chinese universities have sinicized versions of their names, eg: Gēlúnbǐyà
Dàxué ‘Columbia University’. There are some exceptions: the Chinese names for Oxford
and Cambridge Universities are translations of their etymological meanings, ie Niú Jīn
‘Ox-Ford’ and Jiàn Qiáo ‘Cam-Bridge’ [the Cam being the name of the river that runs
through Cambridge]. MIT is also translated: Máshěng Lǐgōng Xuéyuàn, literally
‘Massachusetts Science Institute’. The names of Chinese Universities often combine a
location with dàxué ‘university (big-learning)’. Some university names can be shortened:
eg Běijīng Dàxué > Běi Dà; Táiwān Dàxué > Tái Dà. Here, for reference, are the names
of some other well-known universities:
a) Non-Chinese
Kāngnǎi’ěr Dàxué ~ Kāng Dà Cornell University
Gēlúnbǐyà Dàxué ~ Gē Dà Columbia University
Hāfó Dàxué Harvard University
Yēlǔ Dàxué Yale University
Pǔlínsīdùn Dàxué Princeton University
Dùkè Dàxué Duke University
Shǐtǎnfú ~ Sītǎnfú Stanford University
Bókèlì Dàxué UC Berkeley
Mìxīgēn Dàxué University of Michigan
Míngdé Dàxué ~ Míng Dà Middlebury College, Vermont
Lúndūn Dàxué London University
Niú Jīn Dàxué Oxford University
Jiàn Qiáo Dàxué Cambridge University
Àozhōu Guólì Dàxué (Ào Dà) Australian National University (ANU)
b) Chinese:
Běijīng Dàxué ~ Běi Dà Peking University, in n.w. Beijing
Qīnghuá Dàxué Tsinghua University, in n.w. Beijing
Běijīng Shīfàn Dàxué ~ Běishī Dà Beijing Normal University
Běijīng Hángkōng (Hángtiān) Dàxué Beijing University of Aeronautics [and
~ Háng Dà Astronautics]
174
Rénmín Dàxué ~ Rén Dà People’s University, Beijing

Nánkāi Dàxué (~ Nándà) Nankai University, in Tianjin
Nánjīng Dàxué ~ Nándà Nanjing University, in Nanjing
Fùdàn Dàxué Fudan University, in Shanghai
Jiāotōng Dàxué Shanghai Jiaotang (‘Communications’) U.
Zhōngshān Dàxué Sun Yat-sen University, Canton
Guólì Táiwān Dàxué~ Tái Dà National Taiwan University, in Taibei

Though it is peculiar to present surnames as sound alone, without characters, it is useful
for learners to be familiar with the pronunciation of at least the most common surnames.
So 45 names (including those already encountered) are provided below. They are
organized in groups of 10, each with an exemplar from Chinese history. The frequency
list of surnames is taken from Shan Lin’s What’s in a Chinese Name (Singapore: Federal
Publications, 1981). According to this book, the first 10 names account for 40% of the
population, the second 10, for 10%, the third ten, for 10% and the all 45, for 70% of the
population (p.17).
Since many Chinese resident in the US and Europe are of Cantonese or other heritage, the
varied spelling of surnames frequently conforms to the sound of regional languages. To
give some sense of this range, Cantonese pronunciations are also provided, on the right,
in the Yale system of romanization. In this system, Cantonese is analyzed as having three
tones in two registers, one high and one low. The high set is marked as á, a, and à, and
the low set as áh, ah, and àh (with ‘a’ standing in for all vowels).
Xìng Example Cantonese pronunciation
Zhāng Zhāng Xuéliáng (1901 - 2001 ) NE China leader in 1920s Jeùng

Wáng Wáng Ānshí (1021 - 1081) poet and reformer Wòhng
Lǐ Lǐ Sī (3rd C BCE) chancellor to Qín emperor Leíh
Zhào Zhào Zǐyáng (1919 - 2005) PRC politician Jiuh
Chén Chén Yì (1901 - 72) PRC military commander Chàhn
Yáng Yáng Guìfēi (8th C) famous concubine Yeùhng
Wú Wú Sānguī (17th C ) general who ‘let the Manchus in’ Ngh (`)
Liú Liú Bāng (247-195 BCE) 1st emperor of Hàn Laùh
Huáng Huángdì (trad. 2698 - 2598 BCE) Yellow Emperor Wòhng
Zhōu Zhōu Ēnlái (1898 -1976) first PRC premier Jaù
Xú Xú Zhìmó (1896 - 1931) poet and essayist Cheuìh

Zhū Zhū Yuánzhāng (1328 - 1399 ) 1st Ming emperor Jyù
Lín Lín Biāo (1907 - 1971) once designated to succeed Máo Làhm
Sūn Sūn Yìxiān (1866 -1925) Sun Yat Sen aka Sūn Zhōngshān Syùn
Mǎ Mǎ Yuán (14BCE - 49) conqueror of Vietnam in 42 AD Máh
Gāo Gāo Chái (6th C BCE) a disciple of Confucius Goù
Hú Hú Shì (1891 - 1962) promoted vernacular writing Wùh
175
Zhèng Zhèng Hé (15th C) led voyages to SEA and Africa Jehng

Guō Guō Mòruò (1892 -1978) playwrite, writer Gok
Xiāo Xiāo Hé (2nd C BCE) advisor to Liú Bāng Siù
Xiè Xiè Xiǎo’é (8th, 9th C) avenged death of kin Jeh
Hé Hé Diǎn (436 - 504) reclusive scholar Hòh
Xǔ Xǔ Xùn (240 - 374) magician and dragon slayer Heúi
Sòng Sòng Qínglíng (1892 -1982) wife of Sun Yatsen Sung
Shěn Shěn Yuē (441 - 513) scholar with double-pupil eyes Sám
Luó Luó Gōngyuǎn (8th C?) magician Lòh
Hán Hán Yù (768 - 824) Tang scholar Hòhn
Dèng Dèng Xiǎopíng (1904 -1997) post-Mao leader Dahng
Liáng Liáng Qǐchāo (1873 -1929) early 20th C intellectual Leùhng
Yè Yè Míngshēn (1807 - 60) Governer of Canton Yihp
Fāng Fāng Guózhēn (14th C) pirate, and governor Fòng

Cuī Cuī Jiàn, PRC’s first major rock star Cheùi
Chéng Chéng Miǎo (3rd C BCE) inventor of small seal characters Chìhng
Pān Pān Fēi (5th-6th C) concubine, intro’ foot binding? Poòn
Cáo Cáo Cāo (155 - 220) general from 3 Kingdoms period Chouh
Feng Féng Yǒulán (1895 -1990) philospher Fuhng
Wāng Wāng Lái (18th C) mathematician Wòng
Cài Cài Shùn (1st C) one of the 24 examples of filialpiety Choi
Yuán Yuán Shìkǎi (1859 -1916) first president of ROC Yùhn
Lú Lú Shēng (8th C) young lad in the Dream of Yellow Millet Loùh
Táng Táng Yín (1470 -1523) scholar and painter (Sūzhōu school) Tòhng
Qián Qián Liú (851 - 932) warrior prince Chìhn
Dù Dù Fǔ (712 -70) reknowned poet Douh
Péng Péng Zǔ (2nd millennium BCE) a Chinese Methuselah Pàhng
th
Lù Lù Yú (9 C) famous hermit Luhk
176
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu
Resource: Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin

Dr. Julian K. Wheatley
The following may not correspond to a particular course on MIT OpenCourseWare, but has been
provided by the author as an individual learning resource.
For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.

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LEARNING CHINESE

A FOUNDATION COURSE IN MANDARIN

I. Units 1-4 / Chars 1-3

Yǒngwǎng zhíqián (‘bravely go forwards’)

The author gratefully acknowledges initial support from

Genesis and acknowledgements

It is not exaggeration to say that everyone associated with MIT’s Chinese

The essential features of

1. It is for a diverse audience.

2. It has a discursive style, with content woven into units.

4. Its contents are easily transformed into classroom activities.

5. It can be used for self-instruction.

6. Its character lessons can be omitted or used independently.

7. It emphasizes reading skills over writing; it teaches simplified and traditional

8. It uses an inductive approach to promote character reading.

9. It accommodates supplementary material.

10. It is accompanied by a learning/testing program called flashCube.

Background (15 pp)

3. The written language

5. Further Reading and References

Sounds and symbols (18 pp)

6 Writing connected text in pinyin

7 Recapitulation Ex. 7a-h

UNIT 1 (24 pp)

1.3 Numbering and ordering

1.4 Stative Verbs

1.5 Time and tense

1.7 Action verbs

1.8 Conventional Greetings

1.9 Greeting and taking leave

1.12 Rhymes and Rhythms

Chars 1 (23 pp); character sheets (6 pp)

1.1 General features of Chinese texts

1.2 The form of characters

1.5 Presentation of characters

1.6 Numbers Ex. 1a,b

1.7 Dates Ex. 2a,b

1.8 Days Ex. 3

1.9 Surnames and pronouns

1.10 More pronouns and function words

1.11 SVs and associated function words

1.12 Action verbs and associated function words

1.13 On the streets

Unit 2 (31 pp)

2.3 More SVs

2.4 Nouns and modification

2.6 Names and titles

2.7 Location and existence

2.9 Dialogue: at the airport Ex. 6a,b

2.10 Reflections: What have you learned?

2.11 Pinyin notes and practice

2.13 Rhymes and rhythms

Chars 2 (26 pp); character sheets (7 pp)

2.1 First set

2.2 Second set

2.3 Third set

2.4 Fourth set

2.5 Form of characters

2.7 On the street #2