This article describes the grammar of Standard Mandarin. For the grammars of other forms of Chinese, see their respective articles via links on Chinese language and Spoken Chinese.
Chinese grammar—here referring to that of Standard Mandarin—shares a similar system of grammar with the many language varieties or dialects of the Chinese language, different from those employed by other language families, and comparable to the similar features found within, for instance, the Slavic languages or Semitic languages. Beyond genetic similarities within the Sino-Tibetan language family to which Chinese belongs, there are also strong similarities within the East Asian sprachbund, a group of mutually-influenced but not directly related languages, including Japanese and Korean.
One key feature of Chinese grammar is that all words have only one grammatical form, as the language lacks conjugation, declension, or any other inflection (there are minor exceptions). Functions such as number in nouns or tense in verbs are expressed through word order or particles. In other words, where nouns in other languages might be distinguished by singular and plural ("woman" and "women") or verbs by number or person ("I go", "he goes"), Chinese lexemes are typically invariant.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Bainian - Chinese New Year Greetings
When the first day of a new year comes, the first thing Chinese would do is Bainian, Chinese New Year greetings.
As Chinese would stay up on the New Year’s Eve till the early morning of the first day of the new year, when the very moment of the new year arrives people would say ‘Bainian, Bainian’to everyone around and some auspicious phrases, known as Chinese wishing, such as Gong Xi Fa Cai (wish you make plenty of money), Ji Xiang Ru Yi (wish you be lucky and everything goes as wished), He Jia Huan Le (wish your family is harmonious and every family member is happy), and Shen Ti Jian Kang (wish you healthy).
On the first day after getting up, kids should go Bainian to their grandparents and everyone to his/her parents. In the ancient times, the gesture that kids would make to their grandparents is Ketou, falling on kneels and placing palms and forehead downward onto the ground. And the wishes to the aged family members are always related health and longevity. When greeting people of the same age, Chinese would Zuoyi, making a bow with hands folded in front and also say something sounding auspicious.
If you are interested in learning more about this or related Chinese Greetings topics, take a FREE one-on-one live online lesson with a professional teacher in Beijing! (http://www.eChineseLearning.com)
As Chinese would stay up on the New Year’s Eve till the early morning of the first day of the new year, when the very moment of the new year arrives people would say ‘Bainian, Bainian’to everyone around and some auspicious phrases, known as Chinese wishing, such as Gong Xi Fa Cai (wish you make plenty of money), Ji Xiang Ru Yi (wish you be lucky and everything goes as wished), He Jia Huan Le (wish your family is harmonious and every family member is happy), and Shen Ti Jian Kang (wish you healthy).
On the first day after getting up, kids should go Bainian to their grandparents and everyone to his/her parents. In the ancient times, the gesture that kids would make to their grandparents is Ketou, falling on kneels and placing palms and forehead downward onto the ground. And the wishes to the aged family members are always related health and longevity. When greeting people of the same age, Chinese would Zuoyi, making a bow with hands folded in front and also say something sounding auspicious.
If you are interested in learning more about this or related Chinese Greetings topics, take a FREE one-on-one live online lesson with a professional teacher in Beijing! (http://www.eChineseLearning.com)
The Year of Niu - Chinese Ox Year
Chinese new year 2009 falls on January 26, 2009 when Chinese twelve-year circle will roll into the year of ox. In Chinese language, ox is pronounced as Niu. Niu, as an animal in general, was playing the role of dragging a plough in field before the invention of modern industrialized farm tools in Chinese history. The image of Niu in Chinese culture is hard-working and down-to-earth so that it is highly respected by Chinese.
When there are different terms, such as ox, bull, cattle, etc., to refer to different species of one kind, there is only one, Niu, for all those terms. And in Chinese there is no special term for beef but just the addition of a word, Rou which means meat in general, to Niu that forms a phrase of Niu Rou. Bull market in Chinese is called Niu Shi with shi standing for market. Niu is also a family name in China and a commonly used one.
Thanks to the shape of Niu, being strong and muscular, and its powerful moos, Niu has become a new slang frequently used by Chinese young and more and more Chinese of all ages. It, functioning as an adjective, is used to praise a capable person. And in most cases it is used humorously. Particularly, when the year of ox is coming around, Chinese are saying greetings mixing Niu the symbolic animal of the year and Niu the popularly used slang, such as wish you be Niu in the year of Niu, which means wish you a success in the year of ox.
If you are interested in learning more about this or related Chinese new year topics, take a FREE one-on-one live online lesson with a professional teacher in Beijing! (http://www.eChineseLearning.com)
When there are different terms, such as ox, bull, cattle, etc., to refer to different species of one kind, there is only one, Niu, for all those terms. And in Chinese there is no special term for beef but just the addition of a word, Rou which means meat in general, to Niu that forms a phrase of Niu Rou. Bull market in Chinese is called Niu Shi with shi standing for market. Niu is also a family name in China and a commonly used one.
Thanks to the shape of Niu, being strong and muscular, and its powerful moos, Niu has become a new slang frequently used by Chinese young and more and more Chinese of all ages. It, functioning as an adjective, is used to praise a capable person. And in most cases it is used humorously. Particularly, when the year of ox is coming around, Chinese are saying greetings mixing Niu the symbolic animal of the year and Niu the popularly used slang, such as wish you be Niu in the year of Niu, which means wish you a success in the year of ox.
If you are interested in learning more about this or related Chinese new year topics, take a FREE one-on-one live online lesson with a professional teacher in Beijing! (http://www.eChineseLearning.com)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Chinese Culture_Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（满月）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵节）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（万物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
Want to learn more? Ok, learn Chinese with eChineselearning: http://www.echineselearning.com
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（万物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
Want to learn more? Ok, learn Chinese with eChineselearning: http://www.echineselearning.com
Monday, January 5, 2009
Strokes of Chinese Characters
Every Chinese character is made up of a number of strokes, or single movements of the pen or writing brush. The order and direction in which the strokes are made are very important in producing uniform characters, and learning the basic rules of stroke order can also ease the process of learning to write.
In general -- and there are exceptions -- characters are written from left to right and top to bottom, and horizontal strokes before vertical ones. The outsides of enclosed characters are written before the insides, and dots, strokes that cut through a character, minor strokes and bottom enclosing strokes are written last.
Entering : http://www.echineselearning.com/?a_aid=1007 to learn more.
In general -- and there are exceptions -- characters are written from left to right and top to bottom, and horizontal strokes before vertical ones. The outsides of enclosed characters are written before the insides, and dots, strokes that cut through a character, minor strokes and bottom enclosing strokes are written last.
Entering : http://www.echineselearning.com/?a_aid=1007 to learn more.
流行词语Popular Words
Quán tou chăn pǐn拳头产品High quality product/s
Jià rì jīng jì假日经济Holiday economics. Refers to business peak periods which are usually holiday and festive seasons
Rè mén huà tí热门话题A popular topic; a subject of topical interest
Hōng dòng xiào yīng轰动效应A sensational effect
gōng zhòng rén wù公众人物A public figure; someone in the public eye
bó kè博 客Blog
lìng lèi另 类Out of the ordinary; different from the norm
huí tiē回 贴To write or give a response (on the Internet)
yù mèn郁 闷Gloomy; depressed
tòng biăn痛 扁To give someone a good or sound beating
Entering : http://www.echineselearning.com/?a_aid=1007 to learn more.
Jià rì jīng jì假日经济Holiday economics. Refers to business peak periods which are usually holiday and festive seasons
Rè mén huà tí热门话题A popular topic; a subject of topical interest
Hōng dòng xiào yīng轰动效应A sensational effect
gōng zhòng rén wù公众人物A public figure; someone in the public eye
bó kè博 客Blog
lìng lèi另 类Out of the ordinary; different from the norm
huí tiē回 贴To write or give a response (on the Internet)
yù mèn郁 闷Gloomy; depressed
tòng biăn痛 扁To give someone a good or sound beating
Entering : http://www.echineselearning.com/?a_aid=1007 to learn more.
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