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Thread: Question for Chinese Speakers

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by TenTigers
    Mandarin is the language of the Chings who occupied China
    Not so! The Manchu (Qing) were foreigners when they entered the Han homeland. Former horse steppe peoples, as they became more sedentary, they began to adopt a 'civilized' outlook and adopted many Han customs and intermarried with the locals. Their allies were the Mongols, in most cases hence the favourism of Buddhism within the Manchu worldview. Their language is a Turkic??-Mongol base and perhaps it was integration/development of putonghua with Turkic??-Mongol structure that made the language as we know today.

    It may be that the North vs South crisis that elevates the language problem but it ixists in many cultures. Being the center/industrial base/major capital of a country carries a "psychic" crown as in the Beijing (this case) being the capital, carreis more weight in the language realm.
    Using Italy as an example, you have the same North vs South dynamic! Northerners are transplanted Germans integrated into the Italian landscape and therefore more industrious than the Southerners, who like to "waste time" (allegedly), speak terribly, drink wine like water, chase women and like to lie in the shade! Northerns, of any locale, are rude, serious, formal, etc while the Southerners are easy going, smile alot, take their time on accomplishing tasks, etc.

  2. #17
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    My Students girlfriend is Mandarin from Shanghai.....she literally hates everything Cantonese, and actually fights alot with my student cause everything we do in Chinatown in Cantonese.

    Actually, personally, i don't like Mandarin language. I know it has its place, but to me its for woman.....its toooooo.......swishy shwah........
    Hung Sing Boyz, we gottit on lock down
    when he's around quick to ground and pound a clown
    Bruh we thought you knew better
    when it comes to head huntin, ain't no one can do it better

  3. #18
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    tell that to 1.5 billion people
    得 心 應 手

    蔡 李 佛 中 國 武 術 學 院 - ( 南 非 )

  4. #19
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    i know people went with the flow.....i still prefer the cantonese way though.

    i like cantonese girls better as well. will NEVER date a mandarin girl.....EVER!
    Hung Sing Boyz, we gottit on lock down
    when he's around quick to ground and pound a clown
    Bruh we thought you knew better
    when it comes to head huntin, ain't no one can do it better

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eddie View Post
    tell that to 1.5 billion people
    If 1.5 billion people jumped off a bridge, would you?
    The weakest of all weak things is a virtue that has not been tested in the fire.
    ~ Mark Twain

    Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit.
    ~ Joe Lewis

    A warrior may choose pacifism; others are condemned to it.
    ~ Author unknown

    "You don't feel lonely.Because you have a lively monkey"

    "Ninja can HURT the Spartan, but the Spartan can KILL the Ninja"

  6. #21
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    i know, but least i can communicate with more than half the planet

    point is, learning cantonese will just take you so far. In china they dont really speak cantonese outside of guandong and a few other places.

    but this is not about which lingo is better. that would be silly.

    I speak a dialect of Dutch/Flemish, which is hardly spoken elsewhere in the world. When I speak, all my dutch and felimish buddies knows instantaneously that its different than theirs. I think our language is much cooler and sounds sexier, but that doesnt make an y difference to anything else.



    BTW - Omars post was really cool. I learned about the origins of the name Mandarin. Many of the students asked me before, and I thought it was just some kind of word. Thanks Omar.
    得 心 應 手

    蔡 李 佛 中 國 武 術 學 院 - ( 南 非 )

  7. #22
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    Much obliged.

    Here it is in Chinese:

    满大人

    满(man) 大(da) 人(ren)

    p.s.
    etymology online disagrees with me.
    http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mandarin
    The pronunciation of the word may just be a really incredible coincidence.
    "Chinese official," 1580s, via Port. mandarim or Du. mandorijn from Malay mantri, from Hindi mantri "councilor, minister of state," from Skt. mantri, nom. of mantrin- "advisor," from mantra "counsel," from PIE base *men- "to think" (see mind). Form influenced in Portuguese by mandar "to command, order." Used generically for the several grades of Chinese officials; sense of "chief dialect of Chinese" (spoken by officials and educated people) is from c.1600. The type of small, deep-colored orange so called from 1771, from resemblance of its color to that of robes worn by mandarins.
    I may have to eat my words. Looks like it actually comes from the root verb "mandar" - to order

    I feel stupid.
    Last edited by omarthefish; 05-06-2010 at 05:53 PM.

  8. #23
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    yeah i got it last night. thanks man
    得 心 應 手

    蔡 李 佛 中 國 武 術 學 院 - ( 南 非 )

  9. #24
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    meh.

    At least my main point stands which is that the language has nothing to do with the Manchurians. Those guys still speak an altaic language.


  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by omarthefish View Post
    Much obliged.

    Here it is in Chinese:

    满大人

    满(man) 大(da) 人(ren)

    p.s.
    etymology online disagrees with me.
    http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mandarin
    The pronunciation of the word may just be a really incredible coincidence.

    I may have to eat my words. Looks like it actually comes from the root verb "mandar" - to order
    Linguistically, one MAY see a pattern!

    Big (da) man (literal-no translation) people Leader / Authority as in mandar!

  11. #26
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    No.

    I have to completely reverse my position from that original post. The coincidence seems persuasive at first glance and I actually discovered my mistake on a Chinese discussion board with the topic title, "Mandarin does not mean Man-Da-Ren!!!" (Mandarin 并不是满大人的意思!!!)

    The Manchurians have been called "Man" by the Han Chinese since way before the Portuguese came over and started calling anyone "Mandarim". Once you take a look at the timelines and compare the two arguments, it's really clear that the Chinese phonetic coincidence is just that...a coincidence. It's instinctively persuasive but doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

    I'm sorry that I repeated the myth couple posts back.

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