Varieties of Spoken Standard Chinese: Volume 1 A speaker from Tianjin 9783111558424, 9783111187877

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Varieties of Spoken Standard Chinese

Publications in Modern Chinese Language and Literature Publications in Modem Chinese Language and Literature is a new series intended for intermediate- and advanced-level students and teachers of Chinese, as well as for others who may be interested in modern Chinese studies from a disciplinary viewpoint of linguistics or comparative literature. In the light of rapidly expanding cultural contacts between China and the West, there is a clear need for newly designed, systematic study materials which will reflect the ever-widening range of linguistic and literary realities facing the contemporary student or scholar. The aim of the editors is to produce readable, reasonably priced books of responsible scholarly content which will be suitable for use either as classroom textbooks or as introductions-in-depth to specific areas of language and literature which are treated inadequately, or not at all, in other sources. Editors: James C.P. Liang Lloyd Haft Sinological Institute University of Leyden P.O.Box 9515 2300 RA Leyden, the Netherlands

James CP. Liang John DeFrancis Y.tì. Han

VARIETIES OF SPOKEN STANDARD CHINESE Volume I: A Speaker from Tianjin

1982 FORIS PUBLICATIONS Dordrecht-Holland/Cinnaminsin-U.S.A.

Published by: Foris Publications Holland P.O. Box 509 3300 AM Dordrecht, The Netherlands Sole distributor for the USA. and Canada: Foris Publications U.S.A. P.O. Box C-50 Cinnaminson N.J. 08077 U.S.A.

A cassette-tape of the conversation between two native speakers is available from the publisher at the special price of Dfl. 10,— or $5,— plus postage.

ISBN 90 70176 66 1 (Bound) ISBN 90 70176 67 x (Paper) © James C.P. Liang No part of this book and the accompanying tape may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the Netherlands by Intercontinental Graphics, H.I. Ambacht.

Contents Preface Introduction The Tape/6 The Transcription/7 The Annotations/8 The Tianjin Dialect/9 A Conversation on Xiàngsheng Annotations

Preface The great majority of Chinese speak standard Chinese with a dialectal accent, which may be so mild as to be scarcely noticeable or so heavy as to make normal conversation impractical. These accented speech variants a r e usually unknown even to an advanced western student of Chinese until he a r r i v e s in China and finds himself experiencing much difficulty in communication. To p r e p a r e students to cope realistically with actual speech situations, we have decided to design a set of m a t e r i a l s specifically for the training of comprehension in standard Chinese a s spoken by native speakers of varying dialectal background. This f i r s t volume introduces a taped conversation between two native speakers on the subject of xiangsheng. One of the speakers speaks standard Chinese; the other speaks standard Chinese in the accent of the Tianjin dialect. The xiangsheng or comic dialogue has been a popular folk a r t enjoyed by high and low alike in China f o r many centuries. It is a composite form of many genres of artistic expression. Above all, it is a spoken art, or an art form the successful performance of which depends almost exclusively on the linguistic skill of the p e r f o r m e r s . As such, we think it is a good medium not only f o r the teaching of some aspects of modern spoken Chinese but also for introducing the students to one facet of Chinese cultural life. The content of a xiangsheng is always humorous; it thus serves the further function of ameliorating the monotony of the classroom. In the conversation presented here, various aspects of xiangsheng a r e explored: historical background, social setting, composition, and techniques. P a s sages of a taped professional performance a r e inserted at appropriate points f o r purposes of illustration. U s e r s of this m a t e r i a l should benefit in two ways: the exposure to features of spoken Chinese not heretofore treated in textbooks, and the pleasure of acquaintance with an art form dear to the heart of the Chinese. Mr. Han, in addition to being one of the two speakers for the tape, endured, in the capacity of native informant, hours and hours of questioning regarding his intuitions on the use of spoken Chinese, particularly of the Tianjin dialect, his mother tongue. He also provided the c h a r a c t e r s f o r the annotations. Professor DeFrancis joined the project shortly a f t e r the recording was made, and spent nearly t h r e e months working in Leiden. He meticulously checked the t r a n s c r i p tion, shaped the annotations into the next-to-final stage, and directed my attention to many points of importance in the structures of spoken Chinese. Indeed, t h e r e is virtually no point in these two sections which did not receive his repeated examination and scrupulous consideration. The conception of this project (see also the Introduction) and its execution in published form a r e my contributions — a fact which, incidentally, requires m e to claim full responsibility f o r all e r r o r s of omission and commission. Sinologisch Instituut Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden

J. C. P. Liang

1982

1

Introduction Textbooks on modern Chinese currently used in universities in the Wfest present a language that is largely fictionalized: it is formal, it is educated, and above all, it is regional. That is, it is a language of educated Pekingese speakers on formal or semi-formal occasions. On the phonological level, this language seems to exist in dictionaries in that every syllable, as the pronunciation of each word is found there, demands full enunciation and little account is given to phenomena such as assimilation, intonation contours, and variations of other kinds. The vocabulary becomes progressively more learned and academic, at once c r e ating an ever wider distance from daily speech and failing to give due attention to usages of simple vocabulary that are idiomatic, dialectical, or idiosyncratic in nature. Above all, only well-formed sentences are presented, thus giving the impression that a Chinese always speaks with perfect grammar. Little attempt has been made to expose students of Chinese to such commonplace phenomena as deletion, repetition, false starts, displaced elements, etc., that are character istic of the so-called broken sentences occurring in actual spoken speech in any language. The result is that the language we teach with the current textbooks is an abstracted version of Chinese, much as a vintage wine is a product of grape juice. Factors of time and place have been largely responsible for this situation. For decades, western sinologists were restricted to doing their work in libraries in their home countries, and had no visible hope of journeying through China for any purpose. They needed to learn Chinese as a tool for their research, and our textbooks were developed to meet this need. However, this rather monastic approach is daily becoming unrealistic in view of the changing world situation, and written literature will no longer be the sole source of information on China. As time marches onward, an increasing number of China specialists will be faced with the need for personal contacts, field investigations, and many other activities that can only be achieved on location. Such a prospect requires a different view of the teaching of the Chinese language: attempts must be made soon to equip members of this field with the spoken skills necessary for their tasks. Conditional to any such attempt is, however, a more realistic recognition of the nature of the speech community in China herself. Four major language families are represented in China — in receding order of importance, the Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, Indo-European, and Austro-asiatic. The Sino-Tibetan is numerically as well as in area the most important, with the Altaic family forming a belt along the northern border from Inner Mongolia to the province of Xinjiang and the Indo-European and the Austro-asiatic each occupying a small pocket respectively at the extreme western and southern tips of the country. The Tibetan branch of the Sino-Tibetan family occupies a vast territory (approximately 1/4 of the Chinese continent), but is spoken by no more than one percent of the population. Over 95% of the population speak one or another of the many tongues which are collectively known as Chinese.

3

Chinese, however, is by no means a monolithic tongue spoken by one billion people. Indeed, t h e r e a r e in China many dialects which a r e not mutually intelligible. In fact, if mutual intelligibility is taken as a criterion, the t e r m ' d i a l e c t ' is a misnomer with respect to the l a r g e r divisions of the Chinese community, and should be understood as meaning 'language'. Yet the common script, which constitutes something of a thoroughfare among a myriad of patois much in the same sense as the Arabic numerals unite western mathematics, introduces a strong intuitive bias for the retention of this t e r m . Terminological difficulties notwithstanding, Chinese is traditionally seen as encompassing seven m a j o r groups of dialects, each with its own t e r r i t o r i a l distribution: 1) H&n:

Northern Mandarin: Manchuria and the provinces of Hebei, Henan, and_Shand5ng Northwestern Mandarin: Shanxi, Shanxi, and Gansu Southwestern Mandarin: Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, _and Yunnan Eastern Mandarin: Anhui and the northern part of Jiang su

2) Wu:

Two varieties centering respectively around Shanghai and Wenzhou

3) Xiang:

Hunan

4) Gin:

Northern Jiangxf

5) Hakka:

Southern Jiangxf and northern Guangdong

6) Min:

Fujisln

7) Yufe:

Guangdong and Guangxr

Even within the same dialect group, the differences between two sub-dialects may be so great as to deny two un-initiated speakers any degree of mutual comprehension (e. g . , the Shanghai and the Wenzhou sub-dialects of the Wu group). Still further, the variant tongues within a single sub-dialect may be sufficiently different to make understanding difficult to an unpracticed ear (e. g . , Hebei and Henan). Finally, the local patois within a province such as Hebei a r e different enough to c r e a t e problems. Among native speakers, such accents may provoke no m o r e than amusement, ridicule, social discrimination, or even an occasional point of confusion, but, f o r a student of Chinese from a foreign country, m o r e often than not, a nearly total blockage in comprehension may be expected to result. F o r almost a century now, efforts have been made in China to promote a standard tongue (known at different stages in time a s guanhuk, guoyu, and c u r rently put5nghu&) for the whole of the country, the most vigorous attempt having been in existence for the past three decades. This standard Chinese i s officially defined in two respects: phonologically, it takes the sounds of Pekingese a s its base, and lexically, it incorporates expressions from other dialects.

4

The net result of a definition such as this is the creation of an artificial language which is neither native to anyone outside the city of Peking nor to the Pekingese themselves, as the language by definition tolerates an unstated (albeit small) number of phonological features from elsewhere. The Pekingese, then, must learn to incorporate these "foreign" elements into their speech; and a person of any dialectical background other than Pekingese has considerably more to master in his learning of this standard language. In this sense, it is almost imperative to conclude that every Chinese person is at least bi-lingual, as his mother tongue, no matter what it is, cannot be the same as the language he must acquire in order to enter society. As no two individuals can be said to be identically equipped in terms of linguistic ability, we naturally observe varying degrees of control of the acquired language. It should, therefore, come as no surprise to a western student of Chinese that, upon arrival in China, he is confronted not with one single standard tongue but with a host of standard tongues, none of which is, alas, corroborated by his previous experience in the classroom. It costs him, initially, much time and energy to orient himself to his immediate speech environment, and as his sphere of activity broadens, he undergoes an ever-widening struggle in coping with new linguistic experiences. The exceptional individual may in time become a sort of polyglot in Chinese, but the greatest majority will probably gain competence in deciphering only a small number of these dialectical variations, and remain permanently deaf to the rest. The present book, with its accompanying tape, is the first installment of a projected series of materials focusing specifically on standard Chinese as it is spoken by people of different dialectical backgrounds. It must be stated in the strongest terms possible that this set of material is not meant for the teaching of the Chinese dialects themselves. Instead, the intention is to expose a western student to a selected sample of dialect-flavored, or mildly accented, varieties of standard spoken Chinese before he goes to China. The material will minimally present speech samples of all seven major dialect backgrounds, with each being treated in a monograph with an accompanying taped conversation. For a dialect group which has many sub-dialects, where these sub-dialects are sufficiently different from standard Chinese, there may be additional treatments of some subdialects. The present book is a case in point, and presents the speech of the city of Tianjin. The selection of the Tianjin speech as the subject of study rests on both its difference from and its similarity to standard Chinese. The city of Tianjin is only 75 miles southeast of Peking, and its speech is still sufficiently close to standard Chinese so as not to become an insurmountable stumbling block from the very beginning. At the same time, there are differences which, to a native speaker of, say, the Peking standard Chinese, constitute nothing more than a source of irritation, but may well be serious enough to render the Tianjin speech nearly incomprehensible to the ears of a foreigner. Examined more closely,however, we find that there are only a limited number of differences; furthermore, these differences are so patterned that once they are taken into account, a foreigner can reasonably be expected to accustom his ears to the Tianjin speech with ease.

5

This book, then, as shall be the case with further publications in this series, will first give a brief overview of the principal phonological features of the dialect being treated. This overview is not a complete description of the phonology of the Tianjin dialect; instead, it strives to identify the major points of difference between standard Chinese and the Tianjin dialect with a view toward helping the student to grasp what he will find in the speech sample on the tape. In other words, this book is based on the hypothesis that the most efficient way to come to understand a given dialect-flavored standard Chinese is first to have the differences pointed out, and then to practice listening to actual speech samples.

The The tape records a spontaneous conversation between two native speakers of Chinese: J. Liang speaking standard Chinese, and Y. H. Han speaking a standard Chinese with faint traces of the Tianjin dialect. Both speakers are members of the modern Chinese staff at the Sinological Institute, University of Leiden, the Netherlands. The conversation was scheduled and recorded in a language laboratory, and to that extent differs from a casual conversation; yet, the subject matter being a favorite amusement for a pair of friends allows a good measure of informality in the course of the taping. Aside from the topic, there was no prior agreement as to the content of the discussion, and certainly no written manuscript to read from.. At different points of the conversation, some demonstration passages were spliced onto the master tape. These passages were taken from a taped performance of a comic dialogue by Mr. Hou Bao-lin and Mr. Guo Ql-lu. Both are native speakers of Pekingese and have an accent typical of that city. In one demonstration, Mr. Hou imitates three other dialects: those of Shanghai, Shandong, and Henan. The imitations are very short and give an impression as to how different these dialects can be from standard Chinese; they are, however, not the focus of this material. The tape totals 50 minutes of running time, recorded at two sittings on the same day. There are many factors which can hinder the comprehension of speech. Of the more obvious ones, we may mention such things as background noise, disparity in knowledge between speakers with respect to the subject matter of a given conversation, or even intentional obscurity in expression on the part of one p e r son. However, there are other factors or characteristics inherent to casual speech, which more often than is recognized pose problems for the interpretation of aural signals. Such characteristics include relative tempo in delivery, variations in volume, placement and length of pauses, afterthoughts, functions of fillers, to name but a few. These characteristics are never encountered by a student using the existing teaching materials; nor should this fact be any cause for wonder, since there has been no research whatsoever done on these phenomena with respect to Chinese. This book gives a first glimpse of the above-mentioned aspects, and invites the students to study these language phenomena with the authors. In other words, the tape contains a full battery of such things.

6

The Transcription The transcription, which uses the Pinyin system, is a faithful written r e cord of what is on the tape. A casual conversation is rarely in the form of a dialogue in which the two speakers take turns. Rather, one speaker's delivery is punctuated, or perhaps punctured, by interruptions of various kinds from the listener: interjections, short expressions of acknowledgement, agreement, and so forth. These interruptions may cause the speaker to adjust his speech by way of rephrasing or repeating certain parts of what was said, but, as long as they do not halt the delivery of the speaker, they are included in the speech of the speaker in the transcription within parentheses for the conservation of space. In order to indicate other speech features which are usually not represented in written material, special devices have been employed for some, and familiar symbols been given new functions for others. These are carefully explained in the annotations when they first occur. Throughout the transcription, reference numbers a r e provided, which correspond to the footage counter on a tape recorder. These r e f e r ence numbers come, on the one hand, in multiples of five on the left-hand margin of the page, and, on the other, as super-script numerals in running sequence in the text itself, thus providing a key to the location of a desired piece of information. The counter must be set at "000" the instant the conversation begins. It may seem a case of contradiction in terms to provide visual help in the training of aural comprehension. Indeed, comprehension cannot be learned through reading of transcripts of speech. However, it is believed that at the time of the first encounter with a strange tongue, it may be didactically desirable to a r r e s t the aural signals for closer examination. In actual conversation, the listener invariably follows a process of sorting and recomposition: he amplifies what he judges as being important, depressing what is not immediately relevant to his understanding at a given moment. As the conversation moves forward, what is depressed is lost, and there is no opportunity to recall any of the lost items for study, regardless of whether they have contributed in some way to his comprehension, or conversely, been a hindrance of some kind. For instance, a speaker may have a false start, then hesitate and rephrase himself. Then, finding the re-formulation still unsatisfactory, he may conclude his utterance by way of an afterthought. The listener is most likely to retain part of the rephrasing and the afterthought, and to cast off all the rest. He proceeds to give a structure to what he has absorbed for interpretation, and moves onward to his response. Instead, the transcription records all audible signals, and, to the extent possible, accounts for other speech features such as silence and hesitation wherever they occur. As such, this transcription differs from other types of c a r e fully edited transcripts in that the latter are basically concerned with the representation of messages. In fact, the present transcription is not very readable, as one's eyes continually stumble over obstacles which cannot be as easily disregarded as in a speech situation. A student of linguistics may find this transcription a fruitful ground for attempting farther analysis; a student of language who finds it hard to handle running aural signals without any prior preparation may read (parts of) the transcription for a measure of psychological support.

7

The Annotations The annotations follow the tape footage numbers of the transcription. This material is intended for use by anyone who has mastered the elementary structures of modern Chinese and controls a spoken vocabulary of approximately 1, 500 words. In fact, those who have a much smaller vocabulary should also be able to handle this material without undue difficulty, as annotation is made of any word, usage, or speech feature which, although found in beginning textbooks on Chinese, may pose as a hindrance to comprehension. For instance, a word may have been said with a Tianjin accent, making it difficult to identify; a word may have a subtle nuance difference in contextual meaning; and a word may have a usage different from what is usually taught. The item of annotation, as is true of the transcription, is given in the pronunciation of standard Chinese. This allows the listener an easy way to correlate an accented form with the standard form, to which he can compare what he hears. This material offers him a contrast between two tongues, and does not teach him a dialect. Extensive explanations are given for the interjections, particles, and fillers at the places where they occur. A complete analysis of, say, the interjections is, however, not included here, as the samples are perhaps not sufficient for this purpose. Students who may want to have an overview of this question may consult Y. R. Chao' s A Grammar of Spoken Chinese (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968), Chapter 8.6, pp. 815-819. It must be said that the annotations are not meant to be a dictionary in the usual sense. A dictionary entry aims at accounting for the multiplicity of meanings of a given item in various contexts, whereas each item of annotation in this book is an explication of that item in that particular context of the taped conversation; and as such, the definition seeks to be specific rather than comprehensive. In so doing, it becomes inevitable that the same item may be annotated more than once, each time with a slightly different definition. This format is intentionally used in order to focus the student's attention, as far as possible, on only one of the many possible meanings or usages of an item at a given point. It is hoped that he will learn that definition with its given context.

8

The Tianjin dialect I. The Tones: Tonal difference seems to constitute the major blockage in understanding a speaker from Tianjin. As in standard Chinese, there are four tones in the Tianjin dialect. However, the value of each of these four tones is very different from its corresponding one in standard Chinese. Dividing the normal range of voice of a speaker into five pitch levels (from 1: the lowest, to 5: the highest), we may illustrate the differences in tonal quality by means of the following chart: Standard Tones

1st

2nd

3rd

Tianjin 4th

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

ID js o — H fin

Examples: 1) Tamen jintian chi zheng ji. 'They eat steamed chicken today.' 2) Wang xiäojie ming niän läi. 'Miss Wang will come next y e a r . ' 3) Ta jintian gang cong Helän huilai. 'He just came back from Holland today. The three sentences above have been recorded first in the pronunciation of standard Chinese, and then in that of the Tianjin dialect, and spliced onto the conversation tape at its very beginning. All three are simple sentences understandable to anyone who has studied modern Chinese for one year. As they do not contain any difference other than the tones (e. g . , the pronunciation of certain consonants) , they are good examples to show that a great deal of difficulty in understanding may result from the single factor of difference in tonal value. Considering their differences, it is not surprising that the first and the second tones of the Tianjin dialect should cause the greatest hindrance to comprehension for a speaker of standard Chinese. Hearing a high-level tone, he searches in vain for a word to understand; at the same time, he may be constantly puzzled by a low rambling tone never before encountered. The third and the fourth tones of the Tianjin dialect are easier to identify: the third being the only one with an a s cending pitch pattern, and the fourth clearly showing a fall, though the range is shorter.

9

Fortunately, the tone distribution onto words in the Tianjin dialect, with perhaps rare exceptions, parallels that in standard Chinese. That is to say, a syllable with a first tone in standard Chinese is invariably found also to carry a first tone in the Tianjin dialect, although the values of these two first tones are completely different. The same correspondence applies to the other three tones. Therefore, the first key to a functional control of the Tianjin dialect is to learn, as quickly as possible, to correlate its low-level tone and its high-level tone to the high-level and mid-rising tones, respectively, of standard Chinese. II.

The Segmentals:

The Tianjin dialect has the same stock of consonants and vowels as standard Chinese, but their distribution is different. A few prominent cases are mentioned below: 1) Retroflex initials zh-, ch-, and sh- in standard Chinese are frequently* pronounced in the Tianjin dialect with the corresponding sibilants z-, c-, and s-. The occurrence of this substitution seems quite arbitrary, and barring the listing of all words which exhibit this phenomenon, there is no hard-and-fast rule. However, a retroflex initial in syllables having one of the following finals is most frequently, although by no means always, observed to be replaced by a sibilant. Standard

Tianjin

-a

zhâ

-ai

zhài

zâ zâi

'narrow'

-ao

châo

câo

'to ridicule'

-ei

shéi

séi

'who'

-ua

sua

'to fool around

-uo

shua zhuo chuâng

zu5 cuâng

'table'

-uang -ong

zhông

zong

'central'

'to fry 1

'window'

It can, in any case, be stated with certainty that there is no instance of a sibilant initial of a syllable in standard Chinese being pronounced with a corresponding retroflex in the Tianjin dialect. That is to say, the reverse substitution of retroflex initials for sibilants does not occur. The result is, of course, that there is a greater number of words in the Tianjin dialect with a sibilant initial than in standard Chinese. Therefore, be on the look-out for those retroflexes in disguise. *The uncertainty here and following is largely due to the fact that the Tianjin dialect comprises three variations: hèdông 'east of the river,' héxT 'west of the river, ' and chénglï 'downtown'. Available data do not permit firmer statements.

10

2) The retroflex initial r - in standard Chinese is often pronounced with the semi-vowel j - in the Tianjin dialect. Examples are: Standard

Tianjin

r&u

you

'meat'

ran'er

yan'er

'then again'

renmin

yinmin

'people'

3) The initial semi-vowel jr- in standard Chinese is often pronounced with the retroflex r - in the Tianjin dialect. This is the only case of a flat sound in standard Chinese being replaced by a retroflex in the Tianjin dialect. Examples are: Standard

Tianjin

ydng ku&izi

rdng ku&izi

'use chopsticks'

yongyuan

rongruan

'forever'

yonggan

ronggan

'to be brave'

4) In the case of syllables beginning with a vowel (i. e., without either an initial consonant or a semi-vowel) in standard Chinese, there is a tendency in the Tianjin dialect to add an initial n-. Examples are: Standard

Tianjin

fe

nfe

'to be hungry'

äi

näi

'to love'

äo

(jiäo)näo

'to be proud'

öu

nöu(qi)

'to vent anger

an

(ping) än

'peace'

en

nen(hui)

'favor'

11

A Conversation on Xiàngsheng L:

m . . . xíng.

Zheg zheg-

001 002 Jiù zánmen lia rénr zài zhèrher . . .

003

_

zhèige lùyindài le, shì-bushi?

(e).

Zuò lùyindài me, jiù shi . . .

OO6

005

007

eh-

008

zhuyào de mùdì ya jiù shi . . . eh, w è i l e . . .

zheg-

009

H:

zuò

004

_

010

Y é jiùshi shuo jiào xuéshengmen you diän jihuì, á . . . ( m ) tìngting zheg 011

you fangyán kôuyin de rén shuohuà zénmeyàng. 013

012

(Dui, dui, dui).

Yinwéi

014

zánmen zài wàiguo a . . . , á, jiäo zheg . . . Zhöngguo de yuyán ( m ) zông OIS

016

yôu dián zheg yihàn de difang (yeah) ee (yeah). 017

Yihàn de difang ne, jiù

018

019

shi . . . zheg . . . a - Nï pïrii shuô ba, jiù xiàng wô zhèihàor rén shuohuà 020

( m - h m ) , à, tâman jiù huí- wèibi nénggou wánquán tfngdedông ( m - h m ) , 021

022

á (m-hm).

023

024

027

L:

026

025

m . . . suôyï ne, zánmen jiù- . . . zheg . . .

zênmezhe?

028

Zhuyào de jiù shi- . . . Yf dà kùnnin le, zài wàiguo jiäo Zhôngwén jiùshi 030

029

zheg . . . méiyou . . . eh . . . shidàng de yuyán huánjing, shì-bushi? (Dui, 031

dui, dui).

032

033

Suöyi . . . z h e g . . . xuésheng keyï zheg . . . cóng shüshang xué 03t_

gèzhong jùzi le, z i le, fayin le, shénme dengdëng, 035

_

késhi

zheg

036

shfyòng de jihuì hén shào (e), nènme yóuqí gen Zh5ngguo rén jiechu de 037

_

jihuì tài shào a (Dui).

_

038

Zheg . . . Shushang jiao de nèitào, shénme zhi,

039

chi, shi a, shénme- (ee, dui, dui, dui) dou fen de hen qingchu de, késhi oto zhenzhèng ni dào- (shengsheng-yìngyìng de, á ) , shì-a, shì-a, ni dào 041 _ 042 _ (kébushìma) ni dào Zhóngguo y i qù de huà, yôu hâoxië rén shuohuà 043

búshi nènmege shuofàr ( e ) ,

044

shì-bushi?

Qíshí zhenzhèng eh shuö de

045

046

gen shübénshang nèiyàngr de zàojùfâ de . . . bù duo, shì-bushi ( m ) , 047

suoyi zheg . . . yôu yìzhong eh, zheg-, eh, faxiàn yìzhong zheg . . . eh, 048

049

OSO

zheg, eh, xGyào tèbié- yìzhong tèbié jiàocài de . . . zhèizhông xûyào

12

(m) shì-bushi? (m). °MànzàiH:

052

Jiù suàn ni you

053

shénme . . . , à . . . zhenzhèng de zheg . . .

suowèi

Beijing de wànyìr a, ni tFngqfìai yé dei xuyào zheg . . . fangyàn°i?e (shì-a)

0S5

056

. . . zheg . . . rènshi (shì), a (shì), jiù- . . . Béng béng tan biéde ba, jiù, 0_57

jiù-

Zànmen shànghui ting de nèige xiàngshengr (m-hm), nà litou de 058

059

duóshao wànyìr, ruguo ni zheg . . . yìdiànr fangyan bùdong de huà, ni 060

o6o

zheg tingqliài (shì) yxdìng shi . . . you wènti (shì, shì), a. L:

061

_

Zheg ni dào Beijing qù de huà (m), . . . yé bù yidìng tingdedóng (hai, 062

063

_

kébu) shì-bushi, suòyi, suoyi, suoyi dei zheg . . . , a, zheg, xùnliàn ting 06**

065

_

065

a, a. Zhèizhong, zhèizhong, zhèizhong lùyindài jiù shi . . . (dui, zànmen 066 , _ de-) xùnliàn xuésheng de ting de nénglì. (Zongzhl jiù zài zhèige dìfang). Dui, dui, (a).

067

Zhenzhèng shuo . . . shuohuà de huà me, . . . nà shi068

hàishi lìngwài yfjiàn shìqing le, shì-bushi.

. . . Xian xùnliàn ting.

(Ni

069

xian-) Ni dei xian tingdedóng.

070

o7o

H:

Dui. . . . (hehehe) Néng tingdedóng me.

L:

na xing qi, à? 071 072 _ _ Ni tingbùdong jiù béng tàn, tànhuà le, shì-bushi? e, zheg ni ganggang

. . . (hehehe) Ni tlngbùdóng nà

07t

073

shuodào zheg . . . huh . . . xiàngsheng zhèizhong shìqing, a.

(hou).

075

075

076

Zheg . . . Xiàngsheng zhèi shìqing shi Zhongguo de- . . . haoxiàng shi . . . H:

dìfang yìshù de yìzhong le (dui, you-) shìwa? 07B You- Gèdì you gèdì de. Piru . . . neg Zhongguo Béifang ne, zàn

...

079

zheg jiào xiàngsheng, a. (m-hm). Késhi ni blru zheg zài Jiang-Zhé o8o

080

081

yidài ne, nà jiù- . . . tamen jiù jiào huàji le. (Shì-a). 082

Huàji ne, . . .

083

gén xiàngsheng qishf me jiù shi zheg . . . qishi yì hui shì (yeah), ha. OSt

085

085

L: Zheg . . . haoxiàng shi . . . eh, zheg, cóng eh . . . tóng yìzhong zheg . . .

13

086

_

087

l i s h i bfeijing f a c h u l a i d e ( h e i ) , h u n h ? . . . 088

jiu, jiu biancheng huaji le.

(Dui).

Zki N a n f a n g d e shihou

_

F a - f a zheg . . .

089

f a z h a n d&o

... zheg

090

090

B e i j i n g zhfei d l f a n g l a i d e husi, j i u bi&ncheng x i a n g s h e n g ( m ) . 091

zheg . . .

Nfenme 092

j i a n g q l l i s h i bfeijing l a i l e , zhfeizhong . . .

suowfei h u a j i

093

dongxi a . . .

ei . . .

shi s h e n m e shihou l a i d e ?

HaoxisLng s h i . . .

T a n g c h a o a, h a i s h i Han c h a o a, s h e n m e d o n g x i ? 095

095

H:

Tang . . .

de

091»

Tang chao . . .

shenme?

096

T a n g c h a o haoxiUng y o u nfenme y i g e ji&ozuo . . . 097

eh, s h e n m e . . .

congjunxi

h a i s h i ( m ) z e n m e huf shi ( m ) , a ( m - h m ,

09B

m-hm).

Shi nfenme huf s h i b a . 099

10

o

L:

m-hm.

Shi, you g e s h e n m e . . .

100

d&chen a (e) f&n l e , fUn l e s h e n m e z u i

(e, dui l e ) , fen l e s h e n m e z u i m e , 101 H:

L:

Nfeige h u a n g s h a n g m e . . . hui s h i , a. 102 T a shu5 m i a n s i (e).

shuo shi z h e g - . . .

ji£.o f a ta.

(Yeah).

Ha.oxiS.ng (m) s h i zfenme 103

M i a n s i de hu^ m e , j i u z h e g . . . 105

105

...

jiko zheg

_

z h e g c h a o litou d e r e n ne . . .

d&.owan . . .

101»

eh . . .

jixiko yinian . . .

106

chaoxislo t a (dui) j f x i & o t a ( e ) .

(Jixiao yinian).

Yitian

N i y i t i a n d&owan z h e g k a i

108

tade wanxiko.

(Zhfe bu h a o s h b u a ) .

Y e a h , bii h a o - h a o . . .

sh&u a .

109

no

H:

ai . . .

zhfe w a n r n a x f n g q i ,

L:

K e s h i m e i x i a n g dao . , .

H:

N i kSin c h a o II de dang c h a o dsichen, a . . . 112

110

zhfei bu h a o s h S u a .

zhfeige w a n y i r (m) h a o x i i n g s h i -

w e i y a n ne ( m - h m ) , a ( m - h m ) . (yeah), L:

Shi-a.

a.

m

113

lit

K e s h i zhfei c h a o x i & o m e i x i a n g d i o jiu . . . huh, 115

14

H:

D u i , zhfei y e s h i nfeige shi . . .

duo

N i j i n g jillo r e n c h a o x i a o n i q i n g x f i i g

y i z h o n g x i n de z h e g y i s h u x i n g s h i . 115

dlichen m e , z h e g . . .

chansheng le 116

( s h i - a ) ee, bu k e y u l i k o de, a ( s h i - a ) , bu

ké yùliào de, bù ké yùliào de wányir. -

e,

117

_

Shuoshuo zhèige xiàngshengr a, ni shuole bàntian xiàngshengr de huà,

118 _ 119 zhèige xiàngshengr dàodi shi shenme yàngr de dongxi a . . . a . . .

zheg,

12p zheg- . . . Shenme cài jiào xiàngshengr? 121 „ _ 122 Xiàngshengr zhei wanyir a, a (m) zhe wanyir you- . . . búshi shuo zheg 123

134

. . . zheg . . . shuä pin zuï (m-hm), á (m-hm), jiu . . . (m).

hûché luànnào de.

I35 — — Zhei shi- Xiàngsheng you hén duo de, hén duo . . . jiängjiu. 127

_

shi, shi).

126 (m,

Zheg, yiban lái jiù fen dan-kôu xiàngsheng (m-hm), á, hái 128

yôu . . . eh (dan-kôu)

shuang-kôu xiàngsheng.

Yeah, dang- dan-kôu xiàngsheng shi shénme yìsì a ?

129

130 Dan-kôu xiàngsheng ne, dan ne- . . . yìsì jiù shi yfge rén le (yfge rén l e ) , _ 131

yfge rén . . . neg . . . zheg

shuo le (uhuh, uhuh), à.

132_

(hào, hao).

eh

133

. . . shuo, xué, dôu, chàng le (uhuh), á (uhuh). Chûl e dan-rén xiàngsheng 134 ne, hái yôu shuang-rén xiàngsheng (uhuh), jiù shi lia rénr shuo de. 135

Zheg . . . Zhèige yàngr de xiàngsheng ne, xiànzài yiban zheg . . . hén 136

liúxíng (m-hm).

137

Nènme . . . bïjiào shaojiàn de ne (m-hm), jiù shi zhèige 138

san-rén xiàngsheng.

(m-hm, m - h m ) . 139

Bùguò, neige . . . eh, shuang-rén xiàngsheng de huà, zhèi liângge rén . . . 140

ey, zhèige jiâosè (yôu a) bù yiyàng a. 141

Yôu guanxi a, yôu guanxi a.

142

(Jiâosè bù yfyáng).

Huo, zhèi litou- . . . 143

zhèige jiängjiu- . . . m . . . zhèige yôu- . . . hén yôu jiängjiu de a (óh), á. 144

ehyii . . . Yige-

Liângge rén ne, yfge- . . . fen bin-zhû (uhuh).

145

Bin-zhû

146

de yìsì ne, jiù shi yfge shi pénggér de (uhuh), yfge shi dòugér de (uhuh). 147

Dòugér wéi zhùjiao, (uhuh), yiban. 148

Késhi zhùjiâo ne, jiù- méiyou zhèige 149

. . . pénggér a, méiyou zhèige zheg . . . péichèn de (uhuh) de rén,

zhèige

Í5

dòugér yé dòubùqilài.

(yeah).

Suoyi zhèige liängge ne, jiù zheg . . . , á -

L:

You yìzhbng hùxiang guanxì.

H:

ee . . .

L:

Buguò, yìban de shuoqilái, shi zhèige dòugér shi zhujiäo le (dui, dui)

_

152

You hùxiang guanxì (yeah), hee . . . hùxiang de guanxì. 153

shì-bushi^'kheg . . . Yìban zhèige dòu xiàor le, shénme xué le, shuo le, 1 5.6

chàng le . . . dou shi ta. _

(Dui, dou shi ta). _

Nènme zhèige péngjiao me,

157

jiù shi zài pángbian daqiang le (dui), shì-bushi a? 158

H:

Jiù shi heng a har de zheg . . . , há (yeah, yeah, yeah), shì-bushi?

Ni

159

pïrû shuo zheg . . . you . . . you hén duo qingkuàng, á, zhèige . . . dòugér 1 6 0

-

-

1

6

1

_

de, á, hurán shuolòu zuï le (m), shuo cuò le (m-hm, hehehe). pénggér jiù jiedezhù.

1(Shi, 62 163

shi).

Zhèige

Nï yào jiebûzhù, nà chu yàngxiàng le

(Shi-a, shì-a, shi, shi), á. L:

Shi, shi, shi, jiù dei jiedezhù cài xing, (a).

H:

Zhèige- . . . Suoyi, eh, shuang-rén xiàngsheng jiù shi zài zhèige dìfang 165 yóu diän youdiän, jiù key i . . . zài zheg lfnchäng a (m-hm), rúguo . . . you 166 _ 167 shénme . . . eh, chacuò de shihòu (m), kéyi you bujiù de dìfang (m-hm), à?

(m). 168

L:

169

Nï ganggâng shuodào zheg . . . á, zhèige . . . pénggér, à, yàoshi zài tái 170

dëi doudezhù, á (a). Neige1 7yisi shàng 2 1 7 1yixià_ shuo cuò le, zhèige pënggér _ jiù shi shuo de huà zheg . . . zhèixie rén- . . . zhêi, zhèi liängge rén 173

shàngqu shuo xiàngsheng de huà, zheg . . . zhèige xiàngsheng c i r le ( e ) , 17«

_

xiàngsheng cír zheg bú shi yiding de yùxian

175

juédïng de, shì-bushi?

(You

176

gedàgang).

You.ge dàgang

Suoyi, suoyi,

I (You ge dàgang, ee, you ge dàgang). 177

suoyi wo nei yìsì jiùshi shuo de huà, subwèi xiàngsheng de huà, hái shi

16

178 » shuo shi zheg haoxiàng shi Zhongguo dèi de koutóu yìshù (dui, dui, dui,

179

180

_

dui), á, búshi shuxiê de dongxi (bù) „ yige-

shì-bushi. (bù). 181 -

_

180

Shuxié shi you

xiê yige dàgang éiyï.

(ee, xié ge dàgang). Késhi ni zheg . . . 182 zhenzhèng shàng tai shuo de shihòu a, nï z i j ï hái dei biàn xif àr, duoduo183

shäoshäo you churù.

1SU

íes

H:

é, linji-yingbiàn me (shi-a), ee . . .

L: H:

Ni bù nénggòu . . . , à, ni bùnéng 1shuo ... 85 Pïrû kàn nèige guan-guanzhòng yóu shénme fànying le (m). 186

shihòu ne, ni jiù . . . á, kéyi zhuadezhù (m-hm).

Fànying de

Zhuadezhù ne ( m ) , ni

187

jiù (m) lìyòng (m) zhèige chânghé ( m ) , lìyòng zhèige qmgkuàng (m-hm),

L: 190

á. 188 Qfshi a, zhèige hên zhòngyào de yìdiàn. 189

Yinwei shénme?

Ni yàoshi shuo

_

190

shi zhèige rén shàngqu yihòu bèishu de huà, . . . zhèi jiù dòubùqllài le . . . (Nà jiù ...

Bèi cir le, hehehe, dòubùqilài le, shì-bushi?

mèi yìsì la

nà jiù

191

Suoyi ni zhèi

ahe-ha, zhè jiù mèi yìsì l e ) . 192

^

V

»

»

-

»

»

dòu, yào shuo yào xué zhèizhong dongxi, zhèizhong dei linji-yìngbiàn. (a, kèbùshi m e ) . 193

(Dui).

Suoyi, suoyi Zhongguo zhèige wénxué fangmiàn zheg . . . you hên 194

dà de liàngge bùtóng de chuántóng le. -

V

(m).

_

Yige shi . . . shuxiè de

1 95

»

-

chuántóng (dui), shuxiê wénxué, à, xiàng shénme . . . ei . . . xiàoshuo a, 1 9 6

V

-

zhèizhong dongxi a, (Xiâoshuo zhèizhong wánr

shi, ci a,

zhèie, ni mànmànr zuò

1 97

zhong dongxi a, shi-a, shi-a. jiali xié ba).

17

H:

a, kébushi.

1 98

NI xiècuò le, ni tu le zài gài (shì), nà dou mèi guanxi, késhi

zhèige xiàngsheng jiù bùxfng le.

(Xiàngsheng bùxing le).

Xiàngsheng

199

200

2oo

wòmen dei . . . yaoqiu de you yìdiàn ne, chule hào de (uhuh) zhunbèi, hai 201

you jicài. (Dui, dui, dui),

ee

Hai dei yóu diàn jfcài (dui, dui, dui),

202

à. (Dei linghuó cài xing). L:

ee, . . . dui le. (Shì, shì, shì)

203

e, shuodào zhèige pénggér gen dòugér ba, zhèizhong dongxi, zhèige yfge 20

_

_

263

Kêshi yìban shuoqïlâi de huà, háishi zhèige dòugér shi zhujiäor. ,

265

_

265 H: n a - Zheg . . . Timù de zhútf, á, gùshi de zhuyào de nèiróng, dou shi yóu 266

dòugér . . . zheg yïnqïlài de.

(Dui, dui), á. Pénggér kéyi yîndào (m) dào

267

2 6 8

zhèige timù shàngqu (m), keshi zhèige timù de zhuyào de biâoxiàn (m-hm) dou zài zhèige dòugér shen shàng (dui, dui, dui, dui), á. 270 269 270 L: Dui, dui, dui, dui. Nà, xiàng zhèige de huà, jiù shi . . . eh . . . shuang271

kòu xiàngsheng le . . . (dui), shì-bushi a ? Shuang-kou xiàngsheng. Nfenme 272

zhèi dan-kou xiàngsheng shi . . . m . . . bïjiâo shaojiàn (e).

Sange rén de

xiàngsheng shi gèng shaojiàn le. H:

San-rén xiàngsheng jiu gèng shaojiàn la.

L:

Gèng shaojiàn le (a).

27 f ° r example , . . .

courtyard, here referring to the courtyard of one Chinese home.

courtyard and one-story structures on the four sides (see

N W yulnr •

A traditional Chinese home consists of one square

E t

diagram).

The north room is the living space where

guests are received, the east and the west chambers a r e bedrooms, and the south rooms are servants' quarters (if any) or storage rooms.

491

dong fang

492

xi fang

492

yfeli

j|[ Jif ( 5J ?

i^g.

eastern chamber(s) western chamber(s) at night

91

492

huranjian

suddenly

492

nfei wu J|3j||

that chamber, the other chamber

492

fangmen

Jifff

door (to a room or house)

492

yixiang

—-^¡J

a noise (used after a verb); here referring to the noise of a door being opened

493

zhei wu

39.JH

(the people in) this chamber

493

fajue

493

yiwfenyida

493

houlai

493

zhfedianr shi

494

jiejue

to solve (a problem), to finish off

494

lao

traditional

495

zenme shuo

How is it said?

495

zenme shuo f g ^ f j ^

(so you want to know) how is it said

496

yfejian

497

yohe

interj. of surprise and puzzlement

498

yohe

interj. of surprise and puzzlement (same as 497)

499

yohe

interj. of surprise and puzzlement (same as 497)

499

guangdang

fJU

to discover — — t o

exchange a few words

f ^ - P e k i n g e s e equivalent of yuanlai 'actually' ia®^

^

-f^fa]

this little matter

at night

bang! (onomatopoeia, imitating sound of opening a door)

500

yixikzi

— T i

once, one, a; here referring to guangdang

500

heijing-bltnyfe

500

yi shengr bu yuanyu

fH^^iS

at darkest mid-night

— ^ ^ =r=s

without uttering a word, without

warning (note the Pekingese pronunciation yuanyu rather than yanyu)

92

500

guài

500

xià rén

500

huo

very, quite, rather m x

to frighten interj. showing surprise or awe at immensity of a problem, 'Wow!' (same as 141)

501

zhèi yi dà tào a

501

huidà

Ifl]^

502

What a long string of things! an answer, a response A frequent manner of expressing respect by Pekingese speakers is to attach nfn (na) at the end of a short answer, much in the same way as in English: "It's me, sir. "

502

xiezhe

502

sa niào

502

pao

measure word for urination

502

wàirén

outsider, intruder

502

nin xiezhe nfn de ba

503

béng

503

hàipà

503

zhèiwèi

mm

ìi

mù

to rest to urinate

^ifc^t^WG

You just go ahead and rest.

don't to be afraid this person (This is a non-specific reference, much like English narration of a chance encounter with a stranger: "I met this person on the train today . . . . "

504

guanzhào

505

dòngzhe

505

nàozhe wànr

505

mingr

tomorrow (Pekingese for mmgtian)

505

fSshào

to have a fever

506

gànmào Jnfc ||

to catch cold

f|

to say a few words to show that one is concerned to catch cold fijC

to fool around, to joke about, to take things lightly

93

506

zhfer shi

^¡1-

short for zhferde yige shuo de shi

'what the fellow on

this side says is . . . ' 506

peizhe yishang

^M'^KM:

507

ganjin /Hlff

right away, hurriedly

510

fencheng irffS^

to divide up

512

yi xiang . . . yi wfen

to

have some clothing thrown over the shoulders

—.|p . . . — ( t h e r e ) a sounding . . . (here) an asking

513

ng

interj. of acknowledgement, 'yes '

514

gSn ma

what (are you) doing? (lit. 'doing what?') Ma in the meaning of 'what' replaces shenme when the verb is specifically g&Ji 'to do'.

In the Tianjln dialect, however,

ma has a much wider distribution. 515

shengshi ^ I j i

to save trouble; simplified

517

tong

similarily

519

ng

interj. of acknowledgement, 'yes' (same as 513)

520

ng

interj. of acknowledgement, 'yes' (same as 513)

520

jie xi sui

521

zheng

521

jie xi wo i a T E ^

522

xiang nar kqu

|oJ

^

Shandong pronunciation for zhfei shi shei 'who is this?' exact, exactly, altogether Shandong pronunciation for zhfei shi wo 'it's me!' Shandong pronunciation for shkng nar qu 'where (are you) going?'

522

xiang bianxuor

h {P^/f

Shandong pronunciation for shitng bi&nsuor 'going

to the bathroom'.

Biansuor is an expression of the

Shandong dialect. 523

94

hehe

interj. of pleasure and satisfaction

528

sa ning

528

wo ya

528

sa ki

ff^^ fjjBf

Shanghai pronunciation for shei (ren) 'who is it?' Shanghai pronunciation for wo ya 'it's me.' Sh^Lnghai pronunciation for sha (shi)ti 'going to do what' or 'what for?'

529

sa swi

Shanghai pronunciation for sa sui 'to urinate'

529

yii

interj. of glee and admiration

530

zhfei you yxdianr yisi

it^f

This is an understate-

ment for 'this is very amusing!' 532

hehe

interj. of pleasure and satisfaction (same as 523)

536

sueii

Henan pronunciation for shei 'who (is it) ?'

536

uooa

Henan pronunciation for wo 'it's me.'

536

zuoa

Henan expression equivalent to zu5 shenme 'what (are you) doing?'

536

niao

jfc

536

woheheho

interj. of glee and surprise

539

rfenao

to be exciting

539

n&ige yanyuan

542

hushuo-badilo

543

buo

544

yishil tiancai

544

ditojia

to the point; to the very detail of

546

shuo shi f^yg;

to say that (used to introduce indirect quotation)

547

yi d& chu&nr de — J l f K j

548

yio 1c

555

bulimkme ^ F l l t J t ^

Henan pronunciation for ni&o 'urine; to urinate'

note the plural reference for nfeige iMjiAilL

to talk gibberish, nonsense

contraction for bu + a 'indeed not so!' artistic talents

a

string of; long and drawn out

short for y&oshi 'if' is indeed not (too) far from; not far different from

95

555

xiilng H?

like (This is used in Chinese, as in current colloquial English, as an introductory expression without any real idea of similarity, e. g., "Like in my school we do it differently".

It can also be thought of as 'in the case of,

take the case of '. 557

binci

predicate (grammar)

557

shòuci

object (grammar)

557

eehehe

combination of ee ' strong approval' and sound of laughter (same as 349)

559

luosu5-jinr

560

huo

long-windedness interj. showing surprise or awe at immensity of problem, 'Wow!' (same as 141)

561

kàolÙ

to consider, deliberate

563

zhèng

accurate; precise; perfect

564

zhèngquè

accurate, precise

564

ymyòng

to apply to; application, in application

564

shijì

actual

564

jiù shì shuo

564

renzS.o y^jijr

567

jixife-huit

567

. . . jiu shi zhfei yisi

568

xingrong

to describe; to narrate

572

zhk ^

suddenly, all of a sudden

572

zhil yitingqllai

that is to say artificial

^Mffc

mechanical; mechanized . . . gfc^i^ft,®,

this is exactly what I meant.

^ — " S i ¿ 3 h e a r i n g upon first hearing this said

96

this (said) all of a sudden,

572

ganjue

reaction

573

e

interjection requesting agreement, ' . . . , right?' (cf. 009: a)

573

jianjie

ftjg

576

chou

577

ni

This is frequently used in a sense similar to 'mind you'.

578

he

interj. of surprise and elation, 'what do you know?'

578

zhfei

This demonstrative is frequently used to recapitulate a

^

simple and clear to draw; to abstract; to take out of context

topic (here Henan hu£) and give it a little more emphasis. 579

ganmingr H0/] J l in the future

579

bushi n&ige shiqing

it is not meant to be so, lit. it is not that (kind of a) thing

581

jianjie mingliao

582

gao

582

tuchu

Jtf

concise and clear to do

^LB

to bring into sharp focus; to raise (something) into visibility

584

kuazhang

f^^H

584

liy&ng jfiljjfl

to use; to make use of

586

lai genr yan ba

-tHif-PE

587

chouyan

to smoke (e. g., a cigarette)

588

wensf

thoughts, lit. ideas for literature

588

wensi bQ lai

to exaggerate

How about a cigarette

(my) brain is not functioning 588 591

hu&si lit. ideas for speaking pmgchang me - f - ^words, l^ (obviously) ordinarily

592

zenme shuo a?

^

How should I put it?

97

593

shuo shi- yiding shuo shi shuo . . .

I&tI:

'/Iili,7Efii • • •

say that- definitely say that (we) speak . . . 595

Hiinyu

Knn

596

y l . . . wei jichu fg^

1

Chinese language [¿X • • • MSi^st

based on . . .

596

yuyln

phonology

597

nfenme yige

597

genju . . .

599

xieding

599

ha.oxiS.ng shuo shi j f t ^ J ^ / k

599

shengyin 9$ Q1

voice, sound, noise

600

finbie

to distinguish

600

jueding

a (thing) of that sort • ••

^^q?

according to, based on . . .

agreement a s if to say, as it were; so to speak

to decide, to resolve to 602

huitou

to return to

604

chun ¿¡{j

pure

606

yao

to enunciate (lit. to bite)

607

zhun

accurate

607

bCidan shi

608

xue Zhongguo yuyan de

is not limited to; is not merely . . . H i n § &tJ

This is in apposition to

w&iguo xuesheng. 608

tuoli

to be separated from

609

jistoshi

teacher

609

zhfei ye shi . . . ye shi you wfenti de

i&tk/E . . . tfeTE^ffnl II&tl

This is a telescoping of two sentences in which the i n t e r vening utterance is the complement of zhfei ye shi and the subject of ye shi you wfentf de. 98

609

zài zhèige dìfang

ÌEìà'fllIife^"

at this place (i. e . , abroad)

610

zhunqufe Ìfifit

accurate, precise

610

béntu

native land

611

zénmeyàng

This appears to be short for shì zenmeyàng de,

the

subject of which is Zhongguo béntu yu.yàn, which is simultaneously the object of zhunquè de fànying. 614

kébù me

614

gei . . . dàodàn

short for kebushì me 'isn't that s o ! ' or 'you said it!' ...

ÌSH

to disturb . . . ; to interfere with . . . ;

to hinder . . . 615

zhèi ìj[

(in) this place

615

gen . . . dachàr

616

zhi

JE

616

kào

H

617

zhfei liangge ren i s Mi® A

617

xiemenr SftP^JL

618

yi fangmi&n zhfei shi suoyi

... il^T

to interrupt . . .

consistently to lean towards the two of us

strange (lit. a slanting door) —

W

Note the somewhat

garbled telescoping of two structures: yifangmiSn zhfei shi and suoyi zhfei shi, with the suoyi being uttered a s an afterthought after the verb. 619

é

620

shëngdiàor >

620

é

interj. requesting agreement (same a s 573)

625

jiéjué

to solve (a problem)

626

rfenshi

to become awa re of; to be acquainted with

627

tinglì

listening ability

interj. requesting agreement, ' . . . , right?' (same a s 573) sound, voice

99

627

tigao

to raise, promote

628

sheng

province

630

ganrao

interference

630

yaoqiu

to demand

630

Zhongguo ren

631

chunzhfeng

pure and accurate

631

qiang jgJ

accent

631

nil na xihg a

634

guangbo yuanr

634

ni shuo guangbo yuanr de hu& f^tjiiJififfMi^nS'

cfi^A

f

H

o

This is parenthetical after mei yige ren.

w

can that be possible?

(na - nar Pek.)

broadcaster

casters . . . 634

xünliän

636

däzhöng

636

ti

636

xuänba :ü ^

to select by examination

637

zhenzhfeng jtEIE

really; in detail; carefully

638

ha

variant of 170: a, 'agreement'

639

shänghui

640

diqü

641

xiangxiä

641

guängbo-zhän

642

bü suän cuö le

642

ke

643

yänge

644

bimiän

100

training ^ ^

the masses to bring up; to select; to pick

M

± 0

jftÜg

last time; here, a short while ago district; a place country, rural countryside J f i§i[ij

broadcasting station

^ I f fit 7*

not to

short for keshi

B]"

jgfö

strict, strictly to avoid

considered bad

speaking of broad-

644

xiagle

646

wo nar a

f j J

here,'yes, yes!' How would I know? Note that the verb zhidao

is

is deleted here. 646

eiyou

interj. of surprise, usually upon discovering something unpleasant, 'Oh, my God!'

647

ma

Tianjin dialect for shenme 'what'

647

qi

Tianjin pronunciation for git 'to go'

648

jiu suan

648 648

zh&nshi zfenmezhe/zhilo/zhao

649

jixu

651

zhfei gangcai

let's consider it as . . . (here, with zfenmezhao, 'let's WtW

consider it as enough for today, let's let it go at that' for the time being let it be like this, let's do it this way,

to continue iaRlJ^"

just a moment (a while) ago (zhfei is used before

some time words as a sort of intensifier) 652

zanmen bushi shuo

654

taolAn

655

yiyi

meaning; significance; content

657

hai

interj. showing strong agreement and satisfaction, 'yes,

¡f^fjfi'

D^jf^^F^:!^

weren't we speaking of . . . ?

to discuss

so right!' (same as 061) ^

local

657

difang

657

xiju jggjftj

drama, play

657

canza

to mingle in

658

genben de ^Tj^fltl basic

660

suowfei de ^/rfff &\J variant of suowfei ' the so-called'

660

d&obai

iES

dialogue (in drama or opera)

101

661

jiu shi

gfcH

This is spoken after a sentence as an afterthought, like English ' . . . that's it'.

661

ni&nbai

662

nfeng de

663

ticai

664

bufang ^FW

might as well . . .

666

nfeitian

the other day

666

dianxing

666

lizi

667

n& IP

there

668

mam

avenue, street

668

pfengmian

to come across, to meet

669

xijuhuS.

671

k&ngr $ J l

free time

673

ximi

Peking opera fan

674

Jing qiang TjTjgi

675

qiingdiko j ^ ' f f

676

shenjing-bmg

677

jiang

678

ta shuo m i ne ftfe

dialogue ^ff MM

-ft.^

ffiff

= nfengd&o (neng is a variant of n5ng 'to do') subject matter and material

typical example, sample

to dramatize

fff

the melody of Peking opera voice crazy, insane to explain Tianlin dialect for ta shu5 shenme ne 'what did he say? what was it he said?'

679

yi xi&ng wfei hui —- [ r ^ - ^ -

682

bie lai wu yang B l J - J f S i g I s everything okay since we met last?

683

chu maobing t t j ^ j H to have mishaps

684

pei

102

haven't seen you for a long time

to keep someone company

684

shao pei

no longer keep you company

688

na qiang zuo di&o ^ J g f t D f

692

zhfei hao me mjfrlffi

695

lao V

698

shengyin

699

z&imezhe

699

dS.zhong-huk ^ l ^ j - f c

700

guanzh&ng

700

laobaixing

^

V jjjfj^-

to assume a stage voice

Wow! Terrific! always, consistently

noise (here refers to the noise made by the audience) How shall I put it?

HJfe

to make popular; belong to the masses

spectators; here, audience common folks; the masses, lit. the old-hundredsurnames

702

guanr

theatre

703

yule

amusement, entertainment

704

baokuo

706

guizu-husl H ^ f t i to make aristocratic

706

pinmin

706

pinmin-huil

709

YUan-qu T C ^

YUan drama popular in North China

709

Kun-qu Hj,fBj

a form of drama popular among officials in the Ming

tlfS

to include

poor people I^Kf-fc

to popularize; to make (something) for poor people

dynasty.

Note that Liang's statement on Kun-qu is his-

torically incorrect. 710

kouji

sound-mimicry, ventriloquism

710

shuoshu

story-telling

711

pingmin

ordinary people

712

Nj zhl suoyi you N2

713

shuobuding

N1 ¿ f f i l i l . ^

N2

the reason why N^ has

. ..

perhaps

103

715

hei

interjection showing strong agreement and satisfaction, ' s o right!' (same as 086)

716

jiúshi shuo shí

717

jiánshi

717

plncháng

717

hai

JEstii nnlí

T^,TE

that is to say

to acquaint; to view to appreciate; to taste interj. showing strong agreement and satisfaction,

'so

right!' (same as 061) 717

ni láobáixing f/j;^- ^

common people (This use of nl i s comparable to

the English "you" in: "you

c r a z y guys . . . ! ' )

718

tingxi |§JÜ5

to go to the theatre (Peking opera)

720

hao

short form of either háojiahuo 'oh, my goodness!' haoqi

or

'oh, my goodness!'

720

ná wánr J^J/^jL

that business

721

bái

to put; to a r r a n g e (things) into order; to set (dining) table; here, to o r d e r (lit. to have set) a feast (lit.

a

table of dishes) 722

pópolánlán

723

jiü

t&fáffllfflil

sfc

in rags

Note the location of this word a s a sort of afterthought, instead of its normal location before bú yfyáng.

725

háohaorde

725

yichang

—í§¡

greatly, intensely a generalized expression r e f e r r i n g to the whole of o r a l a r g e amount or quantity of something

726

zheige, n&ige

726

huítóu

l e t ' s return to (the subject of) . . .

727

lítí pttJg

to deviate from the (main) topic (of conversation)

104

this and that, various

729

lai ge lìzi

give an example

730

zi

732

huòzhé shuo

$ or one might say

734

yuànbén

in to to;

^

words; here, the lines

—

lit. the (entire) original version

J.LU

734

duan %

to hold up in one's hands; to bring

734

duanguolai

735

diàor i f

736

bà ci gei rénjia gai le

iffiìÉ^

to bring over; here, to take over

melody ÌGfnl/ln A ^ S f c T

changed the words in

the originai 736

gài xie

to revise; to change the wording

736

youmò

737

yi A wéi B shouduàn

É&Mk

humourous, entertaining A j=| B

to use A as the means to

achieve B 737

shouduàn

means

739

nèiróng

the content; story

741

mingci

742

budà

742

nl

743

jian zi

^ =jjj ^PA

terms, expressions not very

jfc

you (in the sense of'one, anyone') syllables whose initial consonant is pronounced with

^ ^

palatalization 743

tuàn zi

ffl^

syllables whose initial consonant is pronounced with liprounding

748

shangliang

^¡¡l

to discuss

748

fu-fù

a married couple (note the numeral before is Jiang)

748

chenghu f i t t f

salutations; way of addressing

105

750

zénme(ge) V - f â r

^Hjl® V

how (something) is V-ed, the way of

V-ing (something) 751

guân . . . jiào . . .

«¡J

...

BLj .. .

to call .. . (guan here is similar

to ba) 752

bèi

J

generation

752

bèifènr l|lfô"JL

the separation (demarcation) of generations

752

lâolao

maternal grandmother

754

hû shuo-bâdào

754

nà

then, so

756

aah

stage interjection for calling attention, 'Heh! M o t h e r . . . '

756

nï wo èr lâo

757

zhâ

757

jiàng

757

lâo

757

miàn

757

zhâ jiàng lâomiàn

Î^Îë

^

to talk nonsense

the two of us oldies to fry in oil paste; here, soy-bean paste

^

to drag out of water, to dredge for ^

flour; here, noodles

by sautéeing soy-bean paste together with bits of pork and vegetables — a dish favoured by Northerners in China 759

miàntiâor

759

fàng

760

zénmezhe ^iltiiif

763

lîngwài yige

764

cânkuî '|i$f'J$|

to feel ashamed

766

aya

interj. of exclamation, 'Alas! 1 (same as 387)

106

WC

noodles to put; here, to add sauce (to a dish) what about it? —f©

the other (here, person)

766

aya

interj. of exclamation, 'Alas!' (same as 387)

770

nfenmezhe

770

shi nfenmezhe MifflFH^Ij

f|5jf!^f

to do in such a way, to do like that here, i s (done) a s follows (Han has previously

discussed the daobai 'conversation' part of the xiangsheng passage in question.

Now he is about to embark on an

explanation of the singing part. ) 770

qianmian

what goes in front; here, what has been discussed up to this point

773

chuxi&n

tijil

776

zen nai

^ ^

776

shou zhong

776

wu |ffi

not (classical Chinese negative m a r k e r )

778

qie

to cut

778

pu

778

qiemiin pu

778

a . . . ha

784

shichang

784

bao

785

suSjiao

785

did

785

bao

to wrap

785

gan

dry; dried; dehydrated

786

dou shi ifiS-H-

be entirely (a m a t t e r of . . . )

786

xinxian

f r e s h ; freshly made

787

dou nimezhe

^Jlpjq

tjj

to appear what can I do about . . . in one's hand; at hand; in one's possession

store, shop

£1

noodle-making shop sound of sigh on stage jfj^

^

market package, bag

MM

^

plastic bag

iPJtvlff

always do it in (that) way

107

788

tuo f £

to hold up high in one's hands; here, to carry

788

pen ^

a basin; a container in the shape of an open basin or pot

789

nfeng

~f\-

to do; here, to prepare dough by mixing the flour with water

789

jiqi

789

jiao

machine iff

to twist; here, to press dough through a machine to make noodles.

The machine revolves, thereby giving the idea

of "twisting" the noodles out of it. 790

jie

tjj

This is a slip of the tongue for gie.

791

jin

fx

a catty: Chinese unit of weight

792

liang

M

an ounce: Chinese unit of weight

792

yuan

J^f

original

792

feng

|Sf

enclosure; to enclose

792

yuanfeng J ^ ^ f

793

shougong qian

794

f anzhfeng

795

gei ni bS.n

797

shi

^-JlMi

S.IE

T|;

the original package; here, the same quantity as before processing fee; cost for labour

in any case, at any rate (have them) do it for you There are two possible interpretations for this: 1) it is a sort of enclitic that can optionally be used after various adverbial absolutes such as f anzheng, and 2) it is used in some such meaning as 'it is a matter of' before a verbal phrase or sentence — 'it is a matter of not being'.

797

yilxian

798

ganziio-hu&

798

xiilnd£li-hu&

108

j^f^fe

in

advance; preto

dehydrate, to dry out

iSf^f-fc to modernize; modernized

803

laotdur

^Hf Jl

803

laopor

804

wo zhfei shenme bfeir a, zhfei shi, a ?

JL

old man; here, the husband old lady; here, the wife f i c i t f - f ^ ® JLW ' i l J l W ?

The shi is a displaced verb: the sentence should read, wo (shuo) zhei shi shenme beir a? 805

aah

stage interjection for calling attention, usually used when addressing someone, 'Heh! Mother . . . ' (same a s 756)

805

xicir

iUcfnJJL

806

jin ri

806

&r laolao

stage lines stage way of saying jintian second maternal grandmother; here, the husband's way of addressing his wife

807

na

contraction of ne 'deliberate pause' + a 'intensifier'

808

haoqi

Peking dialectal expression meaning 'what do you know!' or 'I'll be darned!'

810

g£n shenme

why do you do this; what are you doing

810

gin ma

short for

810

rang ®

to make an uproar

811

eh

stage interjection indicating resignation to a situation or

shenme in Pekingese

impatience, 'oh, well, in that case .. .' 812

mo

stage form of me indicating hesitation

812

kha

stage interjection representing sound of cough or choking when ciying

813

wa . . .

stage sound for crying

815

jiao banr

to deliver lines with a melody and/or intonation characteristic of the stage

109

815

wo yi xiang

^

Jg

the thought occurred to me

816

xian 9c

for the time being

816

fsing shui

to release water; here, to fetch water (in order to wash his face)

816

wo xian bie f&ng shui ba

The background

for this sentence is that the dduger is telling this story about supposed neighbours whom he overheard while going out one morning to draw some water to wash his face. (See below 877 ff). only; classical expression for jiushi

817

weidu

821

yan wSng zhuo

823

tong

iHil

with (one's) eyes looking at . . .

used in imitation of sound of a metal object (e. g . , the gong)

823

ku&ng

823

luo

824

lianpen

824

di&o dixi&

827

zhfeige, nfeige, neige, zheige

clanging sound 0

the gong, a Chinese musical instrument wash basin to

drop on the ground ¡¡f^,

ip-flg,

fflj®,

ia#I

and that 829

lingsan

829

jieshu

conclude; conclusion

831

cong tou dS.o wei

fi^SM^ljM,

832

quan t&or

833

jiu shi shuo shi MJHt&Jqi:

833

changduan

110

2p:jfj(

scattered, fragmented

from beginning to end

^ ¡ ¡ i JL an entire set

length

is just . . . let's say it is . . .

a lot of this

834

jiliwala

sounds of chattering

834

yí V jiü Time Expression

once V is begun, it goes on for Time

Expression 835

ná

I|S

for that

836

shi ba? ^ B g

837

zhfeige yányuán üEllUílíjl.

isn't that so? these performers (note plural reference of

zhfeige) ^

^

title

840

míngzi

843

rü

843

rümí

844

m i shir

844

náozi

844

fingle

845

jiü z&nmezháo

845

ránhóu

then (non-temporal), so

849

biáoyán

to perform on stage; stage performance

849

dáojü jH-fl

stage props

851

deng huir

851

ting, kuang

851

shuo shi zénmezhé? f & ^ i l t ^ f

to enter Ai* jg^

H^p g y

^'H'X.

to be possessed (by); to be mesmerized (by) Tianjin dialect for shénme shir the brain; here, in (one's) head/mind to become crazy let it go at that (i. e . , the explanation)

later on, lit. wait a moment clanging sounds (see 823) What did he say exactly?

He

said — what was it ? -hi.

851

gu

SX

853

wiixiao

854

liántong

857

ná shi

drum minute, tiny, small 1(3^

to connect that's for sure

111

857

yeyu

amateur (performer)

858

nil ren shi Slhao

so (those) people are enamored (of it)

858

to be fond of (as a hobby)

859

fen

ft

to distinguish

859

fen shenme shihour chang

ftij'^^i^s

(one) should distinguish

when to sing (and when not to sing) 860

yanjiu ^ff^L

to study, research; here, to pursue, to do

860

gongzuo shfjian

861

nS. hao me WtffM

861

zhun

862

fen sin

862

jingshen

attention; concentration

862

hai

moreover, more than that

864

nil chang de cai hao

865

bu jiande ^ f - M ^ is not necessarily so

866

zhuanye

867

hai shi ma

867

chu

868

nil shi a

869

shenghuo xijil-huk

I f ^ i S f fM]

working hours

that would be fine (sarcastic here) on target; to be sure, to be certain

ftffi

ij|

to scatter; to dissipate

I|3

Only then will he sing well.

(specialized) profession; professional jgjl^

just as I figured; it figures

unit measure for drama IPHW

that's so, indeed ^i/SiDcitlJft

a stage-like existence, i. e.,

one

conducts oneself in real life as if one were on stage 869

eiyou

interj. of surprise, usually upon discovering something unpleasant, 'oh, my goodness!' (same as 646)

870

pingchang ^ ^

870

nl y&oshi

112

ordinary, daily introductory phrase, somewhat like "let's take the

case . . . " or "supposing . . . " 870

jianmianr

[fj JL to come across, to meet, to encounter

871

shentl

physical health, lit. body

873

chong

to face towards

874

aah

stage interjection for calling attention, 'Heh!' (same as 756)

876

shenjingbing me

877

jiefang

I^MifPfljft

It i® obvious that he is crazy,

neighbourhood; next-door neighbour; here, as is frequent in the language of xiitngsheng, it refers generally to someone the speaker knows

877

fu-qf

878

zheng tian lao ch&ng

878

eiyouhe

husband and wife constantly singing throughout the day

variant of 646: eiyou 'surprise at the discovery of something unpleasant'

880

s&n xi

curtains: the performance (of a play) is over

880

zaochen _Ep.

= zaoshang

881

kai tai

£

'morning'

to begin a new performance on stage (lit. to open the stage to the public, i. e., curtains up)

882

ni shi .. .

883

wo shuo

I said (to myself)

883

zoush&ng jjrj^

~ zoud&o 'to come to'

884

chingshangle

885 - 907

short for ni shuo de shi

ffat

~J

'what you are saying is . . . '

= chkngqIlaile 'to begin singing'

see 801 - 825

113