User Comments - auntie68
auntie68
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 11:59 PMnicolas - Out of this trio of names you fingered, I am the only one who actually belongs in Newbie! Leave them out of this! ;-) liansuo - Thanks for giving me the lovely notion that we might have passed each other, unknowingly, when I was five. We might well have. In fact, when I was in my early twenties, during my pupillage, I discovered that the German intern at the law firm had spent the first half of the 1970s in Singapore, his father had worked extremely closely with the Board of my grandmother's family business, and not only that, we probably met each other every at two particular relatives' Chinese New Year "open house" receptions, to which business associates were also invited. Not bad, huh? We became great friends, too! I don't mind being mistaken for my Amah, she is extremely beautiful, both inside and out. I took the photo in 2004, so she was "only" 88 or 89 then. Btw, I'm still waiting for my wisdom to kick in; am still waiting...
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 6:10 PMSorry, fourth generation, unless you count my grandmother's father, who hired her in the first place. This Amah actually knew -- and was well-known by -- relatives in the generation above my grandmother.
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 6:05 PMhi liansuo, thanks for the nice comment on my avatar. It's a portrait I took of my Cantonese Amah, who is 93, and incredibly fit and healthy. I must be the only woman in Singapore of my age (near 40, eugh) who still has an Amah on the family payroll! She's a wonderful influence on the Stunt Toddler, who is the fifth generation of my family to enjoy her impish but serene style.
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 5:56 PMHi Jenny. I think that between you and Aunty Sue, I think I know now why I was confused. Part of the reason is the fact that we Singaporeans (mis?)pronounce Mandarin in pretty much the same way as they do in Taiwan. It's that thick Minnan/ Hokkien dialect accent which prevails on both islands. The neutral tone is rarely used -- or heard -- here too. Revisiting CPOD's first ever Newbie lesson ("Basic Greetings"), both the lesson commentary and the transcript pinyin confirm that the 吗 (ma) in ni2hao3ma is "neutral". And that's what every Chinese dictionary I've ever owned says. But -- yikes -- I can't really hear it, although I know it's there. I've always found it particularly difficult to discern a "neutral" tone that is being used in a rising intonation; the problem is my own ears. Guess John and Ken's advice was the best -- Don't over-analyse! Or you might self-induce a "panic attack"... I hope my self-induced "panic attack" doesn't scare any Newbies away! If anything, let's hope that it helps you to feel less anxious about getting the tones "right", and to just start speaking! ;-) Chinese is a language with distinct tones, but -- like every other language -- it also has intonation, regional accents, different registers. I love the voice actors in CPOD because they keep reminding me of that; even in the next level (Elementary), there are already great lessons where you will hear the standard tones, but nuanced by emotional tones: quizzical, angry, frustrated, relieved, sceptical, tender, etc etc. So good luck with your Chinese voyage!
Posted on: Iron Your Clothes
February 11, 2008 at 12:37 PMSleep tight!
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 12:24 PMCome to think of it, nicolas, I don't think I've ever heard 吗 pronounced in a neutral tone before. In the first tone, sure -- as in "你好吗?" (ni3hao3ma1;how are you?). And in the second tone too -- as in "你在干吗？“ (ni3zai4gan4ma2; what on earth are you doing/trying to do?). Now I'm really confused by your post...
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 12:08 PMOops, sorry, I forgot that this was an "elementary" lesson. The expression 你行吗？ (ni3 xing2 ma1?) means simply, "Are you okay?/ Will you be okay?" Cheers and have a beer, Auntie
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 12:06 PMHi nicolas. I think that changye's point was that the only character he could think of that was invariably "neutral tone" was 嘛. My own dictionary seems to agree with him. Quite a lot of the time, the 吗 in your example seems to be in a straightforward "first tone" -- Eg. "你行吗？“ (ni3 xing2 ma1) because it's taking the role of a simple interrogatory particle, not an emphatic particle. Hope this makes sense to you!
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008 at 11:17 AMThing is, the "-k" at the end of "dtok" (or "dto' ") is never actually pronounced, it is just how the word appears to sound if you continue the tone in a certain way, and it is actually (to my clumsy ears) unvoiced. Hmm... how I wish there were a CantoPod. I feel bad not contributing to AuntySue's brilliant cantonese section, but somehow the Stunt Toddler's needs just seemed to take over everything.
Posted on: 似曾相识
February 12, 2008 at 5:07 AMHello again, changye. Thanks for your interesting nuggets on the early "family connection" between 既 and 即. Who would have know; well, not me, certainly! The lady in the avatar is, indeed, my "Kiyo"-Class Amah (equivalent to Mercedes S-Class). Incredibly, she's a working model, working 5 - 6 hours a day at my family home. Since the Stunt Toddler began preschool in the first week of January 2008, I have been picking him and his nanny up daily from school at 11.00am, and then bringing them both to the family home, which brings the S.T. into brief -- but regular -- contact with this Kiyo-Class Amah. Despite the 90-year (+a few months) age gap between them, and his lack of Chinese, they are nuts about each other. This lady has been the 保姆 to my father (since he was 4), to me and brother, and is now, she is loved and appreciated by a Third Generation S.T.. We are so fortunate...