User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Of Kings, Emperors, and Presidents

Etiology of 宫...buildings inside connected courtyards [the line between the two courtyards in the traditional character has been removed in the simplification].

Posted on: Of Kings, Emperors, and Presidents

Etiology of 争...two hands fighting to grab the same lance. In this simplified character you can still see the lower hand, but the hand on top has been simplified from the traditional.You can see the upper hand in the traditional here: 爭

Posted on: Of Kings, Emperors, and Presidents

furthermore, it would make sense for king to come first historically as you have suggested, before China was finally united under an Emperor. I have also just checked the derivation of 皇 which I feel supports this as it is made up of the character 王 down the bottom and one derivation suggests it is an associative compound with the 白 representing a crown on the king. Another derivation is suggesting that 王 is acting as a phonetic [ I guess I can hear the similarity between huang and wang]. Once again that would suggest to me that wang came first.

Posted on: A Member of the 'Moonlight Clan'

柏大卫，

“paid in the middle of the month”

I did 考虑 that 可能性 but I didn't wanna let that get in the way, hehe. I also wondered how universal being paid monthly in China was. Do many get paid fortnightly for example?

Posted on: Of Kings, Emperors, and Presidents

谢谢你的确认

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility

I initially understood 可能 to mean possible. Later I discovered that it can also mean probable. I see the example in this lesson:

他最有可能赢

..apart from the use of this 最, I've often wondered how to use 可能 to mean probable or probably instead of possible/possibly. To me there is a clear distinction in English, but I sometimes feel it's more vague in Chinese[or 可能 that's just me, hehe]. Any hints?

Posted on: Of Kings, Emperors, and Presidents

thanks svik. I hadn't heard that derivation but I like it. The one I'd come across is that it's pictographic and represents an axe...a symbol of power, but you'rs is much more interesting. You're right about changye. It would have been right up his alley.

Posted on: Of Kings, Emperors, and Presidents

噢，多谢朋友。我喜欢俗语【可以用“俗语”这样吗？】

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility

我感觉有点惊讶我到现在没发现过这个词“愚蠢”，所以感觉一点。。怎么说？。。愚蠢。 可能大家对我都太客气了，呵呵

Posted on: Possible, Possibly, Possibility

副词...adverb