Lesson 1
Introduction
In this lesson you will be learning about full names, surnames, and titles ("Mr.,"
Mrs.," etc.). Also, you'll be introduced to the sound system of Standard Chinese and to
its written representation in Pinyin romanization.
Tóngzhì, nǐ xìng
shénme?
Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to identify yourself or someone else
by title, surname, and/or full name.
Glossary
1.
nǐ
你
PN:
you
2.
shéi
shéi,
shénme. For the first several lessons, these
two words will be used as "question words" (QW). Later, you will
learn to use them in other ways.
谁
PN:
who, whom
3.
shénme
生么
PN:
what
4.
shì
是
EV:
to be
5.
tā
tā.
The word tā in the spoken language has no gender and
can mean "her" "she" and on occasion "it." In the written
language, tā has three different forms to indicate
gender. All are pronounced tā.
他,她,它
PN:
he, she, it
6.
tàitai
太太
N:
mrs.; wife, married woman, lady
7.
tóngzhì
同志
N:
comrade
8.
wǒ
我
PN:
I, me
9.
xiānsheng
先生
N:
Mr., Sir, husband, teacher
10.
xiáojie
小姐
N:
Miss, lady, daughter (polite)
11.
xìng
xìng.
xìng
is used in this lesson as a verb. In later lessons you will
learn to use it also as a noun.
姓
N/EV:
to be surnamed
12.
Wáng
王
SN
Wáng
13.
Dànián
大年
GN
Dànián
14.
Hú
胡
SN
Hú
15.
Měilíng
美㸳
GN
Měilíng
16.
Mā
马
SN
Mā
17.
Mínglī
明理
GN
Mínglī
18.
Wáng
Dànián
王大年
FN
Wáng Dànián
19.
Hú
Měilíng
胡美㸳
FN
Hú Měilíng
20.
Mā
Mínglī
马明理
FN
Mā Mínglī
Abbreviations for parts of speech above (see preface,
page TODO: référence à ajouter)
PN - Pronoun
N - Noun
EV - Equative verb. (Note: Equative verbs connect or equate two nouns or nominal
expressions. They resemble in function the English verb is in the sentence "That man is
my brother." The verb shi is the most common EV.)
Classroom expressions: Learn and use these expressions in class
.
1.
Zào
早
good morning
2.
Wǒmen shàngkè
ba
我们上课八
let's begin class
3.
Nǐ dǒng
ma?
你懂吗?
do you understand?
4.
Wǒ
dǒng
我懂
I understand
5.
Wǒ
bùdǒng
我不懂
I don't understand
6.
Duì
le
对了
that's correct
7.
Búduì
不对
that's not correct, that's not right
8.
Wǒ
bùzhīdào
我不知道
I don't know
9.
Xiàkè
le
下课了
class is dismissed
10.
Míngtiān
jiàn
明天见
see you tomorrow
11.
Zài
jiàn
再见
good bye (see you again)
Communicative exchanges
Frame 1
1.
A:
Nǐ shì shéi?
你是谁?
Who are you?
B:
Wǒ shì Wáng
Dànián.
我是王大年。
I'm Wáng Dànián.
2.
A:
Nǐ shì
shéi?
你是谁?
Who are you?
B:
Wǒ shì Hú
Měilíng.
我是胡美㸳。
I'm Hú Měilíng.
3.
A:
Tā shì
shéi?
他是谁?
Who is he?
B:
Tā shì Mā
Mínglī.
他是马明理。
He is Mā Mínglī.
4.
A:
Shéi shì Hú
Měilíng?
谁是胡美㸳?
Who is ?
B:
Tā shì Hú
Měilíng.
他是胡美㸳。
She is Hú Měilíng.
Notes
$1 The verb shì
是 means "to be" in the sense
of "to be someone or something," as in "I am Daniel King." It expresses
identity. (Later, you will learn a verb which means "to be" in another sense,
"to be somewhere," as in "I am in Beǐjīng.” That verb expresses location.)
Unlike verbs in European languages, Chinese verbs do not distinguish first,
second, and third persons. A single form serves for all three persons.
Wǒ
shì
Wáng
Dànián.
I am Wáng
Dànián.
Nǐ
shì
Hú
Měilíng.
You are Hú
Měilíng.
Tā
shì
Mā
Mínglī.
He is Mā
Mínglī.
Later, you will find that Chinese verbs (and nouns) do not distinguish singular
and plural, either, and that they do not distinguish past, present, and future as
such. You need to learn only one form for each verb.
$2 The question Nǐ shì
shéi? is actually too direct for most situations, although it is
all right from teacher to student or from student to student. (A more polite
question is introduced in Lesson 2.)
$3 The pronoun tā is
equivalent to "he," "she," or (in limited use) "it.”
$4 Unlike English, changing a question into a statement does not alter word order.
Chinese uses the same word order in questions as in statements.
Q1
Tā
shì
shéi?
Who is he?
S1
Tā
shì
Mā
Mínglī.
He is Mā
Mínglī.
Q2
Shéi
shì
Hú
Měilíng?
Who is Hú
Měilíng?
S2
Tā
shì
Hú
Měilíng
She is Hú
Měilíng.
When you answer a question containing a question word like
shéi, "who," simply replace the question word
with the information it asks for.
Frame 2
5.
A:
Nǐ xìng
shénme?
你姓生么?
What is your surname?
B:
Wǒ xìng
Wáng.
我姓王。
My surname is Wáng.
6.
A:
Tā xìng
shénme?
他姓生么?
What is his surname?
B:
Tā xìng
Mǎ.
他姓马。
His surname is Mǎ.
7.
A:
Shéi xìng
Hú?
谁姓胡?
Whose surname is Hú?
B:
Tā xìng
Hú.
他姓胡。
Her surname is Hú.
Notes
$5 Xìng is a verb,
"to be surnamed." It is in the same position in the sentence as shì, "to be."
Wǒ
shì
Wáng
Dànián.
I
am
Wáng
Dànián.
Wǒ
xìng
Wáng.
I
am surnamed
Wáng
§5 Notice that the question word shénme, "what," takes the same position as the question word
shéi, "who."
Nǐ
shì
shéi?
You
are
who?
Nǐ
xìng
shénme?
You
are surnamed
what?
Shénme is the official
spelling. However, the word is pronounced as if it were spelled shémma, or even shénma (often with a single rise in
pitch extending over both syllables).
Frame 3
8.
A:
Tā shì
shéi?
他是谁?
Who is he?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Xiānsheng.
他是马先生.
He is Mr. Mǎ.
9.
A:
Tā shì
shéi?
他是谁?
Who is he?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Mínglǐ xiānsheng.
他是马明理先生。
He is Mr. Mǎ Mínglǐ.
Notes
$5 After the verb shì, you may have the full name alone, the surname plus
title, or the full name plus title.
Tā
shì
Mǎ
Mínglǐ
Tā
shì
Mǎ
Xiānsheng.
Tā
shì
Mǎ
Mínglǐ
Xiānsheng.
$8 Xiānsheng, literally
"first-born," has more of a connotation of respectfulness than "Mr." Xiānsheng is usually applied only to
people other than oneself. Do not use the title Xiānsheng (or any other respectful
title, such as "Professor") when giving your own name. If you want to say "I am Mr.
Jones," you should say "Wǒ xìng
Jones. "
When a name and title are said together, logically enough it is the name which
gets the heavy stress: Wáng
xiānsheng . You will often hear the title pronounced with no
full tones: Wáng
xiānsheng. Sometimes, a westernized Chinese married woman may refer
to herself as Wáng tàitai.
"Mrs. Wáng" or
Wáng Dànián tàitai
"Mrs. Wáng Dànián."
Frame 4
10.
A:
Wáng Xiānsheng,
tā shì shéi?
王先生,他是谁?
Mr Wáng, who is he?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Mínglǐ Xiānsheng.
他是马明里先生。
He is Mr. Mǎ Mínglǐ.
11.
A:
Xiānsheng, tā
shì shéi?
先生,他是谁?
Sir, who is he?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Xiānsheng.
他是马先生。
He is Mr. Mǎ.
12.
A:
Xiānsheng, tā
shì shéi?
先生,他是谁?
Sir, who is he?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Tàitai.
他是马太太。
She is Mrs. Mǎ.
13.
A:
Wáng Xiānsheng,
tā shì shéi?
王先生,他是谁?
Mr. Wáng, who is she?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Mínglǐ Tàitai.
他是马明理太太。
She is Mrs. Mǎ Mínglǐ.
Notes
$11 When you address_someone directly, use either the name plus the title
alone. Xiānsheng must
be translated as "sir" when it is used alone, since "Mr." would not capture its
respectful tone. (Tàitai, however, is less respectful when used alone. You
should address Mrs. Mǎ
as Mǎ tàitai.)
Frame 5
14.
A:
Wáng Xiānsheng,
tā shì shéi?
王先生,他是谁?
Mr. Wáng, who is she?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Xiáojie.
他是马小姐。
She is Miss Mǎ.
15.
A:
Tā shì
shéi?
他是谁?
Who is he?
B:
Tā shì Mǎ
Mínglǐ Tóngzhì.
他是马明理同志。
He is Comrade Mǎ Mínglǐ.
16.
A:
Tóngzhì, tā shì
shéi?
同志,他是谁?
Comrade, who is she?
B:
Tā shì Fāng
Baǒlán.
他是方宝兰。
She is Fāng Baǒlán.
17.
A:
tóngzhì, tā shì
shéi?
同志,塌是谁?
Comrade, who is she?
B:
tā shì Fāng
Bǎolán Tóngzhì.
他是方宝兰同志。
She is Comrade Fāng Bǎolán.
Note
$15 See the Background Notes on Chinese personal names and titles.
Summary
Frame 1
The verb shì
"to be" expresses identity.
Chinese verbs and nouns do not indicate person, number, or
tense.
The pronoun tā means either "he," or "she."
In Chinese changing a question into a statement does not alter word
order.
Frame 2
Xìng means "to be
surnamed." It can also be used as a noun, "surname."
Frame 3
People do not use titles, such as xiānsheng etc. when referring to themselves.
Frame 4
When addressing someone directly, use the name plus xiānsheng, or
xiānsheng
alone.
xiānsheng
means "Mr." when used with a name. It means "sir" when used
alone.
Frame 5
The title Tóngzhì,
"Comrade," is applied to all regardless of sex or marital status.
Background notes:
About Chinese personal names and titles
A Chinese personal name consists of two parts: a surname and a given name. There is no
middle name. The order is the reverse of ours: surname first, given name last.
The most common pattern for Chinese names is a single-syllable surname followed by a
two-syllable given name:
The first version of each example is in Pinyon system pf romanization. The
versions in parentesis are conventional spellings from other romanization
system.
Máo Zédōng (Mao
Tse-tung)
Zhōu Enlái (Chou
En-lai)
Jiǎng Jièshí (Chiang
Kai-shek)
Sòng Qìnglíng (Soong
Ch'ing-ling --- Mme Sun Yat-sen)
Sòng Mĕilíng (Soong
Mei-ling--Mme Chiang Kai-shek)
It is not uncommon, however, for the given name to consist of a single
syllable:
Zhŭ Dĕ (Chu Teh)
Lín Biāo (Lin Piao)
Hú Shì (Hu Shih)
Jiang Qĭng (Chiang
Ch'ing—Mme Mao Tse-tung)
There are a few two-syllable surnames.
These are usually followed by single-syllable given names:
Sīmă Guāng (Ssu-ma Kuang)
Ōuyáng Xiū (Ou-yang Hsiu)
Zhūgĕ Lìàng (Chu-ke Liang)
But two-syllable surnames may also be followed by two-syllable given names:
Sīmă Xiāngrú (Ssu-ma
Hsiang-ju)
An exhaustive list of Chinese surnames includes several hundred written with a single
character and several dozen written with two characters. Some single-syllable surnames
sound exactly alike although written with different characters, and to distinguish them,
the Chinese nay occasionally have to describe the character or "write" it with a finger
on the palm of a hand. But the surnames that you are likely to encounter are fever than
a hundred, and a handful of these are so common that they account for a good majority of
China’s population.
Given names, as opposed to surnames, are not restricted to a limited list of
characters, Men's names are often but not always distinguishable from women's; the
difference, however, usually lies in the meaning of the characters and so is not readily
apparent to the beginning student with a limited knowledge of characters.
Outside the People's Republic the traditional system of titles is still in use. These
titles closely parallel our own "Mr.," "Mrs.," and "Miss." Notice, however, that all
Chinese titles follow the name — either the full name or the surname alone — rather than
preceding it.
The title "Mr." is Xiānsheng.
Mă Xiānsheng
Mă Mínglĭ Xiānsheng
The title "Mrs." is Tàitai.
It follows the husband's full name or surname alone.
Mă Tàitai
Mă Mínglĭ Tàitai
The title "Miss" is Xiăojiĕ.
The Ma family's grown daughter, Défēn, would be
Mă Xiăojiĕ
Mă Défēn Xiăojiĕ
Even traditionally, outside the People's Republic, a married woman does not take her
husband's name in the same sense as in our culture. If Miss Fang Băolán marries Mr. Ma Mínglĭ, she becomes Mrs,
Mă Mínglĭ, but at the same
time she remains Fāng~Băolán,
She does not become Mă Băolán;
there is no equivalent of "Mrs. Mary Smith." She may, however, add her husband's surname
to her own full name and refer to herself as Mă Fāng Băolán. At work she is quite likely to continue as Miss
Fāng.
These customs regarding names are still observed by many Chinese today in various
parts of the world. The titles carry certain connotations, however, when used in the PRC
today: Tàitai should not be
used because it designates that woman as a member of the leisure class. Xiăojiĕ should not be used because it
carries the connotation of being from a rich family.
In the People's Republic, the title "Comrade," Tóngzhì is used in place of the titles
Xiānsheng, Tàitai, and Xiăojiĕ. Mă Mínglĭ would be:
Mă Tóngzhì
Mă Mínglĭ Tóngzhì
The title "Comrade" is applied to all, regardless of sex or marital status. A married
woman does not take her husband's name in any sense. Mă Mínglĭ' s wife would be:
Fāng Tóngzhì
Fāng Băolán Tóngzhì
Children may be given either the mother's or the father's surname at birth. In some
families one child has the father's surname, and another child has the mother's surname.
Mă Mínglĭ's and
Fāng Băolán's grown
daughter could be
Mă Tŏngzhì
Mă Dĕfēn Tóngzhì
Their grown son could be
Fāng Tóngzhì
Fāng Zìqiáng Tóngzhì
Both in the PRC and elsewhere, of course, there are official titles and titles of
respect in addition to the common titles we have discussed here. Several of these will
be introduced later in the course.
The question of adapting foreign names to Chinese calls for special consideration. In
the People's Republic the policy is to assign Chinese phonetic equivalents to foreign
names. These approximations are often not as close phonetically as they might be, since
the choice of appropriate written characters may bring in non-phonetic considerations.
(An attempt is usually made when transliterating to use characters with attractive
meanings.) For the most part, the resulting names do not at all resemble Chinese names.
For example, the official version of "David Anderson" is Dàiwĕi Āndésēn.
An older approach, still in use outside the PRC, is to construct a valid Chinese name
that suggests the foreign name phonetically. For example, "David Anderson" might be
An Dàwèi.
Sometimes, when a foreign surname has the same meaning as a Chinese surname, semantic
suggestiveness is chosen over phonetic suggestiveness. For example, Wáng, a common Chinese surname, means
"king," so "Daniel King" might be rendered Wáng Dànián.
Your instructor will give you a Chinese name to facilitate conversation.
Drills 1
Substitution Drill. After the teacher
gives the stimulus, you (the student) place it in the indicated structured
pattern.
(T)
Mǎ
Mínglǐ
(S)
Tā shi Mǎ
Mínglǐ.
He is Mǎ
Mínglǐ.
Response Drill. After the teacher gives
the cue, you place it in the indicated structured pattern.
(T)
Nǐ shi
shéi?
Wáng
Dànián
(S)
Wǒ shi Wáng
Dànián.
Who are you?
I am Wáng
Dànián
Nǐ shi
shéi?
Hú
Měilíng
Wǒ shi Hú
Měilíng.
Who are you?
I am Hú
Měilíng
Response Drill.
(T)
Tā shi
shéi?
Mǎ
xiānsheng
(S)
Tā shi Mǎ
xiānsheng.
Who is he?
He is Mr. Mǎ.
Response Drill. After the teacher gives
the cue in English, you translate it into Chinese and place it in the
indicated structured pattern.
(T)
Tā shì
shéi?
Mr. Wáng
(S)
Tā shì Wáng
xiānsheng.
Who is he?
He is Mr. Wáng.
Transformation Drill. After the teacher
gives the stimulus, transform it into the structured pattern shown.
(T)
Tā shì Fāng
Bǎolán.
(S)
Shéi shì
Fāng Bǎolán?
She is Fāng
Bǎolán.
Who is Fāng
Bǎolán?
Response Drill. Answer the teacher's
questions using the cues and pattern shown.
(T)
Shéi shì Mǎ
tóngzhì?
Tā
(S)
Tā shì Mǎ
tóngzhì.
Who is comrade Mǎ?
He is comrade Mǎ.
Response Drill. Respond to questions
according to cues, using the pattern shown.
(T)
Shéi xìng
Mǎ?
He
(S)
Tā xìng
Mǎ.
Whose surname is Mǎ?
His surname is Mǎ.
Response Drill. Respond to the questions
with cued surnames using the pattern shown.
(T)
Tā xìng
shénme?
Mǎ
(S)
Tā xìng
Mǎ.
What is her surname?
Her surname is Mǎ.