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"to clarify, Chinese dictionaries don't generally (in my experience) provide pronunciation" What? Every Chinese dictionary I've seen says how a word is written

"to clarify, Chinese dictionaries don't generally (in my experience) provide pronunciation" What? Every Chinese dictionary I've seen says how a word is written in Pinyin, allowing one to pronounce it. Every person in mainland China who has gone to school knows Mandarin and Pinyin. For example Cantonese is just a locally spoken dialect, children learn Mandarin at school.

baby 16y ago
old dictionary didn't have pinyin. But the fact that characters don't give out pronunciation is a big issue when you come across one in your everyday life (restaurant menu for example) and can't pronounce it, nor can ask someone to explain it to you later (unless you remember how to write it).
bfung 16y ago
to clarify, Chinese dictionaries don't generally (in my experience) provide pronunciation Depends who's Chinese =P If you buy a dictionary in Taiwan, you can look up words using the Zhuying Fuhao system (Bopomofo). There are 37 characters, with about the first 21-24 can be used as the first sound, 3 as a middle sound, and the last 13-16 as the second sound of words (plus the 4 (ok, 5 sorta) intonations). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo But yes, it really depends on the sanctioned system and the dialect. Can't really use pinyin for Cantonese... For example Cantonese is just a locally spoken dialect, children learn Mandarin at school. Not completely true. In Hong Kong, Cantonese is written as well as spoken. For example, the English phrase's meaning of "do not have" can be translated into Mandarin as 没有, however, in Cantonese, spoken and written, is expressed more commonly as 冇. 没有 - http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/9084/ http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/9084/ 冇 - http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/256/ http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/256/

baby 16y ago

old dictionary didn't have pinyin. But the fact that characters don't give out pronunciation is a big issue when you come across one in your everyday life (restaurant menu for example) and can't pronounce it, nor can ask someone to explain it to you later (unless you remember how to write it).

bfung 16y ago

to clarify, Chinese dictionaries don't generally (in my experience) provide pronunciation Depends who's Chinese =P If you buy a dictionary in Taiwan, you can look up words using the Zhuying Fuhao system (Bopomofo). There are 37 characters, with about the first 21-24 can be used as the first sound, 3 as a middle sound, and the last 13-16 as the second sound of words (plus the 4 (ok, 5 sorta) intonations). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo But yes, it really depends on the sanctioned system and the dialect. Can't really use pinyin for Cantonese... For example Cantonese is just a locally spoken dialect, children learn Mandarin at school. Not completely true. In Hong Kong, Cantonese is written as well as spoken. For example, the English phrase's meaning of "do not have" can be translated into Mandarin as 没有, however, in Cantonese, spoken and written, is expressed more commonly as 冇. 没有 - http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/9084/ http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/9084/ 冇 - http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/256/ http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/256/