Wednesday, 24 January 2007

pne: A picture of a plush toy, halfway between a duck and a platypus, with a green body and a yellow bill and feet. (Default)

I was reading the Wikipedia article on Standard Mandarin and came across this bit:

It is known that if the two morphemesof a compound word cannot be ordered by grammar, the order of the twois usually determined by tones — Yin Ping (1), Yang Ping (2), Shang(3), Qu (4), and Ru, which is the plosive-ending tone that has alreadydisappeared. Below are some compound words that show this rule. Tonesare shown in parentheses, and R indicates Ru.

左右 (34)
南北 (2R)
輕重 (14)
貧富 (24)
凹凸 (1R)
喜怒 (34)
哀樂 (1R)
生死 (13)
死活 (3R)
陰陽 (12)
明暗 (24)
毀譽 (34)
褒貶 (13)
離合 (2R)

Fascinating!

pne: A picture of a plush toy, halfway between a duck and a platypus, with a green body and a yellow bill and feet. (Default)
Snow! For the first time in months. Maybe even the first time this winter; I'm not sure.

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pne: A picture of a plush toy, halfway between a duck and a platypus, with a green body and a yellow bill and feet. (Default)
Philip Newton

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