{"id":1281,"date":"2012-06-11T22:13:31","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T14:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/akikolingoland.com\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2015-05-21T21:23:59","modified_gmt":"2015-05-21T13:23:59","slug":"lets-practise-%e7%bb%83%e4%b9%a0%e7%bb%83%e4%b9%a0%e5%90%a7-mandarin-verb-reduplication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akikolingoland.com\/en\/lets-practise-%e7%bb%83%e4%b9%a0%e7%bb%83%e4%b9%a0%e5%90%a7-mandarin-verb-reduplication\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Practise! – \u7ec3\u4e60\u7ec3\u4e60\u5427 (Mandarin Verb Reduplication)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you get the answer to the quiz in the last post<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The question was the title of the post itself. What does “\u8c03\u8c03\u7434 \u79cd\u79cd\u82b1 \u7ec3\u7ec3\u8c03” mean, and how should you pronounce it?<\/p>\n

Here’s the answer:<\/p>\n

01 tiao2qin zhong2hua lian2diao<\/a>
\nti\u00e1otiao q\u00edn
\n\u8c03\u8c03\u7434
\nzh\u00f2ngzhong hu\u0101
\n\u79cd\u79cd\u82b1
\nli\u00e0nlian di\u00e0o
\n\u7ec3\u7ec3\u8c03<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you guess it right? What about the meaning? Sit tight, there’s gonna be quite a bit of grammar today!<\/p>\n

Well, first of all, the reduplicated words in this phrase are all verbs. Let’s first take a look at the basic meaning of the verbs and their objects.
\nti\u00e1o q\u00edn<\/strong>
\n \u8c03\u7434<\/strong> – to play an instrument<\/em>
\nzh\u00f2ng hu\u0101<\/strong>
\n \u79cd\u82b1<\/strong> – to grow flowers<\/em>
\nli\u00e0n di\u00e0o<\/strong>
\n \u7ec3\u8c03<\/strong> – to practise the tones<\/em><\/p>\n

Next let’s move on to the use of verb reduplication. The Chinese language uses a lot of reduplications, which sometimes can be quite hard to translate into English. In verb reduplication, usually the following meanings are conveyed:<\/p>\n

\u2460 to have a try at something
\n\u2461 to do something briefly or quickly
\n\u2462 to do something casually<\/p>\n

Usually they can be translated as “~ a little bit”, “~ a while”. Instead of reduplicating, you can also use “\u4e00\u4e0b”(y\u00edxi\u00e0) after the verb. That is, instead of “V+V”, we have “V+\u4e00\u4e0b”. You probably have heard of the phrase “\u7b49\u4e00\u4e0b” (d\u011bng y\u00edxi\u00e0), meaning to wait a while.<\/p>\n

What patterns can we have with reduplicated verbs? Here’s the breakdown and explanations.<\/p>\n

<\/span>I Monosyllabic verbs (AA\/A\u4e00A structure)<\/div>
Eg:
\nk\u00e0nkan\/ k\u00e0n yi k\u00e0n
\n\u770b\u770b\uff0f\u770b\u4e00\u770b<\/strong> (to have a quick look, to look a little bit)<\/em>
\n02 kankan<\/a><\/p>\n

t\u012bngting\/ t\u012bng yi t\u012bng
\n\u542c\u542c\uff0f\u542c\u4e00\u542c <\/strong>(to have a quick listen, to listen a little bit)<\/em>
\n03 tingting<\/a><\/p>\n

w\u00e8nwen\/ w\u00e8n yi w\u00e8n
\n\u95ee\u95ee\uff0f\u95ee\u4e00\u95ee <\/strong>(to ask briefly, to ask a little bit)<\/em>
\n04 wenwen<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n

<\/span>II Disyllabic verbs (ABAB structure)<\/div>
Eg:
\nli\u00e0nx\u00edli\u00e0nx\u00ed
\n\u7ec3\u4e60\u7ec3\u4e60 <\/strong>(to practise a little bit)<\/em>
\n05 lianxilianxi<\/a><\/p>\n

xi\u016bxixi\u016bxi
\n\u4f11\u606f\u4f11\u606f<\/strong>(to rest a little bit)<\/em>
\n06 xiuxixiuxi<\/a><\/p>\n

f\u00e0ngs\u014dngf\u00e0ngs\u014dng
\n\u653e\u677e\u653e\u677e <\/strong>(to relax a little bit)<\/em>
\n07 fangsongfangsong<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n

<\/span>III Separable disyllabic verbs (AAB structure)<\/div>
Eg:
\ns\u00e0nsan b\u00f9
\n\u6563\u6563\u6b65<\/strong> (to take a walk)<\/em>
\n08 sansan bu<\/a><\/p>\n

y\u00f3uyou y\u01d2ng
\n\u6e38\u6e38\u6cf3 <\/strong>(to have a quick swim, to swim a little bit)<\/em>
\n09 youyou yong<\/a><\/p>\n

Note that verbs like “\u6563\u6b65” (s\u00e0n b\u00f9) and “\u6e38\u6cf3” (y\u00f3u y\u01d2ng) are so-called separable disyllabic verbs (composed of “verb + object”), so be careful not to reduplicate them in the same way as type II) verbs above. They do not form “AABB” structures – we don’t say “\u6563\u6b65\u6563\u6b65” (s\u00e0nb\u00f9s\u00e0nb\u00f9) or “\u6e38\u6cf3\u6e38\u6cf3” (y\u00f3uy\u01d2ngy\u00f3uy\u01d2ng).<\/div><\/div>\n

Let’s try and make some sentences with the verbs above.<\/p>\n

1)
\nZh\u00e8 ji\u00e0n y\u012bfu z\u011bnmey\u00e0ng? N\u01d0 k\u00e0nkan.
\n\u8fd9\u4ef6\u8863\u670d\u600e\u4e48\u6837\uff1f\u4f60\u770b\u770b\u3002<\/strong>
\nWhat do you think of this dress? Take a look.<\/em>
\n10 zhe jian yifu<\/a><\/p>\n

2)
\nL\u00e8i le, xi\u016bxixi\u016bxi ba.
\n\u7d2f\u4e86\uff0c\u4f11\u606f\u4f11\u606f\u5427\u3002<\/strong>
\n(I am\/ We are) tired. Let’s have a rest.<\/em>
\n11 lei le<\/a><\/p>\n

3)
\nZh\u014dum\u00f2, w\u01d2 x\u01d0huan s\u00e0nsan b\u00f9, y\u00f3uyou y\u01d2ng, f\u00e0ngs\u014dngf\u00e0ngs\u014dng.
\n\u5468\u672b\u6211\u559c\u6b22\u6563\u6563\u6b65\uff0c\u6e38\u6e38\u6cf3\uff0c\u653e\u677e\u653e\u677e\u3002<\/strong>
\nAt weekends, I like to relax by going for walks and swimming.<\/em>
\n12 zhoumo<\/a><\/p>\n

And finally back to the quiz proper! Well, “\u8c03\u8c03\u7434 \u79cd\u79cd\u82b1 \u7ec3\u7ec3\u8c03” translated to English would be something like “play some tunes, grow some flowers, practise a little bit of tones”. Nothing complex or profound, just another word play!<\/p>\n

By the way, verb reduplication has another use – it softens the tone and makes requests sound more polite and less formal, so you don’t come across as brusque or trying to command others. So for example, compared to “\u4f60\u770b” (n\u01d0 k\u00e0n) and “\u4f11\u606f\u5427” (xi\u016bxi ba), “\u4f60\u770b\u770b” (n\u01d0 k\u00e0nkan) and “\u4f11\u606f\u4f11\u606f\u5427” (xi\u016bxixi\u016bxi ba) sound milder.<\/p>\n

So, how about putting verb reduplication into some practice?
\n\u7ec3\u4e60\u7ec3\u4e60\u5427 (li\u00e0nx\u00edli\u00e0nx\u00ed ba)\uff01

<\/div>\nIf you’ve enjoyed this, don’t forget to hit one of the sharing buttons below, and do join me on<\/span> Google+<\/span><\/a>\/ Facebook<\/span><\/a>\/\u00a0Youtub<\/span><\/a>e\/\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\/ Pinterest<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you get the answer to the quiz in the last post? The question was the title of the post itself. What does “\u8c03\u8c03\u7434 \u79cd\u79cd\u82b1 \u7ec3\u7ec3\u8c03” mean, and how should you pronounce it? Here’s the answer: 01...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[293,97,95,82],"tags":[243,233],"class_list":["post-1281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-chinese-characters","category-grammar","category-mandarin","tag-reduplication","tag-verbs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t