English words that have more syllables in Chinese?

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eldertree • Manager of Imperial Park Realms Posts: 847 Likes: 286 Ethnic Heritage: Chinese in a Chinese body Gender Identity: Cis	Post by eldertree on May 8, 2017 23:22:37 GMT The list consists of both: (1) Native words that have more syllables than the English word (2) Loanwords / foreign words (including transliterations) that have more syllables than the original it is borrowed from 1 syllable English, 2 syllables in Chinese: Time = 时间 (Shíjiān) What = 什么 (Shénme) But = 如果 (Rúguǒ) So = 所以 (Suǒyǐ) Can (permitted to) = 可以 (Kěyǐ); 能够 (Nénggòu) Can (can of beans) = 罐头 (Guàntóu) Soon = 不久 (Bùjiǔ) There = 哪里 (Nǎlǐ) Here = 这里 (Zhèlǐ) Now = 现在 (Xiànzài) Space = 空间 (Kōngjiān) Earth = 地球 (Dìqiú) Park = 公园 (Gōngyuán) Pond = 池塘 (Chítáng) Chair = 椅子 (Yǐzi) Grape(s) = 葡萄 (Pútáo) Girl = 女孩(儿) (Nǚhá'ér) Boy = 男孩(儿) (Nánhá'ér) Child = 小孩(儿) (Xiǎohá'er); 孩子 (Háizi); 儿童 (Értong) Frog = 青蛙 (Qīngwā) Rose = 玫瑰 (Méiguī) Nut = 坚果 (Jiānguǒ) Scarf = 圍巾 (Wéijīn) Gums (mouth) = 牙龈 (Yáyín) Moon = 月球 (Yuèqiú); 月亮 (Yuèliàng); 太陰 (Tàiyīn) Sun = 太阳 (Tàiyáng) Cliff = 悬崖 (Xuányá) Chance = 机会 (Jīhuì) Luck = 运气 (Yùnqì) Fate = 命運 (Mìngyùn) Haul = 运输 (Yùnshū) Soot = 煤烟 (Méiyān) Shark = 鲨鱼 (Shāyú) Fox = 狐狸 (Húlí) Witch = 巫婆 (Wūpó) Boss = 老板 (Lǎobǎn) 3 syllables or more in Chinese: Why = 为什么 (Wèishéme) Owl = 猫头鹰 (Māotóuyīng) Office = 办公室 (Bàngōngshì) Tractor = 拖拉机 (Tuōlājī) Wine = 葡萄酒 (Pútáojiǔ) Golf = 高爾夫球 (Gāo'ěrfūqiú) Cocaine = 可卡因 (Kěkǎyīn) Sandwich = 三明治 (Sānmíngzhì) Salmon = 三文鱼 (Sānwènyú) Tuna = 金枪鱼 (Jīnqiāngyú) Burger = 汉堡包 (Hànbǎobāo) Ice cream = 冰淇淋 (Bīngqílín) Cheesecake = 奶酪蛋糕 (Nǎilàodàngāo) Croissant = 牛角面包 (Niújiǎomiànbāo) Pasta = 意式麵食 (Yìshìmiànshí) Cactus = 仙人掌 (Xiānrénzhǎng) Hummus = 鹰嘴豆泥 (Yīngzuǐdòuní); 鹰嘴豆沙 (Yīngzuǐdòushā) Fudge = 乳脂软糖 (Rǔzhīruǎntáng)
	My pseudoifying urges are tingling I must thrust my crotch toward the desired target
English words that have more syllables in Chinese? Posted May 8, 2017 23:22:37 GMT Edited by eldertree May 9, 2017 1:29:09 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top

redwine • Moderator Posts: 179 Likes: 41 Ethnic Heritage: Blackenese	Post by redwine on May 8, 2017 23:44:17 GMT How do you differentiate between syllables and compounded words?

English words that have more syllables in Chinese? Posted May 8, 2017 23:44:17 GMT via mobile Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top

eldertree • Manager of Imperial Park Realms Posts: 847 Likes: 286 Ethnic Heritage: Chinese in a Chinese body Gender Identity: Cis	Post by eldertree on May 9, 2017 0:14:08 GMT May 8, 2017 23:44:17 GMT redwine said: How do you differentiate between syllables and compounded words? By looking at morphemes i.e. if you can break them down into smaller components. Compounded words, even if they are monomorphemic, are polysyllabic though. In German there are lots of compound words which are monomorphemic. Airplane in German is Flugzeug. It's literally fly + thing. Flugzeug is a poly (di)syllabic word. Gums in German is Zahnfleisch. It's literally tooth + flesh. Glove in German is Handschuh. It's literally hand + shoe. Even the country name, Deutschland, is a compound word (Deutsch + land) Is "Deutschland" monosyllabic? English examples as you know: hotdog, football, undo, redo, singing, jumping, kicking, eyeball, eyelash, eyebrow, earring, horseshoe, doughnut, sweetcorn, fistfight, talking etc, there are loads. These are all monomorphemic words, but they are still polysyllabic. The meaning is different if you separate them.
	My pseudoifying urges are tingling I must thrust my crotch toward the desired target
English words that have more syllables in Chinese? Posted May 9, 2017 0:14:08 GMT Edited by eldertree May 9, 2017 0:17:28 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top

foheadDynasty • Royal patron of the Palace Arts Posts: 620 Likes: 196 Ethnic Heritage: Celestial manifestation Gender Identity: Dominatrix	Post by foheadDynasty on May 9, 2017 1:24:25 GMT I think there is a major fundamental difference. In English you have polysyllabic words in the sense of a single word having multiple syllables even when they are not compounded. For example the word example. There's also the issue of the language having modifiers for example the word "liked". In Chinese there is no equivalent of the "ed" modifier and you have to say a lot more to communicate that you liked something. Wo yiqian shihuang 我以前喜欢.
	Bogey on my 3, motherfffff, oh wait bogey on my 9 now, wtf???
English words that have more syllables in Chinese? Posted May 9, 2017 1:24:25 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top

eldertree • Manager of Imperial Park Realms Posts: 847 Likes: 286 Ethnic Heritage: Chinese in a Chinese body Gender Identity: Cis	Post by eldertree on May 9, 2017 1:30:28 GMT May 9, 2017 1:24:25 GMT foheadDynasty said: I think there is a major fundamental difference. In English you have polysyllabic words in the sense of a single word having multiple syllables even when they are not compounded. For example the word example. There's also the issue of the language having modifiers for example the word "liked". In Chinese there is no equivalent of the "ed" modifier and you have to say a lot more to communicate that you liked something. Wo yiqian shihuang 我以前喜欢. Yes that is true. Basically Chinese is largely monomorphemic, but not monosyllabic.
	My pseudoifying urges are tingling I must thrust my crotch toward the desired target
English words that have more syllables in Chinese? Posted May 9, 2017 1:30:28 GMT Edited by eldertree May 9, 2017 1:35:54 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top

foheadDynasty • Royal patron of the Palace Arts Posts: 620 Likes: 196 Ethnic Heritage: Celestial manifestation Gender Identity: Dominatrix	Post by foheadDynasty on May 9, 2017 1:33:17 GMT I think the idea of Chinese is that you want to get across as much information as you can without having to waste a bunch of syllables. So they got rid of modifiers and kept on simplifying it. It became easier to learn since there aren't as many exceptions as in a language like English or Spanish. As a byproduct of the logographic writing system a lot of words end up sounding the same (even with a beautiful system as 4 tones to differentiate them) and you end up with tons of homophones.
	Bogey on my 3, motherfffff, oh wait bogey on my 9 now, wtf???
English words that have more syllables in Chinese? Posted May 9, 2017 1:33:17 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top

eldertree • Manager of Imperial Park Realms Posts: 847 Likes: 286 Ethnic Heritage: Chinese in a Chinese body Gender Identity: Cis	Post by eldertree on May 9, 2017 2:00:08 GMT I'm interested in compound words that when split up, doesn't have anything to do with the word it forms. For example we know a word like teacup is to do with tea and a cup. Same thing with treehouse, football etc. But words like hotdog and makeup, when split up it doesn't tell us anything about the formed word. I think Chinese has these due to transliterations. They tend to be more modern words. Eg sanmingzhi to mean sandwich which in Chinese (三明治) literally means three clear rule.
	My pseudoifying urges are tingling I must thrust my crotch toward the desired target
English words that have more syllables in Chinese? Posted May 9, 2017 2:00:08 GMT via mobile Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top