I’ve picked up quite a few differences between Chinese Chinese and Taiwanese Chinese - pronunciation, writing etc.
okay - they use simplified chinese
and the books - it’s left to right - left to right
unlike in Taiwan (and Korea and Japan) - right to left - top to bottom
for hair 髮 - as in 頭髮 (tou2 fa3) - Chinese pronounce it tou2 fa4 -
for 微(wei2) as in 微笑, 微風 - they pronounce it wei1
for 帆(fan2) as in 帆船 (fan2 chuan2 - yacht) - they pronounce it fan1
which really confused me when i first heard it - i thought they were saying 翻船…
france - 法國(fa4 guo2) - they pronounce it as fa3 guo2 - ewww hair country
and then 同志 (tong2zhi4)
china = comrade
taiwan = homosexual
if anyone could think of any more please add to the list -
and even better if anyone could explain why these differences
[quote=“archangel-x”]I’ve picked up quite a few differences between Chinese Chinese and Taiwanese Chinese - pronunciation, writing etc.
okay - they use simplified Chinese
and the books - it’s left to right - left to right
unlike in Taiwan (and Korea and Japan) - right to left - top to bottom
for hair 髮 - as in 頭髮 (tou2 fa3) - Chinese pronounce it tou2 fa4 -
for 微(wei2) as in 微笑, 微風 - they pronounce it wei1
for 帆(fan2) as in 帆船 (fan2 chuan2 - yacht) - they pronounce it fan1
which really confused me when I first heard it - I thought they were saying 翻船…
France - 法國(fa4 guo2) - they pronounce it as fa3 guo2 - ewww hair country
and then 同志 (tong2zhi4)
China = comrade
taiwan = homosexual
if anyone could think of any more please add to the list -
and even better if anyone could explain why these differences[/quote]
Where did you hear all of this? I have studied in Beijing and I have never head them pronounce 頭髮 as tou2 fa4.
Also, since when is 法 pronounced as fa4? I have always been taught (by Mainlanders, Taiwanese, and an American) that it is fa3.
Oh yeah, isn’t tongzhi sland for homosexual in Taiwan? Maybe it means that because they wanted to make fun of the Mainlander term. Who knows?
Concur: Fa in Faguo is fourth tone, I’ve had both Chinese and Taiwanese teachers, and all say it’s fourth tone, but I have heard people on the mainland pronounce it 3rd tone.
On a subject close to my heart: potatoes here are malingshu and they’re tudou in China. Hence tudou pian = crisps. Beer, thankfully, remains pijiu, although a draught can be zha in China whereas it’s sheng here, so don’t be alarmed if a Shanghai bartender appears to be offering you a fried (or possibly “exploding” ) beer…
[quote=“ac_dropout”]Could be localization of Mandarin corrupted by local dialects. Misprinted dictionaries that got propagated in the population.
I mean did you get Mainland dictionary and it had different tones in it?[/quote]
A lot of these differences come from dictionaries printed before 1949. Some older folks in Beijing actually pronounce a lot of words according to what you would find in an ROC dictionary. I’ve read that ROC lexicographers are more conservative than PRC lexicographers, probably because they were trying to maintain an absolute standard in a place that was so obviously “nonstandard.” PRC lexicographers have changed a lot of pronunciations in the dictionaries to reflect the changes that have occurred in spoken Mandarin.
According to a teacher of mine from Beijing who is an examiner for the Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi, if a pronunciation can be found in a major ROC dictionary (pre or post 49), they are supposed to allow it as standard. That obviously does not include things like pronouncing shi as si, zh- as z-, etc. According to him, Taiwan printed dictionaries are actually preferred by stodgy old fart academics who think language should never change; they think such dictionaries maintain the standard of the good ole’ days.
There are regional differences in putonghua, that’s to be expected. Each area of the Greater China Region will pronounce “common words” differently. So, there’s hardly a “right or wrong” although, you could argue say, PRC standard putonghua is the “standard” and the others “non-standard”. In SE Asia, people say that my putonghua is hard to understand because it sounds like a Beijing accent ( ). Here, in Taiwan, its barely passable heh :s
In terms of written stuff, there is (according to my wife) a very noticable difference between Hong Kong writing style and Taiwanese writing. One of her first tasks when she went to work for Amnesty International Taiwan was to “translate” the Hong Kong version of an AI manual into “Taiwanese” style. And it was not a matter of a single phrase here and there. It was (as I remember) a fairly major overhaul.
[quote=“archangel-x”]I’ve found another one.
computer:
Taiwanese Chinese: 電腦 (dian4 nao3)
Chinese Chinese: 計算機 (ji4 suan4 ji1) - which in Taiwan would be a calculator…[/quote]
When I was studying in Beijing, the computers were referred to as 電腦. I have heard 計算機, but I cant remember if it was meant as computer or calculator. Either way, the teachers and everyone used 電腦 for computer.
Isn’t there a different word for peanut? I know I learned it but I can’t remember.
Air-conditioners, bicycles, buses, ice cream, keys and taxi are also have different in the mainland.
I’ve heard of the hair thing in the mainland. But only in the terms
li3fa4 - hair cut
But when prouncing hair tou2fa3 I’ve never notice the 4th tone.
Although a girl in Beijing once told me the -er ending. Could not be used to describe both number 1 and number 2 in the restroom.
Jive Turkey,
I like my ROC dictionary.
I noticed some anachornistic use of Chinese in HK a lot. Like signs for “Slow down” (Jia Man) while driving 駕慢. Of course it is based on Cantonese usage. But the first time I saw it, I felt like I was in a old movie or something, expecting horse drawn carriages.
As one of the few who says fa3guo2, my TW friend said that she learned it as fa4guo2 because fa3 is the same sound as “law”. And France the country has nothing to do with law, hence “fa4” tone.
I use that term. I’ve been told that my Chinese is strange due to a lot of anachronistic terminology. “Hipper” folks will think I’m from another age Well, I just haven’t kept up with the times, color me traditionalist
[quote=“pikafumanchu”]
Also, since when is 法 pronounced as fa4? I have always been taught (by Mainlanders, Taiwanese, and an American) that it is fa3.[/quote]
I have only heard it pronounced fa4guo2 by people in Taiwan. Likewise, I have only heard fa3guo2 spoken by mainlanders.
[/quote]Oh yeah, isn’t tongzhi sland for homosexual in Taiwan? Maybe it means that because they wanted to make fun of the Mainlander term. Who knows?[/quote]
“tongzhi” literally means “comrade” in Taiwan as it does in China, but it has become slang for “homosexual” in recent years.
Other words that are different:
“week”:
xing1 qi2 (Taiwan)
xing1 qi1 (China)
“research”:
yan2 jiu4 (Taiwan)
yan2 jiu1 (China)
“garbage”:
le4 se4 (Taiwan)
la1 ji1 (China)
“guava”:
ba2 la4 (Taiwan)
ba1 le4 (China)
“include”:
bao1 gua1 (Taiwan)
bao1 kuo4 (China)
And practically everything having to do with computers is different between Taiwan and China:
There are substantial differences between American English and British English, and there was not a self-imposed 50-year blackout of communication between them. Why is everyone surprised that the language on the Mainland is different??
(This innovation, like Chinese characters, is FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE. Don’t forget that when you’re memorizing double!)
) beer…
). Here, in Taiwan, its barely passable heh :s
I use that term. I’ve been told that my Chinese is strange due to a lot of anachronistic terminology. “Hipper” folks will think I’m from another age 
Well, I just haven’t kept up with the times, color me traditionalist 
