I don't understand how characters come together..

[xuechengfeng]

to form words they do

for example,

ma2fan - cause trouble to, disturb, troublesome.

ma2 = hemp; numbness

fan = annoy

also

qi2guai4 = amazing; amazed

qi2 = strange

guai4 = queer

[Quest]

mafan is one of the words that can't be broken up.

qi and guai both mean strange, weird. putting two words of the same meaning together to form a new disyllabic word. Qiguai does not mean amazed, it just means weird, abnormal.

[xuechengfeng]

hmm.. cuz in the book we use (John DeFrancis) ..

the dialogue speaks of how it is amazing (qiguai) that one man's daughter was walking at a very young age, and now is running very fast.

and it says qiguai = amazing; amazed

[Quest]

no it means strange, try substituting strange in that sentence.

it is strange (qiguai) that one man's daughter was walking at a very young age.

[xuechengfeng]

Well, I understand where you're coming from, and what you're saying makes more sense, but I'm just stating the translation from the book

Nan haizi qisui, nu haizi liangsui. Zhen qiguai. Zheige nu haizi yisui jiu hui zoulu. Ta xianzai hui pao, ye paode hen kuai.

The boy is seven, the girl is two. It's really amazing. This girl could walk at one year of age. Now she can run, and runs very fast, too.

Now substituting strange into that English translation doesn't make much sense because the man is speaking with almost a bragging tone, with a sense of pride. Saying strange in there would change the whole demeanor he is speaking in.

[skylee]

I agree with Quest. 真奇怪 means strange, abnormal, hard to explain.

But you see sometimes people call their children 犬子, when they are actually very proud of them. 真奇怪 when said with fondness could perhaps be a praise.

[trooper]

Yes, I think this is an example of Chinese modesty.

The English word, strange, seems to have too much of a negative connotation for the situation.

[Quest]

because the man is speaking with almost a bragging tone

well how about this:

The boy is seven, the girl is two. You know what's strange! This girl could walk at one year of age. Now she can run, and runs very fast, too.

不要读死书。

[xuechengfeng]

Well you guys are the experts over me, so I heed to what you're saying. I guess the problem must be the English connotation of strange, like said. Because Quest, your sentence to me sounds strange (no pun).

If you said that sentence to someone in English, they would reply what is so strange about that? The girl is just ahead of her time. It would be strange to us if the girl didn't start walking until age six or something.

OK, well I understand the use of qiguai now, but rest assured I'll be back with more confusing things to me!!

Thanks

[Quest]

no problem, the more the merrier.

[xuechengfeng]

客气 - to be polite.

客 - guest

气 - air

(as according to book definitions)

i don't get how guest + air comes together to form to be polite.

[Quest]

客气－对待客人的语气

to treat you like a guest = to be polite.

[pazu]

Keqi isn't the same as "polite".

I don't know how if there's a word-for-word translation of keqi.

e.g. When your friend (not very close) gives you a gift, you can say, "喲……你也真客氣, 哈哈哈。"

In this case, Keqi means that your friend (or your guest) is acting like you guys meet for the first time. A gift is always appreciated, and "keqi" shouldn't be treated as a blame. Isn't it common for Chinese to say something "bad" or "inappropriate" of you but he actually means to say you're good and you know the manner?

[kokleong]

别客氣

0) bie keqi

1) Don't + guest + air.

2) [Don't] (carry the) [airs (of a) guest].

3) Make yourself at home.

When learning Chinese you have to resist separating out compound words into individual characters. Do it only as a memory aid especially when it makes sense.

p/s Chinese-English dictionaries are not comprehensive when it comes to listing out English words associated with a character. More so if the character are used as compounds because a character may mean something by itself and a totally different thing when used in compounds.

[ananda]

客气-- the 气 here means 'something-like', when the hosts said '别客气',

they always mean 'help yourself, treat here as your home or your old

friends' home'. The same example is 傻里傻气's 气，which means

silly-like.

麻烦-- to be easier to understand, imaging that after you mix and crush

up the hemp, you have to restore them to a single straight line, what's

it? annoyed right？

[shibo77]

It's really simple. In English there is a saying of someone exhibiting an "air of discontent", to have a "smooth atmosphere". They really have nothing to do with atmosphere or air, but just that the emotions involved.

客气 Ke4 Qi5 "Guest Air" if the guest is in the "air", "atmosphere", the presence of the guest must be radiating through the air, then the guest must be very important. Used as a verb, Ke4Qi5 has the meaning of "to be polite".

不客气, 别客气 (not) don't be so polite

I hope this helped!

- Shibo

[xuechengfeng]

Ok, I REALLY don't get how 東西 can come together to mean thing(s)

[ananda]

Ok, I REALLY don't get how 東西 can come together to mean thing(s)

It is probably a translation by pronunciation, I guess it's from mongolian.

[xuechengfeng]

I'll never understand this language.

[Azumanga]

难得糊涂！