移动电信的平台

[laser2302]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what is 移动电信的平台?

Thanks

[necroflux]

Mobile telecommunications platform

移动= Mobile

电信 = Telecommunications

平台 = Platform (literally and figuratively, just as in English)

[ccjamp]

Mobile telecommunication platform, I think.

[ABCinChina]

Why that would be "Mobile Telecommunications Platform"! Whoops did someone already answer above me?

[ABCinChina]

Reading back over my last post, I have an English-related question. I think most people would read my first sentence and think it was a question. But actually, I was thinking more along the lines of "Why...that would be..." in a sarcastic way. But how would one explain to an English student why "why" here doesn't mean 為什麽? Does anyone know what I'm talking about? (Good thing I'm not an English teacher anymore)

[necroflux]

If you want to get across the sarcastic tone, I think you would say something like:

Wow, I wonder where ccjamp got that answer from?

The way you wrote it didn't detect any sarcasm, I thought you were actually asking the question. So here I think your sentence does indeed mean 為什麼.

[lokki]

I don't know about most people but I didn't have any doubts about the meaning of "why" there. Even so, maybe your meaning could have been made a little clearer by adding a comma " Why, ...".

But as the why is clearly followed by a flat statement and not a question I can't see how "why" could be a question here.

It would be different if it was followed by a question type of wording, such as "Why would that be xxx ?" (with a question mark at the end, to be sure), or an indirect question: "Why that would be xxx, I don't know."

As for explaining it to a student. Why, this is just a case of the same word having multiple meanings and uses. This shouldn't be too hard to grasp, especially for a Chinese speaker, surely.

[bamboo]

Why that would be "Mobile Telecommunications Platform"!

( But how would one explain to an English student why "why" here doesn't

mean 為什麼? )

When "why" is used as an interrogative pronoun 疑問代詞 as in the sentence: "Why would that be rated xxx ?" then “why” can be translated as 為什麼。Other interrogative pronouns in the English language include: who, whose, whom, what, which, where, when, why and how. When such words are placed in a sentence where they are not acting as pronouns 代詞but an adjective 形容詞 or front placed adjectival modifier 前置修飾語 then therefore they cannot be translated to the pronoun equivalent word 為什么(in Chinese).

But as the why is clearly followed by a flat statement and not a question

I can't see how "why" could be a question here.

My own example: How this above statement (by lokki) can be construed as a proper answer I shall never know. The 'how' is not a pronoun here. How is an adjective modifying 'this above statement'

[lokki]

bamboo is right about "why" not being an interrogative pronoun in the type of use referred to above (EDIT: Actually it never is an interrogative pronoun. It can be an interrogative adverb though), but in the rest of the explanation he or she is clearly very confused about other grammar terminology and makes a mess of it.

My own example: How this above statement (by lokki) can be construed as a proper answer I shall never know. The 'how' is not a pronoun here. How is an adjective modifying 'this above statement'

That analysis is wrong actually. "How" is naturally not a pronoun here, or anywhere else. It is never a pronoun, nor an adjective. It is normally an adverb (and it can be a conjunction in some special cases that have no relation to this discussion). Adverbs modify verbs (and adjectives and other adverbs). In your example sentence the "How" modifies the verb "can be construed...".

Adjectives modify nouns. If it was an adjective, like "green" you could apply it to nouns such as "a green car". But "a how car" is clearly gobbledegook.

If you did want to apply a _real_ adjective to "this above statement" such as "short", the position before "this" is totally wrong for that. You would say "this short statement above" NOT "short this above statement".

"Why" is not an adjective either, in any of the uses seen here.

Of course, just stating that "why" or "how" "is or isn't a pronoun there will not help clarify things very much, since by just looking at the word itself you cannot see what it is in each case. It's the same three letters w-h-y. It is only by analysing the surrounding context, as I did above, that you can say anything about what it is.

[bamboo]

lokki,

my example sentence was a bit sarcastic..i admit... but I meant it completely as a joke. I am sorry if I offended your feelings.

'How' is an interrogative pronoun according to Collins COBUILD book on English Grammar. My explanations were completely taken from that book. As to the rest of your explanations I don't really understand. I think maybe I got too bored last night after reading various other posts This was the top pile of this category. Grammar is neither here nor there really and I am definitely not an English teacher so...

[skylee]

I thought this thread was about 移动电信的平台. But the discussion seems to focus on the use of "why" in English? Is it not very off-topic? I am confused.

[lokki]

Yes, the question about 移动电信的平台 was apparently answered to everybody's satisfaction in the first two or three replies, and then it went off topic with ABCinChina's question about English usage.

bamboo - OK, sorry for getting carried away, but I did feel targeted a bit.