起來

[xuechengfeng]

i've seen the nj star dictionary definition for 起來, but when i see it used around here, i get it isn't used in the sense of their definition.

what exactly does this word mean?

[shibo77]

起来Qi3Lai2 -Arise

起来!不愿作奴隶的人们 ...

Arise ye who refuse to be slaves ...

-Shibo

[889]

Yes, 起来 qilai means "arise" but it has very strong political connations: it's the opening of the Chinese national anthem, as mentioned above, and then appears throughout the refrain: "起來！起來！起來！" "Qilai! Qilai! Qilai!" Hear those two characters and 国歌 guoge comes right to mind.

Further, Mao's famous words at Tiananmen on founding of the People's Republic were "中国人民从此站起来了!" "Zhongguo renmin cong ci zhanqilai le!"

[Quest]

起來 has many usages.

说起来，起来这词与其它词比起来还真变得复杂起来。

[Altair]

Could the original question have something to do with usages like the following?:

这个提议听起来挺不错 (This proposal sounds quite all right).

看起来要下雨了 (It looks like rain.)

I got these two from one of my dictionaries.

If this is your issue, I think that 起来 is used in these contexts to mean something like "upon" or "as one starts to...," as in "upon hearing it" or "upon looking at it." Basically, it is used when English would use "look," "sound," or equivalent verbs of perception intransitively, as in "something looks, sounds, smells, or feels good."

I think this usage also applies to the phrase 说起来, which could mean "to start to talk about" or "as a matter of fact."

[geek_frappa]

胖起來

[zackzhou]

If this is your issue, I think that 起来 is used in these contexts to mean something like "upon" or "as one starts to...," as in "upon hearing it" or "upon looking at it." Basically, it is used when English would use "look," "sound," or equivalent verbs of perception intransitively, as in "something looks, sounds, smells, or feels good."

I think this usage also applies to the phrase 说起来, which could mean "to start to talk about" or "as a matter of fact."

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[yidou]

so fun