roddy Posted September 17, 2003 at 03:00 PM Report Share Posted September 17, 2003 at 03:00 PM Over the last few months I've noticed sentences like these: In a shop: You ling qian m'ni? - have you got any change / anything smaller? Between friends Baichi m'ni - are you an idiot? I'm curious about the little 'm'ni' at the end. I'm assuming it's a contraction of the 'ma' question participle and 'ni' (ie you) It only seems to be used in a slightly impolite way - either between friends joking, or by shop assistants annoyed at being handed a 100Y note for a 2Y purchase. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it new / confined to Beijing? Roddy PS Apologies for the lack of characters - my computer's tired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted September 17, 2003 at 05:38 PM Report Share Posted September 17, 2003 at 05:38 PM I've heard "m'ni" used in places outside of Beijing, including Taiwan. I believe I've also heard it on Taiwanese TV (lianxuju). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest loopkill Posted September 22, 2003 at 03:24 AM Report Share Posted September 22, 2003 at 03:24 AM I think these sentences are very common and very popular in china; sometimes the purpose of the people put "m'ni" after the whole sentences is because they want to emphasize sth. It is not an impolite using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 4, 2003 at 08:33 AM Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 at 08:33 AM So am I right in saying that this is not a full 吗你, but an contracted form where the vowel of the 吗 is not pronounced fully? Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest samantha Posted October 7, 2003 at 07:10 AM Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 at 07:10 AM it is also a colloquial way of speaking. sometimes we say"b'ni" for example:"hu shuo b'ni"(you are liar). this is not a full吗你or 吧你，you needn't say it clearly. the youth at present alway say"你走先ni zou xian"(you leave first). it is just a popular oral chinese because we learned it from a popular movie by Zhou Xingchi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted November 26, 2004 at 02:28 PM Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 at 02:28 PM And a bump up from the very depths of the forums for this one . . . If I wanted to write this in characters, how could I do it? Incidentally, i think I hear this a lot less now. Maybe I just stopped paying attention. Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted November 26, 2004 at 05:57 PM Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 at 05:57 PM So am I right in saying that this is not a full 吗你, but an contracted form where the vowel of the 吗 is not pronounced fully? Yes, but you still write 吗你 regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeijingSlacker Posted November 26, 2004 at 11:46 PM Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 at 11:46 PM I'm curious about the little 'm'ni' at the end. I'm assuming it's a contraction of the 'ma' question participle and 'ni' (ie you) It only seems to be used in a slightly impolite way - either between friends joking, or by shop assistants annoyed at being handed a 100Y note for a 2Y purchase. You are completele right. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it new / confined to Beijing? I don't think it's only used in Beijing You ling qian m'ni? - have you got any change / anything smaller? This can be quite RUDE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted November 27, 2004 at 12:02 AM Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 at 12:02 AM But how can I indicate that they said m'ni, and not ma ni? Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted November 27, 2004 at 03:30 AM Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 at 03:30 AM But how can I indicate that they said m'ni, and not ma ni? mni = ma ni, just different speaking speed. You can give it an "allegro" mark if you want. so, how can you indicate that your post was written in a British accent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zingaro Posted December 9, 2004 at 05:47 AM Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 at 05:47 AM I'm not sure I understand the grammar construction here. (Of course, my grasp if Chinese grammar is only very basic..) I thought that "ma" was supposed to come at the end of an interrogatory. Why would "ni" (the sentence's object) come after the "question mark"? Sentence order notwithstanding, I do understand the blending of the words verbally, if not in written form. It's pretty common to say "b'yao le" rather than "bu yao" or "bu yao le". Is this "m'ni" construction kind of like that, as a verbal contraction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted December 9, 2004 at 05:52 AM Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 at 05:52 AM The word order is unusual, which is why I first noticed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seagate Posted December 9, 2004 at 07:12 AM Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 at 07:12 AM IMHO, m'ni(吗你) is just a special example of a more general colloquial usage, that is, to put the subject to the end of the sentence in order to emphasize the rest part of the sentence that used to be behind the subject. So the subject is generally spoken weakly compared to the emphasized part. Examples: 1. 啊你：In the morning, some people may say 'good morning' as '早啊你' instead of '你早啊'. 2. 吗你（我）：After lunch time when your friend sees you, s/he may say hello to you as 吃了吗你？ instead of '你吃了吗？'. Another example of ‘吗你(我)’is （我）容易吗我？ to express a self-complaint. 3. 了你：干什么去了你？ Similarly, there are also '吧你','呢你' etc. Another related example: 他怎么还没来，12点了已经！here 已经 is put to the end in order to emphasize ‘12点了’, ie to emphasize it has been very late. I don't think this kind of usage necessarily implies 'impolite'. Actually, in some cases whether 'impolite' or not depends more on speaker's tone, rather than the grammer and words s/he uses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted December 9, 2004 at 03:56 PM Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 at 03:56 PM This can be quite RUDE Unlikely! or rather, the opposite seems to be the case: note that this usage is confined only to NI, the person you're talking to. I believe that it is added to soften the question, to make it more friendly and less questioning. People who are in China please observe those who use this structure when talking to you, you may notice that they're trying to be nice/ friendly. Just try again and let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeijingSlacker Posted December 20, 2004 at 01:23 PM Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 at 01:23 PM Actually, in some cases whether 'impolite' or not depends more on speaker's tone, rather than the grammer and words s/he uses. Yes, it always does. That's why I said "It CAN be rude" Consider the following: 你明白嘛 vs 明白嘛你 你知道嘛 vs 知道嘛你 你见过她嘛 vs 见过她嘛你 你有女朋友嘛 vs 有女朋友嘛你 btw, 嘛你 used alone means " What the hell are you doing?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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