行

[xuechengfeng]

我不懂為甚麼這個字有別的拼音。比方﹐“旅行”和“銀行。”

[Claw]

一個字不一定有一個讀法。例如：「參」有四個讀法，每個讀法有另一個不同的意思：can1、cen1、san1、shen1。很久以前這幾個讀法可能是一樣的，所以人們用一個字來代表這幾個意思。自此中文演變了很多，所以這幾個意思現在有不同的讀法。

比如：「行」的兩個讀法用廣東話說是差不多的。「旅行」的行用廣東話說是hang，「銀行」的行是hong。

（我的中文可能不太好。如果我寫錯了就告訴我。）

[xuechengfeng]

好﹐好。請問﹐“讀法”英文是甚麼意思﹖

[Lu]

读 read aloud

法 way

=> way of reading (that character) aloud, pronounciation.

[xuechengfeng]

好﹐謝謝你。現在我懂了。

[Quest]

xuechengfeng, the Chinese script was invented thousands of years ago; a lot has changed since.

[xuechengfeng]

當然﹗﹗

[Quest]

There are several pronunciations for 行 in Cantonese too --- hung 行4走/道行6, hong行列/银行, hahng行街(dialectic). So different pronunciations for 行 should have existed before the canto-mandarin split.

[in_lab]

There's also a 3rd pronunciation in mandarin--but you won't find this at zhongwen.com. xing4 as in 德行,無行. This may be only in Taiwan.

[Guest Yau]

I know prefectly about these pronunciations but i also feel confused with all these explanations. challenging mission to you, xuechengfeng.

[Altair]

While alphabetic English has dirty little secrets like the spellings and pronunciations of "through" and "thorough," Chinese has characters with multiple pronunciations. Those interested in this might want to consult the bilingual book: 多音多义字汉英字典 Chinese-English Dictionary of Polyphonic Characters.

Here is an excerpt from the Cheng & Tsui Company site:

Arranged alphabetically by pinyin, this dictionary covers 386 frequently used polyphones, Chinese characters which are polyphonic or have multiple pronunciations which confuse and intimidate beginning and intermediate students. Chinese-English Dictionary of Polyphonic Characters is a great learning tool and reference dictionary. Simplified, with pinyin. A stroke-count index is included. Sino, 1999; 5.13 x 7.25, 303pp.

You can access the site here.