Why 月台 ?

[simonf]

Hi,

I'm a very green beginner. I've just heard on the Pimsleur tape that a railroad platform is 月台 , and I can't understand why. Zhongwen.com does not list this word, and a Chinese I know can't explain this either. What does the moon have to do with it? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Simon

[ytrgmj]

I don't know why we use "月台" to express platform.When I was a child,my father told me the platform is "月台".I asked him why is it named "月台" but he don't know also.^_^

[skylee]

Could it be that in the past people on a railway platform could usually look up to the sky and appreciate the moon (that is, when it was there)? 月台 ~ 賞月的平台 ?

BTW, why is a platform called "platform" in English?

[skylee]

I've found this -> "月台"為什麼叫月台呢?

月台一詞由來已久，在火車尚未發明之前，月台原指露天之平台。梁元帝在〈南嶽衡山九貞碑〉上，已有「上月台而遺愛，登景山而忘老」之句。杜甫在〈徐九少尹見過〉一詩中，也有「賞靜憐雲竹，忘歸步月台」之句。國內有了鐵路之後，火車站內供旅客上下車及貨物裝卸的平台，就沿用這個富有詩意的「月台」為名。

[simonf]

Hey, thanks! Though it'll probably take me a couple of hours to decipher this last post. (I'll try it anyway.) What's the jist of it?

[roddy]

BTW, why is a platform called "platform" in English?

Because . . .

platform

1550, "plan of action, scheme, design," from M.Fr. plate-forme, lit. "flat form," from O.Fr. plate "flat" (see plat) + forme "form" (see form). The literal sense of "raised, level surface" is first recorded 1560. Political meaning, "statement of party policies," is from 1803, probably originally an image of a lit. platform on which politicians gather, stand, and make their appeals, perhaps influenced by earlier sense of "set of rules governing church doctrine" (first attested 1573). Railroad station sense is from 1838.

The gist of the Chinese is that 月台 was an open platform, my nearest dictionary gives it as a terrace for admiring the moon (and also has the railway platform definition.) I've only ever heard 站台, will keep my ears open.

Roddy

[zhwj]

This is one of those obselete words you discover watching television serials about Shanghai in the 20s, or failing that, when your Chinese teacher assigns 《背影》 as required reading:

可是他穿过铁道，要爬上那边月台[/b']，就不容易了。他用两手攀着上面，两脚再向上缩；他肥胖的身子向左微倾，显出努力的样子。这时我看见他的背影，我的泪很快地流下来了。

[Jim]

It's because of the gentle curve isn't it? Like a crescent moon.

In big stations the platforms curve slightly so that the guard can see that all the doors on the train are shut properly before blowing his whistle and allowing the driver to set off. Certainly they used to in the great days of steam.

[skylee]

This is one of those obselete words you discover watching television serials about Shanghai in the 20s,

Please, it is not obsolete AT ALL. The term 月台 is extensively used in Hong Kong.

Take a look at this -> http://www.kcrc.com.hk/chi/services/services/passenger.asp

Here are recordings of broadcast (including the use of 月台 in Cantonese and Putonghua) of Hong Kong railways -> http://www.ushb.net/broadcast/MTR2003/TWL.htm (open the ears)

The term is also used in Taiwan -> http://home.trtc.com.tw/INFO92/platform-1.asp

[zhwj]

Please, it is not obsolete AT ALL. The term 月台 is extensively used in Hong Kong.

True, thanks for pointing that out.

In mainland middle school education, however, 月台 apparently is uncommon enough that it's necessary to provide a gloss on the term in the 初一 curriculum (although there are many places where people continue to use it over 站台).