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@ 30853 What is a Chengyu
A: 啊，這麼多成語，太亂七八糟了，怎麼辦？
aˇ, zhe`me duo¯ che´ngyuˇ! ta`i lua`nq¯ıba¯ za¯ o le! zeˇnme ba`n?
Ah! So many chengyu! What a mess! What should I do?
B: 別擔心，日常生活不需要那麼多成語，知道幾個
就好。比如亂七八糟。
bie´ da¯ nx¯ın, r`ıcha´ng she¯ nghuo´ bu` xu¯ ya`o na`me duo¯ che´ngyuˇ,
zh¯ıda`o jˇı ge jiu`
haˇo. bˇıru´
lua`nq¯ıba¯ za¯ o.
Don’t worry, in everyday life you don’t need to know very many chengyu. If you know a few, it’s enough. For example, ’what a mess.’
A: 我還以為四個字的都是成語，結果好多隻是普通
詞組。
woˇ
ha´i yˇıwe´i s`ı ge z`ı de do¯ u sh`ı che´ngyuˇ, jie´guoˇ
haˇo duo¯
zhˇı sh`ı puˇto¯ ng c´ızuˇ.
I thought that four words together were all chengyu. It turns out a lot are just popular sayings.
B: 成語都是固定的，不能隨便改。
che´ngyuˇ do¯ u sh`ı gu`d`ıng de, bu`ne´ng su´ıbia`n gaˇi.
All chengyu are fixed. One can’t just change them around.
A: 真不明白，語言都是活的，為什麼我們不能改？
zhe¯ n bu` m´ıngbai, yuˇya´n do¯ u sh`ı huo´ de, we`ishe´nme woˇmen bu`ne´ng gaˇi?
I really don’t understand. All language is alive. Why can’t we change them?
B: 這就是成語的特點。它們好多都是從歷史故事或
者古典文學來的，經過很長時間才成為成語。
zhe`
jiu`sh`ı che´ngyuˇ
de te`diaˇn. ta¯ men haˇo duo¯
do¯ u sh`ı co´ng
l`ıshˇı gu`shi huo`zheˇ guˇdiaˇn we´nxue´ la´i de, j¯ıngguo` heˇn cha´ng sh´ıjia¯ n ca´i che´ngwe´i che´ngyuˇ.
This is the special thing about chengyu. Many of them come from historical tales or classical literature. Only after a long time do they become chengyu.
A: 是誰決定的呢？
sh`ı she´i jue´d`ıng de ne?
So who decides that they are?
B: 我也不知道，我又不是語言學家。你別給自己那
麼大壓力，不會成語不影響溝通。
woˇ
yeˇ
bu`
zh¯ıda`o, woˇ
yo`u bu`
sh`ı yuˇya´nxue´jia¯ . nˇı bie´
geˇi z`ıjˇı
na`me da`
ya¯ l`ı, bu`hu`ı che´ngyuˇ
bu`
yˇıngxiaˇng go¯ uto¯ ng.
I don’t know either, I’m certainly no linguist. Don’t give your- self so much pressure. Not being able to use chengyu won’t influence your ability to communicate.
A: 說的也對。
shuo¯
de yeˇ
du`ı.
Well, that’s true.
---Key Vocabulary---
成語 che´ngyuˇ idiom
亂七八糟 lua`nq¯ıba¯ za¯ o in a mess
日常 r`ıcha´ng day-to-day
以為 yˇıwe´i to think mistakenly
結果 jie´guoˇ result
普通 puˇto¯ ng common
詞組 c´ızuˇ phrase
固定 gu`d`ıng fixed
活 huo´ alive
特點 te`diaˇn characteristic
古典 guˇdiaˇn classical
文學 we´nxue´ literature
決定 jue´d`ıng to decide
語言學家 yuˇya´nxue´jia¯ linguist
壓力 ya¯ l`ı pressure
影響 yˇıngxiaˇng to influence
溝通 go¯ uto¯ ng communication
---Supplementary Vocabulary---
混亂 hu`nlua`n confused
日常用品 r`ıcha´ng yo`ngpˇın daily essentials
普通話 puˇto¯ nghua` Mandarin Chinese
語言學 yuˇya´nxue´ linguistics
大師 da`sh¯ı master
級別 j´ıbie´ level
固定搭配 gu`d`ıng da¯ pe`i set phrase
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