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Re: Communal/collaborative languages now possible at CALS

From:Eugene Oh <un.doing@...>
Date:Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 15:34
The difference between Mandarin and Toki Pona is that the equivalent
sentence in Mandarin:
Ni3 shuo1 bu4 shuo1?
You talk not talk

means "Are you going to talk, or what?" either as a legitimate question (are
you going to tell your mum about your pregnancy?) or as a threat (are you
telling me or not?)

Hao3 "good" is not ambiguous in tat there isn't a volition involved.


Eugene

On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 8:34 PM, Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>wrote:

> Hi! > > taliesin writes: > >... > > Mandarin is set as "question particle", though without examples > > in the chapter text. > > Mandarin has both: > > hao3 bu hao3? > good not good > (Is it) good/ok? > > hao3 ma? > good YN > (Is it) good/ok? > > For transitive verbs, mainland Mandarin allows the negated verb to be > moved to the end of the clause (but IIRC, Taiwanese Mandarin typically > does not): > > ni3 you3 shu1 ma? > you have book YN > 'Do you have a book?' > > ni3 you3 mei3 you3 shu1? > you have don't have book? > 'Do you have a book?' > > ni3 you3 shu1 mei3 you3? > you have book don't have? > 'Do you have a book?' > > **Henrik >