{"id":2148,"date":"2009-04-20T19:49:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-20T11:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/?p=2148"},"modified":"2015-12-15T15:44:21","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T07:44:21","slug":"de-de-de-d-di-de","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/2009\/de-de-de-d-di-de\/","title":{"rendered":"de de de &#8212; d di de"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/readings\/pronun-and-orth.gif\" alt=\"cover of Chinese Romanization: Pronunciation and Orthography\" style=\"float: right; width: 138px; height: 200px;\" \/>What&#8217;s the most commonly used morpheme in Mandarin? It <em>isn&#8217;t<\/em> the word for <em>is<\/em> (<span class=\"py\">sh&#236;<\/span>\/&#26159;). And it&#8217;s <em>not<\/em> the one for <em>not<\/em> (<span class=\"py\">b&#249;<\/span>\/&#19981;). And the number <em>one<\/em> (<span class=\"py\">y&#299;<\/span>\/&#19968;) is only number <em>two<\/em> &#8212; in frequency, that is. (Even some of that is that Hanzi frequency counts include &#19968; used as a dash.) Nope, it&#8217;s that little grammatical particle <em>de<\/em> (&#30340;).<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s selection from <em>Chinese Romanization: Pronunciation and Orthography<\/em> is <a href=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/readings\/yin_binyong\/o09_de.pdf\">all about <em>de<\/em><\/a> (800 KB PDF).<\/p>\n<p>So, whaddaya do with <em>de<\/em> in Pinyin? Simple: It&#8217;s almost always written separately from the words around it. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"py\">m&#257;ma de &#224;i<\/span> (mother&#8217;s love)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">zh&#224;opi&#224;n de b&#232;imi&#224;n<\/span> (back of a photograph)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">l&#236;sh&#464; de j&#299;ngy&#224;n<\/span> (the experience of history)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">d&#224;m&#233;n w&#224;i de sh&#237;sh&#299;zi<\/span> (the <a href=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/readings\/zyg\/what_pinyin_is_not.html\">stone lions<\/a> outside the gate)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">n&#464; de y&#468;s&#462;n<\/span> (your umbrella)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">zh&#232;y&#224;ng de r&#233;n<\/span> (people of that sort)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">t&#257; z&#236;j&#464; de cu&#242;wu<\/span> (his own mistake)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">j&#236;l&#225;i de x&#236;n<\/span> (the letter that was sent)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">ch&#299; ch&#243;ngzi de zh&#237;w&#249;<\/span> (insectivorous plants)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">Ch&#299; de, chu&#257;n de, y&#242;ng de, y&#224;ngy&#224;ng d&#333;u y&#466;u.<\/span> (They have all kinds of food, clothing, and other items of use.)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">h&#462;o de b&#224;nf&#462;<\/span> (a good solution)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">w&#466; x&#464;hu&#257;n de xi&#233;zi<\/span> (the shoes I like)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, yeah, that means if you want to write down a common Mandarin obscenity, it&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/2006\/mother-bleeping-xs\/\"><span class=\"py\">t&#257;m&#257; de<\/span><\/a> (&#20182;&#23229;&#30340;), not <span class=\"py\">t&#257;m&#257;de<\/span> &#8212; though I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if that becomes treated as one word over time.<\/p>\n<p>There are just a few exceptions. This particular <em>de<\/em> is written together with the component it follows only in the following cases: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span class=\"py\">y&#466;ude<\/span> &#26377;&#30340; (some)<\/strong>: <span class=\"py\">Y&#466;ude r&#233;n t&#224;nxi, y&#466;ude r&#233;n li&#250;l&#232;i. (Some people were sighing, while others wept.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong><span class=\"py\">sh&#236;de<\/span> &#26159;&#30340; (yes, certainly)<\/strong>: <span class=\"py\">Sh&#236;de, w&#466; ji&#249; q&#249;. (Certainly, I&#8217;ll go right away.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong><span class=\"py\">sh&#236;de<\/span> &#20284;&#30340; (like, as)<\/strong>: <span class=\"py\">Xi&#224;ng h&#243;uzi sh&#236;de, ti&#224;ol&#225;i ti&#224;oq&#249;.<\/span> (Jumping around, just like a monkey.) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But &#30340; isn&#8217;t Mandarin&#8217;s only common <em>de<\/em>. Let&#8217;s not forget <em>de<\/em> (&#22320;, the 20th most commonly used Hanzi) and <em>de<\/em> (&#24471;, 35th).<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>These three homophonous particles are represented by three different characters in writing; would it perhaps be useful to create three different Hanyu Pinyin forms to differentiate them in Hanyu Pinyin writing? The basic principle of Hanyu Pinyin orthography is to take the language&#8217;s sound system as the basis for spelling, and, by this standard the three particles &#30340;, &#22320;, and &#24471; should all be written identically as &#8220;de.&#8221; But it may be desirable in certain situations (such as <a href=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/readings\/yin_binyong\/computer_conversion.html\">Chinese-language word processing and other computer applications<\/a>, and in machine translation) to differentiate the three. In this case, they may be assigned different written forms: &#30340;, the most commonly used, as &#8220;d&#8221;; &#22320; as &#8220;di&#8221; (an alternate pronunciation of this character); and the third, &#24471;, as &#8220;de.&#8221; <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>That&#8217;s: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#30340; = d (pronounced <em>de<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>&#22320; = di (pronounced <em>de<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>&#24471; = de (pronounced <em>de<\/em>)*<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(* Yes, I know those all have other readings. But we&#8217;re not talking here about <a href=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/chinese_characters\/\">Chinese characters with multiple pronunciations<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>But you don&#8217;t have to use those orthographic variants if you don&#8217;t want to. For an example of a text that <em>does<\/em> use <em>d<\/em> and <em>de<\/em>, see this lovely story: <a href=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/readings\/pinyin\/dashui_guohuo.html\"><span class=\"py\">D&#224;shu&#464; Gu&#242;h&#242;u<\/span> (After the Flood)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>OK, let&#8217;s get back to those other <em>de<\/em>&#8216;s.<\/p>\n<p><strong>de &#22320;<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The principal function of this particle is to link an adverbial modifier to &#8220;the verb or adjective it modifies. <em>de<\/em> &#22320; is always written separately from the elements preceding and following it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thus:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=py>su&#237;bi&#224;n de k&#224;n<\/span> (look over casually)<\/li>\n<li><span class=py>m&#224;nm&#224;n de z&#466;u<\/span> (walk slowly)<\/li>\n<li><span class=py>y&#299; k&#466;u y&#299; k&#466;u de ch&#299;<\/span> (eat bite by bite)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>de &#24471;<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The principal function of this particle is to link a verb or adjective with its  complement. The complement expresses possibility, degree, or result, and may be composed of a single word or a phrase. The verb or adjective preceding de &#24471; may only be a single word, never a phrase. de &#24471; is in principle written separately from the elements preceding and following it. The b&#249; &#19981; that negates a de &#24471; expressing possibility is also written separately from the elements around it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thus, <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"py\">h&#462;o de h&#283;n<\/span> (very good)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">du&#333; de du&#333;<\/span> (much more)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">l&#283;ng de y&#224;om&#236;ng<\/span> (freezing cold)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">h&#275;i de k&#224;nbuji&#224;n r&#233;n<\/span> (so dark one can&#8217;t see the people around one)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">g&#257;ox&#236;ng de j&#464;nj&#464;n w&#242;zhu ta de sh&#466;u shu&#333;: &#8220;Xi&#232;xie! Xi&#232;xie!&#8221;<\/span> (so happy I could only grasp his hand and say, &#8220;Thank you! Thank you!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p>There are two main situations in which de &#24471; should be written as one unit with the component that precedes or follows it. Let us take a look at these:<br \/>\n(1) de &#24471; sometimes joins together with the verb that precedes it to form a single word. Sometimes a b&#249; &#19981;  is interposed between the verb and de &#24471; to indicate negation. In either case, all elements are written as one unit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"py\">d&#466;ngde<\/span> (to understand)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">j&#236;de<\/span> (to remember)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">ji&#224;nde<\/span> (to seem)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">ju&#233;de<\/span> (to feel)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">l&#225;ide<\/span> (to be competent (to do something)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">l&#225;ibude<\/span> (impermissable)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">li&#462;ode<\/span> (terrible)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">li&#462;obude<\/span> (teriffic)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p>(2) In certain trisyllabic verb-complement constructions in which de &#24471; (or the negative marker b&#249; &#19981;) forms the middle syllable, the meaning of the complement has altered and the whole has come to express a single concept. In this case all three syllables should be written as one unit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"py\">l&#225;idej&#237;<\/span> (there&#8217;s still time; to be in time)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">l&#225;ibuj&#237;<\/span> (there&#8217;s no time; to be too late)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">ch&#299;dek&#257;i<\/span> (to be popular)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">ch&#299;buk&#257;i<\/span> (be unpopular)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">du&#236;deq&#464;<\/span> (not let somebody down)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">du&#236;buq&#464;<\/span> (let somebody down; also, &#8220;excuse me&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">ch&#299;dexi&#257;o<\/span> (be able to bear)<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"py\">ch&#299;buxi&#257;o<\/span> (be unable to bear)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s the most commonly used morpheme in Mandarin? It isn&#8217;t the word for is (sh&#236;\/&#26159;). And it&#8217;s not the one for not (b&#249;\/&#19981;). And the number one (y&#299;\/&#19968;) is only number two &#8212; in frequency, that is. (Even some of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/2009\/de-de-de-d-di-de\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,15,106,28,95,32,20,600,19,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chinese","category-chinese-characters","category-hanyu","category-languages","category-linguistics","category-mandarin","category-pinyin","category-pinyin-rules","category-romanization","category-teach-chinese"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2148"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7008,"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions\/7008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}