Learning Chinese: A Foundation Course in Mandarin

Transcription

1 5.4 Food (2) The Unit 4 introduced staples and other basic categories of food (miàntiáo, m f n, t ng) and some common meats and vegetables (niúròu, xi rénr, dòufu). The next step is to try to collate these ingredients and name the dishes accordingly. Typically, this will mean combining a meat or vegetable or both with a basic category of food. Ordering in this way will not always result in a well formed menu item, for names can be idiosyncratic; but it should allow you to get meals with the ingredients you want while you continue to gain experience. In real life, it may be clearer to state the category first, then repeat it with the ingredients: ch omiàn, ch sh o-ch omiàn; t ng, dòufu-t ng. Recall that some of the basic food names lose syllables in combination: b ozi > ch sh ob o rather than ch sh ob ozi. The basic categories of food from Unit 4: (a) fàn, ch ofàn, m f n, miàn, ch omiàn, t ng, t ngmiàn, ji ozi, b ozi, zh u ~ x fàn (b) zh ròu, niúròu, yángròu, y, j, j dàn, yú, xi rénr, dòufu Containers (M-words): Other items: yì w n niúròu-t ng li ng pán<r> xi rénr-ch ofàn yì lóng ~ yì j n b ozi 1 bowl beef soup 2 plate shrimp fried rice 1 steamer ~ 1 catty bao a bowl of beef soup 2 plates of shrimp fried rice a basket ~ a catty of bao yúpiàn ròus báicài ji cài shícài fish slices pork shreds white veg seasonal slices of fish shredded pork cabbage scallions vegetables g lí ch sh o zhájiàng shu ji o curry roast [pork] fried bean sauce boiled dumplings [Cantonese] Models: a) xi rénr, dòufu, t ngmiàn, yì w n bowl of shrimp beancurd noodle soup ~ yì w n xi rénr-dòufu-t ngmiàn b) b ozi, zh ròu, ji cài, yì lóng a steamer of pork scallion steamed buns ~ zh ròu-ji cài-b o<zi>, yì lóng Some typical dishes: niúròu-miàn ròus -ch omiàn niúròu-t ngmiàn g lí-fàn j dàn-ch ofàn beef noodles shredded pork and fried noodles beef noodle in soup curry and rice egg and fried rice 6

2 niúròu-ch of n (~ -ch om f n) beef and fried rice-noodles j -zh u chicken congee q ngcài-t ng vegetable soup ji cài-shu ji o (ji cài ji ozi) leek dumplings ch sh o-b o roast pork buns zhájiàng-miàn noodles with fried bean sauce (and pork) Exercise 2 Try ordering the following: 1. a plate of curried fried rice. 2. a bowl of congee with fish slices. 3. a plate of roast pork and noodles; another of roast pork and fried noodles bowls of cabbage and shredded pork soup. 5. a plate of beef with rice-noodles. 6. a bowl of toufu soup. 7. a steamer of cabbage and lamb dumplings 8. a plate of cabbage, shrimp and rice-noodles. 9. a bowl of shrimp and noodles in soup. 10. a plate of noodles with mixed ingredients Dialogue: ordering dishes F is a fúwùyuán ( a waiter ); G are four customers (gùkè) having dinner. Normally, the process of figuring out what to order would involve a perfunctory examination of the menu followed by discussion with the waiter about the specialties of the house, the types of fish in stock, what vegetables are fresh, etc. These customers have already decided what they want. They order the dishes by name rather than taking the descriptive approach seen in the last section. 7

3 F. Yào ch shénme? What ll [you] have? G. Yào yí ge yúxi ng-qiézi, [We] ll have a fish-fragrant eggplant, yí ge sh o èrd ng, [and] a cooked two-winter ; a yí ge huígu ròu, yí ge sùshíj n, double-cooked pork ; a mixed vegetables, zài yào yí ge su nlàt ng. and also a hot and sour soup. F. Su nlàt ng n yào dàw n háishi [For] the hot and sour soup, do you xi ow n? want a big bowl or a little bowl? G. Dàw n du dà? How big s the big bowl? F. Liù ge rén h! [Enough] for 6 [to drink]. G. H o, yào dà de. Okay, a big one. F. H shénme? H y nliào háishi What ll [you] have to drink? A beverage h píji? or beer? G. Chá jiù k y. L chá. Tea ll be fine. Green tea. F. H o, sì ge cài, yí ge t ng: Okay, 4 dishes and a soup: yúxi ng-qiézi, sh o èrd ng, fish-flavor eggplant ; cooked 2 winter, huígu ròu, sùshíj n; dàw n double-cooked pork; mixed vegetables su nlàt ng. and a large bowl of hot and sour soup. G. Hái yào báifàn. And rice. F. Dàw n ma. A big bowl. G. K y. That s fine. Notes sh o èrd ng huígu ròu sù shíj n zài yào y nliào báifàn (cooked-2-winter) A vegetarian dish consisting of two winter vegetables such as d ngg dried mushrooms or d ngs n winter bamboo shoots. (return-to-pan pork), ie double-cooked pork plain; simple; vegetarian. Cf. ch sù eat vegetarian food. N assortment of ; sùshíj n assorted vegetables zài again, but here, in addition. N drink-stuff refers to non-alcoholic beverages but not tea. In China, rice is often ordered by the li ng ounce. 8

4 5.5.1 Vocabulary 5.5 Expanding the V+de construction V+O chàng[g ] xi [zì] shu [huà] zuò[fàn] sing [songs] write [characters] say [speech] make [food] sing write speak; talk cook N Y ngy Hàny Zh ngguó huà SV bi ozh n English Chinese language Chinese speech be proper; correct; standard Notes a) Like ch fàn, when no other object is present or can be provided from the context, the verbs in the top row usually appear with the generic objects indicated in brackets. b) Zuòfàn cook. In the south, zh fàn boil-food and sh ofàn heat-food are also used for cook Commenting on abilities Recall the earlier examples of the V+de construction: N shu +de h n h o. N ji ng+de bú cuò. You speak very well You speak pretty well. Nothing can intervene between the verb, shu and +de, so an object has to be mentioned first, either alone, or with repetition of the verb: N Zh ngwén shu +de h n bi ozh n. N ji ng Zh ngwén, ji ng+de h o-jíle. N Hàny shu +de f icháng h o. Zh ngguó huà ji ng+de h n bi ozh n. The same construction can be applied to other verbs: Hànzì xi +de h n h o. N l, xi +de bù h o. T chàng+de h n h o. T chàng+de bú tài h o. Ta chàngg chàng+de z nmeyàng? W zuòfàn zuò+de h n chà. N zuò+de bú cuò! W x huan chàngg, dànshì chàng+de bù h o. N tài kèqi, n chàng+de bú cuò! You write characters well. Nah, I don t write well. She sings well. He doesn t sing very well. How does he sing? I m a terrible cook. You cook pretty well. I like to sing, but I don t sing well. You re too modest, you sing well. 9

5 W x huan zuòfàn k shi zuò+de bù h o. I like to cook, but I don t cook well. Méi gu nxi, w men qù fàngu nr ch fàn ba, Never mind, let s go to a restaurant - w q ngkè. I ll treat Huì be able ; yìdi n<r> a bit The response to someone praising your language ability is the modest: N l, n l <shu +de bù h o>. To this you can add a sentence with the modal verb huì be able to [of learned abilities] : W zh huì shu yìdi nr. W zh huì shu yìdi ndi n. I only speak a little. I speak very little! Yìdi nr a bit; a little can appear between an action verb and its object: W men ch yìdi nr fàn, h o bu hao? H yìdi nr qìshu ba. Zài zhèr k y m i yìdi nr d ngxi. Let s have a bit to eat, okay? Have a soft drink. You can do a bit of shopping here. Contrast the use of yìdi nr directly after a verb (as part of the object) with the y u yìdi nr pattern, that precedes SVs: V yìdi nr O H yìdi nr chá ba. Subject y u yìdi nr SV Zhè chá y u yìdi nr k. Why don t you have some tea. This tea s a little bitter Huì, néng ( ~ nénggòu), k y and xíng You have encountered a number of verbs all having to do with ability. Although usage varies between regions, particularly between the Mainland and Taiwan, the basic differences are illustrated below. a) huì know how to; can, typically used for learned abilities W bú huì ji ng Shàngh ihuà. [I] can t speak Shanghainese. know about; be good at, ie used as a main verb T huì h n du sh oshù mínzú de y yán. She speaks a lot of languages of minority peoples. 10

6 possibility (often with a final emphatic-de ) J nti n bú huì h n l ng. Bú huì de ba! T men huì yíng de! It won t be too cold today. No way! They re bound to win! b) néng ~ nénggòu: capable of; can (ranging from physical ability to permission) Néng qù ma? W bù néng h báiji. Míngti n w bù néng lái shàngkè. Néng d ng yixià ma? Néng h yì j n, h b li ng. duìbuq rénmín, duìbuq d ng. Can you go? I can t drink white spirits. I can t come to class tomorrow. Can you wait a bit? [If] you can drink a jin but only drink 8 ounces, you won t be able to face the people, you won t be able to face the party! c) k y all right to; can (ranging from possibility to permission) K y jìnqu ma? K bu k y m i bàn ge? Túsh gu n <l > bù k y shu huà. Can [we] go in? Can [one] buy a half? [You] not supposed to talk in the library. d) xíng be okay; to do; to work Xíng has a meaning similar to k y or néng, but its grammatical behavior is different. Xíng is not a modal verb (ie cannot be followed by another verb); it is an ordinary verb that appears in predicate position (at the foot of the sentence). Q ngkè ch fàn méi ji bù xíng. Cf. Ch fàn bù néng méi ji. Xué Zh ngwén méiyou l osh xíng ma? Cf. Xué Zh ngwén méiyou l osh, k y ma? You can t invite guests for a meal without [having] wine. Can you study Chinese without a teacher? As the previous examples show, the expression bù xíng often corresponds to without in English. Q ngkè ch fàn méi yú bù xíng. Having guests for a meal without [serving] fish won t do! Zài M iguó ch fàn méi miànb o bù xíng. In the US, you can t have a meal without bread. Zài F guó ch fàn méi ji bù xíng. In France, you can t have a meal without wine. Zài Tàiguó ch fàn méi làji o bù xíng. In Thailand, you can t have a meal without chillies. 11

7 Qù l xíng méi dìtú bù xíng. Guò sh ngrì méi dàng o bù xíng. Kàn yùndònghuì méi píj u bù xíng. Méi ji méi yú bù chéng xí. You can t go traveling without a map. You can t have a birthday without a cake. You can t watch a sporting event without beer! It takes wine and fish to make a feast! [A saying.] (chéng xí become feast ) Exercise 3. Paraphrase in Chinese: 1. She speaks very good Chinese. 2. I m a lousy cook, but I love to eat Chinese food. 3. She speaks [Chinese] quite well, but she doesn t write very well. 4. You sing well. / Nah, not so well! 5. You speak [Chinese] very well. / No, I only speak a little! 6. Have some tea. / Thanks.This is great what kind is it? 7. I find coffee a little bitter; I prefer tea. 8. You can t shop without money. 9. You can t eat Chinese food without chopsticks. (kuàizi chopsticks ) 10. You can t drink coffee without milk. 11. You can t drink beer without peanuts! (hu sh ng peanuts Xi o péngyou, n h o. [JKW 1997] 12