Thank you for your show of confidence. I shall do my best to be a responsible/prudent, conscientious, and accurate contributor. =) =D
To address 殷 : the typo [~yin1 : “dark red”] (https://www.memrise.com/course/356/characters-1501-2000-in-mandarin-chinese/10)
I went ahead and updated 殷 ‘yin1’: ‘hospitable; earnest; flourishing; abundant’ as primary pair. ‘dark red’:‘yan1’ pair added as 1st alt.; ‘rolling thunder’:‘yan2’ pair as 2nd alt.
‘Hospitable’ chosen as lead word since it has less single character synonyms and still used ‘yin1’. I couldn’t find a word frequency chart, so I continued to use ‘yin1’ as default since it’s generally listed first and is the tone of this character with most multiple meanings (which I’m assuming means most usage.)
Referenced:
(https://dictionary.hantrainerpro.com/chinese-english/translation-yin_ardent.htm)
(https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/dictionary.php?word=殷)
(https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqtm=0&wdqcham=1&wdqt=殷)
(https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/殷)
(https://www.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=殷) sample sentences with various alt pinyin pronounciations of character under discussion(‘殷’)
Incidentally, (yan3)[“rolling thunder”] is disambiguated here (https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/1383574) discussing [ [‘roll’ vs. ‘clap’ vs. ‘peal’] ‘of thunder’ ]
Sounds good
@neoncube Hey neoncube! I saw you mentioned moving on, if you don’t mind me asking are you going the Anki route?
Hey!
I’ve started a competing site to Memrise, but I’m avoiding advertising it on the Memrise forums, since that seems not very nice.
=== Bug Catchall Living Post ===
(until another system (Github/Wiki/??) is recommended or there’s some live sticky post or another bug tracking mechanism suggested, I will be using this as temporary issue/RFE tracker for (course)[Characters 1,501-2,000 in Mandarin Chinese by BenWhately])
I will try to get to the bottom issues below when I’m up to it.
- Answers were generally added if verified present in a few dictionaries.
- Wrong answers were removed only when very obviously so.
- Most questionable answers were simply marked _hidden instead for legacy support.
- To and non-to form answers added. Non-to verb form kept as hidden answer; but ‘to’ form of verb generally listed for ease of at-a-glance determination of noun vs verb type.
- Similar word types were grouped in alt list when practical.
- Currently inconsistent handling of alt pronunciation.
– Current DB same character listed twice with different pronunciation isolated per test.
– Current DB also has single character single test with multiple pinyin (different pronunciations)
– Method 1: Single tone per test; new test for each tone
– Method 2: Multiple tone per test, all in primary list.
– Method 3: Multiple tone per test, some in primary, some in secondary (alt) list.
— Method 3 negatives: (1) variations are not immediately visible at a glance (in fact can be hidden and easily missed), so this makes the most sense for pronunciations that are rare or archaic. (2) part-of-speech type is also confounded by pronunciation and definition types if not listed in primary entry.
— Method 3 positives(?): multiple click answer tests don’t require one to hit every alt definition (esp. if alt. list is esoteric or tediously extensive.)
(Open)[RFE]Fix words w/ multi-primaries to have consistent mobile answers.@1-300 done; 301-500 pending
(Open)[BUG?]苍 (1501-2000) text implies typing “dark blue; deep green; ash grey” would be valid answer, but it is marked failed when typed as such.
(Open)[RFE] ‘辱’ (1.5-2k) add: { ‘to disgrace’, ‘bring disgrace’, ‘dishonor’ }
(TBD)[RFE] 涌
(TBD)[RFE] 汪
(Open)[RFE] 援 (1501-2000) add: ‘to assist’ (see: Yellowbridge)
(Open)[RFE] 姊 (1501-2000) add ‘elder sister’ to existing ‘older sister’ ref.
Items below should already be fixed when I last edited them or checked on them:
(Closed-Fixed) 酸 (Edit #18) not necessarily appropriate to add "grieving, sick at heart”, since it’s contingent on other characters 心酸(xin1suan1) “grieved|distressed|sick at heart” but not an intrinsic standalone meaning (e.g., 寒酸(suan1han2) “poverty-stricken condition”.) Terms consolidated in test list. 1-2 hidden variants added. Added '(b.f.)distressed, grieved, sick at heart & likewise for ‘pedantic’/‘impractical’ but will lean away from doing so as it creates overhead and isn’t necessarily spirit of the cards. The extra meanings ideally should be learned via multi character word flashcards rather than single character cards.
(CLOSED-fixed) 聘 (Edit#17) Updated to: (3){to marry (a girl) off, to betroth, betrothal gift(s), to get married(of a woman)}(to/non-to phrase variants); (1)to hire for a job(to hire, to employ) (and to/non-to variants); (2)to invite(engage, appoint). ‘employment’ not added since all terms I saw were verbs whereas employment is noun.
(closed-fixed) 佩 Edit#16 (primary changed to ‘wear(at waist, waist pendant)’, ‘(bf)to respect’, & numerous. synonyms)
(closed-fixed) 魔 (appended: Edit #15 '(bound form) demon, evil spirits, monster, magic, mystic, mystical illusionary, illusory)
(closed-fixed) 聘 (appended: Edit #14 ‘invite(engage, appoint, hire, employ)’, ‘betroth, betrothal gift’, ‘marry (a girl) off’)
(closed-fixed) 饰 (appended: 'added verb form to existing ‘noun’ option, including sample ‘verb’ form.)
(closed-fixed) 偿 (appended: ‘to meet/fulfill(requirements)’; ‘to repay’; + non-‘to’ forms as hidden answers.
(closed-fixed) 浑 (appended: ‘stupid/foolish; simple/natural/unsophisticated; whole/all’; also noted it’s adjective in addition to existing ‘noun’)
(closed-fixed) 湿 (appended: ‘wet; damp; humid’ + noted those are adjectives rather than noun as originally recorded.)
(closed-fixed) 屠 (appended: ‘to massacre (people)’; ‘to slaughter (for food)’; Surname Tu; harmonized ‘to’ & non-‘to’ form)
(open-pending) 袭 (appended: ‘to raid’/‘make a surprise attack on’; measure word for suit/set of clothes) --need to confirm if counting # is legitimate; may back out changes if I had not done so already.
(closed-fixed) 黎 (appended: ‘Li’[ethnic group]; ‘black’/‘dark’; (other synonyms or harmonization added)
(closed-fixed) 鞭 (sub: bullwhip for whip; crop disambiguated as (e.g., riding crop parenthetical); ‘to’ and ‘a’ variations added as hidden answers)
(closed-fixed) 迁 (added: {move; shift; transfer} variants as alt. option.
(closed-fixed) 逊 (Appended numerous chinese dictionary alt. English terms added as hidden options.); (Updated that word is also adjective and not only verb)
(closed-fixed)[BUG][Typo] ‘仗’ has ‘weild’ as completion; should be ‘wield’.
(Closed)(fixed) [RFE] 刃 (1501-2000) add: ‘blade edge’ & ‘blade’s edge’ to existing ‘edge of blade’
(Closed-fixed)[RFE] 幼 (1501-2000) add ‘immature’ to existing ‘underage’/‘young’;(update)alts./spellings added
(Closed-fixed)[RFE] 估(was missing gu4 tone for ‘old’/‘second-hand clothes’); now added.
(Closed-fixed)[RFE] 柯(changed); all common variant answers added for both ax & axe [handle]; ax, axe, (didn’t add literal “ax’s”, “axe’s”, “axes’” since I’m guessing they’re unwieldy and rarely used)
(Closed-fixed)[RFE] 禅 missing verb form and English & pinyin appended to existing noun def. & pinyin.
(Closed-fixed)[RFE] 莱 (delta): alt more common names add; added “a type of edible weed” (to give additional context 2of2 as to why its common word); technical name & colloquial names added. Added that it was replacement for more than just “Lay” (which is unfortunately itself ambiguous as originally written) such as ‘Lai’ / ‘Ry’ as well.
(Closed-fixed)[RFE]熊(delta): added paranthetical to disambiguate between bear(action) and bear(animal)
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 趋 ("_to walk quickly;_walk quickly; hasten; hurry along) added.
(closed-fixed)BUG 雕 (verb form was miscategorized as noun; actual noun form now added (bird of prey; vulture); alt ‘to’ form verbs also added as hidden and exposed options)
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 傲 (verb: defy; haughty (adj) added)
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 鉴 (added: object lesson; to [inspect/mirror/examine])
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 扯 (talk casually had ‘to’ and non’to’ terms harmonized. added ‘to chat’ & ‘to gossip’ plus non ‘to’ forms of such.)
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 枚 (added option to actually type “measure word for rings” “measure word for coins” which were implicit answers from orig. def.).
(closed-fixed)BUG 废 (harmonized ‘to’ and non ‘to’ versions of words; abandoned is not a verb; added adjective form of word
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 玄 (added ‘black’ & ‘dark’ [from dictory] as additional meanings )
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 扶 (added ‘support with hand’ as hidden non-‘to’-style verb form.)
(closed-fixed)BUG 悟 (was mis-flagged as noun; I now changed to ‘verb’; added ‘to’ form of ‘comprehend’; added “to realize” to existing hidden “realize”
(closed-fixed)BUG 挣 (zheng4 was missing and pinyin zheng1 was previously misapplied; now corrected); zheng4 used for both struggle and to earn; zhen1 used only for struggle. Noted “to earn” is colloquial. Added “non-‘to’ version of verbs as hidden options”
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 欺 (added non-‘to’ verb forms as hidden answers)
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 哼 (added harumph & hmph as hidden alt options to existing humph.) --may remove this if feedback suggests this is divergent.
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 曹 (added synonym: people of a certain kind)
(closed-fixed)[RFE] 哀(1501-2000)
sorrow expanded and words variations defragmented to include:
to grieve for
_to grieve
_grieving
_grieve
to mourn
_mourning
_mourn
to lament
_lamenting
_lament
@hydroptere No guarantees on when I’ll get to them (provided they aren’t already fixed to your satisfaction), but I’ll try to have the ones you noted in my queue. Incidentally I noticed the 汪 issue as well as I was doing quick character/radicals etymology browsing|background-reading. I also have a list of other RFE’s in an offline document that I may or may not upload here. This post is just an exploratory exercise in seeing how I can manage planned edits.
hi,
a long way to go with your work. At the time, Ben simply took to the definitions from Pleco, which do not always shine through accuracy etc
btw, in the Characters 501 - 1,000 in Mandarin Chinese (which I see you had the kindness to take over) the: 绝 has a typo (to disapper), and is missing the “absolutely” sense (http://dict.youdao.com/search?le=eng&q=绝&tab=&keyfrom=dict2.top; http://www.xiaoma.info/hanzi.php?hz=绝&fhz=绝); also in this 势 has a rather strange definition
thanks (btw, the 避 bì to avoid; to shun; to flee; to escape; to keep away from; to leave; to hide from is still not solved)
@Hydroptere (Re: [Course Forum] Characters 1,501 - 2,000 in Mandarin Chinese by BenWhately)
Thank you for the heads up. =D Incidentally, I’ve tried to keep post here for 1501-2000 characters only. If you’d be so kind, please direct characters to corresponding forum; I had to manually find 势(1001-1500) by copying whole char list to search more easily. In the future ideally if you could cite specific module (e.g., 1-500, 501-1000) and subsection (e.g., Pinyin 51-75) and cite links, it’ll make it easier for me and more likely that I’ll manage to address it. I’m just addressing these now as I have surplus resource bandwidth momentarily.
Note, I’m not trying to exhaustively fix every variation, but primarily as ad-hoc fixes as I encounter them while reviewing the characters myself. I’m typically only changing the ones that seem very confusing, inaccurate, or perhaps inordinately questionable (usually if they’re unbearably annoying to me or incidentally ready for a quick edit.)
Re: 势: (3 main variants and added subvariant synonyms for each of 3 main variants; all can be answered individually).
Re: 避, seems close-ish enough, FWIW, I added alts: “to avoid(evade,shun,escape,flee)”(and all variations). I omitted ‘shun’ as the escape/avoidance def. was close enough IMHO and putting ‘evade’ in some sample multi-character ‘shun’/‘recuse’ type words seemed to convey ballpark/roughly close enough meaning to my impression.
Re: 绝 I fixed the typo; incidentally ‘disappear’ (spelled correctly) was already a hidden answer; ‘absolutely’ was likewise already an existing hidden answer --I just un-hid it now.
hi there
佳 - beautiful, fine, good
奸 - means also rape, and that is important
many thanks
佳 (jia1) - beautiful, fine, good (now added as visible alts)
奸 - (TBD) Reasoning: ‘rape’ might not be quite appropriate main def. for 奸 since the character does not intrinsically mean it; it seems to only be ‘rape’ when in combined/modified form e.g. (奸污(jian1wu1: rape or seduce); 奸淫(jian1yin2 (when in verb form) (1)seduce (2)rape); 奸宿(jian1su4: (1)fornicate (2)rape); 强奸(qiang2jian1(“power/force”(induced)“illicit/carnal”): rape). FWIW, the character seems to more be indicative of (fiendish/wicked/unscrupulous) rather than ‘rape’ on its own.
Option 1: Leave unchanged. (add sample words for usage as mem.)
Option 2: add it as hidden option.
Option 3: add ‘rape’ as alt def but put in parenthesis only when combined with certain other modifier characters. This options seems best for now. (I went with this option) Also added: "evil, wicked, treacherous, spy, traitor, to fornicate."
Option 4: (the would be nice but not sure if it’s realistic I’ll get to this option) Add additional column text row that pops up after each test completion with sample word use… It’s a long term “In a perfect world”/“would be nice” but not priority for now.
聘: should accept as well “to engage, employ, emplyement, to get married”
魔 should accept demon, evil spirit, magic
the dif. if 佩 seems wrong: it is not “belt”, but to wear (belt, etc), girdle/belt ornaments etc
酸 needs also “grieving, sick at heart”
many thanks, and happy new year
Hey @neoncube, with this sound alone, it sounds more like the 2nd tone to me. Remember that a 3rd tone changes to a 2nd when it’s followed by another 3rd tone. E.g. 你 (nǐ) and 好 (hǎo) both have the 3rd tone when used as a single word but when you speak the phrase 你好, 你 would be pronounced as ní.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Yi
hello sorry would it be possible to have the same word but “test on chinese prompt on pin yin” because both I care more about reading and I believe that the meaning of a character is impossible to get it in a single word. so would it be possible if you duplicate the course and make it as i already said test on pinyin prompt on chinese? thank you very much
Hi @pierpcosta93,
If I understand what your asking for, then I’m not sure that that would be a good idea, because I think there are too many Chinese characters that have the same pinyin.
For example, if prompted with “meng2,” then 儚, 冡, 夘, and 尣 might all be correct answers, since they all share the same pinyin.
Is that what you were asking for? If I misunderstood, please let me know
@Angharad.Merfin
魔 should accept demon, evil spirit, magic
魔 has alts: (bound form)evil spirit(demon, monster); (bound form)magic(magical, mystic, mystical, illusionary, illusory)
聘 has primary: to engage(betroth, employ)
(1)to hire for a job(to hire, to employ) --and variants
(2)to invite(engage, appoint) --and variants
(3){to marry (a girl) off, to betroth, betrothal gift(s), to get married (of woman)} --and variants
佩 wear(at the waist, waist pendant) - and variations
(bound form)to respect(or admire) - and variations
(traditional)waist pendant - and variations
girdle ornament(belt ornament) - and variations
wear at the waist(tie to the belt) - and variations
酸 alts: (1)sour(acid, acidic, tart); (2)ache(aching, sore); (b.f.)distressed(grieved, sick at heart) (+grieving as hidden option); (b.f.)pedantic(impractical)
Hello everyone and thank you for this great course.
It came to my attention that the pinyin for 掷 is wrong, it should be zhi4. I can fix it myself if given the appropriate permissions, but if not possible could someone please correct it?
Thank you very much again,
Alej
@AlejPascual Thanks; I’ve fixed it
Interestingly, the dictionary that I like to use shows that the character’s tone is zhi4 in Mainland China and zhi2 in Taiwan. Since this course is using simplified characters, I’ve stuck with zhi4, as you suggested
On second thought:
I only know of one word that uses this character: 投掷. In that word, 掷 is second tone. I’ve therefore made both zhi2 and zhi4 be correct answers
Hello Neoncube! Thanks a lot for your help on this
I’m also only acquainted with 投掷, however, In every Mandarin Chinese dictionary that I’ve consulted, 掷 is fourth tone in that word. Maybe the dictionary you consulted is Taiwanese? In any case, I think it’s a good idea that it accepts zhi2 and zhi4 as correct answers.
By the way, is there any plan to produce a Characters 2001-2500 course? I noticed there is one out there but unfortunately, it is abandoned (I tried finding the forum thread and contacting the owner to no avail). If not, I would be glad to start it!
Thank you again and happy learning,
Alej
@AlejPascual Ah, interesting! Indeed, I think that the dictionary that I was using (www.zhongwhen.com) may be more geared towards Taiwanese pronunciations.
This course was made by @BenWhately, who I don’t think he makes course anymore.
If you’ve found a course that looks abandoned, then if you like, you can post on these forums and tag a moderator to ask that you be added as a contributor to the course. That way you don’t have to start a new course from scratch