I need to shift my focus more towards Feldenkrais/Somatics again. However, in different news, I finally got a first version of a Pīnyīn dictionary for my Amazon Kindle Paperwhite to work. It’s far from perfect, but it works.
I was trying to read a bit in Chinese Pīnyīn, and even though I now can read everything, I still only understand about 10-20%, depending on the story (with the exception of Peppa Pig, where I understand 70-90%). Chinese is really very different from German, or English.
However, I noticed that I started to miss the diacritics (tone marks) from Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, when I’m reading in English. The tone marks, I find them quite charming. They are not as prominent as in Vietnamese, but also not as sparse as in French. I’ll post a few examples below.
A short remark on spelling and orthography
Some of these examples are older transcriptions of mine, some newer. The older ones were done before I had a working version of my transcription software, and I still had to use ChatGPT, Deepseek, Google Translate etc. to obtain the Pīnyīn. Pīnyīn that is produced by large language models usually has quite many mistakes. These mistakes usually fall into 3 categories:
- misspellings — wrong letters, wrong tone marks, wrong uppercase/lowercase,
- wrong word boundaries — wrongly taken apart words, or wrongly fused words,
- word hallucinations — dropped, completely altered, or added words.
Large language models rely on their training data, and I suspect that—in terms of Pīnyīn orthography—quite big chunks of that is problematic, or outright wrong. Even with front-loading the official rules (GB/T 16159-2012), and reasoning switched on, usually LLMs get the Pīnyīn wrong, and quite stubbornly so. As of now, the only way to reliably produce correct Pīnyīn, is to
- use a decent transcription software,
- to know the rules by heart,
- have practice applying them.
Therefore, disclaimer: I checked the examples several times for spelling mistakes (and fixed all that I’ve found), but there still might be a few. I still have to create a spellchecker (since there is none on the market), and get better at spotting mistakes myself.
🤓 Example 1 – a rare, untranslated novel by the famous writer Ni Kuang (倪匡), from the renowned Wisely Series (衛斯理系列)
Ní Kuāng »Mílù«, Dì-yī zhāng: Qíguài qǐngjiǎn sān dù chūxiàn
Ànxiàle bàngōngzhuō páng, yī xìliè ànniǔ zhōng de yī gè, luòdì chángchuāng qián de chuānglián, jiù zìdòng xiàng liǎng páng fēnle kāilái. Chuāng bōli mǒ de yīchén-bùrǎn, chuānglián yī lākāi, jiù kěyǐ kàndào dàbàn gè chéngshì de jǐngsè.
Wáng Yīhéng de bàngōngshì, zài zhè zhuàng yǐ tā de míngzì mìngmíng de dàshà de dǐnglóu, qīshíbā céng gāo. Tā de bàngōngzhuō, jiù miànduìzhe nà yī fú gāodá sì gōngchǐ, kuān shí’èr gōngchǐ de dà chuāng.
Wáng Yīhéng hěn xǐhuān zuò zài bàngōngzhuō hòu, tòuguò zhège chuāngzi, xīnshǎng zhège Yàzhōu dà chéngshì de jǐngsè, tóngshí xīnzhōng duì zìjǐ duì zhège dà chéngshì yǒu jídà de yǐngxiǎnglì ér zì’ào.
Wáng Yīhéng de shìxiàn, cóng chuāng wài shōu huílái, yòu luò zài miànqián nà zhāng qíguài de qǐngjiǎn shàng. Tā xíguàn de wánnòngzhe jīnzhì de chāixìndāo, yòng dāojiān qīng qiāozhe nà fèn qíguài de qǐngjiǎn.
Qǐngjiǎn néng shǐ Wáng Yīhéng gǎndào qíguài, dāngrán bù shì méiyǒu lǐyóu de. Zhè díquè shì yī fèn qíguài de qǐngjiǎn, Wáng Yīhéng yě bù shì dì-yī cì shōudào tā le.
Shì dì-sān cì le. [..]
🤓 Example 2 – from a novel, a cute love story by Mòbǎofēibǎo (墨宝非宝), which was turned into the widely known TV-series Go Go Squid! (亲爱的，热爱的)
Mòbǎofēibǎo »Mìzhī dùn yóuyú«, Dì-yī zhāng
Xiǎng zhīdào shénme jiào yījiàn-zhōngqíng ma?
Jiùshì zhè yī miǎo.
Jiùshì xiànzài, tā duì miànqián gézhe yī gè guìtái de nánrén yījiàn-zhōngqíng le.
Tóng Nián dītóu, shǒuzhǐ zài jiànpán shàng pīli-pālā de qiāo ya qiāo, míngmíngxiǎng yào jiànlì yī gè xīn mìmǎ, kě, nǎozǐ lǐ què zài pīnmìng de huíxiǎng, qián yī miǎo, tā duì zìjǐ shuō “bāoyè” liǎng gè zì de shíhòu, zìjǐ jiūjìng yǒu méiyǒu duì tā xiào? Hǎoxiàng zuǐjiǎo yǒu shàngyáng? Háishì chún dāi?
Hǎo bù róngyì wánchéngle xīn mìmǎ de shèzhì, tā chōu guòlái yī zhāng zhǐtiáo, chāo shàng zhànghào hé mìmǎ.
“En…… bāoyè cóng shíyī diǎn kāishǐ suàn shíjiān, liù diǎn jiéshù. Zhèlǐ tōngcháng qī diǎn guān diàn, dào qī diǎn yě méi wèntí,” tā bǎ zhǐtiáo fàng zài zhuō shàng, yòng zìjǐ rènwéi zuì kě’ài hǎotīng de shēngyīn, zhuāngzuò wēnróu tǐtiē, hái shāo dài diǎn ruǎn méngméng de yǎnshén, duì tā shuō, “Ā, zhèlǐ,” tā zhǐle zhǐ shēnhòu de guìzi, “hái yǒu fāngbiànmiàn hé yǐnliào, nǐ rúguǒ è le, kěyǐ suíshí jiào wǒ, wǒ kěyǐ gěi nǐ shāo rèshuǐ pàomiàn de.”
Bèi tā fàngdiàn de nánrén, sìhū méi tài rènzhēn tīng, suíbiàn de diǎnle tóu, jiāng zhǐtiáo cóng guìtái shàng názǒu.
Duō yī yǎn dōu bù kàn mòshēng nǚhái……
Juéduì shì gè hǎo nánrén! [..]
p.s. I was thinking some more about the correct Pīnyīn for the title, Mì (honey) zhī (juice) dùn (steamed) yóuyú (squid) and came to the conclusion that the honey and juice must be a compound word, even though not in the dictionary, as compound words often aren’t, und thus be written as »Mìzhī dùn yóuyú«.
🤓 Example 3 – the beginning of Book 1 from the famous Three Body Problem book series (三体) by Liú Cíxīn (刘慈欣), which was turned into a famous Chinese TV-series, and the famous Netflix series
Liú Cíxīn »Sān Tǐ«, Dì-yī zhāng: Kēxué Biānjiè
Wāng Miǎo juéde, lái zhǎo tā de zhè sì gè rén shì yī gè qíguài de zǔhé: liǎng míng jǐngchá hé liǎng míng jūnrén, rúguǒ nà liǎng gè jūnrén shì wǔjǐng hái suàn zhèngcháng, dàn zhè shì liǎng míng lùjūn jūnguān.
Wāng Miǎo dì-yī yǎn jiù duì lái zhǎo tā de jǐngchá méiyǒu hǎogǎn. Qíshí nà míng chuān jǐngfú de niánqīngrén hái xíng, jǔzhǐ hěn yǒu lǐmào, dàn nà wèi biànyī jiù ràng rén tǎoyàn le. Zhè rén zhǎngde wǔdàsāncū, yī liǎn héngròu, chuānzhe jiàn zāngxīxī de píjiā kè, húnshēn yānwèi, shuōhuà cūshēngdàsǎng, shì zuì lìng Wāng Miǎo fǎngǎn de nà lèi rén.
“Wāng Miǎo?” Nà rén wèn, zhíhūqímíng lìng Wāng Miǎo hěn bù shūfu, kuàngqiě nà rén tóngshí hái zài diǎnyān, tóu dōu bù tái yīxià. Bù děng Wāng Miǎo huídá, tā jiù xiàng pángbiān nà wèi niánqīngrén shìyìle yīxià, hòuzhě xiàng Wāng Miǎo chūshìle jǐngguānzhèng, tā diǎnwán yān hòu jiù zhíjiē xiàng wū lǐ chuǎng.
“Qǐng bùyào zài wǒ jiālǐ chōuyān.” Wāng Miǎo lánzhùle tā.
“Ò, duìbuqǐ, Wāng jiàoshòu. Zhè shì wǒmen Shǐ Qiáng duìzhǎng.” Niánqīng jǐngguān wēixiàozhe shuō, tóngshí duì xìng Shǐ de shǐle gè yǎnsè.
“Chéng, nà jiù zài lóudào lǐ shuō ba.” Shǐ Qiáng shuōzhe, shēnshēn de xīle yī dàkǒu, shǒu zhōng de yān jīhū rán xiàqù yībàn, zhīhòu jìng bùjiàn tǔchū yān lái. “Nǐ wèn.” Tā yòu xiàng niánqīng jǐngguān piānle yīxià tóu.
“Wāng jiàoshòu, wǒmen shì xiǎng liǎojiě yīxià, zuìjìn nǐ yǔ ‘Kēxué Biānjiè’ xuéhuì de chéngyuán yǒuguo jiēchù, shì ba?”
“ ‘Kēxué Biānjiè’ shì yī gè zài guójì xuéshùjiè hěn yǒu yǐngxiǎng de xuéshù zǔzhī, chéngyuán dōu shì zhùmíng xuézhě. Zhèyàng yī gè héfǎ de xuéshù zǔzhī, wǒ zěnme jiù bù néng jiēchù le ne?”
“Nǐ kànkàn nǐ zhège rén!” Shǐ Qiáng dàshēng shuō, “Wǒmen shuō tā bù héfǎ le ma? Wǒmen shuō bù ràng nǐ jiēchù le ma?” Tā shuōzhe, gāngcái xījìn dùzi lǐ de yān dōu pēndào Wāng Miǎo liǎn shàng.
“Nà hǎo, zhè shǔyú gèrén yǐnsī, wǒ méi bìyào huídá nǐmen de wèntí.”
“Hái shá dōu chéng yǐnsī le, xiàng nǐ zhèyàng yī gè zhùmíng xuézhě, zǒng gāi duì gōnggòng ānquán fùzé ba.” Shǐ Qiáng bǎ shǒu zhōng de yāntóu rēngdiào, yòu cóng yābiǎnle de yānhé lǐ chōuchū yī gēn.
“Wǒ yǒuquán bù huídá, nǐmen qǐngbiàn ba.” Wāng Miǎo shuōzhe yào zhuǎnshēn huí wū.
“Děngděng!” Shǐ Qiáng lìshēng shuō, tóngshí cháo pángbiān de niánqīng jǐngguān huīle yīxià shǒu, “Gěi tā dìzhǐ hé diànhuà, xiàwǔ qù zǒu yī tàng.”
“Nǐ yào gān shénme!” Wāng Miǎo fènnù de zhìwèn, zhè zhēngchǎo yǐndé línjūmen yě tànchū tóu lái, xiǎng kànkan chūle shénme shì.
“Shǐ duì! Nǐ shuō nǐ—” niánqīng jǐngguān shēngqì de jiāng Shǐ Qiáng lādào yībiān, xiǎnrán tā de cūsú bùzhǐ shì ràng Wāng Miǎo yīrén bù shìyìng.
“Wāng jiàoshòu, qǐng bié wùhuì.” Yī míng shàoxiào jūnguān jímáng shàngqián, “Xiàwǔ yǒu yī gè zhòngyào huìyì, yào qǐng jǐ wèi xuézhě hé zhuānjiā cānjiā, shǒuzhǎng ràng wǒmen lái yāoqǐng nín.”
“Wǒ xiàwǔ hěn máng.”
“Zhè wǒmen qīngchu, shǒuzhǎng yǐjīng xiàng chāodǎo zhōngxīn lǐngdǎo dǎ le zhāohu. Zhè cì huìyì shàng bù néng méiyǒu nín, shízài bù xíng, wǒmen zhǐyǒu bǎ huìyì yánqī děng nín le.”
Shǐ Qiáng hé tā de tóngshì méi zài shuōhuà, zhuǎnshēn xiàlóu le, liǎng wèi jūnguān kànzhe tāmen zǒu yuǎn, sìhū dōu zhǎngchūle yī kǒu qì.
“Zhè rén zěnme zhèyàngr.” Shàoxiào xiǎoshēng duì tóngshì shuō.
🤓 Example 4 – the first page from a book about modern life in China, taken from the famous Chinese digital reading and publishing platform Dòubàn Yuèdú (豆瓣阅读)
Dàshāntóu »Dīsú! Dìngyuè le« Dì-yī zhāng: Shìjiè shì yī gè wǔtái
Xiǎo Mài cízhí le. Gōngsī zhǐyǒu tā yī gè yùnyíng, jiéjiàrì yě yào shàngbān, zìyuàn jiābān méiyǒu gōngzī. Cóngzǎodàowǎn, jiǎnjí shìpín, zuò xuānchuán tú, gēngxīn tuīsòng, shénme dōu shì tā de huó.
Wán yóuxì rènshi de péngyou shuō: “Zhè bù ná nǐ dāng niúmǎ ma? Bùnéng yǒu núxìng! Nǐ děi fǎnkàng a.”
Xiǎo Mài tóuyī cì chángshì fǎnkàng le.
Nà yī tiān, tā zhèng yīrú-jìwǎng, lèi de gēn gǒu yīyàng nǔlì gōngzuò, shàngsi tūrán fālái xiāoxi. Xiǎo Mài de xīn dùnshí bèi nǐngjǐn.
Xiǎo Mài chàndǒuzhe yídòng shǔbiāo, shuāngjī, bìshang yǎnjing, shēn hūxī, zài zhēngkāi, bìxū zuò hǎo xīnlǐ zhǔnbèi zài miànduì.
Shàngsi fālái de bù shì “zhège zài gǎigǎi”, yě bù shì fúwùqì jiétú hé xīn rènwu, ér shì: “Nǐ shàngzhōu yǒu yī tiān méi xiě rìbào, nà tiān jìxiào jiù méi gěi nǐ suànle ò ~ xīqǔ jiàoxun, xià cì zhùyì ba ~”
Díquè, yī fān jìlù, Xiǎo Mài fāxiàn zìjǐ shàng Zhōuwǔ wàngle xiě rìbào. Dāngtiān tā xiàdìngjuéxīn, zhōumò juébù lái gōngsī, yúshì pīnle mìng gànhuó, yīzhí máng dào shí diǎn cái zǒurén. Qīng wán dàibàn rènwu de kuàilè mábìle shénjīng, xiǎngbudào lèjíshēngbēi, bǎ rìbào zhè shìr wàng de yīgān’èrjìng.
Xiǎo Mài dīngzhe shàngsi jùmò de bōlànghào, dīngle hěn jiǔ, hěn jiǔ.
Jiǎrú shì píngshí, Xiǎo Mài dàgài zhǐ huì yī nù zhīxià nù yīxià. Kěshì, zhè yī tiān, bù zhīdào nǎ lái de yǒngqì, tā juédìng yìngqì yī huí, fǎnkàng yī cì.
Xiǎo Mài xiān tíchū cízhí, zài tíchū jiāxīn, bǎichū bù gěi tā zhǎng gōngzī jiù zǒurén de jiàshi. Xiǎo Mài zìrèn yī gè rén néng dǐng sān tóu shēngchǎnduì de lǘ, cóng bù rěshì, jìn gōngsī yǐlái hái méi zhǎngguo xīn. Zhāo xīnrén yě yào chéngběn, dànfán shàngsi jīngshen zhèngcháng, kěndìng huì dāying.
Hěn kuài, tā jiù wèi zìjǐ de fǎnkàng fùchūle dàijià.
Shàngsi bǎ Xiǎo Mài jiàoqù, quànshuō Xiǎo Mài bùyào gǎnqíngyòngshì. Xiǎo Mài jiěshì zìjǐ méi gǎnqíngyòngshì, zhǐshì rènwéi zìjǐ de fùchū pèideshàng gèng gāo de shōurù. Zuìhòu, méi tánchéng.
Xiǎo Mài bèi jùjué de cuòshǒubùjí, tài yìwài le, yìwài de yǒudiǎn shēngqì. Tā yànbùxià zhè kǒuqì, píngjiè zhè qiāng nùhuǒ, yīgǔzuòqì zǒuwánle cízhí liúchéng. Děngdài lízhí zhè duàn shíjiān lǐ, Xiǎo Mài bùzài zìyuàn jiābān le, dàodiǎn jiù huíjiā. Shàngsi gěi tā fā xiāoxi zài yě bù jiā bōlànghào le. Xiǎo Mài huídào jiā, jiǔwéi de chīshàng wǎnfàn, yībiān wán hǎojiǔ méi shàngxiàn de yóuxì, yībiān hé péngyou liáotiān.
“Wǒ jiù bù míngbai le,” Xiǎo Mài dàizhe ěrjī, kuàisù cāozuò juésè fàng jìnéng, “Wèishénme qíngyuàn zài zhāorén yě bù gěi wǒ jiā gōngzī ne?” [..]
🤓 Example 5 – a rewrite of the subtitles from the Peppa Pig TV-Series stories, Episode 9, Daddy Pig lost his glasses
Xiǎo Zhū Pèiqí »Bàba de yǎnjìng bùjiàn le!«
Zhū bàba cháng dàizhe yǎnjìng. Tā dàishang yǎnjìng cái néng kàn de qīngchu. Dànshì dāng Zhū bàba zhāidiào yǎnjìng zhīhòu, jiù shénme dōu kànbuqīng le. Suǒyǐ, duì Zhū bàba lái shuō, zhīdào zìjǐ de yǎnjìng zài nǎr shì hěn zhòngyào de. Kěshì, yǒude shíhou Zhū bàba huì zhǎobudào tā de yǎnjìng…
Zhū bàba yībiān huánkàn yībiān shuō: “Suǒyǒu de dōngxi kàn qǐlai dōu hěn móhu!” Zhū māmā wèn: “Pèiqí, Qiáozhì, nǐmen jiàndàoguo Zhū bàba de yǎnjìng ma?” Pèiqí hé Qiáozhì yīqǐ huídá: “Méiyǒu, Zhū māma.”
Zhū māma jiēzhe shuō: “Ái yā, Zhū bàba méiyǒu yǎnjìng jiù shénme dōu kànbudào.” Méiyǒu yǎnjìng, Zhū bàba gēnběn kànbuliǎo shénme dōngxi. Tā tànxī shuō: “Zhè zhēnshi lìngrén wúyǔ, wǒ shénme dōu kànbudào le!”
Zhū māmā wèn: “Nǐ hái jìde zuìhòu bǎ yǎnjìng fàng zài nǎr le ma?” Zhū bàba huídá shuō: “Yǎnjìng zhè dōngxi, bù yòng de shí, wǒ yībān dōu fàng zài kǒudài lǐ a. Zěnme xiànzài bù zài le?”
Pèiqí jiànyì shuō: “Nàme, Zhū bàba, wǒmen kěyǐ bāng nǐ yīqǐ qù zhǎo yǎnjìng ba!” Zhū māmā diǎntóu zànchéng: “Hǎo zhǔyi, Pèiqí.”
Pèiqí hé Qiáozhì kāishǐ zhǎo Zhū bàba de yǎnjìng le. Pèiqí bǎ bàozhǐ jǔ qǐlai, kànkan xiàmiàn, dànshì Zhū bàba de yǎnjìng bù zài zhèr. Qiáozhì zhǎole diànshìjī de shàngmiàn, dànshì Zhū bàba de yǎnjìng yě bù zài nàr. Ránhòu, tāmen zài chúfáng lǐ zhǎo, zài yùshì lǐ zhǎo, zài lóushàng zhǎo lái zhǎo qù, shénme dìfang dōu zhǎo le. Zuìhòu Pèiqí shuō: “Zhè yǎnjìng zhēnde tài nán zhǎo le.”
Zhū bàba wúnài de shuō: “Ái yā, wǒ xiànzài gāi zěnme bàn?”
Jiù zài zhège shíhou, Pèiqí zuòchūle yī gè zhòngdà fāxiàn. Tā zhǐzhe Zhū bàba zuò de dìfāng, dàshēng hǎn dào: “Nǐmen kuài kàn! Yǎnjìng jiù zài zhèr!” Zhū māmā xiàole xiào, shuō: “Ó, yuánlái tāmen yīzhí zài nǐ de pìgu xiàmiàn!”
Qiáozhì wèn: “Zěnme huì dào nàr qù de?” Zhū bàba huídá shuō: “Wǒ yě xiǎng zhīdào!” Tīng dào zhège, dàjiā dōu xiàole qǐlai.
