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Mandarin reference for Firefly writers - work in progress
Slowly attempting to transliterate this resource into modern pinyin, with (simplified) characters for reference. Any assistance is welcome. Corrections are obviously also welcome. My Mandarin is far from perfect; it's quite possible I've made mistakes.
Here I've thrown together an additional table of basic grammatical terms, and here I've added some notes on fandom, fiction, and the nature of language change. In future I will be adding resources for those interested in learning more about the Mandarin language from people with more competency in it than I have.
| English | Pinyin | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| a switch to those girls' backs is just enough* | biān dǎ tāmen de bèi jiù gòu le | 鞭打她们的背就夠了 |
| abracadabra, alakazam!** | tiānlínglíng dìlínglíng | 天霛霛 地霛霛** |
| talk nonsense (lit. pass gas) | fàngpì | 放屁 |
| to startle someone out of hiding (lit. beat grass to startle the snake) | dǎ cǎo jīng shé | 打草惊蛇 |
| alas, dammit, not good, what a mess, etc. (lit. wasted or spoiled cake) | zāogāo | 糟糕 |
| all that's proper* | suǒyǒu de dōu shìdàng | 所有的都適当 |
| alliance | liánméng | 联盟 |
| Did you understand that? (Are we clear?) / Do you understand or no? | Dǒng le ma? / Dǒng bù dǒng? | 懂了吗？/懂不懂？ |
| ass, bottom | pìgu | 屁股 |
| he who often walks at night will eventually meet a ghost | yè lù zǒu duō le zǒng huìjiàn guǐ | 夜路走多了总会见鬼 |
| awesome, extremely clever or cool (lit. tall stick) | gāo gùn | 高棍 |
| baboon's ass* | fèifèi pìgu | 狒狒屁股 |
| bastard, scum (lit. bad egg) | huàidàn | 坏蛋 |
| boss, leader, business head; can also be an informal nickname for an acquaintance, i.e. the owner of a restaurant one frequents | lǎobǎn | 老板 |
| boss' wife | lǎobǎn niáng | 老板娘 |
| elder brother, big brother; can be used for a friend's older brother if close, or for close, older male friends | gēge | 哥哥 |
| big change (as in a change or variation, not pocket change) | dà biànhuà | 大變化 |
| a big stupid pile of stinking meat* | yí*** dà duī bèn chòu ròu | 一大堆笨臭肉 |
| elder sister, big sister; see above | jiějie | 姐姐 |
| to blindside, plot against (lit. fire an arrow from a hiding place) | fàng lěngjiàn | 放冷箭 |
| "Bottoms up!" (lit. dry cup) | gānbēi | 干杯 |
| brilliant, wonderful | jīngcǎi | 精彩 |
| cheap woman, despicable creature (lit. cheap goods) | jiànhuò | 贱货 |
| check immediately, immediately examine | mǎshàng jiǎnchá | 马上检查 |
| Come on!, Let's go! (cheering someone on; can also mean 'to refuel') | jiāyóu | 加油 |
| Mandarin/Chinese language | zhōngguóhuà | 中国话 |
| cool (phonetic borrowing from English; previously meant and can still mean 'cruel' or, as an adverb, 'extremely') | kù | 酷 |
| complete chaos, upheaval (lit. heaven and earth turning upside down) | tiānfāndìfù | 天翻地覆 |
| completely useless | tiāndì wúyòng | 天地无用 |
| congratulate, congratulations (polite) | gōngxǐ | 恭喜 |
| conniving or scheming person (lit. ghost head, ghost brain)**** | guǐ tóu guǐ nǎo | 鬼头鬼脑 |
| crazy dog who loves to eat his own shit* | ài chī zìjǐ de fèn de gǒu | 爱吃自己的粪的狗 |
| swearing (lit. tell[ing] off with dirty words) | mà zānghuà | 骂脏话 |
| cute, adorable | kě'ài | 可爱 |
| Damn! Dammit! (lit. 'his mother's...') | tā mā de | 他妈的 |
| dangerous animals (can also be used for people) | wēixiǎn dòngwù | 危险动物 |
| daydream, wishful thinking, unrealistic fantasy (lit. white day dream) | báirìmèng | 白日梦 |
| deserving of bad consequences; "You asked for it!"; "Serves you right!" | huógāi | 活该 |
| despicable, detestable | kěwù | 可恶 |
| something done without return; wasted endeavour without payoff (lit. charity performance, charity gala) | yìyǎn | 义演 |
| to be done for, to be doomed (lit. finished egg) | wándàn | 完蛋 |
| dumbass, clumsy idiot | chǔn | 蠢 |
*I cannot attest as to the accuracy of these terms or translations. Several of them strike me as grammatically odd or nonsensical but I could easily be mistaken in this regard.
**Tiān is lit. heaven, dì is lit. earth, and líng with this character isn't something I frequently encounter. I've used the traditional character here instead of the simplified one simply because the usage, unless I'm very much mistaken, is slightly archaic, here meaning spirit or sprite (sort of), though the term can also mean clever or efficacious, or indicate a bier or coffin. Welcome to the wonderful world of homophonisation in Mandarin.
*** Normally, on its own as a number, 一 is pronounced yī. Here it appears as yí because it is used as an indefinite article preceding a word with falling tone.
**** The word that's being translated here as 'ghost', 鬼\guǐ, could be a bit misleading. Ghosts in Chinese folktales (and therefore idioms) aren't quite like those which appear in European stories. Those interested in learning more can find a wikipedia article on the subject here, but the basic point is that ghosts in the Chinese conception nearly always have a purpose - and often that purpose is devious. For this reason the word can also be translated as 'demon', which comes closer to encoding the intended meaning in a way which is comprehensible to speakers of (Eurocentric, Abrahamic) English. As a side-note, it's also the second element in the word mogwai, a Cantonese term for a mischievous, troublemaking demon which often inflicts harm on humans and reproduces when it rains, i.e. when wet. Yep, Gremlins come from Cantonese folktales.
Below I'll add some simple, very basic grammatical terms. Some have footnotes - just click the number to be taken directly to said footnote.
| English | Pinyin | Characters | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| I/me | wǒ | 我 | -- |
| she | tā | 她 | -- |
| he | tā | 他 | -- |
| you | nǐ | 你 | -- |
| plural marker for pronouns | men | 们 | 1. 我们 \ wǒmen \ we 2. 你们 \ nǐmen \ you all 3. 她\他们 \ tāmen \ they (fem.\masc.) |
| possessive particle | de | 的 | 我的猫 \ wǒ de māo \ my cat 1 |
| no \ not \ do not | bù | 不 | 1. 我不懂 \ wǒ bù dǒng \ I don't understand 2. 你累了吧？ 不, 不累。\ Nǐ lèile bā？Bù, búlèi.2 \ Are you tired? No, I'm not tired. |
| to be (for use with nouns) | shì | 是 | 我是学生。\ Wǒ shì xuéshēng. \ I am a student. |
| to be (for use with adjectives); very | hěn | 很 | 她很漂亮 \ tā hěn piàoliang \ she is (very) pretty3 |
| question particle - yes or no questions | ma | 吗 | 1. 你是大学生。/ Nǐ shì dàxuéshēng. / You are a university student. 2. 你是大学生吗？ / Nǐ shì dàxuéshēng ma? / Are you a student? |
1 This can be used with any pronoun or proper noun, and must be used with every possessive -- with the almost sole exception of close family members. For instance: 我妈妈 \ wǒ māma \ my mother.
2 You might've noticed that the tone changed here. Bù is a special case. In front of another falling tone, like lèi, it takes rising tone instead (bú). This isn't something you really have to worry about as a beginner; most people aren't likely to notice, and this isn't something that happens with most instances of falling tone. Nonetheless this is the correct formulation.
3 Hěn is another special case. While it literally means 'very', it is also the basic particle used to show a relation between an adjective and a noun or pronoun. That is to say, you cannot use shì when using an adjective. You must use hěn or a similar term. If spoken with emphasis, the superlative quality is... well, emphasized. Otherwise, just consider it a particle meaning 'is'.
Notes: I am aware that within the context of the Firefly canon, though I am not overly familiar with that canon in a general sense, the Mandarin spoken is meant to be corrupted, anglicized, and largely consisting of slang. I can offer no objection to writers or roleplayers using it in their writing; that isn't the point of this resource. On the contrary - I studied linguistics. The attempt in any work of fiction to account for language change, for dialectalization and other natural language processes, is always something I appreciate.
Nonetheless, some caveats: the language spoken in Firefly is clearly meant to be at least somewhat comprehensible. Properly accounting for the amount of change a language would undergo in the time period between the current and that of the show's canon would be far vaster than represented, than it is possible to represent and remain comprehensible. This language change should also apply to English, which, aside from a few slang terms for colour, it clearly does not. The point being: I can't fault anyone wanting to use modern Mandarin in their writing either. Either way you're taking liberties.
This resource is intended as an aid for both styles of writer. I'm not attempting to promote a prescriptive interpretation of what language in fiction should be. What I am attempting to do is to provide a means of learning more about the language being used, of moving away from a mere phrasebook and into a standardized mode of language -- not because that standardization is ideal, but because it exists and opens up avenues for further understanding, because it allows readers access to resources aside from mine which may help them move away from scripted, repeated phrases and towards production and innovation.
That, and you may just pick up the basics of a new language along the way. That's always good, right?