Thursday, May 21, 2015

Reduplication ABB structure

Adjectives are the "describing" words of a language. In Chinese there are several different forms of adjectives. Adjective reduplication is a common phenomenon in Chinese, usually used to emphasize the quality of the adjective. There are many different patterns for reduplicating adjectives, including AABB (e.g. 干干净净), ABB (e.g. 红通通) or BABA (e.g. 雪白雪白). Today, we are going to focus on the ABB structure. For example,

  1. 我想吃那香喷喷的北京烤鸭。I want a delicious Beijing roast duck. (香喷喷 xiāngpēnpēn delicious)
  2. 孩子跑完步脸蛋儿红通通的。The children had glowing cheeks after race. (红通通 hóng tōngtōng red)
  3. 眼前是一片绿油油的稻田。Before our eyes was a stretch of green paddy fields. (绿油油 lǜyóuyóu green)
  4. 他说福克斯喝得醉醺醺的时候讲演是最出色的。He says that Fox make his best speeches when he was blind drunk. (醉醺醺 zuìxūnxūn drunk)
  5. 笑眯眯说:“正是这样我才问呐。He smiled."It's why I asked." (笑眯眯 xiàomīmī smiley)

Please fill in the blanks by using the adjectives given:

  • 懒洋洋 Lǎn yángyáng lazy
  • 空荡荡 kōngdàngdàng  empty 
  • 颤巍巍 chàn wéi wēi shaky 
  • 水灵灵 shuǐling líng charming 
  • 亮晶晶 liàngjīngjīng shining 

  1. 他的眼睛_____________的,眉毛宽宽的。His eyes are dewy and his eyebrows are broad.
  2. 老太太_____________地走出屋来。The old lady came tottering out of the room.
  3. 演出结束后, 剧场里_____________的。The theatre was empty after the show.
  4. 鲍勃不想干活, _____________地倚在铁铲上。Bob, who had no intention of working, leaned lazily on his spade.
  5. 天空中点缀着_____________的星星。The sky is bespangled with stars.

  • 灰蒙蒙 huī méngméng gray
  • 冷冰冰 lěngbīngbīng cold
  • 软绵绵 ruǎnmiánmián soft
  • 乱哄哄 luànhōnghōng chaotic 
  • 静幽幽 jìng yōuyōu quiet 
  1. 教师来到之前教室里_____________的。Pandemonium reigned in the classroom until the teacher arrived.
  2. 深夜马路上_____________的,没有一点声响。The road was extremely quiet at night without any sounds. 
  3. 白雪从_____________的云层中轻轻地飘落。Snow fell gently from gray clouds. 
  4. 人人都能感到她的_____________的口气。No one could fail to sense the ice in her voice.
  5. 我在草地上躺了下来,草很短,_____________的。 I lay down on the grass, which was very short and soft.

Please enjoy the song《甜蜜蜜




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