It was time for a very specific Chinese lesson. Here is some important vocabulary involved: We are not sure what happened. The speaker doesn’t come with any specific directions. There is nothing online. Still, it is a very good speaker and so we just started trying things to get the microphone to work for the […]
It was time for a very specific Chinese lesson. Here is some important vocabulary involved:
We are not sure what happened. The speaker doesn’t come with any specific directions. There is nothing online. Still, it is a very good speaker and so we just started trying things to get the microphone to work for the wedding. The next thing we knew, it was saying things in Chinese.
| 音箱 | ㄧㄣ ㄒㄧㄤ | (yīn xiāng) | speaker |
| 線路 | ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄌㄨˋ | (xiàn lù) | line, circuit, wire |
| 輸入 | ㄕㄨ ㄖㄨˋ | (shū rù) | to import, to input |
| 菜單 | ㄘㄞˋ ㄉㄢ | (cài dān) | menu |
| 語音 | ㄩˇ ㄧㄣ | (yǔ yīn) | speech, sounds |
| 打開 | ㄉㄚˇ ㄎㄞ | (dǎ kāi) | turn on |
| 關閉 | ㄍㄨㄢ ㄅㄧˋ | (guān bì) | turn off |
| 收音機 | ㄕㄡ ㄧㄣ ㄐㄧ | (shōu yīn jī) | radio |
| 藍牙 | ㄌㄢˊ ㄧㄚˊ | (lán yá) | bluetooth |
| 模式 | ㄇㄛˊ ㄕˋ | (mó shì) | mode |
| 連結 | ㄌㄧㄢ ˊ ㄐㄧㄝˊ | (lián jié) | to link |
| 請稍候 | ㄑㄧㄥˇ ㄕㄠ ㄏㄡˋ | (qǐng shāo hòu) | please wait a little |
| 再撥 | ㄗㄞˋ ㄅㄛ | (zài bō) | call again |
| 選單 | ㄒㄩㄢˇ ㄉㄢ | (xuǎn dān) | software menu |
| 選項 | ㄒㄩㄢˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ | (xuǎn xiàng) | to make a choice between alternatives |
Our speaker uses pretty short sentences or phrases
It was time for a very specific Chinese lesson. Here is some important vocabulary involved:
We are not sure what happened. The speaker doesn’t come with any specific directions. There is nothing online. Still, it is a very good speaker and so we just started trying things to get the microphone to work for the wedding. The next thing we knew, it was saying things in Chinese.
| 音箱 | ㄧㄣ ㄒㄧㄤ | (yīn xiāng) | speaker |
| 線路 | ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄌㄨˋ | (xiàn lù) | line, circuit, wire |
| 輸入 | ㄕㄨ ㄖㄨˋ | (shū rù) | to import, to input |
| 菜單 | ㄘㄞˋ ㄉㄢ | (cài dān) | menu |
| 語音 | ㄩˇ ㄧㄣ | (yǔ yīn) | speech, sounds |
| 打開 | ㄉㄚˇ ㄎㄞ | (dǎ kāi) | turn on |
| 關閉 | ㄍㄨㄢ ㄅㄧˋ | (guān bì) | turn off |
| 收音機 | ㄕㄡ ㄧㄣ ㄐㄧ | (shōu yīn jī) | radio |
| 藍牙 | ㄌㄢˊ ㄧㄚˊ | (lán yá) | bluetooth |
| 模式 | ㄇㄛˊ ㄕˋ | (mó shì) | mode |
| 連結 | ㄌㄧㄢ ˊ ㄐㄧㄝˊ | (lián jié) | to link |
| 請稍候 | ㄑㄧㄥˇ ㄕㄠ ㄏㄡˋ | (qǐng shāo hòu) | please wait a little |
| 再撥 | ㄗㄞˋ ㄅㄛ | (zài bō) | call again |
| 選單 | ㄒㄩㄢˇ ㄉㄢ | (xuǎn dān) | software menu |
| 選項 | ㄒㄩㄢˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ | (xuǎn xiàng) | to make a choice between alternatives |
Our speaker uses pretty short sentences or phrases when she talks to us, but now we understand her. It is a female voice. Here is what she says:
線路輸入
(線路)❶(輸入)
(ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄌㄨˋ)(ㄕㄨ ㄖㄨˋ)
(xiàn lù)(shū rù)
(line)(input)
Choose your input
——
(菜單)❷(語音)(打開)
(ㄘㄞˋ ㄉㄢ)(ㄩˇ ㄧㄣ)(ㄉㄚˇ ㄎㄞ)
(cài dān)(yǔ yīn)(dǎ kāi)
(menu)(speech)(turn on)
The speaking menu is on
——
(菜單)(語音)(關閉)
(ㄘㄞˋ ㄉㄢ)(ㄩˇ ㄧㄣ)(ㄍㄨㄢ ㄅㄧˋ)
(cài dān)(yǔ yīn)(guān bì)
(menu)(speech)(turn off)
The speaking menu is off
__
(收)(音)(機)
(ㄕㄡ)(ㄧㄣ)(ㄐㄧ)
(shōu)(yīn)(jī)
(to gather, to collect, to receive, to accept)(sound)(machine)
radio
__
(藍)(牙)(模式)
(ㄌㄢˊ)(ㄧㄚˊ)(ㄇㄛˊ ㄕˋ)
(lán)(yá)(mó shì)
(blue)(tooth)(mode)
Bluetooth mode
__
(藍牙)(輸入)
(ㄌㄢˊ ㄧㄚˊ)(ㄕㄨ ㄖㄨˋ)
(lán yá)(shū rù)
(Bluetooth)(to input)
Bluetooth inputting
__
(藍牙)(正在)(連結)，(請)(稍)(候)❸
(ㄌㄢˊ ㄧㄚˊ)(ㄓㄥˋ ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄌㄧㄢˊ ㄐㄧㄝ), (ㄑㄧㄥˇ)(ㄕㄠ)(ㄏㄡˋ)
(lán yá)(zhèng zài)(lián jiē), (qǐng)(shāo)(hòu)
(Bluetooth)(right in the middle of)(to link, to join), (please)(little, somewhat)(to wait)
Bluetooth is connecting, please wait
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Notes:
❶ The first character in this word, 線, is the same one that means thread, such as is used in sewing. By adding the character for road/path, 路, it captures the idea of something traveling along the thread or line. Which is what electricity does.
❷ My tutor points out that technically this word for menu specifically refers to a menu for food. 菜 means food and 單 means single, individual, or only, the idea being that it is a list of individual foods. There are a couple of words that she says are commonly used instead for menu in the cyber world.
選單 (see vocabulary chart) means select one, with 選 meaning select and 單 the same as explained above.
選項 means to make a choice. You can see 選 is also used as the first character here, while 項 means neck or sum. I choose to think of this one using an English idiom: “sticking your neck out to choose one.”
❸ 請稍候 is a phrase you may hear when calling a business, but they are busy talking with someone else at the moment. There might be a recording saying: 請稍候再撥.
The last 2 characters together mean call again.
再 ㄗㄞˋ (zài) again
撥 ㄅㄛ (bō) to dial, to turn, to twist
So the whole phrase is translated: Please wait, (then try) calling again.
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