If you don’t think goat kids are cute, you haven’t met one. One of the keys to practicing a foreign language is to have things of interest to talk about. Baby goats (kids) are very interesting to me right now, since I just brought two home. Whether you have goats or not, I think you will be entertained by learning how to say things like fur, rubber nipple, and breed in Chinese. Oh, and Cream Puff.
First, some vocabulary:
??? ?? ??? to raise, to rear
?? ?? ??? goat
?? ???? ???? breed
??? ??? ??? ??? golden, blonde
?? ???? ??? fur
?? ?? ?? to translate
?? ??? ?? cream puff
?? ???? ??? in addition, besides
???? ???? ??? ??? ??? chocolate color
??? ?? ?? ??? (coffee) brown
?? ??? ??? brown
?? ??? ??? still, yet
?? ??? ??? female goat, doe
?? ???? ?? bottle
?? ???? ??? rubber
?? ??? ??? nipple
??? ??? ??? to feed (a domestic animal or a child)
?? ??? ??? tree leaf
?? ??? ??? to grow up
?? ?? ??? to wish for, to hope
? ??? to squeeze
?? ??? ??? flavor, smell
???? ??? ??? ?? ??? not too much the same
??? ??? ?? ??? fishy rank odor taste/smell
??? ??? ??? nutrition
?? ? ??? nourishing
Now, meet my little goats! (There is a video of them at the end with audio of me practicing all these sentences!)
????????????? (?)(??)?(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)[(?)(??)](?) (???)(??? ???)(???)(???)(???)(????)(?)[(????)(?? ???)](?)
(shàng)(l? bài)(w?)(mài)(le.)(li?ng)(zh?)[(xi?o)(sh?n yáng)](?)
(last)(week)(I)(to buy)(emphasize completion)(two)(MW for goat)[(small)(goat)=goat kid](conversational sound)
Last week I bought two goat kids!
???????????? (??)(?)(??)(?)(??)(?)(??) (?? ???)(??)(??? ????)(????)(??? ????)(???)(?? ???)
(t? men.)(shì)(b? jiào)(xi?o)(p?n zh?ng)(de.)(sh?n yáng)
(they)(are/to be)(comparatively)(small)(breed)(adjective marker)(goat)
They are a comparatively small breed of goat.
??????? (??)(?)(?)[(?)?(?)] (?? ???)(??)(??)[(???)(???)]
(t? men.)(d?u)(shì)[(m?)(yáng)]
(they)(both, all)(to be)[(female animal)(goat)=doe]
They are both does.
???????? (?)(?)(?)(??)[(?)?(?)] (???)(???)(???)(??? ???)[(???)(???)]
(w?)(méi)(y?u)(rèn hé)[(g?ng)(yáng)]
(I)(not)(to have)(any, whatsoever)[(male of animals)(goat) = buck]
I do not have any male goats.
???????????????? CreamPuff? (?)(?)(???)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)? (??)(?)(???? ?? ???)(??)(??)(???)(???)(???)
(yì)(zh?)(xi?o sh?n yáng)(shì)(s?n)(ge.)(yùe)(dà)
(one)(MW for goat)(goat kid)(is/to be)(three)(MW for month)(month)(big, old)
One of the goat kids is three months old,
…..(??)(??)(?) CreamPuff ……(?? ???)(???? ??)(??)Cream Puff
……(t? de.)(míng zi.)(shì)Cream Puff
……(its)(name)(is/to be)Cream Puff
……its name is Cream Puff.
???????? (?)(?)[(??)(?)](??)? (??)(???)[(??? ???)(???)](???? ???)
(t?)(y?u)[(j?n sè)(de.)](ru?n máo)
(it)(to have)[(gold color)(adjective marker)](fur)
It has golden fur.
????CreamPuff???? (??)(??)CreamPuff(?)(??) (??? ???)(?? ??)CreamPuff(??)(??? ??)
(zh?ng wén)(f?n yì)CreamPuff(shì)(pào f?)
(Chinese language)(to translate)CreamPuff(is)(pào f?)
The Chinese translation of Cream Puff is ???
??????????????? (??)(?)(?)(???)(??)(?)(?)(??)?(?) (???? ???)(??)(?)(???? ?? ???)(?? ???)(??)(???)(??? ???)(???)
(lìng wài)(yì)(zh?)(xi?o sh?n yáng)(zh? y?u)(q?)(ge.)(x?ng qí)(dà)
(other)(one)(MW for goat)(little goat)(only to have)(seven)(MW for weeks)(week)(big, old)
The other little goat is only seven weeks old.
??Eclair? (?)(?)Eclair (??)(????)Eclair
(t?)(jiào)Eclair
(it)(to shout, to be called)Eclair
It is called Eclair!
??????? (?)(?)(????)? (??)(??)[(???? ??? ???)(???)]
(t?)(shì)[(qi?o kè lì)(sè)]
(it)(is)[(chocolate)(color)]
It is chocolate colored.
?????????????????????????? (?)(??)(??)(??)(?)(?)? (??)(??? ???)(?? ???)(??? ???)(???)(???),
(t?)(réng rán)(x? yào)(m? yáng)(de.)(n?i),
(it)(still, yet)(to need, to want, to require)(mother goat)(adjective marker/’s)(milk)
It still needs a mama goat’s milk,
…..(??)(?)(?)(??)(?) ……(???? ??)(???)(????)(???? ??)(??)
……(su? y?)(w?)(yòng)(píng zi.)(g?n)
……(so)(I)(to use)(bottle)(with)
……so I use a bottle with
……….(??)(?)(??)(??)(?) …………(???? ???)(???)(??? ???)(??? ???)(??)
…………(xiàng pí)(de.)(n?i tóu)(wèi y?ng)(t?)
…………(rubber)(adjective marker)(nipple)(to feed)(it)
…………a rubber nipple to feed it.
?????????????? (??)(?)(??)(?)(??)(?)(?)(?)(??) (?? ???)(??)(? ????)(???)(?? ???)(?)(???)(???)(??? ???)
(t? men.)(d?u)(y? j?ng)(néng)(zì j?)(ch?)(c?o)(hàn)(shù yè)
(they)(both, all)(already)(able)(oneself)(to eat)(grass)(and)(tree leaves)
They can both already eat grass and tree leaves by themselves.
???????????????? (??)(??)(?)(??)… (?? ???)(??? ???)(???)(?? ???)….
(t? men.)(zh?ng dà)(le.)(yí hòu)….
(they)(to grow up)(emphasize completion)(after)….
After they grow up….
…..(?)(??)(?)(?)?(??)(?) ……(???)(?? ???)(???)(???)(?? ???)(???)
……(w?)(x? wàng)(néng)(j?)(sh?n yáng)(n?i)
……(I)(to hope)(able)(to squeeze)(goat)(milk)
…… I hope to be able to milk them.
????????????????????? (??)(?)(?)(??)(?)(??)[(?)(?)(??)]? (?? ???)(???)(???)(??? ???)(??)(???? ???)[??? (???)(?? ???)],
(sh?n yáng)(n?i)(de.)(wèi dào)(g?n)(niú n?i)[(bù)(tài)(yí yàng)]
(goat)(milk)(adjective marker)(flavor, smell)(with)(cow milk)[(not)(t00)(the same as)]
The flavor of goat milk is a bit unlike cow milk,
…..(?)(?)(?)(??)(?) ……(??)(???)(???)(??? ??)(???)
……(t?)(y?u)(xi?)(x?ng sh?n)(wèi)
……(it)(to have)(some)(fishy, rank, goat)(flavor, smell)
…….it tastes somewhat like goat.
??????????????? (?)(?)(?)(?)(??)(?)(?)(??)?(?)(??) (???)(???)(???)(???)(?? ???)(???)(???)(??? ???), (???)(? ???)
(y?u)(xi?)(rén)(shu?)(sh?n yáng)(n?i)(h?n)(yíng y?ng), (h?n)(z? b?)
(to have)(some)(people)(to say)(goat)(milk)(very)(nutritious), (very)(nourishing)
Some people say goat milk is very nutritious, very nourishing.
???????????? (??)(??)(?)?(??)?(?)?(?)(?) (???? ????)(?? ???)(???)(??? ??), (???)(???)(???)
(bìng qi?)(t? men.)(yòu)(k? ài), (yòu)(h?o)(wán)
(besides)(they)(also, both)(cute), (both also)(very)(to play, to have fun)
Besides, they are both very cute and very fun!
??????????? (??)(?)(?)(?)(???)(??) (?? ???)(????)(???)(??)(?? ??? ???)(?? ???)
(t? men.)(xi?ng)(w?)(shì)(t? men. de.)(m? ma.)
They think I am their mama!
Now, here’s the video of my practicing saying all these sentences:
Notes:
? Notice that the character ? is used in 3 different, though related words here. Changing the character in front ? of gives the resulting word different emphasis or makes it more specific.
? These are two equally acceptable ways of saying week. ?? is based on the idea of weeks being related to custom and religious ceremony, ?? while is reference to the stars and planets in measuring time.
? Although ?? ?? ??? is sometimes used to mean parents, you would be insulting someone to use ? (female) or ? (gong) to refer to them. These are usually characters saved for animals.
? If you look at the character ?, you can see that it looks kind of like a feather. It can mean hair, fur, or feather. ? means soft, so adding this in front makes it clear that fur is what is being spoken of.
? Just like in English, a color will sometimes be specified by something that is strongly associated with that color, in this case chocolate. More generic ways of saying brown were part of the vocabulary list.
? In Chinese, there is not a verb “to milk” so they talk about squeezing the milk out. It is the same word/character that would be used if one wanted to describe being squeezed together tightly on a bus!
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