Colloqual

[dhl]

I´m wondering what kind of "shortwords", often used in spoken languagues for instance: aha, yup, yeah etc, there are in chinese and how they are used.

for instance someone calls my name and I want a simple responseword

[skylee]

for instance someone calls my name and I want a simple responseword

欸 (ei4)

From online xinhua cidian ->

欸2

(1) 誒 ēi

(2) 表示招呼 [hello]。如:欸,你过来

另见 āi；ǎi；éi；ěi；èi

(1) 誒 éi

(2) 表示诧异或忽然想起。如:欸,他怎么病了!欸,我三点钟还有一场电影呢!

另见 ǎi； āi；ēi；ěi；èi

(1) 誒 ěi

(2) 表示不以为然 [No]。如:欸,这话可不对呀!

另见āi；ǎi；ēi；éi；èi

(1) 誒 èi

(2) 表示答应或同意 [Yes]。如:欸,我就来!

另见āi；ǎi；ēi；éi；ěi

欸1

ǎi

另见āi；éi；ěi；èi

欸乃

ǎinǎi

[the creak of an oar] 象声词。开船的摇橹声

欸乃一声山水绿。――柳宗元《渔翁》

[devi9]

a couple I know include:

是啊 (shi4 a1) yeah, yep

as in.. 是啊!就是他! yeah, that's him!

哎哟 (ai1 yo1) used to express surprise or pain

as in.. 哎哟,我的头疼. ow, my head hurts.

or just.. 哎哟! oh!

哎呀 (ai1 ya1) used to express surprise or disatisfaction

as in.. 哎呀，你真是！my, you're really something!

or just.. 哎呀! oh!

I know a few more, but I'm not really sure this is what you were looking for. Hope these help!

[盤古]

Here are some used in Taiwan, I'm not sure if they are also used in mainland China.

嗯 en - to acknowledge something someone has just told you.

哇 wa - to express extreme surprise or awe, like "wow" in English.

哇賽 wasai - just like 哇 wa but only used in Taiwan I believe, at least I haven't heard any mainland Chinese use it.

喔 o - just like "oh" in English.

啊 a - this can be used in several ways, all are similar to how you would use "ah" in English.

[kangkai]

哇賽 wasai - just like 哇 wa but only used in Taiwan I believe' date=' at least I haven't heard any mainland Chinese use it.

[/quote']

I've heard some of my students use that one, so it is used in Tianjn.

Everybody here knows it, because I when I've used it people told me told "men should not use that".

[geek_frappa]

那個 ... ummm.......

[skylee]

這個 ... errr......

[devi9]

Originally Posted by 盤古

哇賽 wasai - just like 哇 wa but only used in Taiwan I believe, at least I haven't heard any mainland Chinese use it.

When I was in Beijing I heard a lot of people using it.

[盤古]

Everybody here knows it, because I when I've used it people told me told "men should not use that".

Why shouldn't men use that?

I originally thought it was only used in Taiwan because a mainland Chinese from Beijing once told me that it's "Taiwanese"...

[devi9]

I originally thought it was only used in Taiwan because a mainland Chinese from Beijing once told me that it's "Taiwanese"...

I think it definitely originated in Taiwan, but like with American slang (people on the west coast using east coast slang or vise versa), it's more and more common to hear people in Beijing use it.

[roddy]

I heard it a lot in Wuxi in 98 - it was mostly women using it, but then I worked mostly with women so it would have been. They liked to pronounce it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa sai, but I wouldn't recommend that, male or female.

Roddy