半甚麼半甚麼，半甚麼不甚麼

[stapler]

Is there any difference between 半x半x and 半x不x? For example, which of these are correct/how are they are different? 半生不死 and 半生半死

 

and while I'm at it, is there any difference between 跟甚麼似的 and 好像甚麼一樣?

[Publius]

It depends.

Many of them are chengyu, which means fixed forms with fixed meanings. For example, 半信半疑 is correct, *半信不疑 makes no sense. Ditto 半推半就 vs. *半推不就, 半夢半醒 vs. *半夢不醒.

Sometimes both variants are allowed, or they haven't achieved a chengyu status. Then we have to rely on 語感 or empirical knowledge to tell which one fits better. For example, I'd use 半死不活 to express a more negative feeling than if I say 半死半活. Ditto 半文不白 vs. 半文半白, 半生不熟 vs. 半生半熟. (In all three cases the 不 version is more common than the 半 version.)

半生不死 and 半生半死 are both rare to me. Insufficient data for me to form an opinion.

 

跟甚麼似的 is more colloquial than 好像甚麼一樣. Depending on context, they may not be interchangeable.

For example, a 老北京 may say 你怎麼跟事兒媽似的. But 你怎麼好像事兒媽一樣 just doesn't flow. Syntactic and semantic analysis is of no use here. Statistically we just don't say that.

Compare "Man, you look like shit" vs. "Man, you look as if you were made of shit" or "Man, you have the appearance of shit."

[stapler]

Great thanks for the detailed reply.

[Daniel Tsui44]

17 hours ago, stapler said:

半x半x and 半x不x

半X半X express the status plainly. half and half.

半X不X the key point is “不X”

不X不X express in a negative way. not good, or just right.

半死半活：chances are even

半死不活：going to die.

不死不活：should either die or alive, it's not good to be like this.

半文半白：combined with classical Chinese and modern Chinese.

半文不白：not a good modern Chinese

不文不白：should be either whole classical Chinese or modern Chinese, it's not good to be like this.

半生半熟：Five mature

半生不熟：not done.

不生不熟：not well done, or perfect for one's taste.

不早不晚：right time

不前不后：right place

不咸不淡：right taste