"突然是盐自由是咸" question

[Ferno]

What is this supposed to mean?

and what is the usage difference between 盐 and 咸?

thx

[autumn]

I am not sure if I am right but I guess that it has a meaning similar to - too much of a good thing (turning bad)

盐 is the noun - salt

咸 is the adjective - salty

[Ferno]

I thought chinese nouns/adjectives/etc. don't change form?

[autumn]

So did I - unfortunately seems that the rule has exceptions.

I place this is the same category as 合适 and 适合 - you just have to go with it.

[newnew]

It's from lyric,isn't it ?

I don't think it's of habitual use ,and i don't think it's a well written lyric

You don't have to be so serious about the lyrics ,you know.

Even I am a Chinese ,I cannot explan why she uses 盐 here ..= =||

well,about 适合 and 合适。。

How to say it ...

这双鞋(this pair of shoes )很适合你。

这双鞋和合适

你很适合这双鞋

you can see that these two words are quite similar in meanings

but when we use 合适 we tend to use it barely？

while we add sth.or sb. after 适合

I don't know if my poor English explanation could give you any help ..^ ^

[Ferno]

I tried babelfish translator and it gave me "Suddenly is the salty freedom is salty"

so it seems that the first character 盐 modifies freedom (自由) since it is translated as "salty" too, so it is acting like an adjective, not a noun.... or should the proper translation be "salt freedom" "盐自由" - with all three characters being part of a bigger noun?

[Vphoenix]

盐is salt， such as

这个 火腿(ham) 里 没有盐。

咸 is salty，such as

这个有点咸。It tastes salty.

Chinese characters never change form。盐and咸 are two characters，Not two form of one characters 。

BTW:合适 与 适合 是 两个 字 使用 不同的 构词法（word-building） 构成的 两个词。这一点 很难 理解（understand），但是 把 它们 理解成 变形（change form）是不对的。

[Quest]

Is it from this song: http://www.ting2008.com/play/FeiTian_77837.htm

a good and light-hearted song btw, but w/bad lyric.

I thought chinese nouns/adjectives/etc. don't change form?

醋是酸的

糖是甜的

药是苦的

姜是辣的

盐是咸的

They are different things. 酸甜苦辣咸 are the different flavors/tastes; 醋糖药姜盐 are the things that produce/possess these flavors. It doesn't involve changing forms at all, just like sugar and sweet, vinegar and sour, they are different words. The fact that salt and salty have the same stem in English doesn't mean that relationship would be maintained in Chinese. Also, there's no rule saying chinese nouns and adjectives don't change form.

突然是盐自由是咸 is gibberish. It means literally "Suddenness is salt, freedom is salty", being in Chinese doesn't make that phrase anymore understandable.

陈依依-飞天

我在微风中流浪

突然传说的远方

穿过森林的月光

游胜蔚蓝的海洋

时间是甜爱情是甜

突然是盐自由是咸

任我们天空的意念

幻想是人类的一切

背上明天快乐无边

紧追明天快乐无限

我们都牵着手往前

去发现心里的后天

每一次微笑就是爱

你的给我给忘不了

爱是一个纪念品还

这有说明话多好

不愿浪费一分一秒

我们俩去找一找

让你幸福快乐今天

我们需要我知道

----

给我知道 给我多少

你的爱我亲你少不少

天空不少飞了期望

给我爱你快乐最重要

[Ferno]

It doesn't involve changing forms at all, just like sugar and sweet, vinegar and sour, they are different words. The fact that salt and salty have the same stem in English doesn't mean that relationship would be maintained in Chinese.

I see, good point. I was thinking in English terms again

this also made me not realize that "突然" could be "suddennESS" (noun form) like you translated, not just "suddenly" :o

but there is another thing I wondered about...

时间是甜爱情是甜

Time is sweet, love is sweet

突然是盐自由是咸

Suddeness is salt, freedom is salty

From my limited knowledge of Chinese grammar, I thought "to be" 是 is not used to connect nouns and adjectives like it is in English... 很 is used to connect them or nothing is used...

[Quest]

From my limited knowledge of Chinese grammar, I thought "to be" 是 is not used to connect nouns and adjectives like it is in English... 很 is used to connect them or nothing is used...

noun是adjective的, 的 is omitted.

[Ferno]

noun是adjective的, 的 is omitted.

I see, is this the "rhetorical emphasis" that is talked about in the bottom part of this page:

http://www.chinawestexchange.com/Mandarin/grammarL3Hen.htm

?

how common is this in regular speech?

[Altair]

I wonder if a term like "rhetorical emphasis" really explains very much. I think the issue here is that these adjectives are used to define classes of things, rather than to describe the qualities of a particular thing.

这个菜很酸 is a different type of statement from 醋是酸的. The first describes a quality of the dish, whereas the second defines what type of thing vinegar is. Compare these two paraphrases:

This dish is sour to a high degree.

Vinegar is a sour thing.

The noun是adjective的 pattern is also normal for adjectives that are not normally thought of as ranging in intensity. E.g., 这辆车是新的, 是白的, 是美国的, etc.

[LiYuanXi]

So many chinese pop songs nowadays have gibberish lyrics. They doesn't make sense and they irritate me cuz i can't understand them by just listening.