Is this grammatical?

[kudra]

Another probably lame attempt at a play at phonic ambiguity.

But first some basic questions....

This post

http://www.signese.com/2006/08/18/dsc01658/

First of all, it looks like in

燃气管道危险勿动

勿动 is basically formal writing style of 别动. Is that correct?

2nd question, is it grammatical to say

勿动动物

to mean don't touch the animals?

3rd question: Can we translate 燃气管道, as natural gas pipeline, or is 燃气 a more generic term, not neccesarily natural gas, say flammable gas.

Also, for those newbies or those confused like me, let this example clarify the difference between 勿 wu4 and 无/無 wu2.

Thanks.

[tanhql]

"勿动 is basically formal writing style of 别动. Is that correct?"

yes

"勿动动物"

no. most of the time, 勿动 is used for non-living things only. a more correct version would be 请别动这些动物 (please don't touch these animals).

"Can we translate 燃气管道, as natural gas pipeline, or is 燃气 a more generic term, not neccesarily natural gas, say flammable gas."

燃气 is any gas that can be used as a fuel. natural gas would be 天然气. just like 燃料 is a fuel, and not specifying a type of fuel.

'Also, for those newbies or those confused like me, let this example clarify the difference between 勿 wu4 and 无/無 wu2."

勿 = do not (instructional)

无/無 = void/nothing/emptiness etc

[skylee]

1. Yes it is -

燃气管道

危险勿动

勿 = 不要 / don't [do something] (in most cases)

2. Not sure if it is grammatical but I believe people don't say that (and 動 doesn't really mean touch). I think people will say something like 愛護動物，請勿觸摸. But I guess you could say that as a pun.

3. To me 燃氣 is flammable gas. But I am not sure what it means in Beijing.

[artao]

3. To me 燃氣 is flammable gas. But I am not sure what it means in Beijing.

燃气＝＝煤气 OR 天然气