This is a love story

Relationships make the world go round. Most people still like to use some sort of cultural signal to let others know they are ‘in a relationship.’ It is both helpful and fun. Another of my daughters is now “taken.”

Before I tell you about it, here is some vocabulary that will be used:

 

名花有主   ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄏㄨㄚ ㄧㄡˇ ㄓㄨˇ  (míng huā yǒu zhǔ)    the girl is taken

熱戀           ㄖㄜˋ ㄌㄧㄢˋ                            (rè liàn)                       to fall head over heels in love

發展            ㄈㄚ ㄓㄢˇ                                (fā zhǎn)                     development, to grow, to expand

速度            ㄙㄨˋ ㄉㄨˋ                               (sù dù)                         speed, rate, velocity

戀愛           ㄌㄧㄢˋ ㄞˋ                                (liàn ài)                        romantic love

燃燒            ㄖㄢˊ ㄕㄠ                                (rán shǎo)                    to ignite, to combust, to burn

情侶            ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄩˇ                          (qíng lǚ)                      sweethearts, lovers

戒指            ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄓˇ                              (jiè zhǐ)                        ring (for the finger)

鑲著             ㄒㄧㄤ ㄓㄜ˙                          (xiāng zhe.)                 embedded in

寶石             ㄅㄠˇ ㄕˊ                                 (bǎo shí)                      precious stone, gemstone

打算             ㄉㄚˇ ㄙㄨㄢˋ                         (dǎ suàn)                     to plan, to intend

結婚             ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄏㄨㄣ                       (jiè hūn)                      to marry

美好幸福     ㄇㄟˇ ㄏㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄈㄨˊ  (měi hǎo xìng fú)       beautiful and happy/blessed

婚姻             ㄏㄨㄣ ㄧㄣ                            (hūn yīn)                     wedding, marriage

 

Here is the love story:

 

 

我女兒跟她的男朋友正在熱戀中。

(我)(女兒)(跟)(她的)(男)(朋友)(正在)(熱戀)(中)

(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄋㄩˇ ㄦˊ)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄊㄚ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄋㄢˊ)(ㄆㄥˊ ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄓㄥˋ ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄖㄜˋ ㄌㄧㄢˋ)(ㄓㄨㄥ)

(wǒ)(nǚ ér)(gēn)(tā de.)(nán)(péng yǒu)(zhèng zài)(rè liàn)(zhōng)

(my)(daughter)(with)(her)(male)(friend)(just at that time)(head over heels in love)(center, middle, in)

My daughter and her boyfriend are head over heels in love.

 

他們戀愛發展的速度比較快，像火燃燒一樣。

(他們)(戀愛)(發展)(的)(速度)(比較)(快)，

(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄌㄧㄢˋ ㄞˋ)(ㄈㄚ ㄓㄢˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄙㄨˋ ㄉㄨˋ)(ㄅㄧˇ ㄐㄧㄠˋ)(ㄎㄨㄞˋ)

(tā men.)(liàn ài)(fā zhǎn)(de.)(sù dù)(bǐ jiào)(kuài)

(they)(romantic love)(development)(adjective marker)(speed)(comparatively)(fast)

…..(像)(火)(燃燒)(一樣)

……(ㄒㄧㄤˋ)(ㄏㄨㄛˇ)(ㄖㄢˊ ㄕㄠ)(ㄧˊ ㄧㄤˋ)

……(xiàng)(huǒ)(rán shāo)(yí yàng)

……(to resemble)(fire)(to ignite)(same, like)

The speed they fell in love was like fire igniting.

 

他們當然都很快樂！

(他們)(當然)(都)(很)(快❶樂)

(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄉㄤ ㄖㄢˊ)(ㄉㄡ)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄎㄨㄞˋ ㄌㄜˋ)

(tā men.)(dāng rán)(dōu)(hěn)(kuài lè)

(they)(only natural, as it should be, certainly, of course)(both, all)(very)(happy)

Of course, they are both very happy!

 

昨天她給我看她的情侶戒指。

(昨天)(她)(給)(我)(看)(她的)(情侶)❷(戒指)❸

(ㄗㄨㄛˊ ㄊㄧㄢ)(ㄊㄚ)(ㄍㄟˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄎㄢˋ)(ㄊㄚ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄩˇ)(ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄓˇ)

(zuó tiān)(tā)(gěi)(wǒ)(kàn)(tā de.)(qíng lǚ)(jiè zhǐ)

(yesterday)(she)(to give)(me)(to see)(her)(sweethearts, lovers)(ring)

Yesterday she showed me her sweethearts’ ring.

 

她的情侶戒指上鑲著的是她跟她的男朋友的生日寶石。

(她的)(情侶)(戒指)(上)(鑲)(著)(的)(是)

(ㄊㄚ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄑㄥˊ ㄌㄩˇ)(ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄓˇ)(ㄕㄤˋ)(ㄒㄧㄤ)(ㄓㄜ˙)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕˋ)

(tā de.)(qíng lǚ)(jiè zhǐ)(shàng)(xiāng)(zhe.)(de.)(shì)

(her)(sweethearts)(ring)(on)(to embed)(indicates ongoing action)(to be/is)

…..(她)(跟)(她的)(男朋友)(的)(生日)(寶石)❹

……(ㄊㄚ)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄊㄚ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄋㄢˊ ㄆㄥˊ ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕㄥ ㄖˋ)(ㄅㄠˇ ㄕˊ)

……(her)(with)(her)(boyfriend)(adjective marker)(birthday)(gemstone)

Her sweethearts ring has her and her boyfriend’s birthstones on it.

 

情侶戒指是給人看他們已經是名花有主了。

(情侶)(戒指)(是)(給)(人)(看)(他們)

(ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄩˇ)(ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄓˇ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄍㄟˇ)(ㄖㄣˊ)(ㄎㄢˋ)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)

(qíng lǚ)(jiè zhǐ)(shì)(gěi)(rén)(kàn)(tā men.)

(sweethearts)(ring)(to be)(to give)(person/people)(to see, to look at)(they)

…..(已經)(是)(名花有主)❺(了)

……(ㄧˇ ㄐㄧㄥ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄏㄨㄚ ㄧㄡˇ ㄓㄨˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙)

……(yǐ jīng)(shì)(míng huā yǒu zhǔ)(le.)

……(already)(to be)(the girl is already taken)(emphasis completion)

The ring lets people see when a girl is already taken.

 

他們打算明年春天要結婚。

(他們)(打算)(明年)(春天)(要)(結婚)❻

(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄉㄚˇ ㄙㄨㄢˋ)(ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ)(ㄔㄨㄣ ㄊㄧㄢ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄏㄨㄣ)

(tā men.)(dǎ suàn)(míng nián)(chūn tiān)(yào)(jié hūn)

(they)(to plan, to intend)(next year)(spring)(to want)(to marry, to get married)

They intend to get married next spring.

 

我們都祝福他們有美好幸福的婚姻。

(我們)(都)(祝福)(他們)(有)(美好)(幸福)(的)(婚姻)❻

(ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄉㄡ)(ㄓㄨˋ ㄈㄨˊ)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄇㄟˇ ㄏㄠˇ)(ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄈㄨˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄨㄣ ㄧㄣ)

(wǒ men.)(dōu)(zhù fú)(tā men.)(yǒu)(měi hǎo)(xìng fú)(de)(hūn yīn)

(we)(all)(to wish well)(them)(to have)(wonderful, beautiful)(happy, blessed)(adjective marker)(marriage, matrimony)

We all wish them a wonderful and blessed marriage.

 

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Notes:

❶ It is curious that the same character can mean either fast/soon or happy. Other definitions in the dictionary include ingenious, sharp, and honest, implying that the concept of fast is a happy one!

❷ It is fun to break down the meaning of both sets of characters here. First, 情侶 literally means “feeling or emotional companion.”

情 feeling, sentiment, emotion

侶 companion, associate with

❸ The characters in 戒指 can be translated “a warning on the finger.”

戒 warn, caution, admonish

指 finger, point, indicate

❹ 寶, which has treasure/precious/valuable listed as its first meaning in the dictionary, is commonly used double (寶寶) to refer to one’s infant (baby).

❺ The Chinese of this 4 words idiom is somewhat archaic, as the last character 主 means master or lord; but if you think about it, just to say someone is taken, as is common in English, is also very possessive and true to how people in love feel.

❻ 結婚 is the verb meaning to get married and 婚姻 is noun meaning a marriage, which begins at the point of the wedding. The common character between them is 婚。