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Among the basic phrases that we learn in a new language we have the different ways of greeting and saying goodbye. Saying goodbye is one of the constructions that we will first incorporate into our vocabulary in a foreign language. As in all languages, depending on the context and familiarity with the interlocutor, the manner of saying goodbye can vary in Mandarin Chinese .
Ways to say goodbye
- 再见 – Zài jiàn = is one of the most common ways to say goodbye and is accepted in most social contexts.
- 拜拜 – bài bài = taken from English, this way of saying goodbye would only be suitable for informal contexts among friends.
- (有空) 再 会 – (yǒu kòng) zàihuì = in this case the phrase can be translated as “until we meet again”. It’s not exactly a goodbye but it does the job perfectly.
- 再 联系 – zài liánxì = this farewell could be translated as “let’s meet again”. We would be expressing a wish for a reunion together with the farewell.
Pronunciation
In Mandarin Chinese there are four tones that carry the vowels a , o , e , i , u , ü . This means that, according to pronunciation, two syllables of the same spelling have completely different meanings. Pronunciation has a grammatical function and affects the meaning of each word depending on the tone used by the speaker.
In the case of再见 Zài jiàn we can see that the two vowels a of the phrase have a diacritic that corresponds to the fourth tone ( à) that goes from its highest intensity to its lowest.
References
PUCP. (2014) Nihao PUCP: learn the 4 tones of Mandarin Chinese. Available at: https://youtu.be/6ade_RZTO8o
Segura, A. Xin, W. (2014) Learn Chinese now!. Available at: https://books.google.co.ve/books?id=hpLGDwAAQBAJ&dq
