Few days ago, during the Italian class, a student (Italian: studentessa) from Mainland asked our teacher, Cecilia, "Excuse me, what's the meaning of Quan[t]o?"
I knew she wanted to ask quando. But the problem is, she couldn't produce the d sound. You know, in Mandarin, there is no d sound. Or, in other words, they don't know what d is. So, what they do is just substitute the d sound with the unaspirated t sound, or, more precisely, they think the unaspirated t sound is d.
Anyway, Ceci replied, "Quanto? Hom much. Or how many."
Then, the girl asked again. This time, she tried it harder, "No, quan[t]o! Quan[t]o!" (Ironic, though, that the harder she tried, the clearer that the sound was a t! Yes, yes, it was unaspirated, but, sadly, it was a t, no matter how hard you tried!)
"Quanto?"
"No. Q-U-A-N-[T]i-O."
"Oh, QUANDO! That means when!"
Well, I never had supposed this would happen. It's quite fun, though. It just shows that Italian has good ear to distinguish voiced and voiceless consonants, and that many Chinese don't know the difference. (Actually, I never really awared of the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants, until I was 19 or 20. Even so, I still think I am very lucky.)
I knew she wanted to ask quando. But the problem is, she couldn't produce the d sound. You know, in Mandarin, there is no d sound. Or, in other words, they don't know what d is. So, what they do is just substitute the d sound with the unaspirated t sound, or, more precisely, they think the unaspirated t sound is d.
Anyway, Ceci replied, "Quanto? Hom much. Or how many."
Then, the girl asked again. This time, she tried it harder, "No, quan[t]o! Quan[t]o!" (Ironic, though, that the harder she tried, the clearer that the sound was a t! Yes, yes, it was unaspirated, but, sadly, it was a t, no matter how hard you tried!)
"Quanto?"
"No. Q-U-A-N-[T]i-O."
"Oh, QUANDO! That means when!"
Well, I never had supposed this would happen. It's quite fun, though. It just shows that Italian has good ear to distinguish voiced and voiceless consonants, and that many Chinese don't know the difference. (Actually, I never really awared of the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants, until I was 19 or 20. Even so, I still think I am very lucky.)
前幾天，在上義大利文課的時候，一個大陸來的女學生問老師："Excuse me, what is quan[t]o?"
我知道她想問 quando，可是問題是，她不知道什麼是 d。我想這不能怪她，畢竟，普通話、廣東話等這些漢語裡，都沒有 d 這個音。所以，大部份以這些語言當母語的人，都會以為 d 代表的是一個不送氣的 t 音。
嗯，然後老師就說："Quanto? It means how much, or how many."
女學生說："No. Quan[t]o. Quan[t]o!"
嘿嘿，真的是太有趣了。她越是用力去那邊發那個不送氣的 t (國語裡的ㄉ)，就越是展現出她在發的是個 t，而不是 d。
所以，老師就疑慮地問："Quanto?"
這次，這位女學生就乾脆拼出來了："No. Q-U-A-N-[T]i-O."
老師這才了解："Oh, QUANDO! It means when!"
哈，這實在是太有趣了，一個能夠輕易辨別出 voiced 跟 voiceless 子音的義大利人，碰上一位不會發 d 的、以中文為母語的學生，竟然會發生這種事情！我應該早就想到了啦！我怎麼沒有想過這種事情呢？
我知道她想問 quando，可是問題是，她不知道什麼是 d。我想這不能怪她，畢竟，普通話、廣東話等這些漢語裡，都沒有 d 這個音。所以，大部份以這些語言當母語的人，都會以為 d 代表的是一個不送氣的 t 音。
嗯，然後老師就說："Quanto? It means how much, or how many."
女學生說："No. Quan[t]o. Quan[t]o!"
嘿嘿，真的是太有趣了。她越是用力去那邊發那個不送氣的 t (國語裡的ㄉ)，就越是展現出她在發的是個 t，而不是 d。
所以，老師就疑慮地問："Quanto?"
這次，這位女學生就乾脆拼出來了："No. Q-U-A-N-[T]i-O."
老師這才了解："Oh, QUANDO! It means when!"
哈，這實在是太有趣了，一個能夠輕易辨別出 voiced 跟 voiceless 子音的義大利人，碰上一位不會發 d 的、以中文為母語的學生，竟然會發生這種事情！我應該早就想到了啦！我怎麼沒有想過這種事情呢？
Few days ago, during the Italian class, a student (Italian: studentessa) from Mainland asked our teacher, Cecilia, "Excuse me, what's the meaning of Quan[t]o?"
I knew she wanted to ask quando. But the problem is, she couldn't produce the d sound. You know, in Mandarin, there is no d sound. Or, in other words, they don't know what d is. So, what they do is just substitute the d sound with the unaspirated t sound, or, more precisely, they think the unaspirated t sound is d.
Anyway, Ceci replied, "Quanto? Hom much. Or how many."
Then, the girl asked again. This time, she tried it harder, "No, quan[t]o! Quan[t]o!" (Ironic, though, that the harder she tried, the clearer that the sound was a t! Yes, yes, it was unaspirated, but, sadly, it was a t, no matter how hard you tried!)
"Quanto?"
"No. Q-U-A-N-[T]i-O."
"Oh, QUANDO! That means when!"
Well, I never had supposed this would happen. It's quite fun, though. It just shows that Italian has good ear to distinguish voiced and voiceless consonants, and that many Chinese don't know the difference. (Actually, I never really awared of the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants, until I was 19 or 20. Even so, I still think I am very lucky.)
I knew she wanted to ask quando. But the problem is, she couldn't produce the d sound. You know, in Mandarin, there is no d sound. Or, in other words, they don't know what d is. So, what they do is just substitute the d sound with the unaspirated t sound, or, more precisely, they think the unaspirated t sound is d.
Anyway, Ceci replied, "Quanto? Hom much. Or how many."
Then, the girl asked again. This time, she tried it harder, "No, quan[t]o! Quan[t]o!" (Ironic, though, that the harder she tried, the clearer that the sound was a t! Yes, yes, it was unaspirated, but, sadly, it was a t, no matter how hard you tried!)
"Quanto?"
"No. Q-U-A-N-[T]i-O."
"Oh, QUANDO! That means when!"
Well, I never had supposed this would happen. It's quite fun, though. It just shows that Italian has good ear to distinguish voiced and voiceless consonants, and that many Chinese don't know the difference. (Actually, I never really awared of the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants, until I was 19 or 20. Even so, I still think I am very lucky.)
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