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United States flagGuo42
又 pronounced líng? I am taking a course in Chinese and we are covering time. some of the entries have [#]小时又[#]分钟。In the recordings they say "[#] gè xiǎo shí líng [#] fēn zhōng." I don't see 又 marked in any dictionaries as líng. Is this a typo or a mistake on their part or am I missing something?

Answers · 7

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I think the 'líng' you are hearing may be 零 which means zero.
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As we know, the Chinese Grammar is very flexible. ;) Both 又 and 零 are understandable. X又Y is used in the mixed number system, such as 3½ (三又二分之一). 零=雨+令, means small rainfall(雨) in the Middle Chinese. Then it was repurposed by mathematician to mean ZERO, extending from its a little bit (of rain) meaning to indicate a bit more remaining. A number like 905 would be represented as 九百零五 (not 九百五), literally nine hundred and remaining five, with the 零 character used as a means of skipping the TENs place, by indicating zero tens.
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Wang, thank you. I'm starting to think it may have been either a transcription or spoken error.
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[X]小时又[Y]分钟 means X hour(s) and Y minute(s). In spoken Chinese, we prefer to use 零(líng) rather than use 又(yòu). That is why you heard "[#] gè xiǎo shí líng [#] fēn zhōng" in the recording. Strictly speaking, Y must be less than 10. Otherwise we will just say 三小时二十分钟.
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谢谢

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