> "Chow" is just a sound. You cannot be sure of the meaning of it.

That's why i've included the PinYin in an attempt to help anyone reading it
to have a better idea as to how it should sound & perhaps matching it like
i've done with rice or noodles to make it clearer.

> In
> Chinese, because all words have only one syllable, there are a lot of
> "homonyms" - words that are written differently, have different
> meaning, but which sound exactly the same. (A childhood game is to
> write out sentences with completely different characters then the
> original so it reads the same but is total nonsense - bonus marks if
> the new words actually mean something!)

Yes i've played that game before but was never any good at it, often making
up something totally bizarre & having a good laugh at it.

> One method of input in a Chinese word processor is to type the way it
> sounds in English, then pick from a list of characters that sound
> exactly the same. For "chaau", I found stirfry, copy, noisy, nest,
> cash. When written, you can of course tell at a glance what it means.
> When spoken, it all depends on context. ("Chaau sau", or "copy hand",
> is a special northern wonton with a strange name, which is probably
> what the "dumplings" in another post refers to.)

I've not got a Chinese word processor but i'm curious as to what you've
described above. What happens when you type in 'Chow' as that's the way i
would spell it in English for the Cantonese word for stirfry/fry. And also
what would happen when you type in 'Chao' as that's how i would spell it in
English for the Mandarin pronunciation. What about 'Char' or 'Chaar' in the
Fujian or TeowChu dialects? do you still get the same answers as above?
Hmmm... i might have to get a Chinese word processor & have a go at it,
sounds interesting.

> Compounded to this is the fact that to a foreigner's ears, different
> sounds in Chinese may seem close enough that they would think they are
> the same, and transcribe to the same English sounds. For example,
> "chau" is a different sound, which may mean Autumn, stinky, jailed,
> ugly, clown... No Cantonese person would mix "chaau" and "chau" up,
> but in all likelyhood an English person would transcribe both of these
> into "chow".

Well this Cantonese speaking person prefers to spells it 'Chow' but would
also spell it 'Chau' although i'm reluctant to, as not many native English
speakers would be familiar with the way Chinese people use 'au' as in
'Chau'. Here's an example, the 'au' used in a Chinese surname like Mr Lau
would be pronouced totally different to the 'au' used in a woman's name like
Laura as in Laura Ashley. However, a native Spanish speaker would pronouce
the 'au' in Laura just the same as a Chinese person would... with an 'ow'
like in owl. Funny isn't it.

As for 'Chaau' where you've add the extra 'a' extending the end of the word,
i would personally associate this with speaking loudly or putting a stress
or emphasis, which is correct as many Cantonese people do speak very loudly
& some may say crudely as well. If i was in a very busy & noisy rest. in
HongKong, i'd go even futher with something like this 'Chaaao Meen Ahh!' -
at the top of my voice just to let the waiter know that it's fried noodles i
want & i want it Now! But many English speakers would find the extra 'a' in
'Chaau' an added confusion to the already puzzling 'au' in 'Chau'. Well
that's my opinion anyway. By the way Tippi, how would you spell it if you
were softly spoken in Cantonese or did not want to put a stress on it, would
you still spell it as 'Chaau' or would you shorten it 'Chau' or 'Chow'?


> > From a Chinese person's perspective, it's easy for a Chinaman to [...]
>
> Be careful, "chinaman" is now an offensive term, like "******".

Now that's new to me, I'm Chinese & i've never found that 'Chinaman' to be
offensive but if used in a certain way, i'd find it derogatory but not
offensive. While 'Chingky' or 'Chinky' as used here in the UK, i find this
more offensive than 'Chinaman' as it's shorten & used in a similar fashion
to 'Paki' or '******'. So it looks like i'll have to watch my words when
conversing to a global audience on the net. Apologies if i've ****ed anyone
off.

DC. (displaced.chinaman - it's True! i am geographically displaced & i am
Chinese)