is "er yi" like a particle?

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guestman

is "er yi" like a particle?

Post by guestman »

i've heard it for the first time a while ago. It seems akin to the particle "ze" in cantonese, which means loosely gives a sense of "only." example: wo shi kai wan xiao er yi... (by the way i don't know if that's right). "i'm only joking"

Is this right? Can someone correct me or explain it further? The characters are er2qie3 de er2 and yi3jing1 de yi3. I call it a particle cuz it seems it acts like one, but that seems weird cuz particles are supposed to be one character/syllable
Hanzi Wensheng

Re: is "er yi" like a particle?

Post by Hanzi Wensheng »

eryi = literally means "only" as in I am only joking. It doesn't mean only as in he only has two cars.
guestman

Re: is "er yi" like a particle?

Post by guestman »

why would one use "er yi" instead of zhi3shi4?
jinfeng1

Re: is "" like a particle?

Post by jinfeng1 »

"er yi" is remainder of old written chinese。
"wo shi kai wan xiao er yi" is often seen in modern literature. In Mandarin( which i mean standard oral chinese) , it is seldom heard. Some people who want to appear to be formal or educated can use it。
It is the same as ba4le which also means er yi.
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