# 早安



## SuperXW

Moderator's Note: The following discussion is split from this thread.

About the statement: 
Taiwanese may prefer to say 早安. 
Hong Kongese say 早晨 in Cantonese, but not 早安. 
Beijing-style Mandarin traditionally don't use 早安, but 早/早上好. 早安 doesn't exist in most Northern dialects either. But Taiwanese culture have been influencing the Mainland's language through media, now you could see Mainland people saying it on TV, using it for online chatting or somewhere. It would be considered rather "foreign", "modern" or even "pretentious" by some Mainlanders.


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> Beijing-style  Mandarin traditionally don't use 早安...It would be considered rather  "foreign", "modern" or even "pretentious" by some Mainlanders.


《二十年目睹之怪现状》第103回：“只苦了二奶奶，要还他做媳妇的规矩，天天要去请*早安*，请*午安*，请*晚安*。”  It was used in the Mainland during the Qing Dynasty and is  actually neither "foreign" nor "modern".


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> 《二十年目睹之怪现状》第103回：“只苦了二奶奶，要还他做媳妇的规矩，天天要去请*早安*，请*午安*，请*晚安*。”  It was used in the Mainland during the Qing Dynasty and is  actually neither "foreign" nor "modern".


I think those were from the behavior of "請安", but people wouldn't actually say "早安" "午安" "晚安" at that time? I'm not sure. Enlighten me if I'm wrong.


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## Rethliopuks

Skatinginbc said:


> 《二十年目睹之怪现状》第103回：“只苦了二奶奶，要还他做媳妇的规矩，天天要去请*早安*，请*午安*，请*晚安*。”  It was used in the Mainland during the Qing Dynasty and is  actually neither "foreign" nor "modern".



“早安” can be safely used...It's just that it's a bit polite, so people (at least in Shenzhen) may simply use "早" instead when they want to be casual. e.g. when speaking to a classmate.


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> I think those were from the behavior of "請安",  but people wouldn't actually say "早安" "午安" "晚安" at that time?


《二十年目睹之怪现状》跪了下來，恭恭敬敬叩了三個頭，說道： 「孫兒惠祿，請祖爺爺的金安」...「恭請老太太晚安」...姥姥道：「快給大哥請安去！不然，要打了！」魁哥兒才慢騰騰的走近兩步，合著手，把腰彎了一彎，*嘴裡說得一個「安」字*。
郭沫若 (1892-1978) 《落叶·第二十三信》：「哥哥：*晨安*呀！今天虽然不是我休息，但谁也没有来，只有我一个人，我所以得着空闲来写这封信。」 
The word 安 has been part of Chinese greetings for over a century.


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> 《二十年目睹之怪现状》跪了下來，恭恭敬敬叩了三個頭，說道： 「孫兒惠祿，請祖爺爺的金安」...「恭請老太太晚安」...姥姥道：「快給大哥請安去！不然，要打了！」魁哥兒才慢騰騰的走近兩步，合著手，把腰彎了一彎，*嘴裡說得一個「安」字*。
> 郭沫若 (1892-1978) 《落叶·第二十三信》：「哥哥：*晨安*呀！今天虽然不是我休息，但谁也没有来，只有我一个人，我所以得着空闲来写这封信。」
> The word 安 has been part of Chinese greetings for over a century.


My calling 早安 "foreign" was not right. It does correspond the Chinese tradition. 
Nevertheless, although you've listed 請早安 and 晨安, it seems uttering the exact word of "早安" has never been popular in Northern Mandarin.


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## Skatinginbc

香港學者陳雲(嶺南大學中文系助理教授): "寧講早安，不講早上好", "中共在公共語文鼓吹早上好、下午好和晚上好，代替早安、午安和晚安，有以俗代雅的一貫流氓氣."  (http://timisnice.blogspot.ca/2011/04/blog-post_3812.html).  I didn't  expect that the simple greeting 早安 or 早上好 can generate so much  emotion/connotation in some people's minds.  I didn't know 早安 would  sound "strange" (or "foreign") to some northerners, nor did I know that  早上好 would sound 俗氣 to some southerners.  It is an interesting  discovery.


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## SuperXW

Yeah...I feel the same. 语言是社会群体的自然产物，与一个群体的属性息息相关。只要群体立场有分歧，不管什么样的语言，也会有支持和反对者。正如有香港学者说「早上好」有「流氓气」，相信也不乏北方学者认为「早安」是「矫揉造作」。
（我还看过几十年前有学者反对使用「你好」的文章……）
同样的情况，全看你用褒义或贬义来形容，非语言本身之罪。


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## Skatinginbc

I wonder what the Mainlanders felt when 神十航天员王亚平(山东人) wrote "新的一天又开始了。早安，可爱的地球；早安，美丽的祖国；早安，辛勤的科研人员!"  (http://www.chinanews.com/mil/2013/08-22/5191411.shtml).  Does it sound  pretentious?  To me, it is very colloquial as if written for the elementary student level.        
《二十二章大梦未觉》屋后在李汉珞面前躬身一礼「请主子早安!」 「哦，早安!」李汉珞漫不经心的应了一声，却让管家着实惊了一下 ==> This sentence written by a modern author reflects a natural transition from 请...安 (e.g., 《紅樓夢》 「请宝叔安!」, 「请嫂子安!」; 《穷香》「奴婢请夫人早安!」; 「叩请大爷早安!」; 「恭请李大爷早安!」) to the short form 「早安!」.  Also natural is the transition from 《紅樓夢》鳳姐也來請早安 to 女儿来为您请早安了 (我来向你请早安了, 给您请早安了, 来给您道早安了) and to simply 「早安!」.


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> I wonder what the Mainlanders felt when 神十航天员王亚平(山东人) wrote "新的一天又开始了。早安，可爱的地球；早安，美丽的祖国；早安，辛勤的科研人员!"  (http://www.chinanews.com/mil/2013/08-22/5191411.shtml).  Does it sound  pretentious?  To me, it is very colloquial as if written for the elementary student level.


Does it sound pretentious? Well, yes! (To some Mainlanders, not all, of course.)
First, it was written, not spoken.
Second, it's from a 神十航天员. All Chinese astronauts were typical "politically correct" icons who must only say "pretentious words" or 套话...
Look at the sentence. 早安，可爱的地球；早安，美丽的祖国；早安，辛勤的科研人员! Do people really say these in real life? No way! It written in modern Mandarin, yes. But it's not what people would really say.
我觉得我们可以核对一下概念先：pretentious我指「造作、做作」，written我指的是「经常写出来，日常口语极少说的语言风格*和内容*。」 
我的意思是，「小学生作文」也可以很「做作」，并非要堆砌华丽的古典辞藻才是「做作」。


Skatinginbc said:


> 《二十二章大梦未觉》屋后在李汉珞面前躬身一礼「请主子早安!」 「哦，早安!」李汉珞漫不经心的应了一声，却让管家着实惊了一下 ==> This sentence written by a modern author reflects a natural transition from 请...安 (e.g., 《紅樓夢》 「请宝叔安!」, 「请嫂子安!」; 《穷香》「奴婢请夫人早安!」; 「叩请大爷早安!」; 「恭请李大爷早安!」) to the short form 「早安!」.  Also natural is the transition from 《紅樓夢》鳳姐也來請早安 to 女儿来为您请早安了 (我来向你请早安了, 给您请早安了, 来给您道早安了) and to simply 「早安!」.


封建文化在毛泽东时代搞「破四旧」给破了，所以在现今的标准普通话中感觉很古式、遥远、生疏，*某些用法可能反而要从港台回流*。内地的现代文化和中国古典传统有个断层。
I'm not pro or against the usage, but trying to describe how and why some people feel about the usage.


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## Youngfun

To me 早安 sounds like a word to balance 晚安.

Also, 晚安 =\= 晚上好。Doesn't 晚上好 mean good evening, and 晚安 good night?
For instance a night show may use 晚上好 at the beginning and 晚安 at the end.


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## GemiPiggy

I don't think it's anything to do with "破四旧".
It's normal that people are fickle with using words. When we are too familiar with one words, we begin to think it's no longer a cool saying and use some word else.

One example is the word "小姐". It meant prostitute in Song and Yuan dynasty. It meant young, decent ladies in recent age before 1980's. And now it's getting its original meaning now.


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## Skatinginbc

Youngfun said:


> To me 早安 sounds like a word to balance 晚安...good night


Indeed, 晚安 "good night" is said as an expression of farewell before  retiring for the day.  Its opposite is 早安, which is said as an  expression of greeting after rising from bed.  
The old tradition is 请安三次，roughly 清晨9时一次、下午3时一次、晚上9时一次  (http://baike.baidu.com/view/2003.htm?fromtitle=章炳麟&fromid=1180332&type=search)
早上好 "Good morning"、下午好 "Good afternoon", and 晚上好 "Good evening" seem to be loan translations 外语对译 (http://www.douban.com/note/38032353/).  The  exclamation mark that goes with 早上好 suggests it is not a form  of 问安/问好 (e.g., 「你早上好吗?」 "How are you this morning?").  Rather, it is  请安/祝颂, meaning 祝你早上好 "May you have a good morning!"    That 祝颂 structure (e.g., 新年好, 生日好, 圣诞节好) seems  rather 现代 and 洋化.  If it were parallel to  traditional structures like 江南好, 早上好 would have meant "It is a good morning,  isn't it?", and 对, 真好 "Yep!" would have been a proper response.


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## SuperXW

GemiPiggy said:


> I don't think it's anything to do with "破四旧".
> It's normal that people are fickle with using words. When we are too familiar with one words, we begin to think it's no longer a cool saying and use some word else.
> 
> One example is the word "小姐". It meant prostitute in Song and Yuan dynasty. It meant young, decent ladies in recent age before 1980's. And now it's getting its original meaning now.


I agree with you, that people are fickle with using words. That's what I would call the "internal cause". Still, "external causes" such as political climate are also influential. My theory would explain specific questions such as why some Mainlanders feel 早安 has the 港臺 style.


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## stellari

By the way, if you ask me whether "早安" as a greeting sounds 'pretentious' in daily conversation for Mainlanders, I'd probably say in many cases yes. However, for "新的一天又开始了。早安，可爱的地球；早安，美丽的祖国；早安，辛勤的科研人员!" it is not pretentious at all. This is supposed to be a formal and slightly poetic sentence, where 早安 fits perfectly. As a matter of fact, I'd regard it too colloquial if 早上好 is instead used in the above sentence.


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## xiaolijie

stellari said:


> By the way, if you ask me whether "早安" as a greeting sounds 'pretentious' in daily conversation for Mainlanders, I'd probably say in many cases yes. However, for "新的一天又开始了。早安，可爱的地球；早安，美丽的祖国；早安，辛勤的科研人员!" it is not pretentious at all. This is supposed to be a formal and slightly poetic sentence, where 早安 fits perfectly. As a matter of fact, I'd regard it too colloquial if 早上好 is instead used in the above sentence.



This has reminded me of a short story by the Mainland author 徐坤: "早安，北京"


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## Skatinginbc

旭日东升笑问好: 早晨, 可爱的香港；早安, 美丽的宝岛；早上好, 亲爱的大陆同胞!....Love from Vancouver.


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