# 苞谷/包谷 (corn/maize)



## indigoduck

Hi all,
Since i was young, i've referred to corn as "bao gu".  I was introduced to the term 玉米 because not everybody understands what is "bao gu" after experiencing "Chicken and Duck" conversations.

Now, i'm curious.  What dialect am i speaking when i say "bao gu" to refer to what most people call 玉米 or in cantonese "粟米" ?

For everyone who understands what "bao gu" means, please tell me where you are from.  Is it used in one place or several places in particular ?

How to write "bao gu" in chinese characters ?

Thanks in advance.


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## graceren

Hi, in the northeast, we call it "bao mi 苞米". But we never "bao gu". 

在广东以白话为主地区（包括深圳宝安区）中的‘粟米’指的就是玉米。 Refer to this: http://baike.baidu.com/view/101392.htm


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## Ghabi

Not sure if it's realated, but in Cantonese "popcorn"  爆米花 is known as 爆谷 paau3guk1. We only use it for the snack, not as a general name for the crop.


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## indigoduck

graceren said:


> Hi, in the eastnorth, we call it "bao mi 苞米". But we never "bao gu".
> 
> 在广东以白话为主地区（包括深圳宝安区）中的‘粟米’指的就是玉米。 Refer to this: http://baike.baidu.com/view/101392.htm


 
In the eastnorth, 苞米 = 玉米 or 爆米花 ?

Haha, "eastnorth" (northeast) is 东北 like 黑龙江/辽宁/吉林 ?  Or that is too north ?


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## henrychai

indigoduck said:


> In the eastnorth, 苞米 = 玉米 or 爆米花 ?
> 
> Haha, "eastnorth" (northeast) is 东北 like 黑龙江/辽宁/吉林 ?  Or that is too north ?


苞米 = 玉米。我是南方人，称为玉米。
爆米花是老外发明的。 比起苞米和玉米这两个词，爆米花出现的晚太多了。
东北就是，吉林，辽宁，黑龙江。我们的通常说的东三省。


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## townmouse

在中国的西北地区，用包谷来表示玉米。
玉米 或者 南方说的 珍珠米
都是文人 或者 高雅一些的说法
包谷 就是指 这种 作物（谷）外面有一层东西包着


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## indigoduck

townmouse said:


> 在中国的西北地区，用包谷来表示玉米。
> 玉米 或者 南方说的 珍珠米
> 都是文人 或者 高雅一些的说法
> 包谷 就是指 这种 作物（谷）外面有一层东西包着


 
作物 = 谷 ?


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## altuntun

In Sichuan we call it Bao gu or Yu mi, es igual


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## BODYholic

indigoduck said:


> 作物 = 谷 ?


Yes, as in 五谷杂粮. http://baike.baidu.com/view/431.htm

Of course, 谷 also means, among other definitions, 'valley/ravine'.


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## townmouse

indigoduck said:


> 作物 = 谷 ?


 
这样画等号没有意义。
现代汉语已经很少用一个字来表示一个东西了。


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## viajero_canjeado

townmouse said:


> 这样画等号没有意义。
> 现代汉语已经很少用一个字来表示一个东西了。



好像還剩下一些囉: 雲, 水, 火, 霧, 神, 紙, 風, 臉, 笑, 腰, 腳, 手, 山. 不包含該使用"子"或量詞的字(魚, 筆, 狗, 椅).


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## donnamatch

“谷（繁體：穀）”應該說是像麥子、稻米、高粱、玉米這樣，主要價值在其種子的作物（crop），也指該作物的種子本身。


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## angelammo

爆米花 = pop corn. it is invent of Ancient Chinese.lol


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## name my name

I am from central china.As I know ,most people who are living by the changjiang river,especially those who are living in villiages,call corn as baogu.But most people in cities call it yumi,though  they know it can be also called baogu.That is to say,yumi seems to be sounded more elegant.


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## irenebell

corn =玉米=包谷, it is 谷, not毂. so i think you might judge from the Chinese character that usually in Northern part of China, prople would say Baogu. Generally, you can regard Long River as a divisiion.


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## samanthalee

irenebell said:


> corn =玉米=包谷, it is 谷, not毂.


Irenebell is not entirely right, but not totally wrong. Using 繁体字, 毂 refers to "grains/kernels", while 谷 refers to "valley". But in 简体字, 谷 becomes the simplified form of 毂, and hence it refers to both "kernels" and "valley". (It confuses learners to think "kernels" = "valley", but it's so much simpler to write. )


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## viajero_canjeado

samanthalee said:


> Using 繁体字, 毂 refers to "grains/kernels"



Maybe I'm getting mixed up here, but it seems you've written 轂 when it should be 穀 (there's a 禾 at the bottom instead of a 車, which makes more sense when you think about grain).


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## Ghabi

Just a copy-and-paste error, I believe. Yes,  轂 is related to car, as in 《老子》第十一章:"三十輻,共一轂,當其無,有車之用". By the way, in classical Chinese 谷 is also used for _gu3_ "corns", not only _gu3_ "valley". 《老子》第六章:"谷神不死,是謂玄牝". There're two traditional interpretations for 谷神, namely the "deity of corns (=reproduction)" and the "deity of valley (=nothingness)".


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## Silver

I use "包谷" to talk to my grandparents if I meet them, put simply, if I am talking to someone who is from Sichuan province and we usually say "包谷" to mean corn. Interestingly, "包谷" has a very funny pronunciation in Sichuan dialect.


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## samanthalee

viajero_canjeado said:


> Maybe I'm getting mixed up here, but it seems you've written 轂 when it should be 穀 (there's a 禾 at the bottom instead of a 車, which makes more sense when you think about grain).





Ghabi said:


> Just a copy-and-paste error, I believe. Yes,  轂 is related to car, as in 《老子》第十一章:"三十輻,共一轂,當其無,有車之用". By the way, in classical Chinese 谷 is also used for _gu3_ "corns", not only _gu3_  "valley". 《老子》第六章:"谷神不死,是謂玄牝". There're two traditional interpretations  for 谷神, namely the "deity of corns (=reproduction)" and the "deity of  valley (=nothingness)".



Thank you, Ghabi.  And thank you viaero_canjeado for pointing out my mistake.  I am aghast. My excuse is that I was using a netbook. (a 10" screen is definitely not for reading Traditional Chinese Characters )


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## sesame_fr

indigoduck said:


> Hi all,
> Since i was young, i've referred to corn as "bao gu". I was introduced to the term 玉米 because not everybody understands what is "bao gu" after experiencing "Chicken and Duck" conversations.
> 
> Now, i'm curious. What dialect am i speaking when i say "bao gu" to refer to what most people call 玉米 or in cantonese "粟米" ?
> 
> For everyone who understands what "bao gu" means, please tell me where you are from. Is it used in one place or several places in particular ?
> 
> How to write "bao gu" in chinese characters ?
> 
> Thanks in advance.


 
I am in the province Shandong of China, north of China. In the west region of the province, we say 玉米棒子（yu mi bang zi）、棒槌子（bang chui zi）in the dialect, but in the  east of the region, such as Qingdao city, they call it 苞米（bao mi）。But in the mandarin we say 玉米。


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## 猫抱王子

We call corn "bao gu" （包谷）in my hometown. I am from Hunan province. Northwest of Hunan. Many minorities there.


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## Youngfun

In my dialect the whole corn（玉米棒）is called 包萝 (don't know how to represent in writing) and the grains（玉米粒）are called 玉米


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## lovetide

“玉米”在俺们山东是叫做“棒子”的。
“yù mǐ” is called "bàng zǐ" in ShanDong province.


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## Youngfun

lovetide said:


> “玉米”在俺们山东是叫做“棒子”的。



在WR论坛里，我们可以讨论方言词汇，但是最好别用方言字表达


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