fǎlǜ

fǎlǜ (law 法律) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Appendix A2 of the English New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), entitled “Features of This Revision”, discusses vocabulary changes that have been made in the current revision, words that have been translated differently than before. As noted in various entries in the excellent resource Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE), Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwt) correspondingly discusses words that have been translated differently in the current revision of the Mandarin NWT Bible, compared to how they had been translated before.

Since we base what we say in Jehovah’s service on his Word the Bible, the vocabulary used in it—and the way those vocabulary words are translated—should be reflected in how we speak in our ministry, at our meetings, etc. So, it is beneficial for us Mandarin field language-learners to be familiar with the latest thinking from the organization on how Bible terms should be translated into Mandarin.

Legal Reversals

One relatively simple type of change that we should be aware of is that the ordering of the morphemes in some of the words used in previous versions of the Mandarin NWT Bible has become reversed in more modern usage.

Morphemes are the smallest units of language sound with meaning. Morphemes sometimes are words on their own, but not always. For example, “cat” is both a morpheme and a word. However, while the “s” at the end of “cats” is a morpheme (meaning that we are now talking about more than one cat), it is not a word on its own.

Regarding Mandarin morphemes, the introductions of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources point out the following:

In Mandarin, morphemes usually correspond with syllables, but some syllables are sound-only (without meaning) and thus not morphemes, and some morphemes have more than one syllable.

One example of a word that has had its morpheme order reversed in the current revision of the Mandarin NWT Bible is “lǜfǎ (law 律法)”. Now, “fǎlǜ (law 法律)”, this week’s MEotW, is often used instead.—Chū’āijíjì (Chū’·āijí·jì {Going Out from} · Egypt · Record → [Exodus] 出埃及记 出埃及記) 12:49.

As used in both “lǜfǎ (law 律法)” and “fǎlǜ (law 法律)”, “fǎ (law | method; way; mode | standard; model | {magic arts} | {follow; model after} 法)” and “lǜ (law; statute; rule; regulation 律)” both mean “law”, and whichever one is put first, together they also mean “law”. (By the way, when it’s capitalized, “Fǎ (France | French 法)” can mean “France” or “French”. This particular Mandarin morpheme was undoubtedly chosen for this meaning because its pronunciation starts with the sound of an “f”, like “France” does.)

But, Why?

If “lǜfǎ (law 律法)” and “fǎlǜ (law 法律)” both mean basically the same thing, why did the world’s Mandarin-speaking population bother to switch the order of “lǜ (law; statute; rule; regulation 律)” and “fǎ (law | method; way; mode | standard; model | {magic arts} | {follow; model after} 法)” in popular usage? Who knows? Appendix A2 of the Mandarin NWT Bible, probably wisely, does not get into the why of it, just mentioning that “fǎlǜ (law 法律)” is now the more common usage. Even if it turns out that there was a reason, it may not be what most would consider a good reason. Sometimes people are just weird, and, speaking as a Chinese person myself, that includes Chinese people—just look at some of the arbitrary ways in which Chinese characters have been designed, that have turned trying to figure out the pronunciations and meanings of unfamiliar Chinese characters into a guessing game.

Speaking of what’s commonplace or popular and why, I am reminded of this quote from William Goldman, who wrote the screenplay for The Princess Bride as well as the screenplays for several other successful, well-known movies:

Nobody knows anything…Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess

Speaking of The Princess Bride, that movie is a treasure trove of quotable quotes, including this one that serves as a precautionary admonition to us Mandarin language-learners:

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.