yǔjìng

yǔjìng (yǔ·jìng language · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} → [context] 语境 語境) ← 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 (nwtsty) 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.

It Depends…

While discussing how the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) translates the Hebrew word shālóng (sha·lohmʹ 沙隆) and the Greek word yīléinèi (ei·reʹne 伊雷内 伊雷內) (which are translated as “peace” in the English New World Translation Bible), Appendix A2 of this current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) explains that different Mandarin expressions may be used, depending on the “yǔjìng (yǔ·jìng language · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place] → [situation]} → [context] 语境 語境)”, this week’s MEotW.

“Yǔjìng (Yǔ·jìng language · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place] → [situation]} → [context] 语境 語境)” means “context”. For reference, another Mandarin word that means “context”, and that is fairly well-known, is “shàngxià wén ((shàng·xià {above → [preceding]} · {below → [following]} 上下) (wén writing 文) → [(textual) context])”.

The context must be taken into consideration when translating shālóng (sha·lohmʹ 沙隆) and yīléinèi (ei·reʹne 伊雷内 伊雷內) because these words can have broad and varied meanings. The entry in the English Insight on the Scriptures on “Peace” explains:

Sha·lohmʹ, the Hebrew word rendered “peace,” refers to the state of being free from war or disturbance (Jg 4:17; 1Sa 7:14; 1Ki 4:24; 2Ch 15:5; Job 21:9; Ec 3:8); it can convey the idea of health, safety, soundness (Ge 37:14, ftn), welfare (Ge 41:16), friendship (Ps 41:9), and entirety or completeness (Jer 13:19). The Greek word for peace (ei·reʹne) has taken on the same broad connotations as the Hebrew word sha·lohmʹ and may express the ideas of well-being, salvation, and concord, in addition to the absence of conflict. It occurs in the farewell exclamation “go in peace,” which somewhat corresponds to the expression ‘may it go well with you.’​—Mr 5:34; Lu 7:50; 8:48; Jas 2:16; compare 1Sa 1:17; 20:42; 25:35; 29:7; 2Sa 15:9; 2Ki 5:19.

Since “peace” is not always the exact equivalent for the original-language words, the context must be taken into consideration to determine what is meant.

The Insight book entry quoted above goes on to list how the English word “peace” is used to mean different things in different contexts in different scriptures in the English New World Translation Bible. It’s interesting to compare this to how Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) mentions that a few different Mandarin words may be used to translate shālóng (sha·lohmʹ 沙隆) and yīléinèi (ei·reʹne 伊雷内 伊雷內), depending on the “yǔjìng (yǔ·jìng language · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place] → [situation]} → [context] 语境 語境)”, the context.

Context and Mandarin Writing Systems

Research into the importance of context turned up a couple of interesting sayings from the business world:

Content is king.
—Bill Gates

Content is king, but context is God.
—Gary Vaynerchuk

Mandarin field language-learners may hear the assertion from Chinese culture traditionalists that it is necessary to use Chinese characters to clarify the ambiguity that results from Mandarin having so many homophones, words that sound the same but that have different meanings. The insinuation, or even the outright accusation, is that the upstart Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) system is thus unusable as a writing system for Mandarin, that the Chinese characters writing system is still the rightful king. Besides, there is so much existing content written in Chinese characters, and content is king!

However, a little consideration of the yǔjìng (yǔ·jìng language · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place] → [situation]} → [context] 语境 語境), the language situation or context, shows up the fallacy of this assertion. The Chinese characters writing system exists along with Mandarin speech, and if Chinese characters are truly required to clearly communicate meaning in Mandarin, then that would mean that Mandarin speech on its own, without the help of visible characters, is unusable as a means of communication. That, however, is obviously not true—people who are proficient in spoken Mandarin communicate clearly with each other all the time, undoubtedly pretty much as clearly as proficient English speakers communicate with each other.

The key reason why proficient Mandarin speakers can communicate clearly with each other despite all of the homophones in Mandarin is not that they are constantly referring to Chinese characters, although people do occasionally do that in the current characters-saturated cultural climate. No, the key reason why Mandarin-speakers routinely communicate clearly with each other is because they use sufficient context to clarify any potentially ambiguous homophones. And, since Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a simple and direct representation of Mandarin speech, anything that is understandable when spoken in Mandarin is understandable when written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音).—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

So, while Chinese characters-based content may be so predominant in the Chinese world that it’s king there, context is God, relatively and metaphorically speaking, and Mandarin speech and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) rightly rely on context, not on Chinese characters, just like we rightly rely on God, not on merely human kings.