ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”
[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]
One of the publications that is now recommended to be used on Bible studies is the Yǒngyuǎn Xiǎngshòu Měihǎo de Shēngmìng—Hùdòng Shì Shèngjīng Kèchéng ((Yǒng·yuǎn Eternally · {Far (in Time)} 永远 永遠) (Xiǎng·shòu Enjoy · Receive 享受) (Měi·hǎo Beautiful · Good 美好) (de ’s 的) (Shēngmìng Life 生命)—(Hù·dòng {Each Other} · Moving → [Interactive] 互动 互動) (Shì (Type 式) (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) (Kè·chéng Lessons · Procedure → [Course] 课程 課程) → [Enjoy Life Forever!—An Interactive Bible Course (lff)]) (Enjoy Life Forever! (lff)) book. This week’s MEotW, “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)”, appears in the first paragraph of lesson 6 of this book:
Some people think that life came from random, undirected events. If that is true, then we exist only because of an accident.
Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):
📖 📄 📘 Yǒuxiē (Yǒu·xiē {(there) are having → [(there) are]} · some 有些) rén (people 人) rènwéi (rèn·wéi identifying · {(it) to be} 认为 認為), shēngmìng (life 生命) shì (was 是) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {given birth to → [produced]} · {given birth to → [caused to exist]} → [brought into being] 产生 產生) de ({’s (thing)} 的). Rúguǒ (Rú·guǒ if · {fruit → [if indeed]} 如果) zhè (this 这 這) shì (is 是) zhēn (true 真) de ({’s (thing)} 的), wǒmen de ((wǒ·men us · [pl] 我们 我們) (de ’s 的) → [our]) cúnzài (cún·zài existing · {being present} 存在) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · is 就是) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) ǒurán (ǒu·rán {by accident} · so (thing) → [accident] 偶然).
Idols, Accidents, and Implications
Interestingly, the first morpheme in “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” is also the first morpheme in “ǒuxiàng (ǒu·xiàng idol · {(instance of) being like → [image]} 偶像)”, where it means “idol”. However, in “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)”, it has an apparently unrelated meaning of “by chance” or “by accident”.
The second morpheme in “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” means “so” or “like that”, and it can act like “-ly” in English, marking adverbs. Usually, then, “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” means “by chance”, “accidental”, or “accidentally”. It can also mean “occasionally” or “incidentally”. Thus, according to dictionaries, this expression is a stative verb, an adjective, or an adverb.
In the example from the Enjoy Life Forever! book shown above, though, “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” is used as a noun. In such cases, there’s an implied “thing/event/etc.” after this expression’s morphemes’ literal meanings of “by accident so”. This works out to “by accident so (thing)”, or “accident”. In cases like this, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material puts the implied words in parentheses.
A Meaningless Accident?
Was it just an accident that life came to exist? That would be the case if the claims of evolutionists are correct. Yes, spiritually, that emptiness and meaninglessness are all that evolution has to offer. In stark contrast, the Bible’s creation account speaks of an origin springing from loving intention. As the Enjoy Life Forever! book goes on to say after the passage quoted above:
If Jehovah God created life, it would have a purpose, would it not?
In this world that is desperately looking around for meaning from outside itself from things like artificial general intelligence and artificial superintelligence, aliens, etc., we Mandarin field language learners have the privilege of sharing a positive, heartening, evidence-based message with the Mandarin-speaking people we meet: The Divine Superintelligence who created the universe created us too, he loves us, and he has a wonderful future in store for us!—Jeremiah 29:11.
For convenience:
The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:
The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:
More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.