È’ěr+ (El 厄尔 厄爾)‐Nínuò+ (Niño 尼诺 尼諾) 👈🏼 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 + Symbols re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]
At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the article with the following title:
Experts Warn of Super El Niño
📖 📄 ➕ Chāojí (Chāo·jí {Jumping/Leaping Over → [Surpassing]} · Level → [Super] 超级 超級) È’ěr (El 厄尔 厄爾)‐Nínuò (Niño 尼诺 尼諾) Láixí+ (Lái·xí {Is Coming} · {to Attack} → [(of a Storm/Etc.) Is Striking] 来袭 來襲)! Zhuānjiā (Zhuān·jiā Specialized · -ists → [Experts] 专家 專家) Fāchū (Fā·chū Issue · Out 发出 發出) Jǐnggào (Jǐng·gào Warning · Declaring → [Warning] 警告)!
As can be seen above, the Mandarin expression corresponding to the originally Spanish expression “El Niño” is this week’s MEotW, “È’ěr (El 厄尔 厄爾)‐Nínuò (Niño 尼诺 尼諾)”. Obviously, the Mandarin syllables in this expression were chosen because of how much they sound like “El Niño”, not because of the meanings of the supposedly ideographic Chinese characters used to write them out (“Strategic Place/Adversity” “You” “Buddhist Nun” “Promise”??? 🤷🏻).
As the MEotW post about “Hāmǐjíduōdùn (Armageddon 哈米吉多顿 哈米吉多頓)” says:
This emphasizes to us that when it comes to human language, SPEECH is primary—SOUNDS are the primary medium for transmitting meaning, and a writing system that transmits meaning purely with its visual symbols, without any dependency on speech sounds, is not a thing. However, this erroneous concept is so prevalent that there’s a name for it: The Ideographic Myth.
Check out the rest of that MEotW post for a more in-depth discussion about the Ideographic Myth and the linguistic idolatry that it can lead to.
Talking About El Niño in Mandarin
Getting back to El Niño, here are some English and Mandarin excerpts from the above-mentioned article, that we may want to adapt for use in the Mandarin territory:
English:
El Niño is a natural weather phenomenon that occurs every few years. It is caused by unusually warm Pacific Ocean waters, which disrupt weather conditions worldwide.
Mandarin:
📖 📄 ➕ È’ěr ((the) El 厄尔 厄爾)‐Nínuò (Niño 尼诺 尼諾) xiànxiàng+ (xiàn·xiàng appearing · appearance → [phenomenon] 现象 現象) (Shèngyīng (Shèng·yīng Holy · Infant → [the El Niño] 圣婴 聖嬰) xiànxiàng (xiàn·xiàng appearing · appearance → [phenomenon] 现象 現象)) shì (is 是) yì (one 一) zhǒng ({type of} 种 種/种) měi (every 每) jǐ (few 几 幾) nián (years 年 年/秊) jiù (then 就) huì (will 会 會) fāshēng (fā·shēng {issue forth} · {come to life} → [happen] 发生 發生) de (’s 的) zìrán (zì·rán naturally · so → [natural] 自然) qìhòu+ (qì·hòu {air → [weather]} · conditions → [climate] 气候 氣候) xiànxiàng (xiàn·xiàng appearing · appearance → [phenomenon] 现象 現象). Tā (it 它) shì (is 是) yóuyú (yóu·yú {because of} · by 由于 由於) Tàipíng (Tài·píng Supremely · {Flat, Level, Even → [Peaceful]} → [Pacific] 太平) Yáng (Ocean 洋) hǎishuǐ (hǎi·shuǐ sea·waters 海水) yìcháng+ (yì·cháng {differently from} · normally → [unusually] 异常 異常) shēngwēn (shēng·wēn {rising in} · {being warm → [temperature]} 升温 升溫) zàochéng (zào·chéng made · {to come to be} 造成) de ({’s (phenomenon)} 的), huì ((it) will 会 會) yǐngxiǎng (yǐng·xiǎng reflection · sound → [affect] 影响 影響) quánqiú (quán·qiú entire · globe 全球) de (’s 的) qìhòu (qì·hòu {air → [weather]} · conditions → [climate] 气候 氣候).
English:
El Niño events in the past have led to intense storms, flooding, severe droughts, and wildfires that result from abnormally dry conditions.
Mandarin:
📖 📄 ➕ È’ěr ((the) El 厄尔 厄爾)‐Nínuò (Niño 尼诺 尼諾) xiànxiàng (xiàn·xiàng appearing · appearance → [phenomenon] 现象 現象) zài (in 在) guòqù (guò·qù past · gone (times) 过去 過去) céng (has 曾) dǎozhì (dǎo·zhì lead · {to extending to} 导致 導致) qìhòu (qì·hòu {air → [weather]} · conditions → [the climate] 气候 氣候) yìcháng (yì·cháng {being different from} · normal 异常 異常), yǐnfā (yǐn·fā {drawing (out)} · {to send out} → [leading to] 引发 引發) xǔduō (xǔ·duō numbers · many 许多 許多) tiānzāi+ (tiān·zāi {(from) heaven → [natural]} · disasters 天灾 天災), bǐrú (bǐ·rú {compared to} · {for example} 比如) mǒuxiē (mǒu·xiē some · {indefinite number of} → [some] 某些) dìfang (dì·fang {(sections of) earth → [places]} · {directions → [places]} → [places] 地方) yìcháng (yì·cháng {differently from} · normally → [abnormally] 异常 異常) gānhàn+ (gān·hàn {being dry} · {(having) drought} 干旱 乾旱), jiéguǒ (jié·guǒ {tied (into a knot) → [formed]} · fruit → [as a result] 结果 結果) fāshēng (fā·shēng {having issue forth} · {having come to life} → [having happen] 发生 發生) sēnlín (sēn·lín {multitudinous → [full of trees]} · forest → [forest] 森林) dàhuǒ (dà·huǒ big · fires → [wildfires] 大火) hé ({(together) with} → [and] 和 和/龢) yánzhòng (yán·zhòng {tight → [severe]} · {heavy → [serious]} → [severe] 严重 嚴重) hànzāi+ (hàn·zāi drought · disasters → [droughts] 旱灾 旱災); zài (in 在) lìng (other 另) yìxiē (yì·xiē one · {indefinite number of} → [some] 一些) dìfang (dì·fang {(sections of) earth → [places]} · {directions → [places]} → [places] 地方) zé ((it) {in contrast} 则 則) yǐnfā (yǐn·fā {has drawn (out)} · {to send out} → [has lead to] 引发 引發) qiángliè (qiáng·liè powerful · intense 强烈 強烈) fēngbào (fēng·bào wind · {(times) being violent} → [storms] 风暴 風暴) hé ({(together) with} → [and] 和 和/龢) hóngzāi+ (hóng·zāi flood · disasters → [floods] 洪灾 洪災).