Ānnà

Ānnà (Anna 安娜) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

I highly, highly enjoyed the character-driven dramatizations in the Saturday sessions of this year’s convention that featured Neeta the Neat Freak and Jade the Jaded Young Person. (They start at about the 19:46 mark of the video for the first Saturday session.) I found them especially well-written, well-acted, etc., resulting in them being very believable, insightful, funny, and moving.

In the corresponding Mandarin videos, Neeta is named “Ānnà (Anna 安娜)”. (You can hear this starting at about the 21:36 mark of this video.)

“Wǒ (I 我) jiào ({am called} 叫 叫/呌) Ānnà (Anna 安娜)”

“Ānnà (Anna 安娜)” obviously does not sound like “Neeta”, so was “Ānnà (Anna 安娜)” instead chosen for the meaning it suggests in Mandarin, similarly to how in English, “Neeta” suggests “neat” and “Jade” suggests “jaded”? Let’s see…

The “Ān ({set (sb.’s mind) at ease; calm} | {rest content; be satisfied} | {place in a suitable position [→ [install; fix; fit; set up]]} | {[is] peaceful; tranquil; safe; secure; in good health} 安)” in “Ānnà (Anna 安娜)” can mean “place in a suitable position”, which indeed suits Neeta the self-professed Neat Freak. It’s the “ān ({set (sb.’s mind) at ease; calm} | {rest content; be satisfied} | {place in a suitable position [→ [install; fix; fit; set up]]} | {[is] peaceful; tranquil; safe; secure; in good health} 安)” in “ānpái (ān·pái {placing in a suitable position} · {arranging; putting in order; sequencing; lining up} → [arranging | arrangement] 安排)”, which means “arrange” or “arrangement”.

The “nà ({[is] elegant; graceful; delicate} (used in female names) 娜)” in “Ānnà (Anna 安娜)” means “elegant; graceful; delicate”. So, while “Ānnà (Anna 安娜)”, like many Chinese names, primarily approximates the pronunciation of its original-language counterpart (“Anna”, that is, not “Neeta”), its components can be taken together to mean “placed (or set up) so as to be elegant, graceful”. Again, this meaning is very fitting in the case of Neeta the Neat Freak. The team that translated these dramatizations into Mandarin certainly did a good, thoughtful job!

Speaking of Anna/Ānnà (Anna 安娜), the Bible tells us of a prophetess named Anna in English, and named Ānnà (Anna 安娜) in Mandarin (the same name as is used for Neeta the Neat Freak). This enduringly faithful prophetess was privileged to see the young child Jesus and bear witness about him.—Luke 2:36–38.

In another convention connection, this Anna/Ānnà (Anna 安娜) was featured in the music-video presentation at the beginning of this year’s convention’s Sunday afternoon session. (For example, see the 8:25 mark of the English/Mandarin video for that session.)

Ānnà (Anna 安娜)