Category: Culture

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Culture Current Events Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

jiǎ xiāoxi

jiǎ (false; fake 假 假/叚)
xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news; information] 消息) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the whiteboard animation video “Protect Yourself From Misinformation”. The English and Mandarin versions of this video match the English word “misinformation” with this week’s MEotW, “jiǎ (false; fake 假 假/叚) xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news; information] 消息)”:

Screenshot from the video “Protect Yourself From Misinformation”, 0:32 mark, showing “Misinformation” in the subtitle

Screenshot from the video “消息满天飞，如何辨真假”, 0:32 mark, showing “假消息 (jiǎ xiāoxi)” in the subtitle

[Note: The MEotW post on “shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network])” contains information about how to add unproofread computer-generated Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to the subtitles of Mandarin videos on jw.org in most browsers.]

“Jiǎ (false; fake 假 假/叚) xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news; information] 消息)” can also be translated as “false news”, “false information”, or perhaps even “fake news”, as confirmed by the entry for this expression in the excellent Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) resource.

Disappearing?

“Jiǎ ({[is] false; fake; phony; artificial} | if; supposing; assume; presume | borrow; {avail oneself of} 假 假/叚)” means “false” or “fake”, and “xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news; information] 消息)”, while used to effectively mean “news” or “information”, actually literally means “disappearing news”. Why “disappearing”? Perhaps that is a nod to the fleeting nature of news—relatively quickly, when it’s not new anymore, it’s not news anymore.

The Wiktionary entry for “xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news; information] 消息)” seems to bear this out, as it says:

消息 (xiāoxi) refers to news as in new information; to express the meaning of news as in reports of current events, use 新聞／新闻 (xīnwén).

“Xiāoxi (Xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news; information] 消息)” also appears in the expression “hǎo (good 好) xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news] 消息)”, meaning “good news”, which we use often in the Mandarin field. In fact, “Hǎo (Good 好) Xiāoxi (Xiāo·xi Disappearing · News → [News] 消息)”! is the title of the concluding song for this year’s Mandarin conventions! (English, Mandarin, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) Also, we will say “Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) de (’s 的) hǎo (good 好) xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news] 消息)” when we want to refer to “the good news of the Kingdom”. Of course, while the message of this good news will “disappear” as news when it is not news anymore, the Kingdom itself “will stand forever”!—Daniel 2:44.

Myths and Misinformation About Chinese Characters, Etc.

As Mandarin field language learners, we need to be aware that many myths and much misinformation have been spread about the Chinese languages, especially when it comes to Chinese characters. Indeed, there is so much misinformation about Chinese characters that Victor Mair wrote the following in the foreword of the book Ideogram: Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning, by J. Marshall Unger:

There is probably no subject on earth concerning which more misinformation is purveyed and more misunderstandings circulated than Chinese characters (漢字, Chinese hanzi, Japanese kanji, Korean hanja), or sinograms.

Also, in his book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, John DeFrancis lists the following myths regarding Chinese characters, that many believe:

  • The Ideographic Myth
    • The MEotW post on “Hāmǐjíduōdùn (Armageddon 哈米吉多顿 哈米吉多頓)” contains a discussion of this myth, with some selected excerpts on this subject from DeFrancis’ book.
  • The Universality Myth
  • The Emulatability Myth
  • The Monosyllabic Myth
  • The Indispensability Myth
  • The Successfulness Myth

Regarding these myths, in p. 2–3 of his aforementioned book, J. Marshall Unger provides this summary:

Passing for the moment over the history of how the hunt for the perfect language unfolded, let us jump ahead to the result: the intellectual baggage about Chinese characters that we have inherited from the Renaissance and Enlightenment. John DeFrancis, in his classic book The Chinese Language (1984), sums up that weighty legacy under six headings, and a better summary would be hard to find. The source of all the confusion is what DeFrancis calls the Ideographic Myth, the notion that Chinese characters represent meaning directly, without reference to language (that is, speech) in any way. Its logical extension is the Universality Myth, according to which Chinese script allows for communication between mutually uninteligible dialects and languages. This leads in turn to the Emulatability Myth, which holds that Chinese script can serve as a model for a general system of signs that transcends natural language. These first three myths have little to do with the actual structure or history of the Chinese language or its writing system, in contrast with the remaining three: the Monosyllabic Myth, Indispensability Myth, and Successfulness Myth. Each of these—the names are more or less self-explanatory—makes a strong claim about language and the writing system, claims that have had significant social and political consequences.

At least some of the political consequences referred to above have been deliberate, meaning that at least some of the myths and misinformation spread about Chinese languages and Chinese characters qualify as political propaganda. If we’re not careful, we could end up parroting this political propaganda. (We could also end up parroting worldly human cultural propaganda, which is also a bad thing for people who seek to be no part of the world.) Also, all the difficulties and confusion caused by all the myths and misinformation surrounding Chinese languages and Chinese characters massively hinder the efforts of Mandarin field language learners to stay spiritually strong and to reach the hearts of Mandarin-speakers with Bible truth. This can result in deeply negative spiritual consequences that should be of great concern to us. To complete the sentence quoted from the video mentioned at the beginning of this post:

Misinformation isn’t just inaccurate; it can also be dangerous!

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

gāogē

gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌) ← 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.]

Ah, spring, when thoughts of Mandarin field language learners turn to “Where can I find Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for this year’s convention song?” (Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) available on the official page for the Mandarin version of this song.) I am happy to report that proofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics or better and proofread musical notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics for this year’s convention song are now available at this unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource:

2024 convention song “‘Hǎo Xiāoxi’!” (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

[Note: As with all the other Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources, the above-mentioned Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource is made to be supplementary language-learning material for those learning the Mandarin language to help others in the Mandarin field. For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.]

Singing Like Angels

This week’s MEotW, “gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌)”, comes from the beginning of the Mandarin version of this song:

English:

“Glory in the heights above”—
Good news for all men—

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 “Róngyào (glory 荣耀 榮耀) guī ({belongs to} 归 歸) Zhìgāo (Zhì·gāo Most · High 至高) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)!”
Chénxīng (Chén·xīng {early morning} · stars 晨星) dōu (all 都) gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌).

The first line is taken from Luke 2:13, 14:

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: “Glory in the heights above to God, and on earth peace among men of goodwill.”

The second line in the Mandarin lyrics, which mentions “chénxīng (chén·xīng {early morning} · stars 晨星)”, is undoubtedly an allusion to the current Mandarin New World Translation Bible’s rendering of Job 38:7 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus), which uses this expression (“morning stars” in the English NWT Bible) in connection with the angels:

📖 📄 📘 Dāngshí (Dāng·shí {at that} · {(particular) time} 当时 當時) chénxīng (chén·xīng {early morning} · stars 晨星) yìtóng (yì·tóng {(as) one} · together 一同) huānhū (huān·hū joyously · {cried out} 欢呼 歡呼),
Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) de (’s 的) érzimen (ér·zi·men sons · [suf for nouns] · [pl] 儿子们 兒子們) quándōu (quán·dōu completely · all 全都) hècǎi (hè·cǎi {shouted loudly} · {(in) applause} 喝彩 喝彩/采).

When the earth was founded and when Jesus was born, did the angels sing quietly and timidly, as if hoping no one would hear them? No! As the Mandarin lyrics say, these angels undoubtedly gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sang 高歌), that is, “sang (at) high (volume)”.

Imitating the Angels

How can we imitate the angels when it comes to singing in our worship, even though we are imperfect humans, most of us have not been trained as singers, and many of us don’t feel especially talented at singing? This Watchtower article about our current songbook “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah helps us with this:

Check it out!

Helpful Features

The unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource mentioned above now includes a link to the above-mentioned Watchtower article in the Tips: section at the bottom of its index (starting) page. It has other features as well that are designed to be especially helpful for Mandarin field language learners.

One of these features is that, except for the minority of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus lyrics that have been partially proofread (as indicated by a grey background), most of the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics in this resource (including all of the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics in the musical notation 🎼) have been fully proofread, and furthermore, have been fully proofread from the viewpoint of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) being a full writing system (which it actually is), not just a pronunciation aid. That involves word grouping, capitalization, punctuation, etc.

Also, as shown in the picture near the beginning of this post and as mentioned above, this resource combines fully proofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics with musical notation 🎼. No doubt many will find this material with musical notation helpful, especially when singing songs that are relatively rarely used, and that thus may not yet be familiar. (For those who are not yet familiar with musical notation, there are a couple of links about how to read musical notation in the Tips: section at the bottom of the index (starting) page of the resource.) This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+music material is currently available for most of the songs, and is gradually being completed as time allows.

Some features of this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+music material are:

  • Prezoomed to use full screen width
    • This means that this material will automatically zoom out to make best use of the screen of your mobile device—no fiddling with manual zooming is necessary when the music is starting and you need to be ready to sing soon.
  • Easy-to-read font
    • The font used for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics was specifically chosen because it’s relatively easy to read. This can especially make a difference on smaller mobile devices.
  • Guitar chords included
    • While guitar chords are (generally) not required for singing at meetings, assemblies, etc., they may come in handy at social gatherings, when one is playing guitar and perhaps singing to practise or for pleasure, etc.

Hopefully, features like those above will help you to gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌) like the angels, to sing out joyfully and loudly at Mandarin meetings, conventions, etc., even though you are “just” a Mandarin field language learner.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the “Sing Out Joyfully” 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 “Sing Out Joyfully” book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Names Technology Theocratic

Fēixíng Móshì

Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)]) ← 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. An outstanding feature of this book is its extensive use of the post-paper technology of video, which enables information to be presented much more vividly than could be done with paper. Also, at this time, one of the unique features of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus video transcripts. These can help us Mandarin field language learners to analyze and understand the Mandarin speech used in the many videos referenced in the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book. This in turn can help us make more effective use of these videos while participating in Mandarin Bible discussions using this book.

Airplane Mode—the Video

This week’s MEotW, “Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)])”, occurs in subtitle 51 of the transcript for the video for lesson 11, point 4 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book:

English:

For me personally, then, it’s really helpful when I put my phone in airplane mode so that I can really focus on what I’m reading and nothing can distract me.

Mandarin:

50
00:02:02,401 → 00:02:04,319
📖 📄 📘 suǒyǐ (suǒ·yǐ {that which} · {is the reason} → [so] 所以) wǒ (I 我) yándú (yán·dú {grind → [study]} · read 研读 研讀) de (’s 的) shíhou ({(particular) times} 时候 時候)

51
00:02:04,319 → 00:02:06,947
📖 📄 📘 huì (will 会 會) xiān (first 先) bǎ (hold 把) shǒujī (shǒu·jī hand · machine → [mobile/cellular/portable phone] 手机 手機) tiáodào (tiáo·dào {to be adjusted} · {to arrive at → [to]} 调到 調到) Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)]).

52
00:02:06,947 → 00:02:08,949
📖 📄 📘 Zhèyàng (Zhè·yàng this · {form → [way]} 这样 這樣) jiù ({(I) then} 就) kěyǐ (kě·yǐ can · [suf] 可以) bǎochí (bǎo·chí protect · hold → [keep] 保持) zhuānzhù ({being focused} 专注 專注),

53
00:02:08,949 → 00:02:11,035
📖 📄 📘 bú (not 不) shòu ({being subjected to} 受) dǎrǎo (dǎ·rǎo {striking of → [causing of]} · disturbing 打扰 打擾) de (-ly 地) yándú (yán·dú {grind → [study]} · read 研读 研讀) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) le ([(at the end of a phrase/sentence) indicates a change] 了).

As Apples Support’s web page explains, “You can use Airplane Mode to turn off the wireless features on your device while you’re flying in an airplane.”

The Airplane Mode button in Control Center (iPhone, iOS 17.4.1)

The Airplane Mode button in Control Center (iPhone, iOS 17.4.1)

“Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)])” is indeed the official Mandarin translation of “Airplane Mode” that Apple uses on its China website (USA page, China page). And yes, Android also has an “airplane mode/Airplane mode”. (Its official documentation uses both capitalization styles.) Additionally, “Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)])” is also the official Mandarin translation of “airplane mode/Airplane mode” in the Simplified Chinese version of Google’s official documentation.

“Airplane Mode” Components

In “Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)])”, “fēi (fly | hover; flutter | {flying → [swiftly]} 飞 飛)” means “flying”. “Fēi (fly | hover; flutter | {flying → [swiftly]} 飞 飛)” also appears in “fēijī (fēi·jī flying · machine → [aircraft; airplane] 飞机 飛機)”, which means “airplane”, but which, interestingly, is not used in the Mandarin expression corresponding to “Airplane Mode”. Instead, the expression that is used comes from combining “fēi (fly | hover; flutter | {flying → [swiftly]} 飞 飛)” with “xíng (go; walk; travel [→ [do; perform; carry out; engage in; exercise | be current; prevail; circulate | behaviour; conduct; deeds | [is] alright; [is] acceptable | [is] capable; [is] competent | [is] temporary; [is] makeshift | soon]] 行)”, which in this context means “travelling”. The result is “fēixíng (fēi·xíng flying · going; walking; travelling → [flying | flight] 飞行 飛行)”, which effectively means “flying” or “flight”. So, the Mandarin expression for “Airplane Mode” on a more literal level actually means “Flying Mode”, or “Flight Mode”.

That brings us to “móshì (mó·shì model; pattern; standard · type; style; pattern; form; mode → [model; pattern; schema; mode] 模式)”, which in “Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)])” is used to effectively mean “mode”. The first morpheme in this expression, “mó (pattern; standard; model; example | imitate 模)”, can mean “model”. (In fact, “nánmó (nán·mó male · model 男模)” means “male model”.) The other morpheme, “shì (type; style; pattern; form; formula; mode 式)”, can mean “style” or “mode”.

Airplane Mode Culture

A number of bands have been named after Airplane Mode, including this one that’s steeped in Apple culture in other ways as well, such as most of its members having been involved in Apple ecosystem app development, and this one from Australia that uses the Australian spelling “Aeroplane Mode”. (Interestingly, Apple Support’s Australia page for Airplane Mode uses the spelling “Aeroplane Mode”, while its UK page and Canada page use the American spelling “Airplane Mode”.)

Yes, Airplane Mode, along with mobile devices in general, are now so much a part of modern everyday life and culture that the organization mentioned them in a video about Bible reading. (This occurrence of “Fēixíng Móshì ((Fēi·xíng Flying · Travelling → [Flying] 飞行 飛行) (Mó·shì Model · Mode → [Mode] 模式) → [Airplane Mode (on mobile devices)])” in the Enjoy Life Forever! book material is not the first one in the organization’s published material either—the RTE entry for this expression refers to an occurrence of it in “tv.jw.org 2018-04 46:33-35”.) So, it would be good for us Mandarin field language learners to know how to talk in Mandarin about Airplane Mode and other things related to mobile devices too, even those of us who can still remember when the (emotionally vehement!) view of many was that only Bibles printed on paper were real Bibles!

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.