Category: Current Events

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Current Events

bàolì

bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violence | violent] 暴力) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: This blog uses “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus” technology. Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”, tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

Unfortunately, gun violence has been in the news a lot lately. As of this writing, jw.org is featuring the article “Shocking Gun Violence Worldwide—What Does the Bible Say?”. Also, the article “School Shootings—What Does the Bible Say?” was recently featured. The Mandarin versions of both these articles both use the expression “bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violence | violent] 暴力)”, which means “violence” or “violent”.

Usage Examples

Here are some examples of how “bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violence | violent] 暴力)” is used in the above-mentioned articles:

English:

Why is the world becoming more violent?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Wèishénme (Wèi·shén·me for · what · [suf] → [why] 为什么 為什/甚麼) rén (people 人) yuè‐lái‐yuè ((yuè {jumping over} 越) (lái coming 来 來) (yuè {jumping over} 越)) → [more and more]) bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [are violent] 暴力)?

English:

Is there any hope that the violence will end?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Zhèyàng (Zhè·yàng this · kind 这样 這樣) de (’s 的) bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violent] 暴力) shìjiàn (shì·jiàn incidents · [mw] 事件) huì (will 会 會) yǒu (have 有) zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ ending · stopping 终止 終止) de (’s 的) yì (one 一) tiān (sky → [day] 天) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

English:

The Bible promises a time when violence will end.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經)…shuō (says 说 說/説), bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violence] 暴力) huì (will 会 會) yǒu (have 有) zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ ending · stopping 终止 終止) de (’s 的) yì (one 一) tiān (sky → [day] 天).

English:

God will eliminate the root causes of violent acts by teaching people to live in peace.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) huì (will 会 會) jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teach · instruct 教导 教導) rén (people 人) zěnyàng (zěn·yàng what · {form → [way]} → [how] 怎样 怎樣) hémù ({to be harmonious} 和睦)‐xiāngchǔ (xiāng·chǔ {with each other} · {to get along} 相处 相處), cóng (from 从 從) gēnběn (gēn·běn {root (of a plant)} · {root or stem of a plant} → [root] 根本) shang (upon 上) xiāochú (xiāo·chú eliminate · {get rid of} 消除) dǎozhì (dǎo·zhì lead · {to extend to} 导致 導致) bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violence] 暴力) de (’s 的) yuányīn (yuán·yīn origins · causes 原因).

Some Related Mandarin Expressions

Here are some other Mandarin expressions that also include the morpheme “bào ({[sudden] [and] [violent]} [→ [cruel; savage; fierce]] | {stick/stand out}; bulge 暴)”:

  • bàofā (bào·fā exploding; bursting · {sending out}; issuing → [erupting; bursting/breaking out | explosion; eruption] 爆发 爆發) (a past MEotW)
  • bàofāhù (bào·fā·hù exploded; burst · {sent out}; issued · {door → [household; family | person of a certain status]} → [upstart | nouveau riche; newly rich] 爆发户 爆發戶)
  • bàofēng (bào·fēng violent · wind → [storm wind; gale; windstorm; storm] 暴风 暴風)
  • bàoliè (bào·liè violent · intense; fierce 暴烈)
  • bàolóng (bào·lóng {violent → [savage]} · dragon → [Tyrannosaurus species (esp. Tyrannosaurus rex)] 暴龙 暴龍)
  • bàoxíng (bào·xíng {violent [→ [savage]]} · {walking → [doing; deed; act]} → [savage act; outrage; atrocity] 暴行)
  • cánbào (cán·bào {injuring; damaging → [cruel; savage; ferocious]} · violent; brutal 残暴 殘暴)
  • fēngbào (fēng·bào wind · {being violent} → [windstorm; tempest; storm] 风暴 風暴)
  • wǎngbào (wǎng·bào {net → [network] → [Internet]} · {being violent} → [cyberbullying (abbr. for wǎngluò bàolì)] 网暴 網暴)
  • xiōngbào (xiōng·bào {[is] fierce}; {[is] ferocious} · {[is] sudden and violent → [[is] cruel; savage; brutal]} 凶暴 凶/兇暴)
Categories
Current Events History

duòtāi

duòtāi (duò·tāi {letting/making fall} · fetuses/embryos → [[inducing [of]] abortion] 堕胎 墮胎) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

With recent legal developments in the USA, abortion has become a topic of intense discussion. The Mandarin version of a recently featured article on jw.org, “What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?”, contains some Mandarin expressions that are relevant to this topic. Of these, the primary one is of course “duòtāi (duò·tāi {letting/making fall} · fetuses/embryos → [[inducing [of]] abortion] 堕胎 墮胎)”, this week’s MEotW, which corresponds with the English expression “abortion”.

Verb-Object Construction

“Duòtāi (Duò·tāi {letting/making fall} · fetuses/embryos → [[inducing [of]] abortion] 堕胎 墮胎)”, with the verb “duò ({letting/making fall} 堕 墮)” and its object “tāi (fetuses/embryos 胎)”, is an example of a Mandarin expression with verb-object construction.

The ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, edited by John DeFrancis and Victor H. Mair, among others, tells us the following about the entries in it that are marked as having verb-object construction:

V.O. (Verb-Object Construction, Dòng-Bīn Jiégòu 动宾结构).

Many English verbs get translated into natural Chinese as a verb plus an object noun, e.g. chīfàn for ‘eat’, shuōhuà for ‘speak’, etc. It is important for two reasons to know what is merely a verb in Chinese and what is actually a verb-object construction.

First, verb-object constructions can never take a second object, i.e. chīfàn can never be followed directly by something else to be eaten.

Second, a verb and its object can be separated from one another, thus allowing

(i) aspect particles to be placed directly after the verb, e.g. chīle fàn ‘after finishing eating’;

(ii) modification of the object, e.g. chī Zhōngguófàn ‘eat Chinese food’; and (iii) quantification of the noun, e.g. chīle sān wǎn fàn ‘ate three bowls of rice’.

Sounds Like…

In addition to meaning “fetus; embryo”, “tāi (fetus; embryo | tire 胎)” also functions as a loanword that means “tire”, as in “car tire”. This is because of the pure coincidence of how similar “tāi (fetus; embryo | tire 胎)” and “tire” sound. This reminds us that with languages, as modern linguists say, speech is primary and writing is secondary. Thus, because of them sounding similar when spoken, “tire” is translated into Mandarin as “tāi (fetus; embryo | tire 胎)”, instead of as a word written with some Chinese character that looks like a car tire or something like that.

Trivia Showing Something Vital

A brief web search indicates that Norma McCorvey—who, using the pseudonym “Jane Roe”, was the plaintiff in the Roe v. Wade legal case at the centre of the recent controversy—was apparently partly raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even if she was, though, she obviously didn’t continue to live faithfully as one. This reminds us that it’s vitally important for each of us to make the truth our own—our own ongoing decisions and actions are what determine who and what we are, not how we happened to have been raised.

Categories
Current Events

tōnghuò péngzhàng

tōnghuò péngzhàng ((tōng·huò {through(out) → [common]} · goods → [currency] 通货 通貨) (péngzhàng inflating 膨胀 膨脹) → [inflation; rising prices]) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Prices are rising worldwide, with reports pointing to the war in Ukraine being a significant factor. As of this writing, jw.org is featuring the article “Soaring Worldwide Inflation—What Does the Bible Say?”. The Mandarin version of this article uses the expression “tōnghuò péngzhàng ((tōng·huò {through(out) → [common]} · goods → [currency] 通货 通貨) (péngzhàng inflating 膨胀 膨脹) → [inflation])”, this week’s MEotW, to correspond with the English expression “inflation”. (“Quánqiú (Quán·qiú whole · globe → [worldwide] 全球) tōnghuò péngzhàng ((tōng·huò {through(out) → [common]} · goods → [currency] 通货 通貨) (péngzhàng inflating 膨胀 膨脹) → [inflation])” is used to specifically correspond with “worldwide inflation”.)

Deflating “Inflation”

If you find “tōnghuò péngzhàng ((tōng·huò {through(out) → [common]} · goods → [currency] 通货 通貨) (péngzhàng inflating 膨胀 膨脹) → [inflation])” to be a bit of a mouthful, then you may be pleased to know that there is an abbreviation for this in the form of the expression “tōngzhàng (tōng·zhàng {through(out) → [common] (abbr. for tōnghuò)} · {inflating (abbr. for péngzhàng)} → [inflation (abbr. for tōnghuò péngzhàng)] 通胀 通脹)”.

Another example of a Mandarin expression that is an abbreviation is “xīnguān (xīn·guān new · {hat → [corona]} → [novel coronavirus (esp. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19) (abbr. for xīnxíng guānzhuàng bìngdú)] 新冠)” (a previous MEotW), which is an abbreviation for the mouthful that is “xīnxíng guānzhuàng bìngdú ((xīn·xíng new · {mould → [type]} 新型) (guān·zhuàng {hat → [corona]} · shape 冠状 冠狀) (bìng·dú disease · poison → [virus] 病毒) → [novel coronavirus (esp. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19)])”.

Through It All…

Interestingly, the “tōng ({[(going)] through[(out)]; open [to]} [→ [common; general | connecting/communicating [to/with] [→ [logical; coherent]]]] 通)” in “tōnghuò péngzhàng ((tōng·huò {through(out) → [common]} · goods → [currency] 通货 通貨) (péngzhàng inflating 膨胀 膨脹) → [inflation; rising prices])” appears in several expressions that at first glance may not seem to be related, for example:

  • tōngguò (tōng·guò through · passing → [passing through] → [through] 通过 通過)
  • pǔtōng (pǔ·tōng common; general; universal; widespread · {through(out) → [general; common]} → [ordinary; common; average; general] 普通)
  • pǔtōnghuà (pǔ·tōng·huà common; universal · {through(out) → [common]} · speech → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)] 普通话 普通話)
  • gōutōng (gōu·tōng {(through) channel} · {(going) through → [communicating]} → [communicating; communication | linking up] 沟通 溝通)
  • tōnglíng (tōng·líng {(going) through to → [communicating/connecting with]} · spirits → [engaging in spiritism | spiritism] 通灵 通靈)