Category: Experiences

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Culture Experiences History Language Learning Science

yīnwei

yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This week’s MEotW, “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, was discussed in a podcast episode that I listened to recently. Here’s a clip from it, with the part in which this expression was discussed:

Here’s a transcript of this video clip:

David: You’re a good sport. Thank you for doing this. So you are a native speaker. This question is very important because if you pronounce a character with the wrong tone, you can be fined as much as 50 kuài (pieces → [mw for Renminbi] 块 塊) at CCTV if you’re an announcer. So what I want you to do is just very slowly pronounce for us the word that in Chinese would be the equivalent of “because”.

Yajun: “Yīnwéi (Yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

David: Say again?

Yajun: “Yīnwéi (Yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

David: So I hear that the “wéi (… 为 為/爲)” is second tone. Is that right?

Yajun: Yeah…

David: That’s Northern Mandarin. That’s also Běijīng (Běi·jīng North · {Country Capital} → [Beijing] 北京)‐huà (speech 话 話). [With] the actual pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]) citation version of that word, in 90% of the dictionaries that you will see, the second character is pronounced with fourth tone, as “yīnwèi (yīn·wèi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

Yajun: Sure…?

David: Yeah, well if you ask most Chinese, they’re very unsure about it, just like you.

Yajun: I was quite sure it’s “yīnwéi (yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, something like that. Now I’m not so sure…and I don’t want to lose 50 kuài (pieces → [mw for Renminbi] 块 塊).

David: Don’t worry, there are many examples like that and you are not actually wrong. This is an artificial standard that has been imposed and actually, few people, or, not everyone, actually follows it.

By the way, the David Moser speaking in the above clip is indeed the same one who wrote the relatively well-known essay “Why Chinese Is So D- Hard”, which has given many people a lot to think about regarding how Chinese characters make learning Mandarin much harder than it otherwise would be. (I’m not providing a link to this essay because the full title and an example used in the text are a bit less than family-friendly. However, for anyone who’s interested, here is a link to a family-friendly version of this essay that’s been translated into Mandarin and written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音).)

Getting back to “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, there’s also a relatively detailed entry on this expression in the excellent Referenced Theo. Expressions resource.

Dealing With Different Right Pronunciations

The different pronunciations of “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)” are an example showing us that, while they have a lot of overlap, pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]), Northern Mandarin and Beijing Mandarin, and, for that matter, the Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語) spoken in Taiwan are not exactly the same. (More information on how pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]) has been artificially constructed from various parts and promoted to be a national standard can be found in David Moser’s book “A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language”.)

So, when we get to a word like “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, which pronunciation should we say it with? Well, considering that the basic principle regarding why language groups and congregations even exist is that Bible truth best reaches a person’s heart in that person’s mother tongue, the logical conclusion is that we should try, as much as we are reasonably able to, to use whichever pronunciation is used by whomever we are talking to. The apostle Paul said “to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to gain Jews”, so we should similarly seek to become as the Mandarin-speaking people we meet in the ministry. (1 Corinthians 9:20) And since tones are an essential part of Mandarin pronunciation, that would include trying to use whichever tone is used by whomever we are talking to.

That may be relatively straightforward—although it may not be easy—when speaking to an individual, but when speaking to a large, mixed audience, perhaps at a meeting or even a convention, we will have to use good judgement to try to speak so as to be understood without distraction by the majority of the audience. It helps, then, to know the audience.

The Accents of Network News Announcers

Speaking of the audience, the clip above mentions that CCTV announcers are required to speak in a particular standard way, and that they are actually fined when they deviate from this standard. CCTV (China Central Television) is the national television broadcaster of China (which, naturally in China, is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party), and as such, has an audience that includes all of mainland China, with all its various languages, dialects, and accents. As we can see, those calling the shots at CCTV, and indeed, in China in general, have decided to approach this situation by seeking to impose and promote a standard way of speaking, from the top down.

American network news announcers face a sort-of similar challenge—while English is understood throughout the USA, people in different parts of the USA have come to speak with different regional accents.

The article “Why Do So Many News Anchors Sound Alike?”, on the Mental Floss website, says the following about how American news announcers have historically approached this situation:

No matter which channel you tune into or what local broadcast you receive, news anchors share one common trait beyond professional attire and perfect hair. They tend to sound exactly the same, from their cadence to enunciation to a completely curious lack of a regional accent. How does that happen?

Broadcasters didn’t always sound so geographically neutral. In the early part of the 20th century, many radio personalities and performers adopted what was known as a Mid-Atlantic accent, or a blend of mannered British and the East Coast dialect of the United States. This polished, proper method of speaking was popular in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and on radio because it signaled some kind of upper-class education and erudition. Thanks to America’s infatuation with England, sounding even vaguely British made people sound intelligent. Pundits like William F. Buckley Jr. carried the Mid-Atlantic torch even as it fell out of favor in entertainment.

The more contemporary practice of sounding linguistically neutral is often referred to as having a General American accent—which is a bit misleading, since there’s really not much of an accent at all. Also referred to as Standard American, Broadcast English, or Network English, General American was a term first used in the 1920s and ’30s by linguists who wanted to isolate a more widespread accent than the New England or Southern dialects.

Balancing Authenticity with Avoiding Distraction

A relatively recent Business Insider article points out, though, that what American people expect of their media personalities has evolved over time:

“There is something called a broadcast news type voice,” Brice told Insider. “And I really try to coach people to not have that voice. In fact, I coach routinely people to sound more like themselves. People try to emulate other anchors and reporters, and in my opinion, it gets them in trouble.”

…

“We’ve definitely evolved, just as the news industry has evolved, into a different mindset,” Cairns told Insider, adding that listeners now look for signs of authenticity from their media personalities. “With people being flooded with content, their expectations have changed. People don’t want the typical woman with the big head of hair and the perfect voice, looking a certain way.”

Instead of trying to eliminate regional accents like Fleming’s Boston pronunciations [heard in the post embedded above], Cairns told Insider, speakers who speak with accents should focus only on making sure their speech patterns aren’t distracting from what they’re trying to say.

“It’s just like your hairstyle—you have your own voice style.” Cairns told Insider. “Use it. It’s part of what identifies you. Just don’t let it distract from the message.”

Considering the above and coming back to the Mandarin field, we can see that when speaking to Mandarin-speaking people in the field, there are at least three ways of speaking that we need to mentally juggle:

  • The way we ouselves normally speak Mandarin
  • Modern Standard Mandarin/pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)])/Taiwanese Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語)
  • The kind of Mandarin best understood by whomever we are speaking to

In the Mandarin field, we want to speak authentically, sincerely, in a way that other people can tell is coming from our hearts, while avoiding speaking in a way that is so different from what others expect that it distracts from our God-honouring and life-saving message—it’s a balancing act, that may involve juggling! The standard forms of Mandarin that have been promoted by governments, widely broadcast in the media, etc. may heavily influence people’s expectations of the kind of Mandarin we speak, but different situations may require different approaches. So, we should do our best to adapt accordingly, so as to speak in the way that best helps others and glorifies, not any human entity, but rather, our great God Jehovah.

Note: Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is aimed at and made available to the worldwide Mandarin field, and so as far as possible, it is based on how most people seem to actually speak pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]), the artificial standard mentioned in the clip at the beginning of this post, that is the standard language promoted in mainland China, where about 95% of the world’s Chinese people are. (As Mr. Moser pointed out in the clip, people don’t always follow the pronunciations found in many dictionaries. E.g., many seem to use more neutral tones than many dictionaries indicate.) Since Taiwan is also a relatively big presence in the Mandarin-speaking world, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material also contains notes indicating when Taiwan Mandarin has different pronunciations. (Offhand, the only Mandarin dictionary mentions that I can recall that refer to Northern or Beijing pronunciations involve the “r” ({child | youth | son} → [(diminutive) non-syllabic retroflex suffix; pronunciation feature in Beijing dialect] 儿 兒) that Beijingers add to the ends of many words. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material includes notes about this.)

Categories
Culture Experiences History Language Learning Names Science Theocratic

Gēlìyà

Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

Goliath, By the Sound of It

This week’s MEotW, “Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)”, is the Mandarin version of the name “Goliath”. It is used in Lesson 40 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book, which is entitled “Dàwèi (David 大卫 大衛) Yǒngzhàn (Yǒng·zhàn Bravely · Fights 勇战 勇戰) Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)” (“David and Goliath”).

It is apparent that “Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)” was chosen to represent “Goliath” in Mandarin because of what it sounds like, not because of the meanings of the supposedly ideographic (representing meaning directly through visible symbols, bypassing speech) Chinese characters used to write it out (“Song Profit Inferior”??? 🤷🏻).

A Cultural Goliath in the Chinese World

In this world ruled by Satan, Chinese characters loom large in people’s minds, like a cultural and traditional Goliath. To Jehovah God, though, the Creator and Sovereign of the entire universe, Goliath was small and insignificant back in David’s time, and Chinese characters are small and insignificant today. Indeed, even though Chinese characters have been around for millenia and are the oldest writing system still in use among humans, to Jehovah, to whom ‘a thousand years is as one day’, characters have only been around for a few days!—2 Peter 3:8.

Don’t Submit to Goliath—Trust in Jehovah!

It may seem like we have no choice but to submit to Chinese characters, these seemingly mighty symbols of worldly Chinese culture, and give them the egregious amounts of time, energy, and devotion they demand. However, for us dedicated ones, our time, energy, and devotion belong to Jehovah, so we should spend them carefully, in ways that are worthwhile with regard to our efforts to glorify Jehovah and accomplish the urgent, life-saving work he has assigned to us.

Chinese characters are a ball and chain made of human tradition.

Back in David’s time, it may have seemed to the Israelites facing Goliath that they had no option but to become slaves to the Philistines, because who could defeat the mighty Goliath? However, rather than being intimidated by this abnormally large but still limited and imperfect human, David put Jehovah first and really trusted in him, resulting in Jehovah blessing his efforts and helping him to soundly and decisively defeat Goliath. And yes, besides trusting in Jehovah, David did also contribute his own efforts—he both prepared to battle Goliath (for example, by carefully selecting “five smooth stones from the streambed”, stones that would come off his sling and fly through the air smoothly), and also actually stepped up and fought this battle.—1 Samuel 17:40.

汉字 / 漢字? Pīnyīn?

Today, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) can be one of our symbolic “smooth stones” that help us prepare for and successfully fight our personal battle to, with Jehovah’s help, defeat the cultural Goliath that is the characters, and learn to understand Mandarin and speak it understandably (and smoothly!) to the Mandarin-speaking people we meet in the field.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

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

Categories
Current Events Experiences History Language Learning Technology Theocratic

lìliang

lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量) 👈🏼 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.

This week’s MEotW, “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)”, occurs in subtitle 69 of the transcript for the video for lesson 16, point 6 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book:

English:

Someone touched me,

for I know that power went out of me.

Mandarin:

68
00:03:30,620 → 00:03:32,038
📖 📄 📘 Yídìng (Yí·dìng {(with) one} · {setting fixedly} → [definitely] 一定) yǒurén (yǒu·rén {(there) was having → [(there) was]} · person (who) 有人) mō (touched 摸) wǒ (me 我)—

69
00:03:32,038 → 00:03:34,207
📖 📄 📘 wǒ (I 我) juéde (jué·de {to wake to → [to feel]} · got → [got to feel] 觉得 覺得) yǒu ({(there) was having} → [(there) was] 有) lìliang (lì·liang power · quantity 力量) cóng (from 从 從) wǒ (me 我) shēnshang (shēn·shang {body → [self]} · upon 身上) chūqu (chū·qu {having gone out} · {to go} 出去).

Here, “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)” is used as the Mandarin word for “power”. Speaking of God’s power and the vocabulary used to talk about it in Mandarin, “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)” appears in “shénshèng lìliang ((shén·shèng godly · holy 神圣 神聖) (lì·liang force · quantity 力量) → [holy spirit])”, the expression currently used in the publications of Jehovah’s organization to translate “holy spirit”. (Interestingly, comparing the English and Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) versions of song 112 in the “Sing Out Joyfully” book, we see that there, “we ask you for your spirit” is translated as “kěnqiú (kěn·qiú (we) earnestly · request 恳求 懇求) nǐ (you 你) cìyǔ ({to give} 赐予/与 賜予/與) lìliang (lì·liang force · quantity → [(as per the English lyrics, this may be an abbr. for shénshèng lìliang (holy spirit))] 力量)”. I suppose it’s possible, though, that this apparent abbreviation of “shénshèng lìliang ((shén·shèng godly · holy 神圣 神聖) (lì·liang force · quantity 力量) → [holy spirit])” to “lìliang (lì·liang force · quantity → [(this may be an abbr. for shénshèng lìliang (holy spirit), e.g., in the lyrics for song 112)] 力量)” was just something done to fit the song’s rhythm.)

“Power Had Gone Out of Him”

The above-mentioned video—and the Bible account it was based on—simply refers to “power”, translated into Mandarin as “lìliang (lì·liang power; strength; force · quantity 力量)”. However, considering the miraculously beneficial results of this flow of “power”, much more must have been involved than what humans typically think of when they think of power.

Power flowing out of Jesus may make some imagine something happening like what happens when contact is made that completes a circuit with a battery, like when one tries to jump-start a car. When that’s done properly and the power flows, the result can be the safe and gratifying starting up of the previously unstartable car. I once had an experience, though, that didn’t go as expected, when I helped to jump-start an old Nissan that for some reason had the colours on its battery posts reversed from the usual practice, such that the post that I thought was the negative post was actually the positive post, and vice versa. The result in that case was a runaway flow of power that caused the jumper cable to rapidly heat up and catch fire! (Fortunately, I was able to grab a long wooden stick I had in the trunk of my car for chipping away at road ice, and use it to forcibly break the cable, which by then had been weakened by the extreme heat.)

So, power alone is not enough to ensure good results. Indeed, power alone can destroy rather than make things better. Besides my misadventure with that confusingly designed car battery, another obvious example is what happened when huge amounts of power were released by the explosions of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In the case of the sick woman who touched Jesus’ outer garments, Jesus only knew that “power had gone out of him”—he didn’t know this woman and didn’t understand her situation until she explained things to him after the fact. So, even without Jesus’ active participation and direction, the “power” that went out from him displayed

  • recognition of the woman’s faith and of the rightness of helping her, even if she was technically in violation of the Mosaic Law,
  • understanding of the nature of her sickness and of the technical process required to completely and immediately heal her of it,
  • and willingness to help her in this way.

Power, Beneficially Applied

It is evident from what happened in this situation that, as corroborated by the rest of God’s Word, God’s almighty power is always used along with his abundant justice, wisdom, and love—it never runs amok on its own, like a runaway electric current or an exploding bomb.

While humans in Satan’s world continue to fight wars and otherwise hungrily seek power for its own sake, it’s good to know of Jehovah God’s unmatched power, and of how he always uses it justly, wisely, and lovingly. In the Mandarin field, we have the privilege of helping people in what’s probably the largest language field ever to also come to an appreciation of the impressive and moving ways in which Jehovah God uses power.

Chart: Languages by First-Language Speakers—2019

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.