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guānhuà

guānhuà (guān·huà {government official; mandarin} · speech → [(old name for) Mandarin | officalese; bureaucratese; bureaucratic jargon] 官话 官話) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Why is Mandarin called “Mandarin” in English?

Kinnow, a variety of Mandarin orange widely cultivated in Pakistan

Nope, it wasn’t because of mandarin oranges.
Creative Commons logo SirSadiq

Wikipedia provides this summary:

The English word “mandarin” (from Portuguese mandarim, from Malay menteri, from Sanskrit mantrī, mantrin, meaning ‘minister or counsellor’) originally meant an official of the Ming and Qing empires. Since their native varieties were often mutually unintelligible, these officials communicated using a Koiné language based on various northern varieties. When Jesuit missionaries learned this standard language in the 16th century, they called it “Mandarin”, from its Chinese name Guānhuà (官话/官話) or ‘language of the officials’.[source]

So, according to the above summary, the English word “Mandarin” comes to us from Sanskrit, Malay, and Portuguese, and was chosen to correspond with this week’s MEotW, “guānhuà (guān·huà {government official; mandarin} · speech → [(old name for) Mandarin | officalese; bureaucratese; bureaucratic jargon] 官话 官話)”. These days, Chinese speakers in general don’t refer to Modern Standard Mandarin as “guānhuà (guān·huà {government official; mandarin} · speech → [(old name for) Mandarin | officalese; bureaucratese; bureaucratic jargon] 官话 官話)”[source], but apparently Chinese linguists still use this term:

Linguists use the term “Mandarin” to refer to the diverse group of dialects spoken in northern and southwestern China, which Chinese linguists call Guānhuà.

(Note that the English word “dialect” is often misused and misunderstood when applied to the Chinese languages, causing many to wrongly believe that Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are merely dialects of a single Chinese language, when in fact, they are as different from each other as English is different from, say, Swedish or German. It really works better to consider Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. to be different languages, just as Swedish, German, etc. are considered to be different languages, and not just dialects of “European”. I hope to address this further in a future MEotW post.)

Because of its literal meaning of “government officials’ speech”, “guānhuà (guān·huà {government official; mandarin} · speech → [(old name for) Mandarin | officalese; bureaucratese; bureaucratic jargon] 官话 官話)” is sometimes also used to refer to what in English we call “officalese; bureaucratese; bureaucratic jargon”.

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Culture Language Learning Languages

Zhōngwén

Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

As discussed in last week’s MEotW, the expression “Zhōngguó (Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [China] 中国 中國)” is commonly used to refer to China, since historically, China views itself as the centre of the world, so much so, in fact, that it is the only nation to name itself as such. We can see then that Mandarin expressions starting with “Zhōng (Central → [Chinese] 中)-” can refer to things related to China.

In that case then, are “Zhōnghuà (Zhōng·huà {Central → [Chinese]} · Speech 中话 中話)” or “Zhōngyǔ (Zhōng·yǔ {Central → [Chinese]} · Language 中语 中語)” used to refer to any Chinese language, similarly to how “pǔtōnghuà (pǔ·tōng·huà common; universal · {through(out) → [common]} · speech → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)] 普通话 普通話)” and “Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語)” are used to refer to Mandarin? Apparently not, according to my dictionaries.

Instead, Chinese people commonly use “Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文)”—this week’s MEotW—to mean “Chinese language”. It should be noted, though, that although “Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文)” is often used to refer to Chinese speech (e.g., in “shuō (speak 说 說/説) Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文)” (“speak Chinese”)), “wén (writing; script [→ [language | culture]] 文)” really means “writing”.

Why do so many Chinese people thus conflate writing with speech and language, when they, while related, are really distinctly different things? This seems to be a symptom of the deeply ingrained Chinese cultural conceit that the Chinese characters are the primary aspect of the Chinese languages—to many Chinese people, the characters are the language. This is contrary to the principle recognized by modern linguists (language scientists) that speech is the primary aspect of any language, not writing. The truth of this basic linguistic principle is shown by the fact that many languages don’t even have a writing system, showing that the required foundation of a language is its speech, not its writing.

Our Creator himself touches on this matter in his Word the Bible:

8 For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle? 9 In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood, how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air. 10 It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning. 11 For if I do not understand the sense of the speech, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking will be a foreigner to me.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

Yes, Jehovah God himself, the One who designed us with our ability to use language, emphasizes the primary importance of understandable speech when it comes to communicating with people, especially when communicating about the potentially life-saving good news of the Kingdom.

Chinese people, however, often have the mistaken view, based on nothing more than deeply ingrained human tradition and not a little cultural pride, that their characters writing system is the primary aspect of the Chinese languages. So, we must take that into consideration when they or people deferring to them erroneously tell us, with all sincerity, that we need to focus first on Chinese characters in our efforts to learn one or more of the Chinese languages. The truth, as testified to by both real language experts among humans and by the Creator himself, is that speech—both understanding speech and speaking understandably—should be our primary focus as Chinese field language-learners.

Regarding the expression “Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文)”, another thing I have noticed is that when Mandarin-speakers say “Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文)”, they mean Mandarin speech, but when Cantonese-speakers say “Zhōngwén (Zhōng·wén {Central → [Chinese]} · Writing 中文)”, they mean Cantonese speech. As a Chinese person, I must reluctantly admit that with such habits, and with naming their nation “Zhōngguó (Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [China] 中国 中國)”, the central nation of the world, many Chinese people have taken quite far the tendency of imperfect humans to consider themselves the centre of the universe!

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Language Learning Languages

Hányǔ

Hányǔ (Hán·yǔ Korean · Language 韩语 韓語) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Wait a minute, isn’t this the same as last week’s MEotW?

This week’s and last week’s Mandarin Expressions of the Week may look the same at first glance, and if you aren’t careful to say them right, they may end up sounding the same too. Actually, though, if you do say them right, they sound noticeably different, and they mean completely different things.

Last week’s MEotW was “Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language [→ [(Modern Standard) Mandarin]] 汉语 漢語)”, with a fourth tone “a”, and it means “Han (Chinese) language” (that is, (Modern Standard) Mandarin).

This week’s MEotW, however, is “Hányǔ (Hán·yǔ Korean · Language 韩语 韓語)”, with a second tone “a”, and it means “Korean language”.

Yes, in Mandarin, one tone is the difference between Mandarin and Korean! Indeed, getting tones right in Mandarin is as important as getting vowels right in English—Mandarin tones really do affect the meaning that much.

If you are a native English speaker, imagine someone saying to you that it doesn’t matter if they say “bet” or “beat”. (“I bet you!”/“I beat you!”—same thing?) It’s true that we don’t want to put any worldly human culture on a pedestal, and it’s true that people will be tolerant of your imprecise or incorrect Mandarin tones if they know you are trying your best. However, what if you’re not really trying your best? What if you’ve been learning Mandarin for many years, but you haven’t really tried to make your Mandarin tones better than they were when you were starting out? What if you’ve just been lazy, and dismissive of the importance of Mandarin tones when speaking Mandarin? If so, then that may even be edging towards being a patronizing, racist microaggression, even if it’s a subconscious one. (“Those silly Chinese people with their finicky tones…whatever!”) None of that proud worldy nonsense for us, thank you very much!

Another consideration is that if we are speaking in Mandarin about spiritual things, we are risking misrepresenting Jehovah God and his truth if we are not using the right tones, and thus not actually saying what we think we are saying. So, literally for the love of God, as well as to show appropriate respectfulness and love of neighbour, let us get into the habit early of really trying our best to be correct in how we say our Mandarin tones!

It’s understandable that if you grew up speaking, say, English or Korean, which don’t use tones like Mandarin does, you will likely find, especially at first, that you’re just not used to doing what it takes to say Mandarin tones correctly—your ears, your mouth, your mind, your heart—so much of you is just not used to Mandarin tones! That is not a good reason, though, to then just not even try to say Mandarin tones correctly. On the contrary, if we’re not used to doing something that is important for us to do, then we need to put extra effort into it, over an extended time, so that we eventually do get used to it. Then, when we have gotten used to it, it will feel natural and easy.

No, really! It’s totally possible to eventually get used to distinguishing and saying Mandarin tones correctly, just as it’s totally possible for someone who’s learning English to eventually get used to distinguishing between and saying “bet” and “beat” correctly. When we do get used to handling Mandarin tones correctly, then everything we do in the Mandarin field will be better and easier. We and native Mandarin-speakers will be able to easily understand each other, and our Mandarin “sacrifice of praise” to God will not be “lame”, but rather, sound, and good-sounding too!—1 Co. 14:8–11; Heb. 13:15; Mal. 1:8.