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lìjīng

lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

One of the unique features of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material at this time is Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus video transcripts. These should 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, for example. This in turn should help us make more effective use of these videos while participating in Mandarin Bible discussions using this book. Hopefully in the future, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus transcripts will also be available for other publications that use videos.

lff Lesson 01 - Video Transcripts - Enjoy Life Forever! Bk. (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

The Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus transcript for the video used in lesson 04 point 5 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book contains the expression “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)”, which is this week’s MEotW:

51
00:03:12,542 → 00:03:14,344
📖 📄 📘 Lìjīng (Lì·jīng {having gone through} · {having experienced → [having endured]} 历经 歷經) qiānxīn‐wànkǔ ((qiān·xīn {a thousand} · {(things) being hot in taste → [sufferings]} 千辛)‐(wàn·kǔ {ten thousand} · {(things) being bitter → [hardships]} 万苦 萬苦) → [innumerable trials and tribulations (an interweaving of qiānwàn and xīnkǔ)]),

“Lìjīng (Lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” is noteworthy especially because of the meanings of the morphemes that make it up, and because of some of the other expressions that these morphemes are used in.

Mirrors, Histories, and Calendars

First, note that when written in Chinese characters, “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” (历经) is an anadrome (a word which is a different word spelled backwards, its mirror image, if you will) of “jīnglì (jīng·lì {pass/go through}; undergo; experience · {experience (v)} | {passed/gone through; undergone; experienced (thing)} · {experience (n)} → [experience (n)] 经历 經歷)” (经历), which in its verb form seems to mean basically the same thing as “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)”. (A “jīnglì (jīng·lì {experienced (thing)} · {experience (n)} → [experience (n)] 经历 經歷)” (noun) is an “experience”, but in contrast, it seems that “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” is not used as a noun.)

Interestingly, the “lì ({pass/go through}; experience; undergo | {experienced (thing[s])} → [experience[s]; record; history] | experienced → [all previous] | calendar 历 歷)” in “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” is also used in “lìshǐ (lì·shǐ {experienced (things) → [history; record[s]} · history → [history; record[s]] 历史 歷史)”, and in “Lìdàizhì Shàng ((Lì·dài·zhì {Experienced → [All Previous]} · {Replacings → [Generations]} · Records 历代志 歷代志) (Shàng Upper 上) → [1 Chronicles])” and “Lìdàizhì Xià ((Lì·dài·zhì {Experienced → [All Previous]} · {Replacings → [Generations]} · Records 历代志 歷代志) (Xià Lower 下) → [2 Chronicles])”.

In its meaning as “calendar”, this “lì ({pass/go through}; experience; undergo | {experienced (thing[s])} → [experience[s]; record; history] | experienced → [all previous] | calendar 历 歷)” also appears in, for example, “gōnglì (gōng·lì {common → [Gregorian]} · calendar 公历 公曆)”, meaning “Gregorian calendar”. Connected to this, the Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) resource has an interesting entry on “Gōnglì (Gōng·lì {Common → [Gregorian]} · Calendar 公历 公曆) Jìyuán (Jì·yuán Era · Unit → [Era] 纪元 紀元)”:

common era; wtl09 index sync. Lit. “Gregorian-calendar beginning-of-era”. Often abbreviated to 公元 gōngyuán (see 2001 NWT’s table of books). Note that in Chinese you put 公元 and 公元前 BEFORE the year number, not after it as in English. E.g. 公元29年 = 29C.E.

Warp, Weft, and Scriptures

The “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” in “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” also appears in some noteworthy expressions. Since it can mean “pass through; undergo; experience”, it’s no surprise that “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” appears in “jīngguò (jīng·guò {pass through} · pass; cross [→ [go through; undergo]] 经过 經過)” and in “jīngyàn (jīng·yàn {having passed through} · testing → [experience] 经验 經驗)”. (Jīngyàn (Jīng·yàn {having passed through} · testing → [experience] 经验 經驗) (experience) is what one gains after going through jīnglì (jīng·lì {experienced (things)} · experiences → [experiences] 经历 經歷) (experiences), although an experience can also be called a jīngyàn (jīng·yàn {having passed through} · testing → [experience] 经验 經驗).)

“Jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” also has a meaning—possibly its root meaning—of “warp”, a term from weaving. As summarized by Wikipedia:

Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is drawn through and inserted over and under the warp.[source]

Thus, in the picture below, the warp is the threads that are mounted on the loom, that go up and down, and the weft is the threads that go left and right.

Diagram of a loom, in a Chinese museum
Public Domain Dedication (CC0) Some rights reserved by Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D.

Note that the quote above from Wikipedia calls the warp the longitudinal threads. Mandarin takes this comparison to the place of actually using “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” to also mean “longitude”, as used in geography. So, “jīngwěi (jīng·wěi {warp (textiles) [→ [longitude]]} · {weft; woof [→ [latitude]]} [→ [logical planning; plan; orderliness | situation; state of affairs | manage; administer]] 经纬 經緯)”, which means “warp and weft” in weaving, also means “longitude and latitude” in geography.

Of course, as students of the Bible, we Mandarin field language learners should also be aware that the “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” in “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” can mean “scripture”. So, it appears in expressions that we see and hear a lot, like “Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經)”, “jīngwén (jīng·wén scripture · writing → [scripture] 经文 經文)”, and jīngjuàn (jīng·juàn scripture · volume [→ [Bible book]] 经卷 經卷).

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation 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.

Categories
Language Learning Science

Jīdū

Jīdū (Christ 基督) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Earlier Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material rendered the English meaning of “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” as “Foundation · {Directing (Person)} → [Christ]”, on the supposition that the meanings of the Mandarin syllables used in “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” may have mattered in their selection for inclusion in “Jīdū (Christ 基督)”. (In contrast, “Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌)” (Jesus) is a name, not a title like “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” is, so, like the Mandarin syllables used in other Mandarin names of Bible personages, the Mandarin syllables for “Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌)” were obviously also chosen mainly for their sounds, with only secondary consideration given to their meanings.) Unfortunately, while it seems to make some sense, it turns out that this earlier rendering of the English meaning of “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” was a case of Trying Too Hard 😜. (Oh, well, as I once heard a cable guy say as he was preparing to make a new cable, “too much is better than not enough”.)

Now, when one looks up “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus Expressions resource, one will see a note about why the English meaning of “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” is now simply rendered as “Christ”:

(This is a transcription of “Christ”, so the syllables were chosen mainly for their sound, not their meaning. For more info, see this Language Log post by Victor Mair.)

Who Is Victor Mair and What Did He Say About This?

Victor H. Mair, who has been mentioned several times in this blog, is an American sinologist and a University of Pennsylvania Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He also inspired and helped to edit the highly regarded ABC Chinese-English Dictionary. So, we can be pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Mandarin words. (In fact, for what it’s worth, after my several years of researching the Mandarin language, I have come to consider him the most trustworthy living scholarly authority on the Chinese languages.)

Concerning the etymology of “Jīdū (Christ 基督)”, Prof. Mair said the following in the above-mentioned Language Log blog post:

Jīdū 基督 is a short form of Jīlìsīdū 基利斯督, which is a transcription of “Christ”, from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khristós).

So, I revised the English meaning in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus Expressions resource entry for “Jīdū (Christ 基督)”, added the note quoted above, and am gradually revising occurrences of “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” in existing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material as time allows. Of course, going forward, new Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material that includes the expression “Jīdū (Christ 基督)” will simply use “Christ” as its English meaning.

A Reminder That Speech Is Primary

This situation with “Jīdū (Christ 基督)”, in which the deciding factor in how the word is formed is how it sounds, reminds us that regardless of the Chinese cultural obsession with characters and the meanings represented by their intricate visual designs, the basic scientific principle about human languages holds true, that the primary aspect of human languages is actually speech, which represents meanings with sounds. Writing, even writing as revered as Chinese characters are with all their visual embellishments, is at best secondary.

Categories
Current Events Science

jùfēng

jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

During the week preceding the date of this post, Hurricane Ian hit the USA. As NBC News reported on the afternoon of Oct. 1, 2022:

The death toll from Hurricane Ian rose Saturday to more than 77 as one of strongest and costliest storms to ever hit the U.S. pushed northward from the Carolinas leaving in its wake a trifecta of misery—dangerous flooding, power outages and massive destruction.

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the related article “Extreme Weather—Can the Bible Help You to Cope?”. The Mandarin version of this article uses this week’s MEotW, “jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風)”, to translate the English word “hurricane”.

Note that while one who is familiar with the Mandarin expression “dàfēng (dà·fēng {big → [strong]} · wind [→ [fresh gale]] 大风 大風)” (literally, “big wind”) might assume that the first morpheme in “jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風)” is the same as the first morpheme (meaning “huge; gigantic”) in “jùdà (jù·dà huge; gigantic · big 巨大)”, actually, the first morpheme in “jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風)” is a different one that specifically means “cyclone; hurricane; typhoon”.

A Tropical Cyclone by Any Other Name…

The English jw.org article mentioned above also mentions hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones. The corresponding expressions used in the Mandarin version are, respectively, “jùfēng (jù·fēng hurricane · winds → [hurricanes] 飓风 颶風)”, “táifēng (tái·fēng typhoon · winds → [typhoons] 台风 颱風)”, and “qìxuán (qì·xuán air · circlings → [cyclones] 气旋 氣旋)”. What though, are the differences between hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones?

The US government’s National Ocean Service explains it like this:

The only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs.

…

Hurricanes and typhoons are the same weather phenomenon: tropical cyclones. A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation.

The weakest tropical cyclones are called tropical depressions. If a depression intensifies such that its maximum sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour, the tropical cyclone becomes a tropical storm. Once a tropical cyclone reaches maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour or higher, it is then classified as a hurricane, typhoon, or tropical cyclone, depending upon where the storm originates in the world. In the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific, the term hurricane is used. The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a typhoon. Meanwhile, in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the generic term tropical cyclone is used, regardless of the strength of the wind associated with the weather system.

Structure

Some might also find the following information interesting, on the structure and behaviour of tropical cyclones like hurricanes, etc.:

The main parts of a tropical cyclone are the rainbands, the eye, and the eyewall. Air spirals in toward the center in a counter-clockwise pattern in the northern hemisphere (clockwise in the southern hemisphere), and out the top in the opposite direction.

In the very center of the storm, air sinks, forming an “eye” that is mostly cloud-free.

Supercharged by Climate Change

Regarding hurricanes and similar storms, one thing that may be worthwhile to bring up in the field is that they are being made more destructive and difficult to predict by human-caused climate change.

An article on NASA’s website summarizes the situation and explains the basic mechanism:

Due to global warming, global climate models predict hurricanes will likely cause more intense rainfall and have an increased coastal flood risk due to higher storm surge caused by rising seas. Additionally, the global frequency of storms may decrease or remain unchanged, but hurricanes that form are more likely to become intense.

As surface temperatures rise, more liquid water evaporates from the land and ocean. Evaporation adds moisture to the air. How much water vapor the air can hold is based on its temperature. Warmer air temperatures can hold more water vapor. The increased moisture in the air leads to more intense rainfall, especially during extreme events.

In a hurricane, spiraling winds draw moist air toward the center, fueling the towering thunderstorms that surround it. As the air continues to warm due to climate change, hurricanes can hold more water vapor, producing more intense rainfall rates in a storm.

Moreover, …most models show that climate change brings a slight increase in hurricane wind intensity. This change is likely related to warming ocean temperatures and more moisture in the air, both of which fuel hurricanes.

Another article, on the Yale Climate Connections website, discusses a phenomenon called rapid intensification:

Rapid intensification, defined as an increase of wind speed of at least 35 mph in 24 hours, has recently garnered a lot of attention…

…human-caused warming significantly increases extreme tropical cyclone intensification rates…

Rapid intensification is one of the least well-predicted tropical cyclone processes and also one of the most dangerous, because storms that intensify quickly tend to catch people off guard.

By the way, the Mandarin expression currently used on jw.org to translate “climate change” is “qìhòu (qì·hòu {air → [weather]} · conditions → [climate] 气候 氣候) biànhuà (biàn·huà changing · transforming 变化 變化)”.