Category: Science

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Culture History Science

kǎlā’OK

kǎlā’OK (karaoke 卡拉OK) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

The selection of this week’s MEotW, “kǎlā’OK (karaoke 卡拉OK)”, was inspired by a Twitter thread of epic linguistic and etymological nerdery that I recently came across, which begins with this tweet:

Here are some of the tweets in this thread, which summarize how “kǎlā’OK (karaoke 卡拉OK)” became a word in Mandarin:

Borrowed Culture

In addition to “kǎlā’OK (karaoke 卡拉OK)”, another Mandarin word which borrowed from Japanese culture, which borrowed from Western culture, is “wénhuà (wén·huà {(with) writing} · transformed (system) → [culture] | {(with) writing} · transformed → [cultural] 文化)”, the Mandarin word for culture itself. As the MEotW post about that word says:

To translate the Western concept of culture, the Japanese coined the word bunka, which is written 文化 (see Liu, Zhengtan et al. 1984, s.v. wenhua). The Chinese imported this character combination from Japan and pronounced it according to the rules of their own language: wénhuà.
—“Two Steps Toward Digraphia in China”, by Xieyan Hincha

So, people going on about “pure” Chinese culture are ignorant or in denial about the reality of how other cultures have influenced Chinese culture, and about what a great, enriching thing that can be. Anyone who has been in a group or congregation with people predominantly from a single cultural background, and who has also had the pleasure of being in a group or congregation with people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, has had the opportunity to see how the atmosphere of the latter situation can be a breath of fresh air compared to the relatively narrow—and potentially narrow-minded—cultural worldview that is sometimes allowed to be present in the former situation. Some parts of the world too are starting to realize the advantages of considering various cultural inputs, compared to trying to be productive or creative in a monocultural bubble.

Indeed, the proud “not invented here” logic of Chinese cultural purists who would, for example, reject Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) because it uses letters from the Latin alphabet would also require us to reject things like European-style punctuation, Arabic numerals, and kǎlā’OK (karaoke 卡拉OK) because of their foreign-to-China origins. But, Chinese culture without kǎlā’OK (karaoke 卡拉OK)? How dreary! Next, they’ll be wanting us to do long division using Chinese characters—十一, 九十九, 一千八百三十六, …—instead of Arabic numbers, and they’ll be wanting us to read and decipher Chinese writings the old-fashioned way, without the “crutch” of those decadent European punctuation marks! 😱

(Of course, with kǎlā’OK (karaoke 卡拉OK), as with anything that may involve worldly culture and music—which can possibly include some bad things along with the good things—Christians must be selective, exercising good spiritual judgement and following their Bible-trained consciences.)

As members of the international brotherhood of Jehovah’s people, and as ones “taught by Jehovah” himself, we need not be content with, let alone proud of, a particular way of doing things prescribed by human, worldly Chinese cultural tradition.—1 Peter 5:9; Isaiah 54:13; 1 Corinthians 1:31; 1 John 2:17; Mark 7:1–13.

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Culture Current Events History Language Learning Names Nations Science

Wūkèlán

Wūkèlán (Ukraine 乌克兰 烏克蘭) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

On February 24, 2022, a few days before the date of this post, Russia sent significant military forces into Ukraine, resulting in the largest scale open warfare in Europe since World War II. So, this week’s MEotW is “Wūkèlán (Ukraine 乌克兰 烏克蘭)”, the Mandarin word for “Ukraine”. Knowing this will help us in the Mandarin field as we hear about, talk about, and pray about Ukraine in the time ahead.

Note that it is apparent that “Wūkèlán (Ukraine 乌克兰 烏克蘭)” was chosen to represent “Ukraine” 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 (“Crow Overcomes Orchid”??? 🤷🏻).

Some Related Mandarin Expressions

Here are some other Mandarin expressions that should be useful to know regarding this situation:

  • Éluósī (Russia 俄罗斯 俄羅斯)
  • Sūlián (Sū·lián Soviet · {Uniting → [Union]} 苏联 蘇聯) – Make sure you don’t use this expression to refer to present-day Russia, since the Soviet Union no longer exists. Some say that a desire to restore the power and influence of the old Soviet Union is one of Russian president Putin’s main motivations for waging war on Ukraine.
  • Bái Éluósī ((Bái White 白) (Éluósī Russia 俄罗斯 俄羅斯) → [Belarus])
  • zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)
  • hépíng (peace | {[is] peaceful} (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 says this term mainly refers to the absence of war or conflict) 和平)

Neutrality

As pointed out in the article “Russia Invades Ukraine” on jw.org:

There are more than 129,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses living in Ukraine. Like the Witnesses in every other country, they imitate Jesus by remaining politically neutral and refusing to take part in war. (John 18:36)

There are also thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, who are being persecuted for their faith. We can be sure that like their Ukranian brothers and sisters, they are also remaining politically neutral and refusing to take part in war, such that none of the Russian military personnel currently attacking their neighbours (and maybe in some cases, friends and relatives) in Ukraine are Jehovah’s Witnesses.

May we keep our brothers and sisters in the affected areas in our prayers to Jehovah, the only true God and the “God of all comfort”—John 17:3, 2 Corinthians 1:3.

Categories
Science Technology Theocratic

huídào

huídào (huí·dào {circle back}; return; {go/come back} · {to arrive [at]}; to 回到 回/迴/逥/廻到) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Appendix A2 of the English New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), entitled “Features of This Revision”, discusses vocabulary changes that have been made in the current revision, words that have been translated differently than before. As noted in various entries in the excellent resource Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE), Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) correspondingly discusses words that have been translated differently in the current revision of the Mandarin NWT Bible, compared to how they had been translated before.

Since we base what we say in Jehovah’s service on his Word the Bible, the vocabulary used in it—and the way those vocabulary words are translated—should be reflected in how we speak in our ministry, at our meetings, etc. So, it is beneficial for us Mandarin field language learners to be familiar with the latest thinking from the organization on how Bible terms should be translated into Mandarin.

Mandarin “Presence”

The Greek word pa·rou·siʹa has often been translated less than ideally into English, as the Insight book thus explains:

Many translations vary their renderings of this word. While translating pa·rou·siʹa as “presence” in some texts, they more frequently render it as “coming.” This has been the basis for the expression “second coming” or “second advent” (adventus [“advent” or “coming”] being the Latin Vulgate translation of pa·rou·siʹa at Mt 24:3) with regard to Christ Jesus. While Jesus’ presence of necessity implies his arrival at the place where he is present, the translation of pa·rou·siʹa by “coming” places all the emphasis on the arrival and obscures the subsequent presence that follows the arrival. Though allowing for both “arrival” and “presence” as translations of pa·rou·siʹa, lexicographers generally acknowledge that the presence of the person is the principal idea conveyed by the word.

It is not surprising, then, that attention was paid to how pa·rou·siʹa should be translated into Mandarin for the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

The older Mandarin NWT Bible generally translated pa·rou·siʹa as “línzài (lín·zài arriving · {being present} 临在 臨在)”. However, many people find this word to be relatively unfamiliar. So, the current Mandarin version of the NWT Bible (nwtsty) usually translates Christ’s pa·rou·siʹa as “huídào (huí·dào {circling back} · {to arrive at} 回到 回/迴/逥/廻到) wǒmen (wǒ·men us · [pl] 我们 我們) zhèlǐ (zhè·lǐ this · inside → [here] 这里 這裡/裏)”. This should help to avoid unnecessarily obstructing beginning Bible readers from understanding the meanings of scriptures that use pa·rou·siʹa in the original Greek text. At Matthew 24:3, to further clarify the meaning, the current Mandarin version of the NWT Bible (nwtsty) uses the expression “yǐjing (yǐ·jing already · {have gone through} 已经 已經) huídào (huí·dào {circling back} · {to arrive at} 回到 回/迴/逥/廻到)”, to emphasize that it is referring to the situation in which Jesus has already gone through the process of arriving, and thus is present.

Matthew 24:3 (WOL CHS+Pinyin)

Verb-Complement Togetherness

Note that in the scripture in the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY linked to above, “huídào (huí·dào {circling back} · {to arrive at} 回到 回/迴/逥/廻到)” is rendered as “huí ({circling back} 回 回/迴/逥/廻) dào ({to arrive at} 到)”, with a space. The post on this blog on “diǎnliàng (diǎn·liàng {dot → [light (v); ignite]} · {to be bright} [→ [illuminate; shine light on]] 点亮 點亮)” discussed such differing renderings:

Getting back to the MEotW “diǎnliàng (diǎn·liàng {dot → [light (v); ignite]} · {to be bright} [→ [illuminate; shine light on]] 点亮 點亮)”, the PRC national standard GB/T 16159-2012 recommends that, being made up of a single-syllable verb and its single-syllable complement, this expression should be written together. Recent official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) publications such as those on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY often do not follow this recommendation regarding single-syllable verbs and their single-syllable complements, whereas older official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) publications did follow this recommendation, and as do the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources.

On the other hand, the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources join the official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) publications, old and new, in explicitly indicating tone sandhi for “bù (not 不)” and “yī (one 一)” (e.g., “búzài (bú·zài not · again; further; continuing; anymore 不再)” instead of the standard “bùzài (bù·zài not · again; further; continuing; anymore 不再)”) to make things easier for readers, even though this practice is not included in the GB/T 16159-2012 standard’s recommendations.

In the end, what matters most re how anything is written is not just what is officially recommended or what happens to be popular among changing, imperfect humans. Rather, what matters most is what really works best to accomplish the goal of writing: To communicate to readers. This is especially true when God-honouring and life-saving Bible truths need to be communicated. So, this blog and the other Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources will continue to seek to render Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in ways that maximize how clearly, easily, effectively, and appropriately it communicates with readers.