Category: Science

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Science Technology Theocratic

pèngqiǎo

pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧) ← 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.]

The Shēngmìng Láizì Chuàngzào Ma? ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (Lái·zì Came · From 来自 來自) (Chuàng·zào Initiating · {Making, Creating} → [Creating] 创造 創造) (Ma [? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? → [Was Life Created? (lc)]) (Was Life Created? (lc)) brochure and the Shēngmìng de Qǐyuán—Zhíde Sīkǎo de Wǔ Ge Wèntí ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (de ’s 的) (Qǐ·yuán {Rising → [Starting]} · Source → [Origin] 起源/原)—(Zhí·de Worth · Getting → [Worth] 值得) (Sī·kǎo {Thinking About} · Examining 思考) (de ’s 的) (Wǔ Five 五) (Ge [mw] 个 個/个) (Wèn·tí Asking · Subjects → [Questions] 问题 問題) → [The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)]) (The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)) brochure were originally published back in 2010, but recently, the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure was updated to the December 2022 Printing, and the Mandarin version of it was updated to the February 2023 Printing. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure are now in the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app. So, it would be good to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of these publications that can be so helpful when discussing whether life was created.

What a Coincidence!

This week’s MEotW, “pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧)”, which means “by chance” or “by coincidence”, occurs often (24 times, in fact) in section 1 of the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure, which in English is entitled “How Did Life Begin?”. For example, this Mandarin expression occurs twice in this portion of a caption for one of this section’s pictures:

English:

RNA (1) is required to make proteins (2), yet proteins are involved in the production of RNA. How could either one arise by chance, let alone both?…

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Yào ({(there) must} 要) yǒu ({be having} → [be] 有) RNA (1) cái ({only then} 才 才/纔) néng ({would (there) be being able} 能) zhìzào (zhì·zào {to make} · {to create} → [to make] 制造 製造) dànbái zhì ((dàn·bái egg · white → [protein] 蛋白) (zhì substances 质 質) → [proteins]) (2), ér ({and yet} 而) zhìzào (zhì·zào {to make} · {to create} → [to make] 制造 製造) RNA yòu ({on the other hand} 又) xūyào (requires 需要) dànbái zhì ((dàn·bái egg · white → [protein] 蛋白) (zhì substances 质 質) → [proteins]). Zhèi (these 这 這) liǎng (two 两 兩) zhǒng ({types of} 种 種/种) fēnzǐ (fēn·zǐ {divided (off)} · {small and hard things} → [molecules] 分子) zěnme (zěn·me how · [suf] 怎么 怎麼/麽) kěnéng (could 可能) gèzì (gè·zì each · self 各自) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {be given birth to → [be produced]} · {be given birth to → [be caused to exist]} → [be brought into being] 产生 產生) ne ([? ptcl] 呢)? Liǎngzhě (Liǎng·zhě {two → [both]} · {ones → [of them]} 两者 兩者) tóngshí (tóng·shí {(at the) same} · {(particular) time} 同时 同時) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {being given birth to → [being produced]} · {being given birth to → [being caused to exist]} → [being brought into being] 产生 產生) jiù (then 就) gèng (more 更) búyòng (bú·yòng not · {do use → [do need]} 不用) shuō ({to speak of} 说 說/説) le ([(at the end of a phrase/sentence) indicates a change] 了). …

Another occurrence of “pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧)” in this section of the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure can be found in this portion of highlighted text:

English:

If the creation of complex molecules in the laboratory requires the skill of a scientist, could the far more complex molecules in a cell really arise by chance?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shíyàn shì ((Shí·yàn {solidly → [truly]} · testing → [experimenting] 实验 實驗) (shì room 室) → [laboratory]) li (inside 里 裡/裏) héchéng (hé·chéng {close → [combine]} · {to come to be} 合成) de (’s 的) fùzá (fù·zá {turned around → [complex]} · mixed → [complex] 复杂 複雜) fēnzǐ (fēn·zǐ {divided (off)} · {small and hard things} → [molecules] 分子), shì (are 是) kēxuéjiā (kē·xué·jiā {{branches of study} · learning → [science]} · -ist → [scientist] 科学家 科學家) yòng (uses 用) jīngzhàn (jīng·zhàn excellent · deep → [consummate] 精湛) de (’s 的) jìshù (jì·shù skill · technique → [skill] 技术 技術) zhìzào (zhì·zào {to make} · {to create} → [to create] 制造 製造) chulai (chu·lai out · {to come} 出来 出來) de ({’s (things)} 的), nàme (nà·me {(in) that (case) → [then]} · [suf] 那么/末 那麼/末) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞) zhōng (within 中) fùzá (fù·zá {turned around → [complex]} · mixed → [complex] 复杂 複雜) de (getting 得) duō ({to be (much) more} 多) de (’s 的) fēnzǐ (fēn·zǐ {divided (off)} · {small and hard things} → [molecules] 分子) ne ([(what about them) ? ptcl] 呢)? Zhēnde (Zhēn·de (they) really · ’s 真的) yǒu ({do have} 有) kěnéng (kě·néng maybe · {being able} → [possibility] 可能) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {to be given birth to → [to be produced]} · {to be given birth to → [to be caused to exist]} → [to be brought into being] 产生 產生) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

“Fancy Bumping into…”

The way that “pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧)” “works” as an expression is a bit odd. “Pèng (bump; touch; {knock against} 碰)” means “bump into”, and “qiǎo ({[is] clever; intelligent; skillful; ingenious} | {[being] opportune; coincidental} [→ [coincidentally]] 巧)” can mean “being coincidental”, so “pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧)” literally means “having bumped into being coincidental”.

We can also note that, like “shìwēi (shì·wēi {showing; indicating; revealing; manifesting; demonstrating [of]} · might; power; strength; force → [putting on a show of force | demonstrating (as a protest); marching; holding a demonstration | demonstration] 示威)” in last week’s MEotW, “pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧)” has verb-object construction. (See that post for more information on that.)

Should we believe evolutionists’ claims that life in all its complexity and glory pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) came into being? It would be quite tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [naive] 天真) (a past MEotW) of us to do so!

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Origin of Life brochure is:

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

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

gāogē

gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌) ← 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.]

Ah, spring, when thoughts of Mandarin field language learners turn to “Where can I find Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for this year’s convention song?” (Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) available on the official page for the Mandarin version of this song.) I am happy to report that proofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics or better and proofread musical notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics for this year’s convention song are now available at this unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource:

2024 convention song “‘Hǎo Xiāoxi’!” (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

[Note: As with all the other Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resources, the above-mentioned Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource is made to be supplementary language-learning material for those learning the Mandarin language to help others in the Mandarin field. For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.]

Singing Like Angels

This week’s MEotW, “gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌)”, comes from the beginning of the Mandarin version of this song:

English:

“Glory in the heights above”—
Good news for all men—

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 “Róngyào (glory 荣耀 榮耀) guī ({belongs to} 归 歸) Zhìgāo (Zhì·gāo Most · High 至高) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝)!”
Chénxīng (Chén·xīng {early morning} · stars 晨星) dōu (all 都) gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌).

The first line is taken from Luke 2:13, 14:

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: “Glory in the heights above to God, and on earth peace among men of goodwill.”

The second line in the Mandarin lyrics, which mentions “chénxīng (chén·xīng {early morning} · stars 晨星)”, is undoubtedly an allusion to the current Mandarin New World Translation Bible’s rendering of Job 38:7 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus), which uses this expression (“morning stars” in the English NWT Bible) in connection with the angels:

📖 📄 📘 Dāngshí (Dāng·shí {at that} · {(particular) time} 当时 當時) chénxīng (chén·xīng {early morning} · stars 晨星) yìtóng (yì·tóng {(as) one} · together 一同) huānhū (huān·hū joyously · {cried out} 欢呼 歡呼),
Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) de (’s 的) érzimen (ér·zi·men sons · [suf for nouns] · [pl] 儿子们 兒子們) quándōu (quán·dōu completely · all 全都) hècǎi (hè·cǎi {shouted loudly} · {(in) applause} 喝彩 喝彩/采).

When the earth was founded and when Jesus was born, did the angels sing quietly and timidly, as if hoping no one would hear them? No! As the Mandarin lyrics say, these angels undoubtedly gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sang 高歌), that is, “sang (at) high (volume)”.

Imitating the Angels

How can we imitate the angels when it comes to singing in our worship, even though we are imperfect humans, most of us have not been trained as singers, and many of us don’t feel especially talented at singing? This Watchtower article about our current songbook “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah helps us with this:

Check it out!

Helpful Features

The unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource mentioned above now includes a link to the above-mentioned Watchtower article in the Tips: section at the bottom of its index (starting) page. It has other features as well that are designed to be especially helpful for Mandarin field language learners.

One of these features is that, except for the minority of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus lyrics that have been partially proofread (as indicated by a grey background), most of the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics in this resource (including all of the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics in the musical notation 🎼) have been fully proofread, and furthermore, have been fully proofread from the viewpoint of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) being a full writing system (which it actually is), not just a pronunciation aid. That involves word grouping, capitalization, punctuation, etc.

Also, as shown in the picture near the beginning of this post and as mentioned above, this resource combines fully proofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics with musical notation 🎼. No doubt many will find this material with musical notation helpful, especially when singing songs that are relatively rarely used, and that thus may not yet be familiar. (For those who are not yet familiar with musical notation, there are a couple of links about how to read musical notation in the Tips: section at the bottom of the index (starting) page of the resource.) This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+music material is currently available for most of the songs, and is gradually being completed as time allows.

Some features of this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+music material are:

  • Prezoomed to use full screen width
    • This means that this material will automatically zoom out to make best use of the screen of your mobile device—no fiddling with manual zooming is necessary when the music is starting and you need to be ready to sing soon.
  • Easy-to-read font
    • The font used for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics was specifically chosen because it’s relatively easy to read. This can especially make a difference on smaller mobile devices.
  • Guitar chords included
    • While guitar chords are (generally) not required for singing at meetings, assemblies, etc., they may come in handy at social gatherings, when one is playing guitar and perhaps singing to practise or for pleasure, etc.

Hopefully, features like those above will help you to gāogē (gāo·gē {(at) high (volume)} · sing 高歌) like the angels, to sing out joyfully and loudly at Mandarin meetings, conventions, etc., even though you are “just” a Mandarin field language learner.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

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

Categories
Culture History Language Learning Languages Names Science

Yuèyǔ

Yuèyǔ (Yuè·yǔ Yue · Language [→ [Cantonese]] 粤语 粵語) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This week’s MEotW, “Yuèyǔ (Yuè·yǔ Yue · Language [→ [Cantonese]] 粤语 粵語)”, is a term that over the years one may occasionally have come across in the Chinese fields. For example, it used to be used on publication download pages on jw.org, where it has been replaced by a term that is more familiar to many: “Guǎngdōnghuà (Guǎng·dōng·huà {Wide · East → [Canton]} · Speech → [Cantonese speech/language] 广东话 廣東話)” (“Cantonese”).

The Language(s)

Regarding “Yuèyǔ (Yuè·yǔ Yue · Language [→ [Cantonese]] 粤语 粵語)”, the Wikipedia article on Yue Chinese provides this summary:

Yue (Cantonese pronunciation: [jyːt̚˨]) is a branch of the Sinitic languages primarily spoken in Southern China, particularly in the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang).

The term Cantonese is often used to refer to the whole branch, but linguists prefer to reserve the name Cantonese for the variety used in Guangzhou (Canton), Wuzhou (Ngchow), Hong Kong and Macau, which is the prestige dialect of the group. Taishanese, from the coastal area of Jiangmen (Kongmoon) located southwest of Guangzhou, was the language of most of the 19th-century emigrants from Guangdong to Southeast Asia and North America. Most later migrants have been speakers of Cantonese.

Yue varieties are not mutually intelligible with other varieties of Chinese,[source] and they are not mutually intelligible within the Yue family either.[source]

This Wikipedia page also cites Ethnologue as saying that the number of native speakers worldwide of Yuèyǔ (Yuè·yǔ Yue · Language [→ [Cantonese]] 粤语 粵語) was recently about “86 million (2022)[source]”. That’s not as many as Mandarin has (no other language/language branch currently has as many native speakers as Mandarin does), but that’s still a lot of people.

Regarding how Cantonese relates to other Chinese speech varieties, note the following excerpt from the MEotW post on “yǔzú (yǔ·zú language · {ethnic group → [group of things with common characteristics] → [group]} 语族 語族)”:

It’s interesting to note that according to Prof. [Victor H.] Mair’s article (p. 737) mentioned above, not only are Mandarin and Cantonese separate languages (not just “dialects”), it would be more accurate to consider them to be in separate language branches, as defined by the language classisification scheme he uses:

Cantonese and Mandarin are separate languages. Cantonese is not a ‘dialect’ of Mandarin or of Hanyu, and it is grossly erroneous to refer to it as such. Since Cantonese and Mandarin are separate languages (or, perhaps more accurately, separate branches), it is wrong to refer to them as ‘dialects.’ The same holds for Hokkien, Shanghainese, and so forth.

That Mandarin and Cantonese should really be considered to be in separate language branches emphasizes to us politically neutral Mandarin field language-learners that we must not repeat or be misled by the politically motivated erroneous assertion that Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are just dialects of “Chinese”. That might be even more wrong than saying that English, French, Spanish, etc. are just dialects of “European”!

Some Geography

To clarify regarding some of the places related to “Yuèyǔ (Yuè·yǔ Yue · Language [→ [Cantonese]] 粤语 粵語)”:

  • Guǎngdōng (Guǎng·dōng Wide · East → [Guangdong (Canton) Province] 广东 廣東)
  • Guǎngzhōu (Guǎng·zhōu Wide · Prefecture → [Guangzhou (Canton (city))] 广州 廣州)
    • This is the capital city of Guǎngdōng (Guǎng·dōng Wide · East → [Guangdong (Canton) Province] 广东 廣東) province.
  • Guǎngxī (Guǎng·xī Wide · West → [Guangxi (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)] 广西 廣西)
    • This is an autonomous region that’s located just to the west of Guǎngdōng (Guǎng·dōng Wide · East → [Guangdong (Canton) Province] 广东 廣東).

Some History

This summary from the Wikipedia article on Baiyue provides us with some historical background:

The Baiyue, Hundred Yue, or simply Yue, were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of Southern China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD.[source][source][source] They were known for their short hair, body tattoos, fine swords, and naval prowess.

…

The Yue tribes were gradually displaced or assimilated into Chinese culture as the Han empire expanded into what is now Southern China and Northern Vietnam.[source][source][source][source] Many modern southern Chinese dialects bear traces of substrate languages[citation needed] originally spoken by the ancient Yue. Variations of the name are still used for the name of modern Vietnam [Yuènán (Yuè·nán Yue · South → [Vietnam] 越南)], in Zhejiang-related names including Yue opera, the Yue Chinese language, and in the abbreviation for Guangdong.

…

The modern term “Yue” (traditional Chinese: 越、粵; simplified Chinese: 越、粤; pinyin: Yuè; Cantonese Jyutping: Jyut6; Wade–Giles: Yüeh4; Vietnamese: Việt; Early Middle Chinese: Wuat) comes from Old Chinese *ɢʷat.[source] It was first written using the pictograph 戉 for an axe (a homophone), in oracle bone and bronze inscriptions of the late Shang dynasty (c. 1200 BC), and later as 越.[source]

Is Cantonese Only Spoken?

Native Cantonese speakers I have known, like those in the Cantonese congregation that I used to be in, would tell me that the Cantonese we spoke was spoken Chinese, and that the Chinese in the official publications of the time, which was different in some ways from spoken Cantonese, was written Chinese. However, as I gained more knowledge about the history and the language situation of China, I came to understand that actually, the Chinese writing in the publications we were using was Mandarin, which was used because Mandarin-speaking people had gained political power in China, resulting in Chinese publications generally being published in Mandarin—it wasn’t a matter of spoken and written Chinese being different, but rather, of Cantonese and Mandarin being different.

Eventually, the organization came to also publish publications written in other Chinese varieties in addition to Mandarin. As of this writing, searching for “Chinese” on jw.org results in the following options, which includes Cantonese options:

Chinese varieties on jw.org as of 2024-04-14

Something to Remember

This week’s MEotW, “Yuèyǔ (Yuè·yǔ Yue · Language [→ [Cantonese]] 粤语 粵語)”, reminds us that while the central government of China wants everyone to just think of China as one monolithic political entity that should be governed by them, the central government, modern China actually is made up of many different parts. If it wasn’t for Qín Shǐhuáng ((Qín {Qin (dynasty)} 秦) (Shǐ·huáng Beginning · Emperor 始皇) (the founder of the Qín dynasty and the first emperor of China)) (Wikipedia article), who (rather forcefully) united several warring states and became the first emperor of China, China could have ended up like modern Europe, with its several independent nations.

These different parts of modern China, that in an alternate timeline could have become independent nations, each have their own history, including their own linguistic history—just like modern France, Spain, Germany, etc. have historically had their own mutually unintelligible languages, modern Guǎngdōng (Guǎng·dōng Wide · East → [Guangdong (Canton) Province] 广东 廣東), Shànghǎi (Shàng·hǎi Upon · {the Sea} → [Shanghai] 上海), Fújiàn (Fú·jiàn {Blessing (abbr. for the city name Fúzhōu)} · {Established (abbr. for the city name Jiànzhōu)} → [Fujian (Province)] 福建), etc. also have historically had their own mutually unintelligible languages, even if China’s central government would like everyone to just (erroneously) call them dialects of “Chinese”. This reality of China’s many mutually unintelligible languages is being emphasized, not for any political purpose, but rather, to help us language learners in the Chinese fields to be equipped with the truth as we try to make practical progress in learning and using Chinese languages to spread our God-honouring and life-saving message.