Categories
Culture Language Learning Technology Theocratic

háowú

háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {is not having} → [is not having even a little] 毫无 毫無) ← 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.]

I have long especially liked 1 Corinthians 13. It contains counsel on what really does and doesn’t matter in life, an extensive description and definition of the most important kind of love, and a sublime discussion about the need to become complete, mature, as a person. As these apply to life in general, so too do they apply to our lives as Mandarin field language learners.

As Mandarin field language learners, it can benefit us greatly to consider what we can learn from 1 Corinthians 13, and along the way, we can also consider some of the Mandarin expressions used in that chapter in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

“I Do Not Benefit at All”

This week’s MEotW, “háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {is not having} → [is not having even a little] 毫无 毫無)”, is used in verse 3 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_háowú_” in 1 Co. 13:3 (nwtsty, CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

(Dark mode for the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) website, as shown in the above image, can be enabled in the Safari web browser by using the Noir Safari extension. Other web browsers may also have extensions with similar functionality.)

In “háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {is not having} → [is not having even a little] 毫无 毫無)”, “háo ({[(even) a] fine hair [(of)]} | milli- 毫)” literally refers to a “fine hair”. As for “wú ({not having}; without; none; no | nothing 无 無/无)”, it means “not having; without; none; no”. So, “háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {is not having} → [is not having even a little] 毫无 毫無)” literally means “a fine hair is not having”, and effectively means “is not having even a little”. This is an interesting metaphor for emphasizing to us the ultimate futility of doing things out of pride and not out of love, things like focusing Mandarin field language-learning efforts on Chinese cultural traditions like characters rather than on how best to communicate the good news. As a metaphor, it reminds me of the English expression of not having even a shadow of a doubt about something.

Below are English and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus renditions showing how “háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {is not having} → [is not having even a little] 毫无 毫無)” is used in 1 Corinthians 13:3 in the current version of the Mandarin NWT Bible to correspond to “at all”, which is used in that verse in the current version of the English NWT Bible:

English:

And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算) biànmài (biàn·mài changing · sell → [sell off] 变卖 變賣) yíqiè (yí·qiè {one (whole)} · {corresponding (set of)} → [all] 一切) cáiwù (cái·wù wealth · things → [belongings] 财物 財物), ràng ({to allow} 让 讓) rén (people 人) yǒu ({to have} 有) shíwù (shí·wù eating · matter → [food] 食物) chī ({to eat} 吃 吃/喫), hái (also 还 還) shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up} · {(my) body} 舍身 捨身) juānqū (juān·qū {relinquish → [contribute]} · {(my) human body} 捐躯 捐軀), yǐcǐ (yǐ·cǐ using · this 以此) zìkuā (zì·kuā {(about) self} · {to boast} 自夸 自誇), què (but 却 卻) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · {do have} 没有 沒有) ài (love 爱 愛), zhè (this 这 這) duì (towards → [to] 对 對) wǒ (me 我) yě (even 也) háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {does not have} → [does not have even a little] 毫无 毫無) yìchu (yì·chu beneficial · place → [benefit] 益处 益處).

Having a Word, or Not

While the WOL puts a space between “háo ({[(even) a] fine hair [(of)]} | milli- 毫)” and “wú ({not having}; without; none; no | nothing 无 無/无)”, the dictionaries I have checked all treat this expression as one word, with no space between the two morphemes. So, that is how Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material renders “háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {is not having} → [is not having even a little] 毫无 毫無)”.

There seems to be a tendency in typical modern Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to render many two-morpheme expressions this way, combined into single words. With Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material, I have so far decided to go along with this common practice, since the resulting expressions are still relatively easy to read. However, I am not so accepting of extending this common practice to combining three, four, or even more morphemes into single words, with no spaces or even hyphens in them. Doing so produces long, undifferentiated strings of characters that are hard to parse, and thus hard to read and reason on. So, I have decided to generally break up such long expressions into one- or two-morpheme words separated by hyphens or spaces, depending on the situation.

For example, compare “bìbùkěshǎo (bì·bù·kě·shǎo certainly · not · {can; is able; could | may} · {be missing} 必不可少)” with “bì (certainly 必)‐bùkě (bù·kě not · {can; is able; could | may} → [cannot; is not able; could not | may not] 不可)‐shǎo ({[be] few; little} | {[be] less} | lack; {be deficient} | lose; {be missing} 少)”. While some of the few Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) traditionalists in existence may object to it, I think the latter rendering is much easier to read and reason on, so that is how Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material now renders this expression—one of the few good things about how commonly used Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not is that there is not really much established Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) tradition or common practice to be “trampled” on, allowing for more leeway for exploring beneficial innovations, compared to the situations with relatively ossified and hidebound writing systems like Chinese characters, or even the modern English writing system.

As for the PRC government’s official national standard for Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) orthography, with the designation GB/T 16159-2012, as discussed in the MEotW post on “diǎnliàng (diǎn·liàng {dot → [light (v); ignite]} · {to be bright} [→ [illuminate; shine light on]] 点亮 點亮)”, this is at most a set of recommendations that is not legally binding or anything like that, even in China itself.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

quèzáo

quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) ← 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 relatively 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.

Is That a Fact?

Many people today dogmatically declare, “Evolution is not just a theory, it’s a fact, a fact, I say, a fact!”

This week’s MEotW, “quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿)”, can be useful when discussing this subject. It can be seen in use in the last paragraph of section 1 of the Origin of Life brochure, which section is entitled, in English, “How Did Life Begin?”:

English:

Given the facts, are you willing to make such a leap? Before answering that question, take a closer look at the way a cell is made. Doing so will help you discern whether the theories some scientists propound about where life came from are sound or are as fanciful as the tales some parents tell about where babies come from.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Kànguo (Kàn·guo {looking at} · {having passed} → [having looked at] 看过 看過) yǐshàng (yǐ·shàng at · above’s 以上) shìshí (shì·shí matters · {being solid} → [facts] 事实 事實) zhīhòu (zhī·hòu it · {after (that)} 之后 之後), nǐ (you 你) xiāngxìn (xiāng·xìn it · {do believe (that)} → [do believe (that)] 相信) shēngmìng (life 生命) shì (was 是) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {given birth to → [produced]} · {given birth to → [caused to exist]} → [brought into being] 产生 產生) de ({’s (thing)} 的) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Huídá (Huí·dá {circling back} · {to answer} 回答) zhèige (zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) wèntí (wèn·tí asking · subject → [question] 问题 問題) zhīqián (zhī·qián it · {before (that)} 之前), qǐng (please 请 請) zǐxì (zǐ·xì {the young of domestic animals → [with attention to detail]} · {finely → [carefully]} 仔/子细 仔/子細) kànkan (kàn·kan {look at} · {look at} 看看) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞) de (’s 的) gòuzào (gòu·zào {constructing → [structure]} · making → [structure] 构造 構造). Zhèyàng (Zhè·yàng this · {form of → [way of]} 这样 這樣) zuò (doing 做) néng (can 能) bāngzhù (help 帮助 幫助) nǐ (you 你) kànchū (kàn·chū see · out 看出), yìxiē (yì·xiē one · {indefinite number of} → [some] 一些) kēxué‐jiā ((kē·xué {branches of study} · learning → [science] 科学 科學)‐(jiā -ists 家) → [scientists]) jiù (regarding 就) shēngmìng (life’s 生命) qǐyuán (qǐ·yuán {rising → [starting]} · source → [origin] 起源/原) tíchū (tí·chū {carry (hanging down from the hand) → [raise] → [refer to]} · out 提出) de (’s 的) lǐlùn (lǐ·lùn reasonings · {discussings → [theories]} → [theories] 理论 理論) jiūjìng (jiū·jìng {studied carefully → [actually]} · {in the end} 究竟) shì (are 是) zhèngjù ({(by) evidence} 证据 證/証據) quèzáo (què·záo firmly · chiselled → [(shown) to be irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) de ({’s (theories)} 的), háishi (hái·shi {still more → [or]} · are 还是 還是) xiàng (as 像/象) yǒuxiē (yǒu·xiē {(there) are having → [(there) are]} · some 有些) fùmǔ (fù·mǔ fathers · mothers 父母) jiěshì (jiě·shì {untying → [solving]} · explaining 解释 解釋) bǎobao (bǎo·bao treasures · treasures → [precious/darling babies] 宝宝 寶寶) cóng (from 从 從) nǎli (nǎ·li which · inside → [where] 哪里 哪裡/裏) lái (come 来 來) shí ({(particular) times} 时 時) suǒ ({those which (they)} 所) shuō (say 说 說/説) de ({’s (things)} 的) nàyàng (nà·yàng that · {form → [way]} 那样 那樣) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · having 没有 沒有) gēnjù (gēn·jù root · evidence → [basis] 根据 根據).

Looking at the morphemes in “quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿)”, “què (firmly; indeed; truly; really 确 確)” can mean “firmly” or “indeed”, and indeed, it appears in the expression “díquè (dí·què {in reality}; truly; really · indeed; truly; really; certainly 的确 的確)”, which means “indeed”. As for “záo (chisel (v or n) 凿 鑿)”, in this context, this expression means “chiselled”. Taken together then, the morphemes in “quèzáo (què·záo firmly; indeed; truly; really · {[is] chiselled} → [[is] [(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿)” literally mean something like “firmly chiselled”, and are used to effectively mean “[(shown) to be] conclusive; authentic; irrefutable”.

What Is Actually Rock Solid?

While evolution is believed in by many in the world today, the evidence, such as that discussed in the Origin of Life brochure, shows that it is actually creation that is zhèngjù ({(by) evidence} 证据 證/証據) quèzáo (què·záo firmly · chiselled → [(shown) to be irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) de ({’s (teaching)} 的), rock solid, as if chiselled in stone, firmly.

Similarly, in Mandarin language learning, many, because of the weight of long tradition and much worldly propaganda, believe in prioritizing Chinese characters, but it’s actually the modern linguistic principle that speech is primary, and writing is secondary that is zhèngjù ({(by) evidence} 证据 證/証據) quèzáo (què·záo firmly · chiselled → [(shown) to be irrefutable] 确凿 確鑿) de ({’s (teaching)} 的), by evidence from both modern linguistics and God’s Word itself.

For example, on their podcast called Lingthusiasm, linguists Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch said:

Lauren: I think that is one of the things that makes it really hard for people who grow up in highly literate, highly educated societies to tease writing and reading apart from language. But actually, when you step back, you realise that writing is actually super weird.

Gretchen: It’s so weird! It’s this interesting – it really is a technology. It’s a thing you do on top of language to do stuff with language, but it’s not the language itself. There are thousands and possibly millions of languages that have never been written down in the history of humanity. We have no idea. We’ve never met a society of humans, or heard of a society of humans, without language. But those are spoken and signed languages, which are just kind of there. Writing, by contrast, was invented somewhere between 3 and 4 times in the history of humanity.

Of course, in keeping with the rock solid, evidence-based Bible teaching that God created us, rather than saying that spoken languages “are just kind of there”, we would say that God purposely created us to primarily use language through his gift of speech. It’s not surprising then, that God’s Word the Bible contains the following passage at 1 Corinthians 14:8–11, which emphasizes the primary importance of understandable speech, while not bothering to even mention the mere human invention of writing:

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.

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
Current Events

zhèngzhì

zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治) ← 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.]

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the article “Political Violence—What Does the Bible Say?”. As the article says:

A wave of political violence is sweeping the world.

  • The assassination of a record-high 39 political candidates along with other forms of political violence has marred Mexico’s 2023-2024 election season.
  • Europe has recently witnessed numerous incidents of political violence, including the attempted assassination of the prime minister of Slovakia on May 15, 2024.
  • The United States has been shaken by the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump on July 13, 2024.

Incidentally, “former president Donald Trump” is translated in the Mandarin version of this article as “qián (former 前) zǒngtǒng (zǒng·tǒng {overall → [chief]} · {gathering together → [commanding]} (person) → [president] 总统 總統) Tèlǎngpǔ (Trump 特朗普) (Chuānpǔ (Trump (Tw) 川普))”.

Speaking of Trump and this year’s US presidential election, another, um, unusual development has been President Joe Biden’s recent announcement that he is ending his campaign for president, which will require a different Democratic presidential nominee to be selected and promoted in the relatively short time remaining before the election is to take place in November. In turbulent and uncertain times such as these, we as Jehovah’s people can especially appreciate that coming to know and accept the truth about the good news of God’s Kingdom frees us from the anxiety and concern that many in this world that is greatly affected by the USA’s political policies are undoubtedly feeling.—Daniel 2:44; John 8:32.

Anyway, where the English version of the above-mentioned jw.org article uses the word “political”, the Mandarin version generally uses this week’s MEotW, “zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治)”, which in other contexts can also be used as a noun that corresponds to “politics”. (Be careful not to confuse “zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治)” with “jīngjì (jīng·jì {managing [of]} · {crossing [of] a river → [helping]} → [economy | [is] economical | economic] 经济 經濟)”, which basically means “economy” or “economic”.)

Morphemic Breakdown and Related Expressions

The first morpheme in “zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治)” basically means “politics” or “political”, and it also appears in “zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府)”, which means “government”. Other expressions in which it appears include “zhèngcè (zhèng·cè political; government · {bamboo/wooden slip used for writing → [plan; scheme; strategy]} → [policy; political tactic] 政策)”, “zhèngquán (zhèng·quán political · power; authority [→ [regime]] 政权 政權)”, and “zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {catch; capture → [hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政)”.

The second morpheme in “zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治)” can mean “governing” or “ruling”, and it also appears in “tǒngzhì (tǒng·zhì {gather together → [command]} · rule (v) | {gathering together → [commanding]} · ruling → [rule] 统治 統治)”. Another sort of related meaning that this morpheme has is “treat; cure”, which likely comes from its meaning of “manage”. For example, it’s used this way in “zhìbìng (zhì·bìng {manage → [treat; cure]} · disease; illness; sickness 治病)” and in “zhìliáo (zhì·liáo {managing → [treating; curing]} · treating; curing [→ [medical treatment; cure]] 治疗 治療)”.

Usage Examples

Here are a couple of examples of “zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治)” in use, taken from the above-mentioned jw.org article:

English:

Political Violence—What Does the Bible Say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Zhèngzhì (Zhèng·zhì Political · Governing → [Political] 政治) Bàolì (Bào·lì Violent · Force → [Violence] 暴力) Shìjiàn (Shì·jiàn Incidents · [mw] 事件) Huì (Will 会 會) Yǒu (Have 有) Zhōngzhǐ (Zhōng·zhǐ Ending · Stopping 终止 終止) de (’s 的) Yì (One 一) Tiān (Sky → [Day] 天) Ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

English:

Why is there so much political violence? Will it ever end? What does the Bible say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Wèishénme (Wèi·shén·me for · what · [suf] → [why] 为什么 為什/甚麼) yǒu ({are (there) having} → [are (there)] 有) zhème (zhè·me this · [suf for interrogatives and adverbs] 这么/末 這麼/末) duō (many 多) zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì political · governing → [political] 政治) bàolì (bào·lì violent · force → [violence] 暴力) shìjiàn (shì·jiàn incidents · [mw] 事件) ne ([? ptcl] 呢)? Zhèixiē (Zhèi·xiē this · {indefinite number of} → [these] 这些 這些) shìqing (shì·qing events · situations 事情) huì (will 会 會) yǒu (have 有) zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ ending · stopping 终止 終止) de (’s 的) yì (one 一) tiān (sky → [day] 天) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) zěnme (zěn·me what · [suf] 怎么 怎麼/麽) shuō ({does say} 说 說/説)?