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Culture History Languages

Hànyǔ

Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language [→ [(Modern Standard) Mandarin]] 汉语 漢語) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This is the expression commonly used by normal people, and also linguists 😁 (just kidding, linguists are great, especially for informing a language-oriented blog like this), to refer to (Modern Standard) Mandarin.

The expression “Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language [→ [(Modern Standard) Mandarin]] 汉语 漢語)” is so commonly used and officially recognized that it shows up in the longer, more official names for Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音):

  • Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin] 汉语 漢語) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)
  • Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin] 汉语 漢語) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Fāng’àn (Fāng’·àn {Direction → [Method]} · {Long, Narrow Table Or Desk → [Plan]} 方案)

“Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language [→ [(Modern Standard) Mandarin]] 汉语 漢語)” literally means “Han language”. Who are the Han, and how do they relate to China and things Chinese?

Wikipedia gives us the following summarizations about the Han:

The Han Chinese,[source][source][source] Hanzu,[source][source][source] or Han people[source][source][source][source] (UK: /hæn/,[source] US: /hɑːn/;[source] simplified Chinese: 汉人; traditional Chinese: 漢人; pinyin: Hànrén[source][source] or simplified Chinese: 汉族; traditional Chinese: 漢族; pinyin: Hànzú)[source][source][source] are an East Asian ethnic group and nation, historically native to the Yellow River Basin region of modern China.[source][source][source][source][source] They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive varieties of the Chinese language.[source][source] The estimated 1.4 billion Han Chinese people are mostly concentrated in mainland China, where they make up about 92% of the total population.[source]
The Han dynasty is considered to be one of the first great eras in Chinese history, as it made China the major regional power in East Asia and projected much of its influence on its neighbours, comparable to the contemporary Roman Empire in population size, geographical and cultural reach.[source][source][source] The Han dynasty's prestige and prominence influenced many of the ancient Huaxia to begin identifying themselves as "The People of Han".[source][source][source][source][source] To this day, the Han Chinese have since taken their ethnic name from this dynasty and the Chinese script is referred to as "Han characters".[source][source][source]

Being by far the largest ethnic group in China, while not being the only one, the Han are the dominant cultural force in China. When people think of Chinese culture, they are generally thinking of Han culture. (Note that “ethnic group” is defined as “a community or population made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent”, so culture figures heavily in what makes an ethnic group what it is.)

Unfortunately, politics sometimes raises its ugly head in language matters, and so it is worth noting that in some situations, there may be political implications of using “Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language [→ [(Modern Standard) Mandarin]] 汉语 漢語)” or one of the other ways to refer to (Modern Standard) Mandarin in Mandarin. For more information, see these posts on the excellent Language Log blog:

Posts on this Mandarin Expression of the Week blog about other Mandarin expressions used to refer to (Modern Standard) Mandarin can be viewed using the link for the Mandarin tag.

Categories
History Languages

Huáyǔ

Huáyǔ (Huá·yǔ {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Singapore)] 华语 華語) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This is the expression commonly used in Singapore to refer to (Modern Standard) Mandarin.

The “Huá (magnificent; splendid; flowery; florescent [→ [Chinese]] 华 華)” in “Huáyǔ (Huá·yǔ {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Singapore)] 华语 華語)” is, incidentally, the “huá (magnificent; splendid; flowery; florescent [→ [Chinese]] 华 華)” in “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)”, in which it is mainly used for its sound. “Huá (magnificent; splendid; flowery; florescent [→ [Chinese]] 华 華)” seems to have a root meaning of “flower” or “flowery”, and is used in several expressions to mean “China” or “Chinese”. In addition to “Huáyǔ (Huá·yǔ {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Singapore)] 华语 華語)”, some other examples are:

  • Zhōnghuá (Zhōng·huá Central · Flower → [China] 中华 中華)
  • Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghé Guó ((Zhōng·huá Central · Flower → [China] 中华 中華) (Rén·mín People’s 人民) (Gònghé Guó (Gòng·hé Shared · Harmony → [Republic] 共和) (Guó Nation 国 國) → [Republic]) → [People’s Republic of China])
  • Zhōnghuá Mínguó ((Zhōng·huá Central · Flower → [China] 中华 中華) (Mín·guó People’s · Nation 民国 民國) → [Republic of China (Taiwan)])
  • Huárén (Huá·rén {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · {People | Person[s] | Man/Men} 华人 華人)
  • Huáqiáo (Huá·qiáo {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · {Living Abroad (People/Person[s])} → [overseas Chinese people/person[s]] 华侨 華僑)

Wikipedia summarizes that “huá (magnificent; splendid; flowery; florescent [→ [Chinese]] 华 華)” used in connection with China is short for “Huáxià (Huá·xià Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent · {Summer → [Xià (Dynasty)]} → [historical concept representing the Chinese nation and civilization] 华夏 華夏)”, an expression that dates back millennia:

Huaxia is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation and civilization
Huaxia refers to a confederation of tribes—living along the Yellow River—who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic group in China[source][source]. During the Warring States (475–221 BCE), the self-awareness of the Huaxia identity developed and took hold in ancient China.[source]
The term Huaren (華人) for a Chinese person is an abbreviation of Huaxia with ren (人, person).[source] Huaren in general is used for people of Chinese ethnicity, in contrast to Zhongguoren (中國人) which usually (but not always) refers to citizens of China.[source] Although some may use Zhongguoren to refer to the Chinese ethnicity, such usage is not accepted by some in Taiwan.[source] In overseas Chinese communities in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, Huaren or Huaqiao (overseas Chinese) is used as they are not citizens of China.[source][source]

Interestingly, since “huá (magnificent; splendid; flowery; florescent [→ [Chinese]] 华 華)” can mean “flower”, and since the roots of referring to Chinese people as “Huárén (Huá·rén {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · {People | Person[s] | Man/Men} 华人 華人)” go back millennia, that means that Chinese people were “flower people” long before the hippies of the West were!

Unfortunately, politics sometimes raises its ugly head in language matters, and so it is worth noting that in some situations, there may be political implications of using “Huáyǔ (Huá·yǔ {Magnificent; Splendid; Flowery; Florescent → [Chinese]} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Singapore)] 华语 華語)” or one of the other ways to refer to (Modern Standard) Mandarin in Mandarin. For more information, see these posts on the excellent Language Log blog:

Posts on this Mandarin Expression of the Week blog about other Mandarin expressions used to refer to (Modern Standard) Mandarin can be viewed using the link for the Mandarin tag.

Categories
Names Theocratic

Xiǎo Mò

Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

I highly, highly enjoyed the character-driven dramatizations in the Saturday sessions of this year’s convention that featured Neeta the Neat Freak and Jade the Jaded Young Person. (They start at about the 19:46 mark of the video for the first Saturday session.) I found them especially well-written, well-acted, etc., resulting in them being very believable, insightful, funny, and moving.

In the corresponding Mandarin videos, Jade is named “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)”. (You can hear this starting at about the 21:40 mark of this video.)

Jade tells Neeta her name (with Mandarin subtitle)
“Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)”

“Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” obviously does not sound like “Jade”, so as with “Ānnà (Anna 安娜)” (a previous MEotW) for “Neeta”, “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” was instead chosen for the meaning it suggests in Mandarin, similarly to how in English, “Neeta” suggests “neat” and “Jade” suggests “jaded”.

The “Xiǎo (small; little; petty; minor [→ [young | concubine | I; my; our]] 小)” in “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” means “Little”, and is often used in Mandarin nicknames or pet names. A pet name is defined as “a name that is used instead of someone’s usual first name to express fondness or familiarity”, but sometimes in Mandarin “Xiǎo (small; little; petty; minor [→ [young | concubine | I; my; our]] 小)” is placed in front of someone’s real first name to form a nickname or pet name, kind of like how “John” was the real first name of Robin Hood’s friend Little John. (Well, it was at least as real a first name as a legendary figure can have 😄. Speaking of which, in the Mandarin convention dramatizations, Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠) only seems to have been called “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)”, so it’s hard to say if “Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” was a “real” name of that character, or if it was a made-up nickname.)

One difference between “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” and “Little John” though is that while “Little John” was an ironic nickname for a man who was supposedly actually unusually tall, “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” is used to refer to someone who actually is relatively little—Eastern cultures overall seem less into irony than some Western cultures are. Interestingly, speaking of littleness, the English word “diminutive”, which usually means “unusually small”, can also have a meaning similar to “nickname” or “pet name”.

The “Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” in “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” has a basic meaning of “desert”—it’s the “mò (desert [→ [[is] aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached]] 漠)” in “shāmò (shā·mò sand · desert → [desert] 沙漠)”. As Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠) herself explains, it’s also the “mò (desert [→ [[is] aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached]] 漠)” in “lěngmò (lěng·mò {[is] cold} · {[is a] desert → [[is] aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached]} 冷漠)”.

Jade explains her name (with Mandarin subtitles)
“Lěngmò (Lěng·mò {[is] cold} · {[is a] desert → [[is] aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached]} 冷漠) de (’s 的) ‘mò (desert [→ [[is] aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached]] 漠)’ ”

Why would “lěngmò (lěng·mò {[is] cold} · {[is a] desert → [[is] aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached]} 冷漠)” associate “cold” with “desert”? Deserts actually don’t have to be hot, like the Sahara Desert is. Deserts can also be cold overall, as is the Gobi Desert that covers parts of northern China. What makes a desert a desert is that it is very dry.

With “desert” as its basic meaning, “mò (desert [→ [[is] aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached]] 漠)” can also mean “aloof; cold; indifferent; unconcerned; detached”. Interestingly, in harmony with deserts being dry, Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠) exhibits what Westerners would call a dry sense of humour.

In several meaningful ways then, “Xiǎo (Little 小) Mò (Desert → [Indifferent] 漠)” is a very fitting Mandarin name for Jade the Jaded Young Person. The team that translated these dramatizations into Mandarin certainly did a good, thoughtful job!