Tag: Chinese Characters

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Culture Current Events Technology Theocratic

bàogào

bàogào (bào·gào reporting · telling → [reporting; making known | report; speech; lecture; talk] 报告 報告) ← 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 a news item with the following headline:

English:

Adjustments to Field Service Reporting

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Guānyú (Guān·yú {Closing → [Relating]} · to 关于 關於) Tiánxiě (Tián·xiě {Filling Out} · Writing 填写 填寫) Chuándào (chuán·dào Spreading · Way → [Preaching] 传道 傳道) Bàogào (Bào·gào Reporting · Telling → [Report] 报告 報告) de (’s 的) Gǎibiàn (Changings 改变 改變)

This week’s MEotW, “bàogào (bào·gào reporting · telling → [reporting; making known | report; speech; lecture; talk] 报告 報告)”, is used above to mean “report”.

Telling Reports

The “bào (reporting; announcing; declaring [→ [newspaper; periodical; bulletin; report]] | reply; respond; reciprocate | recompensing; repaying; requiting [→ [revenge; retribution | reward]] 报 報)” in “bàogào (bào·gào reporting · telling → [reporting; making known | report; speech; lecture; talk] 报告 報告)” basically means “reporting”. Unsurprisingly, it also makes an appearance in “bàozhǐ (bào·zhǐ reporting · paper → [newspaper] 报纸 報紙)”, the Mandarin word for “newspaper”, and it can even be used as an abbreviation for that word and mean “newspaper” all by itself.

The “gào (tell; inform; notify; explain | accuse; sue; {take sb. to court} | {ask for}; request 告)” in “bàogào (bào·gào reporting · telling → [reporting; making known | report; speech; lecture; talk] 报告 報告)” means “telling” in this context, and it’s also the “gào (tell; inform; notify; explain | accuse; sue; {take sb. to court} | {ask for}; request 告)” in the well-known expression “gàosu (tell 告诉 告訴)”.

While “bàogào (bào·gào reporting · telling → [reporting; making known | report; speech; lecture; talk] 报告 報告)” can be used as a verb, and while both of its morphemes are basically verbs, “bàogào (bào·gào reporting · telling → [reporting; making known | report; speech; lecture; talk] 报告 報告)” can also be used as a noun, as it is in the above-quoted headline. In such cases, it’s a verbal noun, or a gerundial noun.

Changing Technologies

Technologies? What technologies? Weren’t we just talking about field service reports? Well, what’s a technology, actually? Does it necessarily involve digital electronics? The article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A” touches on this basic question of what a technology is:

The word “technology” comes from the Greek words tekhnē (skill) and logiā (from logos, meaning word, speech), so at its root a technology is a set of words or speech (and thus the thoughts they represent) about a certain kind of skill—“skill speech”.

And what is a skill? A skill can be defined as a “capacity to do something well; technique, ability”. So, at root, a technology—a set of “skill speech”—involves a set of thoughts about a technique or an ability to do something, and hopefully, do it well.

How does that relate to field service reports? Well, field service reports are designed to have the ability to do something, are they not? In the case of field service reports, they are designed to enable the passing on of the information that the organization considers to be worth having about the field service activity of individual publishers. Since they are constructs designed to have the ability to do something, it can be said that field service reports are a technology, and if life in the modern era has taught us anything, it’s that technologies change as people keep searching for better and better ways of doing things. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that field service reports occasionally change, just like other technologies do.

Advancing Cultural Technologies

As Mandarin field language learners, it may benefit us to consider what the above-quoted article goes on to say about technologies:

Thus, it would be appropriate to think of writing systems, and even languages themselves, as cultural technologies. (Interestingly, they are technologies, or sets of “skill speech”, involving speech itself, and thus they are of basic, foundational importance to any and all other technologies, or sets of “skill speech”.) As cultural technologies, languages like Mandarin and writing systems like the Hànzì and Pīnyīn should be allowed and encouraged to progress, like other technologies are allowed and encouraged—expected, in fact—to progress for the benefit of all and not remain stagnant.

Yes, like the newspapers mentioned above have had to adapt to remain relevant as cultural technologies, it would be good for cultural technologies like languages and writing systems to continue to adapt and progress as well, so that those of us who use them can continue to benefit from them as much as we should be able to.

So, when it comes to field service reports, Chinese characters, or anything else related to our service to Jehovah, rather than indulging in nostalgia and clinging to the past, we should cultivate this attitude that the Bible advocates at Philippians 3:13, 14:

…Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead, I am pressing on toward the goal for the prize…

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Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

mìmì

mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

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).

Secrets

This week’s MEotW, “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)”, is used in verse 2 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “mìmì” in 1 Co. 13:2 (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.)

While the two morphemes in “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)” sound the same, they are different morphemes, with different meanings. The first one, “mì ({secret (n)} [→ [secretary (abbr.)]] | {[is] secret; mysterious; difficult to understand; obscure} [→ [[is] seldom seen; rare]] | {keep sth. secret; hold sth. back} [→ [block; obstruct]] 秘 秘/祕)”, here means “secret” (used as an adjective). Interestingly, this “mì ({secret (n)} [→ [secretary (abbr.)]] | {[is] secret; mysterious; difficult to understand; obscure} [→ [[is] seldom seen; rare]] | {keep sth. secret; hold sth. back} [→ [block; obstruct]] 秘 秘/祕)” also appears in “mìshū (mì·shū secret · documents (person) → [secretary] 秘书 秘書)”, which means “secretary”, and it can be used as an abbreviation for “secretary”. (Yes, in both English and Mandarin, the word for “secretary” is based on the word for “secret”. So, be nice to office secretaries, congregation secretaries, etc. everywhere, since they are literally keepers of secrets!)

The second morpheme in “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)”, “mì ({[is] dense; thick} [[→ [[is] intimate; close] [→ [[is] secret; confidential]]] | [→ [[is] fine; meticulous]]] 密)”, literally means “dense; thick”, and can effectively mean “intimate; close”. (Compare the English expression “thick as thieves”.) That meaning, in turn, can effectively mean “secret” (used as an adjective), which is how it is used in “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)”. Another expression in which it’s used that way is “mìmǎ (mì·mǎ {dense → [intimate] → [secret]} · {sth. indicating a number} → [cipher; code | password; PIN] 密码 密碼)”, which can mean “code”. For example, the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure uses “yíchuán (yí·chuán {leaving behind} · {passing on} → [genetic] 遗传 遺傳) mìmǎ (mì·mǎ {dense → [intimate] → [secret]} · {sth. indicating a number} → [code] 密码 密碼)” to translate “genetic code”. (Compare: English WOL, CHS+Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus.)

Exotic East Syndrome

Speaking of secrets, some may be fascinated by the seemingly secret knowledge of the Chinese characters. However, 1 Corinthians 13:2 tells us that even understanding “all the sacred secrets and all knowledge” means nothing if one does not have love, and while Chinese characters may seem alluringly secret and mysterious to those looking on from outside the culture, they certainly are not sacred. Only things from God are sacred, and Chinese characters are the unnecessarily complex, haphazardly designed, highly imperfect products of mere imperfect humans.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
—1 Corinthians 13:2.

Regarding this tendency of some to exoticize Chinese characters and other aspects of Chinese culture, the MEotW post on “jī‐tóng‐yā‐jiǎng ((jī chicken 鸡 雞/鷄)‐(tóng {together with} 同 同/仝)‐(yā duck 鸭 鴨)‐(jiǎng speaking 讲 講) → [people not understanding each other because of speaking different languages (from Cantonese)])” pointed out:

Western-educated publishers learning a Chinese language may unwittingly go along with the Western worldly tendency to exoticize things related to China. (John DeFrancis, in his book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (p. 37), calls this “Exotic East Syndrome”.) They may be content with—or even enjoy—the alluring veil of mystery and mystique surrounding certain things related to China and Chinese culture. Thus, they don’t seek to learn about and understand deeper truths about such things, that may pierce through this obscuring veil, and burst this bubble.—Compare 2 Corinthians 3:14, including the margin note.

Secrets and Identities

It is of course possible for one to have a balanced approach to Chinese characters, in which love moves one to seek to acquire whatever knowledge of characters is needed to serve effectively in the Chinese field that one is in. Many take the approach of using a system like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) when they can, and learning to use characters when they have to. However, regarding how personally and emotionally important to them their knowledge of the secrets of Chinese characters has become to some people, the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A” said:

In addition to those who feel that phasing out the Hànzì would be a regrettable cultural loss, I have also noticed that there are some for whom knowledge of Hànzì is a matter of pride and self-identity. They are proud of knowing the Hànzì as they do, and they view their knowledge of the Hànzì as part of what makes them who they are, as something that distinguishes them from those who don’t know the Hànzì. Such ones may defend the Hànzì to the point of irrationality in the face of a more accessible alternative that would make them and their hard-earned knowledge of Hànzì less “special”, that would threaten to render worthless all of the blood, sweat, and tears they have invested into grappling with these “Chinese puzzles”. It’s as if they are saying, “That’s not fair! If I had to go through all this bitter hard work to learn characters before I could read and write Chinese, then everyone else has to too!”

…

…during the 2014 Stanford Commencement address, Bill Gates said:

If we have optimism, but we don’t have empathy, then it doesn’t matter how much we master the secrets of science, we’re not really solving problems—we’re just working on puzzles.

Mr. Gates’ above observation applies to the subject at hand in that while many enjoy trying to solve the puzzles presented by Chinese characters, and while many also enjoy being known for being good at solving these puzzles, empathy should move us to recognize that there are much bigger issues involved than just our personal enjoyment or glorification.

Yes, when even some worldly people can recognize the above points, we Christians should recognize even more the need to show love and empathy rather than being proud, self-glorifying, self-justifying, and self-serving. Also, we should be actively and determinedly following the course of true Christian love and empathy rather than just going along with others who are proud, self-glorifying, self-justifying, and self-serving. We should especially do so when we have scriptures such as this to guide us:

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.—1 Corinthians 8:1.

Love and AI

As touched on in the MEotW post on “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)”, lately there has been much discussion in the media about the recent developments in AI (artificial intelligence). AI systems can now be given access to lots and lots of human knowledge, but I don’t think anyone can reasonably claim that modern AI systems have been taught to have love the way the Bible says we need to have love. And so, many continue to worry about AIs falling out of alignment with humans and maybe even harming humans, maybe even to the point of extinction. Yes, as God’s Word pointed out long ago in 1 Corinthians 13:2, if one has much knowledge, even of secrets, but does not have love (Greek: a·gaʹpe), it is ultimately of no benefit. Indeed, without love to guide its use, that knowledge could actually be used to bring great harm!

Categories
Culture Current Events Language Learning Theocratic

huánjìng

huánjìng (huán·jìng surrounding; encircling · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} → [environment; surroundings; circumstances; situation; context | environmental] 环境 環境) ← 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, the main page of jw.org was featuring the following headline in support of a global campaign:

English

Can the Environment Be Saved?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Huánjìng (Huán·jìng Surrounding · {(Set of) Boundaries → [(Bounded) Area] → [Situation]} → [Environmental] 环境 環境) Wèntí (Wèn·tí Asking · Problems → [Problems] 问题 問題) Yǒu ({Will Have} 有) Jiějué (Jiě·jué {Having Been Untied → [Having Been Solved]} · {Having Been Decided} → [Having Been Solved] 解决 解決) de (’s 的) Yì (One 一) Tiān (Sky → [Day] 天) Ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

Screenshot of jw.org (CHS) on 2023-09-16, with _“环境 (Huánjìng)”_ circled

“Huánjìng (Huán·jìng surrounding; encircling · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} → [environment; surroundings; circumstances; situation; context | environmental] 环境 環境)”, which is used in Mandarin to mean “environment” or “environmental”, is this week’s MEotW.

Morphemic Breakdown

How does “huánjìng (huán·jìng surrounding; encircling · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} → [environment; surroundings; circumstances; situation; context | environmental] 环境 環境)” “work” as an expression? Its first morpheme “huán ({(chain) link} | ring; circle | surround; encircle 环 環)” refers to a “ring” or a “circle”, for example, a link in a chain. In fact, it used to be used on our organization’s publications’ Publishers’ Pages to correspond to the “part” in “part of a worldwide Bible educational work”, by referring to the publication as a figurative link in a chain. An example can be seen in the screenshot below, which shows part of the Publishers’ Page for the Mandarin Bible Teach book:

Screenshot of _Bible Teach_ book Publishers’ Page (CHS+_Pīnyīn_) on the WOL, with “环 (_huán_)” circled

In the context of “huánjìng (huán·jìng surrounding; encircling · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} → [environment; surroundings; circumstances; situation; context | environmental] 环境 環境)”, “huán ({(chain) link} | ring; circle | surround; encircle 环 環)” means “surrounding” or “encircling”, like a ring or a circle around someone would be.

The other morpheme, “jìng ({[(set of)] boundaries; borders} [→ [[(bounded)] place; area; territory] [→ [condition; situation; circumstances]]] 境)”, literally means “boundary” or “border”, and can be used to effectively mean “a set of boundaries/borders”. This, in turn, can effectively mean “(bounded) place; area; territory”, which can effectively mean “condition; situation; circumstances”.

When the two morphemes are put together in “huánjìng (huán·jìng surrounding; encircling · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} → [environment; surroundings; circumstances; situation; context | environmental] 环境 環境)”, they mean something like “surrounding situation”, which works to mean “environment”.

Another expression in which “jìng ({[(set of)] boundaries; borders} [→ [[(bounded)] place; area; territory] [→ [condition; situation; circumstances]]] 境)” appears is past MEotW “yǔjìng (yǔ·jìng language · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place] → [situation]} → [context] 语境 語境)”, which means “language situation”, which means “context”, as in the textual context of a written expression, or the spoken context of something that is said. As discussed in that post and in other posts, such context, not characters, is the real key to dealing with the many homophones in Mandarin.

Another Usage Example

Coming back to “huánjìng (huán·jìng surrounding; encircling · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} → [environment; surroundings; circumstances; situation; context | environmental] 环境 環境)”, the section of jw.org currently containing the above-quoted headline links to an article (English/Mandarin) that contains the nice usage example below:

English:

The Bible speaks of a government that can and will solve all the earth’s environmental problems. It says that “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom,” a government to administer all of earth’s affairs. (Daniel 2:44) Under that world government, people “will not cause any harm or any ruin” to one another or to the earth.—Isaiah 11:9.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) tándào (tán·dào {talks about} · {arriving at} 谈到 談到) yǒu ({(there) is having} → [(there) is] 有) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府) kěyǐ (kě·yǐ able · [suf] 可以) chèdǐ (chè·dǐ {penetrating to} · bottom → [thoroughly] 彻底 徹/澈底) jiějué (jiě·jué {to untie → [to solve]} · {to decide} → [to solve] 解决 解決) dìqiú (dì·qiú earth · globe 地球) de (’s 的) huánjìng (huán·jìng surrounding · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) area] → [situation]} → [environmental] 环境 環境) wèntí (wèn·tí asking · problems → [problems] 问题 問題). Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) shuō (says 说 說/説): “Tiānshang (Tiān·shang heaven · upon 天上) de (’s 的) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) yào (will 要) shèlì (shè·lì {set up} · {make to stand} 设立 設立) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/箇/个) yǒngbú (yǒng·bú forever · not 永不) mièwáng (miè·wáng {will be extinguished} · {will die} 灭亡 滅亡) de (’s 的) wángguó (wáng·guó king’s · nation → [kingdom] 王国 王國).” (Dànyǐlǐshū (Dànyǐlǐ·shū Daniel · Book 但以理书 但以理書) 2:44) Zhèige (Zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) huì (will 会 會) tǒngzhì (tǒng·zhì {gather together → [command]} · rule 统治 統治) zhěnggè (zhěng·gè whole · [mw] 整个 整個) dìqiú (dì·qiú earth · globe 地球). Zài (at 在) zhèige (zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) de (’s 的) tǒngzhì (tǒng·zhì {gathering together → [commanding]} · ruling → [rule] 统治 統治) xià (under 下), búhuì (bú·huì (there) not · will → [(there) will not] 不会 不會) zài (anymore 再) yǒu ({be having} → [be] 有) rén (people 人) pòhuài (pò·huài damaging · {to be ruined} 破坏 破壞) huánjìng (huán·jìng surrounding · {(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) area] → [situation]} → [environment] 环境 環境) huò (or 或) shānghài (shāng·hài hurting · harming 伤害 傷害) qítā (qí·tā them · otherwise’s → [other] 其他) rén (people 人). (Yǐsàiyàshū (Yǐsàiyà·shū Isaiah · Book 以赛亚书 以賽亞書) 11:9)

(For reference, here are the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus links for the scriptures cited above: Dànyǐlǐshū (Dànyǐlǐ·shū Daniel · Book 但以理书 但以理書) 2:44; Yǐsàiyàshū (Yǐsàiyà·shū Isaiah · Book 以赛亚书 以賽亞書) 11:9.)