Tag: Chinese Culture

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Culture Language Learning

biāozhǔn

biāozhǔn (biāo·zhǔn [(conforming to)] mark[s] · standard[s] → [[(conforming to)] standard[s]; criteria] 标准 標準) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

In Western culture, especially American culture, it seems, the way to give the best compliments involves exaggeration. For example, one might say,

“That person gave 110%!”

In contrast, for a Mandarin field language-learner, the best compliment from a Chinese person is often

“Nǐ (you 你) shuōde (shuō·de speak · getting 说得 說得) hěn ({very much} 很) biāozhǔn (biāo·zhǔn (to be conforming to) mark · standard → [(to be conforming to) standard] 标准 標準)!”

That literally means that the language-learner’s speech hit the mark, and matched up to the standard well—matched, not exceeded.

Different cultures, different calibrations—understanding that will help us to take people’s comments the right way. For example, if you manage to move a Chinese person to say that your Mandarin is very “biāozhǔn (biāo·zhǔn [(conforming to)] mark[s] · standard[s] → [[(conforming to)] standard[s]; criteria] 标准 標準)”, the meaning is not that you are doing okay, so-so, but failing to excel. Rather, the meaning is that you are doing very well indeed!

Categories
Culture History Language Learning Technology

zhǐnán‐zhēn

zhǐnán‐zhēn ((zhǐ·nán {(points with) finger → [points]} · south 指南)‐(zhēn needle 针 針) → [compass]) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Jehovah’s organization has pointed out that it is significant that the Psalms rhyme in meaning, whether or not the words rhyme in sound.

The July 15, 1979 issue of The Watchtower expresses it this way:

THE book of Psalms constituted the book of poetry and song of the ancient Hebrew nation. …The poetry was not based on the rhyming of words, nor altogether on meter. Often, there is parallelism in thought, sometimes synonymous, sometimes contrasting. This enables the mind and the spirit of the reader to follow the thought smoothly so that much better understanding and motivation result.

Similarly, while many Westerners especially may be fascinated by the Chinese characters usually used to write Mandarin words, characters are ultimately merely superficial visual representations, as are idols used in idol worship. A much more truly meaningful (pun totally intended) benefit to Westerners of learning Mandarin words involves learning about the meanings of those Mandarin words, and how they reveal the contrastingly different ways that Chinese people have thought about things. As 2 Corinthians 4:18 says:

while we keep our eyes, not on the things seen, but on the things unseen. For the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are everlasting.

One classic example of the contrastingly different ways that Chinese people have thought about things is this week’s MEotW, “zhǐnán‐zhēn ((zhǐ·nán {(points with) finger → [points]} · south 指南)‐(zhēn needle 针 針) → [compass])”. While Westerners think of a compass as having a needle that points north, the literal meaning of the Mandarin word “zhǐnán‐zhēn ((zhǐ·nán {(points with) finger → [points]} · south 指南)‐(zhēn needle 针 針) → [compass])” is “points south needle”. Did the Chinese get it wrong? Are Westerners wrong? Neither! The fact is that as one end of a compass needle points north, the other end simultaneously points south. So, in this case, Westerners and Chinese people are both right—they’re just looking at the same thing from different points of view.

Sometimes, considering a different point of view, a different perspective, can help give one the mental—or even emotional—leverage needed to make a leap of progress that one would not otherwise make, if one was limited to one way of looking at things.

The fact that different languages come from different cultures, with their different perspectives and ways of thinking, is also why there is truth in the quote from Charlemagne that “to have another language is to possess a second soul.” (Of course, we know that by “soul” he meant what is described in the Insight on the Scriptures book entry for “Spirit”, under the subheading “Impelling Mental Inclination”.)

A Great Invention

Speaking of the compass, it’s also noteworthy that the compass is one of what are called the Four Great Inventions (Sì (Four 四) Dà (Big → [Great] 大) Fāmíng (Fā·míng {Sendings Out → [Bringings into Existence]} · {to Be Distinct} → [Inventions] 发明 發明)) from ancient China.

Chinese compass held at Queensland Museum c. 1938
Chinese compass held at Queensland Museum c. 1938
Creative Commons Public Domain logo

As the Wikipedia article on the compass summarizes for us:

Among the Four Great Inventions, the magnetic compass was first invented as a device for divination as early as the Chinese Han Dynasty (since c. 206 BC),[source][source] and later adopted for navigation by the Song Dynasty Chinese during the 11th century.[source][source][source] The first usage of a compass recorded in Western Europe and the Islamic world occurred around 1190.[source][source]

So, maybe the Chinese actually got first dibs on getting to say which way a compass needle points, for whatever that’s worth, considering that a compass needle simultaneously points in two opposite directions. 😄

But Wait, There’s More!

In addition to the weirdness about a compass needle pointing both north and south simultaneously, I found the below weirdness summarized in the Wikipedia article on the North Magnetic Pole:

All magnets have two poles, where the lines of magnetic flux enter and emerge. By analogy with Earth’s magnetic field, these are called the magnet’s “north” and “south” poles. The convention in early compasses was to call the end of the needle pointing to Earth’s North Magnetic Pole the “north pole” (or “north-seeking pole”) and the other end the “south pole” (the names are often abbreviated to “N” and “S”). Because opposite poles attract, this definition means that Earth’s North Magnetic Pole is actually a magnetic south pole and Earth’s South Magnetic Pole is a magnetic north pole.[source][source]

Categories
Culture Language Learning Theocratic

jiàodǎo

jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導) ← 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 (nwt) 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.

Learning the Easy Way

One type of change that we should be aware of is that with the passage of time, the meanings of certain words change. This happens with Mandarin just as it does with English and other languages—some Chinese people like to think that Chinese people are exceptional or different, that Chinese culture has survived for thousands of years, etc., but as a Chinese person, I can confirm that Chinese people are human too! 🙋🏻‍♂️

One example of a Mandarin word that is now taken to mean something different compared to before is “jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error] 教训 教訓)”. This word literally just means “teaching”, but now, it has commonly come to particularly mean “reprimanding” or “knowledge gained from an error”, which reminds me of the English expression “to learn a lesson”.

Now, in the current Mandarin New World Translation Bible, when a scripture refers to a teaching or principle that is taught, and not to what “jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error] 教训 教訓)” has come to mean, “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)”, this week’s MEotW, is used instead of “jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error] 教训 教訓)”. (Mǎkě (Mark 马可 馬可) Fúyīn (Fú·yīn Blessings · News 福音) 11:18)

[Verb]ing

One interesting thing to note about “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)” (and about “jiàoxun (teaching → [reprimanding | knowledge gained from an error] 教训 教訓)”, for that matter) is that their component morphemes seem to basically be verbs. In certain contexts, however, they are used as nouns. An example of this being done in English is that “teach” and “teaching” are verbs (e.g. “Jesus was teaching the crowd.”), but in certain contexts, “teaching” is used as a noun (e.g. “The crowd was amazed at the teaching Jesus shared with them.”). When a word is used this way, it’s called a verbal noun, or a gerundial noun. Verbal nouns are quite common in Mandarin.