Tag: Chinese Culture

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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
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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]

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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.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Languages Science

yǔzú

yǔzú (yǔ·zú language · {ethnic group → [group of things with common characteristics] → [group]} 语族 語族) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

While “language family” seems to be a commonly accepted linguistic term, there does not seem to be universal consensus on what terms to use for subdivisions of language families. This is suggested by the wording used in the Wikipedia article on language families, under the subheading “Structure of a family”:

Language families can be divided into smaller phylogenetic units, conventionally referred to as branches of the family because the history of a language family is often represented as a tree diagram. A family is a monophyletic unit; all its members derive from a common ancestor, and all attested descendants of that ancestor are included in the family. …

Some taxonomists restrict the term family to a certain level, but there is little consensus in how to do so. Those who affix such labels also subdivide branches into groups, and groups into complexes.

So, it seems that one common—but not universal—language classification scheme is:

  • family > branch > group > complex…

In contrast, noted American sinologist and University of Pennsylvania Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Victor H. Mair, in his article “The Classification of Sinitic Languages: What Is ‘Chinese’?” (p. 749), sets out a slightly different language classification scheme:

  • family > group > branch > language > dialect

The Mandarin Word for “Language Group”

Regardless of whether we consider language families to be first subdivided into branches or into groups, an accepted and acceptable Mandarin translation for “language group” is this week’s MEotW, “yǔzú (yǔ·zú language · {ethnic group → [group of things with common characteristics] → [group]} 语族 語族)”, as Prof. Mair confirms in the article (p. 747) mentioned above.

If “zú (clan; race; tribe; {ethnic group}; nationality [→ [class or group of things or people with common characteristics]] 族)” seems familiar, perhaps that is because it occurs in some fairly well-known scriptures. For example, the 2019 Edition of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible translates “every nation and tribe and tongue and people” in Revelation 14:6 as “měi (every 每) ge ([mw] 个 個/箇/个) guózú (guó·zú national · {ethnic group} → [nation] 国族 國族), bùzú (bù·zú sectional · {ethnic group} → [tribe] 部族), yǔyán (yǔ·yán language · {(type of) speech} 语言 語言), hé (and 和) mínzú (mín·zú {(of) people} · {ethnic group} → [people] 民族)”.

The Mandarin Word for “Language Branch”

For reference, the Mandarin word for “language branch” is “yǔzhī (yǔ·zhī language · branch 语支 語支)”, as Prof. Mair confirms in the article (p. 747) mentioned above.

It’s interesting to note that according to Prof. 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”!