Tag: Climate Change

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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.)

Categories
Current Events Science

jùfēng

jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

During the week preceding the date of this post, Hurricane Ian hit the USA. As NBC News reported on the afternoon of Oct. 1, 2022:

The death toll from Hurricane Ian rose Saturday to more than 77 as one of strongest and costliest storms to ever hit the U.S. pushed northward from the Carolinas leaving in its wake a trifecta of misery—dangerous flooding, power outages and massive destruction.

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the related article “Extreme Weather—Can the Bible Help You to Cope?”. The Mandarin version of this article uses this week’s MEotW, “jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風)”, to translate the English word “hurricane”.

Note that while one who is familiar with the Mandarin expression “dàfēng (dà·fēng {big → [strong]} · wind [→ [fresh gale]] 大风 大風)” (literally, “big wind”) might assume that the first morpheme in “jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風)” is the same as the first morpheme (meaning “huge; gigantic”) in “jùdà (jù·dà huge; gigantic · big 巨大)”, actually, the first morpheme in “jùfēng (jù·fēng cyclone; hurricane; typhoon · wind → [hurricane; typhoon] 飓风 颶風)” is a different one that specifically means “cyclone; hurricane; typhoon”.

A Tropical Cyclone by Any Other Name…

The English jw.org article mentioned above also mentions hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones. The corresponding expressions used in the Mandarin version are, respectively, “jùfēng (jù·fēng hurricane · winds → [hurricanes] 飓风 颶風)”, “táifēng (tái·fēng typhoon · winds → [typhoons] 台风 颱風)”, and “qìxuán (qì·xuán air · circlings → [cyclones] 气旋 氣旋)”. What though, are the differences between hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones?

The US government’s National Ocean Service explains it like this:

The only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs.

…

Hurricanes and typhoons are the same weather phenomenon: tropical cyclones. A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation.

The weakest tropical cyclones are called tropical depressions. If a depression intensifies such that its maximum sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour, the tropical cyclone becomes a tropical storm. Once a tropical cyclone reaches maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour or higher, it is then classified as a hurricane, typhoon, or tropical cyclone, depending upon where the storm originates in the world. In the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific, the term hurricane is used. The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a typhoon. Meanwhile, in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the generic term tropical cyclone is used, regardless of the strength of the wind associated with the weather system.

Structure

Some might also find the following information interesting, on the structure and behaviour of tropical cyclones like hurricanes, etc.:

The main parts of a tropical cyclone are the rainbands, the eye, and the eyewall. Air spirals in toward the center in a counter-clockwise pattern in the northern hemisphere (clockwise in the southern hemisphere), and out the top in the opposite direction.

In the very center of the storm, air sinks, forming an “eye” that is mostly cloud-free.

Supercharged by Climate Change

Regarding hurricanes and similar storms, one thing that may be worthwhile to bring up in the field is that they are being made more destructive and difficult to predict by human-caused climate change.

An article on NASA’s website summarizes the situation and explains the basic mechanism:

Due to global warming, global climate models predict hurricanes will likely cause more intense rainfall and have an increased coastal flood risk due to higher storm surge caused by rising seas. Additionally, the global frequency of storms may decrease or remain unchanged, but hurricanes that form are more likely to become intense.

As surface temperatures rise, more liquid water evaporates from the land and ocean. Evaporation adds moisture to the air. How much water vapor the air can hold is based on its temperature. Warmer air temperatures can hold more water vapor. The increased moisture in the air leads to more intense rainfall, especially during extreme events.

In a hurricane, spiraling winds draw moist air toward the center, fueling the towering thunderstorms that surround it. As the air continues to warm due to climate change, hurricanes can hold more water vapor, producing more intense rainfall rates in a storm.

Moreover, …most models show that climate change brings a slight increase in hurricane wind intensity. This change is likely related to warming ocean temperatures and more moisture in the air, both of which fuel hurricanes.

Another article, on the Yale Climate Connections website, discusses a phenomenon called rapid intensification:

Rapid intensification, defined as an increase of wind speed of at least 35 mph in 24 hours, has recently garnered a lot of attention…

…human-caused warming significantly increases extreme tropical cyclone intensification rates…

Rapid intensification is one of the least well-predicted tropical cyclone processes and also one of the most dangerous, because storms that intensify quickly tend to catch people off guard.

By the way, the Mandarin expression currently used on jw.org to translate “climate change” is “qìhòu (qì·hòu {air → [weather]} · conditions → [climate] 气候 氣候) biànhuà (biàn·huà changing · transforming 变化 變化)”.

Categories
Culture Current Events

hūxī

hūxī (hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Hūxī (Hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸), the Mandarin word for “breathe”, literally translates as “breathe out breath in”. This is an interesting contrast to the English expression “breathe in, breathe out”, which refers to the same thing, just in a different culturally selected order.

Another example of East and West coming at the same thing from different directions is that in the English-speaking world, a “compass” is generally thought of as pointing north, whereas “zhǐnán‐zhēn ((zhǐ·nán {(points with) finger → [points]} · south 指南)‐(zhēn needle 针 針) → [compass])” (a previous MEotW)”, the Mandarin word for the same thing, in contrast means a needle that points south.

In both the above examples, neither the Eastern view nor the Western view is wrong—they’re just different.

“The Ballad of East and West”

Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The Ballad of East and West” begins with these lines:

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

The first line quoted above is often referred to in order to emphasize how the gap between East and West can seem insurmountable. (By the way, “twain” is an archaic term for “two”. So, “never the twain shall meet” means “never the two shall meet”.) However, there is more to the poem.

The other lines quoted above express that individuals who are spiritually strong enough to do so can overcome any differences in culture, nationality, race, class, place of birth, etc. that may happen to exist between them. And, as we know, this is especially true when those individuals let themselves be taught by the God of peace, who “will judge to the ends of the earth”.–Isaiah 54:13; 1 Samuel 2:10.

So, in this unusually hot summer when the world is figuratively and literally on fire, let us take a moment, hūxī (hū·xī {breathe out} · {breathe in} → [breathe] 呼吸), and take in Jehovah God’s instruction, like that which is included in the sessions of the 2022 “Pursue Peace”! convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses.