Tag: English

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wúkě‐bǐnǐ

wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to compare; parallel} → [to compare; match; draw a parallel] 比拟 比擬) 👈🏼 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.]

Rather than dismissively thinking to ourselves that the songs produced by the organization are “just songs”, we should remember that the slave class takes seriously its responsibility to provide spiritual food to God’s people, and so it is going to make sure that the lyrics in its songs are spiritually correct, while also being emotionally moving.—Ezekiel 33:32; Matthew 24:45.

Without Compare

“wúkě‐bǐnǐ” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 152 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

This week’s MEotW in the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

This week’s MEotW, “wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to compare; parallel} → [to compare; match; draw a parallel] 比拟 比擬)”, comes from the first verse of song 152, which is entitled “A Place That Will Bring You Praise” in English and “Nǐ de ((Nǐ You 你) (de ’s 的) → [Your]) Róngyào (Róng·yào Glorious · {Brilliant → [Glorious]} → [Glorious] 荣耀 榮耀) zhī (’ 之) Jiā ([mw for establishments] 家)” in Mandarin:

English:

Jehovah, the Maker of heaven,
By heaven you can’t be contained,
Even less an earthly dwelling place.
But your spirit can here remain.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) yòng (used 用) dà (big → [great] 大) néng (ability 能) zào ({to make} 造) tiāndì (tiān·dì heavens · earth 天地),
Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) róngyào (róng·yào glory · {being brilliant → [glory]} → [glory] 荣耀 榮耀) wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to parallel} → [to compare] 比拟 比擬).
Xiǎoxiǎo (Xiǎo·xiǎo small · small → [miniscule] 小小) dìqiú (dì·qiú earth · globe 地球) rúhé (rú·hé like · how → [how] 如何) néng (can 能) chéngzài (chéng·zài bear · hold → [bear the weight of] 承载 承載)
Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) lìliang (lì·liang power · quantity 力量), nǐ de ((nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) hòu’ài (hòu’·ài {thick → [deep]} · love 厚爱 厚愛)?

“Wúkě (Wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to compare; parallel} → [to compare; match; draw a parallel] 比拟 比擬)” means “there is not being able to compare”. So, the line that it appears in, “Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) róngyào (róng·yào glory · {being brilliant → [glory]} → [glory] 荣耀 榮耀) wúkě (wú·kě {there is not} · {being able} 无可 無可)‐bǐnǐ (bǐ·nǐ {to compare} · {to parallel} → [to compare] 比拟 比擬)”, means “Your glory is without compare”.

People of this world support corrupt, self-seeking politicians, worship the blind chance that they say powers evolution, look for space aliens, place their hopes in artificial intelligence, and so on. However, none of those could accomplish what Jehovah God has accomplished—He alone is the One who actually created the universe and all the living things in it. So, as expressed by this week’s MEotW, Jehovah’s glory truly is without compare, and there is no one and nothing else that people should look to and hope in in these dark times.

As Mandarin field language learners, let us be determined to keep on doing our best to sing Jehovah’s praises well in this largest of all worldwide language fields. Not only is the Mandarin field the largest one in the world, with about a billion people worldwide for whom Mandarin is their mother tongue, it’s also about 2½ times the size of the worldwide English field. So, it could be said that there should really be about 2½ times as many publishers in the worldwide Mandarin field as there are in the worldwide English field. Yes, “the harvest is great, but the workers are few”, so sing out loud in the Mandarin field, and sing out strong!—Matthew 9:37, 38.

Chart: Languages by First-Language Speakers—2019

Musical Notation 🎼 and the Mandarin Field

In this post about a Mandarin expression found in our songbook, another subject that I want to touch on is: Is musical notation 🎼 too hard to be worth the trouble of producing it and using it? Are fewer and fewer people able to read it? I was fortunate enough to have been taught how to read musical notation in school. I have never thought of musical notation as being particularly difficult to use (it’s much easier to learn than characters, which many unquestioningly try to learn), and I find that it helps me to sing Kingdom songs more correctly (according to the intended melody, message, etc.) and more confidently more of the time. However, I am aware that not everyone in the Mandarin field has the same experience with musical notation. For example, a while ago, an older brother told me that he didn’t know how to read musical notation. Also, some people in the Mandarin field may have been affected by how education systems in this old world have been failing to provide or cutting back on music education for younger ones.

Regardless of how the world may be deprioritizing music education, Jehovah’s organization has pointed out that music is important in Jehovah’s worship. For example, not long ago, a Meeting Workbook said:

Music can have a powerful influence on the mind and body. Singing is an important part of our worship of Jehovah.

In accordance with the importance of music in Jehovah’s worship, Mandarin field language learners used to have available to them official material from the organization containing musical notation with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics. However, perhaps at least partially because of the technical difficulty and costliness of producing material with musical notation and both Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics, as of this writing, early in 2025, there is no official material currently available from the organization that shows Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and musical notation on the same page or screen.

The organization continues to publish official songbook material for different languages in general that contains musical notation, so it evidently still considers musical notation to generally be worthwhile to produce. It continues to produce official material for the current songbook that uses musical notation along with lyrics rendered only in Chinese characters, without Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and it has even produced official material that uses jiǎnpǔ (jiǎn·pǔ simple · {register or record for reference → [musical notation]} → [numbered musical notation] 简谱 簡譜) (a kind of musical notation also known as numbered musical notation) and Chinese characters.

For those who find it helpful in their Mandarin field activities to put musical notation together with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) exists and is continuing to be improved. As shown in the screenshot above, this resource aids Mandarin field language learners by breaking with tradition and featuring lyrics in the musical notation that are only in relatively large-print Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) by default—characters are relegated to Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards” that are added as time allows.

Unlike the traditionally-used but unnecessarily extraordinarily complex characters that need to be accompanied by Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) before many are able to read them, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) itself is a simple, elegant alphabetical full writing system for Mandarin that is easy to learn and remember. Also, it is no harder to typeset than other alphabetical writing systems with diacritics, such as the writing systems now used for French, Czech, Vietnamese, etc.*

In its Tips: section at the bottom of its home page, the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource contains these links that some may find helpful:

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin “Sing Out Joyfully” book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

 

* Thanks to ongoing advancements in personal computing hardware and software, producing material that contains things like musical notation and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text at reasonable cost is quicker and easier than ever. At this time, production of the musical notation in the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource begins in free open source software called MuseScore Studio, running on a Mac. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text for the lyrics in the musical notation is entered using macOS’s ABC – Extended input source (keyboard layout). (Just using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text only here simplifies things so much compared to having to somehow input characters with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) ruby text!) When it’s ready, the musical notation for a song is exported from MuseScore Studio into SVG format, which is a plain text format that allows for the inclusion of links that activate Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus flashcards on webpages. The coding for the SVG links is currently mostly done using the text editor BBEdit, in which editing large text files is quite performant. For Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material production in general, my current favourite tool is Nova, but such web material can be produced in any application suitable for web development, such as Visual Studio Code, etc. ^

Categories
Culture Current Events Experiences Language Learning Technology Theocratic

qiānqiū‐wàndài

qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代) 👈🏼 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.]

Rather than dismissively thinking to ourselves that the songs produced by the organization are “just songs”, we should remember that the slave class takes seriously its responsibility to provide spiritual food to God’s people, and so it is going to make sure that the lyrics in its songs are spiritually correct, while also being emotionally moving.—Ezekiel 33:32; Matthew 24:45.

“In Ev’ry Generation”

“qiānqiū” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 2 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

This week’s MEotW in the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

This week’s MEotW, “qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代)”, comes from the first verse of song 2, which is entitled “Jehovah Is Your Name” in English and “Nǐ de ((Nǐ You 你) (de ’s 的) → [Your]) Míng (Name 名) Shì (Is 是) Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)” in Mandarin:

English:

In ev’ry generation—
Jehovah is your name.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ de ((Nǐ you 你) (de ’s 的) → [your]) míng (name 名) cóngbù (cóng·bù ever · not → [never] 从不 從不) gēnggǎi (gēng·gǎi {does change} · {does alter} 更改),
Liúchuán (Liú·chuán {flows → [circulates]} · {is handed down} (for) 流传 流傳) qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代).

“Qiānqiū (Qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代)” literally means “thousand autumns ten thousand replacings”. However, as explained in the MEotW post on “dài ({take the place of}; replace; subsitute | replacing; substituting → [acting; substitute | generation [→ [period; era; age]]] 代)”, this expression, while literally meaning “replacing”, can effectively mean “generation”:

Yes, the Chinese concept of a “generation” is that it is something that takes the place of or replaces what was there before—the emphasis seems to be on continuation, and a new generation is viewed as having done well if it lived up to or maintained what came before it. In contrast, in the English-speaking world, a “generation” is something new that is generated—the emphasis seems to be more on innovation, progress, and a new generation is viewed as having done well if it improved upon what came before it, and moved things ahead. For example, the English expression “next generation” indeed implies innovation and progress compared to previous generations, such as when applied to vehicles, computers, and other technology.

So, on a certain level of literalness, “qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wàndài (wàn·dài {ten thousand} · {replacings → [generations]} 万代 萬代)” means “thousand autumns ten thousand generations”. As shown in the example above from song 2, this is basically a poetic way to refer to “ev’ry generation”, or “forever”. Another expression that means basically the same thing is “qiānqiū (qiān·qiū thousand · autumns 千秋)‐wànshì (wàn·shì {ten thousand} · generations 万世 萬世)”.

Also, another example of “wàn ({ten thousand} [→ [all; a very great number of]] 万 萬/万)” (“ten thousand”) being used in Mandarin to effectively mean “all” or “every” occurs in “wànwù (wàn·wù {ten thousand → [all]} · things 万物 萬物)”, which literally means “ten thousand things” and effectively means “all things”.

Is Everyone Replaceable?

This talk of replacing reminds me: It’s a pet peeve of mine that people sometimes use the expression “no one is irreplaceable”. While it’s true that each of us should maintain appropriate modesty and humility, I suspect that this expression really reflects worldly human corporate culture that treats people like fungible, disposable widgets instead of as individual human beings that each have different qualities and abilities. Such thinking that justifies exploiting people for small-minded short-term profit without having to appropriately recognize and reward them for their individual contributions and potential is in stark contrast to the Bible’s depiction of how Jehovah God knows and values each one of us as individuals. As Jesus said at Matthew 10:29–31:

Two sparrows sell for a coin of small value, do they not? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Musical Notation 🎼 and the Mandarin Field

In this post about a Mandarin expression found in our songbook, another subject that I want to touch on is: Is musical notation 🎼 too hard to be worth the trouble of producing it and using it? Are fewer and fewer people able to read it? I was fortunate enough to have been taught how to read musical notation in school. I have never thought of musical notation as being particularly difficult to use (it’s much easier to learn than characters, which many unquestioningly try to learn), and I find that it helps me to sing Kingdom songs more correctly (according to the intended melody, message, etc.) and more confidently more of the time. However, I am aware that not everyone in the Mandarin field has the same experience with musical notation. For example, a while ago, an older brother told me that he didn’t know how to read musical notation. Also, some people in the Mandarin field may have been affected by how education systems in this old world have been failing to provide or cutting back on music education for younger ones.

Regardless of how the world may be deprioritizing music education, Jehovah’s organization has pointed out that music is important in Jehovah’s worship. For example, not long ago, a Meeting Workbook said:

Music can have a powerful influence on the mind and body. Singing is an important part of our worship of Jehovah.

In accordance with the importance of music in Jehovah’s worship, Mandarin field language learners used to have available to them official material from the organization containing musical notation with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics. However, perhaps at least partially because of the technical difficulty and costliness of producing material with musical notation and both Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics, as of this writing, late in 2024, there is no official material currently available from the organization that shows Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and musical notation on the same page or screen.

The organization continues to publish official songbook material for different languages in general that contains musical notation, so it evidently still considers musical notation to generally be worthwhile to produce. It continues to produce official material for the current songbook that uses musical notation along with lyrics rendered only in Chinese characters, without Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and it has even produced official material that uses jiǎnpǔ (jiǎn·pǔ simple · {register or record for reference → [musical notation]} → [numbered musical notation] 简谱 簡譜) (a kind of musical notation also known as numbered musical notation) and Chinese characters.

For those who find it helpful in their Mandarin field activities to put musical notation together with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) exists and is continuing to be improved. As shown in the screenshot above, this resource aids Mandarin field language learners by breaking with tradition and featuring lyrics in the musical notation that are only in relatively large-print Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) by default—characters are relegated to Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards” that are added as time allows.

Unlike the traditionally-used but unnecessarily extraordinarily complex characters that need to be accompanied by Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) before many are able to read them, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) itself is a simple, elegant alphabetical full writing system for Mandarin that is easy to learn and remember. Also, it is no harder to typeset than other alphabetical writing systems with diacritics, such as the writing systems now used for French, Czech, Vietnamese, etc.*

In its Tips: section at the bottom of its home page, the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource contains these links that some may find helpful:

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin “Sing Out Joyfully” book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

 

* Thanks to ongoing advancements in personal computing hardware and software, producing material that contains things like musical notation and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text at reasonable cost is quicker and easier than ever. At this time, production of the musical notation in the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource begins in free open source software called MuseScore Studio, running on a Mac. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text for the lyrics in the musical notation is entered using macOS’s ABC – Extended input source (keyboard layout). (Just using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text only here simplifies things so much compared to having to somehow input characters with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) ruby text!) When it’s ready, the musical notation for a song is exported from MuseScore Studio into SVG format, which is a plain text format that allows for the inclusion of links that activate Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus flashcards on webpages. The coding for the SVG links is currently mostly done using the text editor BBEdit, in which editing large text files is quite performant. For Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material production in general, my current favourite tool is Nova, but such web material can be produced in any application suitable for web development, such as Visual Studio Code, etc. ^

Categories
Culture Experiences Science Theocratic

Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán

Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)‐(Tuán {Rolled into a Ball} → [Group] → [Body] 团 團/糰) → [Governing Body]) ← 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.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

You Have Mail!

This week’s MEotW, “Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)‐(Tuán {Rolled into a Ball} → [Group] → [Body] 团 團/糰) → [Governing Body])”, appears near the beginning of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book:

English:

A Letter From the Governing Body

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)‐(Tuán {Rolled into a Ball} → [Group] → [Body] 团 團/糰) → [Governing Body]) de (’s 的) Xìn (Letter 信)

We can see from the above that “Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)‐(Tuán {Rolled into a Ball} → [Group] → [Body] 团 團/糰) → [Governing Body])” is the official Mandarin expression used to translate “Governing Body”. What morphemes and words are used to make up this Mandarin expression? What do they mean? How do they work together to make up the whole expression?

Central, But Not Necessarily in the Central Kingdom

Both the morphemes in “zhōngyāng (centre | central 中央)” mean “centre” or “central”. Years ago, a sister expressed to me that she doubted that the organization would use the expression “zhōngyāng (centre | central 中央)”, since it was such a mainland China-coded expression that’s often used by the current central government there. In fact, Pleco’s built-in dictionary says that it can be an abbreviation for “Zhōngguó Gòngchǎn‐Dǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuán‐Huì ((Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [Chinese] 中国 中國) (Gòng·chǎn {Commonly Possessing} · {Produced (Things) → [Property]} → [Communist] 共产 共產)‐(Dǎng Party 党 黨/党) (Zhōngyāng Central 中央) {(Wěi·yuán Entrusted · Members 委员 委員)‐(Huì Gathering 会 會) → [Committee]} → [Central Committee of the Communist Party of China])” (“Central Committee of the Communist Party of China”). Another example is “Zhōngguó Zhōngyāng Diànshì‐Tái ((Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [China] 中国 中國) (Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Diàn·shì Electric · {Looking At} → [Television] 电视 電視)‐(Tái Platform → [Station] 台 台/臺) → [China Central Television (CCTV)])” (“China Central Television (CCTV)”), the national television broadcaster of China. However, mitigating against the concern that “zhōngyāng (centre | central 中央)” is overly connected to mainland China is that it’s used in “Zhōngyāng Qíngbào‐Jú ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Qíng·bào Situation; Circumstances · Reporting → [Intelligence] 情报 情報)‐(Jú Bureau; Office → [Agency] 局) → [Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)])”, the Mandarin expression referring to the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Anyway, the organization has decided that it’s not a problem to use “zhōngyāng (centre | central 中央)” in the official Mandarin expression referring to the Governing Body.

Old (Man/Men)

“Zhǎnglǎo (Zhǎng·lǎo {grown → [elder]} · old (men) → [elders] 长老 長老)” literally just means “grown old”, without any explicit reference to any man or men. However, it’s used such that it has an effective meaning of “elder (man/men)”, and it’s used by the organization to refer to the elders within the organization. There are many Mandarin expressions that follow this pattern of explicitly meaning a description, while only implicitly meaning that this description applies to a person, or to persons. Another example is “jìsī (jì·sī {offering sacrifices} · {taking charge [of]}; {attending [to]}; managing (person) → [priest] 祭司)”, which literally just means “offering sacrifices, attending to”, but which effectively means “priest[s]”, an implied person, or implied persons, to whom the literal description applies.

Towards a Clearer Style

In the rendering “Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)‐(Tuán {Rolled into a Ball} → [Group] → [Body] 团 團/糰) → [Governing Body])”, following after “Zhǎnglǎo (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)” is a hyphen. This is not a typical Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) rendering, if anything is typical about Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in this characters-dominated world—typically, one would encounter “Zhǎnglǎotuán (Zhǎng·lǎo·tuán {{Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders]} · {{Rolled into a Ball} → [Group] → [Body]} 长老团 長老團/糰)”, rendered as a single, uninterrupted word. However, I have been leaning towards the view that such relatively long, uninterrupted words are relatively difficult to parse, or mentally break down into meaningful components. So, I have been adopting the practice of inserting hyphens in expressions that are typically rendered as long, uninterrupted words, between expressions like “zhǎnglǎo (zhǎng·lǎo {grown → [elder]} · old (men) → [elders] 长老 長老)” and “tuán ({roll sth. into a ball} → [unite; assemble | sth. roundish; lump | group; society; organization | round; circular | [mw for roundish things]] 团 團/糰)” that can stand alone as words. This makes it easier for readers to mentally come to grips with how multi-word expressions are constructed, with how they mean what they mean.

Even with the English writing system, which has been around for centuries and is very widely used, there remain similarly differing opinions on word separation and hyphenation, as well as differing opinions on things like the Oxford (serial) comma, British and American spellings, capitalization, etc. Different organizations, in fact, have different style guides regarding how to use the English writing system. It should not be surprising, then, that a relatively “young” writing system like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), which additionally faces cultural prejudices unfairly limiting its use, has some aspects regarding which differing opinions still exist, which may get hammered out to an extent with time and greater usage by many different people.

Having a Ball

Coming to the final morpheme of this week’s MEotW, note that while “tuán ({roll sth. into a ball} → [unite; assemble | sth. roundish; lump | group; society; organization | round; circular | [mw for roundish things]] 团 團/糰)” effectively means “group” or “body”, it literally means “roll something into a ball”, and can also mean “roundish mass; lump”! So, “zhǎnglǎo (zhǎng·lǎo {grown → [elder]} · old (men) → [elders] 长老 長老)‐tuán ({rolled into a ball} → [group] → [body] 团 團/糰)” suggests the mental image of a number of elders rolled into a ball or roundish mass, so that they become a body of elders. Hopefully, elders in the Mandarin field will be able to find this Mandarin wording amusing rather than be offended by it!

Anyway, the morphemes in “Zhōngyāng Zhǎnglǎo‐Tuán ((Zhōngyāng Central 中央) (Zhǎng·lǎo {Grown → [Elder]} · Old (Men) → [Elders] 长老 長老)‐(Tuán {Rolled into a Ball} → [Group] → [Body] 团 團/糰) → [Governing Body])” on a certain level of literalness come together to mean “Central Body of Elders”, which matches nicely with the English expression “Governing Body”. In their letter near the beginning of the Learn From the Bible book, the Governing Body introduces this book and expresses their hopes for how it will be able to benefit people who make good use of it. May we do our part to help people in the Mandarin field to do so. Perhaps, we can start by showing them the letter from the Governing Body that’s contained in the Learn From the Bible book.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.