Tag: Grammar

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Culture Theocratic

xǐlè

xǐlè (xǐ·lè {[being] happy} · {[being] joyful} → [joy | [is] joyful] 喜乐 喜樂) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

The second part of the fruitage of the spirit listed is joy.— Jiālātàishū (Jiālātài·shū Galatia · Book → [Galatians] 加拉太书 加拉太書) 5:22, 23.

Galatians 5:22, 23 (WOL nwtsty-CHS)

The English word “joy” is translated into Mandarin in the above scripture as “xǐlè (xǐ·lè {being happy} · {being joyful} → [joy] 喜乐 喜樂)”, this week’s MEotW.

Note that the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus information for “xǐlè (xǐ·lè {being happy} · {being joyful} → [joy] 喜乐 喜樂)”, as used in the above context, shows that its morphemes “xǐ (like; {be fond of} | {[being] happy; delighted; pleased} [→ [happy event (e.g. wedding; pregnancy) | happiness; delight]] 喜)” and “lè ({be glad to; find pleasure in; enjoy} | {[being] happy; joyful; pleased; cheerful; glad} [→ [pleasure; enjoyment]] 乐 樂)” in the above context literally mean “being happy” and “being joyful”, respectively. The Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus information renders the literal meanings this way because in this case “xǐ (like; {be fond of} | {[being] happy; delighted; pleased} [→ [happy event (e.g. wedding; pregnancy) | happiness; delight]] 喜)” and “lè ({be glad to; find pleasure in; enjoy} | {[being] happy; joyful; pleased; cheerful; glad} [→ [pleasure; enjoyment]] 乐 樂)” seem to be stative verbs.

Stative Verbs

The ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, edited by John DeFrancis and Victor H. Mair, among others, tells us the following about the entries in it that are marked as stative verbs:

S.V. (Stative Verb, Xíngróngcí 形容词).

These entries are frequently translated into English as adjectives, even though they actually behave in Chinese as verbs. That is, the sense of ‘to be’ is already incorporated into these verbs, e.g. Zhèige hěn hǎo ‘This is quite good.’ In fact, it is simply ungrammatical to place the verb shì, ‘to be’, directly in front of a stative verb.

Because stative verbs are actually verbs, they are directly negated by bù, e.g. bù hǎo ‘not good’, and can be further modified by adverbs of degree such as hěn ‘quite’, fēicháng ‘extremely’ and shífēn ‘very; utterly’. One common function of stative verbs is that they may serve as adverbs to other actions, e.g. mànmàn in mànmàn chī ‘Take your time (eating)’ and rènzhēn in rènzhēn de xiě ‘write carefully’.

Sometimes a Verbal Noun

One might wonder, though, why “xǐlè (xǐ·lè {being happy} · {being joyful} → [joy] 喜乐 喜樂)” is used in the above scripture to translate “joy”, a noun, if “xǐ (like; {be fond of} | {[being] happy; delighted; pleased} [→ [happy event (e.g. wedding; pregnancy) | happiness; delight]] 喜)” and “lè ({be glad to; find pleasure in; enjoy} | {[being] happy; joyful; pleased; cheerful; glad} [→ [pleasure; enjoyment]] 乐 樂)” are stative verbs there. This seems to be a case of “xǐ (like; {be fond of} | {[being] happy; delighted; pleased} [→ [happy event (e.g. wedding; pregnancy) | happiness; delight]] 喜)” and “lè ({be glad to; find pleasure in; enjoy} | {[being] happy; joyful; pleased; cheerful; glad} [→ [pleasure; enjoyment]] 乐 樂)”, and thus also “xǐlè (xǐ·lè {being happy} · {being joyful} → [joy] 喜乐 喜樂)”, acting as verbal nouns, or gerundial nouns. These were discussed in the MEotW post on “jiàodǎo (jiào·dǎo teaching · {guiding [→ [instructing]]} 教导 教導)”:

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.

Multifaceted

“Xǐlè (Xǐ·lè {[being] happy} · {[being] joyful} → [joy | [is] joyful] 喜乐 喜樂)”, then, like many Mandarin words, is multifaceted. Sometimes it acts as an adjective, sometimes it’s a stative verb that seems like an adjective, and other times it functions as a noun. Here are examples of it being used in these different ways:

Used as an adjective:
📖 📄 📘 Tā (he 他) shì (is 是) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) hěn (very 很) xǐlè (xǐ·lè happy · joyful → [joyful] 喜乐 喜樂) de (’s 的) rén (person 人).

Used as a stative verb that seems like an adjective:
📖 📄 📘 Tā (he 他) hěn ({very much} 很) xǐlè (xǐ·lè {is happy} · {is joyful} → [is joyful] 喜乐 喜樂).

Used as a verbal noun:
📖 📄 📘 Tā (he 他) hěn ({very much} 很) yǒu (has 有) xǐlè (xǐ·lè {being happy} · {being joyful} → [joy] 喜乐 喜樂).

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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 changes. 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.