Tag: Homophones

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Culture Language Learning Technology Theocratic

áizhèng

áizhèng (ái·zhèng cancer · disease → [cancer] 癌症 癌症/癥) ← 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.]

The new format of the Enjoy Life Forever! book incorporates the post-paper technology of video, which enables real-life experiences to be related in an especially vivid way. For example, the video for Lesson 09, point 6 of the Enjoy Life Forever! book, entitled Prayer Helps Us to Cope, enables us to see and hear Br. Matteo Dalla-Longa and his mother relate their experiences of how prayer helped them to cope with his cancer. (A Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus transcript for the Mandarin version of this video is available here.)

The Mandarin version of this video begins with Br. Dalla-Longa saying this:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) zài (at 在) bā (eight 八) suì ({years (of age)} 岁 歲/嵗) de (’s 的) shíhou (shí·hou {(particular) time} · season 时候 時候) déle (dé·le got · [indicates a change] 得了) yì (one 一) zhǒng ({type of} 种 種/种) hǎnjiàn (hǎn·jiàn rarely · seen 罕见 罕見) de (’s 的) áizhèng (ái·zhèng cancer · disease → [cancer] 癌症 癌症/癥).

The expression that he concludes with above, “áizhèng (ái·zhèng cancer · disease → [cancer] 癌症 癌症/癥)”, means “cancer”, and it is this week’s MEotW.

The New, Improved Mandarin Word for “Cancer”

Interestingly, the Mandarin word for “cancer” wasn’t always “áizhèng (ái·zhèng cancer · disease → [cancer] 癌症 癌症/癥)”. Before, unfortunately, the Mandarin word for “cancer” sounded exactly like the Mandarin word for “inflammation”. One can just imagine the potentially fatal misunderstandings that could arise from this situation! This is an especially potentially harmful example of what some call Mandarin’s Homophone Problem, the unfortunate reality that modern Mandarin has many homophones, or different words that sound the same.

Many people have gotten into the cultural habit of dealing with this problem by referring to how the same-sounding words are written with different Chinese characters. However, the way that this problem involving the old Mandarin word for “cancer” was actually solved shows up the common approach of relying on characters to disambiguate (clarify) Mandarin homophones to be the crutch and band-aid solution that it really is. As explained in the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A”:

Perhaps Chinese became so full of homophones because people came to rely more and more on the characters to distinguish homophones from each other, rather than finding other ways to alleviate the problem. Those other ways could include:

  • …
  • Reducing the number of homophones by
    • …
    • Changing the pronunciations of existing syllables within homophones
      • Some examples are cited here by Zhōu Yǒuguāng (周有光, Zhou Youguang), who led the team that created Pīnyīn:
        • Changing the pronunciations while keeping the same expressions
          • “For example, ‘cancer’ (癌症) and ‘inflammation’ (炎症) were both pronounced as ‘yánzhèng’ in the past. Now in hospitals, ‘cancer’ is pronounced as ‘áizhèng’ and has the same meaning as when it was pronounced ‘yánzhèng’ in the past, but it has acquired a different pronunciation and is, thus, differentiated from ‘inflammation’ (yánzhèng).”

Better than Chinese Character Band-Aids

Yes, as the above-mentioned article goes on to explain:

So, rather than just being seen as a solution to the problem of homophones in Mandarin, perhaps (over?)reliance on characters should also be seen as part of the cause of that problem in the first place, and as a big factor in perpetuating that problem when people should really be developing other, more appropriate solutions! As Einstein said, “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

In this respect of seeming to offer a way to solve a problem that they helped to cause in the first place, Hànzì remind me of mobsters who demand compensation for their “protection”, which people wouldn’t need in the first place if the mobsters weren’t around!

Regarding the real root of the homophone problem, Zhōu Yǒuguāng with great insight pointed out,

Homophones are a problem of language, not “script.” The root of this problem lies in the pronunciation of the language (yǔyīn), not in the different ways of spelling the words (cíxíng).

Yes, relying on characters to differentiate Chinese homophones is at best a band-aid solution that actually makes the problem worse rather than getting at the real root of it: the pronunciations of the affected words. Yes, the best way to deal with homophones is to eliminate them by changing their pronunciations so that they are no longer homophones, just like you can eliminate your enemies by turning them into your friends, rather than continuing to pay “protection money” to certain characters who are actually helping your enemies to keep on being your enemies. While it may seem radical to thus get at the root of the problem by changing the language itself in ways such as those mentioned above, the truth is that languages are naturally changing in such ways all the time, as shown by the actual examples mentioned above. We who use a language can and should change it as necessary by using it differently. People are doing it all the time with English, and they are doing it with Chinese too.

Meanwhile, the ultimate clarifier in modern Mandarin, even with all its existing homophones, is context, not characters. Characters themselves can have multiple possible meanings and multiple possible pronunciations, so one often has to, yes, check the context of something written in characters before the meaning and/or pronunciation of certain words in it can be determined with certainty. For example, should “恶(惡)” be pronounced as “ě”, “è”, “wū”, or “wù”, with their different associated meanings? It ultimately depends on the context—the character on its own is still ambiguous, not enough to clarify things.

So, that there are so many different words in modern Mandarin that sound the same is not a good reason not to use Pīnyīn, any more than it is a good reason not to speak Mandarin. Ironically, it is actually a good long-term reason not to use characters!

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Enjoy Life Forever! 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 Enjoy Life Forever! book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

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Culture Current Events Language Learning Science

Dōng‐Xī

Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

The MEotW post on “hūxī (hū·xī {breathing out}; exhaling · {breathing in}; inhaling → [breathing] 呼吸)”, from about a year ago, includes the following passage:

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.

In Mandarin, one way in which East meets West is in the expression “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)”, this week’s MEotW. Many find it kind of cute or funny that the expression “dōngxi (dōng·xi east · west → [thing; something] 东西 東西)”, which uses the same characters as “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)” and thus literally means “east west”, is used in Mandarin to mean “thing”. However, especially in these days of significant tensions between the USA and China, for example, it’s good to also soberly consider that “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)”, as in “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西) fāng (directions’ → [sides’] 方) guānxi (guān·xi {closings → [involvings]} · {tyings → [relatings]} → [relations] 关系 關係)” (“East-West relations”), is also a thing.

Same Characters, Different Pronunciations, etc.

First of all, let us note that although “dōngxi (dōng·xi east · west → [thing; something] 东西 東西)” and “Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)” are written with the same characters, they should be written differently in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), since they have different pronunciations and different effective meanings.

Some like to say that characters are a good way to disambiguate (tell apart) the many homophones (different words that sound the same) that exist in Mandarin. (Actually, the best way to do so, which people use all the time when speaking Mandarin, is to consider the context.) However, “dōngxi (dōng·xi east · west → [thing; something] 东西 東西)”/“Dōng (East 东 東)‐Xī (West 西)” vs. “东西”/“东西” is a clear example of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) being able, in certain situations, to work better than characters at representing different words clearly and unambiguously.

East Meeting West in the Mandarin Field

With so many publishers from the English, Spanish, etc. fields who have admirably come to help out in the Mandarin field, many occasions thus arise for East and West to meet. How should we rise to such occasions as God’s people who “are no part of the world”, with its divided East and West?—John 15:19.

Preparing this post reminded me that I had written about this topic before in the tiandi.info blog. One example is the post “ ‘To Be More Like Us’ ”. Here is a quote from it:

While the help provided by Westerners in the Chinese field is greatly beneficial and greatly appreciated, the work we are all doing in the Chinese field is, not to help Chinese people to be more like white people, but to help Chinese-speaking people to join us, Jehovah’s people, in working to be more like Jehovah wants us to be, a condition which none of us have attained to yet, regardless of our racial, ethnic, or cultural background.—Philippians 3:12, 13.

(If you need login information for the parts of tiandi.info that require it, request it by email, and include information on how you learned of tiandi.info and/or what group/cong. you are in.)

“What Nationality Are You?”

The tiandi.info post linked to in the quoted passage above, “What Do You Think Regarding Which Culture is More Godly?”, also contains many good points in this regard, such as some concerning what Scientific American called “buried prejudice”, prejudice that we may unconsciously have and act on. The comments for this post also contain some great stuff, such as this:

Since I had a number of friends from several ——- —— countries, I wanted to test my knowledge and see if my assumption was right so I asked him, “What nationality are you?”. He said proudly with a smile, “I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses”. I said, “I mean your family name. I was just curious to know where it comes from”. He said again, “I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses!” but this time more firmly and with no smile. I was a little taken aback at first but then I thought about it and really appreciated his answer.

It puts things in perspective. From a higher perspective that is, say, from Jehovah’s or the angels. When they look down they see either those serving Jehovah or those who are not. All the other different types of distinctions and categories here are from man, man under the influence of Satan. The most important heritage we have is our spiritual heritage.

…

I can’t say that I am completely free from the influence of the world’s views but I’m trying to view things the way this brother so boldly did. I never saw him again and have since forgotten his name but I have never forgotten his answer and what was most important to him.

No matter what foreign language field we are working in, we need to help our students to take up the “culture” of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s standards, views and ways of doing things are superior to any other culture of this world. That’s the best culture.

Additionally, the above-mentioned post contains this image and associated caption:

The Chinese characters “東” (“East”) and “西” (“West”) on a background of coloured static

Both Eastern and Western cultures emerged from and are part of the chaos of the world alienated from God.

Although East-West relations in the world—especially China-US relations—have been becoming strained lately, we who have come out of the world can and should rise above such petty worldly contradictions and conflicts, and continue to move forward together on the narrow road to everlasting life in Jehovah God’s peaceful, united, and harmonious new world.—John 15:19; Matthew 7:13, 14; Isaiah 2:4; Revelation 21:1–5.

Categories
Culture History Language Learning Theocratic

yíyì‐gūxíng

yíyì (yí·yì {(having) one} · intention → [stubbornly] 一意)‐gūxíng (gū·xíng {orphaned → [alone]} · {go; walk → [do]} → [cling to one’s own course; insist on having one’s own way] 孤行) ← 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 (nwtsty) 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.

Communication and Love

Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) mentions that one of the goals for this version was to reduce the number of hard-to-recognize, hard-to-read Chinese characters used, and to replace them with more commonly used characters. One example it provides is that “gāngbì (gāng·bì {[is] firm} · {[is] wilful} 刚愎 剛愎)‐zìyòng (zì·yòng {[is] self-·applying} → [[is] opinionated] 自用)” was changed to this week’s MEotW, “yíyì (yí·yì {(having) one} · intention → [stubbornly] 一意)‐gūxíng (gū·xíng {orphaned → [alone]} · {go; walk → [do]} → [cling to one’s own course; insist on having one’s own way] 孤行)”.—2 Timothy 3:4.

2 Timothy 3:4 (WOL CHS+Pinyin Parallel Translations)

In this case, a relatively unfamiliar, hard-to-parse expression was replaced with a different one that conveys the intended meaning, while being more familiar and easier to understand. This helpful simplification reminds us that the ultimate goal of language should be to communicate, not to show off one’s knowledge of hard words or whatever. And, as the September 1, 1991 Watchtower emphasizes, good communication is motivated by unselfish love:

Christian communication especially needs to be effective because it has as its goal the reaching of people’s hearts with the truth from God’s Word so that, hopefully, they will act on what they learn. Uniquely, it is motivated by unselfishness, by love.

Yes, as 1 Corinthians 8:1 says:

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

More Understandable Alternate Expressions

As discussed in the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A”, Zhōu Yǒuguāng ((Zhōu {Circumference; Circle (surname)} 周 周/週) (Yǒu·guāng Has · Light 有光) (Chinese linguist, etc., known as “the father of Pīnyīn”)) (Wikipedia article), who led the team that designed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), pointed out that assigning alternate expressions with different pronunciations is a good way to address Mandarin’s so-called homophone problem. (Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation, but different meanings.)

From the examples referred to in the Mandarin NWT Appendix A2, we can see that assigning alternate expressions can also be a good way to address the problem of excessively hard-to-recognize or hard-to-understand expressions. Rather than being attached to the idea that particular characters are required to represent certain meanings, as perhaps suggested by the Ideographic Myth, the translators of the Mandarin NWT Bible recognized that representing easily understandable speech is the true priority for God’s people.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

So, let us not be yíyì (yí·yì {(having) one} · intention → [stubbornly] 一意)‐gūxíng (gū·xíng {orphaned → [alone]} · {walking → [doing]} → [clinging to one’s own course] 孤行), insisting that the new translated expressions in the current Mandarin NWT are not as good as the old expressions, or clinging to old, erroneous ideas like “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) could never work as a writing system for Mandarin because characters are needed to deal with all the homophones in Mandarin.”