Tag: jw.org

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Current Events

zhízhèng

zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {catch; capture → [hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · 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, jw.org was featuring the article “Which Leader Will You Choose?—What Does the Bible Say?”, because, as the article says, “over the next few weeks, elections will be held in various countries around the world.”. The Mandarin version of this article uses what I think is an interesting expression in this context, this week’s MEotW “zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {catch; capture → [hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政)”.

Related Expressions

The “zhí (catch; capture [→ [hold [in the hand]; grasp]] [→ [persist in; stick to | carry out; implement; execute; observe | direct; manage; take charge of]] 执 執)” in “zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {catch; capture → [hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政)” has original meanings of “catch; capture”, from which are now often derived the meanings “hold [in the hand]; grasp”. It seems that these meanings in turn have led “zhí (catch; capture [→ [hold [in the hand]; grasp]] [→ [persist in; stick to | carry out; implement; execute; observe | direct; manage; take charge of]] 执 執)” to sometimes be used to effectively mean such varied things as “persist in; stick to | carry out; implement; execute; observe | direct; manage; take charge of”. Thus, “zhí (catch; capture [→ [hold [in the hand]; grasp]] [→ [persist in; stick to | carry out; implement; execute; observe | direct; manage; take charge of]] 执 執)” is a classic example of a word that has undergone what in linguistics is formally called semantic change, that is, changes in the meaning or meanings a word is used to represent.

Interestingly, in Cantonese, but apparently not in Mandarin, “zhí (catch; capture [→ [hold [in the hand]; grasp]] [→ [persist in; stick to | carry out; implement; execute; observe | direct; manage; take charge of]] 执 執)” also has a meaning of “pick up”. For example, those with Cantonese-speaking parents may have gotten used to being told to “jāp sáu méih (执手尾/執手尾)”, that is, to pick up after themselves or tidy up.

Some other Mandarin expressions that include the “zhí (catch; capture [→ [hold [in the hand]; grasp]] [→ [persist in; stick to | carry out; implement; execute; observe | direct; manage; take charge of]] 执 執)” in “zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {catch; capture → [hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政)” are:

  • zhíbǐzhě (zhí·bǐ·zhě {caught → [grasped]} · pen · person → [writer] 执笔者 執筆者)

    • Those who have been in the Mandarin field for a while may have seen this used, for example, in “Shīpiān (Shī·piān {Sacred Song} · {Piece of Writing} → [Psalm] 诗篇 詩篇) zhíbǐzhě (zhí·bǐ·zhě {caught → [grasped]} · pen · person → [writer] 执笔者 執筆者)”, which means “Psalm writer”, or “psalmist”.
  • zhíxíng (zhí·xíng {catch → [hold; grasp] → [carry out; implement; execute]} · {go; walk; travel → [do; perform; carry out]} 执行 執行)
  • zhízhǎng (zhí·zhǎng {catch; capture → [hold; grasp]} · {(have in) palm (of the hand)} → [wield; be in control of] 执掌 執掌)

    • An example of this expression in use can be found at Daniel 4:26.

A couple of Mandarin expressions that include the other morpheme in “zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {catch; capture → [hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政)” are:

  • zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府)
  • zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治)

Usage Examples

Here are the two examples of “zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {catch; capture → [hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政)” being used in the above-mentioned article:

English:

Which Leader Will You Choose?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ (You 你) Huì (Will 会 會) Zhīchí (Zhī·chí Support · {Hold → [Support]} 支持) Shéi (Whom 谁 誰) Zhízhèng (Zhí·zhèng {to Capture → [to Hold]} · {Government → [Political Power]} 执政 執政)?

English:

People are making important decisions about which leaders they will choose.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Rénmen (Rén·men person · [pl] → [people] 人们 人們) jiāng ({are going to} 将 將) zuòchū (zuò·chū make · out 作出) zhòngdà (zhòng·dà weighty · big 重大) de (’s 的) juédìng (decidings → [decisions] 决定 決定): Yào ((they) must → [will] 要) xuǎn (choose 选 選) shéi (whom 谁 誰) zhízhèng (zhí·zhèng {to capture → [to hold]} · {government → [political power]} 执政 執政).

Categories
Current Events Theocratic

shìjiè mòrì

shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界)
mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · 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, jw.org was featuring the article “Politicians Warn of Armageddon—What Does the Bible Say?”. Where the English version of this article uses the word “Armageddon”, the Mandarin version often uses this week’s MEotW, “shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日)” (which basically means “the end of the world”), with the first occurrence of “Hāmǐjíduōdùn (Armageddon 哈米吉多顿 哈米吉多頓)”, the direct Mandarin translation of “Armageddon”, occurring in parentheses after an occurrence of “shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日)”.

This shows that the expression “Hāmǐjíduōdùn (Armageddon 哈米吉多顿 哈米吉多頓)” is not considered by the organization to be commonly known by householders in the Mandarin field. The English word “Armageddon”, which refers to something mentioned in the Bible, may be relatively well known in the English-speaking world, but compared to the English-speaking world, the Mandarin-speaking world is significantly less familiar with the Bible and the things mentioned in it.—Revelation 16:14, 16.

[Not taking for granted that Mandarin-speaking people are familiar with the Bible includes not taking for granted that they are familiar with Bible characters and Bible stories. In this regard, some publishers find it helpful to refer their Mandarin-speaking Bible students to publications like the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. (Mandarin-learning publishers may find it helpful to follow along with the resources at the following links: official CHS+Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) 🔗; unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus 🔗).]

Related Expressions

The “shì (generation [→ [life; lifetime | world | age; era; epoch]] 世)” in “shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界)” has an original meaning of “generation”, from which is often derived the meaning “world”, since the current generation of people makes up the current world of people. “Dài ({take the place of}; replace; subsitute | replacing; substituting → [acting; substitute | generation [→ [period; era; age]]] 代)”, a past MEotW, is also used to mean “generation”. So, it is no surprise that “shìdài (shì·dài generation · {replacing → [generation]} [→ [generation | generation after generation | period; epoch; era; age]] 世代)”, which could mean “generation”, is a thing. “Shì (generation [→ [life; lifetime | world | age; era; epoch]] 世)” also occurs in past MEotW “shìsú (shì·sú {generation’s → [world’s]} · customs | {(of the) generation → [world]} · secular | {generation → [world]} · {secular (world)} 世俗)”, which is used in 1 Corinthians 3:1 (Mandarin NWT (nwtsty)) to effectively mean “fleshly”, “worldly”, or “secular”.

The “mò (tip; end [→ [last/final stage]] 末)” in “mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日)” also appears in “mòqī (mò·qī end · period 末期)”, and indeed, in “mòshì (mò·shì {end of → [last stage/phase of]} · {generation → [world | age; era]} 末世)”. Some who have been in the Mandarin field for a while may also remember the expression “mòhòu (mò·hòu end · last 末后 末後) de (’s 的) rìzi (rì·zi {suns → [days]} · [suf for nouns] 日子)”. However, note that in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty), this expression has been replaced with “zuìhòu (zuì·hòu most · afterwards → [final] 最后 最後) de (’s 的) shíqī (shí·qī {(particular) time} · period 时期 時期)” in scriptures such as Ezekiel 38:16.

Ezekiel 38:16 (WOL CHS+Pinyin Parallel Translations)

Usage Examples

Here are a couple of examples of “shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日)” in use, taken from the above-mentioned article:

English:

Politicians [warn] that we may be facing Armageddon.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Zhèngzhì (Zhèng·zhì political · governing → [political] 政治) lǐngxiù (lǐng·xiù leading · sleeves → [leaders] 领袖 領袖)…fāchū (fā·chū sent · out 发出 發出) jǐnggào (jǐng·gào warning · declarings → [warnings] 警告), shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界) jiāng ({is going to} 将 將) miànlín (miàn·lín {be facing} · {be drawing near to} 面临 面臨) mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日).

English:

Will the possible use of nuclear weapons lead to Armageddon? What does the Bible say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shǐyòng (using 使用) hé ({pit (of a fruit)} → [nuclear] 核 核/覈) wǔqì (wǔ·qì military · instruments → [weapons] 武器) huì (will 会 會) dǎozhì (dǎo·zhì lead · {to extend to} 导致 導致) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent’s → [world’s] 世界) mòrì (mò·rì end · {sun → [day]} 末日) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) zěnme (zěn·me what · [suf] 怎么 怎麼/麽) shuō ({does say} 说 說/説)?

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)”.