Tag: Linguistics

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duòtāi

duòtāi (duò·tāi {letting/making fall} · fetuses/embryos → [[inducing [of]] abortion] 堕胎 墮胎) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

With recent legal developments in the USA, abortion has become a topic of intense discussion. The Mandarin version of a recently featured article on jw.org, “What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?”, contains some Mandarin expressions that are relevant to this topic. Of these, the primary one is of course “duòtāi (duò·tāi {letting/making fall} · fetuses/embryos → [[inducing [of]] abortion] 堕胎 墮胎)”, this week’s MEotW, which corresponds with the English expression “abortion”.

Verb-Object Construction

“Duòtāi (Duò·tāi {letting/making fall} · fetuses/embryos → [[inducing [of]] abortion] 堕胎 墮胎)”, with the verb “duò ({letting/making fall} 堕 墮)” and its object “tāi (fetuses/embryos 胎)”, is an example of a Mandarin expression with verb-object construction.

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 having verb-object construction:

V.O. (Verb-Object Construction, Dòng-Bīn Jiégòu 动宾结构).

Many English verbs get translated into natural Chinese as a verb plus an object noun, e.g. chīfàn for ‘eat’, shuōhuà for ‘speak’, etc. It is important for two reasons to know what is merely a verb in Chinese and what is actually a verb-object construction.

First, verb-object constructions can never take a second object, i.e. chīfàn can never be followed directly by something else to be eaten.

Second, a verb and its object can be separated from one another, thus allowing

(i) aspect particles to be placed directly after the verb, e.g. chīle fàn ‘after finishing eating’;

(ii) modification of the object, e.g. chī Zhōngguófàn ‘eat Chinese food’; and (iii) quantification of the noun, e.g. chīle sān wǎn fàn ‘ate three bowls of rice’.

Sounds Like…

In addition to meaning “fetus; embryo”, “tāi (fetus; embryo | tire 胎)” also functions as a loanword that means “tire”, as in “car tire”. This is because of the pure coincidence of how similar “tāi (fetus; embryo | tire 胎)” and “tire” sound. This reminds us that with languages, as modern linguists say, speech is primary and writing is secondary. Thus, because of them sounding similar when spoken, “tire” is translated into Mandarin as “tāi (fetus; embryo | tire 胎)”, instead of as a word written with some Chinese character that looks like a car tire or something like that.

Trivia Showing Something Vital

A brief web search indicates that Norma McCorvey—who, using the pseudonym “Jane Roe”, was the plaintiff in the Roe v. Wade legal case at the centre of the recent controversy—was apparently partly raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even if she was, though, she obviously didn’t continue to live faithfully as one. This reminds us that it’s vitally important for each of us to make the truth our own—our own ongoing decisions and actions are what determine who and what we are, not how we happened to have been raised.

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Culture Language Learning Theocratic

fùlù

fùlù (fù·lù appended · record → [appendix; endnotes] 附录 附錄) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

One of the publications that is now recommended to be used on Bible studies is the Yǒngyuǎn Xiǎngshòu Měihǎo de Shēngmìng—Hùdòng Shì Shèngjīng Kèchéng ((Yǒng·yuǎn Eternally · {Far (in Time)} 永远 永遠) (Xiǎng·shòu Enjoy · Receive 享受) (Měi·hǎo Beautiful · Good 美好) (de ’s 的) (Shēngmìng Life 生命)—(Hù·dòng {Each Other} · Moving → [Interactive] 互动 互動) (Shì (Type 式) (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) (Kè·chéng Lessons · Procedure → [Course] 课程 課程) → [Enjoy Life Forever!—An Interactive Bible Course (lff)]) (Enjoy Life Forever! (lff)) book. In this book, the Mandarin word “fùlù (fù·lù appended · record → [appendix; endnotes] 附录 附錄)”, this week’s MEotW, is used to translate the English word “endnotes”. In other official publications, such as the Biànmíng Shèngjīng de Zhēnlǐ ((Biàn·míng Differentiating · {to Be Clear} 辨明) (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) (de ’s 的) (Zhēn·lǐ True · Reasoning → [Truth] 真理) → [What Does the Bible Really Teach? (bh)]) (Bible Teach (bh)) book, “fùlù (fù·lù appended · record → [appendix; endnotes] 附录 附錄)” has been used to translate the English word “appendix”.

“Added” Meanings

The “fù (add; attach; enclose; append 附 附/坿)” in “fùlù (fù·lù appended · record → [appendix; endnotes] 附录 附錄)” can mean “add”, “attach”, “enclose”, or “append”. With such a set of meanings, it’s not surprising that “fù (add; attach; enclose; append 附 附/坿)” also occurs in many other Mandarin expressions, such as the following:

  • fùjìn (fù·jìn {[is] attached → [[is] nearby]} · {[is] near} [(area) → [vicinity]] 附近)
  • fùlán (fù·lán attached · {bounded area → [box]} 附栏 附欄)
  • fùshēn (fù·shēn {attached to} · body → [possessed] 附身)

Attachment for Advancement

One interesting use of “fù (add; attach; enclose; append 附 附/坿)” is in the chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters)] 成语 成語) (type of Chinese idiom) “pānlóng‐fùjì ((pān·lóng {hang on to} · dragon 攀龙 攀龍)‐(fù·jì {attach to} · {thoroughbred horse} 附骥 附驥) → [ride on the coattails of a brilliant master; follow the lead of a great man; attach oneself to a celebrity; bask in reflected glory])”, which literally means “hang on to dragon, attach to thoroughbred horse”, and which can have effective meanings such as “ride on the coattails of a brilliant master; follow the lead of a great man; attach oneself to a celebrity; bask in reflected glory”.

A similar but slightly different chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters)] 成语 成語) is “pānlóng‐fùfèng ((pān·lóng {hang on to} · dragon 攀龙 攀龍)‐(fù·fèng {attach to} · phoenix 附凤 附鳳) → [curry favour with powerful and influential people])”, which literally means “hang on to dragon, attach to phoenix”, and which effectively means “curry favour with powerful and influential people”.

One of the things that the meanings of the above chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters)] 成语 成語) make me think of is that while many in the Mandarin field put a lot of time and effort into learning Chinese characters because of sincerely believing that doing so may help them to praise Jehovah and help people more effectively in this Chinese language field, it may be the case that some do so because of wanting to bask in the exotic glory of Chinese characters and their exalted place in worldly Chinese culture.

This glorification of the characters writing system is actually in contrast to the basic principle of modern linguistics that speech is primary and writing is secondary. Also, the Bible itself emphasizes the primary importance in our spiritual preaching and teaching work of understandable speech, which experience has shown can get neglected by those who focus on learning the extraordinarily complex Chinese characters.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

“Phoenix” and Christians

Going back to the literal meanings of the above chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters)] 成语 成語), note that while it’s relatively well known that “dragon” occurs in the Bible, “Phoenix” only seems to occur in the Bible as the name of a “harbor of Crete”. (Revelation 12:9; Acts 27:12) It is well known, though, that the phoenix is associated with worldly mythologies, such as Egyptian mythology. In the Mandarin field, we of course need to be aware that the phoenix features in Chinese mythology. So, a Christian may not want to personally use an expression that refers to the mythological phoenix. However, it may still be beneficial to at least be familiar with expressions like the one above.

Speaking of phoenixes, I am reminded of a Taiwanese sister I know who regretted that her unbelieving parents had made “Fèng (Phoenix 凤 鳳)”, the word for “phoenix”, part of her name. How unfortunate! At least we can probably look forward to getting new names in the new system, especially in cases like hers, as we transition to speaking and writing in the new world way and leave behind old world systems like Chinese 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.

Categories
Culture Current Events History

wēijī

wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

As of this writing, jw.org is featuring the article “Ukraine War Fuels Global Food Crisis”. The Mandarin version of this article uses “quánqiú (quán·qiú entire · globe → [global] 全球) liángshi (liáng·shi {grain → [food]} · {eating (matter) → [food]} → [food] 粮食 糧食) wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” to correspond with “global food crisis”.

The previous use on jw.org of “nànmín (nàn·mín calamity · {persons of a certain occupation} → [refugees] 难民 難民) cháo (tide → [(social) upsurge] 潮)” to correspond with “refugee crisis” (as discussed in a past MEotW post) makes for an interesting contrast—the use here of “cháo (tide → [(social) upsurge] 潮)”, literally meaning “tide”, is relatively specific, whereas “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” is more generally used to correspond with “crisis”.

The “Danger + Opportunity” Trope

“Wēijī (Wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” has unfortunately been used—or misused—by Westerners so much to refer to positive opportunity in the midst of danger that there is a whole Wikipedia article on that.

Other articles have been written on this subject as well, such as the following:

Are All Opportunities Good?

It seems that the crux of the issue is the morpheme “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion 机 機/机)” in “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)”, and how it does or doesn’t relate to the English word “opportunity”.

The English word “opportunity” is often defined as a situation that is favourable or allowing for progress. Naturally, people love progress and things that are favourable, so many naturally want to believe that “opportunity” being a possible meaning of the “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion 机 機/机)” in “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” means that they can find some favourable things for themselves in any crisis, because “the Chinese say so”.

It should be noted, though, that technically, an opportunity is not necessarily always a positive thing. One dictionary in fact defines an “opportunity” as “a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something”, and not all possibilities are positive—it depends on who or what a possibility is for.

Possibilities

Speaking of possibilities, both “wēi (danger | dangerous | endanger 危)” and “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion 机 機/机)” (but especially “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion 机 機/机)”) are polysemous, that is, having many possible related meanings—they are sort of like linguistic Schrödinger’s cats that could be in several possible states until sufficient context collapses the possibilities into one (or perhaps, still, a few).

How do the possibilities collapse when “wēi (danger | dangerous | endanger 危)” and “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion 机 機/机)” are put together as “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” and then used in typical contexts? Since “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” is a Mandarin word, the most important context to consider is that of the Mandarin language itself.

How does “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” work as a word in the Mandarin language? For what it’s worth, my sense, influenced by decades of translating Mandarin words into English, is that “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)”, as used in Mandarin, should be understood to primarily mean an incipient moment, or even opportunity, for danger itself, not for a Western or other opportunist who tries to make the situation about himself/herself. That is to say, with a Mandarin wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機), the focus is primarily on how in the situation referred to, dangerous things could happen. As Prof. Mair says in his essay mentioned above:

If one wishes to wax philosophical about the jī of wēijī, one might elaborate upon it as the dynamic of a situation’s unfolding, when many elements are at play. In this sense, jī is neutral. This jī can either turn out for better or for worse, but — when coupled with wēi — the possibility of a highly undesirable outcome (whether in life, disease, finance, or war) is uppermost in the mind of the person who invokes this potent term.

Even the seemingly unrelated meaning for “jī ({machine; mechanism [→ [airplane; aircraft | being organic]]} | {incipient moment; crucial point} | chance; opportunity; occasion 机 機/机)” of “machine” or “mechanism” may be (somewhat, at least) connected to the concept of “opportunity”, since, as the tech lovers among us know, machines and mechanisms make possible things that were not possible before, opening up opportunities for good or bad things to happen, depending on who or what uses them, and how. Also, in an abstract way, a situation can be likened to a machine or mechanism with which certain inputs can cause certain things to happen. With “wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)”, the input of concern is danger.

Responding Well to Crises

It is true, though, that how we respond to the potential dangers of an actual wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機), an actual crisis, can determine whether we end up better off or worse off. For example, the recent daily text for June 3, 2022 discussed 2 Corinthians 12:10, in which the apostle Paul said he ‘took pleasure’ in various crises as opportunities to exercise reliance on “the power of the Christ” rather than on his own relative insignificant power. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Thus, he would become truly powerful. As shown by a cross reference in the New World Translation Study Bible, related to this is what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13:

“For all things I have the strength through the one who gives me power.”

So, while the Mandarin expression “quánqiú (quán·qiú entire · globe → [global] 全球) liángshi (liáng·shi {grain → [food]} · {eating (matter) → [food]} → [food] 粮食 糧食) wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機)” directly refers to potential dangers relating to global food availability, a quánqiú (quán·qiú entire · globe → [global] 全球) liángshi (liáng·shi {grain → [food]} · {eating (matter) → [food]} → [food] 粮食 糧食) wēijī (wēi·jī {dangerous | endangering} · {incipient moment; crucial point | occasion} | {(for) danger} · occasion; opportunity → [crisis] 危机 危機) also provides opportunity for us to exercise reliance on Jehovah and his King, Jesus, as the apostle Paul did. Additionally, it may give us opportunities to share the good news of God’s Kingdom with people who are receptive to it, as it becomes more and more evident that only God’s Kingdom can truly bring an end to such crises.