Tag: Morphemes

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Current Events

zhèngfǔ

zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

On February 24, 2022, Russia sent significant military forces into Ukraine, resulting in the largest scale open warfare in Europe since World War II. Knowing certain Mandarin expressions will help us in the Mandarin field as we hear about and talk about Ukraine in the time ahead.

The Mandarin versions of the articles “Russia Invades Ukraine” and “Refugee Crisis​—Millions Flee Ukraine”, both recently featured on the home page of jw.org, use the expression “zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府)”, this week’s MEotW. This expression corresponds with the English word “government”, and thus it is a good word to know for discussions with people in the Mandarin field about how human governments have failed to end wars and other problems, and about how God’s Kingdom government will succeed where human governments have failed.

Interestingly, the first morpheme in “zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府)” is also the first morpheme in zhèngzhì (zhèng·zhì {politics | political} · governing [→ [politics | political]] 政治), which corresponds to “politics” or “political” in English.

Usage Examples

The Mandarin versions of the above-mentioned articles contain excellent examples of how we can use “zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府)” in the Mandarin field:

English:

[God’s] Kingdom is the heavenly government that will accomplish God’s will for the earth, and God’s will includes world peace.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 [Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) de (’s 的)] Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) shì (is 是) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) tiānshang (tiān·shang heaven · upon 天上) de (’s 的) zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府), tā (it 它) huì (will 会 會) shíxiàn (shí·xiàn solidly · {make appear} → [make come true] 实现 實現) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) duì (towards 对 對) rénlèi (rén·lèi human·kind 人类 人類) de (’s 的) chéngnuò (chéng·nuò {bearings of} · promising → [promises] 承诺 承諾), bāokuò (bāo·kuò wrapping · {drawing together} → [including] 包括) wèi (for 为 為/爲) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界) dàilái (dài·lái {to bring} · {to come} 带来 帶來) hépíng (peace (nwtsty-CHS Appx. A2 says this term mainly refers to the absence of war or conflict) 和平).

English:

Human governments worldwide have failed the human family.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Zhèngfǔ (Zhèng·fǔ political · {seats of government} → [governments] 政府) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · {have had} 没有 沒有) bànfǎ (bàn·fǎ handling · ways 办法 辦法) mǎnzú (mǎn·zú {to fill} · {to be sufficient} → [to satisfy] 满足 滿足) rénmín (rén·mín {(the) people} 人民) de (’s 的) xūyào ({(things) needed} 需要),

English:

He promises to solve the problems of refugees by means of his heavenly government, called God’s Kingdom, which will replace human governments.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) chéngnuò (chéng·nuò bears · promising → [promises] 承诺 承諾), tā (he 他) huì (will 会 會) tōngguò (tōng·guò through · passing → [passing through] → [through] 通过 通過) yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) tiānshang (tiān·shang heaven · upon 天上) de (’s 的) zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seat of government} → [government] 政府), yě (even 也) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · is 就是) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) de (’s 的) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) lái (come 来 來) qǔdài (qǔ·dài {take (and)} · replace 取代) rénjiān (rén·jiān humans · among 人间 人間) zhèngfǔ (zhèng·fǔ political · {seats of government} → [governments] 政府), zhèige (zhèi·ge this · [mw] 这个 這個) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) huì (will 会 會) jiějué (jiě·jué {untie → [solve]} · decide → [solve] 解决 解決) nànmín (nàn·mín calamity · {persons of a certain occupation} → [refugees] 难民 難民) cháo (tide → [(social) upsurge] 潮) de (’s 的) wèntí (wèn·tí asking · problems → [problems] 问题 問題).

(Remember that since the above Mandarin examples are rendered with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus technology, tapping/clicking on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression in the examples above will reveal a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcard” with additional information, such as English meanings, Chinese characters, etc. Tapping/clicking on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression will hide the “flashcard” again.)

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Current Events

bàofā

bàofā (bào·fā exploding; bursting · {sending out}; issuing → [erupting; bursting/breaking out | explosion; eruption] 爆发 爆發) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

On February 24, 2022, Russia sent significant military forces into Ukraine, resulting in the largest scale open warfare in Europe since World War II. Knowing certain Mandarin expressions will help us in the Mandarin field as we hear about and talk about Ukraine in the time ahead.

The Mandarin version of the article “Russia Invades Ukraine”, recently featured on the home page of jw.org, twice uses the expression “bàofā (bào·fā exploding; bursting · {sending out}; issuing → [erupting; bursting/breaking out | explosion; eruption] 爆发 爆發)”, this week’s MEotW. As can be seen from the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus information above, saying “zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) bàofā (bào·fā exploding · issuing → [erupting; breaking out] 爆发 爆發)” in Mandarin is like saying “war erupting/breaking out” in English.

A Verb That Can Be a Noun

While the morphemes making up “bàofā (bào·fā exploding; bursting · {sending out}; issuing → [erupting; bursting/breaking out | explosion; eruption] 爆发 爆發)” are literally verbs, “bàofā (bào·fā exploding; bursting · {sending out}; issuing → [erupting; bursting/breaking out | explosion; eruption] 爆发 爆發)” can also at times be used as a noun. For example, saying “zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) de (’s 的) bàofā (bào·fā exploding · issuing → [erupting/eruption; breaking out] 爆发 爆發)” in Mandarin is like saying “the eruption of war” in English.

Such verbal/gerundial nouns 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.

Backwards and Forward

Another interesting thing to note is that in the article mentioned above, the first occurrence of “bàofā (bào·fā exploding; bursting · {sending out}; issuing → [erupting; bursting/breaking out | explosion; eruption] 爆发 爆發)” has it coming after the word “zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” (“zǔzhǐ (zǔ·zhǐ {to prevent} · {to stop} 阻止) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭) bàofā (bào·fā exploding · issuing → [erupting] 爆发 爆發)”), but in the second occurrence, “bàofā (bào·fā exploding; bursting · {sending out}; issuing → [erupting; bursting/breaking out | explosion; eruption] 爆发 爆發)” comes before “zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war; warfare] 战争 戰爭)” (“rúguǒ (rú·guǒ if · {fruit → [if indeed]} 如果) bàofā (bào·fā explodes · issues → [erupts] 爆发 爆發) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng war · contending → [war] 战争 戰爭)”). The first occurrence, with some context, is like saying “to prevent war (from) erupting” in English, while the second, with some context, is like saying “if erupts war” in English.

This reminds us that while word order is sometimes reversed in Mandarin compared to English, there is also a certain elasticity, or flexibility, in how words can be ordered in Mandarin, as indeed there also is in English. (While “if erupts war” isn’t quite idiomatic (natural to a native speaker) in English, I don’t think it’s actually wrong, word order-wise—I’m pretty sure constructs with similar word order can be found in English poetry or song lyrics, for example.)

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Culture Current Events

rùqīn

rùqīn (rù·qīn enter; {go into} · invade; {intrude into} → [invade; intrude into] 入侵) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

On February 24, 2022, Russia sent significant military forces into Ukraine, resulting in the largest scale open warfare in Europe since World War II. Knowing certain Mandarin expressions will help us in the Mandarin field as we hear about and talk about Ukraine in the time ahead.

The article “Russia Invades Ukraine” has been featured on jw.org since not long after the crisis began, and the Mandarin translation of that article’s title is “Éluósī (Russia 俄罗斯 俄羅斯) Rùqīn (Rù·qīn Enters · Invades → [Invades] 入侵) Wūkèlán (Ukraine 乌克兰 烏克蘭) 🔗”. So, we can see that this week’s MEotW, “rùqīn (rù·qīn enter; {go into} · invade; {intrude into} → [invade; intrude into] 入侵)”, corresponds with the English word “invades”.

To Be Resultative…

Another way to say “invade” in Mandarin is “qīnrù (qīn·rù invade; {intrude into} · {enter | [go] into} → [invade; intrude into] 侵入)”, which has the same morphemes as “rùqīn (rù·qīn enter; {go into} · invade; {intrude into} → [invade; intrude into] 入侵)”, but in reversed order. There may be a difference between these two words, since the ABC Chinese-English Dictionary refers to “rùqīn (rù·qīn enter; {go into} · invade; {intrude into} → [invade; intrude into] 入侵)” as a verb, while it refers to “qīnrù (qīn·rù invade; {intrude into} · {enter | [go] into} → [invade; intrude into] 侵入)” as a resultative verb, in which “rù (enter; {go into}; join 入)” is taken to mean “into”, as opposed to the verb “enter”.

Or Not to Be Resultative?

On the other hand, the dictionaries I have checked re “rù (enter; {go into}; join 入)” itself, including the ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, emphasize its meaning as being the verb “enter”, and not so much as being the preposition “into” (although I think it can be used that way). If we indeed take both their morphemes to be verbs, then it would seem that the case of “rùqīn (rù·qīn enter; {go into} · invade; {intrude into} → [invade; intrude into] 入侵)”/“qīnrù (qīn·rù invade; {intrude into} · {enter | [go] into} → [invade; intrude into] 侵入)” is similar to the case of “fǎlǜ (law 法律)”/“lǜfǎ (law 律法)”.

Regarding “fǎlǜ (law 法律)”/“lǜfǎ (law 律法)”, the MEotW post for “fǎlǜ (law 法律)” had this to say:

But, Why?

If “lǜfǎ (law 律法)” and “fǎlǜ (law 法律)” both mean basically the same thing, why did the world’s Mandarin-speaking population bother to switch the order of “lǜ (law; statute; rule; regulation 律)” and “fǎ (law | method; way; mode | standard; model | {magic arts} | {follow; model after} 法)” in popular usage? Who knows? Appendix A2 of the Mandarin NWT Bible, probably wisely, does not get into the why of it, just mentioning that “fǎlǜ (law 法律)” is now the more common usage. Even if it turns out that there was a reason, it may not be what most would consider a good reason. Sometimes people are just weird, and, speaking as a Chinese person myself, that includes Chinese people—just look at some of the arbitrary ways in which Chinese characters have been designed, that have turned trying to figure out the pronunciations and meanings of unfamiliar Chinese characters into a guessing game.

Speaking of what’s commonplace or popular and why, I am reminded of this quote from William Goldman, who wrote the screenplay for The Princess Bride as well as the screenplays for several other successful, well-known movies:

Nobody knows anything…Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess

Speaking of The Princess Bride, that movie is a treasure trove of quotable quotes, including this one that serves as a precautionary admonition to us Mandarin language-learners:

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.