Tag: Morphemes

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Culture History Theocratic

xīshēng

xīshēng (xī·shēng {sacrifice (n or v) | sacrificial} · {[(as with a)] domestic animal} → [sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

As the war Ukraine rages on, time marches on, and this year’s Memorial season is now upon us. As of this writing, the home page of jw.org now features a page inviting people to this year’s Memorial. Appearing in the title of the Mandarin version of that page is this week’s MEotW, “xīshēng (xī·shēng {sacrifice (n or v) | sacrificial} · {[(as with a)] domestic animal} → [sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲)”, which effectively means “sacrifice”.

Note that while the “shēng ({domestic animal}; {sacrificial animal}; livestock 牲)” part of “xīshēng (xī·shēng {sacrifice (n or v) | sacrificial} · {[(as with a)] domestic animal} → [sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲)” sounds like the word for “life”, and while Jesus did indeed give his life for us, in this case the “shēng ({domestic animal}; {sacrificial animal}; livestock 牲)” used literally means “domestic animal”. When applied to Jesus’ sacrifice, we can take the “shēng ({domestic animal}; {sacrificial animal}; livestock 牲)” part of “xīshēng (xī·shēng {sacrifice (n or v) | sacrificial} · {[(as with a)] domestic animal} → [sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲)” to effectively mean “(as with a) domestic animal”. It’s understandable that this particular morpheme is used in “xīshēng (xī·shēng {sacrifice (n or v) | sacrificial} · {[(as with a)] domestic animal} → [sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲)”, since domestic animals were commonly used in sacrifices in ancient China, as they were in ancient Israel.

(It’s interesting to note, though, that an Internet search for “ancient China sacrifices” will turn up many references to human sacrifices in ancient China, as there were in ancient Canaan—let us be careful not to think more highly of worldly Chinese history and culture than they actually deserve!)

Referring to the Memorial in Mandarin

By comparing the English and Mandarin versions of the page on jw.org as of this writing inviting people to the Memorial, we can see that the organization is now translating “Memorial of Jesus’ Death” into Mandarin as “Yēsū (Jesus’ 耶稣 耶穌) Xīshēng (Xī·shēng {Sacrifice (n)} · {(as with a) Domestic Animal} → [Sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲) Jìniàn Jùhuì ((Jì·niàn Remembering · {Thinking Of} → [Commemorating] 记/纪念 記/紀念) (Jùhuì Meeting 聚会 聚會) → [Memorial])”. This is in contrast to the past rendering “Yēsū (Jesus’ 耶稣 耶穌) Shòunàn (Shòu·nàn {Being Subjected to → [Suffering of]} · Calamity 受难 受難)‐Jìniàn (Jì·niàn Remembering · {Thinking of} → [Commemorating] 记/纪念 記/紀念) Jùhuì (Meeting 聚会 聚會)” (km 2/2011) that the excellent resource Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) tells us about. (It also tells us about the current rendering, memtioned above.) For the Memorial, it does seem more relevant to emphasize Jesus’ sacrifice (“xīshēng (xī·shēng sacrifice (n)} · {(as with a) domestic animal} → [sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲)”) itself, as opposed to the suffering (“shòunàn (shòu·nàn {being subjected to → [suffering of]} · calamity 受难 受難)”) that he had to endure in the process of offering it.

Categories
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.)

Categories
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.)