Tag: Morphemes

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Culture Nations

chūshēng rìqī

chūshēng rìqī ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date]) ← 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 “When Was Jesus Born?”. Considering that it’s getting to be the middle of December, that’s not surprising—while we Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate Christmas, this relatively unusual stand means that we sometimes need to explain why we don’t celebrate this holiday that many in the world like so much. Knowing a bit about “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])”, this week’s MEotW that’s used in the Mandarin version of the above-mentioned article, will help us to do so to Mandarin-speaking Bible students, etc.

One thing we should note is that “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])” is subtly different from “shēngri  (shēng·ri {given birth to} · {sun → [day]} → [birthday] 生日)”, a common expression that many Mandarin field language learners likely have heard of. Comparing the English and Mandarin versions of the above-mentioned article, “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])” corresponds with “birth date” or “date of birth”, while the one occurrence of “shēngri  (shēng·ri {given birth to} · {sun → [day]} → [birthday] 生日)” corresponds with “birthday”. The dictionaries I checked confirm this distinction.

Morphemes and Related Expressions

The morphemes in “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])” are relatively commonly used, but interesting.

Besides just meaning “out”, the “chū ({go/come/put… out}; out 出)” in “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])” can also mean “[a verb] out”, e.g., “go/come out”, “put out”, etc. For example, check out the literal meanings in these Mandarin expressions that contain this “chū ({go/come/put out}; out 出)” (Tap/click on the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression if the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcard” is not already visible.):

  • Chū’āijíjì (Chū’·āijí·jì {Going Out from} · Egypt · Record → [Exodus] 出埃及记 出埃及記)
  • chūbǎn (chū·bǎn {put out} · {printing block [of] → [edition [of]]} → [publish] 出版)

The “shēng ({give birth to}/{was given birth to}; {give life to} | grow | exist; live | {[is] living}; {[is] alive} | {[is] unripe} | {[is] raw}; {[is] uncooked} | {[is] unfamiliar}; {[is] strange} | {[is] unprocessed}; {[is] crude} | existence; life; living | {be afflicted with}; get; have | very; keenly; much | pupil; student; scholar | [n suf used in names of occupations] 生)” in “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])” is highly polysemous (having multiple meanings), as can be seen from its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcard”. Some notable expressions that contain it are:

  • shēngmìng (life (both life in general and the life of an individual) 生命)
  • yǒngshēng (yǒng·shēng eternal; everlasting · life 永生)
  • xuésheng (xué·sheng learning · {growing (one) → [student]} → [student; pupil] 学生 學生)
  • fāshēng (fā·shēng {issue forth} · {come to life} → [happen] 发生 發生)
  • mòshēng (mò·shēng {(from) footpath between fields → [strange; unfamiliar; foreign]} · {unripe → [unfamiliar; strange]} → [strang; unfamiliar] 陌生)

Heavenly Bodies, Times, Radicals, and Japan

As for the “rì ({sun [→ [day]]} | {suns → [daily | daytime]} 日)” in “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])”, it literally means “sun”, but it is often used to mean “day”, since to us here on Earth it looks like the sun travels across the sky once a day. Similarly, “yuè (moon [→ [month | monthly]] 月)” literally means “moon”, but is often used to mean “month”, because we here on Earth see the moon go through all its phases in a month.

Speaking of “yuè (moon [→ [month | monthly]] 月)”, the character for it (月) is a radical that’s used in the character for the “qī ({period of time}; phase; stage [→ [issue (of a periodical); term (of a training class, etc.) | time]] | {scheduled time} 期 期/朞)” in “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])”. (Radicals are components of Chinese characters, that are a not very systematic system within the not very systematic system that is the characters. Thus, they can be justly thought of as a rabbit hole within a rabbit hole. Those who love characters often really love radicals, but otherwise, consider yourself warned!)

Changing the subject back to “rì ({sun [→ [day]]} | {suns → [daily | daytime]} 日)”, this morpheme appears in the Mandarin name for Japan, “Rìběn (Rì·běn Sun’s · {Root → [Origin]} → [Japan] 日本)”. This name literally means “Sun’s Root” (or “Sun’s Origin”), since from the point of view of China, the sun rises where Japan is, to the east. In turn, the English expression “Land of the Rising Sun” comes from this meaning.

Usage Examples

Here are a couple of examples of “chūshēng rìqī  ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth; birth date])” in use, taken from the above-mentioned article:

English:

The Bible does not give a specific date for the birth of Jesus Christ…

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經) bìng (actually 并 並/竝/并) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · has 没有 沒有) jìzǎi (jì·zǎi recorded · {written down} 记载 記載) Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌) Jīdū (Christ’s 基督) jùtǐ (jù·tǐ having · body → [specific] 具体 具體) de (’s 的) chūshēng rìqī ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth])…

English:

“The exact date of Christ’s birth is not known.”—Encyclopedia of Early Christianity.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 “Méiyǒu (Méi·yǒu (there) not · {is having} 没有 沒有) rén (person 人) quèzhī (què·zhī truly · knowing 确知 確知) Jīdū (Christ 基督) de (’s 的) chūshēng rìqī ((chū·shēng {had coming out of} · {being born} → [was born] 出生) (rì·qī {sun → [day]} · {scheduled time} → [date] 日期) → [date of birth]).”—Zǎoqī Jīdū Jiào Bǎikē Quánshū ((Zǎo·qī Early · Period 早期) {(Jīdū Christ 基督) (Jiào Teaching → [Religion] 教) → [Christianity]} {(Bǎi·kē {Hundred → [Numerous]} · {Branches of Study} → [Encyclopedic] 百科) (Quán·shū Complete · Book 全书 全書) → [Encyclopedia]} → [Encyclopedia of Early Christianity]) (Yīngyǔ (Yīng·yǔ English · language 英语 英語)).

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Theocratic

yīnyì

yīnyì (yīn·yì sound · translating → [transcribing | transcription] 音译 音譯) ← 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.

Units of Measurement

Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) points out that in previous editions of the Mandarin New World Translation, basically metric system units of measurement were used, although sometimes units from the original language were used. However, the whole number metric measurements that were considered best to use in the main text generally ended up being inexact conversions from the original measurements. Also, some metric units of measurement are named differently in different places. For example, some places use “mǐ (metre 米)” to mean “metre”, while other places use “gōngchǐ (gōng·chǐ {collective → [metric]} · {Chinese foot (⅓ of a metre)} → [metre] 公尺)”. So, the current version of the Mandarin NWT in most scriptures uses the original language units of measurement through what in Mandarin is called “yīnyì (yīn·yì sound · translating → [transcribing | transcription] 音译 音譯)”, and in footnotes it provides the metric equivalents and perhaps other information.

What does “yīnyì (yīn·yì sound · translating → [transcribing | transcription] 音译 音譯)” involve? Some Chinese-English dictionaries say that this word is used to mean either “transliterate”/“transliteration” or “transcribe”/“transcription”. What’s the difference? Is there a difference?

[Note on terminology: “Writing system” and “script” are synonymous, while an “orthography” is a “set of conventions [connected to a writing system/script] for writing a language, including norms of spelling, capitalization, emphasis, hyphenation, punctuation, and word breaks”.]

Transliteration?

The Wikipedia page on transliteration provides the following summaries to help define transliteration:

Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus trans- + liter-) in predictable ways

Transliteration is not primarily concerned with representing the sounds of the original but rather with representing the characters, ideally accurately and unambiguously.

Systematic transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another, typically grapheme to grapheme [e.g., letter to letter]. Most transliteration systems are one-to-one, so a reader who knows the system can reconstruct the original spelling.

Echoing the above quote, the academic paper “Two Steps Toward Digraphia in China” (Sino-Platonic Paper Number 134), by Xieyan Hincha, provides this rigorous definition of transliteration:

By transliteration is meant the letter-by-letter conversion of a text written in an alphabet into another alphabetical script, if necessary using diacritical marks, in such a way that the text can be correctly converted back into the original text by means of a transliteration table.

Transcription?

Now, compare the above to summaries provided by the Wikipedia page on transcription that help to define transcription:

Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of spoken language in written form.

There are two main types of linguistic transcription. Phonetic transcription focuses on phonetic and phonological properties of spoken language. Systems for phonetic transcription thus furnish rules for mapping individual sounds or phones to written symbols. Systems for orthographic transcription, by contrast, consist of rules for mapping spoken words onto written forms as prescribed by the orthography of a given language. Phonetic transcription operates with specially defined character sets, usually the International Phonetic Alphabet. [emphasis added]

The above-mentioned academic paper “Two Steps Toward Digraphia in China” also provides a rigorous definition for transcription, which seems to specifically refer to phonetic transcription, as referred to in the Wikipedia quote above:

It is time to ask what exactly is a transcription system. It is a graphic system whose elements unambiguously represent the sounds of a spoken language. The transcription can be narrow or broad: in both cases one graphic symbol represents in principle precisely one single sound.

“There is Too Much…Let Me Sum Up”


To sum up, basically transliteration refers to mapping from one writing system to another writing system, while transcription refers to mapping from a language’s sounds to a graphic system like the IPA (phonetic transcription), or to a writing system with an orthography (orthographic transcription).

Thus, I would say that it’s not really appropriate to use “yīnyì (yīn·yì sound · translating → [transcribing | transcription] 音译 音譯)”—which literally means “sound translating”—to mean “transliterate” or “transliteration”. From the literal meanings of its morphemes, “yīnyì (yīn·yì sound · translating → [transcribing | transcription] 音译 音譯)” is a much better fit for meaning “transcribe” or “transcription”, which refer to mapping the sounds of a language to a graphic system or a writing system.

Going back to Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the NWT Bible, when it says that this version in most scriptures yīnyì (yīn·yì sound · translates → [transcribes] 音译 音譯) (transcribes) the original language’s units of measurement, that means that it uses Chinese characters/Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to represent (as well as they can) how these units of measurement sounded in the original language. For example, the original language unit of measurement translated into English as “seah measure” is translated into Mandarin as “xìyà ({seah (measure)} 细亚 細亞)”.—2 Kings 7:1 (English/Mandarin).

Transliteration, Transcription, and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)

Besides offering definitions of transliteration and transcription, the academic paper “Two Steps Toward Digraphia in China” mentioned above also discusses whether these terms apply to Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). Here are a couple of quotes:

In the case of Chinese characters, ISO has established that a transliteration between Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is impossible: the supposedly more than 40,000 (“ideo-phonographic”) characters cannot be represented by the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet. There is no doubt about that. This clearly shows that Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin] 汉语 漢語) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Fāng’àn (Fāng’·àn {Direction → [Method]} · {Long, Narrow Table or Desk → [Plan]} 方案) is not a transliteration system, because it does not fulfill all the criteria of a transliteration system.

If Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin] 汉语 漢語) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Fāng’àn (Fāng’·àn {Direction → [Method]} · {Long, Narrow Table or Desk → [Plan]} 方案) were a transcription system, this table would contain three state-prescribed violations of the transcription principle, namely: y+i, y+in, and y+ing. In all three of these cases, two letters represent one sound. The same is true when writing y+u and w+u. This rule does not concern phonetic transcription; rather, it is an orthographic rule: in these cases <y> and <w> are artificial and arbitrary initial symbols. But phonetically these are not consonants. Consequently, in this respect Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin] 汉语 漢語) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Fāng’àn (Fāng’·àn {Direction → [Method]} · {Long, Narrow Table or Desk → [Plan]} 方案) is not a transcription system.

The above quote explains that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) does not qualify as a phonetic transcription system. However, it shows that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) has orthographic rules connected to it, meaning it could be used for orthographic transcription…

No, Could It Be?

So, this academic paper concludes that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not a system for transliterating Chinese characters, nor is it a system for phonetically transcribing Mandarin speech. What is it, then? The paper comes to this conclusion:

As is well known, the Chinese leadership refuses to recognize Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin] 汉语 漢語) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as a script and to permit digraphia [the state of having two standard scripts, Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)]. But scientific facts demonstrate that Hànyǔ (Hàn·yǔ {Han (Chinese)} · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin] 汉语 漢語) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Fāng’àn (Fāng’·àn {Direction → [Method]} · {Long, Narrow Table or Desk → [Plan]} 方案), including its orthography, is a writing system for Chinese. [emphasis added]

Categories
Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

lìjīng

lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

One of the unique features of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material at this time is Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus video transcripts. These should help us Mandarin field language learners to analyze and understand the Mandarin speech used in the many videos referenced in the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book, for example. This in turn should help us make more effective use of these videos while participating in Mandarin Bible discussions using this book. Hopefully in the future, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus transcripts will also be available for other publications that use videos.

lff Lesson 01 - Video Transcripts - Enjoy Life Forever! Bk. (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

The Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus transcript for the video used in lesson 04 point 5 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book contains the expression “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)”, which is this week’s MEotW:

51
00:03:12,542 → 00:03:14,344
📖 📄 📘 Lìjīng (Lì·jīng {having gone through} · {having experienced → [having endured]} 历经 歷經) qiānxīn‐wànkǔ ((qiān·xīn {a thousand} · {(things) being hot in taste → [sufferings]} 千辛)‐(wàn·kǔ {ten thousand} · {(things) being bitter → [hardships]} 万苦 萬苦) → [innumerable trials and tribulations (an interweaving of qiānwàn and xīnkǔ)]),

“Lìjīng (Lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” is noteworthy especially because of the meanings of the morphemes that make it up, and because of some of the other expressions that these morphemes are used in.

Mirrors, Histories, and Calendars

First, note that when written in Chinese characters, “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” (历经) is an anadrome (a word which is a different word spelled backwards, its mirror image, if you will) of “jīnglì (jīng·lì {pass/go through}; undergo; experience · {experience (v)} | {passed/gone through; undergone; experienced (thing)} · {experience (n)} → [experience (n)] 经历 經歷)” (经历), which in its verb form seems to mean basically the same thing as “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)”. (A “jīnglì (jīng·lì {experienced (thing)} · {experience (n)} → [experience (n)] 经历 經歷)” (noun) is an “experience”, but in contrast, it seems that “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” is not used as a noun.)

Interestingly, the “lì ({pass/go through}; experience; undergo | {experienced (thing[s])} → [experience[s]; record; history] | experienced → [all previous] | calendar 历 歷)” in “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” is also used in “lìshǐ (lì·shǐ {experienced (things) → [history; record[s]} · history → [history; record[s]] 历史 歷史)”, and in “Lìdàizhì Shàng ((Lì·dài·zhì {Experienced → [All Previous]} · {Replacings → [Generations]} · Records 历代志 歷代志) (Shàng Upper 上) → [1 Chronicles])” and “Lìdàizhì Xià ((Lì·dài·zhì {Experienced → [All Previous]} · {Replacings → [Generations]} · Records 历代志 歷代志) (Xià Lower 下) → [2 Chronicles])”.

In its meaning as “calendar”, this “lì ({pass/go through}; experience; undergo | {experienced (thing[s])} → [experience[s]; record; history] | experienced → [all previous] | calendar 历 歷)” also appears in, for example, “gōnglì (gōng·lì {common → [Gregorian]} · calendar 公历 公曆)”, meaning “Gregorian calendar”. Connected to this, the Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) resource has an interesting entry on “Gōnglì (Gōng·lì {Common → [Gregorian]} · Calendar 公历 公曆) Jìyuán (Jì·yuán Era · Unit → [Era] 纪元 紀元)”:

common era; wtl09 index sync. Lit. “Gregorian-calendar beginning-of-era”. Often abbreviated to 公元 gōngyuán (see 2001 NWT’s table of books). Note that in Chinese you put 公元 and 公元前 BEFORE the year number, not after it as in English. E.g. 公元29年 = 29C.E.

Warp, Weft, and Scriptures

The “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” in “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” also appears in some noteworthy expressions. Since it can mean “pass through; undergo; experience”, it’s no surprise that “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” appears in “jīngguò (jīng·guò {pass through} · pass; cross [→ [go through; undergo]] 经过 經過)” and in “jīngyàn (jīng·yàn {having passed through} · testing → [experience] 经验 經驗)”. (Jīngyàn (Jīng·yàn {having passed through} · testing → [experience] 经验 經驗) (experience) is what one gains after going through jīnglì (jīng·lì {experienced (things)} · experiences → [experiences] 经历 經歷) (experiences), although an experience can also be called a jīngyàn (jīng·yàn {having passed through} · testing → [experience] 经验 經驗).)

“Jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” also has a meaning—possibly its root meaning—of “warp”, a term from weaving. As summarized by Wikipedia:

Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is drawn through and inserted over and under the warp.[source]

Thus, in the picture below, the warp is the threads that are mounted on the loom, that go up and down, and the weft is the threads that go left and right.

Diagram of a loom, in a Chinese museum
Public Domain Dedication (CC0) Some rights reserved by Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D.

Note that the quote above from Wikipedia calls the warp the longitudinal threads. Mandarin takes this comparison to the place of actually using “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” to also mean “longitude”, as used in geography. So, “jīngwěi (jīng·wěi {warp (textiles) [→ [longitude]]} · {weft; woof [→ [latitude]]} [→ [logical planning; plan; orderliness | situation; state of affairs | manage; administer]] 经纬 經緯)”, which means “warp and weft” in weaving, also means “longitude and latitude” in geography.

Of course, as students of the Bible, we Mandarin field language learners should also be aware that the “jīng ({pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} | scripture; canon; classics | constant; regular | {warp (textiles)} [→ [longitude]] 经 經)” in “lìjīng (lì·jīng {go through}; experience; undergo · {pass through; undergo; experience [→ [bear; endure]]} 历经 歷經)” can mean “scripture”. So, it appears in expressions that we see and hear a lot, like “Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng (the) Holy · Scriptures → [the Bible] 圣经 聖經)”, “jīngwén (jīng·wén scripture · writing → [scripture] 经文 經文)”, and jīngjuàn (jīng·juàn scripture · volume [→ [Bible book]] 经卷 經卷).

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.