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Lísú‐rén

 

 

Lísú‐rén+ ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people | person[s] | man/men 人) → [Nazʹi·rite[s]]) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 ➕ icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and ➕ Reveal + Symbols re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

Apart from the Vulgar World

This week’s MEotW, “Lísú‐rén ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people | person[s] | man/men 人) → [Nazʹi·rite[s]])”, appears in the first paragraph of Lesson 38 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book, which is entitled “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) Shǐ (Made 使) Cānsūn (Samson 参孙 參孫) Lì (Strength 力) Dà ({to Be Big} → [to Be Great] 大) Wúqióng+ (Wú·qióng {Not to Have} · {Being Impoverished} → [to Be Boundless] 无穷 無窮)” (“Jehovah Made Samson Strong”):

English:

He will be a Nazirite.’ Do you know who the Nazirites were? They were special servants of Jehovah.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) + 🔗):

📖 📄 ➕ Tā (he 他) yào (will 要) zuò (be 做) Lísú‐rén+ ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén person 人) → [Nazʹi·rite]).” Nǐ (you 你) zhīdào (zhī·dào {do know} · {(the) way (of)} → [do know] 知道) shénme (shén·me what · [suf] 什么 什/甚麼) shì (were 是) Lísú‐rén ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people 人) → [Nazʹi·rites]) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? Lísú‐rén ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people 人) → [Nazʹi·rites]) shì (were 是) Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華) de (’s 的) tèbié púrén,

The Mandarin Learn From the Bible book here uses “Lísú‐rén ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people | person[s] | man/men 人) → [Nazʹi·rite[s]])” to correspond with the English expression “Nazirite”. The Glossary in the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY contains the following entry for this expression:

A word taken from the Hebrew for “One Singled Out,” “Dedicated One,” “Separated One.” There were two classes of Nazirites: those who volunteered and those who were appointed as such by God. A man or a woman could take a special vow to Jehovah to live as a Nazirite for a period of time. Those voluntarily taking the vow had three principal restrictions: they were to drink no alcohol nor eat any product of the grapevine, they were not to cut their hair, and they were not to touch a dead body. Those appointed by God as Nazirites remained such for life, and Jehovah specified the requirements for them.—Nu 6:2-7; Jg 13:5.

The morphemes in “Lísú‐rén ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people | person[s] | man/men 人) → [Nazʹi·rite[s]])” mean “Apart from” “Vulgar (Secular) (World)” “person”. (Another expression that uses that noteworthy middle morpheme is past MEotW “shìsú+ (shì·sú {generation’s → [world’s]} · customs | {(of the) generation → [world]} · {vulgar → [secular]} | {generation → [world]} · {vulgar → [secular] (world)} 世俗)”.) Comparing those meanings with the above description of “Nazirite”, we can see that “Lísú‐rén ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people | person[s] | man/men 人) → [Nazʹi·rite[s]])” is one of the rare Bible names that is translated into Mandarin based on its meaning, rather than based on its sound. (In fact, it’s the only one that I can think of at this time that is translated that way.) Interestingly, the footnote for Numbers 6:2 in the Mandarin NWT Study Bible tells us that “Lísú‐rén ((Lí·sú {Apart from} · {Vulgar → [Secular] (World)} 离俗 離俗)‐(rén people | person[s] | man/men 人) → [Nazʹi·rite[s]])” can also be translated based on its sound, as “Náxì’ěr‐rén ((Náxì’ěr Na·zirʹ 拿细耳 拿細耳)‐(rén people | person[s] | man/men 人) → [Nazʹi·rite[s] (Nu. 6:2 ftn.: alternate translation, now usually “Lísú‐rén”)])”:

Screenshot of “Náxì’ěr‐rén” in Num. 6:2 (nwtsty, CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

(Dark mode for the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) website, as shown in the above image, can be enabled in the Safari web browser by using the Noir Safari extension. Other web browsers may also have extensions with similar functionality.)

This is, as the English saying goes, an exception that proves the rule—generally, Mandarin versions of names that originated in other languages are designed based on the sound of the original language name, in accord with the basic linguistic principle that when it comes to human languages, speech is primary, not writing, regardless of how those who repeat the Ideographic Myth erroneously claim that Chinese characters are awesome because they supposedly represent meaning visually without relying on speech sounds.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus / Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+ resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible 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 Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus / Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)+ web resource as time allows.

Categories
Culture Experiences History Language Learning Science Theocratic

héchuáng

héchuáng+ (hé·chuáng river/stream·bed 河床 河床/牀) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 ➕ icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and ➕ Reveal + Symbols re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

Correction

This week’s MEotW, “héchuáng+ (hé·chuáng river/stream·bed 河床 河床/牀)”, appears in Lesson 40 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book, which is entitled “Dàwèi (David 大卫 大衛) Yǒngzhàn+ (Yǒng·zhàn Bravely · Fights 勇战 勇戰) Gēlìyà (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)” (“David and Goliath”).

English:

David took his sling and went to a stream. He chose five smooth stones and put them in a pouch.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 ➕ Dàwèi (David 大卫 大衛) cóng (from 从 從) héchuáng+ (hé·chuáng stream·bed 河床 河床/牀) shang (upon 上) jiǎnle (jiǎn·le {picked up} · {to completion} 捡了 撿了) wǔ (five 五) kuài ({pieces of} 块 塊) guānghua (guāng·hua {light → [bare]} · smooth → [smooth] 光滑) de (’s 的) shízǐr+ (shí·zǐ·r stone · {small and hard things} · {children → [(diminutive) non-syllabic retroflex suffix; pronunciation feature in Beijing dialect]} → [stones] 石子[儿] 石子[兒]) zhuāngjìn (zhuāng·jìn {(and made them) to play the role → [(and) packed (them)]} · {to be entering into} 装进 裝進) dàizi (dài·zi pouch · [suf for nouns] 袋子),

“Héchuáng (Hé·chuáng river/stream·bed 河床 河床/牀)”, as shown in the above quote, was added as part of a correction made in the current 2025-03 Printing of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book. Before, it had said that David had gone to “xiǎoxī (xiǎo·xī small · stream’s 小溪) páng (side 旁)”, the side of the stream, and chosen five smooth stones. However, the English New World Translation version of 1 Samuel 17:40 says that David “chose five smooth stones from the streambed”, which in Mandarin is “héchuáng (hé·chuáng river/stream·bed 河床 河床/牀)”.

Another thing that we can note from the above quotations is that the English version of the Learn From the Bible book just says that David “went to a stream” and chose the stones—it does not go into any detail about which part of the stream David chose the stones from. So, the detail that David chose the stones from the streambed is only mentioned in the Mandarin version. It’s good to know that Jehovah’s organization conscientiously corrects even such seemingly minor technical errors when they are found, even when they are “just” in the Mandarin text.

Contribution

David’s example shows us that while we servants of Jehovah—including us Mandarin field language learners—should ultimately rely on him for success, we should also do what we ourselves can do to contribute to success. As written in the MEotW post on “Gēlìyà+ (Go·liʹath 歌利亚 歌利亞)”:

Back in David’s time, it may have seemed to the Israelites facing Goliath that they had no option but to become slaves to the Philistines, because who could defeat the mighty Goliath? However, rather than being intimidated by this abnormally large but still limited and imperfect human, David put Jehovah first and really trusted in him, resulting in Jehovah blessing his efforts and helping him to soundly and decisively defeat Goliath. And yes, besides trusting in Jehovah, David did also contribute his own efforts—he both prepared to battle Goliath (for example, by carefully selecting “five smooth stones from the streambed”, stones that would come off his sling and fly through the air smoothly), and also actually stepped up and fought this battle.—1 Samuel 17:40.

汉字 / 漢字? Pīnyīn?

Today, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) can be one of our symbolic “smooth stones” that help us prepare for and successfully fight our personal battle to, with Jehovah’s help, defeat the cultural Goliath that is the characters, and learn to understand Mandarin and speak it understandably (and smoothly!) to the Mandarin-speaking people we meet in the field.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible 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 Learn From the Bible 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 Experiences History Language Learning Names Science Theocratic

Lǎhé

Lǎhé+ (Raʹhab 喇合) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 ➕ icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and ➕ Reveal + Symbols re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

Same Characters, Different Pronunciations

This week’s MEotW, “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合)”, appears in the title of Lesson 30 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book:

English:

Rahab Hid the Spies

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 ➕ Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合) Ràng (Made 让 讓) Tànzi+ (Tàn·zi {(Ones) Trying to Find Sth. Out → [Spies]} · [suf for nouns] 探子) Cáng ({to Be Hidden} 藏) Qilai (Qi·lai Up · {to Come} 起来 起來)

The Mandarin Learn From the Bible book here uses “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合)” to correspond with “Rahab” in English. The current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (Study Edition) also uses “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合)” this way. For example, here is how it renders Joshua 2:1, which mentions Rahab:

Joshua 2:1 in the Mandarin _NWT_ Study Bible, in the JW Library app

Joshua 2:1 in the Mandarin NWT Study Bible, in the JW Library app

Note, though, that the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for this used to be “Lāhé (Raʹhab (old pronunciation) 喇合)”, with the same characters, as can be seen in this screenshot of Joshua 2:1 in the PDF for the old printed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) NWT Bible:

Joshua 2:1 in the PDF for the old printed _Pīnyīn_ _NWT_ Bible

Joshua 2:1 in the PDF for the old printed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) NWT Bible

Why was this pronunciation changed, even though the same characters are used? Perhaps this was done to align with the common pronunciation of this name. For example, in CC-CEDICT, a public-domain Chinese-English dictionary, the entry for this expression says that the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for it is “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合)”, and that the definition is “(Protestantism) Rahab, mother of Boaz”. In turn, perhaps there is some connection with the ABC Dictionary’s definition of “lǎ ({prostitute (slang)} | horn; bugle; trumpet; loudspeaker | lama 喇)” as “(slang) prostitute”, which, as many know, is what Rahab worked as before she joined Jehovah’s people.

Context Is King, Not Characters

Anyway, what we have here are homographs, different expressions that are written the same way. In fact, my dictionaries say that the character “喇” that’s used in “Lǎhé+ (Raʹhab 喇合)” can represent different expressions which can be pronounced “lā”, “lá”, “lǎ”, or “la”. If one encounters the character “喇” then, which of its multiple possible pronunciations is the right one? And, which of its multiple possible meanings is the right one? It depends on the context, which is the same as the situation with homophones written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). (Actually, in a way, a character like “喇” is more ambiguous than a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression like “lǎ ({prostitute (slang)} | horn; bugle; trumpet; loudspeaker | lama 喇)”, because at least the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression literally spells out its pronunciation, whereas with a character like “喇”, both its meaning and its pronunciation are ambiguous, even if one knows and can remember the character.)

So, while advocates of characters often make a fuss about the homophones in Mandarin that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) would write the same way, the corresponding problem of homographs plagues the characters!

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible 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 Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.