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yīnwei

yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This week’s MEotW, “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, was discussed in a podcast episode that I listened to recently. Here’s a clip from it, with the part in which this expression was discussed:

Here’s a transcript of this video clip:

David: You’re a good sport. Thank you for doing this. So you are a native speaker. This question is very important because if you pronounce a character with the wrong tone, you can be fined as much as 50 kuài (pieces → [mw for Renminbi] 块 塊) at CCTV if you’re an announcer. So what I want you to do is just very slowly pronounce for us the word that in Chinese would be the equivalent of “because”.

Yajun: “Yīnwéi (Yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

David: Say again?

Yajun: “Yīnwéi (Yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

David: So I hear that the “wéi (… 为 為/爲)” is second tone. Is that right?

Yajun: Yeah…

David: That’s Northern Mandarin. That’s also Běijīng (Běi·jīng North · {Country Capital} → [Beijing] 北京)‐huà (speech 话 話). [With] the actual pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]) citation version of that word, in 90% of the dictionaries that you will see, the second character is pronounced with fourth tone, as “yīnwèi (yīn·wèi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”.

Yajun: Sure…?

David: Yeah, well if you ask most Chinese, they’re very unsure about it, just like you.

Yajun: I was quite sure it’s “yīnwéi (yīn·wéi because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, something like that. Now I’m not so sure…and I don’t want to lose 50 kuài (pieces → [mw for Renminbi] 块 塊).

David: Don’t worry, there are many examples like that and you are not actually wrong. This is an artificial standard that has been imposed and actually, few people, or, not everyone, actually follows it.

By the way, the David Moser speaking in the above clip is indeed the same one who wrote the relatively well-known essay “Why Chinese Is So D- Hard”, which has given many people a lot to think about regarding how Chinese characters make learning Mandarin much harder than it otherwise would be. (I’m not providing a link to this essay because the full title and an example used in the text are a bit less than family-friendly. However, for anyone who’s interested, here is a link to a family-friendly version of this essay that’s been translated into Mandarin and written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音).)

Getting back to “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, there’s also a relatively detailed entry on this expression in the excellent Referenced Theo. Expressions resource.

Dealing With Different Right Pronunciations

The different pronunciations of “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)” are an example showing us that, while they have a lot of overlap, pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]), Northern Mandarin and Beijing Mandarin, and, for that matter, the Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語) spoken in Taiwan are not exactly the same. (More information on how pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]) has been artificially constructed from various parts and promoted to be a national standard can be found in David Moser’s book “A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language”.)

So, when we get to a word like “yīnwei (yīn·wei because · for | {because of} · for/{on account of} | {is because} · {is for} 因为 因為)”, which pronunciation should we say it with? Well, considering that the basic principle regarding why language groups and congregations even exist is that Bible truth best reaches a person’s heart in that person’s mother tongue, the logical conclusion is that we should try, as much as we are reasonably able to, to use whichever pronunciation is used by whomever we are talking to. The apostle Paul said “to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to gain Jews”, so we should similarly seek to become as the Mandarin-speaking people we meet in the ministry. (1 Corinthians 9:20) And since tones are an essential part of Mandarin pronunciation, that would include trying to use whichever tone is used by whomever we are talking to.

That may be relatively straightforward—although it may not be easy—when speaking to an individual, but when speaking to a large, mixed audience, perhaps at a meeting or even a convention, we will have to use good judgement to try to speak so as to be understood without distraction by the majority of the audience. It helps, then, to know the audience.

The Accents of Network News Announcers

Speaking of the audience, the clip above mentions that CCTV announcers are required to speak in a particular standard way, and that they are actually fined when they deviate from this standard. CCTV (China Central Television) is the national television broadcaster of China (which, naturally in China, is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party), and as such, has an audience that includes all of mainland China, with all its various languages, dialects, and accents. As we can see, those calling the shots at CCTV, and indeed, in China in general, have decided to approach this situation by seeking to impose and promote a standard way of speaking, from the top down.

American network news announcers face a sort-of similar challenge—while English is understood throughout the USA, people in different parts of the USA have come to speak with different regional accents.

The article “Why Do So Many News Anchors Sound Alike?”, on the Mental Floss website, says the following about how American news announcers have historically approached this situation:

No matter which channel you tune into or what local broadcast you receive, news anchors share one common trait beyond professional attire and perfect hair. They tend to sound exactly the same, from their cadence to enunciation to a completely curious lack of a regional accent. How does that happen?

Broadcasters didn’t always sound so geographically neutral. In the early part of the 20th century, many radio personalities and performers adopted what was known as a Mid-Atlantic accent, or a blend of mannered British and the East Coast dialect of the United States. This polished, proper method of speaking was popular in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and on radio because it signaled some kind of upper-class education and erudition. Thanks to America’s infatuation with England, sounding even vaguely British made people sound intelligent. Pundits like William F. Buckley Jr. carried the Mid-Atlantic torch even as it fell out of favor in entertainment.

The more contemporary practice of sounding linguistically neutral is often referred to as having a General American accent—which is a bit misleading, since there’s really not much of an accent at all. Also referred to as Standard American, Broadcast English, or Network English, General American was a term first used in the 1920s and ’30s by linguists who wanted to isolate a more widespread accent than the New England or Southern dialects.

Balancing Authenticity with Avoiding Distraction

A relatively recent Business Insider article points out, though, that what American people expect of their media personalities has evolved over time:

“There is something called a broadcast news type voice,” Brice told Insider. “And I really try to coach people to not have that voice. In fact, I coach routinely people to sound more like themselves. People try to emulate other anchors and reporters, and in my opinion, it gets them in trouble.”

…

“We’ve definitely evolved, just as the news industry has evolved, into a different mindset,” Cairns told Insider, adding that listeners now look for signs of authenticity from their media personalities. “With people being flooded with content, their expectations have changed. People don’t want the typical woman with the big head of hair and the perfect voice, looking a certain way.”

Instead of trying to eliminate regional accents like Fleming’s Boston pronunciations [heard in the post embedded above], Cairns told Insider, speakers who speak with accents should focus only on making sure their speech patterns aren’t distracting from what they’re trying to say.

“It’s just like your hairstyle—you have your own voice style.” Cairns told Insider. “Use it. It’s part of what identifies you. Just don’t let it distract from the message.”

Considering the above and coming back to the Mandarin field, we can see that when speaking to Mandarin-speaking people in the field, there are at least three ways of speaking that we need to mentally juggle:

  • The way we ouselves normally speak Mandarin
  • Modern Standard Mandarin/pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)])/Taiwanese Guóyǔ (Guó·yǔ National · Language → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in Taiwan)] 国语 國語)
  • The kind of Mandarin best understood by whomever we are speaking to

In the Mandarin field, we want to speak authentically, sincerely, in a way that other people can tell is coming from our hearts, while avoiding speaking in a way that is so different from what others expect that it distracts from our God-honouring and life-saving message—it’s a balancing act, that may involve juggling! The standard forms of Mandarin that have been promoted by governments, widely broadcast in the media, etc. may heavily influence people’s expectations of the kind of Mandarin we speak, but different situations may require different approaches. So, we should do our best to adapt accordingly, so as to speak in the way that best helps others and glorifies, not any human entity, but rather, our great God Jehovah.

Note: Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is aimed at and made available to the worldwide Mandarin field, and so as far as possible, it is based on how most people seem to actually speak pǔtōng‐huà ((pǔ·tōng common · {through(out) → [common]} 普通)‐(huà speech 话 話) → [(Modern Standard) Mandarin (term commonly used in China)]), the artificial standard mentioned in the clip at the beginning of this post, that is the standard language promoted in mainland China, where about 95% of the world’s Chinese people are. (As Mr. Moser pointed out in the clip, people don’t always follow the pronunciations found in many dictionaries. E.g., many seem to use more neutral tones than many dictionaries indicate.) Since Taiwan is also a relatively big presence in the Mandarin-speaking world, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material also contains notes indicating when Taiwan Mandarin has different pronunciations. (Offhand, the only Mandarin dictionary mentions that I can recall that refer to Northern or Beijing pronunciations involve the “r” ({child | youth | son} → [(diminutive) non-syllabic retroflex suffix; pronunciation feature in Beijing dialect] 儿 兒) that Beijingers add to the ends of many words. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material includes notes about this.)