Tag: Pīnyīn Plus

Categories
Current Events Theocratic

fùhuó

fùhuó (fù·huó {being turned around → [being restored]} · {to be living} → [resurrection] 复活 復活) ← 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 None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

As featured on jw.org, one of the events related to the Memorial this year is:

English:

The special Bible talk “The Resurrection—Victory Over Death!”

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Tèbié (Tè·bié special · differentiated → [special] 特别 特別) gōngzhòng (gōng·zhòng public · multitude → [public] 公众 公眾) yǎnjiǎng (yǎn·jiǎng {performing of} · speaking → [talk] 演讲 演講) “Fùhuó (Fù·huó {Being Turned Around → [Being Restored]} · {to Be Living} → [Resurrection] 复活 復活) Zhànshèng (Zhàn·shèng Fights · {to Be Winning Victory over} → [Wins Victory over] 战胜 戰勝) Sǐwáng (Dying → [Death] 死亡)!”

Many Mandarin field language learners will already be familiar with this week’s MEotW, “fùhuó (fù·huó {being turned around → [being restored]} · {to be living} → [resurrection] 复活 復活)”, which appears in the name of the special talk, as shown above. Also, they probably already know that the morpheme “huó ({to live} | {[is] alive}; {[is] living} | {[is] lively} 活)” in that expression means “living”. What’s the story, though, with “fù ({turn around/over} [→ [recover; restore; return; resume | duplicate; repeat | again; repeatedly | [is] compound; complex; composite | reply; answer | avenge; retaliate]] 复 復)”?

Turning Around, Etc.

The “fù ({turn around/over} [→ [recover; restore; return; resume | duplicate; repeat | again; repeatedly | [is] compound; complex; composite | reply; answer | avenge; retaliate]] 复 復)” in “fùhuó (fù·huó {being turned around → [being restored]} · {to be living} → [resurrection] 复活 復活)” seems to literally mean “turn around”, or “turn over”, and it can be used to effectively mean “recover; restore; return; resume”. Thus, on a certain level of literalness, “fùhuó (fù·huó {being turned around → [being restored]} · {to be living} → [resurrection] 复活 復活)” means “being restored to be living”.

Here are some other expressions that incorporate this “fù ({turn around/over} [→ [recover; restore; return; resume | duplicate; repeat | again; repeatedly | [is] compound; complex; composite | reply; answer | avenge; retaliate]] 复 復)”, some of which show other effective meanings that it can also represent:

  • Fùhuó (Fù·huó {Turning Around → [Restoring]} · {to Be Living} → [Resurrection] → [Easter] 复活 復活) Jié (Node → [Holiday] 节 節)
  • chóngfù (chóng·fù repeating · {turning around/over → [duplicating]} 重复 重複/覆)
  • chóngchóng (chóng·chóng repeating · repeating 重重)‐fùfù (fù·fù {turning around/over → [duplicating]} · {turning around/over → [duplicating]} 复复 {復復}/{複複}/{复复})
  • fǎnfù (fǎn·fù {turning over} · {turning around} → [over and over] 反复 反復/覆)
  • fǎnfǎn‐fùfù ((fǎn·fǎn {turning over} · {turning over} 反反)‐(fù·fù {turning around} · {turning around} 复复 復/覆復/覆) → [over and over])
  • fùshēng (fù·shēng {being turned around → [being restored]} · {to be living} → [resurrection; being brought back to life; coming back to life] 复生 復生)
  • fùshù (fù·shù {turning around → [again]} · state; relate; narrate → [repeat; retell] 复述 復/複/覆述)
  • fùxí (fù·xí {turning around → [again]} · practise → [review; revise] 复习 複/復習)
  • fùzá (fù·zá {[is] turned around → [[is] compound; complex]} · {[is] mixed} → [[is] complicated; complex] 复杂 複雜)
  • fùzhì (fù·zhì {turning around → [again]} · make; manufacture; create; produce → [duplicate; reproduce; clone; make a copy of; replicate] 复制 複製)
  • huīfù (restore; recover · {turn around/over → [recover; restore; return; resume]} [→ [resume; renew]] 恢复 恢復)
  • kāngfù (kāng·fù {being healthy} · {is turned around → [is restored; is recovered]} → [is restored to health; is recovered; is recuperated] 康复 康復)
  • xiūfù (xiū·fù repair; mend; overhaul · {turn around/over → [recover; restore]} 修复 修復)

The polysemy (having of many possible meanings) of “fù ({turn around/over} [→ [recover; restore; return; resume | duplicate; repeat | again; repeatedly | [is] compound; complex; composite | reply; answer | avenge; retaliate]] 复 復)” may seem quite fùzá (fù·zá {turned around → [complex]} · mixed → [complicated] 复杂 複雜), but don’t worry—you can always come back to this blog post to fùxí (fù·xí {turning around → [again]} · practise → [review] 复习 複/復習) 😁.

Categories
Culture Current Events History Technology Theocratic

zhōngzhǐ

zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ end; finish · stop; halt 终止 終止) ← 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 None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

American president Joe Biden has expressed that the US will back Ukraine in its war for “as long as it takes”. However, looking at the matter of war as a whole, it is evident that human governments will never be able to fully put to rest this destructive phenomenon—while World War I was called “the war to end all wars”, it didn’t actually accomplish this, and down to today, war continues to ravage humankind.

That is why this week’s MEotW, “zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ end; finish · stop; halt 终止 終止)”, is so remarkable. It appears in an article that is currently being featured on jw.org in connection with this year’s Memorial campaign, and that has the following title:

English:

Jesus Will End War

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Yēsū (Jesus 耶稣 耶穌) Huì (Will 会 會) Zhōngzhǐ (Zhōng·zhǐ End · Halt 终止 終止) Zhànzhēng (Zhàn·zhēng War · Contending → [War] 战争 戰爭)

Besides being used in the title of the article, “zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ end; finish · stop; halt 终止 終止)” is also used in the current Mandarin New World Translation Bible’s rendition of Psalm 46:9 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus), which the article quotes from:

📖 📄 📘 Tā (he 他) zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ {is ending} · {is halting} 终止 終止) zhànzhēng (zhàn·zhēng wars · contendings → [wars] 战争 戰爭), píngdìng (píng·dìng {is making to be flat, level, even → [is making to be peaceful]} · {is making to be settled → [is making to be calm]} 平定) tiānxià (tiān·xià heaven · under → [the whole world] 天下);
Tā (he 他) zhé (breaks 折 折/摺) gōng (bow 弓) duàn (snaps 断 斷) máo ({(long) spear} 矛), shāohuǐ (shāo·huǐ burns · {to be destroyed} 烧毁 燒毀/燬) zhànchē (zhàn·chē war · vehicles 战车 戰車).

“End War? That’s Crazy!” Or, Is It…

The morphemes in “zhōngzhǐ (zhōng·zhǐ end; finish · stop; halt 终止 終止)” mean “end; finish” and “stop; halt”. Is it crazy to think that something as deeply rooted in imperfect human nature as war can actually be ended or halted?

John Lennon and Yoko Ono with a sign saying “WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT Happy Christmas from John & Yoko”

John Lennon & Yoko Ono with one of their “WAR IS OVER!…” signs [source]
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License logo Wasfi Akab

Decades ago, John Lennon optimistically said, “war is over…if you want it.” Unfortunately, the intervening years have reminded us that while many do want war to be over, some, including world leaders with military forces at their command, don’t want that—they want to be able to use their military forces to try to get their way, which means war. And yet, someone has the audacity, the insanity, to claim to be able to actually end war. Is that truly insanity, though? Many Apple enthusiasts will remember the following quote, which was part of the “Think different” advertising campaign:

[Note: Unlike the televised commercial, which was narrated by actor Richard Dreyfuss, this video is narrated by Steve Jobs.]

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

The above was said in an Apple commercial that showed images of well-known humans, including John Lennon, who are widely acknowledged to have changed the world. If even some humans can change the world and accomplish things that people in general would consider “crazy” to even think about, how about the one who Psalm 46:9 says “is bringing an end to wars throughout the earth”, Jehovah God himself?

So “Crazy” That It’s True

Creation and the Bible both testify to the suprahumanly grand and extraordinary things that Jehovah has the power and wisdom to accomplish, and his chosen King Jesus, whose sacrificial death we will remember at the Memorial, is also no ordinary human. (Come to think of it, Jesus fits the above quote’s description of a “crazy one”. Indeed, Mark 3:21 says his relatives thought he had “gone out of his mind”.) As the above-mentioned article on jw.org says:

While on earth, Jesus showed great love for people, even to the point of sacrificing his life for them. (Matthew 20:28; John 15:13) Soon, he will again prove his love for people by using his authority as King of God’s Kingdom to bring “an end to wars throughout the earth.”—Psalm 46:9.

With the power and backing of Jehovah God himself, and with the assistance of “the armies in heaven”, Jesus will indeed end war, regardless of how “crazy” humans of this world may consider that goal to be. (Revelation 19:11–16) Then, people will be able to do more than just “imagine all the people living life in peace”, as John Lennon sang about—they will be able to actually see and live in the reality of a peaceful, global paradise!

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

shěshēn

shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身) ← 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 None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

I have long especially liked 1 Corinthians 13. It contains counsel on what really does and doesn’t matter in life, an extensive description and definition of the most important kind of love, and a sublime discussion about the need to become complete, mature, as a person. As these apply to life in general, so too do they apply to our lives as Mandarin field language learners.

As Mandarin field language learners, it can benefit us greatly to consider what we can learn from 1 Corinthians 13, and along the way, we can also consider some of the Mandarin expressions used in that chapter in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

“If I Hand Over My Body…”

This week’s MEotW, “shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身)”, is used in verse 3 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_shěshēn_” in 1 Co. 13:3 (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.)

In “shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身)”, “shě ({give up}; abandon 舍 捨/舍/捈)” means “give up; abandon”. As for “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)”, it literally means “body”, and is sometimes used to effectively mean “self”, as the MEotW post on “shēn (body → [self] 身)‐lín ({being present (in)} 临 臨)‐qí (his/her/its/their… 其)‐jìng ({(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} 境)” pointed out:

In “shēn (body → [self] 身)‐lín ({being present (in)} 临 臨)‐qí (his/her/its/their… 其)‐jìng ({(set of) boundaries → [(bounded) place; area] → [condition; situation; circumstances]} 境)”, “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)”, which literally means “body”, is used to effectively mean “self”. Another Mandarin expression in which “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)” is used this way is “xiànshēn (xiàn·shēn {offer → [dedicate]} · {body → [self]} | {offering of → [dedicating of]} · {body → [self]} → [dedication] 献身 獻身)”, which literally means “offer body”, but which effectively means “dedicate self”, as one does before getting baptized.

However, it seems that “shēn (body [→ [self]] 身)” is used in 1 Corinthians 13:3 to actually mean “body”, especially considering that the English translation of the phrase it appears in is “hand over my body”:

English:

And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算) biànmài (biàn·mài changing · sell → [sell off] 变卖 變賣) yíqiè (yí·qiè {one (whole)} · {corresponding (set of)} → [all] 一切) cáiwù (cái·wù (my) wealth · things → [(my) belongings] 财物 財物), ràng ({to allow} 让 讓) rén (people 人) yǒu ({to have} 有) shíwù (shí·wù eating · matter → [food] 食物) chī ({to eat} 吃 吃/喫), hái (also 还 還) shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up} · {(my) body} 舍身 捨身) juānqū (juān·qū {relinquish → [contribute]} · {(my) human body} 捐躯 捐軀), yǐcǐ (yǐ·cǐ using · this 以此) zìkuā (zì·kuā {(about) self} · {to boast} 自夸 自誇), què (but 却 卻) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · {do have} 没有 沒有) ài (love 爱 愛), zhè (this 这 這) duì (towards → [to] 对 對) wǒ (me 我) yě (even 也) háowú (háo·wú {(even) a fine hair (of)} · {does not have} → [does not have even a little] 毫无 毫無) yìchu (yì·chu beneficial · place → [benefit] 益处 益處).

In other contexts, “shěshēn (shě·shēn {give up}; abandon · {body [→ [life]]} [→ [give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself | become a monk (Buddhism)]] 舍身 捨身)” could effectively mean “give/sacrifice one’s life/oneself”, or, as used by Buddhists, “become a monk”.

“…So That I May Boast”?

Some Mandarin field language learners may feel that they deserve credit (and maybe a little glory) for the blood, sweat, and tears they have shed to acquire extensive knowledge of the Chinese characters. Perhaps so, but the taking of such pains is not in itself a guarantee that what these pains were taken for is completely and truly worthy and commendable. Colossians 2:23 comes to mind:

Although those things have an appearance of wisdom in a self-imposed form of worship and a false humility, a harsh treatment of the body, they are of no value in combating the satisfying of the flesh.

In other words, just because something is hard, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good, or was done with good motive, whether that something involves spiritual things, like Paul was speaking of, or technical matters such as which writing system technology to use in a particular situation.

Yes, Chinese characters are hard, and they are the traditionally used writing system for Mandarin Chinese, so a certain amount of hard work may be needed at times to learn (and sometimes relearn) certain Chinese characters if one is to function well in the Mandarin field, and many Mandarin field language learners have shown love by being willing to put in the necessary effort in such situations. However, in other situations, such as when an easier alternative like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is readily available, as is becoming more and more the case these days, what would be proved by continuing to bash one’s head against the Great Wall of Chinese characters when it’s not actually necessary?

Besides, as linguists (language scientists) and God’s Word the Bible (at 1 Corinthians 14:8–11) both tell us, what’s really of primary importance in how we use language in God’s service is, not writing systems like Chinese characters, but understandable speech. With points like the above in mind, let us continue to make sure that we are using our precious, limited, dedicated time well, out of love, and not just so that we may “boast”.

The Great Wall of China

Why keep bashing your head against the Great Wall of characters when Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) makes available a way around it?