Tag: Pīnyīn Plus

Categories
Culture Current Events History Language Learning Theocratic

rénxīn‐huánghuáng

rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶) ← 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 2023 draws to a close, jw.org is featuring the article “2023: A Year of Anxiety—⁠What Does the Bible Say?”. This week’s MEotW, “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)”, is used in the title of the Mandarin version of this article:

English:

2023: A Year of Anxiety—⁠What Does the Bible Say?

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 2023 Rénxīn (Rén·xīn People’s · Hearts → [Popular/Public Feeling] 人心)‐Huánghuáng (Huáng·huáng {Being Fearful → [Being Anxious]} · {Being Fearful → [Being Anxious]} 惶惶) de (’ 的) Yì (One 一) Nián (Year 年 年/秊): Shìjiè (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent’s → [World’s] 世界) Dàshì (Dà·shì {Big → [Major]} · Events 大事) Zěnyàng (Zěn·yàng (in) What · {Forms → [Ways]} → [How] 怎样 怎樣) Yìngyàn (Yìng·yàn {Respond to} · Verifying (Regarding) → [Fulfil] 应验 應驗) Shèngjīng (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) Yùyán (Yù·yán {In Advance} · Sayings → [Prophecies] 预言 預言)

Breakdown

“Rén (people | person[s] | human[s] | man/men 人)” can mean “people”, and “xīn (heart 心)” means “heart”. Together, they can literally mean “people’s hearts”, and in the context of “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶),” they effectively mean “popular/public feeling”.

“Huáng ({[is] afraid; fearful; scared; frightened} [→ [[is] anxious; uneasy; nervous]] 惶)” seems to basically literally mean “[is] afraid; fearful; scared; frightened”. In some cases, it can effectively mean “[is] anxious; uneasy; nervous”. (In these definitions, the presence of “[is]” means that this expression can sometimes function as a stative verb, i.e., a verb that describes a state of being, rather than an action. Some more information on stative verbs, quoted from the ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, can be found in the MEotW post on “gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {being warm → [temperature]} 高温 高溫)”.)

Taken together, the morphemes in “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)”, as used in the above example, effectively mean “popular/public feeling being anxious”.

One More Time

In “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)”, “huáng ({[is] afraid; fearful; scared; frightened} [→ [[is] anxious; uneasy; nervous]] 惶)” is doubled, or repeated. In linguistics, this phenomenon is called reduplication, and it’s quite common in Mandarin. Sometimes, the tone of the duplicated morpheme is kept the same, while other times, the second occurrence’s tone becomes neutral. Off the top of my head, here are some other examples of reduplication in Mandarin:

  • xiǎngxiang (xiǎng·xiang {think about} · {think about} | think · think 想想)
  • chángcháng (cháng·cháng frequently · frequently | often · often | constantly · constantly 常常)
  • mànmàn (màn·màn slowly · slowly [→ [gradually]] 慢慢)
  • kànkan (kàn·kan {look at} · {look at} | look · look | see · see | watch · watch 看看)

Sometimes, one might even come across a Mandarin double double, such as “mǎma‐hūhū ((mǎ·ma horse · horse 马马 馬馬) (hū·hū tiger · tiger 虎虎) → [careless; casual | fair; so-so; just passable])”. (Hopefully, this term does not apply to our approach to learning Mandarin, especially if we are doing so for Jehovah’s work in the Mandarin field!)

Idiomatic

Considering its structure, we can say that “rénxīn (rén·xīn people’s · hearts → [popular/public feeling] 人心)‐huánghuáng (huáng·huáng {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} · {being afraid; fearful; scared; frightened [→ [being anxious; uneasy; nervous]]} 惶惶)” is an idiom. However, it does not seem to be a chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語). This excerpt from the MEotW post on “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語)” discusses the difference:

So, it appears that while chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) can be called idioms in English, not all Chinese idioms are chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語). It seems that “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語)” specifically refers to Chinese idioms that originated in Classical Chinese, or Literary Chinese. This writing style has largely been replaced by written vernacular Chinese, which has been the standard style of writing for Modern Standard Mandarin for about a century now.

Since they originated in Classical Chinese, which hasn’t been current for about a century, chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) often cannot be fully understood by modern speakers and readers of Mandarin, since knowledge about the source material for chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) has naturally been fading with the passing of time.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Technology Theocratic

suàn buliǎo

suàn buliǎo ((suàn {to be counted as} [→ [to be considered/regarded as]] 算) (bu·liǎo not · {is finishing} → [is unable] 不了) → [is not able to be counted/considered/regarded as]) ← 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).

Not That “了”, the Other “了”

This week’s MEotW, “suàn buliǎo ((suàn {to be counted as} [→ [to be considered/regarded as]] 算) (bu·liǎo not · {is finishing} → [is unable] 不了) → [is not able to be counted/considered/regarded as])”, is used in verse 2 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_suàn buliǎo_” in 1 Co. 13:2 (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.)

The “suàn (calculate; compute; figure | count (v) [→ [consider/regard as]] 算)” in “suàn buliǎo ((suàn {to be counted as} [→ [to be considered/regarded as]] 算) (bu·liǎo not · {is finishing} → [is unable] 不了) → [is not able to be counted/considered/regarded as])” can literally mean “to be counted as”, and in this expression, it can effectively mean “to be considered/regarded as”. The “bu (not 不)” used here is the familiar one that means “not”.

The character “了” often represents “le (-ed | {to completion} | [(at the end of a phrase/sentence) indicates a change] 了)”, but in “bùliǎo/buliǎo (bù·liǎo/bu·liǎo not · {is finishing} [→ [is unable]] 不了)”, “了” has a different pronunciation, and a different, although probably related, meaning. Critics of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) like to point out that Mandarin has many homophones (different words that sound the same) (which in practice are handily handled by using sufficient context, as is routinely done when speaking Mandarin), but this is a case of Chinese character homographs (different words that are written the same) which are easier to tell apart in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音).

Anyway, while “le (-ed | {to completion} | [(at the end of a phrase/sentence) indicates a change] 了)” is either an aspect marker meaning “to completion” or a modal particle used at the end of a phrase or sentence that indicates a change, “liǎo ({to be ending; finishing; concluding; settling} | {know clearly}; understand 了)” is a verb meaning “end; finish; conclude; settle”. (For more information about aspect markers and modal particles, see the MEotW post on “jiéle hūn ((jié·le {tied (a knot of)} · {to completion} 结了 結了) (hūn marrying → [marriage] 婚) → [[got] married])”.)

When brought together, the morphemes in “suàn buliǎo ((suàn {to be counted as} [→ [to be considered/regarded as]] 算) (bu·liǎo not · {is finishing} → [is unable] 不了) → [is not able to be counted/considered/regarded as])” literally mean “to be counted as not is finishing”, and effectively mean “is not able to be counted/considered/regarded as”.

Bookends

📖 📄 📘 Wǒ (I 我) jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算) néng ({am able} 能) zài (at 在) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor’s → [God’s]} → [God’s] 上帝) qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring] 启示 啟示) xià (under 下) fāyán (fā·yán {to issue forth} · speech → [to speak] 发言 發言), míngbai (míng·bai {am bright (about) → [am understanding]} · clearly 明白) yíqiè (yí·qiè {one (whole)} · {corresponding (set of)} → [all] 一切) shénshèng (shén·shèng godly · holy 神圣 神聖) de (’s 的) mìmì (mì·mì secret · {dense → [intimate] → [secret]} (things) → [secrets] 秘密 秘/祕密) hé ({(together) with} → [and] 和 和/龢) suǒyǒu (suǒ·yǒu {(all) which} · {(there) is having → [(there) is]} → [all] 所有) de (’s 的) zhīshi (knowledge 知识 知識), hái (also 还 還) yǒu ({am having} 有) shízú (shí·zú {ten (times)} · sufficient → [complete] 十足) de (’s 的) xìnxīn (xìn·xīn believing · heart → [faith] 信心) nénggòu (néng·gòu able · enough 能够 能夠) yí ({to move} 移/迻) shān (mountains 山), què (but 却 卻) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu not · {do have} 没有 沒有) ài (love 爱 愛), zhè (these 这 這) yě (even 也) suàn buliǎo ((suàn {to be counted as} → [to be considered as] 算) (bu·liǎo not · {are finishing} → [are unable] 不了) → [are not able to be considered as]) shénme (shén·me {what → [anything]} · [suf] 什么 什/甚麼).

In the current Mandarin New World Translation Bible’s rendition of 1 Corinthians 13:2, shown above in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus format, the “suàn (calculate; compute; figure | count (v) [→ [consider/regard as]] 算)” in “suàn buliǎo ((suàn {to be counted as} [→ [to be considered/regarded as]] 算) (bu·liǎo not · {is finishing} → [is unable] 不了) → [is not able to be counted/considered/regarded as])”, near the end of the verse, had also appeared in “jiùsuàn (jiù·suàn {even if} · {figuring → [considering]} 就算)” (a past MEotW), near the beginning of the verse. These two expressions thus act in Mandarin as bookends for this verse, expressing that while some may consider having “the gift of prophecy”, understanding of “all knowledge”, etc. to be really liǎo buqǐ ((liǎo understood 了) (bu·qǐ not · {to be rising → [up]} 不起) → [beyond understanding] → [extraordinary]) *, if one does not have love, even such things cannot be considered as being worth anything.—1 Corinthians 13:2.

 

* Hey, there’s “了” again, with yet another meaning! Good thing we can use Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to clearly show which pronunciation should be used here! 😁 ^

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

tiānzhēn

tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真) ← 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.]

The Shēngmìng Láizì Chuàngzào Ma? ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (Lái·zì Came · From 来自 來自) (Chuàng·zào Initiating · {Making, Creating} → [Creating] 创造 創造) (Ma [? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)? → [Was Life Created? (lc)]) (Was Life Created? (lc)) brochure and the Shēngmìng de Qǐyuán—Zhíde Sīkǎo de Wǔ Ge Wèntí ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (de ’s 的) (Qǐ·yuán {Rising → [Starting]} · Source → [Origin] 起源/原)—(Zhí·de Worth · Getting → [Worth] 值得) (Sī·kǎo {Thinking About} · Examining 思考) (de ’s 的) (Wǔ Five 五) (Ge [mw] 个 個/个) (Wèn·tí Asking · Subjects → [Questions] 问题 問題) → [The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)]) (The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)) brochure were originally published back in 2010, but recently, the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure was updated to the December 2022 Printing, and the Mandarin version of it was updated to the February 2023 Printing. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure are now in the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app. So, it would be good to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of these publications that can be so helpful when discussing whether life was created.

Only Natural?

This week’s MEotW, “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, occurs in Proverbs 14:15, which is quoted in the introductory section of the Origin of Life brochure, entitled, in English, “A Student’s Dilemma”. While the Origin of Life brochure, published in 2010, quotes older versions of the New World Translation Bible in its text, let us consider how this scripture is rendered in the current English and Mandarin translations of the NWT Bible:

English:

The naive person believes every word,
But the shrewd one ponders each step.

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

📖 📄 📘 Tiānzhēn (Tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [naive] 天真) wúzhī (wú·zhī without · {knowing → [knowledge]} → [ignorant] 无知 無知) de (’s 的) rén (person 人), fán (every 凡 凡/凢) huà (word 话 話) dōu ({every one} 都) xìn (believes 信);
Jīngmíng (Jīng·míng shrewd · {bright → [understanding]} → [shrewd] 精明) shěnshèn (shěn·shèn {examining → [careful]} · cautious 审慎 審慎) de (’ 的) rén (person 人), bùbù (bù·bù step · step → [at every step] 步步) liúxīn (liú·xīn {makes to stay} · {heart} → [is careful] 留心).

Looking at the morphemes in “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, “tiān ({[(of)] heaven [→ [nature | natural; inborn; innate]]} | {heavenly → [celestial]} | {sky [→ [day | overhead | weather]]} 天)” literally means “heaven”, but it can also have a derived meaning of “natural”, as it seems to in the context of “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”. As for “zhēn (true; real; genuine | truly; really | {natural instincts/character/disposition; nature; inherent quality (literary)} 真)”, these days it’s generally used to mean “true; real; genuine”, but in the context of “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)”, it seems to have its literary meaning of “(following) natural instincts”. Taken together then, the morphemes in “tiānzhēn (tiān·zhēn {(of) heaven → [natural]} · {(following) natural instincts} → [innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature] 天真)” are used to effectively mean “innocent; naive; simple and unaffected | (human) nature”.

What’s Natural?

Speaking of natural, different people have different views on what is natural, especially in this world of ever-changing technology. I am reminded of this Douglas Adams quote:

I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

  1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
  2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
  3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

As an example, I remember a brother who, a few years ago, felt that exchanging email addresses with brothers and sisters one meets at a convention is ‘not natural’, unlike, say, exchanging mailing addresses or phone numbers. Actually, of course, phones and houses, apartments, PO boxes, etc. don’t exist in nature any more than email inboxes do—these are all just human technologies that came along at different times in history, and thus at different times in people’s lives, causing younger ones to find them natural and older ones to find them unnatural.

If we can maintain balanced, open minds, though, we can eventually get used to new technologies that come along, benefit from them, and perhaps find them useful—and occasionally even invaluable—in Jehovah’s service. A recent outstanding example is that Zoom videoconferencing, a relatively new development at the time, enabled many of us to attend meetings during the recent pandemic when we were stuck at home. Many of us may have found it unnatural at first, but over time, we eventually got used to it, and even came to appreciate the spiritual benefits that it enables in certain situations.

What’s Naive?

Getting back to the matter of being naive, as referred to in the above-mentioned scripture, the Origin of Life brochure quotes this scripture to make the following point:

[Students] need to examine the evidence for evolution and for creation and then decide for themselves which they will believe.

In fact, the Bible warns against blindly believing what others teach.

Supporters of evolution will say that people need to not unthinkingly believe the Bible’s creation account, but at the same time, it would also be naive of people to ‘believe every word’ that evolutionists say.

As Mandarin field language learners, we may have been told certain things by well-meaning Mandarin teachers, who were probably just passing on what they had learned. However, it would be naive to unthinkingly accept everything told to us that ultimately originates in the cultures and traditions of the world of imperfect humans that is under Satan’s influence. Instead, we should educate ourselves about the first principles involved with what it really takes to learn the Mandarin language and to use it in Jehovah’s service in the best way that we can.

What’s New with Py+ Material?

A while ago, I got the feeling that I should shift focus to get to work on producing current-generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure, which I had last produced older-style material for several years earlier. The official material for this brochure had also not been changed for several years, with the last Mandarin printing of it being dated 2016-12. However, not long after I had started working on new Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for this brochure, I noticed that a new printing, dated 2022-12, had been put out for the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure, and then, a new printing, dated 2023-02, appeared in the JW Library app for the Mandarin version of this brochure. Also, the Was Life Created? brochure and the Origin of Life brochure were added to the Teaching Toolbox section in the JW Library app at around this time. It seems that Jehovah had decided that the time had come for renewed focus on these brochures, and it seems that the work of producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure is privileged to be part of this renewed focus.

Now, I am happy to be able to report that, after much ongoing effort, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Origin of Life brochure has become available as well. (Links can found below.) Hopefully, this material, along with the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material for the Was Life Created? brochure, will help us to help our Mandarin-speaking Bible students to thoughtfully consider the evidence regarding how life came to exist, rather than just naively accepting what the world tells them about this.

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Origin of Life brochure is:

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