Tag: Related Expressions

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Language Learning Technology Theocratic

qǐshì

qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

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).

Inspiration

This week’s MEotW, “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)”, is used in verse 2 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_qǐshì_” 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.)

“Qǐshì (Qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)” can be used to mean “to inspire” or “to reveal”, and as you may be suspecting, this is indeed the same “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)” that is used in “Qǐshìlù (Qǐ·shì·lù {Opening → [Enlightening]} · Showing · Record → [Revelation] 启示录 啟示錄)”, the Mandarin translation for the name of the Bible book of Revelation. (A revelation is basically something that is revealed.)

The “qǐ (open [→ [enlighten; awaken; explain; expound | state; inform | start; initiate]] 启 啟)” in “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)” basically means “to open”, and in “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)”, it effectively means “to enlighten”. The “shì (show; indicate; notify; instructing; reveal; manifest; demonstrate 示)” in “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)” means “to show”, and it also appears in expressions like “biǎoshì (biǎo·shì indicate; express · show 表示)” and “shìfàn (shì·fàn {showing; demonstrating [of]} · pattern; model; example → [demonstrating; setting an example | demonstration] 示范 示範/范)”.

The above-mentioned morphemes in “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)” are both basically verbs, and “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)” itself is also basically a verb. However, it’s also used as a noun, making it a verbal noun, or a gerundial noun, in those cases.

A Really Big Deal, But…

And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
—1 Corinthians 13:2.

The expression “the gift of prophecy” appears in the English New World Translation Bible’s rendering of 1 Corinthians 13:2, quoted above, and for any human servant of Jehovah God, having what this expression represents would be A REALLY BIG DEAL. The corresponding Mandarin expression “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)” more literally means something like “am able to speak under God’s inspiration”, and the organization has also used “qǐshì (qǐ·shì {opening → [enlightening]} · showing → [inspiring; revealing] 启示 啟示)” in relation to how the Bible writers were inspired to write what they did in the Bible. (E.g., compare this English paragraph in the Bearing Witness (bt) book to the corresponding Mandarin paragraph (February 2023 Printing).) Today, even the slave class does not claim to be inspired, like the prophets of old and the Bible writers were.—Matthew 24:45–47.

However, 1 Corinthians 13:2 tells us that even if we somehow did have the gift of prophecy, or of inspiration from God, we would still be nothing if we do not have love. Indeed, the one whom God used to write this part of the Bible, the apostle Paul, actually was an inspired Bible writer, so he was speaking under inspiration and from some personal experience when he effectively said in this verse that even such a rarefied status would mean nothing if he did not have love.

So, no, for God’s people, having love is not a mere secondary, touchy-feely “soft” skill that women are especially good at, as the human corporate world might think of it. On the contrary, having love as our foundational motivation is, in fact, a hard requirement—even more of a hard requirement than the gift of prophecy or inspiration would be—for all of God’s people, including us Mandarin field language learners.

Categories
Culture History Science Technology Theocratic

jìnhuà lùn

jìnhuà (jìn·huà {to advance} · transforming → [evolution] 进化 進化)
lùn (discussing → [theory; doctrine] 论 論) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

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.

How It Started

For most of human history, people in general believed that life was created. Of course it was, because how else could the wonderful, extraordinarily complex thing that is life have come into existence? The very first part of the Bible contains an account of how God created life, and many ancient peoples had their creation myths. (The ancient Chinese seem to have had several creation myths.) Eventually, though, the idea represented in English by the word “evolution” and in Mandarin by this week’s MEotW “jìnhuà (jìn·huà {to advance} · transforming → [evolution] 进化 進化) lùn (discussing → [theory; doctrine] 论 論)” came to grow in popularity in this world that’s alienated from God.—Ephesians 4:17, 18.

Screenshot of the CHS+Py _Was Life Created?_ brochure on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY, with _“Jìnhuàlùn”_ circled

How It Breaks Down

The “jìn ({advance; enter [into; in]} 进 進)” in “jìnhuà (jìn·huà {to advance} · transforming → [evolution] 进化 進化)” is also used in “jìnbù (jìn·bù {advancing [of]} · steps → [progress[ing]; advancing; improvement] 进步 進步)”, and it means “to advance”.

The “huà (change; transform; convert [→ [melt; dissolve; thaw | abbr. for huàxué (chemistry)]] 化)” in “jìnhuà (jìn·huà {to advance} · transforming → [evolution] 进化 進化)” is also used in “qiánghuà (qiáng·huà {to be strong} · transform → [strengthen] 强化 強化)” (“strengthen”), and it basically means “to transform”. Interestingly, this “huà (change; transform; convert [→ [melt; dissolve; thaw | abbr. for huàxué (chemistry)]] 化)” also occurs in “wénhuà (wén·huà {(with) writing} · transformed (system) → [culture] | {(with) writing} · transformed → [cultural] 文化)” (“culture”), which seems to literally mean “(system) transformed by writing”.

As for the “lùn (discussing → [theory; doctrine] 论 論)” in “jìnhuà (jìn·huà {to advance} · transforming → [evolution] 进化 進化) lùn (discussing → [theory; doctrine] 论 論)”, it basically means “to discuss”, as it does in “tǎolùn (discussing [→ [discussion]] 讨论 討論)”, and it can effectively mean “theory; doctrine”.

On one level, then, the way that the expression “jìnhuà (jìn·huà {to advance} · transforming → [evolution] 进化 進化) lùn (discussing → [theory; doctrine] 论 論)” works is that it’s “the theory of transforming to advance”.

How It’s Going

A while ago, I saw a video on the Internet in which the presenter pointed out that in science, “theory” does not mean the same as it does in regular usage. As Wikipedia summarizes in its article on scientific theories:

A scientific theory differs from a scientific fact or scientific law in that a theory explains “why” or “how”: a fact is a simple, basic observation, whereas a law is a statement (often a mathematical equation) about a relationship between facts and/or other laws. For example, Newton’s Law of Gravity is a mathematical equation that can be used to predict the attraction between bodies, but it is not a theory to explain how gravity works.[source] Stephen Jay Gould wrote that “…facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world’s data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts.”[source]

The meaning of the term scientific theory (often contracted to theory for brevity) as used in the disciplines of science is significantly different from the common vernacular usage of theory.[source][source] In everyday speech, theory can imply an explanation that represents an unsubstantiated and speculative guess,[source] whereas in a scientific context it most often refers to an explanation that has already been tested and is widely accepted as valid.[source][source]

How It Could, and Will, End Up

Note, though, the statements that follow in that Wikipedia article:

The strength of a scientific theory is related to the diversity of phenomena it can explain and its simplicity. As additional scientific evidence is gathered, a scientific theory may be modified and ultimately rejected if it cannot be made to fit the new findings; in such circumstances, a more accurate theory is then required.

Yes, while a scientific theory like evolution may be considered by some to be having some evidence supporting it, in true science, it may also end up being disproven and thus rejected after new evidence comes to light. As suggested by the basic meaning of the “lùn (discussing → [theory; doctrine] 论 論)” in “jìnhuà (jìn·huà {to advance} · transforming → [evolution] 进化 進化) lùn (discussing → [theory; doctrine] 论 論)”, a scientific theory is an ongoing discussion, not a sealed, unalterable conclusion.

Let us be positive and courageous then, in discussing with Mandarin-speaking people the evidence presented in 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 in 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. If the ones we speak to are truly scientific people, as well as being humble people, they will consider the evidence with open minds, and not just dogmatically stick to believing in evolution simply because it’s a currently accepted scientific theory.

For convenience:

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

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Was Life Created? 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 Was Life Created? brochure will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows. Work is now underway to produce a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource for the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure as well.

Categories
Culture Current Events History Technology Theocratic

shèjiāo wǎngzhàn

shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network]) ← 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.]

At the time of this writing, jw.org had recently featured a video that was introduced with the following words, which included this week’s MEotW, “shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network])”, in the Mandarin text:

English:

Be Social-Network Smart

Learn how to avoid the pitfalls of social networking.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Zài (On 在) Shèjiāo Wǎngzhàn ((Shè·jiāo {God of the Land → [Society] → [Social]} · {Meeting → [Associating]} → [Social Contact/Interaction] 社交) (Wǎng·zhàn {Net → [Web]} · {Stands → [Stations]} → [Websites] 网站 網站) → [Social Networks]) Zuò (Be 做) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) Cōngming (Cōng·ming Intelligent · {Bright → [Understanding]} 聪明 聰明) Rén (Person 人)

📖 📄 📘 Lái (come 来 來) kànkan (kàn·kan see · see 看看) zěnyàng (zěn·yàng what · {pattern → [way]} → [how] 怎样 怎樣) cái ({only then} 才 才/纔) néng ({to be able} 能) bìmiǎn ({to avoid} 避免) diàojìn (diào·jìn falling · {to go into} 掉进 掉進) shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stands → [stations]} → [websites] 网站 網站) → [social networks]) de (’ 的) xiànjǐng (xiàn·jǐng {to be fallen into} · pitfalls 陷阱).

In the above excerpts from jw.org, “shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network])” means “social networks”. A quick search on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY reveals that the organization has been using “shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network])” to translate “social networking sites”, “social networking”, etc. since at least about 2007, not long after the launch in 2004 of the huge, well-known social network Facebook.

Websites and Native Apps

While on one level of literalness “shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network])” means “social website” or “social networking website”, and while technically social networks can often also be accessed using native apps, social networks often start out using websites, and these websites generally continue to be major ways to access these social networks after native apps for them become available. The important thing is that undoubtedly people who know Mandarin will generally understand that you are referring to a social network when you use “shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network])”.

Websites on the World Wide Web can be accessed using web browsers, in which these websites basically work the same on different computing devices like Windows, Mac, and Linux desktop and laptop computers, iPhones and iPads, Android devices, etc. (In this old world’s technological Babel, it’s not always quite that simple, as an example discussed below illustrates, but perhaps amazingly, this is true now to a large extent.) Thus, a website can often be a single development target that provides at least the same basic functionality on many different computing platforms.

An app that is native to Windows/Mac/iPhone/Android/etc. can take advantage of the full performance of, as well as specific features of, the specific platform it is native to, and thus can be noticeably faster, nicer, etc. than a website designed for the lowest common denominator middleman that is the web environment. However, for a social network, developing a native app for each of several computing platforms is generally comparatively difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Thus, social networks often start out by providing a website for people to use, and then they may or may not go on to develop native apps for particular computing platforms like the iPhone, Android, etc.

Alternate and Related Expressions

An alternate Mandarin term used to translate “social network”, which more literally matches its meaning, is “shèjiāo wǎngluò ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·luò net · enmeshing → [network (computing, transport, etc.) (PRC)] 网络 網絡) → [(online) social network])”. A search on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY shows that the organization has also been using this term since at least 2007. Note that the organization has sometimes preceded this term with “zàixiàn (zài·xiàn on·line 在线 在線)”, which means “online”. This distinguishes online social networks from the more abstract social networks (which may or may not be online) studied in the social and behavioural sciences. (By the way, “wǎngluò (wǎng·luò net · enmeshing → [network (computing, transport, etc.) (PRC)] 网络 網絡)” is a PRC (People’s Republic of China) term. The corresponding term used in Taiwan is “wǎnglù (wǎng·lù net · road; path; way; route → [network (computing, transport, etc.) (Tw)] 网路 網路)”.)

An expression that is related to “shèjiāo wǎngzhàn ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·zhàn {net → [web]} · {stand → [station]} → [website] 网站 網站) → [social networking website; social network])” and “shèjiāo wǎngluò ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng·luò net · enmeshing → [network (computing, transport, etc.) (PRC)] 网络 網絡) → [(online) social network])”, and that some may use as an abbreviation for one or both of them, is “shèjiāo wǎng ((shè·jiāo {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {meeting → [associating]} → [social contact/interaction] 社交) (wǎng net → [network] → [Web; Internet] 网 網) → [social media; abbr. for shèjiāo wǎngluò/wǎngzhàn (social networks/social networking websites)])”.

“Shèhuì wǎngluò ((Shè·huì {god of the land → [society] → [social]} · {gathering → [society] → [social]} → [social] 社会 社會) (wǎng·luò net · enmeshing → [network (computing, transport, etc.) (PRC)] 网络 網絡) → [social network (abstract concept)])” is an expression that evidently refers to the more conceptual social networks mentioned above, that are studied in the social and behavioural sciences. A similar expression is “guānxi wǎng ((guān·xi {closing [with] → [involving]} · {tying → [relating]} → [relationship] 使徒) (wǎng net → [network] 网 網/网) → [Internet and/or real-life social network, relationship network, network of friends/connections])”.

Browser Babel and Subtitles

As a side note, while researching this post, I discovered that the Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE)’s bookmarklet (tap/click on the “Show bookmarklets” link) for adding unproofread, computer-generated Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to a web page with Chinese characters will also add such Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to the subtitles of the Mandarin videos on jw.org (the ones I was able to try, at least), if one is using one of the following web browsers on a Mac, or presumably, on a PC or an Android device:

  • Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Presumably, other browsers that, like MS Edge, use the Blink browser engine, such as Google Chrome, Opera, etc.

Screenshot of a Mandarin video on jw.org, in Firefox, after processing by the RTE _Pīnyīn_ bookmarklet, with an arrow pointing out the _Pīnyīn_ added to the subtitles

Unfortunately, at this time, this does not work on Safari browsers, whether on a Mac or on an iPad or iPhone. In those web browsers, the Chinese characters of the video subtitles remain unadorned by added Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) when the bookmarklet does its thing. While this is a case of Apple’s Safari web browsers allowing for less functionality compared to other browsers, the underlying reason for this may be related to Apple’s relatively high prioritization of user privacy and security, which benefits users in other ways.

Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus video transcripts can potentially provide more and better-proofread information (and are usable in all major modern browsers, including Safari), but when such material is not available for a particular Mandarin video, for many the above option is much better than having to deal with raw characters. Also, there may be some benefit in seeing even unproofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) displayed right in the video picture as one is watching a Mandarin video.