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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 Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

zhēnlǐ

zhēnlǐ+ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning; logic → [[the] truth] 真理) 👈🏼 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.]

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).

What Do You Rejoice In?

This week’s MEotW, “zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning; logic → [[the] truth] 真理)”, is used in verse 6 (WOL) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_zhēnlǐ_” in 1 Co. 13:6 (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.)

For comparison, here are the renderings of 1 Corinthians 13:6 in the current English and Mandarin versions of the New World Translation Bible:

English:

It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

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

📖 📄 ➕ bù (not 不) yīn ({because of} 因) búyì (bú·yì un·righteousness 不义 不義) ér (thus 而) huānxǐ+ (huān·xǐ {does be joyful} · {does be happy} 欢喜 歡喜), zhǐ (only 只 只/秖/衹/祇) yīn ({because of} 因) zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning → [the truth] 真理) ér (thus 而) gāoxìng (gāo·xìng (is with) high · enthusiasm → [is glad] 高兴 高興).

The individual morphemes in “zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning; logic → [[the] truth] 真理)” literally mean “true” and “reasoning; logic”. When these morphemes are put together in “zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning; logic → [[the] truth] 真理)”, the resulting expression effectively means “truth”, or “the truth”.

Linguistic Untruths Fill the “Air”

This world ruled by Satan, “the father of the lie”, is full of linguistic idolatry and mythology (e.g., the myths discussed in the book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy) surrounding Chinese characters, and it is full of misinformation and disinformation about the Chinese languages in general. (Ephesians 2:2; John 8:44) We Mandarin field language learners need to learn the truth about these things that are such huge factors in our Mandarin learning, and we should ‘rejoice with the truth’ about these things, similarly to how we rejoice over spiritual truth.

Yes, godly love doesn’t just know the truth, it rejoices with the truth, so it chooses the truth. Showing that he lacked godly love, the first man Adam knew the truth, but he loved Eve more, and so he chose to join Eve in rebellion against Jehovah. (1 Timothy 2:14) Also, as we have been reminded by the video series The Good News According to Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day had every reason and opportunity to know the truth, but consumed by pride, they loved their tradition and position and status more, and so they chose to bitterly oppose Jesus to the point of eventually brutally murdering him.

What Side Are You On?

At John 18:37, Jesus said:

For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of the truth listens to my voice.

In this blog and in other places, I have endeavoured to share the truths that I have learned about the Mandarin language and how to best learn it for use in the Mandarin field. If you as a Mandarin field language learner have come to know some of these truths, what are you going to do about it? Are you “on the side of the truth” regarding these matters? According to 1 Corinthians 13:6, if you are motivated by godly love, you will rejoice with the truth about these things, and you will naturally show your love by happily making use of these Mandarin language-learning truths to better share spiritual truths with Mandarin-speaking people you meet. And as Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love you showed for his name”.

Categories
Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

búyì

búyì+ (bú·yì un·righteous[ness] 不义 不義) 👈🏼 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.]

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).

“Unrighteousness”

This week’s MEotW, “búyì (bú·yì un·righteous[ness] 不义 不義)”, is used in verse 6 (WOL) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_búyì_” in 1 Co. 13:6 (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.)

For comparison, here are the current English and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus renderings of 1 Corinthians 13:6:

English:

It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.

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

📖 📄 ➕ bù (not 不) yīn ({because of} 因) búyì (bú·yì un·righteousness 不义 不義) ér (thus 而) huānxǐ+ (huān·xǐ {does be joyful} · {does be happy} 欢喜 歡喜), zhǐ (only 只 只/秖/衹/祇) yīn ({because of} 因) zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning → [the truth] 真理) ér (thus 而) gāoxìng (gāo·xìng (is with) high · enthusiasm → [is glad] 高兴 高興).

In the above examples, “búyì (bú·yì un·righteous[ness] 不义 不義)” corresponds to “unrighteousness”, and it does so pretty straightforwardly, right down to the literal meanings of its morphemes. Regarding righteousness, the Insight book’s entry on “Righteousness” says:

the original-language terms are at times translated “justice”

So, “unrighteous” can mean “unjust” or “unfair”.

Don’t Be Unfair

While a certain amount of knowledge about Chinese characters is obviously of some practical benefit in this world in which characters are “everywhere”, remember that ultimately, Chinese characters are only “everywhere” because of human tradition—linguistically speaking, there is actually no technical need for any of the Chinese languages to be written using Chinese characters. With regard to the Mandarin field specifically, this is exemplified by the fact that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) works well as a full writing system for Modern Standard Mandarin, meaning that anything that can be said in Modern Standard Mandarin, from the simpest expressions to the deepest, most advanced expressions, can be written with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). (In fact, Plan A for modern China was for Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to eventually replace Chinese characters, but unfortunately, the B players have gotten their way in China so far.)

With that in mind, and also remembering the scriptural counsel at 1 Corinthians 14:8–11, it follows then that just following the crowd and focusing in our Mandarin field language learning on the traditionally imposed but extraordinarily complex Chinese characters, and thus allowing them to distract from, hinder, and impede our efforts to learn to understand Mandarin speech and to use understandable Mandarin speech to praise Jehovah and help people spiritually, would be unfair in the following ways:

  • It would be unfair to people in the field and at the meetings who lose out on how we could have helped and encouraged them spiritually using understandable Mandarin speech.
  • It would also be unfair to us ourselves, because it makes it much harder than necessary for us to function in the Mandarin field, and we also lose out and get weakened spiritually because of not understanding Mandarin speech at the meetings, assemblies, etc. that we could have been strengthened and encouraged by if we had only understood it!
  • Last but not least, it would be unfair to Jehovah God, to whom we have dedicated our best, but who would not be getting our best, if we are giving our first devotion to the human traditions involving Chinese characters, and then just giving Jehovah whatever’s left over after we’ve let the characters drain us with their unnecessary and self-indulgent difficulties and vagaries.

Indeed, it just wouldn’t be right for us to let devotion to mere human tradition prevent us from serving Jehovah and helping people in the Mandarin field as well as we ought to be able to, based on how Jehovah actually made us to use language!