Tag: Stative Verbs

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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 Current Events History

qīnglíng

qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} [→ [restore to initial state | reset (an odometer/clock/etc.) | empty (a bank account) | eradicate (a disease) | (computing) clear; remove (from memory)]] 清零) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Note: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”, tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”.]

As of this writing, nearing the end of the year 2022, the subject of the COVID-19 pandemic has been, to say the least, on people’s minds now for a while. So, it would be good to be able to refer to things related to it in Mandarin when speaking to people in the Mandarin field, or when speaking to our brothers and sisters in the truth.

electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19

An electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19
Creative Commons Attribution License logo NIAID

This week’s MEotW, “qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} [→ [restore to initial state | reset (an odometer/clock/etc.) | empty (a bank account) | eradicate (a disease) | (computing) clear; remove (from memory)]] 清零)”, was mentioned by the website The World of Chinese back in its Dec. 21, 2021 article “Words to Sum Up 2021”. Recently, though, the Chinese government’s zero-COVID policy represented by this expression has become a hot button issue, as demonstrations against it have erupted in several places across China, as well as elsewhere across the globe.

One news service’s YouTube video called these protests “the biggest wave of protests in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests”. Time will tell what, if anything, becomes of these protests, and what effect, if any, they will end up having on our fellow workers in China.

Short For…

Note that “qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} → [eradicate (COVID)] 清零)” is apparently a shortened form representing either of two different longer Mandarin expressions that are used to refer to zero-COVID. For what it’s worth, the Simplified Chinese version of Wikipedia says that mainland China uses “dòngtài (dòng·tài moving · condition → [situation] 动态 動態) qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} → [eradicate (COVID)] 清零)” to refer to zero-COVID, while other places use “qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} → [eradicate (COVID)] 清零) zhèngcè (zhèng·cè government · {bamboo/wooden slip used for writing → [strategy]} → [policy] 政策)” to do so.

To Be Clear

The “qīng ({[is] clear}; {[is] pure}; {[is] clean} [→ [quiet]] | {clear up}; settle [→ [clean up; purge]] 清)” in “qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} [→ [restore to initial state | reset (an odometer/clock/etc.) | empty (a bank account) | eradicate (a disease) | (computing) clear; remove (from memory)]] 清零)” basically means “clear”, used as either an adjective (or stative verb, according to the ABC Chinese-English Dictionary) or a verb. The English word “clear” can similarly be used as a verb or as an adjective. For example, one might say, “I will clear (verb) my schedule so that it is clear (adjective).”

When it’s used to represent zero-COVID, “qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} [→ [restore to initial state | reset (an odometer/clock/etc.) | empty (a bank account) | eradicate (a disease) | (computing) clear; remove (from memory)]] 清零)” is evidently used as a verb. So, in this context, the “qīng ({[is] clear}; {[is] pure}; {[is] clean} [→ [quiet]] | {clear up}; settle [→ [clean up; purge]] 清)” in it would be used as a verb meaning “clear up”.

Incidentally, this “qīng ({[is] clear}; {[is] pure}; {[is] clean} [→ [quiet]] | {clear up}; settle [→ [clean up; purge]] 清)” is also used as the name of the Qīng ([Qing (dynasty that ruled China 1644–1911 C.E.)] 清) (Qing) dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 C.E. to 1911 C.E., and which ended up being the last of the dynasties.

Related Expressions

Some other Mandarin expressions that include the “qīng ({[is] clear}; {[is] pure}; {[is] clean} [→ [quiet]] | {clear up}; settle [→ [clean up; purge]] 清)” in “qīnglíng (qīng·líng {clear up} · {(to be) zero} [→ [restore to initial state | reset (an odometer/clock/etc.) | empty (a bank account) | eradicate (a disease) | (computing) clear; remove (from memory)]] 清零)” are:

  • qīngbái (qīng·bái {[is] clear}; {[is] pure}; {[is] clean} · {[is] white} [→ [[is] innocent]] 清白)
  • qīngchú (qīng·chú {clear away} · {get rid of}; eliminate; remove 清除)
  • qīngchu ({[is] clear}; {is clear about} | clearly 清楚)
Categories
Current Events

gāowēn

gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {being warm → [temperature]} 高温 高溫) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · 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.]

Currently, many around the world are being affected by high temperatures, which scientists say is part of a pattern of global warming caused by human activity. As of this writing, jw.org is featuring the article “Record-Breaking Temperatures Worldwide—What Does the Bible Say?”. The Mandarin version of this article uses the expression “pò (breaking 破) jìlù (records 记/纪录 記/紀錄) de (’ 的) gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {(incidents of) being warm → [temperatures]} 高温 高溫)” to translate the English expression “record-breaking temperatures”. (When talking to people, mentioning that the temperatures being reported worldwide are “pò (breaking 破) jìlù (records 记/纪录 記/紀錄)” (record-breaking) will emphasize that these are noteworthy, atypical (unusual) temperatures.)

The morpheme “wēn ({[is] warm} [→ [temperature]] | {warm [up]} [→ [review; revise | recall; recollect; relive]] 温 溫)”, as used in “gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {being warm → [temperature]} 高温 高溫)”, can be thought of as being short for “wēndù (wēn·dù {(of) being warm} · {degree of intensity} → [temperature] 温度 溫度)”, which is often used to translate “temperature”.

Stative Verbs

We can also note that in “gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {being warm → [temperature]} 高温 高溫)”, “wēn ({[is] warm} [→ [temperature]] | {warm [up]} [→ [review; revise | recall; recollect; relive]] 温 溫)” has a literal meaning of “being warm”. Thus, it is here being a stative verb.

“Wēn ({[is] warm} [→ [temperature]] | {warm [up]} [→ [review; revise | recall; recollect; relive]] 温 溫)” is also a stative verb in past MEotW “wēnhé (wēn·hé {[is] warm} · {[is] gentle}; {[is] mild}; {[is] moderate} [→ [mildness]] 温和 溫和)”. The MEotW post for “wēnhé (wēn·hé {[is] warm} · {[is] gentle}; {[is] mild}; {[is] moderate} [→ [mildness]] 温和 溫和)” said the following about stative verbs:

The ABC Chinese-English Dictionary, edited by John DeFrancis and Victor H. Mair, among others, tells us the following about the entries in it that are marked as stative verbs:

S.V. (Stative Verb, Xíngróngcí 形容词).

These entries are frequently translated into English as adjectives, even though they actually behave in Chinese as verbs. That is, the sense of ‘to be’ is already incorporated into these verbs, e.g. Zhèige hěn hǎo ‘This is quite good.’ In fact, it is simply ungrammatical to place the verb shì, ‘to be’, directly in front of a stative verb.

Because stative verbs are actually verbs, they are directly negated by bù, e.g. bù hǎo ‘not good’, and can be further modified by adverbs of degree such as hěn ‘quite’, fēicháng ‘extremely’ and shífēn ‘very; utterly’. One common function of stative verbs is that they may serve as adverbs to other actions, e.g. mànmàn in mànmàn chī ‘Take your time (eating)’ and rènzhēn in rènzhēn de xiě ‘write carefully’.

Usage Examples

Here are a couple of examples of “gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {being warm → [temperature]} 高温 高溫)” in use, taken from the above-mentioned jw.org article:

English:

[Recently,] record-breaking temperatures [have been] reported worldwide.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Zuìjìn (Zuì·jìn most · {being near → [being recent]} → [recently] 最近), shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界) gèdì (gè·dì various · lands 各地) dōu (even 都) chūxiàn (chū·xiàn {have put out} · {appearings of} 出现 出現) pò (breaking 破) jìlù (records 记/纪录 記/紀錄) de (’ 的) gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {(incidents of) being warm → [temperatures]} 高温 高溫).

English:

Rising global temperatures have led many to fear that mankind will ruin the earth.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Zài (in 在) shìjiè (shì·jiè {generation → [world]} · extent → [world] 世界) gèdì (gè·dì various · lands 各地) fāshēng (fā·shēng {issuing forth} · {coming to life} → [happening] 发生 發生) de (’s 的) gāowēn (gāo·wēn high · {(incidents of) being warm → [temperatures]} 高温 高溫) ràng ({have made} 让 讓) hěn (very 很) duō (many 多) rén (people 人) gǎndào (gǎn·dào feel · {arriving at} 感到) hàipà (hài·pà feeling · fearing → [fearing] 害怕), dānxīn (dān·xīn {carry on shoulder poles → [take on (heavy)]} · hearts → [worry] 担/耽心 擔/耽心) dìqiú (dì·qiú earth · globe 地球) huì (will 会 會) yīncǐ (yīn·cǐ {because of} · this 因此) bèi ([passive signifier] → [by] 被) rénlèi (rén·lèi man·kind 人类 人類) huǐmiè (huǐ·miè {be destroyed} · {be extinguished} 毁灭 毀滅).