Tag: Translation

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Technology Theocratic

shěnpàn

shěnpàn (shěn·pàn trying · judging [→ [judgment]] 审判 審判) ← 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 Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible was recently revised, and the current version (Study Edition (nwtsty)) is now dated 2023.

Since we base what we say in Jehovah’s service on his Word the Bible, the vocabulary used in it—and the way those vocabulary words are translated—should be reflected in how we speak in our ministry, at our meetings, etc. So, it is beneficial for us Mandarin field language learners to be familiar with the latest thinking from the organization on how Bible terms should be translated into Mandarin.

“A Resurrection of Judgment”

As the September 2022 Watchtower explains, upon further study and consideration, Jehovah’s organization has adjusted its understanding of John 5:29 (English, Mandarin):

What about those who practiced vile things before they died? Although their sins were canceled at death, they have not established a record of faithfulness. They do not have their names written in the book of life. Hence, the resurrection of “those who practiced vile things” is the same as the resurrection of “the unrighteous” referred to at Acts 24:15. Theirs will be “a resurrection of judgment.”* The unrighteous will be judged in the sense that they will be evaluated. (Luke 22:30) It will take time to determine whether they are judged worthy of having their names written in the book of life. Only if these unrighteous ones reject their former wicked course of life and dedicate themselves to Jehovah can they have their names written in the book of life.

The footnote for the above paragraph provides further commentary about how the organization now understands “judgment”, as used in John 5:29:

Previously, we explained that the term “judgment” used here means a negative judgment, or a verdict of condemnation. Actually, the word “judgment” may have that meaning. But in this context, it seems that Jesus used the word “judgment” in a more general sense, referring to a process of evaluation and probation or, as one Greek lexicon says, a “scrutiny of conduct.”

To harmonize with this revised understanding, the current 2023 version of the Mandarin NWT Bible now has new wording for John 5:29:

John 5:29 (WOL CHS+Pinyin Parallel Translations)

(The current wording in the 2023 version is on the left; the old wording is on the right. 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.)

Here is the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus rendering of the new wording for John 5:29 in Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 jiù (then 就) chūlai (chū·lai {come out} · {to come} 出来 出來). Xíngshàn (Xíng·shàn {walked → [did]} · {good deeds} 行善) de ({’ (persons)} 的), fùhuó (fù·huó {will be turned around → [will be restored]} · {to be living} → [will be resurrected] 复活 復活) dédào (dé·dào {to get} · {arriving at} 得到) shēngmìng (life 生命); zuò’è (zuò’·è did · evil 作恶 作惡) de ({’s (persons)} 的), fùhuó (fù·huó {will be turned around → [will be restored]} · {to be living} → [will be resurrected] 复活 復活) jiēshòu (jiē·shòu {to come into contact with → [to receive]} · {to receive} → [to receive] 接受) shěnpàn (shěn·pàn trying · judging → [judgment] 审判 審判).

The NWT Bible (nwtsty) (Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource has been revised to match the 2023 official Mandarin version of the NWT on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY. The above Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material can be found here on the NWT Bible (nwtsty) (Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource.

“Judgment” in Mandarin

Comparing the new Mandarin wording for John 5:29 shown above to the old wording, we can see that the new wording no longer uses “zhōng ({(in the) end} 终 終)”. Also, instead of “dìngzuì (dìng·zuì decided · {(to be having) guilt} 定罪)”, the word now used in the 2023 version of the Mandarin NWT to translate “judgment” in John 5:29 is this week’s MEotW, “shěnpàn (shěn·pàn trying · judging → [judgment] 审判 審判)”. This accords with the new explanation in the above-mentioned Watchtower that the meaning of John 5:29 is that “the unrighteous [who had “practiced vile things” before they died] will be judged in the sense that they will be evaluated”. This is in contrast to the old view of this verse meaning that the unrighteous will end up being condemned as being guilty because of bad things they do after they get resurrected.

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Culture History Language Learning Theocratic

yíyì‐gūxíng

yíyì (yí·yì {(having) one} · intention → [stubbornly] 一意)‐gūxíng (gū·xíng {orphaned → [alone]} · {go; walk → [do]} → [cling to one’s own course; insist on having one’s own way] 孤行) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Appendix A2 of the English New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), entitled “Features of This Revision”, discusses vocabulary changes that have been made in the current revision, words that have been translated differently than before. As noted in various entries in the excellent resource Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE), Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) correspondingly discusses words that have been translated differently in the current revision of the Mandarin NWT Bible, compared to how they had been translated before.

Since we base what we say in Jehovah’s service on his Word the Bible, the vocabulary used in it—and the way those vocabulary words are translated—should be reflected in how we speak in our ministry, at our meetings, etc. So, it is beneficial for us Mandarin field language learners to be familiar with the latest thinking from the organization on how Bible terms should be translated into Mandarin.

Communication and Love

Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) mentions that one of the goals for this version was to reduce the number of hard-to-recognize, hard-to-read Chinese characters used, and to replace them with more commonly used characters. One example it provides is that “gāngbì (gāng·bì {[is] firm} · {[is] wilful} 刚愎 剛愎)‐zìyòng (zì·yòng {[is] self-·applying} → [[is] opinionated] 自用)” was changed to this week’s MEotW, “yíyì (yí·yì {(having) one} · intention → [stubbornly] 一意)‐gūxíng (gū·xíng {orphaned → [alone]} · {go; walk → [do]} → [cling to one’s own course; insist on having one’s own way] 孤行)”.—2 Timothy 3:4.

2 Timothy 3:4 (WOL CHS+Pinyin Parallel Translations)

In this case, a relatively unfamiliar, hard-to-parse expression was replaced with a different one that conveys the intended meaning, while being more familiar and easier to understand. This helpful simplification reminds us that the ultimate goal of language should be to communicate, not to show off one’s knowledge of hard words or whatever. And, as the September 1, 1991 Watchtower emphasizes, good communication is motivated by unselfish love:

Christian communication especially needs to be effective because it has as its goal the reaching of people’s hearts with the truth from God’s Word so that, hopefully, they will act on what they learn. Uniquely, it is motivated by unselfishness, by love.

Yes, as 1 Corinthians 8:1 says:

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

More Understandable Alternate Expressions

As discussed in the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A”, Zhōu Yǒuguāng ((Zhōu {Circumference; Circle (surname)} 周 周/週) (Yǒu·guāng Has · Light 有光) (Chinese linguist, etc., known as “the father of Pīnyīn”)) (Wikipedia article), who led the team that designed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), pointed out that assigning alternate expressions with different pronunciations is a good way to address Mandarin’s so-called homophone problem. (Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation, but different meanings.)

From the examples referred to in the Mandarin NWT Appendix A2, we can see that assigning alternate expressions can also be a good way to address the problem of excessively hard-to-recognize or hard-to-understand expressions. Rather than being attached to the idea that particular characters are required to represent certain meanings, as perhaps suggested by the Ideographic Myth, the translators of the Mandarin NWT Bible recognized that representing easily understandable speech is the true priority for God’s people.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

So, let us not be yíyì (yí·yì {(having) one} · intention → [stubbornly] 一意)‐gūxíng (gū·xíng {orphaned → [alone]} · {walking → [doing]} → [clinging to one’s own course] 孤行), insisting that the new translated expressions in the current Mandarin NWT are not as good as the old expressions, or clinging to old, erroneous ideas like “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) could never work as a writing system for Mandarin because characters are needed to deal with all the homophones in Mandarin.”

Categories
Culture Language Learning Technology Theocratic

Yēsū Xīshēng Jìniàn Jùhuì

Yēsū (Jesus’ 耶稣 耶穌)
Xīshēng (Xī·shēng {Sacrifice (n)} · {(as with a) Domestic Animal} → [Sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲)
Jìniàn Jùhuì ((Jì·niàn Remembering · {Thinking Of} → [Commemorating] 记/纪念 記/紀念) (Jùhuì Meeting 聚会 聚會) → [Memorial]) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

This year’s Memorial is scheduled for this week, so this week’s MEotW is “Yēsū (Jesus’ 耶稣 耶穌) Xīshēng (Xī·shēng {Sacrifice (n)} · {(as with a) Domestic Animal} → [Sacrifice] 牺牲 犧牲) Jìniàn Jùhuì ((Jì·niàn Remembering · {Thinking Of} → [Commemorating] 记/纪念 記/紀念) (Jùhuì Meeting 聚会 聚會) → [Memorial])”. This is currently the official way to translate “the Memorial of Jesus’ death” into Mandarin, as can be seen by comparing the English and Mandarin pages for the Memorial on jw.org.

It’s worth noting that this is a simple, straightforward, functional translation, free of unnecessary sentimentality or ceremony. As one dictionary puts it, “ceremony”, in this case, refers to:

The formalities observed on some solemn or important public or state occasion in order to render it more imposing or impressive: as, the ceremony of crowning a king, or of laying a foundation-stone; the ceremony of inaugurating the President of the United States.

Indeed, for those of us who appreciate Jesus’ ransom sacrifice, the Memorial is about this appreciation, not about ceremony or empty or showy rituals.

What Price Ceremony?

The matter of unnecessary ceremony reminds me of something I heard in a podcast a while ago:

Here is a clip of the podcast referred to in the tweet above, in which Mr. Cohen speaks of the core goal to make Swift ceremony-free:

As the above tweet also mentions, Chinese characters have oodles and gobs of unnecessary, time-and-energy-consuming ceremony, especially compared to the simple, straightforward, and elegant Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) writing system. And, echoing Mr. Cohen’s observation that ceremony can weigh programmers down and rob them of the joy that they could otherwise feel when coding, many have found that the unnecessary, traditionally mandated complexity and ceremonial baggage of Chinese characters can weigh down Mandarin learners and take away much of the joy that they should be able to feel from learning how to really communicate with Mandarin-speaking people.

Is it appropriate for us to look at the Chinese characters writing system through the same lens that we use to look at a technological system like the Swift programming language? It really is, because while the Chinese characters writing system is indeed a matter of culture, all writing systems are simultaneously technologies, applications of skills and knowledge for practical purposes.