Tag: Usage Examples

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Culture Language Learning Theocratic

rènmìng

rènmìng (rèn·mìng appoint · assign 任命) ← 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.

The Curious Case of “膏”

Sometimes, some words just gradually get used less and less, and people turn to using other words instead. Appendix A2 of the English New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition) gives these examples of English words that have fallen out of fashion so much that they may no longer be correctly or easily understood by modern readers, and the words that the English NWT Bible now uses instead of them:

The now obsolete meaning of “dumb” was replaced with “speechless.” (Matthew 9:32, 33) The term “harlot” was changed to “prostitute.” (Genesis 38:15) In this revision, “fornication” is usually rendered as “sexual immorality”; “loose conduct” as “brazen conduct”; and “revelries” as “wild parties.”

One example of a word used in the previous major revision of the Mandarin NWT Bible that may no longer be correctly or easily understood by modern readers is “gào ({apply liquid, ointment, etc.}; moisten; grease; lubricate [→ [dip a brush in ink]] 膏)”, which is a verb, and which is pronounced with the fourth tone. When modern readers see the character “膏”, they probably think of “gāo (fat; grease; oil [→ [paste; cream; ointment; plaster | fertile; rich]] 膏)”, which is pronounced with the first tone, and which is usually a noun that is still in common use.

(This confusion is so pervasive that even the official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) version of Appendix A2 of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (nwtsty) incorrectly shows the first tone pronunciation of “膏” (gāo) when discussing its verb form, which is actually pronounced with the fourth tone (gào). While many more of the official publications are available in official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) versions than before—unquestionably a good thing—it seems that it has been difficult to avoid occasional lapses in quality in the greater quantity of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) now being made available.)

By the way, the same character “膏” having different pronunciations and different attached meanings in different contexts is an example showing us that characters are actually not the ultimate clarifiers of meaning in Chinese writing. Rather, the context is what clarifies for us how a character like “膏” should be pronounced and understood when we see it in a sentence, paragraph, etc. And in the case of the Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · Character 汉字 漢字) (character) “膏”, with its multiple possible pronunciations and meanings, seeing the spoken Mandarin word it represents written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as either “gāo (fat; grease; oil [→ [paste; cream; ointment; plaster | fertile; rich]] 膏)” or “gào ({apply liquid, ointment, etc.}; moisten; grease; lubricate [→ [dip a brush in ink]] 膏)” is actually less confusing and more clear re pronunciation and meaning than seeing that spoken word written in Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · Character 汉字 漢字) form, even if one has indeed learned and can remember that complex character.

With the above in mind, note that instead of “gàolì (gào·lì {apply liquid, etc. → [anoint]} · {make to stand → [appoint]} (nwt-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “gàolì” to “rènmìng”) 膏立)” and “shòugào (shòu·gào received · {applying (of liquid, etc.)} → [anointed (nwt-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shòugào” to “shòu rènmìng”)] 受膏)”, the current version of the Mandarin NWT Bible now uses “rènmìng (rèn·mìng appoint · assign 任命)” (this week’s MEotW) and “shòu (received 受) rènmìng (rèn·mìng appointing · assigning 任命)” instead.—Sāmǔ’ěrjì Shàng ((Sāmǔ’ěr·jì Samuel · Record 撒母耳记 撒母耳記) (Shàng Upper 上) → [1 Samuel]) 10:1; Sājiālìyàshū (Sājiālìyà·shū Zechariah · Book 撒迦利亚书 撒迦利亞書) 4:14.

“Anointed Christian”

Speaking of “shòugào (shòu·gào received · {applying (of liquid, etc.)} → [anointed (nwt-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shòugào” to “shòu rènmìng”)] 受膏)”, before, the English expression “anointed Christian” was translated by the organization into Mandarin as “shòugào (shòu·gào received · {applying (of liquid, etc.)} → [anointed (nwt-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shòugào” to “shòu rènmìng”)] 受膏) de (’s 的) Jīdūtú (Jī·dū·tú {Foundation · {Directing (Person)} → [Christ]} · Follower → [Christian] 基督徒)”. However, as indicated above, going forward the organization has decided to use “shòu (received 受) rènmìng (rèn·mìng appointing · assigning 任命)” instead of “shòugào (shòu·gào received · {applying (of liquid, etc.)} → [anointed (nwt-CHS Appx. A2 notes change from “shòugào” to “shòu rènmìng”)] 受膏)”. This seems to indeed apply to how “anointed Christian” is to be translated into Mandarin. For example, the Mandarin version of the January 2020 Watchtower (Study Edition) here uses “bèi ([passive signifier] → [got] 被) rènmìng (rèn·mìng appointed · assigned 任命) de (’s 的) Jīdūtú (Jī·dū·tú {Foundation · {Directing (Person)} → [Christ]} · Follower → [Christian] 基督徒)” to translate “anointed Christian”. (The meanings of “shòu (received 受)” and “bèi ([passive signifier] → [got] 被)” are practically the same.)

Alternately, note that the Mandarin version (2021) of the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY Glossary entry for “Israel” translates “anointed Christians” as “shòu (received 受) hūzhào (hū·zhào {breathing out → [calling]} · summoning 呼召) dào ({to arrive at} 到) tiānshang (tiān·shang heaven · upon 天上) qù ({to go} 去) de (’s 的) Jīdūtú (Jī·dū·tú {Foundation · {Directing (Person)} → [Christ]} · Followers → [Christians] 基督徒)”.

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Culture Language Learning

biāozhǔn

biāozhǔn (biāo·zhǔn [(conforming to)] mark[s] · standard[s] → [[(conforming to)] standard[s]; criteria] 标准 標準) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

In Western culture, especially American culture, it seems, the way to give the best compliments involves exaggeration. For example, one might say,

“That person gave 110%!”

In contrast, for a Mandarin field language-learner, the best compliment from a Chinese person is often

“Nǐ (you 你) shuōde (shuō·de speak · getting 说得 說得) hěn ({very much} 很) biāozhǔn (biāo·zhǔn (to be conforming to) mark · standard → [(to be conforming to) standard] 标准 標準)!”

That literally means that the language-learner’s speech hit the mark, and matched up to the standard well—matched, not exceeded.

Different cultures, different calibrations—understanding that will help us to take people’s comments the right way. For example, if you manage to move a Chinese person to say that your Mandarin is very “biāozhǔn (biāo·zhǔn [(conforming to)] mark[s] · standard[s] → [[(conforming to)] standard[s]; criteria] 标准 標準)”, the meaning is not that you are doing okay, so-so, but failing to excel. Rather, the meaning is that you are doing very well indeed!

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Culture Language Learning Languages Science

yǔzú

yǔzú (yǔ·zú language · {ethnic group → [group of things with common characteristics] → [group]} 语族 語族) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

While “language family” seems to be a commonly accepted linguistic term, there does not seem to be universal consensus on what terms to use for subdivisions of language families. This is suggested by the wording used in the Wikipedia article on language families, under the subheading “Structure of a family”:

Language families can be divided into smaller phylogenetic units, conventionally referred to as branches of the family because the history of a language family is often represented as a tree diagram. A family is a monophyletic unit; all its members derive from a common ancestor, and all attested descendants of that ancestor are included in the family. …

Some taxonomists restrict the term family to a certain level, but there is little consensus in how to do so. Those who affix such labels also subdivide branches into groups, and groups into complexes.

So, it seems that one common—but not universal—language classification scheme is:

  • family > branch > group > complex…

In contrast, noted American sinologist and University of Pennsylvania Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Victor H. Mair, in his article “The Classification of Sinitic Languages: What Is ‘Chinese’?” (p. 749), sets out a slightly different language classification scheme:

  • family > group > branch > language > dialect

The Mandarin Word for “Language Group”

Regardless of whether we consider language families to be first subdivided into branches or into groups, an accepted and acceptable Mandarin translation for “language group” is this week’s MEotW, “yǔzú (yǔ·zú language · {ethnic group → [group of things with common characteristics] → [group]} 语族 語族)”, as Prof. Mair confirms in the article (p. 747) mentioned above.

If “zú (clan; race; tribe; {ethnic group}; nationality [→ [class or group of things or people with common characteristics]] 族)” seems familiar, perhaps that is because it occurs in some fairly well-known scriptures. For example, the 2019 Edition of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible translates “every nation and tribe and tongue and people” in Revelation 14:6 as “měi (every 每) ge ([mw] 个 個/箇/个) guózú (guó·zú national · {ethnic group} → [nation] 国族 國族), bùzú (bù·zú sectional · {ethnic group} → [tribe] 部族), yǔyán (yǔ·yán language · {(type of) speech} 语言 語言), hé (and 和) mínzú (mín·zú {(of) people} · {ethnic group} → [people] 民族)”.

The Mandarin Word for “Language Branch”

For reference, the Mandarin word for “language branch” is “yǔzhī (yǔ·zhī language · branch 语支 語支)”, as Prof. Mair confirms in the article (p. 747) mentioned above.

It’s interesting to note that according to Prof. Mair’s article (p. 737) mentioned above, not only are Mandarin and Cantonese separate languages (not just “dialects”), it would be more accurate to consider them to be in separate language branches, as defined by the language classisification scheme he uses:

Cantonese and Mandarin are separate languages. Cantonese is not a ‘dialect’ of Mandarin or of Hanyu, and it is grossly erroneous to refer to it as such. Since Cantonese and Mandarin are separate languages (or, perhaps more accurately, separate branches), it is wrong to refer to them as ‘dialects.’ The same holds for Hokkien, Shanghainese, and so forth.

That Mandarin and Cantonese should really be considered to be in separate language branches emphasizes to us politically neutral Mandarin field language-learners that we must not repeat or be misled by the politically motivated erroneous assertion that Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. are just dialects of “Chinese”. That might be even more wrong than saying that English, French, Spanish, etc. are just dialects of “European”!