{"id":2385,"date":"2022-07-25T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/?p=2385"},"modified":"2024-11-08T13:04:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T21:04:39","slug":"relang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/2022\/07\/25\/relang\/","title":{"rendered":"r\u00e8l\u00e0ng"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\t\tr\u00e8l\u00e0ng<\/span>\n(r\u00e8\u00b7l\u00e0ng\nheat \u00b7 wave<\/span>\n\u70ed\u6d6a\n\u71b1\u6d6a<\/span>)<\/span>\n\n \u2190 Tap\/click to show\/hide the \u201cflashcard\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n\n

Currently, many around the world are being affected by heat waves<\/a>, which scientists say is part of a pattern of global warming caused by human activity. As of this writing, jw.org<\/a> is featuring the article \u201cClimate Change and Our Future\u2014What the Bible Says<\/a>\u201d. The Mandarin version<\/a> of this article uses the expression \u201cr\u00e8l\u00e0ng<\/i><\/span>\n(r\u00e8\u00b7l\u00e0ng\nheat \u00b7 wave<\/span>\n\u70ed\u6d6a\n\u71b1\u6d6a<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d, this week\u2019s MEotW, to translate the English expression \u201cheat wave\u201d.<\/p>\n

It seems that \u201cr\u00e8l\u00e0ng<\/i><\/span>\n(r\u00e8\u00b7l\u00e0ng\nheat \u00b7 wave<\/span>\n\u70ed\u6d6a\n\u71b1\u6d6a<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d is just a simple, straightforward exact translation of \u201cheat wave\u201d. While sometimes, like with \u201czh\u01d0n\u00e1n\u2010zh\u0113n<\/i><\/span>\n((zh\u01d0\u00b7n\u00e1n\n{(points with) finger \u2192 [points]} \u00b7 south<\/span>\n\u6307\u5357)\u2010(zh\u0113n\nneedle<\/span>\n\u9488\n\u91dd<\/span>)\n\u2192<\/span> [compass]<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d (a previous MEotW<\/a>), the Mandarin expression for \u201ccompass\u201d, East and West approached the same thing from opposite directions, other times, like with \u201cr\u00e8l\u00e0ng<\/i><\/span>\n(r\u00e8\u00b7l\u00e0ng\nheat \u00b7 wave<\/span>\n\u70ed\u6d6a\n\u71b1\u6d6a<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d and \u201cheat wave\u201d, the reality referred to is so simple and the applicable metaphors are so obvious that East and West settled on the same linguistic solution.<\/p>\n

While \u201cr\u00e8l\u00e0ng<\/i><\/span>\n(r\u00e8\u00b7l\u00e0ng\nheat \u00b7 wave<\/span>\n\u70ed\u6d6a\n\u71b1\u6d6a<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d is definitely not a loanword<\/a> (like previous MEotW<\/a> \u201ck\u01cel\u0101\u2019OK<\/i><\/span>\n(karaoke<\/span>\n\u5361\u62c9OK)<\/span>\u201d is), which is a word that\u2019s adopted from one language into another language without translation, it seems possible that it\u2019s a calque<\/a>, or loan translation, which is \u201ca word or phrase in a language formed by word-for-word or morpheme-by-morpheme translation of a word in another language\u201d, according to one of the definitions of \u201ccalque<\/a>\u201d listed by Wordnik<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wordnik\u2014Chinese Field Connections<\/h4>\n

By the way, while this blog is mainly about Mandarin expressions, it\u2019s written in English, mainly for English-speakers, and often it will compare Mandarin expressions to English expressions. Of course, it will use English words\u2014like \u201cloanword\u201d and \u201ccalque\u201d\u2014to discuss Mandarin expressions. So, it\u2019s good for it to have a resource to refer to like Wordnik<\/a>, which claims to be \u201cthe world’s biggest online English dictionary, by number of words\u201d. Being online, it is not constrained by the limitations imposed by the millennia-old medium of paper, as delightfully explained in this TED talk<\/a> given by Erin McKean, the founder of Wordnik:<\/p>\n

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