{"id":2814,"date":"2022-11-21T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/?p=2814"},"modified":"2023-05-07T15:36:52","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T22:36:52","slug":"yinyi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/2022\/11\/21\/yinyi\/","title":{"rendered":"y\u012bny\u00ec"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\t\ty\u012bny\u00ec<\/span>\n(y\u012bn\u00b7y\u00ec\nsound \u00b7 translating \u2192<\/span> [transcribing | transcription]<\/span>\n\u97f3\u8bd1\n\u97f3\u8b6f<\/span>)<\/span>\n\n \u2190 Tap\/click to show\/hide the \u201cflashcard\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n\n

Appendix A2<\/a> of the English New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures<\/i> (Study Edition), entitled \u201cFeatures of This Revision\u201d, 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)<\/i><\/a>, Appendix A2<\/a> of the current Mandarin<\/em> version of the New World Translation<\/i> Bible (nwtsty) correspondingly discusses words that have been translated differently in the current revision of the Mandarin NWT<\/i> Bible, compared to how they had been translated before.<\/p>\n

Since we base what we say in Jehovah\u2019s service on his Word the Bible, the vocabulary used in it\u2014and the way those vocabulary words are translated\u2014should 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.<\/p>\n

Units of Measurement<\/h4>\n

Appendix A2<\/a> of the current Mandarin version of the New World Translation<\/i> Bible (nwtsty) points out that in previous editions of the Mandarin New World Translation<\/i>, basically metric system units of measurement were used, although sometimes units from the original language were used. However, the whole number metric measurements that were considered best to use in the main text generally ended up being inexact conversions from the original measurements. Also, some metric units of measurement are named differently in different places. For example, some places use \u201cm\u01d0<\/i><\/span>\n(metre<\/span>\n\u7c73)<\/span>\u201d to mean \u201cmetre\u201d, while other places use \u201cg\u014dngch\u01d0 <\/i><\/span>\n(g\u014dng\u00b7ch\u01d0\n{collective \u2192 [metric]} \u00b7 {Chinese foot (\u2153 of a metre)} \u2192<\/span> [metre]<\/span>\n\u516c\u5c3a)<\/span>\u201d. So, the current version of the Mandarin NWT<\/i> in most scriptures uses the original language units of measurement through what in Mandarin is called \u201cy\u012bny\u00ec<\/i><\/span>\n(y\u012bn\u00b7y\u00ec\nsound \u00b7 translating \u2192<\/span> [transcribing | transcription]<\/span>\n\u97f3\u8bd1\n\u97f3\u8b6f<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d, and in footnotes it provides the metric equivalents and perhaps other information.<\/p>\n

What does \u201cy\u012bny\u00ec<\/i><\/span>\n(y\u012bn\u00b7y\u00ec\nsound \u00b7 translating \u2192<\/span> [transcribing | transcription]<\/span>\n\u97f3\u8bd1\n\u97f3\u8b6f<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d involve? Some Chinese-English dictionaries say that this word is used to mean either \u201ctransliterate\u201d\/\u201ctransliteration\u201d or \u201ctranscribe\u201d\/\u201ctranscription\u201d. What\u2019s the difference? Is there a difference?<\/p>\n

[Note on terminology:<\/strong> \u201cWriting system<\/a>\u201d and \u201cscript<\/a>\u201d are synonymous, while an \u201corthography<\/a>\u201d is a \u201cset of conventions [connected to a writing system\/script] for writing a language, including norms of spelling, capitalization, emphasis, hyphenation, punctuation, and word breaks\u201d.]<\/p>\n

Transliteration?<\/h4>\n

The Wikipedia page on transliteration<\/a> provides the following summaries to help define transliteration<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\nTransliteration<\/strong> is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus trans-<\/i> + liter-<\/i>) in predictable ways<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nTransliteration is not primarily concerned with representing the sounds of the original but rather with representing the characters, ideally accurately and unambiguously.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nSystematic transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another, typically grapheme to grapheme [e.g., letter to letter]. Most transliteration systems are one-to-one, so a reader who knows the system can reconstruct the original spelling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Echoing the above quote, the academic paper \u201cTwo Steps Toward Digraphia in China<\/a>\u201d (Sino-Platonic Paper Number 134), by Xieyan Hincha, provides this rigorous definition of transliteration:<\/p>\n

\nBy transliteration is meant the letter-by-letter conversion of a text written in an alphabet into another alphabetical script, if necessary using diacritical marks, in such a way that the text can be correctly converted back into the original text by means of a transliteration table.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Transcription?<\/h4>\n

Now, compare the above to summaries provided by the Wikipedia page on transcription<\/a> that help to define transcription<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\nTranscription<\/strong> in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of spoken language in written form.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nThere are two main types of linguistic transcription. Phonetic transcription<\/strong> focuses on phonetic and phonological properties of spoken language. Systems for phonetic transcription thus furnish rules for mapping individual sounds or phones to written symbols. Systems for orthographic transcription<\/strong>, by contrast, consist of rules for mapping spoken words onto written forms as prescribed by the orthography of a given language. Phonetic transcription operates with specially defined character sets, usually the International Phonetic Alphabet. [emphasis added<\/i>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The above-mentioned academic paper \u201cTwo Steps Toward Digraphia in China<\/a>\u201d also provides a rigorous definition for transcription, which seems to specifically refer to phonetic transcription, as referred to in the Wikipedia quote above:<\/p>\n

\nIt is time to ask what exactly is a transcription system. It is a graphic system whose elements unambiguously represent the sounds of a spoken language. The transcription can be narrow or broad: in both cases one graphic symbol represents in principle precisely one<\/strong> single sound.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere is Too Much\u2026Let Me Sum Up\u201d<\/h4>\n