MEotW: rèlàng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• rèlàng

What’s the difference between a loanword and a loan translation?

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MEotW: bàolì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• bàolì

How can we talk to people in the Mandarin field about what hope there is to see an end to violence?

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MEotW: zuìchū

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• zuìchū

Why can it be important to “go back to the start”, as the song says?

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The Mandarin Field is People Who Speak Mandarin

A language field is one of people who *speak* a certain way, not one of people who write a certain way.—1 Co. 14:8–11. https://t.co/WGH3VaMBAh

The Mandarin language field is one of people who *speak Mandarin*, not one of people who write with Chinese characters.

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) July 7, 2022

1 Corinthians 14:8–11 is worth considering by anyone learning a language to serve Jehovah better:

8 For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle? 9 In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood, how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air. 10 It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning. 11 For if I do not understand the sense of the speech, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking will be a foreigner to me.

Traditional Chinese culture and language instruction proudly emphasize Chinese characters, but the Bible itself is in harmony with modern linguistics (language science), which holds that speech is primary and writing is secondary.

For more information on this, see the article “SPEECH is Top Priority, Not Characters”.

Here is a quote from it:

As rescue workers in the Mandarin field, rather than tourists, we must give top priority to the fastest, most effective way to help those in the field, not to the way that features cultural attractions for us to see.

MEotW: duòtāi

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• duòtāi

Of all the Mandarin words in existence, why is the Mandarin word for “fetus; embryo” sometimes used to mean “tire”, as in “car tire”?

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