Polysemy as a Way to Create Nonlinear Text in the Chinese Language Culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4-1) ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Maria Rubets ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Written Text ◽  
The Third ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Reading Texts

The article is devoted to the problem of polysemy in the Chinese language as one of the ways to expand the meanings of the written text. Polysemy as an integral part of any language is also widespread in Chinese. Characters become ambiguous under the influence of cultural, social, historical factors, due to metaphorical and metonymic transfer, etc. The situation with ambiguity in the Chinese language is further aggravated by the fact that the meaning of a syllable (written by a certain character) can be expanded not only due to the acquisition of new vocabulary meanings, but also new grammatical forms, since almost any syllable in the Chinese language can become both a noun, a verb, an adjective, a particle, etc. Chinese philologists were engaged in the interpretation of various meanings of hieroglyphs as far back as the pre-Qing era, this work does not stop to this day. The second part of the article provides an example of the polysemy of the character 道dào in modern dictionaries as a result of the expansion of the original meanings indicated in the etymological dictionaries of Sho Wen Jie Zi and Zi Yuan. The third part of the article provides concrete examples of the use of polysemic words by native speakers of the Chinese language in order to create nonlinear multidimensional texts. Examples of such texts are selected from ancient poems as well as from the couplets of duilian, such folklore phenomena as riddles, anecdotes, as well as examples of the creativity of modern Internet users (memes). Thus, the article shows that this technique is historically rooted in the written culture of China, which means that when reading texts in Chinese, it is necessary to consider not only historical, cultural, etc. realities and connotations, but also all derivative senses of words used in the text to identify additional senses in the text.

scholarly journals Psycholinguistic Studies of Chinese Worldview Fragments

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-49
Author(s):  
Olga V. Dubkova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Chinese Word ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Dictionaries ◽  
Practical Research ◽  
Mental Connections ◽  
The Russian Language

At present, fragments of the Chinese worldview are studied on the basis of theoretical and practical research developed by the Moscow Psycholinguistic School. In Russian and Chinese psycholinguistics, sufficient material has been accumulated to determine the main advantages of the free associative experiment. The problems of identifying stimulus words and interpreting reactions reflecting the Chinese picture of the world are also obvious. The free associative experiment allows us to determine the deep mental connections of the phonetic and graphic appearance of the Chinese word, represented by graphemes different from those of the Russian language, the latter having their own lexical and additional “graphic” meaning. The difficulties in learning languages of different typological systems are associated with the problems of compiling a vocabulary of stimulus words and the possibility of a multivalued interpretation of Chinese recipients’ reactions, reflecting the images of the Chinese consciousness. For this reason, it is unacceptable to transfer the “reification” of fragments of the Russian worldview to the fragments of the Chinese worldview. When compiling a vocabulary of stimulus words, one should take into account the structural and grammatical features of the Chinese word, the structure of Chinese characters and their origin, the frequency in the speech of native speakers, etc. To interpret the reactions of a free associative experiment, in addition to bilingual dictionaries, it is advisable to use various dictionaries of the Chinese language, including etymological ones. Based on the established tradition of analyzing the results of associative experiments, the author typologizes the reactions of Chinese speakers, which allows to establish the dynamics of the Chinese worldview.

The Uighur Word Materials in a Manuscript of Huá-yí-yì-yǔ (華夷譯語) in the Library of Seoul National University (V) — 天文門 tianwenmen ‘the category of astronomy’ —

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-318
Author(s):  
YONG-SŎNG LI
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Ming Dynasty ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
The Third ◽  
First Category ◽  
National University ◽  
Seoul National University ◽  
The Ming Dynasty

AbstractThe Huá-yí-yì-yǔ is a general name for the various wordbooks between the Chinese language and its neighbouring languages compiled from the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It has broadly 4 different classes. In the wordbooks of the third class the words of each foreign language were transliterated only in Chinese characters and the letters of the language in question were not used. To this third class belongs the manuscript in the collection of the library of Seoul National University. Its seventh volume is for the Uighur language. It contains 19 categories. In this paper the first category of astronomy with 85 entries is treated.There are many scribal errors in these materials. Apart from the shortcomings of the Chinese characters, this may be the main reason why the Uighur word materials in the wordbooks of this class are not highly regarded.

ICTs and Coordination for Poverty Alleviation

2013 ◽  
pp. 165-189
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Literacy Rate ◽  
The Third ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Use Of Internet

In recent decades, calls for poverty alleviation have increased significantly in both developed and developing countries. Relatively, ICTs have been viewed as offering helpful tools for poverty reduction. This chapter investigates access to ICTs in the context of poverty, in both developed and developing countries. Based on a sample of 40 countries (20 developing and 20 developed countries), several statistical tests have been performed with promising results obtained. It is first shown that people in developing countries have less access to ICTs relative to those in developed countries. Second, it is also proven that the use of Internet is positively affected by the literacy rate within a country. The higher the literacy rate, the higher the number of Internet users in a country. The third result conveys that countries with higher GDP per capita ensure higher access to ICTs for their populations. Finally, this chapter proposes that populations of countries with higher poverty rates have less access to ICTs.

scholarly journals Chinatown in Bangkok: The Multilingual Landscape

MANUSYA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongmei Wu ◽  
Sethawut Techasan
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Other Hand

This paper examines the linguistic landscape (shop names) of Chinatown in Bangkok, a prosperous minority language (Chinese) community of diverse commercial establishments. Informed by an ethnographic framework, it explores the preservation of Chinese language and culture under the circumstance of language contact with Thai, the majority language, and globalization influence of English. Unsurprisingly, the inherited Chinese language (dialects as Teochew or Cantonese) was lost in the 2nd or 3rd generation of the Chinese descendants in Chinatown. However, the shop names suggest that in part because of its commodifying value and cultural awareness of the current proprietors, the Chinese shop owners are inclined to preserve the Chinese language and culture of the shops through the use of traditional Chinese characters, colors, layout and other marks of the shops. On the other hand, an analysis of the mutual translations of Chinese and Thai indicates that Chinese has more of a symbolic rather than informative function for Thai monolingual customers. Moreover, the ascendancy of English has contributed to the complexity of the multilingual landscape in Bangkok’s Chinatown.

scholarly journals Pedagogic Perspectives on Chinese Characters Teaching for Latin American Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Jiajia Yu ◽  
Alexis Lozano
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Chinese Teacher ◽  
Students Attitudes

Chinese characters are one of the most representative components of Chinese language. However, due to its complexity, the teaching of the language has become an important research topic. With the expansion of this language, it is important to analyze and reconsider approaches to inspire and guide students with different cultural backgrounds, languages and learning habits, and highlight their advantages and disadvantages. Based on two beginner level groups of Chinese in Mexico, this report analyzes teaching strategies, pedagogical activities and students’ attitudes towards two professors, a local Mexican teacher and a Chinese teacher. After observing both classes we found significant differences on their approaches to teach Chinese characters. The Chinese teacher emphasized the importance of characters as a communication tool and therefore tried to develop accuracy and efficiency, while the Mexican teacher focused on knowledge about characters, the association with students’ own experiences and self-directed learning techniques. We conclude with making remarks about which of these teaching approaches are more suitable for the teaching context of Chinese language in Latin American countries like Mexico.

Impact of an interaction-oriented Japanese course on learners

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 123-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoko Ogawa
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Japanese People ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Active Interaction

Abstract Neustupny (1988, 1991) recommended an interactive competence approach for second language acquisition that places a greater emphasis on learners’ active interaction with native speakers in real communicative situations. In order to have the opportunity to interact with native speakers in the target language, a conscious effort by the learners as well as support from the teachers and the community is essential. The third-year Japanese course at Monash University was designed to encourage and support learners to establish and maintain relationships with Japanese people as well as to utilise various other resources of the target language and culture. This paper examines the impact of this interaction-oriented course on learners in their establishment and maintenance of relationships with Japanese people, and cultural and social understanding. It is based on data collected during 1996 and 1997.

马来学生对汉字的认知方式和认字教学的实践方法

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-134
Author(s):  
黄灵 燕
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Comprehension Test ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
High Level ◽  
Alphabetic Writing ◽  
Chinese Language Learners

AbstractThis study mainly investigated cognitive methods adopted by Malay learners who were taking Chinese proficiency courses at the University of Putra Malaysia. The respondents were learners who came from an alphabetic writing background. The findings of this study revealed that three cognitive methods were adopted by these respondents to recognize and retrieve the meanings of Chinese characters. The first method was to use phonetic symbols to write down the pronunciations of Chinese characters in order to comprehend the meanings of the characters. The respondents needed to pass through the intermediary stage of the inner language to activate the meanings of the characters. This response is a normal psychological reaction from the Chinese language learners who come from an alphabetic writing background.For the second method, the respondents used the vocabulary of their mother tongue to translate the meanings of Chinese characters. The findings showed that they depended on their mother tongue when comprehending the meanings of Chinese characters. Some respondents needed to search for the equivalent vocabulary in their mother tongue to translate the meanings of Chinese characters before they could retrieve the accurate meanings of the characters. This reaction shows that the method of acquisition of the mother tongue can affect the cognition ability of learners when comprehending the meanings of Chinese characters and during the reading process of Chinese texts.The third method concerned some respondents who could master Chinese characters and obtain a high level of Chinese proficiency. They were able to retrieve the meanings of Chinese characters directly from Chinese orthography without depending on the stimulus of the inner language or translation of the mother tongue to decode the meanings of the characters. The results of the Chinese comprehension test revealed that the respondents who obtained a high level of Chinese proficiency were not hindered by the difficulties in recognizing and comprehending the meanings of the Chinese characters. Their scores in the comprehension test were the highest.The feedback from the questionnaire used showed that some respondents did not necessarily have to rely on the stimulus of the inner language as the intermediary stage to activate the meanings of Chinese characters. Most of the respondents preferred to use the vocabulary of their mother tongue to help them to retrieve the meanings of the characters. Regarding the stimulus of the inner language or the translation of the mother tongue for decoding, both these methods showed that there was interference from the mother tongue’s orthography of the respondents. However, the results of the comprehension test revealed that when the respondents were familiar with Chinese characters, they could abandon both the methods mentioned when retrieving the meanings of the characters.Finally, this study suggests some instructional practices for recognizing Chinese characters to assist Chinese language learners from the alphabetic writing background to better recognize the characteristics of Chinese orthography. These practices emphasize learning activities for standard Chinese language orthography. Emphasis also is given to the knowledge relating to the features and characteristics of Chinese characters from an ideogram language. Further stress is on the effective methods to retrieve the meanings directly from Chinese characters.

scholarly journals Peculiarities of the structural organization of financial terms in modern Chinese and Russian languages (comparative aspect)

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-332
Author(s):  
Yu Wei
Keyword(s):  
Structural Organization ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Structural Types ◽  
Modern Chinese ◽  
Comparative Aspect

The article deals with the features of the formal and structural organization of financial terms and designations in the Russian and Chinese languages of different structures, as well as the problems of distinguishing between one-word and names consisting of several words in the Chinese language. Special attention is paid to the problem of the correspondence of Chinese characters to the significant parts of the nominative unit and the division of Chinese financial names into significant structural fragments (morphemes, parts of complex and compound words, names consisting of several words, etc.). The main structural types of financial names in Russian (one-word and consisting of several words) and Chinese (simple, synthetic and consisting of several words) languages are identified, the differences of abbreviated names in Russian and Chinese languages are shown, the quantitative relations of the structural types of Russian and Chinese financial names are considered.

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