Chinese Terms Research Articles

Seasonal variations of nonmotor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease in Southeast China.

Studies suggest seasonal fluctuations of symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in Western countries. However, the association between seasonal change and variation in nonmotor symptoms (NMS) in Chinese PD patients is unclear. Here, we studied whether there is a change rule with annual cycle with severity of NMS for patients with PD in Southeast China. We studied 1005 PD patients between April 2008 and October 2020. Patients were classified into four seasons according to the 24 Chinese solar terms, based on assessment date. We compared comprehensive NMS scales and polysomnography parameters among groups and conducted further analysis of disease severity. Among the 1005 patients studied, the mean age was 64.2 ± 9.7 years and 569 (56.6%) of them were men. Relative to the summer group, patients assessed during winter had higher Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Autonomic Dysfunction (SCOPA-AUT) scores ( P = 0.045). The sleep efficiency factor scores of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in patients were higher during spring than summer ( P = 0.009). Among patients who completed polysomnography during the same period ( n = 135), compared with summer follow-ups, we observed a higher percentage of NREMS1 in winter and spring follow-ups ( P = 0.042, P = 0.011), a higher NREMS1 time in spring follow-ups ( P = 0.0024), a lower NREMS2 time in winter follow-ups ( P = 0.007), and a higher percentage of phasic RSWA in autumn and winter follow-ups ( P = 0.026 and P = 0.020, respectively). In a subset of patients with PD and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD; n = 182), those visited during winter had higher scores for RBD questionnaire- Hong Kong and its factor 1 (dream-related sub-score) than those visited during summer ( P = 0.034, P = 0.020). We observed similar findings for SCOPA-AUT and sleep efficiency factor scores in early stage patients in subgroup analysis. PD patients assessed for follow-up during summer showed less severe symptoms of autonomic dysfunction and RBD symptoms than those assessed in winter, and less sleep disturbance than those in spring and winter, suggesting that seasonal change and NMS fluctuation are related, especially in patients with early stage PD.

English translation of Chinese calligraphic aesthetics

Abstract Chinese calligraphy, which distinctively represents traditional Chinese culture, contains many culture-specific aesthetic terms that pose a translation challenge requiring creative cross-cultural strategies. This study presents several English translations for four key Chinese aesthetic terms on calligraphy, namely shi 勢 (roughly translated as “vital force” or “energy”), yun 韻 (once translated as “rhythmic life” or “life movement”), fei bai 飛白 (“flying white” or “hollow strokes”) and jibai-danghei 計白當黑 (literally: treating white areas like black ink). It examines their effectiveness in facilitating cross-cultural understanding and maximizing cultural authenticity. This article points out that most of these terms have been adequately contextualized in English over the past century, even though some are rendered in English using terms borrowed from Western art history. This shows how cultural translation, the theoretical basis of this study, comes into play when dealing with Chinese aesthetic terms in calligraphy.

Strategies for Using Fine Arts Terms in Teaching Chinese Students in Russian

The relevance of the study of this problem is due to the need to develop a methodology for explaining the terms of fine and applied arts in Russian to Chinese students. In connection with the rapidly developing technologies of fine art, previously not used in China and borrowed from the experience of foreign countries, the question of the rapid saturation of the conceptual usage of new terms that have been established in Russian and other European languages arises. The opportunities for Chinese students to study at Russian universities are expanding. In this regard, this article is aimed at identifying terms that cause difficulties in the perception of Chinese students and developing methodological proposals for their most accessible explanation. The leading method in the study of this problem is the method of questionnaire of Chinese students studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A. I. Herzen. It has revealed both common for the Chinese and Russian language pictorial terms and lexemes of color meanings, as well as various ones. The study sample included about a hundred terms and was conducted among two study groups of Chinese students. The article considers several matching color meanings and a number of unparalleled in Chinese. The term currency is discussed in detail. The basic principle by which the difference between Russian and Chinese terminology systems can be judged is revealed. It dates back to various historical traditions of fine art in China and Europe. The principle of explaining concepts is justified, taking into account the cultural foundations of fine arts of various countries, using illustrative examples. The materials presented in the article allow to develop a training session on explaining the concept of “valure” and a number of lexical color meanings.

A usage-based diachronic study of translated terminology

Abstract The essential attributes and pragmatic features of terms are reflected in their actual use. The diachronic dimension of terminology use has become a major concern in recent decades; however, few considerations are given to the use of translated terminology. In this paper, we report on a diachronic study on the use of the translated Chinese term zibenhua (资本化, capitalisation/capitalise) under Cabré’s theory of doors. We built a corpus by collecting the texts containing the translated term zibenhua from the People’s Daily (1950–2019) to investigate the changes in its use and the potential reasons for these changes. A usage-based methodology for researching the translated terminology is also described.

Redefining ‘Sign’/‘Symbol’ and Semiotics

Abstract Both ‘sign’ and ‘symbol’ are words with a long and polysemic history in Western culture. Moreover, the 120-year history of the modern semiotics movement has failed to provide a highly needed definition of these most basic terms, thus resulting in ambiguity of the definition of the discipline itself. This paper proposes defining ‘sign/symbol’ as ‘a sensuous entity to be regarded as carrying meaning’. Furthermore, the terminological chaos that arises between ‘sign’ and ‘symbol’, which originated in Western languages, has caused chaos for translators in selecting the appropriate Chinese term from the options Fuhao and Xiangzheng, since a phonetic rendition is hardly possible in Chinese. On this basis, the paper attempts to define ‘semiotics’ as ‘the formal study of meaning-making’. In this understanding, semiotics covers not only signification but also communication and interpretation of meaning.

Being Between

This essay argues that comparative and transcultural philosophy are interdependent, and so opting for only one of the two is an impossibility. The comparative approach persists as long as we distinguish identities and make differences. As long as people do not speak only one language, the need to move between different languages and to translate, and thus the need to relate and compare different possibilities of philosophical articulation, will remain. Any attempt to free oneself from the problem of cultural identity is doomed to failure, as it leads to further entrapment in the very same problem. Comparative philosophy works with more or less fixed identities, transcultural philosophy transforms them and thereby creates new identities. Those two approaches combined constitute what I call intercultural philosophy. In this essay I try to explain the relation between comparative and transcultural philosophy by connecting François Jullien’s “comparative” and Martin Heidegger’s “transcultural” understanding of “Being” (Sein) and “Between” (Zwischen). In part 1 I argue that by turning Between and Being into opposing paradigms of Chinese and Greek thinking, respectively, Jullien causes both to become more or less fixed representatives of different cultural identities within a comparative framework: Greek thinking ossifies into traditional metaphysics, and Chinese thinking ossifies into the non-metaphysical thinking of immanence. Part 2 argues that Heidegger takes a decisively different direction. He explores the Between in Being, and even makes an attempt to think of Being as Between. Heidegger’s invocation of “Greekdom” is undoubtedly Eurocentric. But, ironically, Heidegger’s “Greek thinking” is less Eurocentric than Jullien’s “Chinese thinking”, because he discovers the “Chinese” Between in the midst of “Greek” Being. Part 3 touches upon the task of speaking about European philosophy in Chinese terms. While modern Chinese philosophers frequently speak about Chinese philosophy in European terms, Heidegger’s work points to the possibility of speaking about European philosophy in Chinese terms. Because Jullien and Heidegger both connect Greek and Chinese thought, it seems to me that the discussion of their different approaches is helpful in clarifying perspectives for intercultural philosophy between China and Europe.

Лингвокультурный аспект китайских и английских терминов родства

Introduction. The article deals with the kinship term systems of the modern English and Chinese languages in linguocultural perspective. Although the size and the structure of a family in different countries varies, a family is a fundamental unit of any society, which determines the topicality of the study of the semantic field of kinship terms in a diverse social context. This study touches upon the matters of the difference between the standard use of kinship terms towards family members and their extensive use in a wider social context towards non-relatives. The cultural differences determining the differences in the use of kinship terms in English and Chinese are studied. The aim of the study is to provide a linguocultural description of the characteristics and cultural connotations of the modern English and Chinese kinship terms. Materials and Methods. We use the descriptive method, the comparative analysis method, and the contextual analysis method to study English and Chinese terms collected from a variety of scientific and lexicographic sources. Analysis. Based on the obtained empirical data we make conclusions regarding the similarities and the differences in the use of English and Chinese kinship terms from the point of view of linguoculturology. Through the analysis of the data we demonstrate the fact that the factors which determine the use of kinship terms, such as age, gender and the overall context of the use, play a different role in the use of kinship terms in the studied linguocultures. Results. Conclusions are made regarding the specificity of the extensive use of kinship terms in Chinese and English languages, determined by a variety of cultural and social factors; regarding the role of polysemy and ambiguity of language symbols in Chinese language in the functioning of kinship terms; regarding the linguistic specificity of kinship terms in Chinese and English languages determined by the specificity of social development in China and the USA. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is seen in discovering the modern tendencies of communication related to the transformation and modification of traditional kinship terms and their meaning according to the requirements of the contemporary society and language.

Chinese Address Terms “Shifu” (师傅) vs. “Shifu” (师父): A Comparative and Diachronic Study Based on the BCC Corpus

This paper compares the usage of the address terms “shifu”(师傅) and “shifu”(师父) in Chinese in a diachronic manner. The study investigates the evolution and different usage of the two address terms and analyzes the possible reasons for the different choices to use these address terms. The data for this study comes from the BCC corpus (BLCU Corpus Center), a corpus with tens of billions of words built by Xun Endong et al. (2015, 2016) from Beijing Language and Culture University. The findings show that the highest frequency used for “shifu” (师傅) occured in 1963, while “shifu” (师父) appeared in 2001. The address term “shifu” (师父) is more often used in ancient Chinese, while “shifu” (师傅) is relatively more frequent than “shifu” (师父) in modern and contemporary Chinese. The original meanings between the two address terms are different: “shifu” (师傅) is used as official title to indicate a teacher, while “shifu” (师父) is more related to religions through giving non-evil life and knowledge to others. The research findings will surely benefit the corpus linguistic studies, translation studies and the study of address terms. By resorting to the abundant corpus data, this study could offer a relatively more comprehensive and systematic comparison of the two Chinese address terms by far. Furthermore, i t will help further distinguish the two address terms based on the empirical data and detailed case analysis . Keywords: address term, BCC corpus, comparative study, diachronic study. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.12

Linguistic Comparison of Russian and Chinese Kinship Terms in the Context of Language and Culture

Linguistic Comparison of Russian and Chinese Kinship Terms in the Context of Language and Culture

The Application of Traditional Chinese Solar Term Elements in Illustration Posters

The Application of Traditional Chinese Solar Term Elements in Illustration Posters

ON TERMINOLOGY OF TYPES OF CHINESE DICTIONARIES

The paper is devoted to the study of different Chinese terms that denote types of dictionaries/reference books in Chinese. The English word dictionary has several Chinese equivalents, including the archaic term 字书 (zìshū, character book) and modern terms 字典 (zìdiăn, character dictionary), 词典 (cídiăn, word dictionary, or simply dictionary), and 辞典 (cídiăn, lexicon), and the more general term 辞书 (císhū, lexicographical works). Depending on the kind of linguistic units that are selected as its entries, Chinese - foreign dictionaries can be a character dictionary, a word dictionary, or a dictionary of characters and words. A Chinese lexeme can be a monosyllabic morpheme in the form of a single character like 眼 (yǎn, eye), 看 (kàn, look), 不 (bù, no; not) and 了 (le), or a multi-syllabic morpheme consisting of two or more characters, like 葡萄 (pútao, grape) and 巧克力 (qiǎokèlì, chocolate). Unlike conventional dictionaries in which multi-syllabic morphemes are treated as sub-entries, the dictionary of Chinese lexemes 辞位 (cíwèi) that serves the needs of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, treats them on an equal footing as single characters. The sub-entries of 辞位 (cíwèi) dictionary correspond to English words and are composed of a head character or head lexeme plus another character or lexeme. For instance, the sub-entries under 眼 (yǎn, eye) are 眼 光 (yǎnguāng, vision), 眼睛 (yǎnjīng, eye), etc.; and the sub-entries under 葡萄 (pútao, grape) are 葡萄干 (pútaogān, raisin), 葡萄酒 (pútaojiǔ, wine), 葡萄糖 (pútaotang, glucose) and 葡萄牙 (pútaoyá, Portugal).

복수의 제국, 파인애플

This article aims to define ‘fengli (鳳梨),’ a Taiwanese Mandarin term for pineapple, with the concept of plural empires by analyzing how it was first noticed by the Western empires and rediscovered by imperial China and the modern Empire of Japan in sequence. Now, when this Taiwan-grown fengli enters mainland China, it transposes to the Chinese Mandarin term ‘boluo (菠蘿),’ emblematizing the distinction between the two sides of the Cross-Strait. Although pineapple is indigenous to South America, it was transplanted into Hawaii due to the imperialist impulses around the 20th century, and later introduced to Taiwan by the Japanese. This entangled relationship between Taiwan and imperial powers, including Europe and Japan, reveals the plural history of imperial expansion at sea. Interestingly in Taiwan, the pineapple embeds the image of an indigenous product, making it part of their national identity against mainland China. Fengli, a fruit born in the structure of plural empires, also appeared on the label of canned pineapples produced in Taiwan under Japanese rule, implying how imperialism expands its scope. Images of pineapple were accompanied by illustrations of otherized indigenous people, such as ‘seiban(lit. raw barbarians),’ and the leader of the Japanese Empire, the ‘soldier.’ These manufactured dichotomous images were distributed as the representation of the colonial empire, promoting their colonization of Taiwan territory and enhancing the brand image as an imperial nation. Pineapples became the subject or theme of various artworks, showing the influence of imperial Japan’s colonial management policies on the art system. The appearance of pineapple images in still-life paintings or genre paintings further reflects the spread of pineapple into the general public’s everyday life.

“Lying Flat” and Rejecting the Rat Race: The Survival Anxiety of Chinese Youth

“Lying Flat” is the literal translation of the Chinese slang term “Tang Ping,” which alludes to the current youth culture of giving up and living a life without ambition. The term was coined against the backdrop of a worldwide economic downturn and reflects the mental confusion and disillusionment of young people. Multiple variables, including excessive social competition, unsuitable school education, and permissive parents, contribute to adolescents’ inactive life attitudes. This article presented some typical lying-flat cohorts, explored the underlying causes, and provided solutions for this problem in an effort to provide suggestions for encouraging the younger generation to regain hope in life and attain self-actualization.

The role of “face” in building a successful relationship

Understanding the concept and role of ‘face’ is of great importance in the process of establishing successful communication.  As for successful communication, it is a prerequisite for establishing successful relationship and achieving goals. The term ‘face’ in the sense of ‘reputation’, ‘good name’ was first used in English  language in 1876 as a translation of the Chinese term ΄diū liăn΄ in the phrase ‘preparations by which China lost face’ (Thomas, 1995:168).  Since then, the word ‘face’ has been widely used in concepts such as ‘loosing face’ and ‘saving face’. Speaking about ‘face’, Brown and Levinson  mention ‘Negative and Positive Face’. ‘Positive Face’ presents strategies of friendship and harmony and expresses a person’s wish to be positively assessed by other people. ‘Negative Face’ means a person’s wish not to be restricted by other people. However, both ‘positive face’ and ‘negative face’ may be in danger and consequently we have an act of damaging face (Brown, Levinson 1987:60). It is also worth noting that in his theory P. Brown and S. Levinson discuss politeness as ‘positive’ and ‘negative’. ‘Positive politeness’ strategies are directed to the ‘positive face’ of the listener and express solidarity, close friendship and informality, while ‘negative politeness’ strategies are directed to the ‘negative face’ of the listener and are expressed by restraint, formality and distance. Thus, understanding the concept of face and its role for successful communication and relationships is of great importance not only from a linguistic, but also from an extra-linguistic point of view.

Bibliometric and hot spot visualization analysis of pneumoconiosis and smoking

Objective: To analyze the distribution and keywords of Chinese and English literature on pneumoconiosis and smoking, and to explore its characteristics and evolutionary laws. Methods: In November 2020, using PubMed, Web of Science, SinoMed, and CNKI as search databases, literature search was performed using Chinese and English search terms related to pneumoconiosis and smoking. The document management software Note Express 3.5.0 and the bibliometric analysis software VOS viewer 1.6.10 were used to analyze the publication year, number of publications, countries, research institutions and keywords. Results: In the English literature, there were 938 articles about pneumoconiosis and smoking related research, and the literature was first published in 1962. Among them, the United States published the largest number of articles (450 articles), and China published 29 articles, ranking fourth. There were a total of 601 research articles on pneumoconiosis and smoking in Chinese literature. The literature was first published in 1976. The institution that published the most articles was China Medical University (23 articles), followed by Lanzhou University (15 articles). Keyword co-occurrence analysis showed that domestic and foreign literatures were the main research hotspots on occupational exposure, carcinogenicity, risk factors, lung function, and DNA damage of pneumoconiosis and smoking. Conclusion: The research on pneumoconiosis and smoking focuses on carcinogenicity, risk factors, lung function, DNA damage mechanism, etc., providing research hotspots for the prevention and clinical treatment of related diseases.

On English Translation Strategies of Conceptual Metaphors Based on the Chinese Traditional Culture-Loaded Terms——Take Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (Volume II) as an Example

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (Volume II) is a microcosm of the development of politics, economy and culture in China, in which the conceptual metaphor has aroused widespread concern in the translation community, and the translation of culture-loaded terms is an important bridge for other countries to understand the development of Chinese culture. Therefore, the accuracy of conceptual metaphor translation is particularly essential. This research mainly explores the metaphor translation of characteristic culture-loaded terms in Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (Volume II) from the perspective of conceptual metaphor, and summarizes the metaphor translation strategies of culture-loaded terms with Chinese characteristics, so as to promote Chinese culture to the world.

The Pattern and Translation of Chinese Address Terms in Contemporary Film Happiness Around the Corner

This paper discusses the translation and classification of Chinese address terms by selecting a representative film with a range of contexts. The data for this study were collected from a Chinese comedy film Happiness Around the Corner screened in 2018 with a length of 91.34 minutes. This film was chosen firstly because it was highly rated by the Chinese mainstream media People’s Daily Overseas Edition for its conveying of positive energy in a humorous manner. Furthermore, considering a range of contexts and interlocutors in this film, the data collected from this film would be sufficient to reach the expected goals of the study. This study employs a qualitative approach to explore a proper classification of Chinese contemporary address terms. The Chinese address terms found in the selected film were classified into seven types: namely nickname, professional title, kinship terms, fictive kinship terms, professional title with surname, offensive address terms and full name. The findings show that professional title, nickname and kinship terms appeared with higher frequency than offensive address terms and full name in this film, which could be explained from the perspective of sociolinguistics. Literal plus liberal translation strategies are recommended to translate address terms using homophonic puns, and equivalent words in target language are advised in most cases. These findings could not only throw light on the classification of address terms in Chinese, but also promote translation studies.

Phonological features of Caijia that are notable from a diachronic perspective

Abstract This study sets out several phonological features in Caijia that are notable from a diachronic point of view. The Caijia language is an endangered language spoken in northwestern Guìzhōu, China. It was first formally documented in the early 1980s and is generally viewed as a Sinitic language. Some aspects of Caijia phonology are noteworthy from the perspective of historical phonology. There exist features which cannot be accounted for in terms of Middle Chinese (MC), such as the retention of the contrast between Old Chinese (OC) T-type and L-type onsets in words with d- or dr- in Middle Chinese. Moreover, Caijia also demonstrates features which are observed or preserved in Middle Chinese, but absent in mainstream modern Sinitic varieties, including the retention of bilabial stops in words with initials Fēi/Fū/Fèng. This study will also explore the implications certain phonological features have for the classification of Caijia in the Sinitic clade and examine the relationship between Caijia and Bai.

Watching National Treasure, creating danmei tongren: stories of power and the power of stories

ABSTRACT Discussing danmei tongren (the Chinese term for slash fan creations) fandom of the mainland Chinese variety television programme National Treasure, this article examines how the meanings of Chinese television are perceived, contested, extended, and transformed by female fan audiences. By undertaking close reading of both danmei tongren fiction and music videos, we investigate how Chinese female fans creatively rework, extend, transgress, and subvert their favourite popular media texts to speak to their shared interests and fantasies, working-in stories of romance, sex, and intimacy between men and removing sexist, heteronormative, and nationalist discourses. Our examination shows that National Treasure danmei tongren fandom concerns both stories of power relationships across genders, sexualities, classes, ages, and these stories’ power over women. It offers a communal space for amateur and alternative female cultural production in which marginalised voices can speak back to mainstream media culture in China.

The son (érzi) is not really a son

Abstract This paper aims to explore the generalization of address terms in online discourse, a largely unheeded pragmatic phenomenon. Taking the generalized Chinese kinship term “son” (érzi) as an example, it analyzes its referents and functions. The analysis was based on a sizable data set collected from WeChat, and interviews with some WeChat users. It demonstrates that the address term “son” (érzi) conveys its faithful meaning when referring to the male child of (a) parent(s) but virtual meaning when referring to the addresser’s friends, classmates or pets. It is also argued that the generalized use of the address term “son” (érzi) can function to enhance relationships, make jocular abuse, and express emotions. These functions suggest the users’ identity avoidance and relating needs in a virtual community. This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the virtualization of address terms and rapport management in online discourse.