(in Progress) My purpose is to offer a few practical suggestions to those who must learn to deal with both simplified Chinese characters and traditional Chinese characters (as if having to learn one form weren't difficult enough). I am not going enter into the debate between proponents and opponents of such changes (see Wikipedia article on the debate for one view on some pros and cons; more Wikipedia references to other related areas below).
Background
Variant forms of characters have actually existed for nearly as long as the characters themselves, not only in calligraphic styles (also reflected in some modern fonts), but also among everyday users of the written Chinese language. I am concerned here with the simplified characters officially adopted in the PRC, Singapore, and Malaysia on the one hand and the forms of traditional characters used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and by many overseas Chinese, on the other hand. Those who deal with materials from both communities, read older or historical materials, or even just read articles in Wikipedia (many are not in simplified characters) must find some ways to learn the different forms and make the connections between the two. By the way, those moving between the study of Chinese and Japanese face a similar problem, because although modern Japanese has also undergone some simplification on a smaller scale, the characters simplified were not all ones simplified in the PRC, nor were they all simplified in the same way.
According to the Wikipedia artilce on simplified characters, simplified characters as used in the PRC today follow a 1986 restatement with very minor changes of so-called first-round changes made in 1956 and 1964. Second-round changes promulgated during the Cultural Revolution were officially abandoned in the 1986 announcement. There are about 350 characters changed in ways with no implications for other characters and 132 characters and 14 simplified radicals (components of characters) with changes that can be generalized to even more than the 1750+ illustrative characters listed in the 1986 government announcement.
Nature of the Changes
A number of methods of simplification were used, including merger of some more complicated characters with simpler ones, substitution of a new phonetic component for the old, replacement of more complicated elements with simpler forms, elimination of whole components of more complex characters, replacement of some characters with characters newly created from existing or simplified components, and the systematic and consistent replacement of some commonly recurring components or radicals.
Some Examples of correspondence of Simplified and Traditional Characters
1. Examples of methods of simplification in English Wikipedia article on simplified characters.
2. Even more examples of methods of simplification in the (traditional character) Chinese Wikipedia article on simplified characters.
3. For a list of what characters were merged with what others see the Wikipedia article on Simplified characters associatied with more than one traditional character.
4. Some examples of simplified radicals (coming soon).
5. Examples of common characters having different forms (produced by interpolating Jun Da's simplified character frequency list with a downloaded CEDICT file) (coming soon).
Helpful Print Media & Reference Materials
Unfortunately, few Chinese-English printed reference materials show both forms of characters. Some dictionaries that do, only show both forms for the main entry of a character only, but not for character combinations or examples.
The Oxford Concise C-E/E-C Dictionary is a notable exception, showing the traditional form ( in brackets) for most simplified characters that do not just have a simplified radical or are not otherwise easily recognizable. The 3rd edition is issued jointly with the Commercial Press (商务印书馆). Commercial Press also puts out The Pocket English-Chinese (Pinyin) Dictionary, which, though I wish were a little bigger in scope, offers similar support.
Some textbooks appear in separate editions with simplified or traditional characters (just one or the other), but this just caters to two separate markets, not helping one to learn both. Others, such as The New Chinese Practial Reader Series list the main dialogs or readings (but not all exercises) in traditional characters in an appendix. This is a step in a helpful direction, but having the texts nearer each other could be more helpful to those trying to make a connection between the two.
fortunately. there are some other printed resources, such as Claudia Ross' Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide, which is filled with examples in both forms right next to each other.
Online Resources offer more in the way of help.
Online dictionaries: MDBG (based on CEDICT) displays both traditional and simplified for both word and character lookups. In Yellow Bridge (at least in the free version) search results are displayed only in one or the other at your choice, although once you select a single word or character, you will see both forms for the main entry, but not, for example, in the list of words starting or ending with the same characters as the word or character selected.
Annotators: Yellow Bridge's annotator (explanation) which allows you see pop-up translations and pronunciation shows both versions of the expression highlighed, regardless of which form you start with. MDBG's annotator is now available directly from the word dictionary page by clicking on the Look up all Chinese Words in a Text option. Among the options available, pop-up does not display both forms, but both the word-by-word translation option and the vocabulary list option do display both, again regardless of which form you start with. There are also downloadable versions of MDBG's and Yellow Bridge's Readers (for cost).
Popup Chinese does annotations of some news articles and other things, and both forms show (either in the annotation itself or the other form if there is one shows in the annotation). Mandarin Tool's downloadable Dim Sum annotator (and dictionary) [look for the Chinese software section in the left panel), annotations can be done of either form, but the alternative form is not displayed. On the other hand, any text copied into Dim Sum can be converted from one form to the other (though such conversions for any automatic device are much more likely to be accurate going into simplified rather than the other way around due to a number of mergers of two or more traditional characters into one simplified character [see my examples list]). Chinese-Tools also has an annotator. Several other commercial Chinese annotators/word processors are also available (Clavis Sinica, NJ Star, Twinbridge, Wenlin) and some have been commonly used in connection with some college Chinese programs, though I have not used any of them. You can also Google a phrase such as Chinese annotation tool.
For Character and Vocabulary Practice in both forms
Yellow Bridge's Language Center gateway allows access to memory game and flashcard practice for vocabulary from a large number of texts as well as to HSK vocabulary and Chinese characters by frequency, in either (but not both simultaneously in the free version). Still, this is a fabulous resource for practice in both.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Some Political Concepts--政治的概念
Here is a link to a list of some vocabulary relating to Political Concepts that further expands the political vocabulary area I opened with my previous post around the time of the US presidential election. I anticipate adding more terminology in this area, particularly relating more specifically to China. I added a few more terms on 3/1/09.
Vocabulary about the Environment--环境
Here is a link to a recent vocabulary list I put together with a number of terms relating to the environment and environmental protection. As I mentioned in the previous post, I am starting to put some newer vocabulary lists for Chinese into spreadsheet format at my Lingopath website. The greater width makes it easier to include traditional characters in addition to simplified, and I can also line up data types in columns in a way that may make access to data easier for learners. My intention is to offer open access on a basis like that of CEDICT.
Like all heavily industrialized countries, China also has to find ways to deal effectively with increasing pollution (污染 wu1 ran3) and the related problem of global warming (全球变暖 quan2 qiu2 bian4 nuan3). A certain amount of media attention has been focused on China's reaching a rate of current air pollution that surpasses that of the US. While any and all such problems require the most serious efforts towards viable solutions on the part of all parties, there is also something rather disingenuous in finger pointing at China by people in the developed countries of the West, and particularly by people in the US.
The West and the US have been the world's largest polluters at least since the beginning of the industrial age, so our cumulative "contribution" (that sounds too positive, doesn't it) must be utterly monumental compared to the newcomers on the block. The economic resources and research capabilities of the West have also been huge by comparison. How come we're not further along in the process to finding solutions. We pat ourselves on the back for certain standards that were set only at a point when our standard of living was well above that of today's China and other developing nations. Nevertheless, since the population of China is several times that of the US, the per person contribution of the US to pollution and global warming must still be several times that of China. And this is despite the fact that we in the West have "exported" much of our pollution to developing nations by means of the global economy. We reap the benefits of the products produced elsewhere, but we get to blame them for producing the pollution related to those products, while not having to breathe it etc. ourselves (locally, at least).
A much, much larger share of our contribution to pollution in the West relates to individual consumption and standard of living, things that are even more difficult to control politically and otherwise than the industrial area. Are we capable of addressing these issues in a country where recent government officials were in denial about the reality of global warming and the causal role played by people and pollution? All the world hopes for a higher standard of living, but the small fraction of the world's population that have achieved higher standards of living have already been the major force in driving the world to the brink of ecodisaster. All of us in the world need to be working very hard together to help each other arrive at solutions to these problems without just pointing fingers, as if that absolves us of our own collective and individual responsibility.
Like all heavily industrialized countries, China also has to find ways to deal effectively with increasing pollution (污染 wu1 ran3) and the related problem of global warming (全球变暖 quan2 qiu2 bian4 nuan3). A certain amount of media attention has been focused on China's reaching a rate of current air pollution that surpasses that of the US. While any and all such problems require the most serious efforts towards viable solutions on the part of all parties, there is also something rather disingenuous in finger pointing at China by people in the developed countries of the West, and particularly by people in the US.
The West and the US have been the world's largest polluters at least since the beginning of the industrial age, so our cumulative "contribution" (that sounds too positive, doesn't it) must be utterly monumental compared to the newcomers on the block. The economic resources and research capabilities of the West have also been huge by comparison. How come we're not further along in the process to finding solutions. We pat ourselves on the back for certain standards that were set only at a point when our standard of living was well above that of today's China and other developing nations. Nevertheless, since the population of China is several times that of the US, the per person contribution of the US to pollution and global warming must still be several times that of China. And this is despite the fact that we in the West have "exported" much of our pollution to developing nations by means of the global economy. We reap the benefits of the products produced elsewhere, but we get to blame them for producing the pollution related to those products, while not having to breathe it etc. ourselves (locally, at least).
A much, much larger share of our contribution to pollution in the West relates to individual consumption and standard of living, things that are even more difficult to control politically and otherwise than the industrial area. Are we capable of addressing these issues in a country where recent government officials were in denial about the reality of global warming and the causal role played by people and pollution? All the world hopes for a higher standard of living, but the small fraction of the world's population that have achieved higher standards of living have already been the major force in driving the world to the brink of ecodisaster. All of us in the world need to be working very hard together to help each other arrive at solutions to these problems without just pointing fingers, as if that absolves us of our own collective and individual responsibility.
Lingopath site & Chinese Language & Culture Page
I have recently set up a Lingopath website which will feature a number of pages of content and links. There is a Chinese Language & Culture Page, that will contain links to my most recent Chinese Study Links page (now hosted at the site), an index of my Chinese blog topics, and various other things. I am experimenting with posting new vocabulary lists for Chinese there in spreadsheet column format, with links and commentary here, for example.
Although I am particularly interested in producing new pages for Chinese at whatever pace I can manage, the site also has or will have various other Language & Culture Link pages, multilingual/international news and information links, and some additional types of content.
Although I am particularly interested in producing new pages for Chinese at whatever pace I can manage, the site also has or will have various other Language & Culture Link pages, multilingual/international news and information links, and some additional types of content.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Politics and the US Election
Here is some vocabulary relating to the US election and some words about Politics in general. Some vocabulary for Chinese politics will have to be in another entry or perhaps several.
Obama 奥巴马 Ao4 ba1 ma3
Biden 拜登 Bai4deng1
McCain 麦凯恩 Mai4 kai3 en1
Bush 布什 Bu4shi2
Clinton 克林顿 Ke4 lin2 dun4
Hillary 希拉里 Xi1 la1 li3
Rice (Condoleeza) 赖斯 Lai4si1
Powell (Colin) 鲍威尔 Bao4 wei1 er3
Gore 戈尔 Ge1er3
Reagan 里根 Li3gen1
Johnson 约翰逊 Yue1 han4 xun4
Kennedy 肯尼迪 Ken3 ni2 di2
President 总统 zong3tong3
White House 白宫 Bai2gong1
Vice-President 副总统 fu4 zong3tong3
Senate 参议院 can1yi4 yuan4
Senator 参议员 can1yi4 yuan2
House of Representatives (USA) 众议院 zhong4 yi4 yuan4
Member of the House of Rep's 众议员 zhong4 yi4 yuan2
Cabinet (govt) 内阁 nei4ge2
Dept. of State 美国国务院 Mei3guo2 Guo2wu4 yuan4
Secretary of State 国务卿 guo2wu4 qing1
Government 政府 zheng4fu3
Democracy 民主主义 min2zhu3 zhu3yi4
Republic 共和国 gong4he2guo2
Policy 政策 zheng4ce4
Foreign Policy 对外政策 dui4wai4 zheng4ce4
Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs 外交 wai4jiao1
International relations 国际关系 guo2ji4 guan1xi4
Civil Rights 公民权利 gong1min2 quan2li4
Election 选举 xuan3ju3
Right to vote 投票权 tou2piao4 quan2
Vote 投票 tou2piao4
Voting machine 投票机器 tou2piao4 ji1qi4
Political party 政党 zheng4dang3
Democratic party 民主党 min2zhu3 dang3
Republican party 共和党 gong4he2 dang3
Economy 经济 jing1ji4
Financial Crisis 金融危機 jin1rong2 wei1ji1
Environment 环境 huan2jing4
Global Warming 全球变暖 quan2qiu2 bian4nuan3
Iraq War 伊拉克战争 Yi1la1ke4 zhan4zheng1
Soldiers 军人 jun1ren2
Withdraw troops 撤军 che4jun1
Withdraw troops 撤兵 che4bing1
War on Terrorism 反恐战争 fan3kong3 zhan4zheng1
Terrorism 恐怖主义 kong3bu4 zhu3yi4
Terrorist 恐怖主义者 kong3bu4 zhu3yi4 zhe3
Terrorist 恐怖分子 kong3bu4 fen4zi5
Terrorist organization 恐怖组织 kong3bu4 zu3zhi1
Terrorist organization 恐怖机构 kong3bu4 ji1gou4
Al Qaeda 基地组织 ji1di4 zu3zhi1
Ben Laden 本拉登 Ben3 La1deng1
Sadam Hussein 萨达姆侯赛因 sa4da2mu3 hou4sai4yin1
Weapons of Mass Destruction 大规模杀伤性武器 da4gui1mo2 sha1shang1xing4 wu3qi4
Disarmament 裁军 cai2jun1
Obama 奥巴马 Ao4 ba1 ma3
Biden 拜登 Bai4deng1
McCain 麦凯恩 Mai4 kai3 en1
Bush 布什 Bu4shi2
Clinton 克林顿 Ke4 lin2 dun4
Hillary 希拉里 Xi1 la1 li3
Rice (Condoleeza) 赖斯 Lai4si1
Powell (Colin) 鲍威尔 Bao4 wei1 er3
Gore 戈尔 Ge1er3
Reagan 里根 Li3gen1
Johnson 约翰逊 Yue1 han4 xun4
Kennedy 肯尼迪 Ken3 ni2 di2
President 总统 zong3tong3
White House 白宫 Bai2gong1
Vice-President 副总统 fu4 zong3tong3
Senate 参议院 can1yi4 yuan4
Senator 参议员 can1yi4 yuan2
House of Representatives (USA) 众议院 zhong4 yi4 yuan4
Member of the House of Rep's 众议员 zhong4 yi4 yuan2
Cabinet (govt) 内阁 nei4ge2
Dept. of State 美国国务院 Mei3guo2 Guo2wu4 yuan4
Secretary of State 国务卿 guo2wu4 qing1
Government 政府 zheng4fu3
Democracy 民主主义 min2zhu3 zhu3yi4
Republic 共和国 gong4he2guo2
Policy 政策 zheng4ce4
Foreign Policy 对外政策 dui4wai4 zheng4ce4
Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs 外交 wai4jiao1
International relations 国际关系 guo2ji4 guan1xi4
Civil Rights 公民权利 gong1min2 quan2li4
Election 选举 xuan3ju3
Right to vote 投票权 tou2piao4 quan2
Vote 投票 tou2piao4
Voting machine 投票机器 tou2piao4 ji1qi4
Political party 政党 zheng4dang3
Democratic party 民主党 min2zhu3 dang3
Republican party 共和党 gong4he2 dang3
Economy 经济 jing1ji4
Financial Crisis 金融危機 jin1rong2 wei1ji1
Environment 环境 huan2jing4
Global Warming 全球变暖 quan2qiu2 bian4nuan3
Iraq War 伊拉克战争 Yi1la1ke4 zhan4zheng1
Soldiers 军人 jun1ren2
Withdraw troops 撤军 che4jun1
Withdraw troops 撤兵 che4bing1
War on Terrorism 反恐战争 fan3kong3 zhan4zheng1
Terrorism 恐怖主义 kong3bu4 zhu3yi4
Terrorist 恐怖主义者 kong3bu4 zhu3yi4 zhe3
Terrorist 恐怖分子 kong3bu4 fen4zi5
Terrorist organization 恐怖组织 kong3bu4 zu3zhi1
Terrorist organization 恐怖机构 kong3bu4 ji1gou4
Al Qaeda 基地组织 ji1di4 zu3zhi1
Ben Laden 本拉登 Ben3 La1deng1
Sadam Hussein 萨达姆侯赛因 sa4da2mu3 hou4sai4yin1
Weapons of Mass Destruction 大规模杀伤性武器 da4gui1mo2 sha1shang1xing4 wu3qi4
Disarmament 裁军 cai2jun1
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
World Financial Crisis--世界金融危机
The US financial crisis has had repercussions all over the globe and is well reported in the Chinese press. Here are some vocabulary items:
Economy 经济 jing1ji4
World/Global economy 世界经济 shi4jie4 jing1ji4
International trade 国际贸易 guo2ji4 mao4yi4
Economics 经济学 jing1ji4xue2
Economist 经济学家 jing1ji4 xue2jia1
Economic crisis 经济危机 jing1ji4 wei1ji1
Financial crisis 金融危机 jin1rong2 wei1ji1
Financial crisis/storm 金融风暴 jin1rong2 feng1bao4
Monetary crisis 货币危机 huo4bi4 wei1ji1
The Great Depression 大萧条 da4xiao1tiao2
Recession/slump 不景气 bu4jing3qi4
Finance 金融 jin1rong2
Financial rescue (bailout) plan 金融救援计划 jin1rong2 jiu4yuan2 ji4hua4
Government Financial rescue (bailout) proposal/bill
政府金融救援方案 zheng4fu3 jin1rong2 jiu4yuan2 fang1an4
Bank 银行 yin2hang2
Home loan bank 房贷银行 fang2dai4 yin2hang2
Federal Reserve Bank 美国联邦储备 Mei3guo2 lian2bang1 chu3bei4
Federal Reserve Bank 美联储 Mei3lian2chu3
Investment bank/ing 投资银行 tou2zi1 yin2hang2
Financial institution 金融机构 jin1rong2 ji1gou4
Insurance company 保险公司 bao3xian3 gong1si1
Insurance policy 保险单 bao3xian3dan1
Wall Street 华尔街 Hua2er3jie1
Stock market 股票市场 gu3piao4 shi4chang3
Stock market 股市 gu3shi4
Stock/securities market 证券交易所 Zheng4quan4 Jiao1yi4suo3
Stock broker 证券经纪人 zheng4quan4 jing1ji4ren2
Stocks/shares 股票 gu3piao4
Stock price 股价 gu3jia4
Securities 证券 Zheng4quan4
Bonds 债券 zhai4quan4
Government bond 公债 gong1zhai4
Treasury bond 国库券 guo2ku4quan4
Investment 投资 tou2zi1
Foreign investment 外资 wai4zi1
Pension 退休金 tui4xiu1jin1
Social security 社会服务 she4hui4 fu2wu4
Credit 信用 xin4yong4
Credit Card 信用卡 xin4yong4ka3
Mortgage loan 抵押贷款 di3ya1 dai4kuan3
Loan 借款 jie4kuan3
US dollars 美元 mei3yuan2
US Government 美国政府 mei3guo2 zheng4fu3
US Congress 美国国会 Mei3guo2 guo2hui4
US Senate 美国参议院 Mei3guo2 can1yi4yuan4
US House of Representatives 美国众议院 Mei3guo2 Zhong4yi4yuan4
Capital 资本 zi1ben3
Foreign capital 外国资本 wai4guo2 zi1ben3
Capitalism 资本主义 zi1ben3 zhu3yi4
Capitalist 资本家 zi1ben3jia1
Unemployment 失业 shi1ye4
Unemployment rate 失业率 shi1ye4lü4
Unemployed person 失业者 shi1ye4zhe3
Risk losing one's job 冒失去工作的危险 mao4 shi1qu4 gong1zuo4 de5 wei1xian3
Look for a job 就业 jiu4ye4
Look for a job 求职 qiu2zhi2
Job applicant求职者 qiu2zhi2zhe3
Employment agency 职业 介绍所 zhi2ye4 jie4shao4suo3
Employment agency 荐头店 jian4tou5dian4
Employment (being employed) 雇用 gu4yong4
Full employment 充分就业 chong1fen4 jiu4ye4
Employ 雇用 gu4yong4
Employer 雇主 gu4zhu3
Employee 雇员 gu4yuan2
Full-time job 全职 quan2zhi2
Self-employed 自由职业 zi4you2 zhi2ye4
Job, occupation, profession, employment 职业 zhi2ye4
Job title 职称 zhi2cheng1
Job duties 职务 zhi2wu4
Occupational safety 职业安全 zhi2ye4 an1quan2
Occupational disease 职业病 zhi2ye4bing4
Relations between labor & employer 劳雇关系 lao2gu4 guan1xi4
Labor union 工会 gong1hui4
International Labor Organization ILO 国际劳工组织 guo2ji4 lao2gong1 zu3zhi1
Labor force, manpower 劳动力 lao2dong4li4
Labor contract 劳动合同 lao2dong4 he2tong5
Economy 经济 jing1ji4
World/Global economy 世界经济 shi4jie4 jing1ji4
International trade 国际贸易 guo2ji4 mao4yi4
Economics 经济学 jing1ji4xue2
Economist 经济学家 jing1ji4 xue2jia1
Economic crisis 经济危机 jing1ji4 wei1ji1
Financial crisis 金融危机 jin1rong2 wei1ji1
Financial crisis/storm 金融风暴 jin1rong2 feng1bao4
Monetary crisis 货币危机 huo4bi4 wei1ji1
The Great Depression 大萧条 da4xiao1tiao2
Recession/slump 不景气 bu4jing3qi4
Finance 金融 jin1rong2
Financial rescue (bailout) plan 金融救援计划 jin1rong2 jiu4yuan2 ji4hua4
Government Financial rescue (bailout) proposal/bill
政府金融救援方案 zheng4fu3 jin1rong2 jiu4yuan2 fang1an4
Bank 银行 yin2hang2
Home loan bank 房贷银行 fang2dai4 yin2hang2
Federal Reserve Bank 美国联邦储备 Mei3guo2 lian2bang1 chu3bei4
Federal Reserve Bank 美联储 Mei3lian2chu3
Investment bank/ing 投资银行 tou2zi1 yin2hang2
Financial institution 金融机构 jin1rong2 ji1gou4
Insurance company 保险公司 bao3xian3 gong1si1
Insurance policy 保险单 bao3xian3dan1
Wall Street 华尔街 Hua2er3jie1
Stock market 股票市场 gu3piao4 shi4chang3
Stock market 股市 gu3shi4
Stock/securities market 证券交易所 Zheng4quan4 Jiao1yi4suo3
Stock broker 证券经纪人 zheng4quan4 jing1ji4ren2
Stocks/shares 股票 gu3piao4
Stock price 股价 gu3jia4
Securities 证券 Zheng4quan4
Bonds 债券 zhai4quan4
Government bond 公债 gong1zhai4
Treasury bond 国库券 guo2ku4quan4
Investment 投资 tou2zi1
Foreign investment 外资 wai4zi1
Pension 退休金 tui4xiu1jin1
Social security 社会服务 she4hui4 fu2wu4
Credit 信用 xin4yong4
Credit Card 信用卡 xin4yong4ka3
Mortgage loan 抵押贷款 di3ya1 dai4kuan3
Loan 借款 jie4kuan3
US dollars 美元 mei3yuan2
US Government 美国政府 mei3guo2 zheng4fu3
US Congress 美国国会 Mei3guo2 guo2hui4
US Senate 美国参议院 Mei3guo2 can1yi4yuan4
US House of Representatives 美国众议院 Mei3guo2 Zhong4yi4yuan4
Capital 资本 zi1ben3
Foreign capital 外国资本 wai4guo2 zi1ben3
Capitalism 资本主义 zi1ben3 zhu3yi4
Capitalist 资本家 zi1ben3jia1
Unemployment 失业 shi1ye4
Unemployment rate 失业率 shi1ye4lü4
Unemployed person 失业者 shi1ye4zhe3
Risk losing one's job 冒失去工作的危险 mao4 shi1qu4 gong1zuo4 de5 wei1xian3
Look for a job 就业 jiu4ye4
Look for a job 求职 qiu2zhi2
Job applicant求职者 qiu2zhi2zhe3
Employment agency 职业 介绍所 zhi2ye4 jie4shao4suo3
Employment agency 荐头店 jian4tou5dian4
Employment (being employed) 雇用 gu4yong4
Full employment 充分就业 chong1fen4 jiu4ye4
Employ 雇用 gu4yong4
Employer 雇主 gu4zhu3
Employee 雇员 gu4yuan2
Full-time job 全职 quan2zhi2
Self-employed 自由职业 zi4you2 zhi2ye4
Job, occupation, profession, employment 职业 zhi2ye4
Job title 职称 zhi2cheng1
Job duties 职务 zhi2wu4
Occupational safety 职业安全 zhi2ye4 an1quan2
Occupational disease 职业病 zhi2ye4bing4
Relations between labor & employer 劳雇关系 lao2gu4 guan1xi4
Labor union 工会 gong1hui4
International Labor Organization ILO 国际劳工组织 guo2ji4 lao2gong1 zu3zhi1
Labor force, manpower 劳动力 lao2dong4li4
Labor contract 劳动合同 lao2dong4 he2tong5
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
China in Space
Rev. 6/14/10--During the last few days, all China was watching China's third manned space mission as three Chinese astronauts (taikonauts) circled the globe for a few days, and one of them undertook the first ever space walk for China. Millions of eyes were glued to coverage on CCTV, China's national TV network. They returned safely to earth over the weekend, but there continues to be coverage of the space flight, post mission congratulations, and even footage with commentary on various other factual and fictional space missions (even Clint Eastwood and aging companions in "Space Cowboys," also known as "The Ripe Stuff"). Clearly, space fever has gotten hold of the national consciousness.
I have an extra interest in space missions myself, not only from an enduring childhood interest in this kind of thing, but also because Ron Garan, Jr., one of the two US astronauts doing extended walks in space this spring is the nephew of my wife's childhood best friend.
Here are some relevant links:
CCTV-Home in Chinese, CCTV-home in English.
CCTV-HD viewer with buttons for different channels, including in English, French, and Spanish
(The site will ask you to install something for the viewer--I think quality is excellent for PC viewing, though I don't actually have an HD screen).
Chinese National Space Agency-CNSAEng
Xinhua Chinese News Agency-Xinhua in Eng
Here is some relevant vocabulary for space exploration in general. (The PRC and Taiwan don't use the same words for everything, and some words used to describe foreign space missions may be different from those used for their own missions. The words below may fit into all of these categories.):
Space 太空 tai4 kong1 (this is the word that the taikonaut word for astronaut comes from)
Universe, space 宇宙 yu3 zhou4
Orbit 轨道 gui3 dao4
Space flight 航天 hang2tian1
Spaceship 宇宙飞船 yu3zhou4 fei1chuan2
Space Shuttle 航天飞机 hang2tian1 fei1ji1
International space station 国际空间站 guo2ji4 kong1jian1 zhan4
Hubble Space Telescope 哈伯太空望远镜 ha1bo2 tai4kong1 wang4yuan3jing4
Satellite 卫星 wei4xing1
Space Probe 空间探测 kong1jian1 tan4ce4
Space exploration 太空探索tai4kong1 tan4 suo3
Space program 太空计划 tai4kong1 ji4hua4
Space Race 太空竞赛 tai4kong1 jing4sai4
The Chinese spacecraft that just went up
Shenzhou 7 神舟七号 shen2zhou1 qi1hao4
Shenzhou 7 神七 shen2qi1
Astronaut 航天员 hang2tian1yuan2
Astronaut 航天乘员 hang2tian1 cheng2yuan2
The three astronauts (taikonauts) who just went up
Zhai Zhigang 翟志刚 Zhai2 Zhi4gang1
Liu Boming 刘伯明 Liu2 Bo2ming2
Jing Haipeng 景海鹏 Jing3 Hai3peng2
Launch/Lift off 发射 fa1she4
Landing/touch down 着陆 zhuo2lu4
Space walk 太空漫步 tai4kong1 man4bu4 (sounds like space mambo)
EVA-extra-vehicular activity 舱外活动 cang1wai4 huo2dong4
Chinese National Space Administration 国家航天局 guo2jia1 hang2tian1ju2
(US) NASA 美国宇航局 mei3guo2 yu3hang2ju2
European Space Agency 欧洲航天局 Ou1zhou1 hang2tian1ju2
Astronomy 天文学 tian1 wen2 xue2
Galaxy 银河系 yin2he2xi4
Milky Way Galaxy 银河 yin2he2
Solar system 太阳系 tai4yang2xi4
Sun 太阳 tai4yang2
Planet 惑星 huo4 xing1
Earth 地球 di4qiu2
Moon 月亮 yue4 liang5
Mercury 水星 shui3xing1
Venus 金星 jin1xing1
Mars 火星 huo3xing1
Jupiter 木星 mu4xing1
Saturn 土星 tu3xing1
Uranus 天王星 tian1wang2xing1
Neptune 海王星 hai3 wang2 xing1
Pluto 冥王星 ming2wang2xing1
Asteroid belt 小行星带 xiao3xing2xing1 dai4
Gravity 重力 zhong4li4
Weightlessness 失重 shi1 zhong4
Black hole 黑洞 hei1dong4
Cosmic ray 宇宙射线 yu3zhou4 she4xian4
UFO 幽浮 you1fu2
Extra-terrestrial/alien 外星人 wai4xing1ren2
(in progress)
I have an extra interest in space missions myself, not only from an enduring childhood interest in this kind of thing, but also because Ron Garan, Jr., one of the two US astronauts doing extended walks in space this spring is the nephew of my wife's childhood best friend.
Here are some relevant links:
CCTV-Home in Chinese, CCTV-home in English.
CCTV-HD viewer with buttons for different channels, including in English, French, and Spanish
(The site will ask you to install something for the viewer--I think quality is excellent for PC viewing, though I don't actually have an HD screen).
Chinese National Space Agency-CNSAEng
Xinhua Chinese News Agency-Xinhua in Eng
Here is some relevant vocabulary for space exploration in general. (The PRC and Taiwan don't use the same words for everything, and some words used to describe foreign space missions may be different from those used for their own missions. The words below may fit into all of these categories.):
Space 太空 tai4 kong1 (this is the word that the taikonaut word for astronaut comes from)
Universe, space 宇宙 yu3 zhou4
Orbit 轨道 gui3 dao4
Space flight 航天 hang2tian1
Spaceship 宇宙飞船 yu3zhou4 fei1chuan2
Space Shuttle 航天飞机 hang2tian1 fei1ji1
International space station 国际空间站 guo2ji4 kong1jian1 zhan4
Hubble Space Telescope 哈伯太空望远镜 ha1bo2 tai4kong1 wang4yuan3jing4
Satellite 卫星 wei4xing1
Space Probe 空间探测 kong1jian1 tan4ce4
Space exploration 太空探索tai4kong1 tan4 suo3
Space program 太空计划 tai4kong1 ji4hua4
Space Race 太空竞赛 tai4kong1 jing4sai4
The Chinese spacecraft that just went up
Shenzhou 7 神舟七号 shen2zhou1 qi1hao4
Shenzhou 7 神七 shen2qi1
Astronaut 航天员 hang2tian1yuan2
Astronaut 航天乘员 hang2tian1 cheng2yuan2
The three astronauts (taikonauts) who just went up
Zhai Zhigang 翟志刚 Zhai2 Zhi4gang1
Liu Boming 刘伯明 Liu2 Bo2ming2
Jing Haipeng 景海鹏 Jing3 Hai3peng2
Launch/Lift off 发射 fa1she4
Landing/touch down 着陆 zhuo2lu4
Space walk 太空漫步 tai4kong1 man4bu4 (sounds like space mambo)
EVA-extra-vehicular activity 舱外活动 cang1wai4 huo2dong4
Chinese National Space Administration 国家航天局 guo2jia1 hang2tian1ju2
(US) NASA 美国宇航局 mei3guo2 yu3hang2ju2
European Space Agency 欧洲航天局 Ou1zhou1 hang2tian1ju2
Astronomy 天文学 tian1 wen2 xue2
Galaxy 银河系 yin2he2xi4
Milky Way Galaxy 银河 yin2he2
Solar system 太阳系 tai4yang2xi4
Sun 太阳 tai4yang2
Planet 惑星 huo4 xing1
Earth 地球 di4qiu2
Moon 月亮 yue4 liang5
Mercury 水星 shui3xing1
Venus 金星 jin1xing1
Mars 火星 huo3xing1
Jupiter 木星 mu4xing1
Saturn 土星 tu3xing1
Uranus 天王星 tian1wang2xing1
Neptune 海王星 hai3 wang2 xing1
Pluto 冥王星 ming2wang2xing1
Asteroid belt 小行星带 xiao3xing2xing1 dai4
Gravity 重力 zhong4li4
Weightlessness 失重 shi1 zhong4
Black hole 黑洞 hei1dong4
Cosmic ray 宇宙射线 yu3zhou4 she4xian4
UFO 幽浮 you1fu2
Extra-terrestrial/alien 外星人 wai4xing1ren2
(in progress)
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