悬念

[Ian_Lee]

What does the term 悬念 mean? In Cantonese vocabulary, there is no such term as 悬念.

[seagate]

It is something in suspension that you are eager to figure out. For example, when you are reading a detective story, you may not want somebody to tell you in advance who the killer is, since the 悬念 will be lost.

[光暗黎明]

悬念=the feeling that you want to know something that remain mysterious

[Quest]

What does the term 悬念 mean? In Cantonese vocabulary, there is no such term as 悬念.

In your vocabulary?

[Ian_Lee]

Quest:

I mean at least in HK/Macau Cantonese vocabulary. Do you mean you guys in Guangzhou often use the term 悬念 in daily conversation?

[Quest]

You mean you've never heard of the term 悬念 used in spoken Cantonese?

Also conversational vocabulary is very different from written vocabulary or the available vocabulary of a language. This is especially true for Chinese dialects. But, even if some literary terms are not used often in speech, it does not mean these terms do not exist, and it's the same in every language.

Vocabulary in standard written Chinese is being shared among all dialects, 悬念 is very well documented in modern Chinese dictionaries, and is therefore a usable term for all Chinese dialects.

[Ian_Lee]

Well, I just did a Google search on 悬念 and unexpectedly the term came up with an astronomical 958,000 entries.

But after I browsed 15 pages, all those websites with this term are either based in Mainland China or Japan.

None of them are HK or Taiwan based websites.

So apparently this term is only common in Mainland China and Japan. It is kind of strange because usually there are more Japanese loan words in HK and Taiwan vocabularies.

But is 悬念 a Chinese loan word that is borrowed by Japan? Or vice versa?

I wonder.

[Ian_Lee]

悬念 is very well documented in modern Chinese dictionaries,

If you refer "modern" to post-1949 Mainland China, I have no argument since there have been a lot of new terms coined in that particular era and under that particular social system.

But if you mean post "May 4th movement" vernacular Chinese, it doesn't look like 悬念 belongs to one of the loan words borrowed from Japan at that time.

I just did a search on online dictionary and 悬念 doesn't come under the character 悬:

http://www.monashwushu.com/cgi-bin/wordlook.pl?word=%C4%61&searchtype=big5&where=start&output=big5

[geek_frappa]

I just did a search on online dictionary and 悬念 doesn't come under the character 悬:

http://www.monashwushu.com/cgi-bin/wordlook.pl?word=%C4%61&searchtype=big5&where=start&output=big5

try this ...

http://chinese.primezero.com/soleri/s.php?q=%E6%82%AC%E5%BF%B5

then you can link here to find more examples: http://www.google.com/search?q=xuan+nian&ie=UTF-8&hl=zh-CN&lr=lang_zh-CN

[HashiriKata]

But is 悬念 a Chinese loan word that is borrowed by Japan? Or vice versa?

It's unlikely to have been borrowed from Japan. 悬念 (懸念 in Japanese) has very different meanings and uses in Japanese (It means fear/ worry). Also, most words borrowed from Japanese tend to have to do with science, technology & western imports.

By the way, the normal Japanese word for "suspense" is SASUPENSU

[Ian_Lee]

Also, most words borrowed from Japanese tend to have to do with science, technology & western imports.

Not necessarily true.

The term that is always associated with suspense -- 推理 -- is a recent loan word that was borrowed from Japan in the '60s. The term was first adopted by Taiwan, then Hong Kong, and now it is widely used in Mainland China.

[HashiriKata]

Ian_Lee, sorry but I don't get what you're really trying to say.

You could perhaps check out the word 推理 in Japanese, the word " sasupensu / ｻｽﾍﾟﾝｽ " I suggested above, and also what is meant by "western imports". Only then, we can discuss further.

(If you know Japanese, my user name should give you some clue).

[Ian_Lee]

Hashiri:

Sorry I also don't understand what you are talking about.

推理 is suiri in Japanese which means "reasoning". A lot of 推理 novels were written about how to solve suspense and mystery.

Why is it related to "western import"? I am not talking about the suspense novels written by Agatha Christie or those about Sherlock Holmes. When the term was first brought into Taiwan/HK in the '60s, it was adopted from those 推理 novels by Japanese writers like 松本清張

[Ian_Lee]

It's unlikely to have been borrowed from Japan. 悬念 (懸念 in Japanese) has very different meanings and uses in Japanese (It means fear/ worry).

Just a reminder.

A lot of Chinese loan words have lost their original meanings in the Japanese vcabulary.

And same are the Japanese loan words in Chinese vocabulary (albeit to a less extent since the borrowing happened more recently).

[HashiriKata]

Ian_Lee, sorry but I don't get what you're really trying to say.

Hashiri:

Sorry I also don't understand what you are talking about.

Shall we just move on?