Chinese Language, Chinese Mind?

[WKC]

Someone posted a link to an article called "Chinese Language, Chinese Mind?" in another thread.  I thought the question of how the Chinese mind differs was interesting and deserves discussion.

 

 

I think there are fundamental differences as well as fundamental similarities between Chinese and other languages.  In Chinese 白 can mean 'pure' just as a white wedding dress symbolises 'purity'.  In Chinese 馬 means 'horse, military', just as there is a similar link between 'cheval' and 'chevalier'.

 

it is all quite interesting.

[WKC]

It has been claimed that Chinese characters are primarily semantic-phonetic compounds.  I think this is true in today's vernacular Chinese.  To me semantic-phonetic compounds train the mind to make substitutions to arrive at a meaning.  For example, in the character 河, you have to substitute a different form of semantic 氵 and phonetic 可.  In essence, it trains the mind to substitute meanings and sounds.

 

All quite fascinating to me.

[WKC]

In English, the word 'fin' asks the reader to solve a puzzle.  That puzzle is how to pronounce the word 'fin'.  In French, the word 'fin' also asks the reader to solve a puzzle.  That puzzle is also how to pronounce the word 'fin'.

 

What is fascinating is that both English and French use the Latin phonetic script, yet the word 'fin' is pronounced differently in English and French; furthermore the meaning of 'fin' is different in both English and French.

 

Therefore there is absolutely no need for the symbols 'fin' to represent the same sound or meaning.  I think this applies to Chinese as well where a character is pronounced differently in different dialects and they may also have different meanings.

 

Absolutely interesting.

[WKC]

In the language of mathematics, a/d = b/d allows the mathematician to deduce that a = b.

 

In Chinese, 丁 has a 古文 in the Kangxi Dictionary that allows Chinese scholars to solve 一 equals the  ‘the headless man’.

 

Bet you guys didn’t know that Chinese uses logic that is similar to mathematical logic.

[WKC]

Other languages ask readers to solve the puzzle of decoding phonetics.  Written Chinese asks readers to solve all kinds of different puzzles.  There is no other written language quite like it.

[WKC]

For anyone who thinks that the 'headless man' is the same as 人, they would be quite incorrect.  There are many, many symbols in 漢字 that have just minor differences that result in entirely different meanings.

[WKC]

Anyone who wants to find out the meaning of ⺇, has to look through 古文 until you find the mathematical like equation that allows you to derive its meaning.

 

Lots of fun to be had checking through the Kangxi Dictionary.

[WKC]

Just remember that two languages can use the same symbols to mean different things.  Just as 'fin' means different things in English and French.

[WKC]

Did I forget to mention that classical Chinese is a different language from vernacular Chinese?

[WKC]

Classical Chinese does not use semantic-phonetic compounds.  It uses associative compounds.  You cannot read it because the sub-components that form the associative compound have different meanings from vernacular Chinese.  You have to be able to substitute in classical Chinese meanings before the associative compound makes any sense.

 

Lots of puzzles need to be solved.

[WKC]

By the way, 一 has a different meaning in classical Chinese.  It means more than just 'one'.

 

You have to substitute in 羿.  You have to look at the classical character for 一 and understand what it says.

[陳德聰]

What is even happening right now?

[WKC]

I was discussing how the Chinese mind differs.  The Chinese mind differs because the written Chinese language asks the Chinese mind to solve different puzzles from languages that use a phonetic script.

[WKC]

乂 (control) 亠 (head) 文 (culture) from the traditional script meaning of 乂.  Don’t look at the simplified script meaning for 乂. 

 

Think about it.

[WKC]

漢字 trains the Chinese mind in logical deduction.  Those minds that can understand the logic of 漢字 arrive at an understanding of classical Chinese.

[WKC]

月(moon) 日(day) 明(understand).  You have to understand the moon’s day – the mid-autumn festival.  You have to understand the legend of 后羿 and what it signifies.

 

Keep thinking about what 漢字 tells you.  Open your eyes, solve the puzzles and arrive at the Chinese mind.

[WKC]

一 (one) who 弋(shoots with bow) is number 弌(one).

 

后羿 shoots with the bow, therefore 一 is 羿.

 

Learn to read and make substitutions.

[WKC]

叚(false) 亻(man) 假(vacation).  Hou Yi shoots with his bow to give the false man a vacation – a permanent vacation.

 

I find 漢字 absolutely fascinating.

[WKC]

I find learning the associate compounds in classical Chinese much more fun and logical that learning semantic-phonetic compounds in vernacular Chinese.

[WKC]

Of course, when you are learning to read about giving the false man a permanent vacation, the false man and his followers won't like it very much.