Ch6.Thinking in Chinese

A Journey into the Chinese MindAdapted from Jeffrey G. Brown

【本著作除另有註明外，採取創用 CC「姓名標示－非商業性－相同方式分享」台灣 3.0版授權釋出】The “Work” under the Creative Commons Taiwan 3.0 License of “BY-NC-SA”.

授課老師：蘇以文I-wen Su

The Chinese character and the Chinese language are key to understanding the Chinese culture

The unique organization of the Chinese language forms the psychological basis for thinking in Chinese

The organization of the Chinese characters is what guides the organization of the other entities as well◦ Cooking, medicine, history and society

Chinese language and writing system

Adolf Trendelenburg ◦ If Aristotle had spoken Chinese, the categories of

Aristotelian logic would have been entirely different

Alfred Bloom◦ Chinese lacking counterfactuals makes it

impossible to express certain thoughts

Trendelenburg, Adolf. Geschichte der Kategorienlehre. Berlin: Bethge, 1846.

Bloom, Alfred. The Linguistic Shaping of Thought: A Study in the Impact of Language on Thinking in China and the West. Hillsdale, NJ : L. Erlbaum, 1981.

Bloom observed that Chinese lacks syntactic, semantic or intonational cue that distinctly signals a shift to the counterfactual mode.

(1) “If I had gone to the movies that evening, I could not have had dinner with my mom.”

(2) Ruguo wo na tian wanshang

If I that day evening qu kan- le dianying, wo jiu bu neng go watch movie, I then not ablegen wo ma qu chi wanfan with my mom go eat dinner

If that night I go watch (past particle) a movie, I then cannot accompany my mom to go eat dinner.

Counterfactual example

Bloom, Alfred. (1984). Caution—The words you use may affect what you say: A response to Terry Kit-fong Au’s “Chinese and English counterfactuals: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis revisited”

Au (1984) argued more specifically that Bloom had misused two crucial Chinese adverbs of contingency that occur in counterfactuals—jiu (“then”) and cai (“then and only then”)—such that the counterfactual intention of Bloom’s assertions was not properly signaled.

JIU 就 and CAI 才

Au, T. K. (1984). Counterfactuals: In reply to Alfred Bloom.

Although overall comprehension accuracy of the Chinese speakers was equal to that of English speakers, they showed a specific difficulty with counterfactuals concerning non-transparent topic areas -- with counterfactual statements not readily identifiable by drawing from world knowledge.

For these counterfactuals, English-speaking subjects could take advantage of the presence of a clear syntactic marker.

However, Chinese-speaking participants had to match the sentence with contextual information to discover that it was counterfactual.

Reasoning Counterfactually in Chinese (Yeh & Gentner 2005)

Yeh, D. & Gentner, D. (2005). Reasoning Counterfactually in Chinese: Picking up the Pieces.

Chinese indicative characters represent the meaning directly. They are simple ideographs

上 下 凸 凹 末 本 Shang4 Xia4 Tu1 Ao1 Mo4 Ben3

Chinese characters represent the meaning directly?

Up Down Protrusion Indention End Root

NTU 王維新

The pictographic writing makes Chinese thinking more ‘concrete’ 日 , 月 , 雨 , 龍

The Chinese writing makes Chinese thinking more ‘concrete’?

(Sun)

(Moon)

(Rain )

(Dragon)

(Elephant)

日Oracle Bone Script Bronze Script Seal Script Regular Script(Traditional)

月雨龍

象

Chinese characters, with their breadth of meaning and overall ambiguity, make Chinese naturally suited for writing poetry.

Ex: The art of Chinese poetry by James J. Y. Liu

Speaking of disyllabic compounds, Liu gives an example xiansheng (“sir, gentleman, teacher), with the standard explanation that the combination of xian (“first) and sheng (“to be born”) produces the sense of “first born” hence “senior to be respected”

Chinese characters make Chinese naturally suited for writing poetry?

James J. Y. Liu. (1962). The art of Chinese poetry.

象形、指事是「造字法」◦ 象形 : iconic, 日月◦ 指事 : 字形、結構看起來認得，但須經過考察才能知道它所

體現的字義， non-iconic 上下 會意、形聲是「組字法」

◦ 會意 : 由兩個或多個字合併組成表達意 , 武信◦ 形聲 : 按照事物的性質和叫法，挑選可相比譬的聲符和義符

組成文字，江河 轉注、假借是「用字法」

◦ 轉注 : 「形轉」，「義轉」，「音轉」 / 考老◦ 假借 : 找一個同音字表示無書面文字之口語 , 「自」本來是

「鼻」的象形字，後來借作「自己」的「自」

六書

Context-dependent for part of speech distinction: zero derivation

English looks for the difference between things?

Chinese looks for the connection?◦ e.g. 中醫

5000 to read a Chinese newspaper

The “3,000 characters to read a newspaper” is a myth.

A lot of Chinese “words” are compounds. You might know that the character 東 means "east" and 西 means "west", and you'd know how to pronounce the two of them together, but you wouldn't know that 東西 means "thing" unless you learned that separately. Within those first 3,000 characters, there are a vast number of compounds that you won't know if you just learn the characters singly.

How many characters?

目 and 虎

甲骨文 Jiagu-wen or oracle bone inscriptions (1650-1027BC, Shang) 4000-5000

Wiki user Kowloonese

說文解字 (Shuo1wen2 Jie3zi4) (Explanation of Graphs, late Han) 9353

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/K%27ang_Hsi_Dict.png

康熙字典 (Kangxi Dictionary, Qing) ： 47035

Wiki WikiCantonaWiki zh:User:Mosesofmason

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 : 9353 Yu-Pian dictionary (AD 543, Tang): 16917 Guang-Yun dictionary (AD 1011, Song):

26195 Zui-Hui Dictionary (AD1375, Ming): 33179 Kangxi Dictionary 康熙字典 (Qing): 47035

The Number of Chinese Characters

台灣《中文大字典》： 49905中國《漢語大字典》： 54678中國《中華字海》 ： 85568台灣《辭海》： 22,000,000台灣《大辭海》： 50,000,000

The number of Chinese Characters

non-inflectional

汽車 (qi4che1) 馬車 (ma3che1) 火車 (huo3che1) 自行車 (zi4xing2che1) 手推車 (shou3tui1che1)

Different types of vehicles are variations of che 車 in Chinese

Chinese is an isolated language

汽車 (qi4che1)

馬車 (ma3che1)

火車 (huo3che1)

車 (Che1: vehicle)

Flickr Easa Shamih (eEko) | P.h.o.t.o.g.r.a.p.h.y

Geograph Britain and Ireland: R lee

Flickr Happy Sleepy

自行車 (zi4xing2che1)

手推車 (shou3tui1che1)

車 (Che1: vehicle)

Flickr Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious

Soil-Net

鯊魚 (sha1yu2)

鯨魚 (jing1yu2)

章魚 (zhang1yu2)

魷魚 (you2yu2)

魚 (Yu2: fish)

Flickr WIlly Volk

Flickr Jess*Lo

Flickr kqedquest

Flickr pingnews.com

甲魚 (jia3yu2)

鱷魚 (e4yu2)

鮑魚 (bao4yu2)

木魚 (mu4yu2)

魚 (Yu2: fish)

Flickr Fayes4Art

Flickr EOL Turtle Curator

Flickr Vincent Ma

Flickr Formosa Wandering

Non-inflectional Tense via adverbials

Tense in Chinese

Poetry, painting, literature Cooking: stir-fry: combination of ingredients

◦Flavor, aroma, texture, shape◦Examples?

Meal served in ‘family’ style # of dishes vs. # of people eating

One instrument with different applications◦ Cleaver for cutting and crushing◦ Wok for boiling and stir-frying

The notion of Combination

Zhishengji 直升機 ‘ helicopter’ Gecao-ji 割草機 ‘ lawn mower’ Duka-ji 讀卡機 ‘ card reader’ Shouyin-ji 收銀機 ‘ cash register’

Ji1qi4 機器 ‘ machine’

Art of combination

Subordinative compounds: zhi2sheng1-ji1 Antonym compound: da4xiao3 ‘size’ Synonym compounds: qing1chu3 ‘clear’

Subject-predicate: 兵變 bing1bian4 Verb-object: 保險 bao3xian3 ‘insurance’ Prefixes and suffixes:

貴姓 gui4 xing4 “your name” 作者 zuo4zhe3 “author”

Reduplication: 謝謝 xie4xie4

A Grammar of Spoken Chinese (Y.R. Chao 1968)

Word-formation

Chao , Y. R. (1968). A Grammar of Spoken Chinese

Subortinative >> hierarchical

West: ‘unique’ and ‘different’ China:

◦ The role of Family◦ People play prescribed roles passed down from

generation to generation

◦ Solidarity and power◦ generation

hierarchical

Junjun chenchen fufu zizi 君君臣臣父父子子◦ The ruler be a ruler, the father be a father and the

son be a son Family as the focus Highly organized system of kinship relations Five cardinal relationships: Wu-lun 五倫 Li3 禮 ‘ propriety; good manners’

◦ act in a manner suitable to one’s social position, a complex code of etiquette and ceremony

◦ Central concept of Confucius philosophy

Collective: key to social harmony

The meaning of the combination is greater than the meaning of the parts

Chinese characters change their meaning depending on the combination???

Hierarchical structure of the Chinese characters

Unique organization of Chinese medical thought

Theory 1 yin 陰 & yang 陽

dark light cold hot wet dry◦ Consuming-increasing◦ Mutual transforming

Correlative thinking: Yin-yang

The Theory of Yin-Yang

陽 Yang

陰 Yin

Light, hot, active, increase

Dark, cold, passive, decrease

http://taoism.about.com/od/visualsymbols/ig/Taoist-Symbols/Yin-Yang-Symbol.--jj.htm

Theory 2 – Theory of Five Basic Elements Network describing the inter-relationship

among various qualities of the universe Over-arching categories of nature Five colors

◦ Green to wood, red to fire, yellow to earth, white to metal and black to water

Five flavors◦ Wood generates fire, fire>earth, earth>metal,

metal>water, water>wood

Correlative Thinking: Theory of Five Basic Elements

The Theory of Five Elements

木

水 火

金 土

Water

Wood

Fire

EarthMetal

Sour, Green, Liver,Gallbladder, Xia Dynasty Bitter, Red, Heart,

Small Intestine,Zhou Dynasty

Sweet, Yellow, Spleen,Stomach, Pre-Dynasty

Pungent/Acrid, White, Lung,Large Intestine, Shang Dynasty

Salty, Black,Kidney, Bladder,Qin Dynasty

MutualSubjugation

MutualGeneration

NTU 蘇以文

Qi

Qi, translated as “Energy” or “Life Force,” is a central concept in Chinese medicine.

NTU 謝承諭

The bodily essence whose proper transformation is required for good health

Disease seen as a deficiency or excess in the normal balance of Qi

Qi4gong1 氣功 – a physical activity to manipulqte the flow and function of Qi

Qi4 氣

organs Wu3-Zang4 五臟 ‘ five storage facilities’

◦ Heart, lung, spleen, liver, kidney◦ Manufacture and store the bodily essence: qi,

blood, and bodily fluid liu4-fu3 六腑 ‘ six grain collection centers’

◦ Gall bladder, stomach, large intestine, small intestine, urinary bladder, triple burner

◦ Digest food, absorb nutrients, and transmit waste

Western thinking:◦ breaking things down into their fundamental

components, and then develop principles or ‘rules’ that describe how the components interact

◦ Physics, chemistry, biology Chinese thinking

◦ Trying to incorporate everything into a single, unified whole

Chinese holistic thinking

Limited monosyllables in Chinese Approximate 400 syllables 400 x4= 1600 Only 1200 are used Clear demarcation from one syllable to the

next: sounds not blended together

Sound and symbol

The Syllables ofMandarin Chinese

The number of syllables inMandarin Chinese

is large, however , it is not unlimited.

papopaipeipaopoupapenpangpengpipiepiaopianpinpingpu

babobaibeibaobanbenbangbengbibiebiaobianbinbingbu

mamomemaimeimaomoumanmenmangmengmimiemiaomiumianminmingmu

chichachaichaochouchanchenchangchengchuchuachuochuaichuichanchunchuangchong

dadedaideidaodoudandangdengdidiediaodiudiandingduduoduiduandundong

tatetaitaotoutantangtengtitietiaotiantingtutuotuituantuntong

jijiajiejiaojiujianjinjiangjingjujuejuanjunjiong

gagegaigeigaogougangenganggengguguaguoguaiguiguangunguanggong

kakekaikaokoukankenkangkengkukuakuokuaikuikuankunkuangkong

hahehaiheihaohouhanhenhanghenghuhuahuohuaihuihuanhunhuanghong

lalolelaileilaoloulanlanglenglilialieliaoliulianlinlianglingluluoluanlunlongloloeloanlon

fafofeifoufanfenfangfengfu

nanenaineinaonounannennangnengninieniaoniunianninniangningnunuonuannongnonue

zhizhazhezhaizheizhaozhouzhanzhenzhangzhengzhuzhuazhuozhuaizhuizhuanzhunzhuangzhong

qiqiaqieqiaoqiuqianqinqiangqingququequanqunqiong

yiyayoyeyaiyaoyouyanyinyangyingyuyueyuanyunyong

xixiaxiexiaoxiuxianxinxiangxingxuxuexuanxunxiong

zizazezaizeizaozouzanzenzangzengzuzuozuizuanzunzong

cicacecaicaocoucancencangcengcucuocuicuancuncong

rireraorouranrenrangrengruruoruiruanrunrong

sasesaiseisaosousansensangsengsusuosuisuansunsong

awoeaieiaoouanenangenger

shishasheshaisheishaoshoushanshenshangshengshushuashuoshuaishuishuanshunshuang

wuwawowaiweiwanwenwangweng

Many homophones 同音字 - 根據《國語日報辭典》所列，與「力

〔 Li 〕」同音的字 / 詞多達 51 個。

Qing1 清 ‘ clear’ Chu3 楚 ‘ clear’ Qing1chu3 清楚 ‘ clear’

Hu3 虎 ‘ tiger’ Lao3 老 ‘ old’ Laohu 老虎 ‘ tiger’

Monosyllable to disyllabic

The Chinese character represents the whole syllable – it cannot be divided further

Chinese language does not inflect – cannot be broken down further

Chinese syllable is a fixed and irreducible unit

Why not *puan?

Syllables play different roles within the combination

Depending on their relation to other syllables, syllables change in meaning

Similar to the concept of QI that changes in function with its varying roles in the human body

Language and thought are not independent

◦ Mandarin speakers tended to think about time vertically even when they were thinking for English: faster to confirm that March comes earlier than April if shown a vertical array of objects

◦ The extent to the above tendency is related to how old they were when they first began to learn English.

◦ When taught to do otherwise, English speakers showed the same bias to think about time vertically as was observed with Mandarin speakers.

English and Mandarin talk about time differently

前天 (qian2tian1) 前不見古人 , 後不見來者 (qian2 bu4 jian4

gu3ren2, hou4 bu4 jian4 lai2zhe3) 上週 (shang4zhou1) 去年 (qu4nian2) 來年 (lai2nian2)

Language shapes one’s thought

(1) language is a powerful tool in shaping thought about abstract domains

(2) one’s native language plays an important role in shaping habitual thought (e.g., how one tends to think about time) but does not entirely determine one’s thinking

Language shapes one’s thought

Linguistic determinism (strong version): one’s thought determined by the categories made available in their language

Linguistic relativity (weaker version): differences among the languages cause differences in the thoughts of their speakers

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

We are no nearer to understanding the types of logical thinking which are reflected in truly Eastern forms of scientific thought or analysis of nature. This requires linguistic research into the logics of native languages, and realization that they have equal scientific validity with our own thinking habits.

-- John Bissell Carroll

“Scientific approach” – Western in nature

John Bissell Carroll. (1972). Introduction from Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf.

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Wiki user Chanuetinghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E6%97%A5-oracle.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Micheletbhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E6%97%A5-bronze.gif2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Erin Silversmithhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E6%97%A5-seal.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Chanuetinghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E6%9C%88-oracle.svg2011/10/25 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Wiki user Chanuetinghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E6%9C%88-bronze.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Chanuetinghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E6%9C%88-seal.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Chanuetinghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E9%9B%A8-oracle.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Micheletbhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E9%9B%A8-bronze.gif2011/10/25 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Wiki user Erin Silversmithhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E9%9B%A8-seal.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Chanuetinghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E9%BE%8D-oracle.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Chanuetinghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E9%BE%8D-bronze.svg2011/10/25 visitedWiki user Erin Silversmithhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E9%BE%8D-seal.svg2011/10/25 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Wiki Dragonboneshttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_character_Shang_oracle_%E8%B1%A1_xiang4_elephant.gif2011/10/25 visitedNTU 王維新 繪製 (2011)

Wiki user Kowloonesehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OracleShell.JPG2011/10/24 visitedWiki Dragonboneshttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_character_Shang_oracle_%E7%9B%AE_mu4_eye.gif2011/10/24 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Wiki Dragonboneshttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_character_Shang_oracle_%E8%99%8E_hu3_tiger.gif2011/10/24 visitedWiki user Bamsehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shuowen_Jiezi_Takeda.jpg2011/10/25 visitedWiki WikiCantonahttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:K%27ang_Hsi_Dictionary.jpg2011/10/24 visitedWiki zh:User:Mosesofmasonhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:K%27ang_Hsi_Dict.png2011/10/24 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Flickr Easa Shamih (eEko) | P.h.o.t.o.g.r.a.p.h.yhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/eeko/3092317210/2011/10/24 visitedFlickr Happy Sleepyhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/happy_sleepy/3927655680/2011/10/24 visitedGeograph Britain and Ireland: R leehttp://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1740702011/10/24 visitedFlickr Richard Masoner / Cyclelicioushttp://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/2785519038/2011/10/24 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Soil-Nethttp://www.soil-net.com/album/Places_Objects/slides/Shopping%20Trolley.html2011/10/24 visitedFlickr WIlly Volkhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/volk/1379996042/2011/10/24 visitedFlickr pingnews.comhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/pingnews/454154733/2011/10/24 visitedFlickr Jess*Lohttp://www.flickr.com/photos/heartattacks/403598708/2011/10/24 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Flickr kqedquesthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/kqedquest/2364966320/2011/10/24 visitedFlickr EOL Turtle Curatorhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/36296822@N06/3500818984/2011/10/24 visitedFlickr Fayes4Arthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/67156567@N00/212965788/2011/10/24 visitedFlickr Vincent Mahttp://www.flickr.com/photos/thevince/727885500/2011/10/24 visited

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

Flickr Formosa Wanderinghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/polanyi/3303014507/2011/10/24 visitedWiki Kenny Shenhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esoteric_Taijitu.svg2011/10/4 visited

NTU 蘇以文 繪製 (2011)

NTU 謝承諭 繪製 (2011)

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

p.3Trendelenburg, Adolf. (1846). Geschichte der Kategorienlehre. Berlin: Bethge. and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.4

Bloom, Alfred. (1981). The Linguistic Shaping of Thought: A Study in the Impact of Language on Thinking in China and the West. Hillsdale, NJ : L. Erlbaum.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.5

Bloom, Alfred. (1984). Caution—The words you use may affect what you say: A response to Terry Kit-fong Au’s “Chinese and English counterfactuals: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis revisited”, Cognition, 17, 275-287.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

p.5Au, T. K. (1984). Counterfactuals: In reply to Alfred Bloom. Cognition, 17, 289-302. and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.6

Yeh, D. & Gentner, D. (2005). Reasoning Counterfactually in Chinese: Picking up the Pieces. Proceedings of the Twenty-seventh Annunal Meeting of the Congnitive Science Society, 2410-2415.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.9James J. Y. Liu. (1962). The art of Chinese poetry. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

Copyright DeclarationWork Licensing Author/Source

p.26Chao , Y. R. (1968). A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, Univ. California Press, Berkeley.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.48

John Bissell Carroll. (1972). Introduction from Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. The M.I.T Press.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW