Philoglosse!

by M. N. G. Einstein
Sonntag, 3. Januar 2016
Sunday, 3. January 2016
, 2016

Fr die Sprachen dieser Welt, Jackie Chan and Shamein Tan, eine
Freundin am anderen Ende der Welt.

For the languages of this Earth, Jackie Chan and Shamein Tan, a
friend, across half the World.

, Shamein ,

Wi Y
u Zh
ong Wi Sh Shji, Chng Lng H Shamein Tan, Yi H
ao
Pngy
ou Dugu Bn Ti
anxi

Any usage of the document is only allowed with my full name and my written agreement.
All rights reserved. The pdf is free to /for share!

Sorry Shamein, but I did not know the signs for your name. Thus, I wrote it with our
alphabet.

The funny thing about the three translations is, they all have the same meaning, but they
are saying completely different things. While the German translates to: a friend at the far end
of the World , the Chinese translates to: a friend across the land under heaven.

Part One
Chinesich Chinese Chinois Kit&
ai
@ski@
i

[Zhong Wn]

Number Ten 10

[Chuugokugo]

[Sh Ho] 10 [Su To] :

The high Chinese, which is popularly known as Mandarin, originates back, as

many more things in the fields of culture and science in China, to a single (very
successful) dynasty, called the Han Dynasty. The founder was the later Emperor
Li Bang. Due to the success of this dynasty the Chinese call their language themselves [hn y
u], which means as much as Han language. Also, most people
now living in China are part of this ethnic group, which accounts for more than
91 percent of the total population.

Number Nine 9
Kokonotsu] :

[Jiu Ho] 9 [Su

Mandarin is one of only eight twigs, that make up the Sinitic languages, which on
the other hand is part of only two branches of the SinoTibetan language family
with about 340 different languages in total. All other languages (> 330) belong
to that second branch, which are combined/summerised to the TibetoBurman
languages.

Number Eight 8
Yattsu] :

[Ba Ho] 8 [Su

There are about one billion native Mandarin speakers. The circulating figures in
public of more than eight hundred million, are wrong or have to be considered only
as a lower limit, as a simple calculation already shows. If one starts by assuming
the population of China is about 1.3 billion people, and furthermore, the Han
Chinese account for ninety percent, this results automatically in a significantly
higher number than nine hundred million. What is often left out in such numbers
games, is the fact, that the Mandarin for Chinese people is extremely important
(this can be seen in the cultural and historical background). This means, that even
the Chinese that are abroad or have grown/are growing up outside their original
country, always speak natively Mandarin as a first language.

Number Seven 7
Nanatsu] :

[Qi Ho] 7 [Su

The distribution of the speakers of the Chinese languages (on one of the primary
branches of the SinoTibetan language family) is highly unequal. While about one
billion are omitted on Mandarin, all the other seven branches have together only
about 345 million, which are spread also extremely geographically. This is related
to the urban density on the east coast of China, because Mandarin originates from
there. Thus, it is therefore not surprising, that most speakers are from this region.

Number Six 6
Muttsu] :

[Li Ho] 6 [Su

In China there is no unity pronunciation (this has not to be confused with a

standardised intonation)! While there is a single Alphabet, which means here,
that each character in the chinese writing, as it is with our own font, is used
in (a sort of) an alphabet (the correct term is Logogram), but the pronunciation is different from region to region, from city to city, from dialect to dialect.
Though, the government has with the beginning of the 20th century, and during
its development, carried out several font reforms, in which, firstly the decision of
a common language was formed and implemented, then the pronunciation was
standardised and in the last step a simplification of the spelling was performed.
There is nevertheless a plurality of dialects. One should not let oneself be fooled
by the major/maindialects. These are bound regionally and blur increasingly in
the outer regions of the own sphere of influence, where they mix, especially at the
edges or much traversed traffic junctions (one should always remember, that the
traffic agglomeration in China is incredible vast).

Number Five 5
Itsutsu] :

[Wu Ho] 5 [Su

The Chinese characters are at least three thousand years old, and (contrary to
popular beliefs that say they all) have (only) a lot of the logograms have an
originmeaninghistory. For example:

[kn]
which means to look and is made up of:

[shou]
for hand and:

[m]
for eye. One can imagine how someone looks out under his hand. Or:

[ln]
means the forest and consists of:

[m]
wood, tree (the similarity of the sign with a tree is obvious). Many trees equal
forest. My absolute favorite is however:

[hao]
which means good, well. The left side of the sign:

[n]
is a woman and the right side:

[zi]
is her child. This stems from the spelling three thousand years ago. At that time,
the character was drawn differently.
5

Halftime for a story.

My favorite quote is:

[zhi l wi ma]
meaning: making a deer out to be a horse/point on a deer and call it a horse. It
comes from [Zhao Gao], the chief consultant of the second QinEmperor,
who tried to get the full control of the government and therefore he tested the
loyalty of the officials at the court by letting bring a deer forward, which he then
marked as a horse. Thereafter, the public servants were presented. Those who
refused to call the deer a horse were executed.

Number Four 4
Yottsu] :

[S Ho] 4 [Su

The People do not know that the Chinese characters are used far beyond China itself. In Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, where a part of the emigrated
minority lives and the Cantonese is employed, the Chinese characters are utilised
as well as in Japan, where they even take a special role in their writing system and
are called Kanji. They are also included in the South Korean font, were they are
actually called Hanja. In Hong Kong, until 1997 a British colony, and Macau, a
Portuguese colony even until 1999, it is also employed. Of course the characters are
as well used in Taiwan. But they are all utilising different Chinese languages and
have of course a partly (or complete) different pronunciation, as one sees, whereby
the pattern is as follows:

mi

mi

neui

(Hi)

Mandarin, Chinese language,


Kantonesisch, Cantonese language,

with this :

mi
mi

(Hi)

n
neui

tou
tau

xin
sam

yan
ngaan

shn
san

zi
joi

in order to listen to the text, follow this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toEPNVgj7tA

pen
pan

(Having Fun)


zhi
jik

ch
u
cheut

kui
faai

l
lok

m
mai

(Yes)

zhn
jan

p
baak

wo
ngo

zu
jou

chng
sing

sh
si

li
lip

(Oh City Hunter)

rn
yan

mi
mi

Red Hot
Red Hot
Red Hot

(Hello)

n
neui

yan
ngaan

shn
san

zi
joi

(Red Hot)

wn
man

shao
siu

ch
u
cheut

mi
mei

l
lai

nng
nung

(ah o)

yn
yim

rng
yung

hu
fa

dio
diu

chng
sing

sh
si

li
lip

(Oh City Hunter)

rn
yan

(City Hunter)

(City Hunter)

mi
mui

wo
ngo

c
chi

dou
dou

jin
gin

xiang
seung

ni
nei

i
aai

mng
meng

yn
wan

mng
meng

yn
wan


wo
ngo

gan
gam

ju
gaau

d
dak

do
dou

lng
ling

hn
wan

lng
ling

hn
wan

jie
jip

jn
gan

mi
mi

(Hello)

n
neui

yi
yat

zha
jaap

yan
ngaan

rn
yan

yu
yau

zhi
ji

hao
hou

j
gai

x
juk

(ai)

zu
jou

kung
kawong

fng
fong

chng
sing

sh
si

(Having Fun)

jn
gan

li
lip

(Oh City Hunter)

rn
yan

City Hunter,
I am the city hunter,
Everybody wants to be a city hunter,
City hunter . . .

mi
mi

(Hello)

n
neui

(Having Fun)

(Yes)

tou
tau

zhi
jik

xin
sam

ch
u
cheut

yan
ngaan

kui
faai

shn
san

l
lok

zi
joi

m
mai

pen
pan

zhn
jan

p
baak

wo
ngo

zu
jou

chng
sing

sh
si

li
lip

mi
mi

Red Hot
Red Hot
Red Hot

(Hello)

n
neui

yan
ngaan

shn
san

zi
joi

(Red Hot)

wn
man

shao
siu

ch
u
cheut

mi
mei

l
lai

nng
nung

(ah o)

yn
yim

rng
yung

hu
fa

dio
diu

chng
sing

sh
si

mi
mui

(Oh City Hunter)

rn
yan

c
chi

jin
gin

li
lip

(Oh City Hunter)

rn
yan

(City Hunter)

ni
nei

10


wo
ngo

dou
dou

xiang
seung

i
aai

mng
meng

yn
wan

mng
meng

(City Hunter)

yn
wan

wo
ngo

gan
gam

ju
gaau

d
dak

do
dou

lng
ling

hn
wan

lng
ling

hn
wan

jie
jip

jn
gan

mi
mi

(Hello)

n
neui

yi
yat

zha
jaap

yan
ngaan

rn
yan

yu
yau

zhi
ji

hao
hou

j
gai

x
juk

(ai)

zu
jou

kung
kawong

fng
fong

chng
sing

sh
si

(Having Fun)

jn
gan

li
lip

11

rn
yan

(Oh City Hunter)

Number Three 3
Mittsu] :

[San Ho] 3 [Su

One reason, as digress as it may sound, for the modern copyculture of the Chinese people lies within the language. What initially is dismissed as absurd, becomes
overwhelmingly apparent, if someone takes a closer look at the developmenthistory
of Mandarin. At the beginning there were the Five Classics. Those became later
the Four Books of Confucianism, which, with the aid of Mengzi, extended to the
state religion of the Han Dynasty; and here lies the crux of the matter. Because in
China, politicians and officials, had until the 20th century to be (very) good literati, if they wanted to gain great influence and get into conducting (senior) positions
(against the Western model, where it is still today so, to take a great interest in
rhetoricians!). This coheres with the fact, that texts, written in the classical literary language and which have distanced itself completely from the spoken language,
had the highest prestige in society. Thus, for centuries the education policy was
different, which consisted firstly to internalise the knowledge of the wise, before
someone would zoom on something new.

12

Number Two 2
Futatsu] :

[r Ho] 2 [Su

One reason why Chinese have difficulties to speak or learn IndoEuropean languages, is the same, why it is for us so hard to learn any of the SinoTibetan
languages: on the one hand the phonetics is widely different, on the other hand
the language structure is essentially not comparable. The pronunciation stems from
a divergent Alphabet, which one notices especially (even as a non linguist) at the
frequent usage of the X. Furthermore, there are of course syllables/letter combinations that do not exist in our language, whereby ZH would probably be the most
prominent example; and finally there are the socalled tones, which are indicated
by dashes and dots (same tone xi an, falling tone wng, rising tone nin,
changing tone gan). These determine the pronunciation of a word, which, due
to the missing vowel E (it is actually more a swallowing), leads particularly to
a friction with the IndoEuropean languages, in particular with French, Italian,
English and German (since E is the most used letter in those). The other point is
the structure of the language. The essential feature is, that there exist no flection of
verbs. There is no inflection. For us, this is fascinating, but for Mandarin speakers
this is confusing; in addition to that, we have also a very precise spelling. There
is also no such thing in the Chinese languages. This means, that Chinese people
have to learn many things that do not exist in their own grammatic system: case
sensitivity, case, person, number, tense, gender . . . Therefore, you should always
show some understanding for the fellow Chinese speaking citizens, at least more
than usual.

13

Number One 1
Hitotsu] :

[Yi Ho] 1 [Su

The Chinese government promotes linguistic diversity (in modest extent those
of minorities as well, because no language should disappear), whereby the high
language was chosen for the education and as the lingua franca. This century old
setting of support (or at least the peaceful coexistence) has, in contrast to Europe
and the American continent, where the languages of the conquered nations/tribes
have partly been banned, fought, disfigured or were even persecuted, led to a manifold of diversity, that we in Europe can hardly or not at all imagine. Though the
government has passed in 1982 a law, that dictates the spreading of the general
language, in which, as a consequence, Mandarin establishes itself more and more
in many parts of , there are still dozens of dialects around the hubs in China.

[Yi Ke Tngguo] a bonbon, a treasure of unimaginable size. My absolute favourite chinese song is from
[Zu Hao H Wng D Shi Chng Lng] the Best Grandmaster
Finally

Jackie Chan. It can be found under this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtA_xiISKRo
(if someone wants to practice Karaoke). The text is as follows:

Zhi

Hui

Liu

Han

Bu

Hui

Liu

Lei

Bu

Dong

Hou

Tui

Zhi

Hui

Feng

Pei

Zhi

Xiang

Chang

Dao

Tiao

Zhan

De

Zi

Chi

Yi

Dian

Kui

Yi

Wu

14

Suo

Wei

Wei


Shou

Yi

Dian

Ku

Ye

Wu

Suo

Wei

Yi

Shen

Shang

Hen

Huan

Yi

Fen

Ti

Hui

Zen

Me

Neng

Gou

Jiang

Bai

Bian

Hei

Zen

Me

Neng

Gou

Jiang

Shi

Bian

Fei

Zen

Me

Neng

Gou

Yan

Zheng

Zheng

Kan

Zhe

Shi

Jie

Bu

Fen

Zhen

Wei

Zuo

Dao

Wen

Xin

Wu

Kui

Dai

Jin

Bu

Fei

Zhi

Yao

Zuo

De

Dui

Jiu

Shi

Zui

Da

De

An

Wei

Bu

Guan

Shi

Shui

Zhi

Huo

Yi

Hui

Dui

De

Qi

Zi

Ji

Yo

15

Jiu

Bu

Bi

Shuo

Huo

Hui


Wen

Tian

Wen

Di

Wen

Xin

Wu

Kui

Zhi

Yao

Zuo

De

Dui

Bu

Guan

You

Mei

Bu

Guan

Shi

Shui

Zhi

Huo

Yi

Hui

Dui

De

Qi

Zi

Ji

Yong

Yuan

Bu

Wen

Tong

Bu

Tong

Lei

Bu

Lei

Chi

Yi

Dian

Kui

Yi

Wu

Suo

Wei

Shou

Yi

Dian

Ku

Ye

Wu

Suo

Wei

Yi

Shen

Shang

Hen

Huan

Yi

Fen

Ti

Zen

Me

Neng

Gou

Jiang

Bai

Bian

Hei

Zen

Me

Neng

Gou

Jiang

Shi

16

Bian

Fei

Hui

You

Ren

Pei


Zen

Me

Neng

Gou

Yan

Zheng

Zheng

Kan

Zhe

Shi

Jie

Bu

Fen

Zhen

Wei

Zuo

Dao

Wen

Xin

Wu

Kui

Dai

Jin

Bu

Fei

Zhi

Yao

Zuo

De

Dui

Jiu

Shi

Zui

Da

De

An

Wei

Bu

Guan

Shi

Shui

Zhi

Huo

Yi

Hui

Dui

De

Qi

Zi

Ji

Yo

Jiu

Bu

Bi

Shuo

Huo

Hui

Wen

Tian

Wen

Di

Wen

Xin

Wu

Kui

Zhi

Yao

Zuo

De

Dui

Bu

Guan

You

Mei

Bu

Guan

Shi

Shui

Zhi

Huo

Yi

Hui

Dui

De

Qi

Zi

Ji

Yong

17

Yuan

Bu

Wen

You

Ren

Pei

Tong

Bu

Tong

Lei

Bu

Lei

Zuo

Dao

Wen

Xin

Wu

Kui

Dai

Jin

Bu

Fei

Zhi

Yao

Zuo

De

Dui

Jiu

Shi

Zui

Da

De

An

Wei

Bu

Guan

Shi

Shui

Zhi

Huo

Yi

Hui

Dui

De

Qi

Zi

Ji

Yo

Jiu

Bu

Bi

Shuo

Huo

Hui

Wen

Tian

Wen

Di

Wen

Xin

Wu

Kui

Zhi

Yao

Zuo

De

Dui

Bu

Guan

You

Mei

Bu

Guan

Shi

Shui

Zhi

Huo

Yi

Hui

Dui

De

Qi

Zi

Ji

Yong

Tong

Bu

Tong

Lei

Bu

Lei

18

Yuan

Bu

Wen

You

Ren

Pei