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| CHINESE CHARACTER BASICS | |||
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By Yi Zhang How many Chinese characters are there? Chinese characters are the building blocks of the Chinese language. The total number of Chinese characters is about 50,000 but you only need to know a couple of thousand to read a newspaper. This is how it works. Modern Chinese words are generally composed of two characters. These basic characters form many tens or even hundreds of thousands of words. For example, the character ?¡ã¦Ì??¡À which means ?¡ãelectricity?¡À could form the following words: ¦Ì?¨¦¨¨ (electric fan), ¦Ì??? (computer - electronic brain), ¦Ì?¡À¨ª (electric meter), ¦Ì?¦Ì? (light bulb ¡§C electric light). The list goes on. So in Taiwan where Traditional Chinese characters are used, knowledge
of about 4,000 characters is adequate for common uses, while in
mainland China where Simplified Chinese is used, 3,000 characters
would be enough. Simplified Chinese was adopted in mainland China
in the 1950?¡¥s to simplify the Traditional Chinese for the purpose
of eradicating mass illiteracy. For example, the character ?¡ã???¡À
(which means ??book?¡¥ or ??text?¡¥) is simplifed to How does the Chinese language absorb foreign concepts? Foreign concepts are usually imported by translating the concept into Chinese, representing the Chinese system where the emphasis is placed on meaning, rather than sound. For example, ?¡ãcomputer?¡À is translated as ?¡ãelectronic brain (¦Ì???)?¡À (¦Ì? ¡§C electronic; ?? ¡§C brain). ?¡ãAirplane?¡À is translated as ?¡ãflying machine (¡¤¨¦?¨²)?¡À (¡¤¨¦ ¡§C flying; ?¨² ¡§C machine). It is different from the Japanese language where Katakana (a Japanese Syllabary) is used for transcription of words from foreign languages. For example, ?¡ãcomputer?¡À is written as ?¡ã£¤3£¤¨®£¤?£¤??`£¤??¡À, simulating the English pronunciation. In Chinese, only when the underlying meaning of the foreign words such as names or places are vague or have no meanings, are they transcribed according to their pronunciation. Are Chinese characters used in other Asian countries? Chinese characters are used in Asian countries like Japan, Korea
and Vietnam. In modern North Korea and Vietnam, they have been
completely replaced by their own alphabet and can only be found
in historical documents and classical literature. In South Korea,
they are only used sparingly. A sizable amount of Chinese characters
are still used in Japan, and they are called ?¡ãKanji?¡À. In these
countries, however, the knowledge of Chinese characters is considered
to be a sign of education and refinement. |
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| THE TOP TEN MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TRANSLATION | |||
| 10. Anybody with two years of high school language (or a foreign-tongued grandmother) can translate. 9. A good Translator doesn't need a dictionary. 8. There's no difference between translation and interpretation. 7. Translators don't mind working nights and weekends at no extra charge. 6. Translators don't need to understand what they're translating. 5. A good Translator doesn't need proofing or editing. 4. Becoming a Translator is an easy way to get rich quick. 3. Translation is just typing in a foreign language. 2. A Translator costs $49.95 at Radio Shack and runs on two 'C' batteries. 1. That marketing copy that took a team of 20 people two months to put together can be translated overnight by one person and still retain the same impact as the original. |
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