First steps in Hangul

윤석철 — yunseogcheol

윤 = y + u + n = ㅇ + ㅠ + ㄴ

석 = s + eo + g = ㅅ + ㅓ (/ʌ/) + ㄱ

철 = ch + eo + l = ㅊ + ㅓ + ㄹ

https://twitter.com/SCJAZZY

“The house that jack built”, inside out

I’ve often thought that “The house that Jack built” would be better inside out.

For convenience, here is the final verse of the original (from the Wikipedia):

This is the farmer sowing his corn
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That woke the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

Here are two inside out versions.  The second is “condensed” so, instead of “the farmer sowing his corn”, just “the farmer”. I prefer the condensed version.

** inside out, full

This is the farmer sowing his corn.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke.

This is the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married.

This is the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed milked.

This is the dog the cow with the crumpled horn the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed milked tossed.

This is the cat the dog the cow with the crumpled horn the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried.

This is the rat the cat the dog the cow with the crumpled horn the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed.

This is the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow with the crumpled horn the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate.

This is the house the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow with the crumpled horn the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate lay in.

This is Jack, the man the house the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow with the crumpled horn the maiden all forlorn the man all tattered and torn the priest all shaven and shorn the cock that crowed in the morn the farmer sowing his corn kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate lay in was built by.

** inside out, condensed

This is the farmer.

This is the cock the farmer kept.

This is the priest the cock the farmer kept woke.

This is the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married.

This is the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed.

This is the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked.

This is the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed.

This is the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried.

This is the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed.

This is the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate.

This is the house the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate lay in.

This is Jack, the man the house the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate lay in was built by.

Nostalgia

Johansson, Sverker. (2005). Origins of Language: Constraints on hypotheses. John Benjamins.

Overheard

A couple of comments on Tencent vs. Sina: The Fight for China’s Social Graph

the comments

	微博绝对用新浪，聊天绝对用QQ。
gg-py	Wēi bó juéduì yòng xīnlàng, liáotiān juéduì yòng QQ.
gg-en	Absolute with Sina microblogging, chat with absolutely QQ.
my-en	For microblogging, absolutely use Sina; for chat, absolutely use QQ.

 

	没错，所以腾讯微博就不是一个独立产品，是靠来自其他服务的流量。
gg-py	Méi cuò, suǒyǐ téngxùn wēi bó jiù bùshì yīgè dúlì chǎnpǐn, shì kào lái zì qítā fúwù de liúliàng.
gg-en	Yes, so Tencent microblogging is not a standalone product, depending on traffic from other services.
my-en	You’re not wrong. So Tencent microblogging is not a standalone product, as it depends on traffic coming from other services.

 

Key

gg-py	pinyin from Google translate
gg-en	English translation from Google translate
my-en	My English translation

 

词汇

微博	wēi bó	microblogging (微, wēi = small, “micro”)
绝对	jué duì	absolutely
用	yòng	with
新浪	xīn làng	Sina (i.e., Sina Weibo)
聊天	liáo tiān	chat
错	cuò	mistake
所以	suǒ yǐ	so/therefore
腾讯	téng xùn	[gallop/jump/soar message] Tencent (Tencent run QQ)
就	jiù	at once, then, just, exactly
独立	dú lì	[alone stand] standalone, independent
产品	chǎn pǐn	product
靠	kào	depend, lean on
自	zì	since, from
其他	qí tā	other
服务	fú wù	service (服, fú = clothes, uniform)
流量	liú liàng	discharge (流, liú = flow, stream)

Realia: National Museum of Scotland

[updated with vocab.]

Visiting museums and galleries we often pick out the guide leaflet in a few languages, and compare translations. Most recently we were at the National Museum of Scotland and I picked out the Chinese and Russian versions (as well as the English).

Some highlights:

• The English version was entitled “Map”, and the Chinese version had a similar general term “地图” (dì tú, map). The Russian was entitled “схема”. The usual Russian word for map is “карта”. A Google image search can illustrate the difference in meaning:
  • карта
  • схема

  “Карта” is used for geographical maps, “схема” is used for diagrams and plans.

• Chinese has no word for “Scotland” — or rather, the Chinese word for “Scotland” is onomatopoeic: “苏格兰” (sūgélán). Note “land” becomes “兰” (lán, orchid), rather than for example 国 (guó, country/nation).
• The emotive language in the English is generally avoided in the other languages — e.g., “a selection of treasues” becomes “избранные экспонаты” (selected exhibits) — but occasionally the translators find a fitting idiom — e.g., “getting the most out of your visit” becomes “让您的参观满载而归” (ràng nín de cān guān mǎn zài ér guī). The first five characters translate as something like “let your visit be”; the final four characters is an idiom meaning (pseudo)literally “full to the brim and go back”.

Словарь

Схема	diagram, chart, plan
приветствовать	to greet, welcome (cf. привет, “Hi!”)
избранный	selected, select (cf. собранный, collected)
полезный	useful
учёба	study(ing), training

词汇

世界 (shì jiè)	world
主 (zhǔ)	owner, master; main, primary; manage, direct; indicate, signify
信息 (xìn xī)	information, news, message
免费 (miǎn fèi)	free of charge
全 (quán)	complete, whole
卫生间 (wèi shēng jiān)	toilet (room)
厅 (tīng)	hall (for holding meetings, concerts, receiving guests, etc.)
参观 (cān guān)	visit, have a look around
同一 (tóng yī)	same, identical
地图 (dì tú)	map
小时 (xiǎo shí)	hour
手势语 (shǒu shì yǔ)	sign language
技术 (jì shù)	technology, skill, technique
文化 (wén huà)	civilization, culture
时间 (shí jiān)	(the concept of) time
楼层 (lóu céng)	storey, floor
欢迎 (huān yíng)	welcome, greet
活动 (huó dòng)	exercise, activity
满载而归 (mǎn zài ér guī)	come back with fruitful results, return from a rewarding journey
科学 (kē xué)	science, scientific knowledge
窗 (chuāng)	window
自然 (zì rán)	natural world, nature
艺术 (yì shù)	art
让 (ràng)	give way, give ground, yield, allow
设计 (shè jì)	design, plan
购物 (gòu wù)	shopping
足够 (zú gòu)	enough
食品 (shí pǐn)	food, provisions
饮料 (yǐn liào)	beverage, drink (esp. a soft drink)

(Chinese definitions: Pleco)

李白 : 静夜思

The poem

静夜思

床前明月光，
疑是地上霜，
举头望明月，
低头思故乡。

Gloss

静夜思
jìng yè sī
still night think

床前明月光
chuáng qián míng yuè guāng
bed front bright moon shine

疑是地上霜
yí shì dì shang shuāng
doubt is ground up frost

举头望明月
jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè
lift head [look at] bright moon

低头思故乡
dī tóu sī gù xiāng
low head think old country

English version

Silent Night Thoughts

By the bed the bright moon shines,
“Is that frost on the floor?”
I lift my head and look at the bright moon,
I sink back and remember my home.

Notes

• 李白 (Lǐ Bái or Lǐ Bó): 8th century Chinese poet.
• Pinyin, gloss and translation based on translations found on Baidu.
• There seems to be a kind of call/response pattern:
  

  静夜 / 思
  床前 / 明月光，
  疑是 / 地上霜，
  举头 / 望明月，
  低头 / 思故乡。

請勿踐踏草地

Some time ago there was a post on Sinoglot about Chinese script on signs, noting how compact it could be. I recently saw a good example of this by one of the lawns in one of the Cambridge colleges:

The Chinese is in Traditional script. Here it is in Traditional, Simplified, and pinyin (assuming a Mandarin-speaking reader):

trad: 請勿踐踏草地

simp: 请勿践踏草地

py: qǐng wù jiàn tà cǎo dì

A literal translation might be, “request not trample lawn”.

I found a few variations of this request on the web: some without 请 (qǐng, request); some using 踩 (cǎi) or just 踏 (tà) instead of 践踏 (jiàn tà). I like 践 (jiàn): it means trample or tread, but it also means to fulfill or act on or carry out — 践约 (jiàn yuē) means to keep a promise or an appointment — so 践踏 (jiàn tà) carries an extra dimension of purpose.

Of all the variations I found, this one from the University of Cambridge was by far the most polite and considered.