Tao, Jiashu & Wong, Jock. (2020). The confounding Mandarin colour term ‘qīng’: Green, blue, black or all of the above and more?. In Lauren Sadow, Bert Peeters, & Kerry Mullan (Eds.), Studies in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication: Vol. 3. Minimal English (and beyond) (pp. 191-212). Singapore: Springer.
Abstract
The Mandarin word qīng (‘青’), which Google translates to ‘green’, ‘blue’ and even ‘black’, among other colour terms in English, is one of the oldest, most frequently used colour terms in Mandarin and probably the most confounding. The word is polysemous and its multiple meanings and combinations with other words have generated much confusion among generations of non-native speakers and learners of Mandarin, and perhaps even native speakers. To help Mandarin speakers and learners better understand the word, dictionaries mainly define qīng using English colour terms, such as ‘green’, ‘blue’ and ‘black’, which is to a certain extent helpful but which raises questions, such as if Mandarin speakers do not distinguish between the colours green and blue. There is thus a need to semantically analyse this word to help Mandarin learners acquire a deeper understanding of its multiple meanings and uses. The objective of this paper is to study the multiple meanings of the character qīng, one of which dates back to the late Shang Dynasty (1200–1050 BC), when the oracle bone script, the earliest known form of Chinese writing, was first used. This paper also compares its meanings with those of two related colour terms lǜ (‘绿’) and lán (‘蓝’), which are associated with the English ‘green’ and ‘blue’, respectively. To capture the meanings and their differences with maximal clarity and minimal ethnocentrism, the authors use Minimal English.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
