Δυο υποψήφιες νέες αγγλικές λέξεις

Η μια είναι το taikonaut (Κινέζος/α αστροναύτης/ισσα --spaceperson), κατά το ρωσικό "κοσμοναύτης" --βλ. ευκαιριακή αναφορά μέσα στο παρακάτω άρθρο. Ελληνικά: ταϊκοναύτης.
Η άλλη είναι το bu zheteng. Απευθείας από τα κινέζικα, και είναι εν τη γενέσει της: μπορεί και να μην πιάσει. Σύμφωνα με την απόδοση της πρέσβειρας (βλ. παρακάτω το δεύτερο άρθρο), το νόημα είναι "δε βάζουμε αυτογκόλ, δε βάζουμε τρικλοποδιά στον εαυτό μας". Παραθέτω το ντοσιέ το σχετικό με το bu zheteng, από μια λίστα που παρακολουθώ:

Source: People's Daily Online (January 08, 2009)
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90873/6570469.html

Hu Jintao's "bu zheteng" baffles foreign media

During the conference held on December 18 to commemorate the 30th
anniversary of the reform and opening-up policy, after putting forward two
major goals for the future, President Hu Jintao said that, "As long as we
don't waver, don't slack off and don't 'zheteng' (折腾 in Chinese,get
sidetracked), and as long as we firmly push forward reform and opening-up...
we are certain to be able to successfully realize this grand blueprint and
achieve the goals we are striving for."

Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao newspaper published an article on January 2 saying
that, during the conference held by the Communist Party of China in
commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the reform and opening-up policy,
President Hu Jintao used in his speech a phrase from a northern Chinese
dialect, "bu zheteng," something which has baffled the bilingual elite of
Chinese and foreign media.

In demonstrating China's firm determination to walk the road of socialism,
Hu used three "don'ts" in succession, saying, "As long as we don't waver,
don't slack off and don't 'zheteng,' and as long as we firmly push forward
reform and opening-up and walk the road of socialism with Chinese
characteristics, we are certain to be able to successfully realise this
grand blueprint and achieve the goals we are striving for."

According to the article, immediately after Hu used the phrase "bu zheteng",
the audience at the Great Hall of the People burst out in a simultaneous
laughter. In the official occasion of announcing the path to follow for a
significant development, Hu, who was serious throughout his speech, suddenly
used a colloquial expression, something which clearly sounded very intimate
to the audience. However, the laughter also suggests that the audience
understood what "zheteng" refers to and the connotation of "bu zheteng."

The author of the article believes that, since the country was founded by
the Communist Party of China, the party has taken various wrong and
ineffective paths, due to domestic and international factors. All previous
political campaigns, the Anti-Rightist Movement and the Great Leap Forward,
led to considerable damage to the nation's political and economical
development. The Great Cultural Revolution, in particular, was the most
harmful. Even the resolution of the reform and opening-up policy suffered a
setback after 1989 and was not resumed until Deng Xiaoping's tour of the
south of China in 1992. Today, all of the twists and turns as well as the
mistakes made, are referred to as "bu zheteng", referring to the fact that
China will not waste time in arguments about development direction and
political conflicts, which are irrelevant to the development of the economy
and can cause internal frictions. As well as targeting real issues, the
phrase "bu zheteng" is characterized by great subtlety and precision.

Moving forward, for the international media that want to understand the
thoughts of China, how can the phrase "bu zheteng" be translated?

Readers took the initiative to find all kinds of translations on the
internet, such as "don't flip flop," "don't get sidetracked," "don't sway
back and forth," "no dithering," as well as "no major changes."

When the above words were mentioned in casual conversations to colleagues
from the English media, all agreed that none of the translations were
adequate, since they do not convey the ideas of "chaos" and
"self-consumption" associated with the word "zheteng."

Interestingly, during a press conference held by the State Council
Information Office on December 30, when a reporter asked about "bu zheteng",
the interpreter on site directly used the Chinese pinyin "bu zheteng" when
referring to the phrase, drawing another round of laughter from the
audience. Afterwards, this was praised by the Chinese media in articles
saying that "bu zheteng" may become a proper noun in the English language.

After spending some time working on the translation of "bu zheteng", the
Chinese pinyin "bu zheteng" has become its translation. It's not the first
time for Modern Chinese words to be added to the English vocabulary. Take
spaceperson for example; North Americans use the word "astronaut," the
former Soviet Union uses "cosmonaut," and now, since 2003, there has been a
new word in space terminology, "taikonaut" (originating from Chinese pinyin
"taikong," meaning outer space), which means Chinese spaceperson. As a
country's national power grows, or it receives more attention, that
particular country will have the opportunity to contribute to the
vocabularies of foreign languages.

The article says that despite this, the official authoritative
interpretation of "bu zheteng" is still absent, probably in order to leave
ambiguous room for various interpretations. On the Internet, there are
articles that highly praise the phrase "bu zheteng", saying that it
demonstrates the wisdom of the Communist Party of China. At the same time,
there are netizens that do not accept this, with some arguing that "ordinary
people just want to live a trouble-free life and do not want any unnecessary
trouble."

======================

Source: People's Daily Online (1/19/09)
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90873/6576787.html

Chinese ambassador suggests a translation for "bu zheteng"

How should the phrase "bu zheteng" be translated into English? Regarding
this global puzzle facing the world, Ren Xiaoping, ambassador of the
People's Republic of China to the Republic of Namibia, gave her own answer.

She published an article on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website [see
http://www.mfa.gov.cn/chn/wjb/wjly/t474738.htm] providing an answer to this
difficult question that has baffled the translation elite.

During a recent conference held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of
reform and opening-up, General Secretary Hu Jintao said in his speech, "As
long as we don't waiver, don't slack off and don't 'zheteng,' and as long as
we firmly push forward reform and opening-up and walk the road of socialism
with Chinese characteristics, we are certain to be able to successfully
realize this grand blueprint and achieve the goals of our struggle."

Ren collected different translations of the phrase "bu zheteng" on the
Internet, including "don't flip flop," "don't get sidetracked," "don't sway
back and forth," "no dithering," "no major changes," "avoid futile actions,"
"stop making trouble and wasting time" and "no self-consuming political
movements."

She didn't think that any of these translations were precise or remarkable
enough, and thought none fully conveyed the idea of "zheteng." She suggested
instead a translation which she believes is more appropriate: avoid
self-inflicted setbacks.

=====================================

Xinhua's article on how to translate "不折腾" also has an online poll on
which translation is best. Currently, 37% of voters prefer "bu zheteng," 37%
prefer Ji Xianlin's "no trouble-making," and 13% prefer Ambassador Ren
Xiaoping's "avoid self-inflicted setbacks."

Bob

=====================================

I also prefer "buzheteng" itself, coz this is a word from Northern China
dialect, the exact meaning of which can only be grasped in context. It
perfectly displays CCP's trend towards 土共 (a nickname created by netizens).

Guangyi

==========================================================

Subject: bu zheteng (3)

It seems to me that in this context "bu zheteng" simply means "stay on
course."

Jim Dew

==========================================================

Subject: bu zheteng (4)

I've looked for the poll online, but I couldn't seem to find it. Would you
mind posting the url with the election results, and where list members might
be able to vote?

Lucas

==========================================================

In response to Lucas Klein's question, the Xinhua article is located at:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-01/20/content_10687277.htm

where you can participate in the online poll. The poll results are found at:

http://forum.xinhuanet.com/vote-view.jsp?id=6943

Bob
 
Περαιτέρω σχόλια: [να σημειώσω ότι ο μεταφραστικός ιστότοπος http://paper-republic.org που υπάρχει στο τέλος είναι αξιόλογος]

Subject: bu zheteng (6)
************************************************

As typical of many conceptual words in Chinese, the meaning of 'bu zheteng'
is open to interpretation. We won't get a satisfactory answer over its
translation unless and until we know what exactly Hu Jintao meant when he
used the expression. If Hu himself would be kind enough to explain to us, in
Chinese, what that phrase was supposed to mean in its context, then the
problem of translation could be easily resolved.

The nightmare for a translator is when the speaker uses vague expressions
unknowingly, or intentionally.

I can't see the phrase 'bu zheteng' becoming normalised as an English
expression. 'Taikonaut' could work, because the suffix 'naut' denotes some
meaning to the otherwise lost target audience. 'Taichi', 'udon' and 'sushi'
have become loan words in the English diction because they have a physical
form. They could be seen in real and their meaning could be learned. But how
does a non-Chinese, non-pinyin speaker ever decipher 'bu zheteng'? My worry
is that this catchphrase could be used as just another example to prove that
the Chinese are impossible to understand.

Red Chan

======================================
From: Wennan Liu Liu <[email protected]>
Subject: bu zheteng (7)

A new translation from netizens is "No Z turns".

I think Hu's "Bu Zheteng" reveals a Daoist political view. Laozi said:
"Governing a big country is just like cooking small fish." --Don't turn it
over too often, or the fish will be ruined or out of shape.

So, the hidden meaning of "Bu Zheteng" is avoiding any major change of
political and economic agenda, keeping on the current road, --and no reform.

======================================
From: Eric Abrahamsen <[email protected]>
Subject: bu zheteng (8)

We've got a couple of posts up on this subject at Paper Republic, one
a translation of a Chinese blog post:

http://paper-republic.org/ericabrahamsen/fooling-around/

And another by Lucas Klein:

http://paper-republic.org/lucasklein/no-fooling-around/

Have a look if you're interested, and chime in in the comments if the
spirit moves...

Thanks,
Eric
 
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