4 ms·
I suppose that wenyan is not a normal spoken language [1], but a form of a literary encoding, more like poetry meeting stenography, and a way to crystallize th
by nine_k 2y ago
I suppose that wenyan is not a normal spoken language [1], but a form of a literary encoding, more like poetry meeting stenography, and a way to crystallize the meaning without excessive syntax.
English translation requires many more words because a "normal", vernacular Chinese rendition would also require many more words.
My suggestion is to assume quotes:
"Dao which is 'dao' is not true dao", that is, the mere word "dao" (and, by extension, any more descriptive and explanatory words) is insufficient to convey the meaning of true dao.
[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese#Grammar_and_lexicon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese#Grammar_an...
- canjobear 2y agoIt was a bona fide spoken language at the time the Daodejing was written. Likely sounding very little like modern Chinese.
- otabdeveloper4 2y agoIt was likely an inflected language at the time it was spoken, and they just left the tedious grammar bits out when writing.
- solidsnack9000 2y agoWell, probably not, no -- I'm pretty sure the Daodejing was written in a literary language quite distinct from any spoken language at that time. This used to be something readily found all over the world.