Key place: CHINA | Mandarin – the language and the person

Before the era of colonialism exploded in the 17th century, the Portuguese were already sailing the seas and establishing commercial ports on the coast of Africa (West and East), India and many other Asian countries, including China and even Japan. In China, despite the Chinese dislike for foreigners, they managed to be accepted as trading “partners” (it is not clear how) and built a very successful trading port in Macau. This port was in connection with other Portuguese ports in the area, for example in Japan, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The final aim was, of course, to ship many riches to the capital of the Portuguese empire, Lisbon.

“Mandarim” is originally a Portuguese word (mandarim), meaning a Chinese public official of a higher rank. Rumour has it that the Portuguese used to make fun of these bureaucratic officials, who were considered pedant, thus, the word mandarim could be used in a depreciative way. The Portuguese adopted this word from the Sanskrit mantrin via Malay mĕntĕri, meaning “counsellor”, as in “the one in charge”.

In truth, the term “mandarin” does not really exist in China, it is a European term. “Mandarins” were actually public servants that existed for as long as emperors existed. To become a public servant, one had to pass a very strict and demanding exam called 科举 [Keju], meaning “imperial examination”. The candidates would be (literally) locked up in cells for three days, dressed with a robe given to them (to avoid cheating) and would answer all kinds of questions from different fields of knowledge. Some would die during that time; many would fail the exam. However, those who passed the exam had a lifelong job waiting for them. The candidates could take the exam at any given age, so many would repeat it until old age.

Education has always been very important in China, thus, these public servants (which were also scholars) were highly regarded by society. They were also examples and defenders of moral values, studying the arts, science, law, and politics throughout their lives. Confucius was one of those public servants in the law field. Things did not work very well for him in such a role and he ended up going back to his hometown to become a teacher. As a teacher, however, he was a success and his teachings set the basis for the entire moral framework of China, until our days. He lived at the same time as Sun Tzu, the one who set the military framework of China.

As part of the imperial staff, public officials spoke the language of the imperial court, which much later has become the standard language for the entire country. For Europeans that is “Mandarin Chinese”, which is named after those public officials. In Chinese, it is 中文 (Chinese language/writing). The first character is an abbreviation for 中国 (China or China-related). Some people say there are different languages in China, others say they are just different dialects. Standard Chinese is based on the language/dialect of Beijing (the old imperial court “language”), whose written version has been simplified in the 20th century to make it easier to teach it to the whole population and facilitate its spread throughout the country. Generally, this is the “language/dialect” learnt by foreigners.

Some decades ago, business people from outside China were encouraged to learn the Cantonese language. Cantonese comes from “Canton”, which originates from the Portuguese word Cantão, which was how Portuguese merchants would pronounce Guangdong, the Chinese province where Macau and Hong Kong are located. As both these cities became international trading ports (Macau was Portuguese and Hong Kong was British), during a period of time the international Chinese language for business was Cantonese. Not so much anymore.

Yet, “Mandarin” can have other meanings. It can refer to a type of orange, originated from Asia and similar to a tangerine, probably named after the Chinese imperial public officers due to their orange robes. The public offices also “gave” their name to a bird: the Mandarin duck that is very adorned, like the imperial mandarins…

Sources:

This article is part of the WORD CHRONICLES series

Word Chronicles are articles where the meaning of words, concepts, and perceptions are discussed.

Celebrating 2 years – Unlocking some articles

“Words in Ideas” was launched two years ago and to celebrate it we have a present for you: we are unlocking the articles that were for subscribers only. Here they are, ranked by popularity:

You can find these and other articles from the first two years compiled in Words in Ideas Book 1: “Articles 2024-2025”. Check here where you can buy it.

The work, le travail, die Arbeit, el trabajo

“I declare the first gathering of The Foreign Lands’ Explorers open,” said Jack and everyone clapped and cheered. “The topic for today is ‘the work’.”

“’El trabajo’, in Spanish; ‘il lavoro’, in Italian; ‘o trabalho’, in Portuguese,” said Leo.

“’Le travail’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Die Arbeit’, in German”, said Michael.

“’Arbejdet’, in Danish; ‘arbeidet’, in Norwegian; ‘arbetet’, in Swedish”, said Sophia.

“’Trabajo’, ‘trabalho’, and ‘travail’ come from Latin. The original word, at the time, was related to a torture instrument with three stakes. I have no idea how it progressed, but we can assume that there was a connection made somewhere by common people between ‘work’ and ‘torture’…”, explained Leo. “The Italian word comes from the Latin word ‘labor’, which was the official and standard word for ‘work’ at the time. In Spanish, French, and Portuguese a similar word also exists with a similar meaning, but usually is used in handcraft work or in the farming context. It makes sense because at the time most of the work was related with agriculture. In English, we can also see this word being used in some contexts, like in ‘labour market’.”

“Actually, there is a similar situation in German. The word ‘Werk’ also means work in a more formal manner, but it is mostly related with factories and the like. Both words ‘Werk’ and ‘work’ have the same origin. In English language the word ‘labour’ can be used, but it’s more commonly used in the farming context”, added Michael.

“Then, there is ‘job’, which can mean a task or an employment”, said Jack.

“In Spanish and in Portuguese the word is the same, but there is also the word ‘empleo’ and ‘emprego’, respectively, for ‘employment’, which is similar to English”, informed Leo.

“Yes, ‘employment’ was adopted to English via French, whose word is ‘emploi’. In French slang you can also say ‘boulot’”, added Elizabeth.

“Ok, what about ‘unemployment’? In Swedish is ‘arbetslöshet’, in Danish is ‘arbejdsløshed’, and in Norwegian is ‘arbeidsledighet’”, said Sophia. “Basically it means ‘without work’”.

“In German is not so different: ‘Arbeitslosigkeit’”, added Michael.

“In French is ‘chômage’”, said Elizabeth.

“’Chômage’?! Where that came from?”, asked Jack.

“It comes from the Latin word ‘caumare’, which means to take a break during the heat”, explained Elizabeth.

“That doesn’t seem to make much sense…”, laughed Sophia.

“Well, try working during the heat and you’ll probably start to see some sense…”, commented Jack. “We all have to learn the ropes with those who came before us.”

“Learn the ropes? What do you mean?”, asked Leo.

“It’s an idiomatic expression that means learning to do a job”, answered Jack. “It was used when new sailors had to learn how to tide the ropes in sailing boats.”

“As they say in Germany: ‘die Arbeit, die uns freut, wird zum Vergnügen’. This means ‘the work that we enjoy becomes pleasure’”, said Michael.

“Unless you ‘tombes dans le panneau’”, said Elizabeth. As everyone stared at her, she explained: “You can fall into a trap”. Then everyone went “Ahhhh”.

“You can always take a ‘föräldrapenning’, as the Swedish say. Or ‘foreldrepenger’, in Norwergian. Or ‘forældreorlov’ in Danish”, said Sophia.

“What exactly is that?”, asked Leo.

“Parental leave”, clarified Sophia.

“Oh, ‘congé parental’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Permiso parental’ in Spanish; ‘congedo parentale’, in Italian; and ‘licença parental’, in Portuguese”, said Leo.

“’Elternurlaub’, in German”, said Michael.

“Well, you would have to have a child first…”, commented Elizabeth.

“I declare the first gathering of The Foreign Lands’ Explorers open,” said Jack and everyone clapped and cheered. “The topic for today is ‘the work’.”

“’El trabajo’, in Spanish; ‘il lavoro’, in Italian; ‘o trabalho’, in Portuguese,” said Leo.

“’Le travail’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Die Arbeit’, in German”, said Michael.

“’Arbejdet’, in Danish; ‘arbeidet’, in Norwegian; ‘arbetet’, in Swedish”, said Sophia.

“’Trabajo’, ‘trabalho’, and ‘travail’ come from Latin. The original word, at the time, was related to a torture instrument with three stakes. I have no idea how it progressed, but we can assume that there a connection was made somewhere on the way by common people between ‘work’ and ‘torture’…”, explained Leo. “The Italian word comes from the Latin word ‘labor’, which was the official and standard word for ‘work’ at the time. In Spanish, French, and Portuguese a similar word also exists with a similar meaning, but usually is used in handcraft work or in the farming context. It makes sense because at the time most of the work was related to agriculture. In English, we can also see this word being used in some contexts, like in ‘labour market’.”

“Actually, there is a similar situation in German. The word ‘Werk’ also means work in a more formal manner, but it is mostly related with factories and the like. Both words ‘Werk’ and ‘work’ have the same origin. In the English language, the word ‘labour’ can be used, but it’s more commonly used in the farming context”, added Michael.

“Then, there is ‘job’, which can mean a task or an employment”, said Jack.

“In Spanish and in Portuguese the word is the same, but there is also the word ‘empleo’ and ‘emprego’, respectively, for ‘employment’, which is similar to English”, informed Leo.

“Yes, ‘employment’ was adopted to English via French, whose word is ‘emploi’. In French slang, you can also say ‘boulot’”, added Elizabeth.

“Ok, what about ‘unemployment’? In Swedish is ‘arbetslöshet’, in Danish is ‘arbejdsløshed’, and in Norwegian is ‘arbeidsledighet’”, said Sophia. “Basically, it means ‘without work’”.

“In German is not so different: ‘Arbeitslosigkeit’”, added Michael.

“In French it is ‘chômage’”, said Elizabeth.

“’Chômage’?! Where did that come from?”, asked Jack.

“It comes from the Latin word ‘caumare’, which means to take a break during the heat”, explained Elizabeth.

“That doesn’t seem to make much sense…”, laughed Sophia.

“Well, try working during the heat and you’ll probably start to see some sense…”, commented Jack. “We all have to learn the ropes with those who came before us.”

“Learn the ropes? What do you mean?”, asked Leo.

“It’s an idiomatic expression that means learning to do a job”, answered Jack. “It was used when new sailors had to learn how to tide the ropes in sailing boats.”

“As they say in Germany: ‘die Arbeit, die uns freut, wird zum Vergnügen’. This means ‘the work that we enjoy becomes pleasure’”, said Michael.

“Unless you ‘tombes dans le panneau’”, said Elizabeth. As everyone stared at her, she explained: “You can fall into a trap”. Then everyone went “Ahhhh”.

“You can always take a ‘föräldrapenning’, as the Swedish say. Or ‘foreldrepenger’, in Norwegian. Or ‘forældreorlov’ in Danish”, said Sophia.

“What exactly is that?”, asked Leo.

“Parental leave”, clarified Sophia.

“Oh, ‘congé parental’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Permiso parental’ in Spanish; ‘congedo parentale’, in Italian; and ‘licença parental’, in Portuguese”, said Leo.

“’Elternurlaub’, in German”, said Michael.

“Well, you would have to have a child first…”, commented Elizabeth.

After this introduction to the topic, they decided to compare the name of some professions in different languages. They started with the firefighters.

While in the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic languages the focus is on fire (they are the people of the fire / those who fight the fire), in Latin languages the focus is on the pumps that were used at the beginning of firefighting (they are the people of the pumps).

Between ‘assistant’ and ‘host’ / ‘hostess’ or ‘steward’ / ‘stewardess’, there is not much difference.

In this case, except in the Spanish language, the expression is very similar to all other languages. “Journalism” was a term born in the 18th century in France and comes from “jour”, as in “report every day”. In Spanish, “newspaper” is “periódico”, hence the “periodista”.

In German and in the Nordic languages, the word refers to an instructor, someone who provides training for someone to acquire a skill, which has a similar meaning for “teacher”, although the root is different. The perspective is “to show how it’s done”. In Latin languages, the perspective is “someone who dominates an art and transmits its knowledge to their disciples”. In these languages, the teacher is regarded as a kind of “keeper of knowledge”. This is even more emphasised in Spanish, where the teacher is considered a “master”. Actually, in the other Latin countries, a teacher used to be called “master” and in some contexts it is still the case.

As it was getting late, they decided to wrap up. They could discuss and compare terms in different languages for hours, but they all had classes the next morning. However, when everyone was preparing to leave, Leo remembered something.

“Do you know the origin of the word ‘salary’?”

Everyone looked at Leo.

“Salt was extremely important during the Roman Empire. So, it was the reference to pay soldiers what was due to them. It was the ‘salt portion’ they could have. They still use that term in English, in Portuguese (‘salário’), in French (‘salaire’), and in Spanish in certain contexts (‘salario’).”

“If it’s a constant pay, for example every month, it’s ‘sueldo’. If it is an irregular pay it’s a ‘salario’”, said Elizabeth.

“Exactly”, confirmed Leo. “It’s similar in Italian: ‘salario’ is an hourly pay whereas ‘stipendio’ is a fixed pay”.

“That’s also similar in German. If it’s fixed it’s ‘Gehalt’ and if it’s variable it’s ‘Lohn’”, said Michael.

“Ah, in Swedish it’s ‘lön’, in Danish it’s ‘løn’, and in Norwegian it’s ‘lønn’”, added Sophia.

And, on that note, they reluctantly went back home.

Places, lieux, Orte, lugares

When learning a foreign language, it is advisable to use it in context. That is why books and classes have simulations of situations such as “in the airport”, “meeting new people”, “daily routine”. You can do the same in real situations. Imagine you are going to travel. You can recreate the “in the airport” scenes and write and perform them in the language you are learning. All you need is the vocabulary, simple sentences, and a willingness to practice.

The airport is a good place to start. From there, you can go to different countries and different sceneries. You can make up travels, describe trips you have already made, or journeys you are about to start. You can also talk about your city or your country. The possibilities are endless.

Below we provide a list of vocabulary that you can use (in a pdf, which you can download) and some examples in English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. You can compare and get inspired.

Let’s start with a very simple example, which can be completed step by step.

(EN) I live in a city.
(FR) J’habite dans une ville.
(DE) Ich wohne in einer Stadt.
(ES) Vivo en una ciudad.
(PT) Vivo numa cidade.

A city is located in something bigger, like a municipality:

(EN) I live in a city, which is located in a municipality.
(FR) J’habite dans une ville située dans une municipalité.
(DE) Ich wohne in einer Stadt, die zu einer Gemeinde gehört.
(ES) Vivo en una ciudad, que está situada en un municipio.
(PT) Vivo numa cidade, que se situa num município.

Instead of going from smaller to bigger, you can go from bigger to smaller:

(EN) The world has five continents. Each continent has several countries. Each country has several regions. Each region has several municipalities. Each municipality has several cities.
(FR) Le monde compte cinq continents. Chaque continent compte plusieurs pays. Chaque pays a plusieurs régions. Chaque région compte plusieurs municipalités. Chaque municipalité compte plusieurs villes.
(DE) Die Welt hat fünf Kontinente. Jeder Kontinent hat mehrere Länder. Jedes Land hat mehrere Regionen. Jede Region hat mehrere Gemeinden. Jede Gemeinde hat mehrere Städte.
(ES) El mundo tiene cinco continentes. Cada continente tiene varios países. Cada país tiene varias regiones. Cada región tiene varios municipios. Cada municipio tiene varias ciudades.
(PT) O mundo tem cinco continentes. Cada continente tem vários países. Cada país tem várias regiões. Cada região tem vários municípios. Cada município tem várias cidades.

You can talk about your favourite places in the world:

(EN) I love the beaches in the Dominican Republic, but every winter I go to the mountains in Switzerland.
(FR) J’adore les plages de la République Dominicaine, mais chaque hiver je vais dans les montagnes en Suisse.
(DE) Ich liebe die Strände der Dominikanischen Republik, aber jeden Winter gehe ich in die Berge in der Schweiz.
(ES) Me encantan las playas de la República Dominicana, pero todos los inviernos voy a las montañas de Suiza.
(PT) Adoro as praias da República Dominicana, mas todos os invernos vou às montanhas na Suíça.

You can play with the cardinal points:

(EN) Switzerland is located in the centre of Europe. In the north is Germany, in the east is Austria, in the south is Italy and in the west is France.
(FR) La Suisse est située au centre de l’Europe. Au nord se trouve l’Allemagne, à l’est l’Autriche, au sud l’Italie et à l’ouest la France.
(DE) Die Schweiz liegt in der Mitte von Europa. Im Norden ist Deutschland, im Osten ist Österreich, im Süden ist Italien und im Westen ist Frankreich.
(ES) Suiza está situada en el centro de Europa. Al norte está Alemania, al este Austria, al sur Italia y al oeste Francia.
(PT) A Suíça está situada no centro da Europa. A norte fica a Alemanha, a leste a Áustria, a sul a Itália e a oeste a França.

Once you have enough practice in building isolated sentences, you can start building little texts. You can also build your own list of vocabulary. The best way to do this is by topics.

Lawns, cherries, cows, and chickens

Proverbs or sayings are one of the best ways to get to know the culture of a country, or a language. A language is developed according to the place where it is born. That is why snowy countries have many words for snow and words and expressions related to the sea are common in coastal countries. Of course, with colonialism and the imposition of European languages in other parts of the world, this got a little distorted. However, European languages are evolving differently in each part of the world where they were introduced. This means that European languages are adapting themselves to other realities. That is why we have British English, American English, and Australian English, for example. It is the same language (English), but with specificities in each region. Even British English is not as harmonious as people might think.

As people are similar everywhere, some proverbs or sayings have the same meaning although they are presented differently, according to the reality of each language. On the other hand, there are those which are unique and don’t have a direct equivalence. When translating these, chances are they need to be explained rather than translated.

Let’s analyse a practical example, comparing an English proverb with its equivalent in French, Germany, Spanish, and Portuguese:

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Gardens are very important in England, especially the private little gardens attached to individual houses. Together with the weather, gardening is the top topic of conversation. These gardens are usually limited by fences, which are also the boundary between gardens. It is part of human nature to compare what we have with what others have. Usually, we believe that other people’s lives are better than ours (partly because each person tries to show that their own life is better). So, by comparing the grass of their own garden with the neighbour’s grass, people are led to believe that the neighbour’s grass is greener, thus, more beautiful.

In French, the expression with the same meaning is:

L’herbe est toujours plus verte ailleurs.
TRANSLATION word by word: The grass is always greener somewhere else.

Basically, the metaphor is the same, but a little more wide-ranging. Instead of referring to the little garden next door, they talk about any grass anywhere else but there. It could be the grass from the nearest village or the grass on the other side of the country. Everywhere is better than where one is.

In Germany, the equivalent expression is:

Kirschen in Nachbars Garten schmecken immer besser.
TRANSLATION word by word: Cherries in the neighbour’s garden always taste better.

In Germany, the comparison is not about grass, but cherries. This means that German people have fruit trees in their backyards and value them more than gardens. Probably, the kids often go to other people’s property and steal fruit. Why cherries and not other fruit? As cherries like cold, the fact that it snows abundantly in Germany makes it perfect weather for them.

In Spain, it isn’t about grass or fruit trees, but animals:

Vacas ajenas dan mejor carne.
TRANSLATION word by word: Other cows give tastier meat.

Cows are very important in Spain. Besides fighting bulls, Spanish people like to eat beef. So, raising cattle is a popular activity and the quality of beef is very important.

Finally, in Portugal, the expression is also about farm animals, but a different kind of animal:

A galinha da vizinha é mais gorda que a minha.
TRANSLATION word by word: The neighbour’s chicken is fatter than mine.

In the Portuguese countryside, everyone has chickens. Everyone, no exceptions. So, chickens are very important as they provide eggs and meat. The aim is to get them fat because the fatter they are, the more meat will be there to cook.