Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
外國人
Chinese translation:
people from other cultures
Added to glossary by
Roddy Stegemann
Apr 20, 2006 08:59
18 yrs ago
English term
United States
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Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, Japanese to English, French to English, and 3 more.
呢
Non-PRO
English to Chinese
Science
Education / Pedagogy
Grammatical Analysis
Sentence: 外國人目前對國畫越來越有興趣，有些還畫得不錯呢！
１st Attempt: Foreigners are becoming increasingly interested in traditional Chinese paintings, some are even quite good at painting them!
Problem 1: Assuming that I have captured everything else correctly what is the meaning of 呢 in this context? Is the speaker attempting to persuade the listener to believe what he says?
Problem 2: Also, I am not very fond of the word "foreigner", but the term "visitor" simply appeared too narrow. After all, someone could study Chinese art in France without ever setting foot in China and still capture the technique, even if he did not understand the content.
As always you are welcome to comment on other parts of my translation.
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html
１st Attempt: Foreigners are becoming increasingly interested in traditional Chinese paintings, some are even quite good at painting them!
Problem 1: Assuming that I have captured everything else correctly what is the meaning of 呢 in this context? Is the speaker attempting to persuade the listener to believe what he says?
Problem 2: Also, I am not very fond of the word "foreigner", but the term "visitor" simply appeared too narrow. After all, someone could study Chinese art in France without ever setting foot in China and still capture the technique, even if he did not understand the content.
As always you are welcome to comment on other parts of my translation.
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/contents.html
Proposed translations
21 mins
Selected
emphasis
1. It's for emphasis.
2. How about "non-Chinese," "people of other nationalities," or "people from other countries"
2. How about "non-Chinese," "people of other nationalities," or "people from other countries"
Note from asker:
| Emphasis is a poorly abused word when it comes to explaining many of the small words that occur in language. When we think deeply about how they are used, however, we find that their use is often well prescribed based on context and the speaker's intent. For example, can you think of other sentence particles that are used for emphasis that would not fit here? Or alternatively, can you think of other sentences in which the particle 呢 might apply that are similar to this sentence, but different from other sentences where 呢 would not be appropriate? Or, is the word 呢 like the English exclamation mark (!) and can be used anywhere and anytime the speaker wishes to emphasize a certain point? |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Revised sentence: People from other cultures are becoming increasingly interested in traditional Chinese paintings, some are even quite good at painting them!
Discussion:
That I may refer you to:
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/tsongkit/part2/II-6b-g.html#s19
Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Will Wong for his generous support. I incorporated his idea of "people for other ..." into my translation. Obviously we still need some work on the sentence suffix 呢.
Please do not feel like the Lone Ranger by the way. The path to success is often paved with moments of isolation, even when you are surrounded by friends. Stay the course and continue to travel upward."
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