Ian_Lee Posted November 17, 2004 at 12:43 AM Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 12:43 AM What does the term 悬念 mean? In Cantonese vocabulary, there is no such term as 悬念. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seagate Posted November 17, 2004 at 01:17 AM Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 01:17 AM It is something in suspension that you are eager to figure out. For example, when you are reading a detective story, you may not want somebody to tell you in advance who the killer is, since the 悬念 will be lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
光暗黎明 Posted November 17, 2004 at 01:28 AM Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 01:28 AM 悬念=the feeling that you want to know something that remain mysterious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted November 17, 2004 at 06:54 AM Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 06:54 AM What does the term 悬念 mean? In Cantonese vocabulary, there is no such term as 悬念. In your vocabulary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted November 17, 2004 at 06:53 PM Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 06:53 PM Quest: I mean at least in HK/Macau Cantonese vocabulary. Do you mean you guys in Guangzhou often use the term 悬念 in daily conversation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted November 17, 2004 at 08:30 PM Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 08:30 PM You mean you've never heard of the term 悬念 used in spoken Cantonese? Also conversational vocabulary is very different from written vocabulary or the available vocabulary of a language. This is especially true for Chinese dialects. But, even if some literary terms are not used often in speech, it does not mean these terms do not exist, and it's the same in every language. Vocabulary in standard written Chinese is being shared among all dialects, 悬念 is very well documented in modern Chinese dictionaries, and is therefore a usable term for all Chinese dialects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted November 17, 2004 at 08:30 PM Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 08:30 PM Well, I just did a Google search on 悬念 and unexpectedly the term came up with an astronomical 958,000 entries. But after I browsed 15 pages, all those websites with this term are either based in Mainland China or Japan. None of them are HK or Taiwan based websites. So apparently this term is only common in Mainland China and Japan. It is kind of strange because usually there are more Japanese loan words in HK and Taiwan vocabularies. But is 悬念 a Chinese loan word that is borrowed by Japan? Or vice versa? I wonder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted November 17, 2004 at 08:46 PM Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 at 08:46 PM 悬念 is very well documented in modern Chinese dictionaries, If you refer "modern" to post-1949 Mainland China, I have no argument since there have been a lot of new terms coined in that particular era and under that particular social system. But if you mean post "May 4th movement" vernacular Chinese, it doesn't look like 悬念 belongs to one of the loan words borrowed from Japan at that time. I just did a search on online dictionary and 悬念 doesn't come under the character 悬: http://www.monashwushu.com/cgi-bin/wordlook.pl?word=%C4%61&searchtype=big5&where=start&output=big5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek_frappa Posted November 18, 2004 at 02:48 AM Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 at 02:48 AM I just did a search on online dictionary and 悬念 doesn't come under the character 悬: http://www.monashwushu.com/cgi-bin/wordlook.pl?word=%C4%61&searchtype=big5&where=start&output=big5 try this ... http://chinese.primezero.com/soleri/s.php?q=%E6%82%AC%E5%BF%B5 then you can link here to find more examples: http://www.google.com/search?q=xuan+nian&ie=UTF-8&hl=zh-CN&lr=lang_zh-CN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted November 18, 2004 at 11:35 AM Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 at 11:35 AM But is 悬念 a Chinese loan word that is borrowed by Japan? Or vice versa? It's unlikely to have been borrowed from Japan. 悬念 (懸念 in Japanese) has very different meanings and uses in Japanese (It means fear/ worry). Also, most words borrowed from Japanese tend to have to do with science, technology & western imports. By the way, the normal Japanese word for "suspense" is SASUPENSU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted November 18, 2004 at 07:14 PM Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 at 07:14 PM Also, most words borrowed from Japanese tend to have to do with science, technology & western imports. Not necessarily true. The term that is always associated with suspense -- 推理 -- is a recent loan word that was borrowed from Japan in the '60s. The term was first adopted by Taiwan, then Hong Kong, and now it is widely used in Mainland China. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted November 18, 2004 at 11:03 PM Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 at 11:03 PM Ian_Lee, sorry but I don't get what you're really trying to say. You could perhaps check out the word 推理 in Japanese, the word " sasupensu / ｻｽﾍﾟﾝｽ " I suggested above, and also what is meant by "western imports". Only then, we can discuss further. (If you know Japanese, my user name should give you some clue). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted November 19, 2004 at 12:09 AM Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 at 12:09 AM Hashiri: Sorry I also don't understand what you are talking about. 推理 is suiri in Japanese which means "reasoning". A lot of 推理 novels were written about how to solve suspense and mystery. Why is it related to "western import"? I am not talking about the suspense novels written by Agatha Christie or those about Sherlock Holmes. When the term was first brought into Taiwan/HK in the '60s, it was adopted from those 推理 novels by Japanese writers like 松本清張 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted November 19, 2004 at 12:20 AM Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 at 12:20 AM It's unlikely to have been borrowed from Japan. 悬念 (懸念 in Japanese) has very different meanings and uses in Japanese (It means fear/ worry). Just a reminder. A lot of Chinese loan words have lost their original meanings in the Japanese vcabulary. And same are the Japanese loan words in Chinese vocabulary (albeit to a less extent since the borrowing happened more recently). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted November 19, 2004 at 09:57 AM Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 at 09:57 AM Ian_Lee, sorry but I don't get what you're really trying to say. Hashiri: Sorry I also don't understand what you are talking about. Shall we just move on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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