rocknload: (MARVEL ☌ my name is Princess Powerful.)
Brittany ([personal profile] rocknload) wrote2010-01-31 02:02 am

(no subject)

So for my Chinese linguistics class I have to give a half hour presentation. One of the first presentations of the semester, actually, I'm like fourth out of the class. The topics we've heard so far were stuff like, "How the Chinese Writing System Was Developed" and "How the Simplified Characters Were Derived." Okay, cool, that's interesting stuff. This presentation thing looks pretty easy, actually!

My assigned topic is: "Culture and the Idealized Cognitive Models of Mandarin Chinese Compounds." Come on, man.

[identity profile] maxiboom.livejournal.com 2010-01-31 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I tried, I really did, but I can't for the life of me understand what that means.
ext_57246: (Default)

[identity profile] rocknload.livejournal.com 2010-02-02 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
It means, like -- English has a conceptualized idea of "heart" and the functions it does, and this shows up in idiomatic expressions like "from the heart" and things like that. Well Chinese has different cultural ideas, especially when it comes to like, FEELINGS and stuff, and so the end up with phrases that are like incomprehensible for people learning Chinese. That is what I am giving a presentation on.