🐭A Short Essay🐭
“Chair”I once wrote that it is strange for a dictionary definition of “chair” to go out of its way to specify “with a backrest,” as surely a “chair” must have a backrest. But then, I hesitated, wondering if that was really the case. When I hold up a stool without a backrest during lectures or presentations for learners and ask, “This isn’t a chair, is it?”, it seems that fewer people nod in agreement these days. That wasn’t the case when I was just starting out...
When writing “chair” in kana as “isu,” the etymology—a tool to lean on, derived from the characters 倚 (lean) to 椅 (chair)—is no longer consciously felt. Perhaps because of this, the distinction between whether or not there is a backrest is fading, and in Japanese, the distinction between “dengzi” and “yizi” is likely being forgotten.
In Chinese, where there is a strong tendency to distinguish by shape rather than by purpose, this type of confusion is unlikely to occur. Even for the same type of footwear, “shoes,” they are distinguished as “xie” and “xuezi” depending on whether they are short or long. Similarly, even for instruments that indicate time and measure duration, it is very characteristic of Chinese to clearly distinguish them as “zhong” and “biao” based on their size.
Keiji Ueno
Former Chairman, The Chinese Proficiency Test Association
Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1939. Graduated from the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Letters, Tokyo University of Education (now University of Tsukuba), and the Department of Chinese Literature at the same university. Completed graduate studies at Osaka City University. Doctor of Literature. In charge of the NHK Radio Chinese language course for many years starting in 1981. Served as a professor at the University of Tsukuba and Kyoritsu Women's University. Participated in the establishment of the Chinese Proficiency Test Association and served as a director and chairman for a long time. Author of “A Walk Through Language” I–VII (Hakuteisha), the Chinese-Japanese bilingual version of the same book “Zhongri Yuyan Wenhua Manbu” I–IV (Jilin University Press), “Selected Chinese Idiom Dictionary” 2nd Edition (Hakuteisha), and many others. Also the author of numerous books on Chinese language and culture.