President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday applauded the launch of an online cross-strait Chinese dictionary that incorporates a database on the languages used in Taiwan and China, a move to further bilateral cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.
The launch of the online Chinese Language Knowledge Database (中華語文知識庫), compiled by the General Association of -Chinese Culture (GACC), an institution under the Presidential Office, implemented one of Ma’s campaign promises during the 2008 presidential election to establish a cross-strait dictionary and facilitate cross-strait cultural exchanges as people on either side of the Taiwan Strait use different Chinese characters and phrases.
“The best way to handle the differences between traditional and simplified Chinese characters is to list both and explain the -differences. The database will help the two sides understand each other and promote cultural exchanges. There are no political intentions,” Ma said at the launch ceremony.
Photo: CNA
While defending the use of traditional Chinese characters since his two terms as Taipei mayor, Ma said it would be difficult to ask China to adopt traditional characters or for Taiwan to use simplified Mandarin instead.
“What we should do is to understand the different languages and look at the characters from a non-political perspective. Maybe the two sides will develop a new set of characters that can be used and -that would be acceptable across the [Taiwan] Strait,” he said.
GACC chairman Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said the database includes a compilation that juxtaposes characters and phrases commonly used by people from both sides of the Strait in their daily lives.
The online platform (chinese--linguipedia.org) can also be operated in a way similar to that of Wikipedia, allowing users to suggest more content or edit posted content after a submission is approved by experts, he said, adding that the association would eventually launch applications to extend the database service to users of smartphones and tablet computers.
The site includes a search -engine that allows users to look up words spoken by people from Taiwan and China. In addition to the definition, it will also show the equivalent used by the other side.
Ma said the database would also help the growing number of people who are learning Mandarin worldwide understand the differences between the languages adopted in Taiwan and China.
One of the examples he gave was the term “playing the trumpet” (吹喇叭), which means “giving someone a blowjob” in Taiwanese slang, but means “fawning over somebody” in China.
Additional reporting by CNA
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
RSS