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Etymology of 环卫?How did “ring guard” become “environmental sanitation”?
Would someone please help me understand the etymology of 环卫?
环 - huan2 - jade ring or bracelet
卫 - wei4 - guard
环卫 - environmental sanitation
How did this word come about from its individual characters?
Jul 10, 2019 3:28 PM
Answers · 7
1
Like Donald said, It is short for 环境卫生. Ancient Chinese believe the sky is round like a bracelet and the earth is flat. 环境 literally means "the space of the bracelet" and later extended to mean "the space around us", "situation" and "environment". 卫 = protect/guard 生 = life. The Chinese language is flexible in using old words for new situations. For example, 电 originally means lightning and is now extended to mean "electricity" and so "electric talk" 电話 becomes "telephone". Many computer terms in English also uses this method to express new terms instead of inventing new words; eg, "abort", "bug"
July 10, 2019
the way you are learning Chinese is incorrect
there are no deep meanings there
they are just words
like there's no "poo" in "spoon"
July 10, 2019
谢谢你!
July 10, 2019
环境 -- environment 卫生 -- hygiene/sanitation
July 10, 2019
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Stan
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), Chinese (Cantonese), English
Learning Language
Chinese (Mandarin), Chinese (Cantonese)
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