Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Chinese term or phrase:
第二义的
English translation:
of secondary significance/importance - acquired meaning
Added to glossary by
Francesca Cassini
May 23, 2010 10:25
14 yrs ago
Chinese term
第二义的
Chinese to English
Art/Literary
Folklore
Context is: “风”的扩散及教化影响的含义是后人附会的、第二义的.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +1 | of secondary significance/importance |
Q Yue
|
Proposed translations
+1
8 mins
Selected
of secondary significance/importance
Well, more contextual clues are needed to work out the exact meaning of this sentence. Judging from what I have here, I think “第二义的" can be translated as ...is of secondary significance/importance
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Note added at 4 days (2010-05-28 10:18:16 GMT)
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Hi, f_cassini, sounds you've got a pretty tricky job there. I read the sentence again and now i think it most likely means "acquired meanings". Seems to me it makes better sense together with the preceding phrase 后人附会的, which i take to mean "meanings/significance assigned to 风 by later generations".
Hope it helps!
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Note added at 4 days (2010-05-28 10:18:16 GMT)
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Hi, f_cassini, sounds you've got a pretty tricky job there. I read the sentence again and now i think it most likely means "acquired meanings". Seems to me it makes better sense together with the preceding phrase 后人附会的, which i take to mean "meanings/significance assigned to 风 by later generations".
Hope it helps!
Note from asker:
| Thanks to Q Yue and Su Hong for your answers. The paper I'm translating is on the importance of 风俗in Chinese culture, so it sounds a bit strange to me that the author is saying that 风's influence is of secondary importance. As it is something "后人附会的", maybe also 第二义的 refers to the fact that in its meaning there is a second layer, that contemporary people cannot perceive. Do you think this makes sense? Any idea of how to translate this? |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: ""Acquired meanings" sounds perfect to me, your answer is really helpful!"
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