Mandaren Chinese?

goulnik
April 08, 2008, 04:48 PM posted in General Discussion

I came across the word 满大人 (Mǎndàrén) this morning on while preparing my practice on history.  Wenlin translates this as 'Manchu officials; mandarins', I gathered this is where the word 'Mandarin' comes from, can anyone confirm the etymology 词源 (cíyuán)?

Not sure about English, but in French mandarin is still used colloquially to refer to  professors of medicine, probably because of the swarm of 'disciples' and aura surrounding them.

Profile picture
laosimake
April 08, 2008, 06:26 PM

The Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mandarin) claims Mandarin has a Portuguese origin, but I wonder if it is, nonetheless, linked to the Manchu term even though it's pre-1644. "Chinese official," 1589, via Port. mandarim or Du. mandorijn from Malay mantri, from Hindi mantri "councilor, minister of state," from Skt. mantri, nom. of mantrin- "advisor," from mantra "counsel," from PIE base *men- "to think" (see mind). Form infl. in Port. by mandar "to command, order." Used generically for the several grades of Chinese officials; sense of "chief dialect of Chinese" (spoken by officials and educated people) is from 1604. The type of small, deep-colored orange so called from 1771, from resemblance of its color to that of robes worn by mandarins.

Profile picture
laosimake
April 08, 2008, 06:53 PM

Merriam-Webster dictionary also confirms the Portuguese <-- Malay <-- Sanskrit connection. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandarin) Maybe Sanskrit picked it up from the Jurchens. :-)

Profile picture
goulnik
April 08, 2008, 07:18 PM

coincidence 巧合 (qiǎohé) or homophone (同音词 tóngyīncí) then, wrong but a least a good mnemonic 记法 (jìfǎ)