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?
Search from various English teachers...
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"
0
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"
0
谢谢你！
0
环境 -- environment 卫生 -- hygiene/sanitation
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