Audio – Sách Trung Quốc 247: Mái nhà thân thuộc – Bài 155 – Manh – 萌 (萌) – Méng

在慢速中文的留言板上看到有位名叫Jesse的外国朋友的留言，他问：“萌”是什么意思？是不是“可爱”的意思？今天，我们就来聊一聊“萌”这个话题。

“萌”在中文里最初的意思是“萌生”，也就是“产生”。比如：这部电影让我萌生了去西藏看看的念头。还有一个词叫“萌芽”，意思是：植物种子破土而出，长出来的幼苗。

我发现东西方女性有个很大的差别，在我任教的美国女子高中，十五六岁的女孩子的穿着打扮都比较成熟，有的还化了妆。如果在街上遇到这样的女生，大部分中国人都会认为她们已经成年了。而在中国，即便是大学生，或者刚刚走上职场的年轻人也都很少把自己往成熟的方向打扮。在中国、日本、韩国，无论男女，都觉得看起来年轻而可爱的女性更有魅力，所以这几个国家女性的妆容都会相对年轻化，相对更甜美、更可爱。

也就是在这样的背景下，有了“萌”这个词的现代意义：可爱。最初是在日本的漫画里出现，通常是形容女性的漫画人物很“萌”。我们还可以说：她萌得不得了（她可爱得不得了）。后来也用来形容动物，比如：长颈鹿好萌啊！我觉得熊猫萌萌哒！以上是作为形容词的用法。“萌”还可以作为动词，意思是“喜欢”：我很萌这部漫画（我很喜欢这部漫画）。

我们在说动漫中的女性人物很“萌”时，一方面是说她很“可爱”，但是又不仅仅是“可爱”。那么，怎样的动漫女性被认为是很“萌”的呢？她们一般具有以下特征：
1、年轻，特别是脸很年轻，看起来就像十二三岁的少女的脸。
2、大大的眼睛，看起来水汪汪的最好。
3、头的比例比较大，肢体比较细小，看起来有点瘦弱，不是那种肌肉线条明显、爱运动的少女。
4、头发的颜色常常是多彩的、常常有刘海。
大概就是以上这些，符合三条基本就算是具备“萌”的特点了。

“萌”最初是流行于动漫爱好者的圈子里，后来在网络世界流传开来，所以就有了：萌妹子、萌萌哒、卖萌，这些说法。“卖萌”就是“装可爱”。网络上现在也有很多小动物“卖萌”的图片，只要你搜索“卖萌的动物”，就能看到了。

在慢速中文的留言板上看到有位名叫Jesse的外國朋友的留言，他問：“萌”是什麼意思？是不是“可愛”的意思？今天，我們就來聊一聊“萌”這個話題。

“萌”在中文裡最初的意思是“萌生”，也就是“產生”。比如：這部電影讓我萌生了去西藏看看的念頭。還有一個詞叫“萌芽”，意思是：植物種子破土而出，長出來的幼苗。

我發現東西方女性有個很大的差別，在我任教的美國女子高中，十五六歲的女孩子的穿著打扮都比較成熟，有的還化了妝。如果在街上遇到這樣的女生，大部分中國人都會認為她們已經成年了。而在中國，即便是大學生，或者剛剛走上職場的年輕人也都很少把自己往成熟的方向打扮。在中國、日本、韓國，無論男女，都覺得看起來年輕而可愛的女性更有魅力，所以這幾個國家女性的妝容都會相對年輕化，相對更甜美、更可愛。

也就是在這樣的背景下，有了“萌”這個詞的現代意義：可愛。最初是在日本的漫畫裡出現，通常是形容女性的漫畫人物很“萌”。我們還可以說：她萌得不得了（她可愛得不得了）。後來也用來形容動物，比如：長頸鹿好萌啊！我覺得熊貓萌萌噠！以上是作為形容詞的用法。 “萌”還可以作為動詞，意思是“喜歡”：我很萌這部漫畫（我很喜歡這部漫畫）。

我們在說動漫中的女性人物很“萌”時，一方面是說她很“可愛”，但是又不僅僅是“可愛”。那麼，怎樣的動漫女性被認為是很“萌”的呢？她們一般具有以下特徵：
1、年輕，特別是臉很年輕，看起來就像十二三歲的少女的臉。
2、大大的眼睛，看起來水汪汪的最好。
3、頭的比例比較大，肢體比較細小，看起來有點瘦弱，不是那種肌肉線條明顯、愛運動的少女。
4、頭髮的顏色常常是多彩的、常常有劉海。
大概就是以上這些，符合三條基本就算是具備“萌”的特點了。

“萌”最初是流行於動漫愛好者的圈子裡，後來在網絡世界流傳開來，所以就有了：萌妹子、萌萌噠、賣萌，這些說法。 “賣萌”就是“裝可愛”。網絡上現在也有很多小動物“賣萌”的圖片，只要你搜索“賣萌的動物”，就能看到了。

Zài màn sù zhōngwén de liúyán bǎn shàng kàn dào yǒu wèi míng jiào Jesse de wàiguó péngyǒu de liúyán, tā wèn:“Méng” shì shénme yìsi? Shì bùshì “kě’ài” de yìsi? Jīntiān, wǒmen jiù lái liáo yī liáo “méng” zhège huàtí.

“Méng” zài zhōngwén lǐ zuìchū de yìsi shì “méngshēng”, yě jiùshì “chǎnshēng”. Bǐrú: Zhè bù diànyǐng ràng wǒ méngshēngle qù xīzàng kàn kàn de niàntou. Hái yǒu yīgè cí jiào “méngyá”, yìsi shì: Zhíwù zhǒngzǐ pòtǔ ér chū, zhǎng chūlái de yòumiáo.

Wǒ fāxiàn dōngxī fāng nǚxìng yǒu gè hěn dà de chābié, zài wǒ rènjiào de měiguó nǚzǐ gāozhōng, shíwǔliù suì de nǚ háizi de chuānzhuó dǎbàn dōu bǐjiào chéngshú, yǒu de hái huàle zhuāng. Rúguǒ zài jiē shàng yù dào zhèyàng de nǚshēng, dà bùfèn zhōngguó rén dõuhuì rènwéi tāmen yǐjīng chéngniánle. Ér zài zhōngguó, jíbiàn shì dàxuéshēng, huòzhě gānggāng zǒu shàng zhíchǎng de niánqīng rén yě dõu hěn shǎo bǎ zìjǐ wǎng chéngshú de fāngxiàng dǎbàn. Zài zhōngguó, rìběn, hánguó, wúlùn nánnǚ, dōu juédé kàn qǐlái niánqīng ér kě’ài de nǚxìng gēng yǒu mèilì, suǒyǐ zhè jǐ gè guójiā nǚxìng de zhuāngróng dõuhuì xiāngduì niánqīng huà, xiāngduì gèng tiánměi, gèng kě’ài.

Yě jiùshì zài zhèyàng de bèijǐng xià, yǒule “méng” zhège cí de xiàndài yìyì: Kě’ài. Zuìchū shì zài rìběn de mànhuà lǐ chūxiàn, tōngcháng shì xíngróng nǚxìng de mànhuà rénwù hěn “méng”. Wǒmen hái kěyǐ shuō: Tā méng de bùdéle (tā kě’ài dé bùdéliao). Hòulái yě yòng lái xíngróng dòngwù, bǐrú: Chángjǐnglù hǎo méng a! Wǒ juédé xióngmāo méng méng dá! Yǐshàng shì zuòwéi xíngróngcí de yòngfǎ.“Méng” hái kěyǐ zuòwéi dòngcí, yìsi shì “xǐhuān”: Wǒ hěn méng zhè bù mànhuà (wǒ hěn xǐhuān zhè bù mànhuà).

Wǒmen zài shuō dòngmàn zhōng de nǚxìng rénwù hěn “méng” shí, yī fāngmiàn shì shuō tā hěn “kě’ài”, dànshì yòu bùjǐn jǐn shì “kě’ài”. Nàme, zěnyàng de dòngmàn nǚxìng bèi rènwéi shì hěn “méng” de ne? Tāmen yībān jùyǒu yǐxià tèzhēng:
1, Niánqīng, tèbié shì liǎn hěn niánqīng, kàn qǐlái jiù xiàng shí’èrsān suì de shàonǚ de liǎn.
2, Dàdà de yǎnjīng, kàn qǐlái shuǐ wāngwāng de zuì hǎo.
3, Tóu de bǐlì bǐjiào dà, zhītǐ bǐjiào xìxiǎo, kàn qǐlái yǒudiǎn shòuruò, bùshì nà zhǒng jīròu xiàntiáo míngxiǎn, ài yùndòng de shàonǚ.
4, Tóufǎ de yánsè chángcháng shì duōcǎi de, chángcháng yǒu liúhǎi.
Dàgài jiùshì yǐshàng zhèxiē, fúhé sāntiáo jīběn jiùsuàn shì jùbèi “méng” de tèdiǎnle.

“Méng” zuìchū shì liúxíng yú dòngmàn àihào zhě de quānzi lǐ, hòulái zài wǎngluò shìjiè liúchuán kāi lái, suǒyǐ jiù yǒule: Méng mèizi, méng méng dá, màiméng, zhèxiē shuōfǎ.“Màiméng” jiùshì “zhuāng kě’ài”. Wǎngluò shàng xiànzài yěyǒu hěnduō xiǎo dòngwù “màiméng” de túpiàn, zhǐyào nǐ sōusuǒ “màiméng de dòngwù”, jiù néng kàn dàole.

In the comments section of Slow Chinese I saw a message from a foreign follower called Jesse. ‘What is the meaning of 萌? Does it mean ‘cute’? Today we’ll talk about the question of 萌.’

The initial meaning of 萌 was 萌生 (come into being, arise; produce), i.e. 产生 (to produce). For example: ‘This film produced in me the idea of going to Tibet to have a look.’ There is also the word 萌芽 (sprout, bud), which means: the seed of a plant has broken the ground and sprouted, a seedling has sprouted.

I discovered that there is a big difference between Asian and western girls during my time in America teaching at a high school for girls. The style of dress and appearance of the fiften to sixteen year old girls was quite mature and some of them even used make-up. If Chinese met girls like this on the street, most of them would consider them already to be adults. Whereas in China, even if they were university students or young people that had just come onto the job market, they would rarely do themselves up in such an adult style. In China, Japan and Korea, regardless of whether male or female, it is felt that women that look young and cute are the most attractive so women in these countries will do their make-up in a young style also representing sweetness and to look as cute as possible.

With this background, the modern meaning of to have 萌 is: ‘cute’. The first occurrence of this was in Japanese mangas in which female characters were described as 萌. We can also say ‘she is extremely 萌’ (‘she is ‘cute’ in the extreme). Later this was also used to describe animals, e.g. ‘Giraffes are cute.’ ‘I find pandas cute as.’ In these sentences it functions as an adjective. But 萌 can also be used as a verb in which case the meaning is ‘to like’: I really 萌 this manga (I really like this manga).

When we describe female characters in manga as 萌, on the one hand we are saying that they are ‘cute’, but not only ‘cute’. So, what sort of female characters are cosidered 萌? In general they have the following traits:
1. Young, especially in the face, like a twelve or thirteen year old girl.
2. Big eyes, preferably bright and intelligent.
3. The head is proportionally large and the limbs proportianally small. They will look thin and weak. They are not those girls that with clearly defined muscles that like sport.
4. The hair is often coloured and with bangs.

So in general, if someone conforms to three of the above basic traits then she can be considered to be 萌.

萌 initially became popular in manga circles and later became popularised in the wider world through the internet with expressions such as 萌妹子、萌萌哒 and 卖萌 becoming popular. 卖萌 means the same as ‘to act cute’. Nowadays in the internet there are a lot of pictures of animals which are designed to be cute. You just need to do a search on 卖萌的动物 and you will see.

That’s it for today’s talk on 萌. If there are any more current words that you’d like to find out more about you’re welcome to leave a message.

Notes:

1) 萌萌哒: according to dictionaries 哒 is a modal particle but it seems to have taken on a life of it’s own in this expression. 萌萌哒 means ’incredibly cute’. The internet is noticebly short of explanations of 哒, however, other than to say that it’s a modal particle. It also occurs in the new expression 棒棒哒, meaning something like ‘awesome’ but sounding cute. Given the lack of dictionary entries it seems to have been appropriated to be used in such cutesy expressions.

Robert Budzul (robert@budzul.com)

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