May 07 2011
Vocab – May 7
Here are a few words that threw me in a spin when I first encountered them in Chinese.
遜尼派 / Sunni Islam- An Islamic sect. Explanation following the next entry…
Shiite Islam / Shia Islam/ Shi’ite Islam /什叶派 – An Islamic sect. Note that “Shiite” is two syllables. The two Islamic sects are mentioned a lot in the coverage of Bahrain. People who believe in the former are called “Sunnis”, the latter “Shiites”, “Shi’ites” or “Shias”. How do you remember which is which? I’ll leave that to you. Just remember that most Muslims are Sunni, with the exception of most of Iran, which is Shiite.
Misrata / 米苏拉塔 A city in Libya, and the scene of heavy fighting.
United Nations Human Rights Council / UNHCR / 联合国人权理事会 The UNHCR has been in the news recently; they had a meeting about Syria.
Damascus / 大马士革 The capital of Syria.
阿萨德 / Assad The surname of the Syrian president.
More coming soon!