docs+skills: preserve speaker's voice (语气), not just tone

Reviewer feedback: translations must carry Master Jiqun's 语气, not only
register. Add a 'Speaker's Voice (语气)' section to mpi-translation and
expand check D3 in mpi-translation-review. Also note the idea of distilling
his way of talk into a dedicated skill (docs/idea-jiqun-voice-skill.md).
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# Idea: distill Master Jiqun's way of talk (语气) into a skill
Date: 2026-07-20
Status: idea / not scheduled
## Background
Reviewer feedback on a translated article: translations must preserve Master
Jiqun's 语气 — the speaker's voice and manner — not just the tone (register,
formality). A translation can have the right register and still flatten the
teacher's voice.
As a first step, a "Speaker's Voice (语气)" section was added to
`skills/mpi-translation/SKILL.md`, and check D3 in
`skills/mpi-translation-review/SKILL.md` was expanded to verify 语气 markers.
That covers the immediate need, but the knowledge is currently a short bullet
list inside a general skill.
## Idea
Distill Master Jiqun's way of talk into a dedicated skill (or a reference doc
under `skills/mpi-translation/references/`), built from evidence across many
of his talks:
- Collect characteristic passages (source + approved translations) from the
terms DB (`loc` fields) and finished articles in `translate-files/`.
- Catalog his recurring devices: rhetorical question chains, first-person
asides (我经常说 / 我曾在讲座中 / 由此我想到), reasoning connectives
(可见 / 所以说 / 事实上), homely analogies (rotting apple, leaking boat,
teacup, face mask), gentle admonition with humor, measured unhurried
authority, inclusive we/you address.
- For each device, give approved English renderings and common failure modes
(e.g. question → declaration, "我经常说" → "it is said").
- Possibly also cover delivery/register differences between his oral talks,
essays, and micro-blog posts.
## Open questions
- Standalone skill vs. reference doc under `mpi-translation`? A reference doc
is probably enough; a full skill may be overkill.
- Who approves the example translations used as evidence?
- Should it also cover other MPI teachers, or stay Jiqun-specific?
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- **D2 Cultural anachronism.** Modern concepts projected onto classical material. - **D2 Cultural anachronism.** Modern concepts projected onto classical material.
Example: translating 般若 as "wisdom" in a scholarly context may flatten the Example: translating 般若 as "wisdom" in a scholarly context may flatten the
term; in a popular talk it may be exactly right. term; in a popular talk it may be exactly right.
- **D3 Tone / voice of the teacher.** For oral talks, preserve the speaker's - **D3 Tone AND voice (语气) of the teacher.** For oral talks, preserve the
warmth, rhetorical questions, and direct address. Do not flatten into essay speaker's warmth, rhetorical questions, and direct address. Beyond register,
prose. check the 语气 markers in `../mpi-translation/SKILL.md` → "Speaker's Voice
(语气)": rhetorical questions kept as questions, first-person teacher asides
("我经常说") kept in first person, reasoning connectives (可见, 所以说)
preserved, inclusive we/you address, homely analogies left concrete, gentle
rather than scolding admonition. Do not flatten into essay prose.
- **D4 Implicit meaning / implicature.** What the source implies but does not say - **D4 Implicit meaning / implicature.** What the source implies but does not say
(e.g., irony, conventional politeness, Gricean maxims). Ensure the implication (e.g., irony, conventional politeness, Gricean maxims). Ensure the implication
survives or is compensated. survives or is compensated.
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4. **Voice**: Direct address ("you"), concrete images, and oral rhythm make Dharma land in English. Abstract noun chains (common in Chinese→English translationese) kill it. 4. **Voice**: Direct address ("you"), concrete images, and oral rhythm make Dharma land in English. Abstract noun chains (common in Chinese→English translationese) kill it.
5. **Sutra quotes**: Use standard English Buddhist idiom. Check terse-idiom conventions (e.g., Diamond Sutra "lives" not "bodies"). 5. **Sutra quotes**: Use standard English Buddhist idiom. Check terse-idiom conventions (e.g., Diamond Sutra "lives" not "bodies").
## Speaker's Voice (语气)
Tone (register, formality) is not enough — preserve the speaker's 语气: the
stance and manner carried by sentence mood. Reviewers have flagged translations
that got the tone right but flattened the teacher's voice. 语气 lives in:
- **Sentence mood.** Rhetorical questions stay questions ("幸福在哪里?" →
"Where is happiness?", not "Happiness is nowhere to be found.").
Exclamations and wonder stay exclamatory. Do not convert the speaker's
questioning into declarations.
- **First-person teacher asides.** 济群法师 often speaks in his own voice:
"我经常说……", "我曾在讲座中多次谈到……", "由此我想到……". Keep the
first person — do not flatten to "it is often said" or impersonal prose.
These asides are how he establishes presence with the audience.
- **Reasoning connectives.** His talks argue step by step: 可见, 所以说,
事实上, 问题在于. Render the logical gait ("So it is clear that…", "That
is why…", "In fact…") rather than dropping it — the reasoned,
unhurried persuasion IS his voice.
- **Inclusive address.** Default "we" for shared human condition, "you" when
he turns to the listener. Do not drift into abstract third person ("one",
"people") where the source speaks as teacher-to-audience.
- **Everyday analogies, plainly told.** Rotting apples, leaking boats,
teacups, face masks — keep the homely image concrete and unvarnished;
do not upgrade it to literary language or explain it away.
- **Gentle admonition, never scolding.** He points out folly with warmth and
a little humor (the "有点烦" pop song, Mo Yan's dodge). Keep the lightness;
avoid both sermonizing severity and jokey casualness.
- **Measured authority.** Calm, composed, unhurried. No hype, no exclamation-
point enthusiasm, no academic hedging ("arguably", "it could be said").
Check: read a paragraph aloud as if delivering a talk to a lay audience. If it
sounds like an essay, a lecture abstract, or a motivational speaker, the 语气
has been lost.
## Pitfalls ## Pitfalls
### Pre-flight accuracy check ### Pre-flight accuracy check