A WORD A WORLD
How Are Things Going?
By Kagiso L. Malela
一词，一世界：最近怎么样？ 有 时候，语言会带来奇妙的惊喜。 在博茨瓦纳，人们见面时常会说一句 “Go tsamaya yang?”（塞茨瓦纳语，发音大致 为：”Go tsa-ma-ya yang.”） 它的意思是：”最近怎么样？” 或者更自然一 点，”最近过得怎么样？” 有趣的是，这句话听起来竟然和中文里的 “怎 么样？” (zěnmeyàng) 有几分相似。 当然，这完全只是巧合。塞茨瓦纳语和汉语属 于完全不同的语系，相隔一万多公里，也没有 任何已知的语言联系。然而，两种文化却不约 而同地形成了相似的表达方式：见面时，先关 心对方过得怎么样。 在博茨瓦纳，人们的问候不仅仅是一句”你好” 。他们喜欢询问、关心，在开始谈工作或其他 事情之前，总会先了解一下对方近况。 这或许正是这种巧合如此迷人的原因。两个拥 有截然不同历史和文化的民族，却都认为，一 句简单的问候，能够拉近人与人之间的距离。
Sometimes, the shortest distance between Botswana and China is simply asking, “How are things?”
Perhaps that’s why this little linguistic coincidence feels so delightful. Two cultures with vastly different histories, separated by more than 10,000 kilometres, both place value on asking a simple question that says, “I see you. How have you been?” And isn’t it fascinating that, by pure coincidence, the expressions themselves seem to echo one another? Most people meeting a Chinese speaker for the first time know one phrase: 你好 (Nǐ hǎo) – “Hello,” or, more literally, “You are good.”
“How is it going?” or, more naturally, “How are things going?”
The resemblance is purely coincidental. Mandarin and Setswana belong to completely different language families and developed thousands of kilometres apart. Yet somehow, both cultures arrived at remarkably similar ways of checking in on one another. In Chinese, 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) is used to ask how things are. You’ll hear it in expressions such a s: 你怎么样？ (Nǐ zěnmeyàng?) — How are you? 最近怎么样？ (Zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?) — How have you been lately?
It’s a perfectly good greeting.
However, asking 最近 怎么样？ (Zuìjìn zěnmeyàng) — roughly, “dzway-jin zun- muh-yahng” — takes the conversation one step further. It shows interest. It says you’re not simply saying hello; you’d actually like to know how they’ve been. So, here’s a challenge. The next time you meet a Chinese colleague or friend, skip the usual “Nǐ hǎo.” Instead, smile and ask, “Zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?”
工作怎么样？ (Gōngzuò zěnmeyàng?) — How’s work going?
Don’t be surprised if you earn an even bigger smile in return.
大多数外国人学会的第一句中文都是 “你好”。
In Botswana, we instinctively do much the same. Our greetings are rarely just greetings. Before we get down to business, we first find out how the other person is doing. We ask, we enquire, we show interest.
当然，这是一个很好的开始。
不过，如果你来到博茨瓦纳，试着对当地朋友 说一句 “Go tsamaya yang?”，你很可能会看 到一个更加灿烂的笑容。 因为，有时候，连接博茨瓦纳与中国最短的距 离，不过是一句：”最近怎么样？”
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