I had a hard time understanding this article, but it was really due to translation issues, and my own lack of understanding about grammar.<p>I had to read up on the English concept of active- versus passive-voice. For example:<p><pre><code> The cat ate the mouse.
</code></pre>
is active, because the cat is the subject of the sentence, and is doing the eating.<p><pre><code> The mouse was eaten by the cat
</code></pre>
is passive, because the mouse is the subject, but is "having something done to it", i.e., passive.<p>So in the case of "He was disappeared", the point is that you are implying that he did not make himself disappear, but that it was done to them.<p>However, in Chinese, the language is so flexible that there are many far more common ways to express the same concept. So when someone specifically uses the passive voice in this way, while it is grammatically correct (or at least, is a grammatical invention that follows existing rules), it is obvious to other Chinese-speakers that it's an unusual way to say something.<p>The examples given start making more sense when you forget about the fact that "suicided" isn't a real word. It's not supposed to be a real word, instead it is meany to be a translation into English that preserves the 'strangeness' of the phrase.<p>In the case of the Chinese, use of the passive voice in this way is kind of like a shibboleth in that someone who agrees with your politics will know what you really mean, but you still have plausible deniability for those that don't.
Catch 22's protagonist, Yossarian exclaims incredulously at one point:<p><i>It doesn't make sense. It isn't even good grammar. What the hell does it mean to disappear somebody?</i>
My favorite line in the history of totalitarian repression was from one of the Eastern European states. I can't remember the specifics, but it goes something like this: $DISSIDENT committed suicide by shooting himself in the back of the head eight times, pausing to reload, and then finishing the job.
--"is constantly coining and importing new terms to describe new ideas and things"<p>This point is almost missed, Latin and latter English are the previous languages where this happened. Most of the time other languages adopted and sometime slightly localized the Latin or English word or expression. Being the language that ideas are expressed in is a powerful statement in the ownership of thought. With China's ascension, I am sure that new technology conceive of in China will bare their trademark on thought.
The use of the passive voice in this respect is not unique to China. For example, "dehoused" was a WWII Allied term to describe Germans whose homes were destroyed by Allied bombs.
or 'River Crabbed'<p><a href="http://meiguozi.blogspot.com/2009/03/harmonious-crab.html" rel="nofollow">http://meiguozi.blogspot.com/2009/03/harmonious-crab.html</a>