Ten-thousand years (Themiclesia)

The phrase literally rendered as ten-thousand years (萬歲, mjanh-sjwad) is often heard in Themiclesia as an exclamation of celebration or well-wishing.

Etymology

The concept (thought not the phrase itself) was attested as far as the 9th Century BCE in poetry, used in much of the same context as it is now today. The poem "South Mountain Has Moss" (南山有臺, nom-sren-ghjo'-do) contains "ten-thousand longevity without date" (萬壽無期, mjanh-djuh-mja-gjo) and "ten-thousand longevity without limit" (萬壽無疆, mjanh-djuh-mja-kjang). In a different work within the same anthology, "Nephic Meng" (雲孟, ghjon-mrangh), the poet gives "Son of Heaven, for ten-thousand years" (天子萬年, t'en-tsjo-mjanh-nen).

The first attestation of the proper phrase is recorded in 87 BCE, when an emperor of the Meng Dynasty heard this phrase echoing in the mountains as he passed by. Recording that the mountains themselves shouted this phrase, it was interpreted as divine support for imperial rule. The phrase subsequently entered the vocabulary with the general meaning of supporting whatever is the subject of the cheer. Alternately, it has also bee shown that this phrase was used by all strata of society since the concept appeared, and only in 87 BCE did it become associated with imperial authority.

Philology

The Mengja character 萬 ("ten-thousand") is a logograph originally representing a scorpion. As "scorpion" and "ten-thousand" sounded the same, the former was often borrowed to write the latter, its borrowed meaning eventually displaced the original, which is now expressed with a new character. As with most large numerals in Menghic languages, it may be used literally or figuratively, depending on context.

歲 ("year") and 年 ("year") indicate chronological intervals of the same length but in different perspectives. The former denotes a solar year; the latter an agricultural year. 年 originally means "harvest", attested on oracle bone inscriptions, and as harvests were annual in ancient Menghe, the period between harvests, being one year, was used interchangeably (in some contexts) with the solar year. The lunisolar year is denoted with a different character altogether.

Phonology

• Pronounced /mɥanx˥˩ sɥadx˥˩/ in the south.
• Pronounced /mɥan˥˩ sɥɛɪ˥˩/ in the north.

Phraseology

• When used in isolation, typically the phrase is exclaimed once.
• When used as a set expression in well-wishes to the emperor, particularly on at the New Year or the Winter Solstice, the phrase is "ten-thousand years, ten-thousand years, ten-thousand ten-thousand years" (萬歲萬歲萬萬歲, mjanh-sjwad, mjanh-sjwad, mjanh-mjanh-sjwad). Considered highly formal and grave in its meaning, it is rarely applied in other contexts. When before the emperor, generally a master-of-ceremonies will conduct the expression by cueing "the mountains exclaim" (山呼, sren-ha), at which others would say 萬歲 "ten-thousand years", repeat it, then cue "the mountains exclaim again" (再山呼, dzo'-sren-ha), at which the assemblage exclaims 萬萬歲 "ten-thousand ten-thousand years". As this phrase has been generalized, it is semantically more accurate to translate this use as "hooray".

Cognate expressions

• In Dayashina, the same phrase is pronounced as /banzaɪ/ and has roughly the same meaning. Technically, this pronunciation is not historical, as it's a mixture of an older transliteration system (producing banzei) with a newer one (manzai).
• In Menghe, the same phrase is pronounced as /mansɛ/ and has the same meaning.