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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Stouts fire burns 15,000 acres and counting ... 'Mitigation banking' ... The El Niño effect ... Stouts fire burns 15,000 acres and counting ... 'Mitigation banking' ... The El Niño effect ... SINCE YOU ASKED Since You Asked: Goat, sheep and ram are all correct Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Mar. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News I noticed the Jacksonville Chinese New Year's event was celebrating the Year of the Ram, but I've also seen 2015 referred to as the Year of the Goat and the Year of the Sheep. Which is it: goat, ram or sheep? David E., Medford   Whether it's Starbucks trumpeting the Year of the Sheep on a gift card or the Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association welcoming the Year of the Ram with a parade in Jacksonville, it turns out they're both correct. The issue isn't a matter of competing zodiacs, but rather a simple case of indirect translation. You've probably heard that Eskimo tribes have some 50 words for "snow" (a separate controversy among linguists and anthropologists — that number seems to vary from five to over 100 depending on what languages and dialects you bunch together). The point is that English doesn't always offer a clear word-to-word translation, as is the case with the Mandarin word "yang," which more literally is a horned animal that encompasses both sheep and goats.   In case you're wondering how folks in China could possibly get by in such a world, the word "shanyang" refers to goats, and the word "mianyang" refers to sheep, and "gongyang" refers specifically to a ram.   In the zodiac, the animal is simply "yang," and searching the word in Chinese image search engines nets little consensus.  A blog post by Victor Mair, professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania, notes that people in northern China think of "yang" more as sheep and those in southern China leaning toward goat, though even that's not a hard and fast rule. Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.   MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501