What's the difference between 载体 and 媒介？

Question

They both mean medium, so they are probably the same. Are they?

Answer 1

The difference between "载体" and "媒介" in Chinese is equivalent to the difference between "Carrier" and "Medium" in English. So, you pretty much can figure this out immediately after I told you that, if your English is well enough.

Answer 2

Usually they are the same thing. FYI，if 载体carrier is something, Media媒介 is everything. whole meaning on media: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/media.html

carrier, mostly means practical channel like radio, newspaper, internet,etc.

So in this point the meaning are the same, means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely

Answer 3

They have different meanings but in practical they are used interchangeable especially about mass media.

載體, from its sense, it is holder and container. 媒介, it is an agent that allows two or more parties interact.

Answer 4

I think 媒介 refers to the environment. Say A and B are both in the air/space/water/etc, here the air/space/water/etc is 媒介.

If A gives B something through C, then C is 载体.

Answer 5

just like English, Chinese language's words and expressions are used in circumstances and may link to different aspects as the context changes.

载体 is more related to carrier, bearing something on it, holder of something, while 媒介 is more related to medium, pipe, conducting something, or the intermediate interface between things.

载体: [used more in circumstances related to material or things or physical constructs. more as a carrier] 媒介: [used more in circumstances related to human, social, media, and interpersonal relationships. more as an interface]

Answer 6

Very interesting! Both semantics and syntax mixed up in here.

載體 is a noun. It is the thing which moves a to b; definitely a new sounding word, yet I found one example from 1965!

In biology, such as virology or genetic technology, 載體 is a "vector", so we have words like 病毒載體 viral vector, for which there is a Chinese wikipedia article. It is also used in transportation, and the example from 1965 refers to a rocket "carrier" for a satellite where a stage failed to separate. It is a term of art, and this already makes it very different from 媒介.

But there are important differences in meaning as well. Here is an example where 媒介 works and 載體 doesn't:

沒有第三國為媒介，日本政府仍舊能夠以其他方法將上述態度通知俄國... Even without a third country as an intermediary, Japan can still still express its views to Russia by other means.

Nothing is being carried, so 載體 doesn't work. Here 媒介 means to act as intermediary, not as a carrier. Here is another example:

人與神交往，就以血作為媒介 When men and gods interact, they do so through the medium of blood.

This is talking about the use of sacrificial blood to communicate with gods. There is no "intermediary" here, but 'blood' is clearly an intermediate mechanism or means for the communication. "medium" fits here, but 載體 doesn't.

Unlike 載體, 媒介 can also be a verb. Here is an example that took some time to find:

蜜峰因採蜜而媒介了花粉，動機還不是由於自私. Honey bees convey pollen through collecting honey (?) and their motive is by no means selfish.

載體 is impossible here. Perhaps we could translate this as "convey"? It can also be used for more abstract ideas:

資訊網最新的網路交易市場功能，更為國內廠商媒介了三萬多個商機 The information network's latest online exchange market functions has also introduced over 30,000 business opportunities for domestic manufacturers.

Here "媒介" is really close to its original "matchmaker" sense. Anyway, an interesting contrast. Good question.

Answer 7

这可能有习惯用语的成分在里面，通常：

• 声音以空气为媒介传递，而较少说声音以空气为载体。
• 通灵师（从事迷信活动并获得报酬的人）的肉体可以作为现世（the alive world)与彼岸（the dead world)联系的媒介，而较少说通灵师的肉体是某载体。
• 信息传输以电磁波或光波为载体，而较少说信息传输以电磁波为媒介。
• 磁带作为信息的载体，而较少说磁带作为信息的媒介。
• 蜜蜂充当了花粉授粉的媒介，而较少说蜜蜂充当了授粉的载体。

可以认为，载体是一种媒介物，因此媒介的范畴通常要宽泛一些，但考虑到一些习惯用法因此实际上并不绝对。