In a Technical Communications course in university, we learned that 交通 originally meant "communications", which is why the 交通银行 is called the Bank of Communications in English, not the Bank of Transportation. However, it somehow evolved to mean "transportation", and nowadays, a lot of 交通学院 teach transportation-related courses like train driving. What is the origin of the word 交通, and how did it evolve to mean "transportation" from its original meaning of "communications"?
3 Answers
交通 (traffic) is a compound word made up of 交(crossing) and 通(passing), it is not hard to comprehend
"communications" is the "traffic of information"
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Yes, to "communicate" is to have a "passing / flowing" of information back and forth, just like the "passing / flowing" of vehicles in traffic transportation. Also, the Bank of Communications sounds better than the the Bank of Traffic? Commented Aug 6 at 4:08
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1In fact "traffic" in English means more than transportation and can encompass commerce and communications.– 河南宝宝Commented Aug 6 at 4:33
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How about human "trafficking" and in illegal drugs? It's all to do with "movement" The movement of information, (in communication), and the movement of traffic, (in transportation) Commented Aug 6 at 5:41
What is the origin of the word 交通? How did it originally mean "communications" and how did it evolve to mean "transportation"?
The word 交通 may come from《易经》“天地交而万物通”. In the ancient time, 交通 included 陆路, 水路, and 邮路. Until modern industrial progress, 交通 consists of both transportation and communication. It is a historical mistake to call 交通银行 the Bank of Communications. For the same reason, many 交通大学(s) (上海 西安 北京) call themselves Jiao Tong University in English, considering the word group "transportation and communication" is too long.
In recent years, electronic communication has become more and more popular. Chinese use the word 电信 通讯 for communication. Therefore it seems only the transportation left in 交通.
In people's daily lives, they still use 交通 for communication, such as 教会的兄弟姊妹有每周的交通, which means discussion, not car-pooling. But other people may choose to use 交流。
The English word transportation should be translated into 运输 in Chinese. It may be somehow difficult to find a suitable Chinese word for the English word traffic, which means the vehicles and information in movement. You can try 车流 信息流。
交通 （汉语词语）- to be connected thru the forms of traffic, transportation, communications, and liaison.
交通是指从事旅客和货物运输及语言和图文传递的行业，包括运输和邮电两个方面，在国民经济中属于第三产业。运输有铁路、公路、水路、空路、管道五种方式，邮电包括邮政和电信两方面内容。
