Taxonomy of meanings for 予:　　

  • 予 yú (OC: la MC: jiɔ) 以諸切 平 廣韻：【我也又餘佇切 】
    • EGO
      • npro.adNbelonging to me (personally), my (often marked by the genitive particle 之)
      • npro.postVtme (personally, as an experiencer?)
      • npro+Vtme (as preposed object)
      • npro=N予一人, 予小子 "I (personally), the little child"
      • npro+V{PRED}I (personally); I personally; I, as a matter of personal experience or sensibility 予欲 "I wish..."
      • npro{PRED}be me, (personally); was I (personally)
      • npro+V{PRED}subjectiveI (as a responsible agent)
      • npro.postVtpivotme (functioning as the subject of the verb that follows)
      • npro+V{PRED}experientialI (as a non-agential experiencer participant)
      • npro+V{PRED}objectiveI (undergoing a process), I as an inevitable result (in an apodosis)
      • generalised> ONESELF
        • npro.adNrarely: one's very own (as opposed to 吾 "one's own")CH
      • plural> WE
        • npro.adNexclusiveour (often not that of the audience) CHECK CAREFULLY ALL THE EXAMPLES!
        • npro.postVtexclusiveus (often excluding the audience addressed) CHECK CAREFULLY ALL THE EXAMPLES!
        • npro+Vtpreposed pronominal object: us
        • nproexclusivewe (personally, often excluding you my audience) 予二人, CHECK CAREFULLY ALL THE EXAMPLES!
    • grammaticalised> BUT
    • 予 yǔ (OC: laʔ MC: jiɔ) 余吕切 上 廣韻：【郭璞云予猶與也又弋諸切 】
      • GIVE
        • vttoN1.+N2hand over (something N2) to (someone N1), typically as demanded; give (as appropriate under the circumstances, but without having to
        • nabactthe act of giving away things, contributing things, or conferring presents
        • vtt(oN1.)+N2omgive the contextually determinate thing N1 to someone N2
        • vtt(oN1.)(+N2)hand the contextually determinate thing over to a contextually determinate person
        • vtt[oN1.+N2]make gifts, give out presents, confer presents on people; specifically: give out rewards
        • vtoNN=beneficiarygive presents to N, confer presents on N
        • vttoN1.post-vt(oN2)omgive the determinate object to (a beneficiary)
        • vttoN1:postvtoN2give something N2 to a beneficiary N1
        • vtt(oN1.)+N2N1=recipientgive (something N2) to a contextually determinate recipient N1
        • vtt(oN1.)+N2reflexive.自confer something contextually determinate upon (oneself)
        • vttoN1.post-vt(oN2)give
        • vtoN1.postN2:adN3the N3 given to N1 by N2
        • vttoN1.+N2N1=gift.N2=recipientgive
        • vttoN1.+N2figurativeadminister N2 to N1
        • vtoNN=giftgive away N to someone
        • vtt(oN1).+N2:-V[0]give N1 to N2 to V
        • vttoN1.+N2:-Vgive N1 to N2 for N2 to V it
        • vtt(oN1.)+N2give N2 to the contextually determinate N1
        • vtt+N1.oN2imperativegive N2 to N1!
        • vttoN1(.+N2)give N1 to the contextually determinate N2
        • vtt[N1.] N2give things to somebody; make gifts to somebodyDS
        • vttoN1.postN2N2 was given to N1DS
        • vtt[oN1.+prep+N2]give things to peopleCH
        • vttoN1.+prep+N2hand over (something N1) to (someone N2), typically as demandedTW
        • vtoN.postadVsecond morpheme of some verbs of giving, cf. modern 嫁給DS
        • nab.post-Nactgiving of N to othersLZ
        • specific> NAME
          • vtt(oN1.) N2accord the title of, give the contextually determiate N1 the title N2CH
        • at a price> SELL
          • give power to> YIELD
            • vtt(oN1.)+N2GIVE THE REINS OF GOVERNMENT TO> give precedence to???
            • vtoNhand over to, i.e. hand over power to (someone)
            • figurative: authority to> CONFORM
              • vtoNaccept as a standard; defer to
              • linguistic> ADMIT
                • vtoSadmit that S, concede that S, go along with the statement that SCH
        • CONFUCIANS

          Additional information about 予

          說文解字: 【予】，推予也。象相予之形。凡予之屬皆从予。 【余呂切】

            Criteria
          • EGO

            1. The umarked current first person pronoun most current by Warring States times is wú 吾, and the word is never emphatic in constructions like 吾實 "It was I who...". (Not in OBI. Note the Jinwen variant graphs for the same word 𫊣 and 䱷.) This word does not normally occur in object position and is highly idiomatic in a possessive pre-nominal position. Significantly, this pronoun can never be used emphatically or contrastively. (NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "we" in the sense close to "one", German man, French on.) 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

            2. Wǒ 我 (which can be used in the emphatic construction 我實 "It was I who...") is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times, as in wǒ zé 我則 "I on the other hand...". (In OBI 我 was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, modifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as a derived impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German "man", French "on". 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

            3. Yú 予／余 is personal and often autobiographical, speaking of the author in the past. It it a preferred pronoun used by poets.

            4. Zhèn 朕 is an ordinary southern dialect first person pronoun in CC, but by decree the word came to be limited to use by the emperor alone after the unification of the Chinese Empire in 221 BC.

            NB 1: Many official titles - but by no means all - function as quasi pronouns. For example, no king could call himself wáng 王 "king", but all ministers will normally refer to themselves as chén 臣 in the presence of their king, and not by the more assertive pronoun wǒ 我. Thus most quasi-pronouns serve a self-deprecatory function and are not usable in contexts where no self-deprecation is called for. A fascinating exception is fūzǐ 夫子 "the master" which is apparently used in self-reference meaning "I, your master" by Confucius.

            For the internal complexity of the notion of the EGO in German see C. Harbsmeier, "Ueber den inneren Schweinehund, das bessere Ich und die rausgelassene Sau" [On lack of will-power and one's better Self???]

          • FETCH

            1. There is no word commonly used for the fetching of things, and the most current word sometimes used in this meaning is probably qǔ 取 (ant. yǔ 予 "give").

            2. Jí 汲 refers specifically to the fetching of water.

            Word relations
          • Conv: (GIVE)求/SEEK The current general word for trying to find or get something is qiú 求.
          • Ant: (GIVE)奪/TAKE Duó 奪 is to take by force or threat of force.
          • Contrast: (EGO)我/EGO Wǒ 我 is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times (in OBI it was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, mofifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German man, French on.
          • Contrast: (EGO)朕/EGO Zhèn 朕 is an ordinary southern dialect first person pronoun in CC, is a pronoun of self-assertive authority, but by decree the word came to be limited to use by the emperor alone after the unification of the Chinese Empire in 221 BC..
          • Contrast: (EGO)朕躬/EGO
          • Assoc: (GIVE)賜/GIVE Cì 賜 can refer to an act of charity or to any giving of anything, typically from a person in authority to inferiors.
          • Synon: (EGO)朕/EGO Zhèn 朕 is an ordinary southern dialect first person pronoun in CC, is a pronoun of self-assertive authority, but by decree the word came to be limited to use by the emperor alone after the unification of the Chinese Empire in 221 BC..
          • Oppos: (EGO)我/WE
          • Oppos: (EGO)汝/YOU/PLUR