Additional information about 俄
說文解字: 【俄】，行頃也。从人、我聲。《詩》曰：仄弁之俄。 【五何切】 〔小徐本此字次於「𠊬」字之後。〕
- Criteria
- SUDDENLY
1. The most common word for suddenness is hū 忽.
2. Tū 突 and zhà4 乍 "out of the blue" refer to the unforeseen onset of something one has imagined was likely or even possible.
3. Cù 卒 / 猝 refers to the sudden onset of something before it was expected to occur.
4. E@ 俄 and é ér 俄而 refer to the abrupt occurrence of an event of strikingly short duration.
5. Bó 勃 is typically limited in application to the suddenness of the initial emergence of a phenomenon.
- THEREUPON
[BRIEF/LONG]
[DRAMATIC/UNDRAMATIC]
[EMPHATIC/UNEMPHATIC]
[NOUN/VERB/PARTICLE/CLAUSE]
1. The current general word for "thereupon" is yú shì 於是 "at that point, then, thereupon" with its expanded variant yú shì hū 於是乎, but these expressions do not allow for any long delay.
2. Yǒu jiān 有間 (ant.* xuǎn 旋／還 "without delay", dùn 頓 "immediately, without hesitation") refers to a brief interval of a certain time which ensues, and after which something new happens in the narrative sequence.
[BRIEF], [UNDRAMATIC], [UNEMPHATIC]; [CLAUSE]
3. Yǒu qǐng 有頃 (ant. è ér 俄而 "without delay", lì 立 "without delay") is "after a while" and the interval is perhaps a little longer than in yǒu jiān 有間, and this expression also refers to a plain narrative sequence.
[BRIEF], [UNDRAMATIC], [UNEMPHATIC]; [CLAUSE]
4. Yǐ ér 已而 (ant. qián cǐ 前此 "before this point in time") refers with emphasis to a longer than expected interval after a certain time.
[LONG], [DRAMATIC], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]
5. Jū 居 (as in jū sān yuè 居三月 "after three months") and the rarer chǔ 處 serve simply to indicate a specified interval after a certain time after which something else happens.
[VERB], [UNDRAMATIC], [UNEMPHATIC]
6. Jì 既 (ant. wèi jí 未及 "before even...") focusses dramatically on the fact that an action B does not occur before the action A is completed.
[BRIEF], [DRAMATIC], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]
7. Rán hòu 然後 (ant. yǐ qián 以前 "before") emphasises that an event occurs no sooner than after a certain event or space of time. See ONLY THEN.
[BRIEF], [DRAMATIC], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]
8. Ér hòu 而後 (ant. yǐ qián 以前 "before") emphasises that an event occurs no sooner than after a certain event or space of time. See ONLY THEN.
[BRIEF], [EMPHATIC]; [PARTICLE]
9. Xū yú 須臾 stresses that an event occurred immediately after another.
[BRIEF+]; [nadS]
10. Hòu 後 (ant. qián 前 "before") is a general word indicating that something happens later than something else.