Taxonomy of meanings for 吾:　　

  • wú (OC: ŋaa MC: ŋuo) 五乎切 平 廣韻：【我也漢改中尉爲執金吾吾御也執金革以御非常亦姓漢有廣陵令吾扈又漢複姓五氏鄭公子有食采於徐吾之郷後以爲氏左傳有鍾吾子其後氏焉昆吾氏昆吾國之後由吾氏秦相由余之後古有肩吾子隱者五乎切二十一 】
  • yá (OC: ŋraa MC: ŋɯa) 五加切 平 廣韻：【漢書金城郡有允吾縣允音船 】
    • unstressed, non-contrastive>EGO
      • npro.adN1. person singularmy
      • npro.adNauthorialmy
      • npro.adNtypemy
      • npro.postVtas object of transitive verb, also as pivot, and particularly as object of coverbs
      • npro{OBJ}+Vtpreposed object [relevant object cases must be moved here]
      • npro1. person singularI (unmarked, non-contrastive, weak)
      • nprome 不吾反也
      • nproauthorialI, the current speaker of this text
      • nprocontrastiveI (your superior) on the other hand
      • npro.adNplacefrom my place
      • npro.adNmarkedmy
      • nproquasi-authorial: I, as if the writer of the text (which was, however, taken over from a spoken setting)LZ
      • nab.post-Nmetaphysicalthe ego (of the N kind)CH
      • impersonal “you”>ONESELF
        • npro0.adNimpersonalnon-referential: one's
        • npro0impersonalimpersonal pronoun: one, oneself
        • npro0.adNmarked吾之　one's
        • npro(adN)militaryone's army; 自軍CH
      • plural>WE
        • npro.adNour
        • npro=Nwe, the N
        • nprowe
        • npro.adNmarkedour
    • =圄/御DEFEND

      Additional information about 吾

      說文解字: 【吾】，我自稱也。 〔小徐本無「也」。〕 从口、五聲。 【五乎切】

        Criteria
      • YOU

        1. The current general second person pronouns are rǔ 汝 in informal contexts, and in polite contexts zǐ 子.

        2. The current informal pronoun is rǔ 汝, and this word is commonly used in imperatives.

        <div>3. Ěr 爾 is another informal second person pronoun, and the word is not generally used in imperatives.</div><div><br></div><div>4. Ruò 若 is a poetic/archaising second person pronoun that went out of current use in Tang (待考）times. </div><div><br></div><div>5. Jūn 君 addresses superiors as well as equals formally, and politely.</div><div><br></div><div>6. Qīng 卿 is probably stylistically colloquial and addresses inferiors informally.</div><div><br></div><div>7. Dà wáng 大王 is the polite formal address to any king, small or powerful. </div><div><br></div><div>8. Wú zǐ 吾子, extremely common in the Zuozhuan, is respectful and honorific, but in a communicativ and sometimes even intimate mode: ·鄭玄注："吾子，相貌之辞。<br></div><br>

      • 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???]

      • MOUNTAINS

        8. Qí shān 岐山 is located in the northeast of the modern Qishan district, Shaanxi province. It was also called Tiān zhǔ shān 天柱山 Fēnghuángduī4 風凰堆. Ancient Zhou centers were located close to this mountain. For this reason, Qí shān 岐山 is mentioned already in the Shijing.

        9. Qíliánshān 祁連山 is another name for Tiānshān 天山. This mountain range is located in the southern and western part of the modern Xinjiang. It is divided into two groups - the northern in the central Xinjiang, and the southern in the southern Xinjiang. The former is identical with the modern Tiānshān 天山, the latter includes modern Kūnlúnshān 昆侖山, A3ěrjīnshān 阿爾金, and Qíliánshān 祁連山.These mountains are already mentioned in the Shiji, Xiongnu liezhuan.

        10. D4àyǔlíng 大庾岭 refers to the mountains on the borders of the modern Jiangxi and Guangdong.

        11. Yīnshān 陰山 refers to the mountains in the central part of the modern Inner Mongolia. Mentioned already in the Shiji.

        12. Qínlíng 秦岭 is a mountain range dividing the northern and southern parts of China. It is also a water-shed dividing the drainage areas of the Weì 渭, Huái 淮, and Hàn 漢 rivers. It spreads from the borders of the Qinghai and Gansu to the central part of Henan. This range includes important mountains, such as Mínshān 岷山, Huàshān 華山, and Sǒngshān 嵩山. Qínlíng 秦岭 in the narrow sense refers to the part of the range in the modern Shaanxi.

        13. Yānshān 燕山 refers to the mountains on the northern edge of the Hebei plains.

        14. Wǔyíshān 武夷山 is the name of the mountains on the borders of the modern Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. The earliest references I have found are post-Han.

        15. Taìhéngshān 太行山 refers to the mountain range on the borders of the modern Henan, Shanxi, and Hebei. In the south, it reaches to the Huanghe. The name already occurs in the texts of the Warring States period [YUGONG chapter in the SHANGSHU].

        16. Kūnlúnshān 昆侖山 is the name of the mountains on the borders of the modern Xinjiang and Tibet. It runs from the east to the west in the length of 2500 km. It is already referred to in the texts of the Warring states and Han periods [SHANHAIJING, HUAINANZI, MU TIANZI ZHUAN].

        17. Tiānshān 天山 are mountains in the central part of the modern Xinjiang. The name already occurs in the SHANHAIJING and HANSHU.

        18. Jǐuzǐshān 九子山 is an ancient name of the Jiǔhuáshān 九華山 in the modern Qingyang county of the Anhui province. The latter name was in use since the Tang.

        19. Dàbāshān 大巴山 refers to the mountains on the borders of the modern Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei.

        20. Yàndàngshān 雁蕩山 are the mountains in the southeastern part of the modern Zhejiang province.

        21. Wūshān 巫山 is located on the borders of the modern Sichuan and Hubei. The Changjiang flows through its central part, creating famous Three gorges.

        22. Jūnshān 君山 is the mountain in the center of the Dongting lake, modern Hunan province. Also called Dòngtíngshān 洞庭山.

        23. Běimáng 北邙 is the mountain range in the modern Henan. Also called Mángshān 芒山, Běishān 北山.It runs from Sanmenxia in the West to the bank of the Yīluò river in the East. Since the Eastern Han, princes and high officers were buried on its slopes north to the Luoyang.

        24. Běigùshān 北固山 is the mountain in the northeastern part of the modern city of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.

        25. Wúshān 吳山 is name of the three important mountains.

        a. In the north of the Pinglu county, Shanxi province. According to HOUHANSHU, on the peak of it, there there was located the city of Yǔ 麌.

        b. To the south-east of the Xihu lake in the Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province. In the Chunqiu period, it was the western border of the state of Wú, hence the name.

        c. In the southwestern part of the Long county, Shaanxi province. According to ERYA, it was one of the Five sacred mountains, 五岳.

        26. Dìngjūnshān 定軍山 is located in the southeatern part of the modern Mian county, Shaanxi province. In 219 A.D., near these mountains, army of Liu Bei defeated one of the Cao Caos generals.

        27. Fúniúshān 伏牛山 is ancient name for the Jīnshān 金山, northwest to the modern city of Zhenjiang in the Jiangsu province. The latter name came to be used in the Tang. Also called Huófú 獲箙, Fúyù 浮玉 mountains.　

        28. Jiāoshān 焦山 is located to the northeast of the modern city of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.

        29. Tài sh1an 泰山 is the most important of the Five sacred mountains. It was also called Dōngyuè 東岳, Daìzōng 岱宗, Daìshān 岱山, Daìyuè 岱岳, Taìyuè 泰岳. It is located in the central part of the modern Shandong province. The mountain range runs from the eastern margin of the Dōngpíng 東平 lake in the northwestern direction to the modern Linbo city. It is about 200 km long. Since antiquity, Chinese rulers sacrificed on the Tài sh1an. The earliest evidence is in SHIJING.

        30. Huàshān 華山 is the westernmost of the Five sacred peaks, henceforth it was also called Xīyuè 西岳. It is located in the southern part of the modern Yin county, Shaanxi province. Its height is 1997 m.

        31. Héng shān �琱 sis the northernmost of the Five sacred peaks, henceforth it was also called Běiyuè 北岳.From the Han to the Ming, the sacred Héng shān �琱 swas located in the northwestern part of the modern Quyang county of the Hebei province.

        32. Héng shān 衡山 is the southernmost of the Five sacred mountains, and is also called Nányuè 南岳. It is located in the modern Hengshan county in the Hunan province, and is 1290 m high, and several hundred km long. It is refered to already in SHANGSHU, SHUN DIAN.　

        33. Sōng shān 嵩山 is the central of the Five sacred peaks, and it was also called Sōngyuè 嵩岳. It belongs to the Fúniúshān 伏牛山 mountain range, and is located in the modern Dengfeng county in the Henan province. It is already mentioned in the SHIJING.

        34. Niúzhǔshān 牛渚山 is the name of the mountains on the bank of the Changjiang in the northwestern part of the modern Dangtu county, Anhui province.

        35. Bāgōngshān 八公山 are the mountains in the western part of the modern city of Huainan, Anhui province. It is located west of the Féishuǐ 淝水, and south of the Huáishǔi 淮水. In 383 A.D. famous battle of Feishui took place close to this mountain.

        36. Jiǔyíshān 九疑山, also called Cāngyǔshān 蒼木吾山, are the mountains in the modern Ningyuan county in the Hunan province. According to the Shiji, the sage emperor Shun died and was buried there.

        37. Chìchéngshān 赤城山 are the mountains in the northwestern part of the modern Tiantai, Zhejiang province. First mentioned in the Jin dynasty.

        38. Lúshān 盧山 are the mountains in the southern part of the modern Jiujiang town, Jiangxi province. Also called Kuāngshān 匡山, Kuānglú 匡盧, Nánzhàng4shān 南障山. The name is already mentioned in the Han times. It is said that both Emperor Yu and First emperor climbed the mountains when travelling to the South.

        39. Sh3ouyángshān 首陽山 are the mountains in the southern part of the modern Yongji county, Shanxi province. According to the tradition (for the first time mentioned in the LUNYU), it was in these mountains, where Boyi and Shuqi lived in hermitage. The mountains are already referred to in the SHIJING.

        40. E2méishān 峨嵋山 is the name of the mountains in the southwestern part of the modern Emei county, Sichuan province. It is already mentioned in the HUAYANG GUOZHI of the Jin dynasty. It belongs to the four famous mountains of buddhism.

        41. Qīngchéngshān 青城山 are the mountains in the southwestern part of the modern Guan county, Sichuan province. According to the tradition, it was there where in the Han times Zhang Daoling practiced dao.

        42. Luófúshān 羅浮山 are the mountains on the north bank of the Dōngjiāng 東江 river in the modern Guangdong province. According to the tradition, during the Eastern Jin dynasty, Ge Hong practiced dao there.

        Word relations
      • 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
      • 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.
      • 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)汝 / 女/YOU The current general second person pronouns are rǔ 汝 and in polite contexts zǐ 子.
      • Oppos: (EGO)子/YOU The current general second person pronouns are rǔ 汝 and in polite contexts zǐ 子.
      • Oppos: (EGO)先生/YOU