Taxonomy of meanings for 唱:　　

Additional information about 唱

說文解字: 【唱】，導也。从口、昌聲。 【尺亮切】

Criteria
• SING
  

  1. The current general word for singing a song is gē 歌.

  2. Míng 鳴 refers to the singing of non-human agents.

  3. Chàng 唱 is to set the tune in singing, but the word later came to refer also to reciting prose texts in a dramatic drawn-out manner. See CHANT

  4. Hé 和 is to chime in singing according to a tune set by someone else.

  5. O!u 謳 and the rarer yáo 謠 refer specifically to unaccompanied singing of songs, typically folk songs.

• CHANT
  

  1. The current word for chanting poetry in a deeply emotional manner for the benefit of others is yǒng 詠;

  2. The current word for chanting prose aloud for the benefit of others is sòng 誦, and the prose chanted normally has to be of high cultural status.

  3. F1ē3ng 諷 refers specifically to (possibly reading out and) reciting what one is familiar with and may even know by heart. (Old reading fèng!)

  4. Fù 賦 refers to the recital of poetry of any kind, commonly even one's own works.

  5. Yín 吟 is to hum and quietly intone something for one's own enjoyment, perhaps as one walks along, typically as an expression of one's emotions, and not primarily for others to listen to, and the word is never used as a transitive verb with an object indicating what exactly is being hummed or intoned.

  6. Shēn 呻 is to mournfully hum poetry to oneself.

  7. Zàn 贊 refers to the ritual reading out of a prescribed liturgical text on formal occasions.

  8. Chàng 唱 refers to dramatic loud and drawn-out recital of prose texts. See SING

  See also READ