Taxonomy of meanings for 堪:　　

  • 堪 kān (OC: khluum MC: kʰəm) 口含切 平 廣韻：【任也勝也克也説文曰地突也又姓風俗通云八元仲堪之後 】
    • ABLE
      • vt(+V[0])be able to undertake the contextually determinate V-ing
      • vt+V[0]be able to undertake; be up to; have the capability to
      • vtoNbe able to undertake; be able to play the role of; be up to (a task, an honour); be up to (an opponent)
    • DESERVE
      • vt+V[0]deserve to V
      • vt+V[0]V=passivedeserves to be V-ed
      • vtoNbe up to (praise), deserve, accept ???
      • vt(oN)deserve the contextually determinate treatment
    • ENDURE
      • vtoNbe able to sustain (hardship and trouble); endure bear with, put up with

    Additional information about 堪

    說文解字: 【堪】，地突也。从土、甚聲。 【口含切】

      Criteria
    • ABLE

      [ABSOLUTE/GRADED]

      [ARCHAIC/CURRENT]

      [DIFFICULT/EASY]

      [ENDOGENIC/EXOGENIC]

      [EMOTIONAL/UNEMOTIONAL]

      [INCIDENTAL/INHERENT]

      [INNATE/ACQUIRED]

      [LASTING!/TEMPORARY]

      [PHYSICAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL]

      [PRACTICAL/THEORETICAL]

      1. The commonest word is néng 能 "have an inherent capacity for, have the personal ability to".

      [CURRENT], [ENDOGENIC], [GRADED], [LASTING]

      2. Kě yǐ 可以 "be in an objective position to, have the possibility to".

      [ABSOLUTE], [CURRENT], [EXOGENIC], [TEMPORARY!]

      3. Zú yǐ 足以 emphasises sufficiency of conditions necessary to get something done.

      [CURRENT], [GRADED], [INHERENT], [PHYSICAL]

      4. Kè 克 typically comes to emphasise the ability to do something difficult in post-archaic times, but the word was equivalent to néng 能 in early texts.

      [ABSOLUTE], [ARCHAIC], [INCIDENTAL], [TEMPORARY], [PHYSICAL]

      5. Rén 任 emphasises a general qualification to achieve something worth achieving and not obviously easy to achieve.

      [ABSOLUTE], [CURRENT], [DIFFICULT], [ENDOGENIC], [TEMPORARY]

      6. Kān 堪 typically refers to the ability to do something others might not be willing or psychologically able to do.

      [ABSOLUTE], [CURRENT], [DIFFICULT], [EMOTIONAL], [ENDOGENIC], [PSYCHOLOGICAL]

      7. Jì 技 "expertise, know-how" refers to the talents for crafts and the like, and the word is not normally used as a verb. See SKILL.

      [ACQUIRED], [CURRENT], [DIFFICULT], [GRADED], [LASTING], [PRACTICAL]

      8. Lì 力 "strength" is sometimes used to refer to an ability to do something which in some sense requires strength.

      9. Zhī 知 refers to the intellectual ability to do something, especially to do something that is not intellectually trivial.

      10. Jì néng 技能 refers to a lasting acquired skill.

      NB: Dé 得 "cope, show an ability to do something by actually doing it" is an achievement verb and does not belong in this group. See COPE.

    • ENDURE

      1. The general word is kān 堪 which refers to the ability to sustain negative experiences as well as to undertake demanding and/or dangerous tasks, and the word is especially frequent in negated form 不堪 "cannot endure; cannot manage to".

      2. Rěn 忍 refers to any callous ability to bear with something that is objectionable without interfering to stop it.

      3. Zhī 支 is occasionally used in the sense of "endure" and emphasises the strength needed to live with what one bears with.

      4. Rén 任 is not limited to putting up with undesirable conditions, it focusses on the the general ability to live gracefully burdens one is having to bear.

      5. Néng 能 is occasionally used as an ordinary transitive verb meaning "be able to put up with (climatic conditions and the like)".

      Word relations
    • Synon: (ENDURE)任/ENDURE Rén 任 is not limited to putting up with undesirable conditions, it focusses on the the general ability to live gracefully burdens one is having to bear.