Taxonomy of meanings for 夭:
- 夭 yāo (OC: qrowʔ MC: ʔɯiɛu) 於兆切 上 廣韻：【屈也於兆切四 】
- CUT
- vtoNbreak off; cut off
- DIE
- nabstativeshort-livedness
- vichangedie before one has reached old age (ca. 50); die young
- vt+Ndie young at the hands of; die young cut down by
- vtoNcausativekill at a young age
- EARLY
- vadV(die) early in one's life
- vtoNcausativeterminate N prematurely (夭其生)LZ
- KILL
- vtoNcausativekill prematurely
- BEND
- UNJUST
- DESTROY
- TIRED
- BLOCK
- CUT
- 夭 yāo (OC: qrow MC: ʔɯiɛu) 於喬切 平 廣韻：【和舒之皃又乙矯切 】
- GOOD
- vi.redintensitivebe all gentle and mild???
- GOOD
- 夭 ǎo (OC: qoowʔ MC: ʔɑu) 烏晧切 上 廣韻：【禮曰不殀夭本又於矯切 】
Additional information about 夭
說文解字: 【夭】，屈也。从大，象形。凡夭之屬皆从夭。 【於兆切】
- Criteria
- EARLY
1. The current word for early, referring both to periods in one's life and time in the year or the day, is zǎo 早 (ant. wǎn 晚 "late"), but the word often specifically means "too early".
2. Sù 夙 (ant. chí 遲 "late, too late") refers specifically to the early period in one's life.
3. Xiān 先 is relative and refers to the period earlier than something else.
4. Yù 豫／預 refers to a point in time suitably early, earlier than necessary, or earlier than expected.
5. Yāo 夭 refers specifically to prematureness of death.
- LIVE
1. The current standard word for being alive is shēng 生 (ant. sǐ 死 "be dead").
2. Cún 存 (ant. wáng 亡 ) and zài 在 (ant. mò 沒 / 歿 "go under") refer to continuing in the state of being alive, but the word also refers to continued existence in general.
3. Huó 活 (ant. sǐ 死 ) specifically refers to the state of being alive when one might have been dead, and strongly connotes not only a failure to die but also the continued existence of life energy.
4. Mìng 命 refers specifically to one's life-span and not to the content of one's life that might be described in a biography.
5. Shēn 身 comes to refer to the life one conducts as in xíng shēn 行身 "conduct one's life" (Greek bios), and, and to one's lifespan as in zhōng shēn 終身 "all one's life".
6. Shòu 壽 (yāo 夭 "short life ended by an unnaturally early death") refers specifically to a lifespan as long as it naturally can be and should be.
- DIE
1. The dominant general word is sǐ 死 (ant. shēng 生 "be alive"), and this can refer to the death of plants as well as animals or men.
2. Bēng 崩 refers to the death of an emperor.
3. Hōng 薨 and cú 殂 / 徂 refers to the death of a senior official.
4. Zú 卒 is specifically the death of a common citizen, but occasionally also used to refer to the death of senior persons like dukes.
5. Piǎo 殍 and jǐn 殣 "(of common people) starve to death, die in the gutters" refer distinctly to the death of ordinary people.
6. Mò 沒 / 歿 (ant. cún 存 "survive") and zhōng 終 are abstract elevated, polite words to use about the death of a significant person.
7. Yì 殪 "get killed" is the result of violent action.
8. Yāo (old: yǎo) 夭, yǎo 殀 and shāng 殤 (ant. shòu 壽 "long-lived") refer to an early and not just untimely death.
9. Jí22 shì 即世 refers to the death of high-ranking personalities in the bureaucracy.
10. Wáng 亡 "cease to be" is a polite and periphrastic way of referring to death.
11. Xùn 殉 refers to the act of laying down one's life, dying for a cause.
NB: The periphrastic vocabulary of Chinese referring to death is extraordinarily large. I have more than 900 terms - if modern locutions gēbēr sǐ 咯嘣兒死 "die" are included.