Taxonomy of meanings for 奚:　　

  • 奚 xī (OC: ɡee MC: ɦei) 胡雞切 平 廣韻：【何也説文曰大腹也又東北夷名亦姓夏車正奚仲又虜複姓後魏書有達奚薄奚統奚吐奚等四氏胡雞切十八 】
    • BARBARIANS
      • SLAVE
        • narchaic, ZHOULI: female slave, particularly a witty female slave
    • grammaticalised>WHAT
      • npro.adNrhetorical questionwhat? [Note that complex NPs are apparently not acceptable after xī 奚
      • npro.adNquestionwhat N? 奚故
      • npro{OBJ}+Vtwhat object?
      • npro{OBJ}+Vtexpected answer: no!what object? i.e. none
    • grammaticalised>HOW
      • padVexpected answer: negativehow? in what way
    • grammaticalised>WHERE
      • npro{OBJ}+VtN=objin what place? > where?
    • grammaticalised>WHITHER
      • npro{OBJ}+Vtwhither
    • grammaticalised>WHY
      • padVquestionwhy?
      • padVrhetorical questionwhy?
    • SURNAMES

      Additional information about 奚

      說文解字: 【奚】，大腹也。从大、𦃟省聲。𦃟，籒文系字。 〔小徐本「籒文」作「古文」。〕 【胡雞切】

        Criteria
      • WHY

        1. The most current general word for "why" is probably xī 奚.

        2. Hé yǐ 何以 typically asks for a reason in the form of a purpose, but the word can also ask for a good intellectual reason, as in hé yǐ zhī zhī 何以知之 "how do you know".

        3. Hú 胡 is a dialect word which often asks generally for reasons and is hard to distinguish semantically from xī 奚.

        4. Hé 盍 "why not" is a contracted form of hé bù 何不.