Taxonomy of meanings for 曰:　　

Additional information about 曰

說文解字: 【曰】，詞也。从口、乙聲。亦象口气出也。凡曰之屬皆从曰。 【王伐切】

Criteria
• MEAN
  

  1. The current general word for a person or an expression meaning something is yán 言. X 言 Y comes to mean "X means Y".

  2. Yì 意 is the standard word for meaning as "what one has in mind".

  3. Zhì 志 is commonly used to refer to an inteneded meaning as expressive of a mental orientation.

  4. Yuē 曰 "be called", the equivalent of wèi zhī 謂之, is the converse of yán 言 : X 曰 Y comes to mean "for X one says Y", or "X is called Y".

  5. Zhǐ 指 is used as technical term for intended objective meaning in philosophical contexts.

  6. Zhǐ 旨 is a stylistically elevated term which refers nominally to the overall import of what is said or written.

  7. Wèi 謂 refers to what a person or an expression is intended to refer to as an object or as the intended meaning, or to the semantic process itself.

  8. Zhī wèi 之謂 "refers to, is intended to refer to" belongs not so much to linguistics or lexicography as to the hermeneutics concrete interpretation of a given text.

• CHINESE LANGUAGE
  

  1. guānhuà 官話 "Mandarin" is obsolete, and its traditional antonym was xiāngyǔ 鄉語 "local speech".

  From Míng Dynasty times, this was a current word for the common vernacular language used by administrative staff of any kind throughout China.

  DC: 明何良俊《四友齋叢說 ‧ 史十一》： " 雅宜不喜作鄉語，每發口必官話。 "

  2. báihuà 白話 "plain speech, vernacular" (as opposed to wényán 文言 )

  This is a modern word referring to an easily accessible written version of the Chinese language. In classical contexts or early vernacular contexts the expression always seems to refer to "empty talk" rather than the vernacular language.

  3. guóyǔ 國語 "national language" (ant. wàiyǔ 外語 ) (pre-1950ies and Taiwan)

  A word that continues to be in increasing common use even in Mainland China today, and which is standard in places like Malaysia or Singapore, as well as in Taiwan.

  4. zhōngguóyǔ 中國語 "language of China" (ant. wàiguóyǔ 外國語 )

  Current Japanese way of writing the Japanese word for the Chinese language, but the expression has a long history in China, the first attested use being in Yáng Xióng's Model Sayings of the first century BC.

  5. pǔtōnghuà 普通話 "common language" (Mainland China) (ant. dìfāngyǔ 地方語, fāngyán 方言 "dialect (not in the ancient meaning)")

  This is a very common modern expression which corresponds to Greek koinē, and the word is always used in counterdistinction to (often mutually incomprehensible) dialects. The word has a rather political flair.

  6. Hànyǔ 漢語 "language of the Hàn people" (should include all dialects, but is often used otherwise)

  This is the most current word for the Chinese language as opposed to other 族語 "national languages". The word is very current in the Buddhist Tripitaka, but it is also attested elsewhere 庾信《奉和法筵應詔》： " 佛影胡人記，經文漢語翻。 ". The term is also attested in 世說新語.

  7. Zhōngguóhuà 中國話 "Chinese speech" (includes all dialects)

  This word is always used in counterdistinction to foreign languages. It has become current in international contexts in nineteenth century novels.

  8. Zhōngwén 中文 "Chinese (typically written) language" (ant. wàiwén 外文, often icludes speech: 會說中文 )

  This word is already attested in the medieval 搜神記, where it refers to the written language. In Modern Standard Chinese this is a very common way of referring to Chinese as opposed to foreign languages, and as a subject in school curricula.

  9. Huáyǔ 華語 "Chinese talk" (used mainly in Singapore, Hong Kong etc.)

  This word has a long history in Buddhist texts, and it is also already attested in 劉知幾《史通 ‧ 言語》： "... 必諱彼夷音，變成華語.

  10. Hànyīn 漢音 "Han-Chinese sounds" refers to the Chinese language in a poetic style. Sanskrit is currently referred to as 梵音.

  HD sub verbo 漢文： 2. 漢語；漢字。南朝梁僧祐《梵漢譯經音義同异記》： " 或善梵義而不了漢音，或明漢文而不曉梵意。 "

  HD: 2. 指漢語。南朝宋朱廣之《咨顧道士＜夷夏論＞》： " 想茲漢音，流入彼國。 "

  老子漢人也。

  新修科分六學僧傳 R133_p0714a04(02)║

  胡蕃國也。土地不同。則言音亦異。當其化胡成佛之際。為作漢音耶。作蕃音耶。苟以漢音。則蕃國有所不解。以蕃音。則此經之至。宜須翻譯。

  11. Hàn yán 漢言 "Hàn language, language of the Hàn Dynasty> Chinese" (ant. 胡言 or 胡語 ) is a historico-ethnographic term.

  This remained a very common way of referring to the Chinese language long after the Hàn Dynasty, as is clear from the Buddhist Tripitaka. (424 occurrences in CBETA.)

  T25n1512_p0835b29(05)║

  胡言般若波羅蜜。

  漢言智慧彼岸也

  T48n2023_p1095c25(00)║

  志曰。

  佛者。 Buddha

  漢言覺也。 is "the enlightened" in Hàn language"

  將以覺悟群生也。 He will bring enlightenment to the sentient beings.

  12. Wényán 文言 "literary Chinese" (ant. báihuà 白話 "plain vernacular") today refers to a modernised version of traditional classical Chinese, as used for example in letters. But in the Buddhist Tripitaka, for example, the phrase regularly refers to ornate Chinese, ornate formulations. Neither traditionally nor in modern times is 文言 used in counterdistinction to foreign languages: the contrast is with other varieties of Chinese.

  DC: 4. 別於白話的古漢語書面語。蔡元培《在國語傳習所的演說》： " 文言上還有例句，如 ' 爾無我詐，我無爾虞 ' 等。 "

  13. wényánwén 文言文 "literary Chinese writing" (ant. báihuàwén 白話文 ) refers to classical Chinese as it continues to be used in the introductions to books and in formal letter-writing.

  This is a twentieth century word, as far as I can see.

  14. báihuà-wén 白話文 "plain talk writing" (ant. wényánwén 文言文 ) is a term with a strong stylistic nuance.

  This is a twentieth century word.

  15. tōngyòngyǔ 通用語 "general use language".

  This is a twentieth century neologism designed to replace 普通話. The term has never achieved broad use.

  16. dàzhòngyǔ 大眾語 "mass language" is obsolete today.

  This is a politicised ideological concept stressing the universal use and popularity of the Chinese language as advocated by language politicians. It is a twentieth century political neologism.

  17. guówén 國文 "state writing" refers in a formal way to written Chinese.

  This is a twentieth century term mainly used in connection with educational politics.

  HD: 許地山《東野先生》： “ 這不是國文教科書底一課麼？ ”

  18. Hàn wén 漢文 (obsolete, current in Buddhist texts) "Hàn (typically written) language"

  HD: 2. 漢語；漢字。南朝梁僧祐《梵漢譯經音義同异記》： " 或善梵義而不了漢音，或明漢文而不曉梵意。 "

  19. Zhōngguó wénzì 中國文字 "the Chinese (written) language"

  T49n2036_p0477a06(03)║　

  中國文字未通。蓋不可知也。

  R110_p0542b01(05)║

  偈語原必有韻譯以中國文字。則無可協。

  R110_p0542b09(00)║

  流入東土後。以中國文字經為尊稱。故亦稱經。

  20. Huá yán 華言 is an obsolete traditional term for Chinese that comes over 1200 times in Taisho Tripitaka.

  R150_p0541a 13(00)║

  剌麻者。乃西域之尊稱。

  譯華言為無上二字。

  R149_p0695a 12(00)║

  梵語阿修羅。亦云阿素洛。

  又云阿須倫。

  華言非天。

  R149_p0718b05(03)║

  梵語袈裟華言壞色衣。

  21. dōngtǔ Huáxiàyán 東土華夏言 "Chinese language in the eastern regions" is an ad hoc periphrastic expression which one might insist was never lexicalised, but it is perhaps worth recording just as well, if only in order to

  R059_p0119b04(00)║

  梵語。西天梵國語也。

  華言。東土華夏言也。

  譯者翻也。

  謂翻梵天之語。轉成漢地之言也。

  22. Hàn'ér yányǔ 漢兒言語 "Hàn language" is a term that is current in Korean textbooks of colloquial Chinese, like the famous 老乞大 : “ 你是高麗人，卻怎麼漢兒言語說的好。 ” See also the article in 太田辰夫《漢語史通考 · 關於漢兒言語》

  23. Jìn wén 晉文 (obsolete, current in Buddhist texts) "Jìn (typically written) language" is fairly rare, but clear examples are easily found:

  T50n2059_p0326c12(02)║

  還歸中夏。

  自燉煌至長安。

  沿路傳譯寫為晉文。

  24. Jìn yán 晉言 (obsolete, current in Buddhist texts) "Language of the Jìn" is common indeed, but many examples can be read technically as "in Jìn this translates as". Not however in this example:

  於龜茲國金華祠。

  T14n0434_p0105ā6(01)║　

  演出此經。譯梵音為晉言。

  T33n1693_p0001ā7(01)║

  斯經似安世高譯。為晉言也。 (punctuation probably wrong!)

  25. Jìn yǔ 晉語 (obsolete, current in Buddhist texts) "Speech of the Jìn"

  T50n2059_p0329ā2(00)║

  手執梵文口宣晉語。

  T55n2145_p0072b24(03)║

  先誦本文。

  然後乃譯為晉語。

  26. Jìn yīn 晉音 "Jìn Dynasty speech"

  T14n0434_p0105á1(00)║

  沙門慧海者。通龜茲語。

  善解晉音。

  林復命使譯龜茲語為晉音。

  T50n2060_p0634á6(02)║

  外國語云阿耨菩提。

  晉音翻之無上大道。

  27. Qín yán 秦言 "Qín language> Chinese" is the standard way of providing Chinese translations for Sanskrit words in the Buddhist Tripitaka. (No less than 1132 examples in CBETA, but mostly formulaic, as in the following examples.)

  答曰。摩訶秦言大。 "maha is "big"in Chinese"

  T25n1509_p0383á2(03)║

  今問摩訶薩義。摩訶者秦言大。

  28. Qín yǔ 秦語 "Speech of the Qín > Chinese"

  In the Buddhist Tripitaka, this is a very formal term for Chinese, not very common. (Only 22 occurrences in CBETA)

  T26n1543_p0771b02(08)║

  梵本十五千七十二首盧 ( 四十八萬二千五百四言 ) 。

  秦語十九萬五千二百五十言。

  T51n2068_p0053c09(05)║

  什自手執胡經。

  口譯秦語曲從方言而趣不乖本。

  T51n2068_p0054á9(07)║

  什自執梵本口譯秦語。

  T55n2145_p0072b07(28)║

  胡本十五千七十二首盧 ( 四十八萬二千三百四言 ) 秦語十九萬五千二百五十言

  T55n2145_p0073c09(02)║

  胡本一萬一千七百五十二首盧長五字也。

  凡三十七萬六千六十四言也。

  秦語為十六五千九百七十五字。

  29. Táng wén 唐文 (obsolete, current in Buddhist texts) "Táng (typically written) language"

  This is the standard way of referring to the written Chinese language in Buddhist texts of the Táng dynasty.

  R130_p0664b06(02)║

  以華言唐文刻釋氏經典

  T39n1797_p0803b21(10)║

  不得梵文依唐文得意亦同。

  T48n2025_p1160a24(08)║

  唐文多對偶當盡翻譯。

  T50n2060_p0614c17(05)║

  有天竺三藏大齎梵本擬譯唐文。

  R024_p0177a16(02)║　

  語精梵言。

  雖亦兼美唐文。

  乍來恐未盡善。

  30. Táng yán 唐言 (obsolete, current in Buddhist texts) "Language of the Táng".

  1523 occurrences in CBETA. Occasionally, one wonders whether this does refer to Táng time Chinese whereas Hànyīn 漢音 does not:

  T20n1177Ap0724c02(01)║

  遂將得舊翻譯唐言漢音經本在寺。

  31. Táng yǔ 唐語 (obsolete, current in Buddhist texts) "Speech of the Táng"

  A fairly rare way of referring to the Chinese language in Táng Buddhist texts. (Only 18 occurrences in CBETA)

  R014_p0563a14(02)║

  印度罽賓皆未詳唐語。

  R036_p0985a16(18)║　　　　

  又多兩重怗文當知初依梵文後釋唐語

  T30n1579_p0283c07(05)║

  三藏法師玄奘。

  敬執梵文譯為唐語。

  32. Táng yīn 唐音 "Táng speech" is a regular expression for Táng Dynasty Chinese in the Buddhist Tripitaka.

  R036_p0584b13600)

  梵語本是兩名唐音無以甄別

  R066_p0717b08(01)║

  此偈乃是梵語訛言。

  傳者將為唐音正字。

  33. Tánghuà 唐話 "Táng talk" is a current Cantonese term for Chinese, and the famous intellectual 許地山 writes: 他說的雖是唐話，但是語格和腔調全是不對的。 But in this phrase, I am instructed by my teacher and friend Jiǎng Shàoyú, Táng refers not to the dynasty but to 唐山.

  34. Dà Táng yǔ 大唐語 "Speech of the Great Táng Dynasty" is rarely attested, but the word does exist:

  R150_p1055b17(00)║

  若僧雖是新羅人。却會大唐語。 Monk Ruò was a person from Xīnluó, but he spoke the language of the Great Táng Dynasty.

  35. Hàn 漢 is an abbreviation for Hànyǔ 漢語 currently used in Buddhist translation theory, but the word is not in itself a term for the Chinese language outside such technical contexts.

  T21n1293_p0378c15(02)║　

  翻梵為漢 Translate the Sanskrit into Chinese.

  R068_p0353b05(05)║

  梵是天竺之言。

  漢是此土之語。

  R133_p0623b09(07)║

  序以條列梵漢旨義。

  R005_p0007b03(02)║

  翻譯之家自有規准。 The specialists in translation have their own standards.

  若名梵漢共有。 If a term exists both in Sanskrit and in Chinese

  則敵對而翻。 than they just match the terms up in translation.

  36. Táng 唐 "language of the Táng Dynsasty.

  梵唐

  T54n2133Ap1196b12(02)║　

  一曰義淨撰梵語千字文。

  或名梵唐千字文。

  T55n2176_p1118a01(00)║　

  梵唐對譯阿彌陀經一卷 ( 仁 )

  This is the same as 梵唐語：

  T55n2176_p1118b20(00)║　

  梵唐語對註譯大佛頂真言一卷

  T55n2176_p1119c19(18)║

  梵唐對譯法花二十八品

  T55n2176_p1120a05(00)║　

  梵唐對譯金剛般若經二卷

  T55n2176_p1131a06(00)║　

  梵唐文字一卷

  37. Jìn 晉 "the language of the Jìn Dynasty.

  The term is rarely used to refer directly to the language, unlike the common Táng 唐. But examples do exist:

  T55n2157_p0795c08(08)║

  既學兼梵晉故譯義精允。

  38. nèidìhuà 內地話 refers to the language spoken on the Mainland, and the word is mostly used on Taiwan. This term represents an outsider's view on the Chinese language. (2.9 million hits in Google! This important word was brought to my attention by Jens Østergaard Petersen.)

  39. shénzhōu yǔ 神州語 "the language of our divine land" is quaint, nationalistically sentimental, and a rare way of referring to the Chinese language.

  beijing.kijiji.cn/á1221463.html:

  心中一暖，想到他居然會說神州語，正要說些甚麼，但一開口，嘴部動作牽動喉嚨，...

  40. zúyǔ 族語 "the national language (of the Chinese) is a borderline case because the term refers to national languages in general, and only by extension to Chinese in particular.

  42. Hàn dì zhī yán 漢地之言 "language of the Ha4n territory" is a marginal periphrastic expression which one should probably not regard as a lexicalised item. One could study such periphrastic expressions separately from the lexicalised vocabulary.

  R059_p0119b06(06)║

  謂翻梵天之語。轉成漢地之言也。

  [43. jīngpiànzi 京片子 "Chinese as spoken in Peking" is a borderline case because it does refer to Peking speech, but not insofar as it is the standard for the whole of China. Colloquial examples of this sort could be multiplied...]

• ASK
  

  [ASCENDING/DESCENDING]

  [[COMMON/RARE]]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [INFORMAL/OFFICIAL]

  1. The general word is wèn 問 "open a dialogue by consulting someone with a question" (ant. duì 對 "reply to a superior") which typically refers to the consultation of a person who is supposed to know something. When the adressee is explicit, the questioner is typically of higher status than the addressee, and the reply is correspondingly often phrased politely as duì yuē 對曰. When there is no explicit addressee (X asked about Y), the addressee often is of higher status (e.g. a teacher).

  [SPECIFIC]; [[COMMOM+]]

  2. Qǐng 請 is occasionally used to refer to polite requests for information.

  [[RARE]]

  3. Nàn 難 is to ask intellectually hostile questions regarding something which the person questioned has said or maintains as true, to make objections. See DISAGREE and REFUTE which are difficult to distinguish from each other and from this.

  [SPECIFIC], [HORIZONTAL]

  4. Fǎng 訪 typically refers to questioning addressed to superiors.

  [ASCENDING]

  5. Xún 詢 typically refers to rather formal questions addressed to inferiors.

  [DESCENDING], [OFFICIAL]

  6. Zī 諮／咨 refers to questions addressed to a specialist.

  [SPECIFIC]

  7. Zōu 諏 all refer to some kind of official soliciting of formal opinions.

  [OFFICIAL]; [[RARE]]

  8. Yuē 曰 is regularly used to introduce related questions as reactions within an ongoing dialogue.

  <div>9. Wèi 謂 may introduce what are in fact questions rather than statements.</div><div><br></div><div>10. Wèn yuē 問曰 introduces a a question that opens a new dialogue or a discrete new phase in a dialogue.</div><div><br></div><div>NB: ASKing in Chinese us always dialogic: one cannot ask oneself any question 問己, and one cannot abstractly just raise an abstract question as an intellectual issue worthy of discussion. There seems to be no word in classical Chinese for "asking a question" without addressing this question to an audience.<br></div><br>

• TAX
  

  jijiupian: 斂財曰賦；斂穀曰稅；田稅曰租。 Cambridge Hist. of China vol. 1, p. 595f

• NAME
  

  1. The current general word for a name is míng 名 (ant. shí 實 "reality").

  2. Wèi 謂 refers generally to the act of calling something by a certain name.

  3. Yuē 曰 is weaker in meaning and often refers to something being known as or called X.

  4. Mìng 命 typically refers to what is construed as a deliberate act of creating a name or making creative use of a name with the assumption that others should follow the practice.

  5. Chēng 稱 typically refers simply to establishing a new name for something or using a name in a special way.

  6. Shì 諡 refers as a technical term to formally conferring a posthumous name on someone or to that name itself. (See PERSONAL NAME)

• COPULA
  

  1. Classical Chinese had several common copulas at an early stage: wéi 維 / 唯 / 惟 (ant. fēi 非 "is not") was common in SHI and SHU, but discontinued later.

  2. The final particle yě 也 is interpreted by some as a sentence-final copula, but it is properly regarded as a sentential particle marking non-narrative modes of predication.

  3. The standard copula in Warring States Chinese is wéi 為, which tends to have human subjects and is by no means as common in Chinese as the copula is in Western languages.

  4. Yuē 曰 is current as a copula in listings of items and the like.

  5. Yún 云 is a rare archaising copula in ZUO.

  6. Zé 則 is copula-like after contrastive subjects.

  7. Nǎi 乃 is copula-like and contrastive and stresses that the subject is none other than the predicate.

  8. Dāng 當 "act as, fulfill the function of" is copula-like, but there is only a slight degree of grammaticalisation in the direction of a copula.

  9. Wèi 謂 "be counted as, count as" sometimes moves in the direction of copula-like uses.

  10. Shì 是 is a resumptive demonstrative pronoun which on very rare occasions can come to function very much as a copula.

  11. Zhòng 中 has some copula-like uses in GUAN, when the word means "amount to, cost" and sometimes even stands before ordinary nominal predicates.

  12. Yǐ 以 "as a SUBJECT" functions quite regularly as a subordinate copula in classical Chinese.

• WEATHER
  

  There is no commonly used general concept for the weather in pre-Buddhist Chinese. The closest we come is perhaps qì 氣 as in ZUO 天有六氣, but consider the whole passage:

  天有六氣， (In the same way) there are six heavenly influences,

  降生五味， which descend and produce the five tastes,

  發為五色， go forth in the five colours,

  徵為五聲。 and are verified in the five notes;

  淫生六疾。 but when they are in excess, they produce the six diseases.

  六氣曰陰、陽、風、雨、晦、明也， Those six influences are denominated the yin, the yang, wind, rain, obscurity, and brightness.

  分為四時， In their separation, they form the four seasons;

  序為五節， in their order, they form the five (elementary) terms.

  過則為菑： When any of them is in excess, there ensues calamity.

  陰淫寒疾， An excess of the yin leads to diseases of the cold;

  陽淫熱疾， of the yang, to diseases of heat;

  風淫末疾， of wind, to diseases of the extremities;

  雨淫腹疾， of rain, to diseases of the belly;

  晦淫惑疾， of obscurity, to diseases of delusion;

  明淫心疾。 of brightness to diseases of the mind.

• COMMAND
  

  1. The standard current word for a command is lìng 令, and the content (not the words) of the command is typically in the sentence that follows. We do not find: 令曰, and it is significant that lìng 令 also regularly means "to cause to".

  2. Mìng 命 is typically an order from a person of high, perhaps even supernatural, authority, and what follows are often the words used to express the order. 命曰. Mìng 命 is an order on a higher level than lìng 令.

  3. Shǐ 使 often refers to a superior getting or sending subordinates to do something by an order, but this word never focusses on the form of words used. See SEND, CAUSE TO

  4. Zhì 制 is a formalised administrative instruction on procedure.

  5. Huī 麾 is an order given prototypically by signal of the hand, and in the process of a battle.

  6. Hào 號 is a publicly proclaimed political command or instruction.

  7. Wèi 謂 is simply a way of telling someone to do something, informally or formally, but without the formal force of a rigid order.

  8. Chì 敕 / 飭 is an order from a person in an elevated position, and in post-Buddhist times chì 敕 came to refer standardly to imperial orders.

• PEOPLE
  

  1. The dominant current general word for the people is mín 民 (ant. jūn 君 "ruler"), and this term refers inclusively to all the people particularly insofar as they are ruled by a ruler or belong to a state (xiǎo mín 小民 are the ordinary people). [ 夫民之為言也暝也，萌之為言也（肓）〔盲〕也，故惟上之所扶而以之，民無不化也。故曰：「民萌。」民萌哉！ ( 直言其意而為之名也 ) Xinshu 9

  2. Bǎi xìng 百姓 (ant. jūn zhǔ 君主 "ruler") typically refers to the registered senior families in a state who are under the control of the ruler and contribute taxes as well as military service to him; but from earliest times this term was occasionally used to refer generally to the populace at large.

  3. Rén 人 (ant. wáng 王 "king") is sometimes used generically for those people who were taken to have a political voice, as in Yīn rén 殷人 "the people of Yīn".

  4. Méng 氓 / 萌 (ant.* shì mín 士民 "citizens") refers specifically to the common people belonging to the lower echelons of society.

  5. Zhòng 眾, shù 庶 and the rarer and more rarified words 蒸 and lí 黎 refer to the masses of the people under the aspect of their numerousness.

  6. Qián shǒu 黔首 "black-headed people" is the current word for the people especially promoted by the Qin dynasty.

  7. Shì mín 士民 refers to senior registered citizens with a certain political influence; but the term can also be used collectively to refer to the freemen/gentleman shì 士 on the one hand, and the common people mín 民 on the other.

  8. Guó rén 國人 refers not to the people in a state, but specifically to the senior citizens in the capital.

  9. Mín rén 民人 is a very current way of referring to the people without suggesting any low or high status.

  10. Shù rén 庶人 is the technical term for the non-office-holding commoners in a country.

• INTELLIGENT
  

  1. The most general word for the native ability to understand or to do things is zhī 知 "knowing", but a problem with this word is that it ranges freely and often imperceptibly in meaning from spiritual wisdom to technical competence.

  2. Míng 明 (ant. àn 闇 "obfuscated in one's mind"), taking its analogy from sharpness of vision, typically refers to clarity of insight at all levels.

  3. Cōng 聰 (ant. kuì 聵 "hard of understanding"), taking its analogy from sharpness of hearing, typically refers to well-informed sharpness of judgment.

  4. Shān 顫 is a very rare word referring to the acute sense of smell, and thus to narine intelligence.

  5. Chá 察 refers to discriminating investigative intelligence.

  6. Ruì 睿 perspicacious in reflection.

  SHU, HONGFAN: 視曰明，聽曰聰，思曰睿。

• DREAM
  

  1. The current standard word for a dream is mèng 夢.

  2. Xiōng mèng 凶夢 refers to a nightmare.

  ZHOULI 3 占夢：掌其歲時，觀天地之會，辨陰陽之氣。以日月星辰占六夢之吉凶，一曰正夢，二曰噩夢，三曰思夢，四曰寤夢，五曰喜夢，六曰懼夢。季冬，聘王夢，獻吉夢于王，王拜而受之。乃舍萌于四方，以贈惡夢，遂令始難驅疫。

• THEREFORE
  

  1. 故 is by far the most general Chinese word for THEREFORE, and in the interpretation of the word it is always important to find the semantic scope of the word, i.e. the "reason" or "cause" the particle refers back to. [It is important to distinguish between the pregnant use of 故 THEREFORE from the "bleached" use of 故 THUS "along these lines".　

  2. 是故 is the most common compound word in this synonym group (for which 故 alone may be regarded to be a short form). But 是故 rarely has "bleached" uses and must generally refer to either subjective motivation or objective causation.

  3. 是以 "because of this" almost as common, and seems to me more common as indicating a subjective cause than a concrete causal relation.

  4. 然則 "given this, then" is argumentative and limited to abstract discussion contexts.2. 是以 is also frequent but the word seems to refer to subjective motivations and purposes in especially many important cases.

  5.以此觀之 and 由是觀之 "viewed against this background" are explicitly theoretical in an almost didactic mode.

  6. 故曰 "therefore it is said" typically refers to a helpful relevant and explanatory quotation, often independently known, but it can also refer to the author's expressed opinion elsewhere in the context, and to an emphatic conclusion drawn in an argument.

• SPEAK
  

  1. The most colourless and general way of referring to any act of saying attributed to any subject, no matter whether animate or inanimate, something is yuē 曰, and the verb introduces what poses as direct but can often be the summarising of such speech and even the summarising of the subject's opinion.

  2. Yán 言 is to speak up, propose, typically in public, and on one's own initiative, to maintain something, and the word can indroduce direct speech as well as occasionally very limited indirect speech.

  3. Yǔ 語 is to say something as part of typically informal conversation. Contrast yù 語 "tell, inform" in REPORT.

  4. Tán 談 refers to informal communicative talk, sometimes but not always with some pejorative connotation.

  5. Yún 云 is used of books as well as persons and tends to refer to what are typically construed as authoritative acts of saying, and the word often has to be taken figuratively as "run as follows". (Note the perfectly regular contrast 曰 / 云 in MOUZI.)

  6. Wèi 謂 is to say or predicate something of someone. See also MEAN.

  7. Cí 辭 is primarily an act of careful articulation and rhetorical formulation.

  8. Dào 道 "speak of with authority, speak of adequately; quote" often involves quotation or especially serious discussion of important points, or the relating of important evidence.

  9. Jǔ 舉 is a technical term referring to the bringing up of a subject, and the subject of this verb is always a person, not a text.

  10. Chēng 稱 refers in a rather formal historian's style to the making of statements and the applying of terminology. See also NAME.

Word relations
• Epithet: (SPEAK)對/ANSWER The dominant general word for responding to something that has been addressed to one is duì 對(converse wèi 謂 "address"), but that word usually refers to a reply directed at a superior who has put a question or occasionally a response to a statement by a superior. [ASCENDING], [GENERAL] 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (SPEAK)云/SPEAK Yún 云 is used of books as well as persons and tends to refer to what are typically construed as authoritative acts of saying, and the word often has to be taken figuratively as "run as follows". 1 Attribution