Taxonomy of meanings for 朕:　　

  • 朕 zhèn (OC: rlɯmʔ MC: ɖɯim) 直稔切 上 廣韻：【朕古文 】
  • 朕 zhèn (OC: rlɯmʔ MC: ɖɯim) 直稔切 上 廣韻：【我也秦始皇二十六年始爲天子之稱直稔切六 】
    • EGO
      • npro.adNauto-honorific ceremonial: my
      • npro.postVtnon-honorific?? me
      • nproCC: I　
      • npro1. person singularauto-honorific ceremonial (by the decision of Qín Shǐhúang, used by emperors only)
      • npro=Nauto-honorific cenremonial: I (followed by an N in apposition)
      • npro.postVtpivotauto-honorific ceremonial: me (in pivotal construction)
      • npro.adNneutralmy (often elevated style)
      • npro.adNmarkedmy, the modification being marked by 之
      • npro.adNN=mentalmy
    • SYMBOL
      • nsymbol, image; manifestation
    • WE
      • nproinclusivewe (represented by me)
      • npro.adNinclusiveauthoritative/solemn: my/our (朕考 "my ancestor" is PERHAPS best understood as "my(and thus more indirectly your) ancestor". It is as if this ancestry is not just a personal matter. The King respresents his community. His ancestors are "our ancestors" of the Zho1u people.)
      • npro.adNexclusive/authoritativewe, the rulers
    • FISSURE

      Additional information about 朕

      說文解字:

        Criteria
      • EGO

        1. The umarked current first person pronoun most current by Warring States times is wú 吾, and the word is never emphatic in constructions like 吾實 "It was I who...". (Not in OBI. Note the Jinwen variant graphs for the same word 𫊣 and 䱷.) This word does not normally occur in object position and is highly idiomatic in a possessive pre-nominal position. Significantly, this pronoun can never be used emphatically or contrastively. (NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "we" in the sense close to "one", German man, French on.) 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

        2. Wǒ 我 (which can be used in the emphatic construction 我實 "It was I who...") is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times, as in wǒ zé 我則 "I on the other hand...". (In OBI 我 was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, modifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as a derived impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German "man", French "on". 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

        3. Yú 予／余 is personal and often autobiographical, speaking of the author in the past. It it a preferred pronoun used by poets.

        4. Zhèn 朕 is an ordinary southern dialect first person pronoun in CC, but by decree the word came to be limited to use by the emperor alone after the unification of the Chinese Empire in 221 BC.

        NB 1: Many official titles - but by no means all - function as quasi pronouns. For example, no king could call himself wáng 王 "king", but all ministers will normally refer to themselves as chén 臣 in the presence of their king, and not by the more assertive pronoun wǒ 我. Thus most quasi-pronouns serve a self-deprecatory function and are not usable in contexts where no self-deprecation is called for. A fascinating exception is fūzǐ 夫子 "the master" which is apparently used in self-reference meaning "I, your master" by Confucius.

        For the internal complexity of the notion of the EGO in German see C. Harbsmeier, "Ueber den inneren Schweinehund, das bessere Ich und die rausgelassene Sau" [On lack of will-power and one's better Self???]

        Word relations
      • Contrast: (EGO)予/EGO Yǔ2 予／余 is personal and often autobiographical, speaking of the author in the past. It became a preferred pronoun used by poets.
      • Contrast: (EGO)吾 / 䱷/EGO The umarked current first person pronoun most current by Warring States times is wú 吾. This word does not normally occur in object position and is highly idiomatic in a possessive pre-nominal position. Significantly, this pronoun can never be used emphatically or contrastively. NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German man, French on.
      • Contrast: (WE)我/WE
      • Contrast: (EGO)我/EGO Wǒ 我 is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times (in OBI it was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, mofifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German man, French on.
      • Contrast: (EGO)朕躬/EGO
      • Synon: (EGO)予/EGO Yǔ2 予／余 is personal and often autobiographical, speaking of the author in the past. It became a preferred pronoun used by poets.
      • Synon: (EGO)吾 / 䱷/EGO The umarked current first person pronoun most current by Warring States times is wú 吾. This word does not normally occur in object position and is highly idiomatic in a possessive pre-nominal position. Significantly, this pronoun can never be used emphatically or contrastively. NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German man, French on.