Taxonomy of meanings for 殺:　　

  • shā (OC: sreed MC: ʃɯæt) 所八切 入 廣韻：【殺命説文戮也所八切七 】
    • KILL
      • vtoNjussive不免有殺身之禍 have (someone/onself) killed; cause someone/oneself to lose his life, The general word, to be used about animals as well as humans (and occasionally about plants as well), for whatever cause or reason and with whatever means; (sometimes the killed person comes to life again as in ZUO 7.8.1.1
      • vtoNcausativecause someone to sacrifice his life; cause someone to get killed
      • vtoNpassiveget killed
      • vadNdesigned for killing, mortal
      • nabactthe act of killing> the taking of people's lives; murder
      • vadNpassive(who gets killed>) murdered
      • vt[oN]kill people, take the measure of killing people; kill animals (in hunt)
      • vtoNN=nonhukill (an animal)
      • nabcausativeact in a manner that will lead to the death of; cause the death of, cause to get killed; get (e.g. oneself) killed
      • nabactgetting killed
      • vtoNreflexive.自kill (oneself)
      • vtoNpassiveoften: get (oneself) killed; cause one's own death indirectly (not by suicie); sometimes: kill (oneself)
      • vtpostadVresultativeresultative verbal complement (complement of degree?): V to the extent of killing N 踏殺 trample to death
      • vpostadVV to death
      • vt(oN)kill the contextually determinate object
      • nabautonymthe word 殺
      • vt+prep+NN=humkill (somebody)
      • vtoNobject=rulerkill (ruler or leader)
      • vtoNintentionintended to kill; run a campaign to get N killed
      • vtoNsubject=statekill
      • vtoNfigurativebe responsible for the death of
      • vtoNkillCH
      • vtoNpassivederived: risk getting killedCH
      • vtoNimperative, N=nonhumankill!CH
      • vttoN1.+prep+N2N2=placekill N1 at the place N2DS
      • resultative:violent death> DIE
        • nabprocessdecline and annihilation
        • vimiddle voicemeet death; decline
      • officially> EXECUTE
        • nabactexecutions
        • vtoNsubject=dukeexecute;DS
      • illegally> MURDER
        • vtoNkill somebody in an illegitimate way, assassinateDS
        • vt(oN)murder the contextually determinate NDS
      • general> DESTROY
          • try unsuccessfully> INJURE
              • specifically> CUT
                • vtoNcut up, cut into convenient pieces
              • generalised> DAMAGE
                • vtoNcausativework against the interests of, clip the wings of, reduce the number of; cause harm to
            • object fire> EXTINGUISH
              • vtoNto extinguish (fire)
        • grammaticalised, post-verbal: right to the end> INTENSELY
          • vpostadVpostverbal intensifier
      • shài (OC: sreeds MC: ʃɯæi) 所拜切 去 廣韻：【殺害又疾也猛也亦降殺周禮注云殺衰小之也又所八切 】
      • FEW
        • viexcessiveshài: be scanty, be too few
        • abstract> UNIMPORTANT
          • vtoNputativedeprecate N, consider N not so importantLZ

        Additional information about 殺

        說文解字:

          Criteria
        • MURDER

          1. The standard word for murder is the same as the general word for killing, shā 殺.

          2. Shì 弒 refers to assassination of a ruler, and always with negative connotations (the justified killing of a ruler would still be shā 殺 ).

          3. Cì 刺 is to stab and thereby kill.

          4. Zéi 賊 refers to an arranged murder, often through a hired assassin.

          5. Zhèn 鴆 is to kill with poison.

        • SUICIDE

          1. The general term for suicide is zì shā 自殺, and 殺己 is hardly ever used for suicide.

          2. Zì cǎi 自裁 refers to suicide by cutting oneself in some way or other.

          3. Zì jìn 自盡 is politely periphrastic and refers to putting an end to one's life in any way.

          4. Zì wěn 自刎 refers to a dramatic act of cutting one's own throat.

          5. Zì jīng 自經 refers to suicide by strangling oneself.

          6. Zì chén 自沉 refers to suicide by drowning.

          7. Sǐ 死 is often used causatively and reflexively to refer to an act of suicide.

        • MEET

          1. The current general word for meeting someone by coincidence is yù 遇, and going to meet someone is jiàn 見.

          2. Huì 會 refers to an arranged meeting, usually between more than two persons.

          3. Zāo 遭 refers to being exposed to something or running into someone, and the focus is on the fact that the encounter is generally hostile ( 遭宋司馬，將要而殺之 "ran into the Marshal of Sòng and wanted to kill him").

          4. Féng 逢 seems to be a dialect word for encountering something, but in early times this word has a much more limited range of syntactic functions, while from Han times it tended to replace yù 遇 as the standard word for encountering a person, later to be replaced in colloquial Chinese by its cognate pèng 碰.

          5. Chù 觸 is occasionally used to refer to someone bumping into someone else.

        • KILL

          1. The overwhelmingly dominant term referring to any form of taking the life of anything is shā 殺.

          2. Some words specify the range of objects murdered: Thus shì 弒 refers to the killing of a reigning ruler, zhū 誅 and yí 夷 refer to the killing of a convicted criminal; zǎi 宰 and tú3 屠 refer primarily to the slaughtering of animals for the purpose of food production.

          3. Some words specify the number of objects killed: yí 夷, zú 族, jiān 殲 tú 屠 (when applied to humans) refer to the killing of groups of people. See PUNISHMENT. The other words refer normally to the killing of one person or a specified set of several persons.

          4. Some words specify modes of killing: cì 刺 is to murder by stabbing with a pointed object, typically a dagger; liè 裂 and jiě 解 refer to dismembering by a wide variety of methods; zhèn 鴆 refers to poisoning; jǐng 剄 refers to cutting the throat; xī 腊 refers to killing followed by making a person into minced meat; rèn 刃 is to kill with a sword; jiǎo 絞 and yì 縊 refer to strangulation, è4 mèi 扼昧 and refer to strangulation; è 餓 can refer to starving someone to death. For a more detailed account of the varieties of death penalties in ancient China see PUNISHMENT.

          Word relations
        • Result: (KILL)刺/STAB
        • Ant: (KILL)成/COMPLETE The standard word for bringing anything to a successful conclusion is chéng 成.
        • Ant: (KILL)活/LIVE 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.
        • Ant: (FEW)豐 / 酆/ABUNDANT Fēng 豐 (ant.*qiàn 歉 "poor natural harvest") refers primarily to the natural abundance of some feature or resource, but in elevated archaic discourse the word may also refer to abundance of sacrifice and the like. The rare fēng 丰 was not homophonous in ancient times, and the meaning emphasises beauty as well as abundance. [NATURAL!]
        • Ant: (KILL)生/LIVE The current standard word for being alive is shēng 生 (ant. sǐ 死 "be dead").
        • Contrast: (KILL)弒/MURDER Shì 弒 refers to assassination of a ruler, and always with negative connotations (the justified killing of a ruler would still be shā 殺).
        • Contrast: (KILL)誅/PUNISH
        • Assoc: (KILL)劫/ARROGATE Jíé 劫 adds to the notion of misapropriation that violence or threat of violence.
        • Assoc: (KILL)僇 / 戮/KILL