Taxonomy of meanings for 泣:　　

Additional information about 泣

說文解字: 【泣】，無聲出涕曰泣。 〔小徐本「曰」作「者」。〕 从水、立聲。 【去急切】

Criteria
• WEEP
  

  1. The current general word for weeping as a spontaneous reaction is qì 泣.

  2. Kū 哭 (ant. xiào 笑 "laugh") refers primarily to the (often ritualised) act of lamentation and wailing which may or may not be accompanied by the shedding of tears, and the word is never used to refer to refer to a spontaneous breaking into tears. (Note HNZ: 其哭哀而無聲 )

  3. Háo 號 refers to noisy ritual wailing with no suggestion of any shedding of tears.

  4. Tí 啼 refers to plaintive long-drawn wailing.

  5. Tì 涕 focusses specifically on the shedding of tears, but there is often an admixture of snivel.

  6. Lìn 臨 refers to wailing, possibly accompanied by weeping, en groupe on the occasion of someone's death.

• TEARS
  

  1. The current general word for tears is qì 泣.

  2. Lèi 淚 is a general word for tears, but probably not as common as qì 泣.

  3. Tì 涕 refers to tears (possibly mixed with snivel from the nose, the latter meaning becoming prominent at later stages of the language).

  4. Yí 洟 and sì 泗 are rare words referring to tears in early times, and to snivel or mucus from the nose in later times.

Word relations
• Assoc: (WEEP)哭/WEEP Kū 哭 (ant. xiào 笑 "laugh") refers primarily to the (often ritualised) act of lamentation and wailing which may or may not be accompanied by the shedding of tears, and the word is never used to refer to refer to a spontaneous breaking into tears. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (WEEP)涕 / 涕/WEEP Tì 涕focusses specifically on the shedding of tears, but there is often an admixture of snivel. 2 Attributions