Taxonomy of meanings for 耳:　　

  • ěr (OC: mljɯʔ MC: ȵɨ) 而止切 上 廣韻：【辝也説文云主聽也而止切五 】
    • EAR
      • n[post-N]pluralhuman ears; one's ears
      • n(post-N.)adVinstrumentwith N's ears
      • nadVobjectfor the ear 耳語
      • n[post-npro1]my ears
      • nfigurativeear (of a di3ng vessel etc)
      • npostVt(.post-N)one's earsCH
      • n[post-N]pluralone's earsCH
      • n(post-N)the contextually determinate N's earsCH
      • npost-NN's ear(s)LZ
      • process> HEAR
        • vtoNhear about
        • conative> LISTEN
          • vtoNhear; use one's ears, listen
        • metonymy, “ears of grain”> SPROUT
      • grammaticalised:=而已> MODAL PARTICLES
      • ěrFINAL PARTICLES
        • ppostadSemphatic=而已 emphatic sentence final particle: and that's how it is, and there is nothing to add to this matter, and that's all to it (the scope typically is the whole sentence and not some constituent inside it.
      • ěrONLY
        • ppostadSand that is all, contraction of 而已 (quantifies over only the subject, sometimes the whole sentence preceding it, rarely only the object, rarely the whole verb phrase, and also rarely the main verb only. 阿almost never, apparently, the object in the VP only. 
        • ppostadSonly the objectCH

      Additional information about 耳

      說文解字: 【耳】，主聽也。象形。凡耳之屬皆从耳。 【而止切】

        Criteria
      • MODAL PARTICLES

        也 is judgmental and judgmentally descriptive, never narrative: "it is the case that; the point is that"矣 narrative or narratively descriptive and marks to a currently new, currently relevant or currently conditioned narrative statement.已 is judgmental as well as emphatic or definitive: "definitively!, definitely"而已 is decisive and exclusive of alternatives: "and that is all".耳 is a less emphatic 而已.爾 is a scribal variant for 耳 and writes the same word.哉 is emphatic and marks emotionally charged statements: "!".夫 =否乎 is tentative and marks statements the truth of which is held to open to doubt: "n'est-ce pas?"

      • JOKE

        1. The most current general word is perhaps xì 戲 "be less than serious". 戲耳　"I was just joking".

        2. Xié 諧 refers to playfulness in the making up of stories.

      • EAR

        1. The current standard word for the ear is ěr 耳.

        2. Guó 聝 is a rare word referring to the ear cut off dead soldiers in war.

        Word relations
      • Object: (EAR)揜 / 掩 / 奄/COVER Yǎn 掩/揜 is an informal word which focusses on the deliberate act by a human, executed with his hand, which is designed to prevent something from being discovered or from getting in touch with other things.
      • Assoc: (EAR)目/EYE The general word for the eye, including the area around the eye is mù 目(thus when one shāng mù 傷目 what is injured is not necessarily the eyeball itself). (This is a very flexible word which also has verbal uses. For which see SEE.)
      • Oppos: (EAR)目/EYE The general word for the eye, including the area around the eye is mù 目(thus when one shāng mù 傷目 what is injured is not necessarily the eyeball itself). (This is a very flexible word which also has verbal uses. For which see SEE.)