Taxonomy of meanings for 言:　　

Additional information about 言

說文解字: 【言】，直言曰言，論難曰語。从口、䇂聲。凡言之屬皆从言。 【語軒切】

Criteria
• PROMISE
  

  1. The general word for agreeing and undertaking to do something, after having been asked to do so, is xǔ 許, but the word applies only to superiors.

  2. Nuò 諾 refers to a solicited undertaking typically by an inferior, but occasionally also by a superior.

  3. Yǔn 允 "agree to" is typically a solicited promise from a superior.

  4. Yán 言 refers to a typically somewhat formal speech act by which a person commits himself to a future action. Compare 言而有信 "keep faith when one has promised something".

• 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.

• WORD
  

  Note that 辭也 "This is a grammatical particle" is sometimes written 詞也, but never 字也. At this point, the classical Chinese commentators do make something like a distinction between character and word. The matter deserves detailed attention.

  1. On the relatively rare occasions when words rather than characters are referred to, the current general term to use is yán 言.

  Note that the definition of the word is notiously problematic for classical as well as for modern Chinese - as indeed it is for English. A typical illustration for the problem is a modern Chinese word like 合身 "fitting" which does invite categorisation as a word, but which is comfortably expanded into 合我的身 "fits my body", in which the grammatical relation between 合 and 身 remains the same, but where it becomes clear that the construction is not only syntactic but even syntactically productive. Cases of this kind are so many that one needs to find a systematic way of accounting for them in Chinese, and in this connection it is remarkable that in their very long history of reflection on their own language the Chinese never came anywhere near to inventing a notion of a "word". YANG QINGHUI 1995 gives a convenient but analytically unreliable survey of such phenomena for beginning students of modern Chinese.

• 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...]

• SENTENCE
  

  1. Cí 辭 was probably used as a technical term for a proposition by Mohist logicians, but in general the term refers to the formulation of a sentence.

  2. Yán 言 refers to a public statement or a publicised saying.

• EMPTY
  

  1. The most geneal word is xū 虛 (ant. shí 實 "substantial and full") which can refer both to physical emptiness of a space and to abstract emptiness or tenuousness as a philosophical concept.

  2. Kōng 空 (ant. mǎn 滿 "filled up") generally refers to literal emptiness of a container, but used adjectivally the word also has abstract uses as in kōng yán 空言 "empty words, abstract insubstantial discourse".

  3. Wú 無 (ant. yǒu 有 "existence") refers to the philosophical abstract construct of "nothingness, emptiness".

  4. Kuò 廓 and kuàng 曠 emphasise the expansiveness of the empty space.

• EXPLAIN
  

  1. The current general word for a discursive "analytical" explanation of something that is not sufficiently clear in itself is shuō 說.

  2. Yán 言 refers to the explicit articulation of something, and the emphasis often is on the initiative taken to undertake this explanation.

  3. Chén 陳 refers to the laying out of something clearly so as to make it accessible to an overview and a clear understanding of the contents of what is laid out, and the social context is typically that of an inferior laying something out for superiors.

  4. Míng 明 is to throw intellectual light on something by any means, including illustration as well as historical explanation or definition.

  5. Yù 喻 / 諭 refers to making clear to others what is very clear to oneself, and the means is often comparsion or illustration, yù 諭 tending to be used for making something clear through words in later texts, and yù 喻 for explanation by comparison or metaphor.

  6. Jiě 解 refers primarily to the unravelling of something that would appear convoluted and non-transparent without the effort of intellectual unravelling.

  7. Shì 釋 is late and refers to explanation with special reference to individual difficult points.

  8. Shù 述 refers to laying out for others what oneself or others have done or said in the past.

  9. Xù 敘 refers to laying out something in an orderly manner, often in conversation with equals and in a confidential context, and the word became current in Han times.

• SILENCE
  

  1. The current word for the failure of humans to speak where they might be expected to speak is mò 默 (ant. yán 言 "speak up").

  2. Jìng 靜 (ant. xiāo 囂 "noisy") is a strongly positively loaded term which refers with approval to the pleasing absence of sound in a natural environment and does not refer to the failure of humans to produce sounds or speak.

  3. Jì 寂 (ant. xī rang 熙嚷 "be busy and noisy") is a negatively laden term describing the absence of sound as something making a place desolate.

• PROVERB
  

  1. The general specific term for a proverb or common saying is yán 諺.

  2. Yǔ 語 regularly refers to popular current sayings.

  3. Yán 言 refers to bon-mots, proverbs and sayings of any kind, including attributed maxims by philosophers and the like.

• TRUE
  

  1. The most current word is rán 然 "it is so" (ant. fǒu 否 "be untrue"), and what is said to be so is a yán 言 "statement', and things are claimed to be as stated in that statement.

  2. Kě 可 refers to logical or ethical acceptability.

  3. Xìn 信 (ant. zhà 詐 "fraudulent and not reliable") refers prototypically to reliablity as information.

  4. Shì 是 (ant. fēi 非 "wrong") refers prototypically to what invites assent or approval.

  5. Zhēn 真 (ant. jiǎ 假 "fake") typically refers to what contains nothing faked or unreal and is genuinely true.

  6. Dāng 當 (ant. guò 過 "wrong") refers prototypically to what fits the facts and does not deviate.

  7. Yǒu 有 (ant. wú 無 "there is no such fact")refers abstractly to the occurrence of an event or the truth of an abstract proposition.

  8. Chéng 誠 (ant. wěi 偽 "faked") refers to honest truth. (Note that chéng 誠 normally means "earnest" in early texts and has nothing to do with this meaning.)

  9. Shí 實 "real and true" (ant. xū 虛 "only apparently") refers to something not being a figment of the imagination. See REAL.

• 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.

• LANGUAGE
  

  1. The most abstract philosophical and general term for language is yán 言.

  2. Yǔ 語 refers to speech as part of a dialogue, but very often also generally to a language of one kind or another.

  3. Yīn 音 refers to language as primarily manifested in special forms of oral articulation, but the word also often refers to a specific language in general.

  4. Wén 文 refers to language as primarily manifested in specific ways of writing it down, but the word also often refers to a specific language in general. Gāosēngzhuàn p. 329 that someone 手執梵文口宣晉語。 "In his hand he held the Sanskrit text and with his mouth pronounced Jìn language."

  5. Huà 話 refers to language as concrete utterance, typically as part of dialogue, and the word which is so common in modern Chinese is quite rare in classical Chinese.

  6. Fāng yán 方言 (Míng dynasty occasional variant: 方語 ) refers to a local language or dialect, as spoken in a given place.

  7. Yányǔ 言語 and the somewhat rarer yǔyán 語言 refer to language and linguistic articulatory activity in a general abstract way.

  8. Yǔyīn 語音 and yányīn 言音 refer to oral articulatory aspects of language in a general and abstract way.

  9. Yīn yì 音義 is a rare expression referring abstractly to a local variety of linguistic conventions linking sound and meaning.

  10. Wén zì 文字 refers to the written language.

  T49n2038_p0910c26(05)║ 所以善吐番音。兼解諸國文字。

• ADDRESS
  

  [ASCENDING/HORIZONTAL/DESCENDING]

  [FORMAL/INFORMAL]

  [IMPORTANT/INSIGNIFICANT]

  [PRESCRIBED/SPONTANEOUS]

  [PRIVATE/PUBLIC]

  1. Duì 對 "respond" (opp. wèn 問 "ask") refers to responses to superiors (See REPLY) whereas wèi 謂 often addresses inferiors. Yán 言 is neutral in this respect.

  [ASCENDING], [FORMAL], [PRESCRIBED]

  2. Wèi 謂 is a common word referrring to any form of addressing (often of inferiors) for which the subject has taken an independent initiative.

  [DESCENDING!], [SPONTANEOUS]

  3. Yán 言 (ant. mò 默 "fail to speak up, remain silent") typically involves addressing someone with a formal (often public and political) suggestion, taking the initiative to speak up.

  [FORMAL], [PUBLIC!], [SPONTANEOUS]

  4. Gào 告 is typically to address an individual or a group in a formal way or in an important matter, and the content of the address is most often information, but there are also often questions or suggestions involved, when these questions and suggestions are passed on as a message from someone else than the speaker himself.

  [FORMAL], [IMPORTANT], [SPONTANEOUS]

• 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.

• LOOK TO SIDE
  

  顧 is to turn one's head and look.

  眷 is to turn one's head and look intensely at, often with concern,

  眷言 is a poetic way of saying 眷.,

  顧瞻 is to turn one's head and have a look at.

  顧視 is to turn one's head and examine visually,

  還目 is to to look around,

  反顧 is to look in the opposite direction,

  還望 is to look into the distance in the other direction,

  顧睨 is to peer into the other direction.

  顧望 is to turn one's head and look in the other direction.

Word relations
• Subject: (SENTENCE)當/TRUE Dāng 當 (ant. guò 過 "wrong") refers prototypically to what fits the facts and does not deviate.
• Result: (SPEAK)指/MEAN Zhǐ 指 is used as technical term for intended objective meaning in philosophical contexts. 1 Attribution
• Ant: (SPEAK)默 / 嘿/SILENCE The current word for the failure of humans to speak where they might be expected to speak is mò 默 (ant. yán 言 "speak up"). 3 Attributions
• Object: (PROMISE)陳/SPEAK3 Attributions
• Object: (WORD)學/STUDY The dominant word is xué 學 (ant. jiào 教 "train teach")which refers primarily to studying or training under another person, and secondarily to the learning by heart texts. Very often, the word retains a tinge of immitation. 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (SPEAK)信/FAITHFUL The current general word for trustiness or good faith is xìn 信. 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (PROVERB)當/TRUE Dāng 當 (ant. guò 過 "wrong") refers prototypically to what fits the facts and does not deviate. 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (SPEAK)辭/ELOQUENT
• Epithet: (SPEAK)虛/UNTRUE Xū 虛 claims that something is to be rejected because it is insufficiently founded on solid fact. 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (SPEAK)妄/CRAZY3 Attributions
• Epithet: (SPEAK)至/PERFECT The current general word for ultimate perfection is zhì 至 (ant.* liè 劣 "very inferior"). 2 Attributions
• Contrast: (SPEAK)語/SPEAK Yǔ 語 is to say something as part of typically informal conversation. Contrast yù 語 "tell, inform" in REPORT. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (SPEAK)辭/PROSE
• Assoc: (DISCUSS)談/DIALOGUE Tán 談 refers to informal chatter or unrespectable intellectual dialogue. 14 Attributions
• Assoc: (DISCUSS)說/PERSUADE The current general words for persuasion are shuì 說 "persuade of a point of view or a course of action" versus quàn 勸 "persuade someone to engage in a certain course of action he or she was not originally planning to enage in". 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PROMISE)事/WORK Shì 事 (ant. xián 閒 "be at leisure") refers primarily to an official or regular working effort made on behalf of and in the service of an employer or a ruler. 5 Attributions
• Oppos: (SPEAK)文/PROSE1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SPEAK)為/ACT Wéi 為 (ant. wú wéi 無為 "not engage in purposeful and result-orientated self-assertive action") focusses not on the act itself but primarily on the results achieved or aimed for. [OCCASIONAL], [PURPOSEFUL] 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SPEAK)色/FACE Sè 色 refers specifically to the face as expressive of mood and emotion. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PROMISE)行/ACT The current general word for any deliberate action one may be held morally and/or administratively responsible for is xíng 行 (ant. zhǐ 止 "decide not to take action"). The nominal entries have the old reading xìng. [COMMENDATORY!], [GENERAL], [HABITUAL], [RESPONSIBLE] 6 Attributions
• Oppos: (SPEAK)書/DOCUMENT The dominant general word for everything written is shū 書. (However, note that the word also refers specifically to a letter.) 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PROMISE)功/ACHIEVE Gōng 功 refers to the achievement of something regarded as important to others. See MERIT. [ALTRUISTIC], [IMPORTANT]; [NOUN] 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (SPEAK)身/SELF Shēn 身 typically refers to the subject in a contrastive way, and the word is often hard to distinguish from the nominal concept of a person. Adverbially, the word is different from PERSONALLY in that it does not connote distinction in the agent. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SPEAK)行/ACT The current general word for any deliberate action one may be held morally and/or administratively responsible for is xíng 行 (ant. zhǐ 止 "decide not to take action"). The nominal entries have the old reading xìng. [COMMENDATORY!], [GENERAL], [HABITUAL], [RESPONSIBLE] 3 Attributions
• Oppos: (SPEAK)聽/LISTEN The current word for listening is tīng 聽, the nuance often being listening to and at the same time taking note of as sound advice etc. 1 Attribution