Taxonomy of meanings for 默 / 嘿:　　

  • 默 mò (OC: mɯɯɡ MC: mək) 莫北切 入 廣韻：【説文曰犬暫逐人也又靜也或作嘿 】
    • SILENCE
      • viremain silent (in spite of an expectation or a possibility that one may speak)
      • vadVsilently; without any use of words
      • vi-V{SUFF}remain all silent
      • nabactremaining silent
      • viimperativeBe silent!
    • =墨DARK
      • =驀SUDDENLY
        • SURNAME

        Additional information about 默

        說文解字: 【默】，犬暫逐人也。从犬、黑聲。讀若墨。 【莫北切】

          Criteria
        • DIALOGUE

          1. The current general word for engaging in familiar informal conversation is yǔ 語 (ant. mò 默 "say nothing").

          2. Biàn 辯 refers sometimes to discussion or exchange of views typically among equals. See DISCUSS

          3. Tán 談 refers to informal chatter or unrespectable intellectual dialogue.

          4. Jiǎng 講 refers to the discussion of important subjects in the context of informal conversation, typically among equals. See EXPLAIN

        • 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.

        • 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]

          Word relations
        • Ant: (SILENCE)言/SPEAK 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.