Taxonomy of meanings for 鳴:　　

  • 鳴 míng (OC: mreŋ MC: mɯiaŋ) 武兵切 平 廣韻：【嘶鳴又姓出姓苑 】
    • SING
      • nabactsinging; mooing; neighing
      • vadNsinging; prone to singing; prone to giving off sound, resounding
      • viactof non-humans and even inanimate objects, primarily of birds: sing; crow; make a sound; also of bovines: moo
      • vtoNderivedsqueak at (a person)CH
      • generalised: make sound>SOUND
        • vigive off a sound (as of a drum etc)
        • vtoNcausativecause to give off a sound> sound, beat (a drum of attack in war)CH
        • causative: of bells, cause to sound>KNOCK
          • vtoNcausativecause to sound; to sound (a bell)
        • concrete: of humans>SHOUT
          • viactmake any of the loud sounds animals make> shout, moo, etcCH
          • specifically>GREET
              • generalised: speak up>SPEAK
                • viactspeak up

      Additional information about 鳴

      說文解字: 【鳴】，鳥聲也。从鳥、从口。 〔小徐本作「從鳥、口聲。」〕 【武兵切】

        Criteria
      • SING

        1. The current general word for singing a song is gē 歌.

        2. Míng 鳴 refers to the singing of non-human agents.

        3. Chàng 唱 is to set the tune in singing, but the word later came to refer also to reciting prose texts in a dramatic drawn-out manner. See CHANT

        4. Hé 和 is to chime in singing according to a tune set by someone else.

        5. O!u 謳 and the rarer yáo 謠 refer specifically to unaccompanied singing of songs, typically folk songs.

      • WITHDRAW

        1. The current general word for withdrawing from somewhere is tuì 退 (ant. jìn 進 "move forwards"), and the withdrawal can be over a short or a long distance, often with the purpose of returning to one's point of departure.

        2. Què 卻 (ant. qián 前 "move forward") refers to backing off, often under pressure, and typically for a shorter distance, and usually the immediate purpose of the withdrawal is not that of returning to one's point of departure but to get out of a confrontation.

        3. Bà 罷 (ant. gōng 攻 "move forward to attack") refers to an army withdrawing its military forces.

        4. Bì 避 (ant. duì 對 "face up to") refers to a polite withdrawal from an honoured or regular position, typical a position facing someone in authority.

        5. Yin3 引 refers to the act of preparing and then commencing a formal military withdrawal.

        Jī jīn 擊金 and míng jīn 鳴金 "beating the bells for military withdrawal" (ant. jī gǔ 擊鼓 "beat the drums for a military attack") refers to giving a signal for withdrawal of troops.

        Word relations
      • Subject: (SOUND)牛/BOVINE The current general word for bovines of any kind is niú 牛.
      • Subject: (SING)雞/COCK The standard word for a cock is jī 雞, the same as for "chicken", but occasionally the expanded form xióng jī 雄雞 is used.
      • Assoc: (SING)呼/SHOUT The dominant current word for shouting (and thus using a large amount of breath) is hū 呼 (ant.* niè rú 囁嚅 "whisper").