TWO  兩個二

The NUMBER which is the BIGGER successor of ONE.
Hypernym
  • NUMBERQUANTITY when COUNTED. [THE DEFINITIONS IN THIS FIELD REMAIN CIRCULAR ON MANY LEVELS AND NEED TO BE CAREFULLY REVISED IN COLLABORATION WITH KARINE CHEMLA.]
    • QUANTITYDEGREE of being MANY OR FEW that CAN be MEASURED OR COUNTED.
      • DEGREEFEATURE of MORE or LESS.
        • FEATUREABSTRACT OBJECT a THING is SAID to BE OR to HAVE....
Hyponym
  • DIVIDE　CAUSE something to BECOME TWO OR MANY DIFFERENT PARTS.
    • SHARE OUT　DIVIDE into PARTS AND DISTRIBUTE these PARTS.
Old Chinese Criteria
1. The general word is èr 二, a word which shows an extraordinary semantic and syntactic flexibility.

2. Liǎng 兩 is common when the reference is to a natural pair, but there are also many cases where the definite reference is merely to an aforementioned couple of items, and there are even a good number of cases where the reference is to any indefinite number of two things. Also the word regularly means "both the objects" when it precedes a transitive verb, and the word is never used as an ordinal number. Moreover, in complex numbers the word is not used.

3. O ㄆ偶 and ǒu 耦 refers to a man-made or artificial pair or pairing.

4. Zài 再 is mostly adverbial and refers to an action being performed twice.

5. Chóng 重 is mostly adnominal and refers to something being two-layered.

6. Bèi 倍 "double" refers to twice the amount of something.

Modern Chinese Criteria
二

兩

倆

對兒

  • Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologien ( DOEDERLEIN 1840) p.

    DOUBLE

    duplex refers to double numbers of something as a distinct abstract articulated quantity.

    duplum refers to double amounts of some stuff as a continuous quantity.

    geminus refers to that which is paired or comes in pairs of different items.

    duplicatus refers to that which consists of a pair of copies of the same thing.

    dupliciter refers to different manners or double purpose, adverbially: "in two different ways".

    bifariam refers to different places, adverbially: "in both places"

  • 韓非子同義詞研究 ( HANFEI TONGYI 2004) p. 364

  • 王力古漢語字典 ( WANG LI 2000) p. 58

    1. The conventional idea that lia3ng 兩 must refer to natural pairs, repeated in WL, is not borne out by the facts. Our analysis shows a wide variety of cases that are clear and neat exceptions to this traditional rule.

    2. WL does not mention the important use of lia3ng 兩 as a dual object quantifier. Other unmentioned syntactic differences abound, and interestingly lia3ng 兩 cannot be used in classifier constructions. Indeed, most of the peculiarities of lia3ng 兩 are restrictions with respect to a wide range of current uses of e4r 二.

  • Using Chinese Synonyms ( GRACE ZHANG 2010) p. 107

  • Handbook of Greek Synonymes, from the French of M. Alex. Pillon, Librarian of the Bibliothèque Royale , at Paris, and one of the editors of the new edition of Plaché's Dictionnaire Grec-Français, edited, with notes, by the Rev. Thomas Kerchever Arnold, M.A. Rector of Lyndon, and late fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge ( PILLON 1850) p. no.181

  • 古漢語常用詞同義詞詞典 ( HONG CHENGYU 2009) p. 281

  • A New Dictionary of Classical Greek Synonyms ( T.W.HARBSMEIER 2004) p. NO.194

Words

兩  liǎng OC: raŋʔ MC: li̯ɐŋ 63 Attributions

Liǎng 兩 is common when the reference is to a natural pair, but there are also many cases where the definite reference is merely to an aforementioned couple of items, and there are even a good number of cases where the reference is to any indefinite number of two things. Also the word regularly means "both the objects" when it precedes a transitive verb, and the word is never used as an ordinal number. Moreover, in complex numbers the word is not used.

    Word relations
  • Synon: 二/TWO The general word for two is èr 二, a word which shows an extraordinary semantic and syntactic flexibility.
  • Oppos: 一/ONE The general word for one is yī 一.

    Syntactic words
  • npair; set of two
  • v(adN)kindsthese two kinds of the contextually determinate kind NCH
  • v[adN]indefinite(any) two, a set of two; twofold choice
  • vadNa pairthe two, the dyad of; the pair of
  • vadNcontrastive(not one but) two
  • vadNdefinitethe two (that do not form a natural pair and are determinate in the context)
  • vadNindefinite(any) two (N)
  • vadVtwice HF 48.6 兩諫 remonstrate twice (on the same matter)
  • vadVDELETE doubly, in two respects (君子兩進，小人兩廢 )LZ
  • vadVobjectin two directions
  • vibe two in number
  • vt0oNthere are two (or: to have two)
  • vtoNadjust in pairs
再  zài OC: tsɯɯs MC: tsəi 61 Attributions

Zài 再 is mostly adverbial and refers to an action being performed twice.

    Syntactic words
  • nabactdoing something twice
  • ndefinitethe second
  • v(adV)for a second time
  • vadNthe second 再世 "after the second generation"
  • vadNdouble[REPEATED>] double 再期 "double period (of mourning)"
  • vadVtwice 再拜
  • vadVfor the second time; for a second timeCH
  • vadVfigurativedoubly; in two separate ways
  • viactoccasionally used verbally in plain sense: repeat, do something twice
  • vieventoccur twice 大福不再 "great good fortune does not come twice"
  • vpostadVtwice
  • vtoNhavehave two (of someting)
  • vtoNstativebe twice the amount of, be twice as substantial as
二  èr OC: njis MC: ȵi 26 Attributions

The general word for two is èr 二, a word which shows an extraordinary semantic and syntactic flexibility.

    Word relations
  • Contrast: 雙/TWO
  • Synon: 兩/TWO Liǎng 兩 is common when the reference is to a natural pair, but there are also many cases where the definite reference is merely to an aforementioned couple of items, and there are even a good number of cases where the reference is to any indefinite number of two things. Also the word regularly means "both the objects" when it precedes a transitive verb, and the word is never used as an ordinal number. Moreover, in complex numbers the word is not used.

    Syntactic words
  • nabfigurativeBUDDH: duality
  • ndefinitethe two 二人 "these two people"
  • nordinalthe second item
  • v[adN]N=humantwo peopleLZ
  • v[adN]N=thingtwo things; two parts; two aspects
  • vad.VadNtwo
  • vadNnumbertwo; sometimes: these two!!
  • vadNordinalthe second
  • vadNtwofoldtwofold 二智 "twofold wisdom"
  • vadVtwice 二三 "several times"
  • vibe two in number
  • v{NUM}postadNpostposed numeral: two
倍  bèi OC: bɯɯʔ MC: bəi 23 Attributions

Bèi 倍 "double" refers to twice the amount of something.

    Syntactic words
  • v[adV]surpass by two times; be twice as much asDS
  • vadNdouble
  • vibe double in number or extent
  • vpost-V{NUM}.postadNbe V{NUM}-fold
  • vpost-V{NUM}.postadNchangebecome V{NUM}-fold
  • vpost-V{NUM}.postadVclassifiertimes
  • vt(oN)causativebe twice as many as some contextually determinate other party
  • vt+prep+Nbe double that of N
  • vtoNbe double that of; earn twice as much as
  • vtoNcausativeredouble, make double, double up
  • vtoNpassivebecome doubled
  • vtoNreflexive.自cause (oneself) to be double
貳  èr OC: njis MC: ȵi
二  èr OC: njis MC: ȵi 18 Attributions

The general for two word is èr 二, a word which shows an extraordinary semantic and syntactic flexibility.

    Word relations
  • Oppos: 一/ONE The general word for one is yī 一.

    Syntactic words
  • nabduality; disunited doublenessCH
  • nabautonym"two"LZ
  • npost-Nsecond copy of N
  • v(adN)the second of the the contextually determinate NCH
  • vadNthe secondCH
  • vadVtwice
  • vicome secondCH
  • vtoNderived, causativeto cause to be double or ambiguousVK
  • v{NUM}(adN)two contextually determinate NsDS
  • v{NUM}adNtwo (separate)CH
  • v{NUM}postadNpostposedtwo NCH
重  chóng OC: doŋ MC: ɖi̯oŋ 14 Attributions

Chóng 重 is mostly adnominal and refers to something being two-layered.

    Word relations
  • Contrast: 復/AGAIN Fù 復 tends to refer to a cyclic repetition. >>GENERAL, CYCLIC!

    Syntactic words
  • vadNdouble-layered
  • vadNderivedmany-layeredCH
  • vadNmathematical termCHEMLA 2003: double, reiteratedJZ 6.10, Liu Hui's comm: 是謂重今有也 "This refers to reiterated of supposing." JZ 6.11, Liu Hui's comm: 此亦重今有之義 "This has has also the structural pattern of a reiterated of supposing.Cf. also JZ 6.28, Liu Hui's comm, where the reiteration is more than twice.For 重今有 we have three structural analyses:1. transitive verb: repeat the supposing. "This refers to repeating the supposing." [However, 重 is not current as a verb elsewhere in JZ.]2. adnominal verb>adjective: repeated supposing. "This refers to repeated supposing." [This seems to work in all instances we have seen so far.]3. adverb: suppose repeatedly. "This refers to supposing repeatedly." [However, in 重今有之義 this is most uncomfortable.]We need to insist on a clear answer why we attribute one and not the other of the structures to the phrase in any given context.　Is the Chinese underdetermined, structurally?
  • vadVmore than once, a second time; doubly
  • vtoNhave a double N; have a two-layered N
  • vtoNcausativemake double, double up
雙  shuāng OC: srooŋ MC: ʂɣɔŋ 14 Attributions

    Word relations
  • Contrast: 二/TWO The general word for two is èr 二, a word which shows an extraordinary semantic and syntactic flexibility.

    Syntactic words
  • nabconceptdoubleness
  • nadNa pair of Ns
  • nadVquantifierbothCH
  • nccpair
  • ncpost-V{NUM}.post-Nclassifierpairs of N
  • viactbe symmetrically double
兩邊  liǎng biān OC: raŋʔ peen MC: li̯ɐŋ pen 3 Attributions
    Syntactic words
  • NPabmetaphysicaldualism; duality
二  èr 3 Attributions
    Syntactic words
  • vadN1.postN2V=numbertwo items N1 of N2DS
耦  ǒu OC: ŋooʔ MC: ŋu
偶  ǒu OC: ŋooʔ MC: ŋu 1 Attribution

Oㄆ 偶 and ǒu 耦 refers to a man-made or artificial pair or pairing.

    Syntactic words
  • ntwo people ploughing together: a man-made pair (unlike one's pair of legs); come in pairs
  • nadVas a pair 耦而
偶  ǒu OC: ŋooʔ MC: ŋu 1 Attribution

Oㄆ 偶 and ǒu 耦 refers to a man-made or artificial pair or pairing.

    Syntactic words
  • vtoNto redouble??; to pair up??
駢  pián OC: been MC: ben 1 Attribution
    Syntactic words
  • vadNjoined together
倍用  bèi yòng OC: bɯɯʔ k-loŋs MC: bəi ji̯oŋ 1 Attribution
    Syntactic words
  • VPadVdoubly
陪貳  péi èr OC: bɯɯ njis MC: buo̝i ȵi 1 Attribution
    Syntactic words
  • NPpair, two together
一  yī MC: 'jit OC: qliɡCH 1 Attribution
    Syntactic words
  • vadS1.postS2secondlyCH
複  fù OC: buɡs MC: bɨu 0 Attributions

double

    Word relations
  • Ant: 單/ALONE Dān 單 (ant. qún 群 "in a group") has no emotional nuances and simply refers to the single member of a set. [GENERAL]

    Syntactic words
  • vadNdouble
  • vibe double

Existing SW for

Here are Syntactic Words already defined in the database: