ABSTRACT
A Dictionary of High Frequency Function Words in Literary Chinese is the first comprehensive work on the subject that constitutes a new approach to teaching and learning by providing both a reference tool and a reader.
This dictionary can serve both as a reference book and as an anthology for teaching and learning literary Chinese (the premodern written language) and both ancient and contemporary Chinese culture. It differs from the traditional design of dictionaries in that it includes detailed explanations, with examples, for different uses of the graphs most often used to represent function words in literary Chinese. To facilitate teaching and learning through association, the early meaning, extended meanings, and borrowed meanings for each graph are provided, along with explanations supported by the various stages of the historical development of the graph and other relevant research. Each word is grouped into the primary word class to which it belongs, based on its lexical or grammatical meanings, its collocations, and its function in a sentence. Modern idioms derived from words and phrases in the sample passages are provided in order to promote cultural knowledge and show the important role literary Chinese continues to play in everyday life. All Chinese words are provided with Putonghua romanization to facilitate learning and recall through sound; special pronunciations are explained.
This book can be used as a textbook, as extended reading, or as a reference work for undergraduate or graduate classes on literary/classical Chinese, Chinese manuscript studies, Chinese language and culture, Putonghua, translation studies, or even linguistics. It can also be used as an anthology from which the teacher can select passages for students to study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |333 pages
Entries
letter |4 pages
Ān 安
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to be settled”
entry |1 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Ānsuǒ 安所
letter |4 pages
Bù 不
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “pedicel” 【fū】
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Bùyì 不亦 … Hū 乎
letter |4 pages
Dàn 但
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to divest oneself of an outer garment”
entry |2 pages
Extended Meaning
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |9 pages
Ér 而
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “cheek hair”
entry |8 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Érhòu 而后 (而後)
letter |1 pages
Éryǐ 而已
letter |1 pages
Éryǐyǐ 而已矣
letter |6 pages
Ěr 耳
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “ears”
entry |5 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Ěryǐ 耳矣
letter |7 pages
Ěr 爾
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: adj.; “to be splendid”
entry |6 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |2 pages
Yún'ěr 云爾
letter |5 pages
Fēi 非
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to violate”
entry |4 pages
Extended Meanings
letter |4 pages
Fǒu 否
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: adv.; to show negation
entry |2 pages
Extended Meanings
letter |8 pages
Fú 夫
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “an adult male” 【fū】
entry |2 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |6 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |4 pages
Fú 弗
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to mold”
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |7 pages
Gài 蓋
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “a cover” (often made of rushes)
entry |2 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |3 pages
Gǎn 敢
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to charge forward”
entry |3 pages
Extended Meanings
letter |3 pages
Gǒu 苟
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “grass”
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |5 pages
Gù 固
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: adj.; “to be fortified”
entry |3 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |2 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |6 pages
Hé 何
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to carry on the shoulders” 【hè】
entry |1 pages
Extended Meaning
entry |5 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |2 pages
Hé Rú 何如
letter |2 pages
Héqí 何其
letter |1 pages
Hé Wèi 何為
letter |2 pages
Hé Yǐ 何以
letter |1 pages
Héyǒu 何有
letter |5 pages
Hé 曷
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to cut with a knife”
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |2 pages
Hé 盍
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “a lid”
entry |1 pages
Borrowed Meaning
letter |4 pages
Hū 乎
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: n; “the blowing of wind”/vb.; “to call”
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Hū'ér 乎而
letter |1 pages
Hūzāi 乎哉
letter |4 pages
Huò 或
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n; “territory” 【yù】
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |4 pages
Jī 幾
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: adj.; “to be dangerous”
entry |2 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |2 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |3 pages
Jiàn 見
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to see”
entry |2 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |1 pages
Borrowed Meaning
letter |4 pages
Kuàng 況
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: adv.; “even more”
entry |1 pages
Extended Meaning
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |5 pages
Mò 莫
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; the same as mù 暮 (“sunset”)
entry |1 pages
Extended Meaning
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Mò 莫 … Yú 於 …
letter |4 pages
Nǎi 乃 (迺/ 廼)
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to pull (?)”
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |10 pages
Qí 其
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; the same as Jī 箕 (a winnowing basket) 【jī】
entry |9 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |5 pages
Qǐ 豈
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: adj.; “to be jubilant” 【kaˇi】
entry |1 pages
Extended Meaning
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |5 pages
Qiě 且
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “tray for offering meat at ritual sacrifices”
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |2 pages
Qǐng 請
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to pay respects to/to pay a call on”
entry |1 pages
Extended Meanings
letter |3 pages
Rán 然
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to burn”
entry |2 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Ránhòu 然後
letter |7 pages
Ruò 若
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to be submissive”
entry |6 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Ruò 若 … Hé 何
letter |5 pages
Shì 是
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: adj.; “to be right”
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |3 pages
Shú 孰
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to offer fully cooked food for sacrifices”
entry |1 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |2 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |2 pages
Shú Yǔ 孰與
letter |4 pages
Sī 斯
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to split apart”
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Sīxū 斯須
letter |4 pages
Suǒ 所
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: Onomatopoeic for the Sound of Wood Being Hewed; Roughly Translated as “swishing” 【hǔ】
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Suǒ Yǐ 所以
letter |14 pages
Wéi 為
entry |3 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to do”
entry |4 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |8 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |5 pages
Wéi 唯
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to concur” 【wěi】
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Wéi 唯 … Shì 是
letter |1 pages
Wéi 唯 … Zhī 之
letter |4 pages
Wéi 惟
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to ponder”
entry |1 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |5 pages
Wū 惡
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “wrongdoing” 【è】
entry |2 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |4 pages
Wú 亡
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “the sharp point of a knife” 【wáng】
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |2 pages
Wú 毋
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: prohibitive adv.; “must not”
entry |1 pages
Extended Meanings
letter |4 pages
Wú 無
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to dance”
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |1 pages
Wúnǎi 無乃 (毋乃)
letter |3 pages
Wù 勿
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to cut off”
entry |2 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |4 pages
Xī 奚
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “slave”
entry |2 pages
Extended Meaning
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |4 pages
Xìn 信
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: adj.; “to be trustworthy”
entry |3 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |1 pages
Borrowed Meaning
letter |13 pages
Yān 焉
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: n.; name of a yellow bird
entry |12 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |4 pages
Yé 邪/ 耶
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: A Character for a Place Name
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |6 pages
Yě 也
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: Early Meaning Unknown
entry |5 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |11 pages
Yǐ 以
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to carry”
entry |2 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |9 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |3 pages
Yǐ Wéi 以為
letter |5 pages
Yǐ 矣
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: Early Meaning Unclear
entry |5 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |3 pages
Yì 亦
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: n.; “armpits”
entry |2 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |7 pages
Yú 于
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to exhale”
entry |6 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |8 pages
Yú 與
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to lift up something together”【yǔ】
entry |5 pages
Extended Meanings
entry |3 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |3 pages
Zāi 哉
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: part.; Used to Separate Units of Speech
entry |3 pages
Extended Meanings
letter |4 pages
Zhě 者
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: Early Meaning Unknown
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meanings
letter |6 pages
Zhī 之
entry |2 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; “to go to”
entry |5 pages
Extended Meanings
letter |4 pages
Zhū 諸
entry |1 pages
Early Meaning: vb.; Early Meaning Unclear
entry |4 pages
Borrowed Meaning
