How to use 耳 as a particle

[Hofmann]

How is 耳 used as a particle? Are there any equivalents?

Thanks.

[HashiriKata]

I don't think 耳 is a particle. Do you mean 其? If you do, look at the other thread about 其 that is being discussed .

[Hofmann]

I mean 耳, in Classical Chinese. Here's an example.

水，無機化合物，天下之所繫命也。人所常言者，蓋其液態耳，然實有三態，曰氣、曰液、曰固（注︰此殆分也，實甚繁耳，固態下分為七；另亦有超臨界流體等）。大海之水，多有鹽耳，莫之能飲。

[ABCinChina]

Classical Chinese makes my head spin.

Here's how my dumb brain sees it...

蓋其液態耳 = Cover the liquid and it flows like the ear

[leeyah]

蓋其液態耳 = Cover the liquid and it flows like the ear

I really liked that

Anyway， in Classical Chinese 耳 was used as an auxiliary word meaning only, just （同于：而已，罢了) For example: 相当然耳 is now written as: 相当然而 and is now considered 书面语

[HashiriKata]

For example: 相当然耳 is now written as: 相当然而

Thank you leeyah, I was too quick to assume (想当然耳) that 耳 was a typo for 其. I will try not to do it again even if I think there's a typo in front of me!

[Hanlink]

蓋其液態耳 'cover the liquid and it flows like the ear' is a wonderful translation but obviously a bit wide of the mark. 蓋 here means 'probably', 'generally', 'for the most part'. It is an occasional alternate character for 概. As has been written, 耳 is the classical particle for 'only' (there are others). The translation of that part of the sentence, should be something like: 'when people normally speak [of water], it is for the most part only in its liquid form, but in fact, it has three forms:...'.

[chrix]

Just to wrap this up: it is a contraction of 而已 (see this post for more contractions)

Pulleyblank calls it a "final phrasal particle", often followed by 矣, underlining its verbal force.

He has the following three examples:

言舉斯心加諸彼而已. It just means to take his mind and apply it to others and that's all. (Mencius)

直好世俗之樂耳. I only like the popular music of the present age. (Mencius)

子誠齊人也. 知管仲晏子而已矣. You truly are a man of Qi. You only know Guan Zhong and Yanzi. (Mencius)

p. 134.

[RLGoodman]

耳 is definitely short for 而已 in this passage, but I think 蓋 is used to show a bit of surprise for a statement that the author disagrees with, like "how could it be!" 蓋 sets the tone of surprise and a coming correction, just like the above mentioned text.

蓋 and 耳 (or 而已) are often combined as sentence initial and final particles to show disagreement with something the author believes to be lacking.

[natra]

I agree with the above commenters. 耳 generally just means 而已 or 罢了.

[jiangping]

I mean 耳, in Classical Chinese. Here's an example.

水，無機化合物，天下之所繫命也。人所常言者，蓋其液態耳，然實有三態，曰氣、曰液、曰固（注︰此殆分也，實甚繁耳，固態下分為七；另亦有超臨界流體等）。大海之水，多有鹽耳，莫之能飲。

I'm only a classical newbie but I'll have a go at translating this...just for fun:mrgreen:

"Water, an inorganic compound, is what links all life under heaven. What people normally talk about is probably only its liquid state, but in reality there are three states: gaseous, liquid and solid. (....) The water in the ocean is (simply) for the most part salty, and no one can drink it."

As for the 耳... I guess it's mostly explicable as 而已 (which literally means "...and stop")

The usage in the first instance seems fairly straightforward:

人所常言者，蓋其液態耳

and the meaning of 而已 would fit here (耳 being used to keep the 5-5 structure, maybe?). Although it seems a bit odd without a 也 at the end of the 2nd clause...can anyone comment on that?

The second 耳 seems a bit more tricky:

大海之水，多有鹽耳，莫之能飲。

Perhaps it just has a more emphatic meaning here, like 就是 in modern? Again, it seems to fill out the 4-4-4 pattern nicely.

In classical texts I think 耳 is pretty much always a fusion of 而已, but then in later periods (late Han and after) the meaning became a bit blurred.

The 蓋 gài i just took as meaning "probably".

[chrix]

You're certainly right in that Pulleyblank limits himself strictly to the Classical Period.

The 辭海 has the following entry (besides 而已):

表语气，用词“矣”。 and gives two Classical examples:

1. 吾無望焉耳 （大戴禮記:曾子立事) "I haven't seen that there!" (my own translation)

2. 女得人焉耳呼 （論語: 雍也) "Have you met good men there?" (James Legge's translation)

What do you think?

[Daan]

and the meaning of 而已 would fit here (耳 being used to keep the 5-5 structure, maybe?). Although it seems a bit odd without a 也 at the end of the 2nd clause...can anyone comment on that?

My gut feeling was that 耳 (as a particle) and 也 never appear together, which seems to be correct, judging from a quick glance over the Chinese Text Project database. Perhaps this is because 也, when used in sentence-final position, can also express a degree of certainty that is however diferent from that expressed by 耳. See for example:

子曰：“賜也，女以予為多學而識之者與？”對曰：“然，非與？”曰：“非也，予一以貫之。”

from the Analects. Using 耳 here instead of 也 would change the meaning of this sentence, and perhaps even render it unnatural, although I am of course in no position to comment on that.