松的词源 - Etymology of 松

[oblo]

Dear All,

 

I need your help for the etymology of this character.

I am trying to find out whether there is a connection between the 松 pine (noun) and 松 to relax (verb).

 

The traditional form is 鬆 having the upper part (biao) as semantic (long hair) and the lower part as phonetic.

 

Any idea?

 

Ramon

[Tiana]

I understand that  the simplified 松 stands for 2 characters: 松 and  鬆, and each has its own etymology.

1st character: Meaning (left component)+Phonetic (right component).

2nd character: just as you said above. Imagine untied long hairs: lax, slack, loose, care-free,...

[陳德聰]

afaik, 鬆 is loose/relaxed and 松 is pine. The distinction is only missing in Simplified Chinese. I think it is more likely that the 松 in 鬆 is there for purely phonetic reasons and not some sort of weird story about how they're actually the same root.

[Hofmann]

Both are phono-semantic compounds, where the phonetic component usually has nothing to do with the meaning of the character. Also, while they are homophones in (Standard) Mandarin, they are not in other languages. For example, in Middle Chinese,

松 /zjowŋ/

鬆 /sjowŋ/ (probably; many pronunciations found)

[Altair]

 

Both are phono-semantic compounds, where the phonetic component usually has nothing to do with the meaning of the character.

 

This seems to be a complicated area, difficult to summarize in a few words.  In a practical sense, I agree that the phonetic complement often has little to do with the meaning; however, is this view really true in a historical sense?  I thought the prevailing view was that sound components were generally chosen because they did add to the meaning or else that the sound component was often the original part of the character with the "meaning" component added for clarity and to distinguish homographs.

 

Words that were not homophones in Middle or Ancient Chinese may still be etymologically related.  Their pronunciations may have diverged through the presence of affixes that have resulted in phonetic change to either the initial, the final, or both.

 

In the case of 松 and 鬆, the ABC Dictionary of Etymological Chinese does not indicate any etymological connection.  It shows a "minimal old Chinese" pronunciation of *s-loŋ for 松 and *tsʰjwoŋ for 鬆.  The book does, however, connect 縱 (zòng) with 鬆, under a pronunciation of *tsoŋh.  This is one of many cases where etymologically related words have etymologically unrelated characters.

 

This site does apparently link 松 and 鬆 through meaning, explaining that the 松 in 鬆 indicates disheveled hair sticking out like pine needles on a pine tree branch.  The site claims that the meaning "loose" was a later extension of this meaning.  Here is an excerpt:

 

 

②本义，形容词：头发像松针一样竖起，蓬乱。本义只见于古文 

              首蓬松以半散，支棘瘠而枯踈。——唐 • 陆龟蒙《自怜赋》 

 

I like this site, but do not consider it necessarily authoritative.

[oblo]

Altair, your explanation seems to be the most reasonable one. Thank you all for the time taken to look in it.

[HERRMANN]

Well let me tell that “weird story“ about the common roots of 松 [鬆] Sōng (= Pine) and 松sōng and从cōng (= relax) after 6 years have elapsed and without hasty 匆cōng in judging that song „is there for pure phonetic reason“ .which spurred 怂sŏng my late reply.

One prominent motiv in all these cognates is the uprising eminence of a Pine tree.嵩sōng elevated, 纵zòng (=upright), 耸sŏng) slender, 鏦 cōng (= spear – spur: 怂 sŏng)..Even the slender stems of a Leek (Allium fistulosum) cōng 葱 fit in. (“Dall“ -tall is by the way the nordic vernacular name for Pine “Furu“).

Wouldn't hesitate to still include 公gōng the respectful way to address a male person of superior rank be it only your father in law 公公gōng gong. (By the way this raises the question which came first sōng < > gōng or vice verse which i prefer).

葱Cōng (= hasty, urgent), however, appears quite contradictory to 松[鬆] sōng (= relax) with its loose open hair hanging in a lax way like the long needles of the Chinese măwĕi Sōng. 马尾松 (Pinus massoniana). Now beware of a similar semantic contradictory connection in the German words er-LeSen (= pick up, choose or of high rank (compare: RiSe) vs LaSsen (= en: LeT, LooSe). LaTer this became de: LäSsig (= reLaX) including fr: LaiSser faire..> de: LaSch (= feebly)...

Finely we arrive at de: “Latsche“ = either a worn out shoe or vernacular for Pinus mugo. Growing at the alpine treeline this Pine species cannot raise but lays low creeping along the rocky terrain. That's why it is called kneewood (“KNieholz“). “KieN-Baum“ on the other hand is the name for Red Pine a.o. from which spurs were cut to KiN-dle fire. This should be kept in mind if you look at the badjoined Chinese painting of Pinus massoniana with its sap running from the incised wood like molten lava.

In a series of calligraphies of 松the shape of the second character suggests even the silhouette of a Fir-tree while more freely written it even approaches the Chinese character 火for fire be it in modern style or in the ancient form. One might as well translate this character as 'tree of fire' just as the old German vernacular “Föhrbaum“ = 'Feuerbaum' (Baum = tree /beam recalling once again the sky scraping pillars of its stems.

Finally let me remind you that 丛cóng means bushy just like the typical tufts (髟piāo) of hairy (髮 fà) Pine needles or the bristly鬣 liè mane 宗 zōng

The relationship with Fir tempts me to go one step further in assuming that both names are connected due to their highly resinous wood exploited for easy ignitable resin (松香). This is why Pine is called “Föhre“ (comp. de: Feuer = fire) in German wheras FiR in 枞cōng in English is Abies likewise resiniferous as the name Abies balsamea suggests. (comp. fr: Sap(P)in(e) for Fir tree)...-That's where my story ends.