10 rarely used characters from the GB font

[fenlan]

This is part of an occasional series on characters from the less frequently used end of the GB font (which has 6763 characters - these are characters 6700-6709 from my spreadsheet of GB character frequency)

酴 tú yeast for fermenting wine 酴酥 túsū medicated liquor

煺 tuì scald pig or chicken to remove hair or feathers eg 煺猪, remove the bristles from pigskin

柝 tuò watchman's clapper 击柝 jītuò beat the watches; 柝梆传夜 tuòbāngchuányè go round as a night watchman

腽 膃 wà 腽肭 wànà fat; corpulent; 腽肭兽wànàshòu fur seal; 腽肭兽猎业 wànàshòu lièyè fur-sealing

軎 wèi shaft of a carriage

阌 閿 wén (used in placename) 阌乡 wénxiāng (name of a place in Henan)

阢 wù 阢陧 wùniè (书) unstable, unpeaceful; 阢陧不安 wùnièbù'ān feel uneasy

诶 誒 éi; ěi; èi = 欸;(interjection) hey, ah, oh, uh

菥 xī boor's mustard plant 菥蓂 xīmì a kind of shepherd's purse with fuzzy stems

蓰 xǐ move from one place to another; five-fold 倍蓰 bèixǐ several times

[HashiriKata]

Hi, it'll take a while before I can get there.

(I'm still trying to learn the 10 most frequently used characters! )

[Quest]

I'd say you can ignore them all together.

[fenlan]

Are wana, wunie and beixi used a bit more regularly than the others in the list?

[skylee]

Tell people you know these characters and they probably would give you a instead of a

I do know about 誒, which can be prouounced in any of the four tones to show different feelings.

And before studying the 10 least common characters, you might like to take a look at the less archaic ones like 楦 and make sure that you can use them first.

[fenlan]

Skylee, thanks for point me to the xuan4 character, which I did not know. It is only a matter of interest to see what type of vocab items are accounted for by the wrong end of the GB font. You are right. I shoudl start with the simple things and work up. But can you tell me are wa4na4, wu4nie4 and bei4xi3 vocabulary items known to most educated Chinese? If I said to someone, "ni3 hen3 wa4na4" - excuse me, I know this is impolite and I don't intend to say it to anyone - would this be understood?

[chenpv]

It seems that i have the obligation to respond in this thread. while i only know 4 and a half and a half of these 10 characters. 酴酥，煺毛 are common in use. and i learnt 柝 in 《木兰辞》（朔气传金柝，寒光照铁衣）which is a junior high school text（seventh grade）.诶is replaced by 唉 nowadays, but its very common in 文言文----- these are 4.

a half is 軎 and the other is 蓰，i believe i met them in 《诗经》，but just cannot have a quick reaction on seeing them.

[skylee]

诶is replaced by 唉 nowadays

Are you sure? Not 欸? 那十個字我就對這個還有點研究 ... 雖然嚴格來說我也應該認識那個柝字，因為我也讀過木蘭辭，可你不提起我還真的沒認出來 ...

[fenlan]

Chenpv, even if the characters for wana are rare, I wonder if the word itself - the spoken word wa4na4 meaning "fat, obese" - would be known to Chinese people. Because surely if there was a discussion of "fur sealing" in China, the word wa4na4shou4 lie4ye4 would need to be used, and people might understand it? You told me that you understood 4.5 of these characters. But can you tell me if you understand - not the characters, but the spoken words: wana, wanashou lieye, wuniebu'an and beixi?

Someone knows the word wa4na4 anyway. I saw on groups.google.com there is a Chinese story with the following phrase: 一个身体腽肭的中年男子

By the way, Skylee, 楦 is 5088th in my list of characters by frequency.

Here are some more useful characters:

鲰 鯫 zōu (书) small fish, minnow; small 鲰生 zōushēng despicable fellow; my (humble) self

躜 躦 zuān jump up; dash forward

撙 zǔn economize; abide by, comply with 撙节开支 zǔnjié kāizhī economize expenses; retrench; 撙省 zǔnshěng economize; 撙省 zǔnxǐng save; be economical

胙 zuò sacrificial meat 胙肉 zuòròu sacrificial meat

[chenpv]

Are you sure? Not 欸? 那十個字我就對這個還有點研究 ... 雖然嚴格來說我也應該認識那個柝字，因為我也讀過木蘭辭，可你不提起我還真的沒認出來 ...

Skylee, sorry but i dont know other meanings of 欸 except '欸乃一声山水绿' from 柳宗元，不好意思，见笑了。and dont be so hard on yourself, 柝 is not frequently used anyway.

Chenpv, even if the characters for wana are rare, I wonder if the word itself - the spoken word wa4na4 meaning "fat, obese" - would be known to Chinese people. Because surely if there was a discussion of "fur sealing" in China, the word wa4na4shou4 lie4ye4 would need to be used, and people might understand it? You told me that you understood 4.5 of these characters. But can you tell me if you understand - not the characters, but the spoken words: wana, wanashou lieye, wuniebu'an and beixi?

fenlan, first i strongly recommend you type chinese characters instead of Pinyin. second your question. i think for most of the languages in the world, if they are well developed in verbal, there would be oral vocabulory as well as literary vocabulary, which are designated in different circumstances. i have to admit that its a nice way to learn some obsolete words by practising orally, but wouldnt you agree that its kind of weird if the talking has nothing to do with certain professional field. . After all, i myself just feel awkward to talk with a guy full of 之乎者也, even though i have an extra interest in 文言文。IMHO，learn what you are interested in.

鲰 鯫 zōu (书) small fish, minnow; small 鲰生 zōushēng despicable fellow; my (humble) self

躜 躦 zuān jump up; dash forward

撙 zǔn economize; abide by, comply with 撙节开支 zǔnjié kāizhī economize expenses; retrench; 撙省 zǔnshěng economize; 撙省 zǔnxǐng save; be economical

胙 zuò sacrificial meat 胙肉 zuòròu sacrificial meat

hehe, 鲰生，竖子 are common in 文言文，and i am not sure 胙 通于 祚，i thought i met '天地之胙' somewhere.

but anyway, my knowledge is limited, fenlan, 我浅薄的知识禁不起深度挖掘阿 ，手下留情，要不然就露丑了 。

[skylee]

i dont know other meanings of 欸 except '欸乃一声山水绿' from 柳宗元

I posted (copied and pasted actually) something on this word previously ->

http://www.chinese-forums.com/showpost.php?p=41550&postcount=2

楦 is 5088th in my list of characters by frequency.

Meaning? This is a good word. People use it.

[chenpv]

Thank you Skylee.