Random Character of the Day

[Tomsima]

韙（韪）

wei3

means 是 in its 对 sense. Appeared in the phrase 冒天下之大不韪（全然不顾公众的反对，公然去做天下人认为是最大的错事）Interestingly, it appears to pretty much only be used with 不 in modern Mandarin（常跟否定词”不“连用）, my guess being because it is used that way in the 左傳, and everyone loves quoting from that.

[Tomsima]

酊

ding3 / ding1

 

turned up in 酩酊大醉, where 酩酊 is just a sound that describes drunkenness. Here it is pronounced with a 3rd tone, while on its own it is pronounced with a 1st tone and is used as a transliteration of 'tincture'. 

[Jim]

跸〔蹕〕bì to clear the road so the emperor can pass; came across it in a compound 驻跸 which meant a monarch lodging while on tour.

[Tomsima]

疈

pi4

Cangjie 一田戈中田 (mwilw)

 

'to split'

Caught my eye in a linguistics book comparing Old Chinese with Limbu (van Driem 2001), as the character was twice the width of all the others! This was a Brill publication who are always very tight with their typesetting, so unusual to see.

 

[Tomsima]

绿

yes this is lǜ as in 'green', but I just learned it is actually pronounced lù in the word 绿林 (used in the common idiom 绿林好汉). This is apparently because it is actually a place name from a region which is now modern day Hubei. 

 

西汉末年王匡､王凤领导农民在绿林山(今湖北大洪山一带)起义, 称“绿林军”。后泛指聚集山林反抗官府的武装集团

 

This pronunciation then gets used in a few words that have common themes of 'jianghu' countryside banditry, eg 绿营

 

清代由汉人编成的分驻在地方的武装力量。因旗帜为绿色, 故称。

 

Here it is still pronounced lù not lǜ, despite it referring to the colour green on the banners. I thought this interesting enough to warrant a character of the day entry!

[Lu]

On 9/11/2024 at 5:25 PM, calculatrix said:

and my dictionary gives "silk" for the left compound and "benefit" for the right one. 🤔

Makes perfect sense. 糸 -> it has something to do with ropes/stringiness, 益 -> it sounds like yì.

 

On 11/26/2024 at 12:07 PM, Tomsima said:

绿

yes this is lǜ as in 'green', but I just learned it is actually pronounced lù in the word 绿林

That looks like it might be one of those rare cases where even the native speakers get it wrong!

[Tomsima]

@Lu I've now asked a few people, nobody has got the pronunciation wrong yet, seems like it's common enough as a description of the outlaws in 水浒传 that nobody seems to see the potential confusion

[anonymoose]

On 11/26/2024 at 11:07 AM, Tomsima said:

绿

yes this is lǜ as in 'green', but I just learned it is actually pronounced lù in the word 绿林 (used in the common idiom 绿林好汉). This is apparently because it is actually a place name from a region which is now modern day Hubei.

 

This is also pronounced lù in the name 鸭绿江, the river separating China from North Korea. I would expect most native speakers would have heard of this.

[Tomsima]

彘

zhi4

used in 人彘, which I'm very sorry if you have to look up, as it is a rather revolting punishment from ancient China. In fact, the character in question is associated directly with a famous story from the Han dynasty, where the jealous 皇后 of Liu Bang cuts off all the extremities of his favourite concubine after his death. I vaguely remember this turning up in 鹿鼎记 (I just checked and sure enough!), but turned up today in a rather poor joke in a conversation

[Dlezcano]

On 12/16/2024 at 11:41 PM, Tomsima said:

彘

zhi4

used in 人彘, which I'm very sorry if you have to look up, as it is a rather revolting punishment from ancient China. In fact, the character in question is associated directly with a famous story from the Han dynasty, where the jealous 皇后 of Liu Bang cuts off all the extremities of his favourite concubine after his death. I vaguely remember this turning up in 鹿鼎记 (I just checked and sure enough!), but turned up today in a rather poor joke in a conversation

I'm afraid you already posted this one four years ago!

[lordsuso]

On 12/16/2024 at 11:41 PM, Tomsima said:

used in 人彘, which I'm very sorry if you have to look up

you just ruined my day good sir

[Tomsima]

On 12/17/2024 at 1:03 AM, Dlezcano said:

you already posted this one four years ago!

oh dear you're right! clearly the scene from 鹿鼎记 affected me deeply as I recalled it then too...

[mouse]

Regarding 綠林好漢, to add another interesting twist, Mandarin speakers in Taiwan do pronounce it as lǜ, see e.g.:

https://youtu.be/kbz2l3T-nxs?si=mcyTVOMKugh2mKie