Difference between 当 (dāng) and 当 (dàng)?

[lordsuso]

I've been trying to properly pronounce the characters that share the same hanzi but have different pinyin, and I have doubts with 当, more precisely the difference between 当月 dāngyuè (on that month) and 当月 dàngyuè (the same month; that very month). Same with 当天, 当夜, 当年, etc.

 

For example I was reading a manga, where the characters were to attend some sort of online meetup. When the day of the meetup arrives, the scene was introduced as such: 然后联合网聚当天... So is it dāng or dàng? I'm leaning towards dàng (the same day of the meetup), but dāng makes sense too (that day, then).

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Tomsima]

dāngtiān for 当天 same for 当年

 

I'm not familiar with dàng in the context of 当天 dàngtiān "n. same day; that very day", perhaps someone could clarify this is maybe a 文言 word?

 

dàng is of course used a lot for other meanings of the character 当, particularly 'to hold as' (eg 当作) and 'suitable' (eg 妥当...although I think it goes neutral in this word as it happens)

[sanchuan]

My understanding is that the dāng pronunciation of 当 in words like dāng+tiān/yuè/nián is gradually becoming standard in all cases, on both sides of the strait. 

 

However, those two 当s are distinct and it's still possible, and sometimes preferable, to keep them so if you want to distinguish between:

 

- 当dāng = 在过去的那(天/月/年), ie "over that/those day(s)/month(s)/year(s)"

 

- 当dàng = 在同一那(天/月/年), ie "on that very same day/month/year"

 

In fact, I believe most occurrences of 当天/月/年 refer to the latter sense (dàng) -- whether in fixed expressions (like 当天往返的机票) or when making reference to a particular point in time (as in the OP's question, "on the day of the meetup"). 

 

The original sense of the other 当 (dāng), to mean "in those days/months/years gone by", I believe is much rarer, and then probably only used with 年. In which case, it's a bit ironic that dāng should have prevailed as the default pronunciation in all cases now. (But then it's the primary reading of the character, so we can chuck this down as a form of spelling pronunciation.)

 

[lordsuso]

Thanks for the answers, I had no idea dāng was becoming standard for both meanings, that's very interesting (and it simplifies things haha but I'll try to get it right)