(It's nerd time!)
I am fond of the ancient Zhou 周 civilization and its writing system. It feels fascinating to read and understand what people from nearly 3000 years ago left to these days on the bronze artifacts.
However, it is difficult since you need to understand not only the archaic large seal script 大篆 but also the obsolete grammar and vocabulary of pre-classical Chinese. Also, because of the limited number of characters, many sound loan characters (通假字) were used which further increases the difficulty. Often, you cannot understand this sound loan phenomenon, which is not obvious in any modern Chinese variety, without a knowledge of the sounds of Old Chinese. In other words, the sound loan characters would make much more sense if you read them in Old Chinese (reconstructed by linguists, of course).
Below is the inscription on a cauldron called 頌鼎 (created by a person named Song 頌 during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou 周宣王 at the end of Western Zhou era, 8th century BC), from which I made a list of 通假字 and their sound connection in Old Chinese. The author used many sound loans which are very different from the point of view of modern languages, such as 即立 instead of 即位, 令女 instead of 命汝, 易 instead of 賜, 入 instead of 納, etc...
隹(唯)三年五月既死霸(魄)甲戌,王 才(在)周康卲宮。
旦,王 各(格)大室,即 立(位)。
宰引 右(佑)頌入門,立中廷。
尹氏 受(授)王 令(命)書,王 乎(呼)史虢生冊 令(命)頌。
王曰:頌,令(命)女(汝)官 (司)成周 賈 (貯?) 廿家,監 (司)新(造),賈 (貯?) 用宮御。易(賜)女(汝)玄衣黹 屯(純)、赤巿、朱 黃(衡)、䜌(鑾)旂、攸(鋚)勒,用事。
頌拜 䭫(稽)首。受 令(命)冊,佩(以)出,反入堇章(返納瑾璋)。
頌敢對(揚)天子 不(丕)顯魯休,用 乍(作)朕皇考 龏(龔)弔(叔)、皇母 龏(龔)始(姒)寶(尊)鼎。用追孝,(祈)匃(丐)康 (娛)、屯右(純祐)、通 彔(祿)、永 令(命)。頌(其)萬年(眉)壽,㽙(畯)臣天子,霝冬(靈終),子子孫孫寶用。
- Sound loan characters:
1. 隹 *ɢʷij(唯 *ɢʷij)
2. 才 *dzˤə(在 *dzˤəʔ)
3. 各 *kˤak(格 *kˤrak)
4. 立 *k.rəp(位 *ɢʷrəp-s)
5. 右 *ɢʷəʔ(佑 *ɢʷəʔ-s)
6. 受 *duʔ(授 *duʔ-s)
7. 令 *riŋ-s(命 *m-riŋ-s)
8. 乎 *ɢˤa(呼 *qʰˤa)
9. 女 *nraʔ(汝 *naʔ)
10. 易 *lek(賜 *s-lek-s)
11. 屯 *dˤun(純 *dun)
12. 黃 *N-kʷˤaŋ(衡 *gˤraŋ)
13. 䜌 *mə.rˤon(鑾 *mə.rˤon)
14. 攸 *liw(鋚 *lˤiw)
15. 反 *Cə.panʔ(返 *Cə.panʔ)
16. 入 *nup(納 *nˤup)
17. 堇 *grər(瑾 *grər-s)
18. 章 *taŋ(璋 *taŋ)
19. 不 *pə(丕 *pʰrə)
20. 乍 *dzˤrak-s(作 *tsˤak)
21. 弔 *tˤiwk(叔 *s-tiwk)
22. 始 *l̥əʔ(姒 *sə.ləʔ)
23. 彔 *pə.rˤok(祿 *rˤok)
24. 霝 *rˤeŋ(靈 *rˤeŋ)
25. 冬 *tˤuŋ(終 *tuŋ)
I am fond of the ancient Zhou 周 civilization and its writing system. It feels fascinating to read and understand what people from nearly 3000 years ago left to these days on the bronze artifacts.
However, it is difficult since you need to understand not only the archaic large seal script 大篆 but also the obsolete grammar and vocabulary of pre-classical Chinese. Also, because of the limited number of characters, many sound loan characters (通假字) were used which further increases the difficulty. Often, you cannot understand this sound loan phenomenon, which is not obvious in any modern Chinese variety, without a knowledge of the sounds of Old Chinese. In other words, the sound loan characters would make much more sense if you read them in Old Chinese (reconstructed by linguists, of course).
Below is the inscription on a cauldron called 頌鼎 (created by a person named Song 頌 during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou 周宣王 at the end of Western Zhou era, 8th century BC), from which I made a list of 通假字 and their sound connection in Old Chinese. The author used many sound loans which are very different from the point of view of modern languages, such as 即立 instead of 即位, 令女 instead of 命汝, 易 instead of 賜, 入 instead of 納, etc...
隹(唯)三年五月既死霸(魄)甲戌,王 才(在)周康卲宮。
旦,王 各(格)大室,即 立(位)。
宰引 右(佑)頌入門,立中廷。
尹氏 受(授)王 令(命)書,王 乎(呼)史虢生冊 令(命)頌。
王曰:頌,令(命)女(汝)官 (司)成周 賈 (貯?) 廿家,監 (司)新(造),賈 (貯?) 用宮御。易(賜)女(汝)玄衣黹 屯(純)、赤巿、朱 黃(衡)、䜌(鑾)旂、攸(鋚)勒,用事。
頌拜 䭫(稽)首。受 令(命)冊,佩(以)出,反入堇章(返納瑾璋)。
頌敢對(揚)天子 不(丕)顯魯休,用 乍(作)朕皇考 龏(龔)弔(叔)、皇母 龏(龔)始(姒)寶(尊)鼎。用追孝,(祈)匃(丐)康 (娛)、屯右(純祐)、通 彔(祿)、永 令(命)。頌(其)萬年(眉)壽,㽙(畯)臣天子,霝冬(靈終),子子孫孫寶用。
- Sound loan characters:
1. 隹 *ɢʷij(唯 *ɢʷij)
2. 才 *dzˤə(在 *dzˤəʔ)
3. 各 *kˤak(格 *kˤrak)
4. 立 *k.rəp(位 *ɢʷrəp-s)
5. 右 *ɢʷəʔ(佑 *ɢʷəʔ-s)
6. 受 *duʔ(授 *duʔ-s)
7. 令 *riŋ-s(命 *m-riŋ-s)
8. 乎 *ɢˤa(呼 *qʰˤa)
9. 女 *nraʔ(汝 *naʔ)
10. 易 *lek(賜 *s-lek-s)
11. 屯 *dˤun(純 *dun)
12. 黃 *N-kʷˤaŋ(衡 *gˤraŋ)
13. 䜌 *mə.rˤon(鑾 *mə.rˤon)
14. 攸 *liw(鋚 *lˤiw)
15. 反 *Cə.panʔ(返 *Cə.panʔ)
16. 入 *nup(納 *nˤup)
17. 堇 *grər(瑾 *grər-s)
18. 章 *taŋ(璋 *taŋ)
19. 不 *pə(丕 *pʰrə)
20. 乍 *dzˤrak-s(作 *tsˤak)
21. 弔 *tˤiwk(叔 *s-tiwk)
22. 始 *l̥əʔ(姒 *sə.ləʔ)
23. 彔 *pə.rˤok(祿 *rˤok)
24. 霝 *rˤeŋ(靈 *rˤeŋ)
25. 冬 *tˤuŋ(終 *tuŋ)
#RyanLeahan[超话]#
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just want to say this is one of my favorite verses i’ve ever written and it’s dedicated to all of you
i cannot thank you all enough ❤️
【Instagram】
Wake Up (feat: @patchymate_ & @abbotwdm) is out now everywhere, link in bio
comment ✨ if u want a music vid 4 it :p
.
photos: @35mamacita @kiara.las
.
just want to say this is one of my favorite verses i’ve ever written and it’s dedicated to all of you
i cannot thank you all enough ❤️
Can u work for 10000 hours? Recently, I learned from NasDaily that someone summed it up that if u spend 10000hours on sth,u will became a successful world class expert on it. Lots of ppl expect success after a few hours days or weeks. But i think most success comes after years. Be patient,guys. U ganna succeed as long aas u keep at it. [酷][太阳][笑哈哈] https://t.cn/A65m0rXn
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