公
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
|
公 (Kangxi radical 12, 八+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 金戈 (CI), four-corner 80732, composition ⿱八厶)
Historical forms of the character 公 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shang | Western Zhou | Spring and Autumn | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) | Liushutong (compiled in Ming) | ||
Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Bronze inscriptions | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Qin slip script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
Transcribed ancient scripts | |||||||
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
|
Old Chinese | |
---|---|
慃 | *qroːŋʔ |
袞 | *kluːnʔ |
蔉 | *kluːnʔ |
滾 | *kluːnʔ |
忩 | *sʰloːŋ |
鬆 | *sqʰloːŋs, *sqʰluːŋ, *skʰloŋ, *sqʰloŋ |
凇 | *sqʰloːŋs, *sqʰloŋ, *sɢloŋ |
公 | *kloːŋ |
蚣 | *kloːŋ, *kljoŋ |
翁 | *qloːŋ |
螉 | *qloːŋ |
蓊 | *qloːŋ, *qloːŋʔ |
嗡 | *qloːŋ |
滃 | *qloːŋʔ |
暡 | *qloːŋʔ |
勜 | *qloːŋʔ |
塕 | *qloːŋʔ |
瓮 | *qloːŋs |
崧 | *sqʰluŋ |
菘 | *sqʰluŋ |
硹 | *sqʰluŋ |
淞 | *sqʰloŋ, *sɢloŋ |
蜙 | *sqʰloŋ |
倯 | *sqʰloŋ |
松 | *sɢloŋ |
訟 | *sɢloŋ, *sɢloŋs |
頌 | *sɢloŋs, *loŋ |
忪 | *kljoŋ |
彸 | *kljoŋ |
衳 | *kljoŋ |
伀 | *kljoŋ |
妐 | *kljoŋ |
炂 | *kljoŋ |
鈆 | *kljoŋ, *lon |
The traditional interpretation as given by Han Feizi is that 公 is a compound of 八 (= 背 (“to deviate; opposite”)) and 厶 (original form of 私 (“individual; private”)), i.e. the opposite of “private” — “public”. This theory is supported by Sun Yirang and Qiang Kaiyun, despite the somewhat different shape of the bottom component from 厶.
This is disputed in modern times by Gao Hongjin, who thinks that the 八 on top stands for 分 (“to divide; to distribute”) and the bottom round component 口 symbolises a generic object. 公 thus represents “equally dividing resources so that they are communal”.
Another theory put forth by Zhu Fangpu is that 公 is a pictogram (象形) , being the original form of 瓮 (OC *qloːŋs, “a wide-mouthed round-bottomed jar”), and later borrowed for the meanings of “public” and “male of older generation or higher rank”.
公
Variety | Location | Words |
---|---|---|
Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 鏝兒 |
Central Plains Mandarin | Luoyang | 鏝兒 |
Wanrong | 鏝兒 | |
Xi'an | 鏝兒 | |
Xining | 鏝兒 | |
Xuzhou | 鏝兒 | |
Southwestern Mandarin | Wuhan | 鏝 |
Jianghuai Mandarin | Yangzhou | 幕 |
Cantonese | Hong Kong | 公 |
Gan | Nanchang | 鏝 |
Lichuan | 鏝兒 | |
Pingxiang | 鏝子, 番子 | |
Jin | Taiyuan | 幕兒, 鏝兒 |
Pingyao | 眼兒 | |
Shenmu | 鏝兒 | |
Eastern Min | Fuzhou | 覆 |
Southern Min | Xiamen | 合 |
Leizhou | 背 | |
Wu | Ningbo | 烏 |
Wenzhou | 鏝 | |
Xiang | Changsha | 杠子 |
Others:
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.