2.30 am this morning (Monday 3 Mar), cruising at 36,000 feet, halfway through my return from Shenzhen to KL, my boss seated next to me said “nose is me”.
“Is it?” I asked. “That is interesting!”
He was referring to the ancient time when the Chinese would point to his nose indicating “this is me.” Thus the Chinese character 自 [zì] is actually a picture of a nose. Since a nose breathe, it also mean” breath” when combined with other character components such as –
自 (zì) 'nose' over 心 (xīn) 'heart' = 息 [xī] breath, or
自 (zì) 'nose' over 犬 (quǎn) 'dog' = 臭 [chòu] stinking.
I don’t think I need to describe to you how a wet dog smells, do I?
But it is not that simple, for it never was. For 臭 can be read as [chòu] bad smell or [xiù] sniff, smell. If "xiu", we can used our nose to smell both the wet dog or the sweet fragrance of the wild rose. Did I lose you there? No surprise. Welcome to a language devised by the devil to torment us, English speakers. I could ignore it if only it were not so beautiful...
“Is it?” I asked. “That is interesting!”
He was referring to the ancient time when the Chinese would point to his nose indicating “this is me.” Thus the Chinese character 自 [zì] is actually a picture of a nose. Since a nose breathe, it also mean” breath” when combined with other character components such as –
自 (zì) 'nose' over 心 (xīn) 'heart' = 息 [xī] breath, or
自 (zì) 'nose' over 犬 (quǎn) 'dog' = 臭 [chòu] stinking.
I don’t think I need to describe to you how a wet dog smells, do I?
But it is not that simple, for it never was. For 臭 can be read as [chòu] bad smell or [xiù] sniff, smell. If "xiu", we can used our nose to smell both the wet dog or the sweet fragrance of the wild rose. Did I lose you there? No surprise. Welcome to a language devised by the devil to torment us, English speakers. I could ignore it if only it were not so beautiful...
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If you put it that way, 闻 'wen', which is another word for smell,is written with an ear within a door. How confusing! The Chinese smell with their ears! :p
ReplyDeleteSee reply in - Smelling with the Ear. 闻 :)
ReplyDeleteHa! No wonder the saying goes that ‘3 men walking together, there is one who will be my master’. And HE had to come from English speaking group!
ReplyDeleteI did not know that 臭 [chòu] can also be pronounced as [xiù] and means smell. The actual [xiù] I learned in school is the one with the 口 [kǒu] (which means opening) at the side of 臭 [chòu] to become 嗅 [xiù]. It’s logical cause you smell through your nostril!
So this is really interesting! But I like to think that what I learned in old school is the original. This simple version is created later by lazy people who for the sake of efficiency had destroyed the beauty of the Chinese character. For most character derivation had its story to be told and is an imaginative expression.
To add to the confusion, both 臭 and 嗅 are pronounced as [xiù] and both meant the same thing - "smell". It is incorrect to say that they are simplified character because both are the traditional writing.
ReplyDeleteBelow are examples where they are used -
乳臭 rǔxiù n. odor of milk
乳臭未干 rǔxiù-wèigān ph. not yet dry behind the ears
and
嗅觉 xiùjué n. sense of smell
What a translation you had for 乳臭未干 ! It is used to describe one who's still smell of mother's milk, which means a young, inexperience person, a novice, in a sarcastic tone.
ReplyDeleteWhich is exactly the same meaning for the English idiom "wet behind the ears"! Ha ha.
ReplyDelete