Wanderlust in her comment said that another Chinese character for smell is 闻 'wen' which consist of an 耳 (ěr) 'ear' inside a door 门 mén. How confusing she said, do the Chinese smell with their ear?
Ah, but she forgets that another meaning of 闻 'wen' is hear as in 新闻 (xīnwén) which is a combination of two characters 新 xīn (new) + 闻 wén hear = “new things you hear” hence “news”. This is a compound word and the majority of Chinese vocabulary are made up of them. So 闻 wén is an 耳 (ěr) 'ear' listening at the door 门 mén (which also serves as the phonetic) making it a logical explanation for hear. But I am sorry I do not have an explanation as to why it is also used to mean smell as well. Looks like the Chinese can both smell and hear with the same word.
As in English, not everything about the language is logical. There are many instances which defy logic and make learning frustrating. You will just have to use your imagination. Or some logic may have just being lost through time. But this is not a scientific language so we should not expect everything to be in perfect order. I’ll leave you with this idiom about hearing - 百闻不如一见 bǎiwén bùrú yījiàn A hundred hearings are inferior to one look.
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But one look can deceive!
ReplyDeleteWhy is 闻 written with an ear inside a door? Did the ancient Chinese learn most new news by eavesdropping? Guess we'll never know.
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ReplyDeleteYa lor, as the song goes 一看就讨厌，二看就伤心... ha ha. If the news come to the door, wouldn't your ear be under it? :)
ReplyDeleteIs there really such a song? No my ears are always closed. Put beside, above, below door also no use.
ReplyDeleteWould I lie? You probably have not heard of 江山美人then. :)It is only the most famous film from Shaw Bros in the 60s. :)The English title is "The Kingdom and the Beauty".
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