Chinese characters : List with all references

Character: 云

Modern (Beijing) reading: yún

Preclassic Old Chinese: wǝn

Classic Old Chinese: wǝn

Western Han Chinese: wǝn

Eastern Han Chinese: wǝn

Early Postclassic Chinese: wɨn

Middle Postclassic Chinese: wɨn

Late Postclassic Chinese: wɨn

Middle Chinese: ɦün

English meaning : to say

Russian meaning[s]: 1) говорить, сказать (что-л.); гласит следующее..., а именно...; 2) конечная частица в вэньяне, обычно завершает прямую речь или цитату; 3) древн. начальная частица так, вот так; таков; 4) древн. облако, вм. 雲; 5) Юнь (фамилия)

Shuowen gloss: 古文省雨.亦古文雲. [575]

Comments: The character was the original drawing of *whǝn 'cloud' (see 雲). The meaning "to say" is attested already in inscriptions (see Schüssler 800), and must have been a loan of the character for a word related to 曰 *wat, 謂 *wǝts 'say, speak'. These words have *w- (cf. 曰 Fuzhou uak8, uok8, Jianou ua6; 謂 Xiamen ui6, Fuzhou oi6, Chaozhou ui4), therefore the reconstruction *wǝn seems the most plausible.

During the Eastern Zhou period, however, the character is used only to denote a homonymous modal (?) particle, the meaning of which is much debated. Schüssler (ibid.) thinks it may have been derived from 有 *whǝʔ and mean "there being it, happen that, come to", but most commentators prefer simply to ignore it in translations.

Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology

Dialectal data: Dialectal data

Radical: 7

Four-angle index: 8660

Karlgren code: 0460 a

Shijing occurrences: 3.4, 33.3, 38.4, 47.1, 48.1, 48.2, 48.3, 50.2

Sino-Tibetan etymology :

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *χʷV

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: to speak

Chinese: 云 *wǝn, 曰 *wat, 謂 *wǝts 'to say, speak'

Burmese: hu (arch.) 'to speak, talk'

Kachin: hɔ 'to preach'

Comments: Not quite reliable phonologically (one should rather expect *xʷ- in Chinese).

Chinese Dialects :

Number: 53

Chinese etymology: Chinese etymology

Character: 云

MC description : 臻合三平文云

ZIHUI: 0061 2215

Beijing: yn 12

Jinan: yẽ 12

Xi'an: yẽ 12

Taiyuan: yŋ 1

Hankou: yn 12

Chengdu: yn 12

Yangzhou: yĩ 12

Suzhou: yǝn 12

Wenzhou: ɦyoŋ 12

Changsha: yn 12

Shuangfeng: uǝn 12

Nanchang: yn 31

Meixian: jun 12

Guangzhou: uan 12

Xiamen: un 12 (lit.); hun 12

Chaozhou: huŋ 12

Fuzhou: xuŋ 12

Shanghai: yiŋ 32

Zhongyuan yinyun: yǝn 12

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *HarχÚ

Meaning: to speak, shout

North Caucasian: *HarχU

Sino-Tibetan: *χʷV

Yenisseian: *huxV-

Burushaski: *ha-n-

Basque: *e=r̄a-n

North Caucasian etymology :

Proto-North Caucasian: *HarχU

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: to sound, shout

Proto-Nakh: *ʡaχ-

Proto-Avaro-Andian: *=aχ-

Proto-Tsezian: *=eχ- ( ~ -ʁ:-)

Proto-Lezghian: *raχa-

Proto-West Caucasian: *χʷV

Notes: The root is onomatopoeic, but correspondences are regular (except for resonant metathesis in PL: *raχa- < *Harχa-; the original sequence is probably preserved in Tsakh.), and its PNC antiquity seems rather probable.

Nakh etymology :

Proto-Nakh: *ʡaχ-

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 to howl, to bellow 2 to bark

Chechen: ʕaχ- 1

Ingush: ʕaχ- 1,2

Batsbi: ʕaχ- 1

Comments: Cf. also dur. *ʕēχ- (Chech. ʕēχ-, Ing. ʕeχ-) id.

Avar-Andian etymology :

Protoform: *=aχ-

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: to bark

Andian language: =aχ-

Comments: Attested only in And., but having probable external parallels.

Tsezian etymology :

Proto-Tsezian: *=eχ- ( ~ -ʁ:-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: to bark

Gunzib: =eʁ-

Comments: Isolated in Gunz., but having good external parallels.

Lezghian etymology :

Proto-Lezghian: *raχa-

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: 1 to wail, howl 2 to thunder 3 to speak 4 to bark

Lezghian: raχa- 3

Tabasaran: raχ- 2

Agul: ruχ- 1

Tsakhur: ɨ=χIa- 4

Comment: Cf. also Lezg. pret. raχu-na, Ag. Bursh. ruχa- 'to wail'. Pharyngealisation in Tsakh. is expressive. In Agul the root is mixed up with the reflexes of PL *ʔerχʷa 'to ask, read', but in general the two roots are quite distinct.

Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology :

Proto-West-Caucasian: *χʷV

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: to shout

Abkhaz: á-ħʷħʷa-ra

Abaza: ħʷħʷa-ra

Ubykh: wa-χ(ǝ)-

Comments: PAT *ħʷa (with expressive gemination); Ub. sǝ-waχǝ́-n.

Yenisseian etymology :

Proto-Yenisseian: *huxV-

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: to cry, shout

Ket: dūɣǝ¹, South. dūɣ

Yug: dūɣ

Kottish: hujei "shouting"; hujej-ākŋ "to shout"

Comments: ССЕ 231. An expressive root; the connection of the Ket-Yug and Kott. forms is possible if d- is a historical prefix. Werner 1, 328 (but cf. also *kɨ̄j-).