Character: 寧
Modern (Beijing) reading: níng
Preclassic Old Chinese: nēŋ
Classic Old Chinese: nēŋ
Western Han Chinese: nēŋ
Eastern Han Chinese: niēŋ
Early Postclassic Chinese: niēŋ
Middle Postclassic Chinese: niēŋ
Late Postclassic Chinese: niēŋ
Middle Chinese: nieŋ
English meaning : be tranquil, at ease
Russian meaning[s]: 1) спокойный, тихий; покой, тишь; 2) уйти на покой, вернуться в родные места; 3) сокр. г. Нанкин, вм. 甯; [nìng] 1) лучше, лучше уж; предпочитать; 2) разве, неужели
Shuowen gloss: 願詞也.從**甯聲. [203]
Comments: For *n- cf. Min forms: Xiamen liŋ2, Chaozhou leŋ2, Fuzhou niŋ2.
The meaning 'be calm, tranquil' is often related to 'soul, spirit, heart' (cf. e.g. the development of the Turkic root *tɨ̄n or ST *nV̄m). This makes it possible to derive the Chinese word from PST *niŋ (Tib. sńiŋ 'spirit, mind' etc.)
The character 寧 is also used for a homonymous OC *nēŋ 'why (in rhetorical questions)'.
Radical: 40
Four-angle index: 2939
Karlgren code: 0837 a-f
Shijing occurrences: 2.3, 29.1, 29.2
