於菟
Chinese
in; at; to in; at; to; from; by; than; out of; surname |
dodder; cuscuta | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (於菟) | 於 | 菟 | |
| simp. #(於菟) | 於 | 菟 | |
| alternative forms | 於䖘 烏䖘／乌䖘 | ||
Etymology
於 is a prefix to indicate respect for the dangerous animal; compare 老 (lǎo, “old; venerable”) in 老虎 (lǎohǔ, “tiger”) (Schuessler, 2007). Alternatively, it may reflect the k initial in the Mon-Khmer etymon (Norman and Mei, 1976).
菟 is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-la (“tiger”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *klaʔ (“tiger”). Cognate with 虎 (OC *qʰlaːʔ, “tiger”).
Pronunciation
Noun
於菟
- (obsolete, Old Chu) tiger
- 虎乳之。……楚人謂乳穀，謂虎於菟，故命之曰鬬穀於菟。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE
- Hǔ rǔ zhī....... Chǔrén wèi rǔ gǔ, wèi hǔ wūtú, gù mìng zhī yuē Dòu Gǔwūtú. [Pinyin]
- A tiger suckled him. [...] Chu people call "to suckle" gǔ and call "tiger" wūtú; so he was named Dòu Gǔwūtú "Tiger's Suckling of Dòu".
虎乳之。……楚人谓乳谷，谓虎于菟，故命之曰鬬谷于菟。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 老虎 (“tiger”) [map]
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