Page:Elementary Chinese - San Tzu Ching (1900).djvu/36

18 Chiu is supposed to represent the weakening of the male numbers (see ), which reached their climacteric at 七 ch'i seven, before their individuality is lost in the completeness of 十 shih ten. 九九 nine nines is a term for arithmetic.

Ling is composed of 齒 ch'ih teeth as radical, with or  ling a command as phonetic. It means the front teeth, from which the sense of year, only found in the book-language, is probably derived.

Nêng originally meant a bear, now written 熊 and pronounced hsiung. It is possible that the strength of the bear may have imparted the meaning of power to the character, which is now classed under radical 肉 jou flesh.

Wên is composed of 水 shui water (氵 in composition, see ) as radical, and a phonetic, the value of which is sometimes wên and sometimes yün. 温水 wên shui is colloquial for warm water.

Hsi is composed of 庶 shu many (contracted) and 巾 chin napkin as radical. It refers to the mats on which the "many" guests sat, and although chairs and tables were used in very early ages, the term mat is still applied to a banquet. It here refers to the plaited grass mats laid on beds, fine ones for coolness in summer, coarse ones for warmth in winter.

Hsiao see lines,.

Yü was originally the same as 于 yü (lines, ) which was