Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/163

Rh the word pu (哺 also read p‘u and fu), which came to mean to feed or support. It is said of a mother and her child that the former i-nai-pu-chih (以奶哺之), feeds her child with her breast. The child is also said to pu-kuo, munch fruit. Then pu came to be used in other senses, such as "a morsel in the mouth." A well-known instance of this use is found in the celebrated saying about Chou Kung, that i-fan-san-t‘u-pu (一飯三吐哺)—at one meal he thrice put out the food in his mouth. In the sense of feed, or give nourishment, the word occurs often in the saying ao-ao-tai-pui (嗷嗷待哺), "with sad whining waiting to be fed." The terms tie-tie and ko-ho are perhaps originally child-names for father—dada—and elder brother respectively, but tie is a recognised term for father, and ko for elder brother.

It remains to notice a few specimens of terms which are imitative only by metaphor. Even of those already mentioned there are several which are not strictly imitative, but only suggestive. These, and the forms of expression now under consideration, mimick to the mind, as it were, or give an idea or picture of the effect produced by certain sights or sounds or feelings. Expressions of this kind are to be found in all languages perhaps, and they are usually of a striking and picturesque character. They are generally formed of a word or syllable once repeated, or of a double word the second part of which is a modification of the first. Thus we speak of "the deep, deep sea" and the "red, red wine," and we have terms like pell-mell, pit-pat, zig-zag. The Chinese language luxuriates in suggestive or descriptive terms of this kind. The ancient classical poetry is especially rich in them, but the daily talk of the people is also largely made up of such material. A few examples of the more noteworthy among the expressions of this kind will suffice for our present purpose. Sometimes one word or sound is repeated, and the doubling is made to intensify or emphasize the meaning of the single word. But often the double form of the word is the only one, and does not necessarily bear the meaning of plurality or intensity. The second part of the term also is frequently not a repetition of the first, but a variation of the sound made for euphony, or ease of