Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/164

150 pronunciation, or for some other reason. One name for these compound and quasi-double words is tie-tzŭ-yü (疊字語), repeated-character locutions; and they are also known by the somewhat poetic name tzŭ-yen (字眼), character eyes.

As our first example of these expressions, let us take the one pronounced like i-i (薿薿). This term is used in old literature, for example in the "Shi-ching," to denote a luxuriant appearance, as of young millet crops. It is thence transferred to the glossy green foliage of trees in spring. But the syllable i of this compound is seldom, if ever, found alone, at least in the sense of luxuriant, which the "Shuo-wen" gives as its meaning. Another term like i-i is ch‘i-ch‘i (萋萋), which means "luxuriant looking," dense or abundant. In the "Shi" it is said of the ko plant, wei-ye (維葉) ch‘i-ch‘i, which Dr. Legge translates: "Its leaves" were luxuriant." He adds in a note: "Ch‘i-ch‘i expresses 'the appearance of luxuriant growth. This repetition of the character is constantly found giving intensity and vividness to the idea. Often the characters are different, but of cognate meaning. The compound seems to picture the subject of the sentence to the eye in the colours of its own signification. This term ch‘i-ch‘i came to be applied to various kinds of objects collected in great quantities, as to clouds when massed together. In a poem of a celebrated author we find a passage to be read as follows: ch‘iu-feng-yi-p‘ei-pu-shu-shu-ming-pu-i (秋風一披拂策策鳴不已), "Once the autumn breezes blow over the trees the rustling of the falling leaves does not cease." This poem, to which reference has already been made, contains several other illustrations of this kind of expression.

Then we take the expression kai-kai or kiai-kiai (喈喈) with which we have met before. This term is applied to the call of the oriole, but it is not meant to reproduce the note of that bird. It only denotes the harmonious sounds of the orioles calling to each other as heard at a distance. And kiai-kiai is used in a similar way of the songs of the Fêng Huang, cock and hen phœnixes. It is applied also to the whistling and howling of the wind, and the single word is used in this way, as in the