Character: 撓
Modern (Beijing) reading: náo
Preclassic Old Chinese: ŋhrēw
Classic Old Chinese: ŋhrēw
Western Han Chinese: ŋhrjāw
Eastern Han Chinese: ŋhriāw
Early Postclassic Chinese: ŋhiẹ̄w
Middle Postclassic Chinese: ŋhạ̄w
Late Postclassic Chinese: ŋhạ̄w
Middle Chinese: ṇạw
English meaning : to scrape; to make disorder [LZ]
Russian meaning[s]: 1) царапать, скрести; чесать; ерошить (волосы); теребить; 2) тревожить, беспокоить, раздражать, возмущать, волновать; 3) сгибаться, поддаваться; [nāo] 1) хватать; 2) убежать, уехать (от кого-л.)
Comments: Precise OC reconstruction is somewhat difficult in this case. Xiesheng strongly suggests a velar initial; so does also a parallel MC reading xâw (suggesting a variant with *sŋ(h)- > x-; the final, however, is quite irregular). We may think that the word was influenced by 呶 *nrū > MC ṇạo 'to be disorderly, clamoring'; let us note, however, that the latter must have had a *n-, while for 撓 the Min dialects indicate aspiration (cf. Fuzhou, Chaozhou nau2). The oldest attested meaning of the character is 'crooked, bent' (already in Yijing - although the word is absent from Schüssler's dictionary). During Late Zhou it is attested only in the meaning 'make disorder, confusion'; only since Tang the meaning 'to scrape' is witnessed (although it is reflected in most modern dialects).
Radical: 64
Four-angle index: 7323
Karlgren code: 1164 s
Vietnamese reading: nạo
