Chinese characters : List with all references

Character: 墨

Modern (Beijing) reading: mò

Preclassic Old Chinese: mǝ̄k

Classic Old Chinese: mǝ̄k

Western Han Chinese: mǝ̄k

Eastern Han Chinese: mǝ̄k

Early Postclassic Chinese: mǝ̄k

Middle Postclassic Chinese: mǝ̄k

Late Postclassic Chinese: mǝ̄k

Middle Chinese: mʌk

English meaning : black-branding

Russian meaning[s]: 1) тушь; чернила; 2) темный; черный; 3) сокр. Мексика; мексиканский; 4) Моцзы

Comments: A somewhat later attested (but probably original) meaning of the word is 'ink, black gum, sepia'. For *m- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou bak⁸, Fuzhou möuk⁸, Jianou mɛ⁸.

Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology

Dialectal data: Dialectal data

Radical: 32

Four-angle index: 248

Karlgren code: 0904 c

Vietnamese reading: mụ'c

Jianchuan Bai: mɨ6

Dali Bai: mɨ6

Bijiang Bai: mɨ2

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Sino-Tibetan etymology :

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *mǝ̄ŋ / *mǝ̄k (s-)

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: ink

Chinese: 墨 *mǝ̄k ink.

Tibetan: snag ink, Indian ink.

Burmese: hmaŋ ink.

Kachin: (H) mak dye, colouring, used in tattooing.

Comments: Tibetan snag is probably due to influence of nag 'black'; Luce 75.

Chinese Dialects :

Number: 2132

Chinese etymology: Chinese etymology

Character: 墨

MC description : 曾開一入德明

ZIHUI: 1075 0245

Beijing: mo 3

Jinan: mei 3

Xi'an: mei 12

Taiyuan: miǝʔ 41

Hankou: mô 12

Chengdu: me 12

Yangzhou: mɔʔ 4

Suzhou: môʔ 42

Wenzhou: mai 42

Changsha: mô 4

Shuangfeng: miɛ 31

Nanchang: mɛt 41

Meixian: mɛt 42

Guangzhou: mak 42

Xiamen: bîk 42 (lit.); bak 42

Chaozhou: bak 42

Fuzhou: möyʔ 42

Shanghai: môʔ 42

Zhongyuan yinyun: mei 43

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Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *św[ä́]mxq̇ī

Meaning: paint, ink; gum

North Caucasian: *śwänq̇_ī

Sino-Tibetan: *mǝ̄ŋ / mǝ̄k (s-)

Yenisseian: *su(ʔ)K

Burushaski: *śukór / *ṣuqór

Comments and references : HGC 33, NSC 61 *śwVnq̇V, LV B28. Shortness in Ket śuk probably signifies -ʔ- (otherwise *śūk would be recorded).

North Caucasian etymology :

Proto-North Caucasian: *śwänq̇_ī

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: gum, ink

Proto-Avaro-Andian: *s:Vnq̇:V

Proto-Lak: š:iq̇:i

Proto-Dargwa: *šinq̇Ia ( ~ š:-)

Proto-Lezghian: *šVq̇aq̇ ( ~ š:-)

Proto-West Caucasian: *š́ʷǝq́I:a

Notes: An interesting common NC term. It had obviously signified some dying stuff for ornament (in WC the meaning shifted to the ornament itself - whence 'letter, document'). Phonetically the correspondence is quite satisfactory; perhaps, however, we should reconstruct *śämq̇_ī with shift of labialisation in PWC (*śämq̇_ī > *śwänq̇_ī > *š́ʷǝq́I:a) rather than suppose loss of labialisation in PEC (all EC form point to PEC *śänq̇_ī). Of course, Abdullayev's treatment of the Darg. form as šin 'water' + q̇Ia 'roasted grain' (see Shagirov 2,136) should be considered as folk etymology.

The root has interesting parallels, particularly, in Semitic: Arab. summāq 'Rhus coriaria L.', a plant used for dying into black). From Arabic it penetrated into Persian (summāk), then through Turkic (Tat. sumax etc.) - into Ossetian s(y)mäg 'iron vitriol', and from Ossetian - into Georg. dial. smagai id. The Semitic word was spread also in European languages (Engl. sumac, Russ. сумах etc.). See Abayev 3, 198-99, Starostin 1985, 91.

Avar-Andian etymology :

Protoform: *s:Vnq̇:V

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: gum (added to ink for lustre)

Avar: s:anq̇:

Lak etymology :

Lak root: š:iq̇:i

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: ink

Lak form: š:iq̇:i

Comments: The Old Lak. form *š:aq̇i was probably borrowed in Avar as šaq̇:i 'ink'. The Avar form penetrated into Nakh languages (Chech. šēq̇a, Ing. šäq̇a), whence it came to Kab. šāq:a 'ink'.

Dargwa etymology :

Proto-Dargwa: *šinq̇Ia ( ~ š:-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: ink

Akusha: šinq̇Ia

Lezghian etymology :

Proto-Lezghian: *šVq̇aq̇ ( ~ š:-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: gum

Lezghian: šq̇aq̇

Tabasaran: šq̇aq̇

Comment: An interesting form with a partial reduplication. The narrow vowel of the first weak syllable is reduced both in Lezg. and Tab.

Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology :

Proto-West-Caucasian: *š́ʷǝq́I:a

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: letter, document; book

Abkhaz: a-š̌q̇ǝ́

Abaza: šʷʡa

Ubykh: šʷǝq̇á

Comments: PAT *šʷǝʡV (cf. also Bzyb. a-š̌q̇ǝ́).

Yenisseian etymology :

Proto-Yenisseian: *suK

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: dye, paint

Ket: śuk

Kottish:

Comments: ССЕ 277. Werner 2, 212.

Burushaski etymology :

Common Burushaski: *śukór / *ṣuqór

Sino-Caucasian Etymology: Sino-Caucasian Etymology

Meaning: 1 red-brown, reddish-brown 2 local soap in a degree of preparation with this colour 3 local soap prepared of plant ashes and fat

Yasin: iṣqór 1, 2

Hunza: śukór 3

Nagar: śukór 3