Sino-Tibetan etymology : List with all references

Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *ƛēw(H)

Meaning: perforate

Chinese: 窕 *Ł_ēwʔ perforate, bore a hole.

Burmese: hljǝw to thrust through, as a bar through the hole of a post.

Comments: Cf. PAA *kluh 'pierce; hole'.

Chinese characters :

Character: 窕

Modern (Beijing) reading: tiǎo

Preclassic Old Chinese: Ł(h)ēwʔ

Classic Old Chinese: Ł(h)ḗw

Western Han Chinese: ljā́w (~ Łh-)

Eastern Han Chinese: l(h)iā́w

Early Postclassic Chinese: d(h)iḗw

Middle Postclassic Chinese: d(h)iḗw

Late Postclassic Chinese: d(h)iḗw

Middle Chinese: díew

English meaning : be elegant, beautiful

Russian meaning[s]: 1) тонкий, мелкий; 2) скрытый, глубокий, сокровенный; 3) мягкий, податливый, гибкий; грациозный, изящный; красивый; 4) несерьезный, пустой

Shuowen gloss: 深肆極也.從穴.兆聲.讀若挑.

Comments: Used only in the compound 窈窕 'be elegant, beautiful'. The modern reading tiǎo is irregular (*diào would be expected normally), influenced by cases like 挑眺跳 etc.

Sino-Tibetan etymology: Sino-Tibetan etymology

Radical: 116

Four-angle index: 7533

Karlgren code: 1145 q

Shijing occurrences: 1.1

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