6

For browsers unable to display that code point (U+26A3B) as anything other than a box, the question concerns this character:

funky character

Per http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&char=%F0%A6%A8%BB - there are quite a few instances of the character's use in poetry since the Yuan Dynasty, and it occurs at least as late as the early Qing Dynasty in the lyrics of Gu Zhenguan (how I got started with it):

縱閒愁吹墜，不到𦨻船。

The character is not included in the Kangxi Dictionary, and I wonder whether any definition is available beyond "a kind of boat". In some of the examples (e.g. 银𦨻夜酌凉蒲萄，琵琶嘈嘈急如泻) it doesn't seem to be a boat at all, perhaps an obscure variant of some other character meaning "drinking vessel"?

I don't know much about scansion of Chinese poetry but am guessing at least it is going to be 3rd/4th tone given its location in the phrases of the cited poetry. A Japanese site (http://jigen.net/kanji/158267) suggests the rather dubious reading of "mò" (I'm assuming that's Pinyin and not some transcription system specific to Japanese) while apparently it is read "khoang" in Vietnamese (http://www.cojak.org/index.php?function=code_lookup&term=26A3B). It seems odd for the character to have such a vague existence: does anyone know how it was pronounced classically (i.e. what is the 反切) and/or have a reasonably informative gloss?

Improve this question
12
  • 1
    I agree with you on the 银𦨻. 1) The whole poem was describing a study room. 2) The following verse talked about hearing rooster calls in the room and seeing flowers outside the door. If that's case, 银𦨻 is possibly an error in handwriting. When you write cursive 𦨻 and 觥 would look quite similar.
    – Wang Dingwei
    Commented Dec 8, 2014 at 2:34
  • Not in 中华字海 either...
    – Mou某 ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2014 at 2:35
  • 1
    Maybe hang: 同樣，根據“吃語詩”全詩用同一字母的特點，我們也可考訂《苕溪漁隱叢話》的版本校勘問題。如關於東坡吃語詩中“孤航繫舸菰茭隔”之“航”字，廖德明校點曰：“舊鈔本‘航’作‘舟光’（左舟右光）。”《辭源》“航”字頭下注曰：“hanɡ 胡郎切，平，唐韻，匣。”可見“航”是匣母字，與其他見母字不同。而“舟光”雖是僻字，不見於《漢語大字典》、《辭源》等工具書，但據其右文“光”字的讀音（《辭源》光字頭下注：“ɡuānɡ 古黃切，平，唐韻，見。），可推知也屬見母。此外,“顧影”的“影”字，恐怕也有誤，當作“景”。因為“影”字屬影母，“景”字才屬見母。
    – Mou某 ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2014 at 2:48
  • 1
    Also, like Wang Dingwei sort of mentioned, I'm seeing “舟光”是“觥”的讹字。 in a few places in which case it would be gōng...(?)
    – Mou某 ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2014 at 4:48
  • 2
    @MasterSparkles It means also drinking vessel in your quote above. 觥船 is an established word. See, e.g., zdic.net/c/5/f0/248556.htm
    – user58955
    Commented Dec 10, 2014 at 2:02

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

I believe that 𦨻 is a mistake in transcription for 觥 (gong1) because they could look very similar in cursive script. 觥 means drinking vessel and 觥船 means a big drinking vessel, see, e.g., http://www.zdic.net/c/5/f0/248556.htm .

Improve this answer
1
  • many thanks - i got caught up pursuing some complicated idea about boats and never thought to look at the alternate possibility. well, it was a fun chance to chat about poetry.:)
    – Master Sparkles
    Commented Dec 10, 2014 at 3:26
-2

I asked around in my college today. The teachers had no idea, but a student just used his mobile.

It is gong, first tone, and means 'a bronze drinking vessel'

Got this from http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/47075-hard-to-find-character/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%E1%BB%AF_n%C3%B4m

It is a Chữ Nôm meaning 'module' or 'box' (maritime), according to Sky Darmos. He offered these example compounds:

～船 khoang tuyền – deck (ship)

～梩 khoang lái – cockpit

～航 khoang hàng – hold (in a ship)

～行李 khoang hành lý – hold (in a plane)

From what I know, this character does not exist in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    Wrong. See comments below the question.
    – Wang Dingwei
    Commented Dec 9, 2014 at 12:03
  • Haha, well that's what his dictionary very clearly stated. Do we really have a situation where Chinese people don't know the meaning or sound of a Chinese character? Certainly, the teachers in my college did not know, but one will get back to me today. See what she says.
    – Pedroski
    Commented Dec 9, 2014 at 23:13
  • Apparently baidu says it is mo4 and it is from Vietnam.But baidu doesn't seem to say what it means.
    – Pedroski
    Commented Dec 10, 2014 at 1:37
  • zdic used to say mo4 but has subsequently removed this pronunciation from it's entry, leaving no pronunciation whatsoever.
    – Mou某 ♦
    Commented Dec 12, 2014 at 4:18

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.