Just learnt a few verbs which use 乘 and 承 and was thinking that, not only do they look and sound mighty similar, but their ultimate meanings are both related to 'transfering' something. 乘 with vehicles from one place to another and 承 with transferring responsibility (承担) or transferring guilt (承认). Anyone know if they stem from the same root? If so, how did they come to be different? Hashamyim
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乘= ride (on above) ; 承= hold up ( from under)/ take on– Tang Ho ♦Dec 23 '18 at 21:53
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「乘」and「承」do indeed sound similar, but an etymological relation (if any) would be before the time of Old Chinese. They are unrelated, as far as usage or glyph origins is concerned.
乘
「乘」was originally a picture of a person「大」climbing on top of a tree「木」; feet「舛」were added on to the person later (Shape #2 onwards).
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The original meanings were to ascend, to ride an object, extended to mean to take advantage of [a situation]. It does not mean to transfer, which is a coincidence due to its meaning of ride.
承
「承」was originally a picture of two hands「𠂇」and「又」holding up a kneeling person「卩」. The kneeling person's legs were straightened (Shape #2), then replaced with another hand「手」to emphasise the meaning of holding up, leaving behind a small shape representing the rest of the person (Shape #3 onwards).
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The original meaning was to hold up, extended to mean to carry responsibility > to inherit, carry on, continue. To transfer may give a wrong impression if used incorrectly; it is only related in the sense of to inherit, carry on, continue.
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1Wow - very authoritative answer - thanks for taking the time to provide the info :-) Dec 24 '18 at 0:13