3

I have been looking into the etymology of the character 是.

The site Chinese Etymology notes that this character was: "originally meaning straight or correct. The sun 旦 rises or 早 in the correct 正 place." It also notes that it is: "from sun-day 日 rì and foot-complete 𤴓正 zhèng".

I am wondering how a character for "straight" or "correct" came to have the meaning of "is or "equals".

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    Chinese Etymology is wrong, there is no 正 or 𤴓 in 是.
    – dROOOze
    Dec 25, 2020 at 16:13
  • Thank you for your comment and your detailed response below.
    – MikeLangStudent
    Dec 25, 2020 at 17:52

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4
時期
字體		 字形 參考資料
西周
金		 是 虢季子白盤
集成10173
春秋
金
 是 陳公叔父甗
集成947
戰國・楚
簡		 是 4
包山竹簡
戰國・楚
簡		 是 036
信陽書簡
秦
簡		 是 24.28
睡虎地秦簡
東漢
隸		 是 孔宙碑
 

楷		 是

「是」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*[d]eʔ/) is comprised of phonetic 「止」 (/*tə/), which is the lower component. The earliest meaning of 「是」 was this, later extended to mean to be.

The upper component's functionality is unknown, and was later corrupted to look like 「旦」. Note that 「旦」 or 「早」 in the corresponding time periods do not form part of 「是」, and so are unrelated to 「是」.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    This is very helpful. The fact that the character once meant "this" makes the transition to "to be" clearer to me. The possibility of occasional corruption over time is something that I have to keep in mind for the future for all language study, especially for a language that has existed as long as Chinese has. Thank you for your detailed and excellent response.
    – MikeLangStudent
    Dec 25, 2020 at 17:52
  • Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe 是 also cognates with 此 which means this/here, as well as 時 referring to measuring movement of the sun (hence time), and both actually have 止 as a component.
    – Fishuman
    Dec 28, 2020 at 15:58

Your Answer

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

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