Differences Between Classes of ＊过 Verbs ( 通过, 经过, 透过, 穿过, etc. )

Question

Original Question

Although 通过 is the goto expression for passage through or across a space in informal, spoken Mandarin, there are specific alternatives used in more formal, spoken Mandarin as well as in writing. This question serves to provide the community with a comprehensive list. EDIT: As "comprehensive list" questions are frowned upon on the StackExchange network, this question's purpose shall be to illustrate the classes of ＊过 verbs.

Examples

通过 to go through something in a general or abstract sense
经过 to go past something; EDIT: or to pass something
透过 through, via, or by way of something
穿过 to go through a structure such as a tunnel or hallway
Consider the sense of piercing or penetration that comes from 穿

What additional situation-specific alternatives to 通过 exist? EDIT: What classes of ＊过 verbs exist?

Answer 1

First of all, 过, by itself, mainly has two meanings:

1. to pass (as a verb), e.g.: 过江(to pass a river)
2. mistake (as a noun), e.g.: 大过(a serious mistake)

I guess in this question you are more interested in the first one and will share my two cents on that.

I can see two dimensions for classifying the *过 words of the sort that you mentioned:

• How to pass what is to be passed

  It depends on the meaning of the *:

  1. through it: 通过, 穿过, 透过 etc.

  2. outside of it and without (or at least not emphasizing) touching it: 经过, 越过, 超过 etc.

  3. outside of it and touching (or making one feel that it almost touched) it: 扫过, 擦过, 拂过 etc.

• How abstractable the word is

  (Let's ignore literary innovations for this case)

  1. the great majority of the words are mostly restricted to their space-related literal meaning: 穿过, 越过, 超过, 扫过, 擦过, 拂过 etc.

  2. a few of them can be extended to the time dimension (to pass a period or an event): 经过, 度过 (note: in modern Chinese, 度过 can only mean to pass a period or an event, its space-related counterpart is 渡过)

  3. some other few of them can be abstracted to mean by means of: 通过, or to look through something (to observe): 透过 as in 透过现象看本质 (to look through the phenomena to observe the essence)

After finishing writing the stuff above it suddenly occurred to me that there's another usage of 过 that's also relevant:

adj. + 过: to be more adj. than

e.g.: 好过 (to be better than), 热过 (to be hotter than), etc.

You may deem them as being abstracted by nature.

Answer 2

2 alternatives in an abstract sense: iciba： 以（介）：例句：他～自学完成了大学全部课程，

征求（动）：（有关的人或组织的同意或核准）：这问题要～群众，才能做出决定。