| 336. |
曷 |
為 |
人 |
how can you become men? | |
| Ho2 | wei2 | jen2 | |||
| How | become | man |
Ho is composed of 曰 yüeh to speak and an obsolete phonetic meaning vapour.
Wei see line 24.
Jen see line 1. [Père Zottoli has for this line "qui diceris homo," as though he had mistaken 爲 for 謂.]
| 337. |
蠶 |
吐 |
絲 |
The silkworm produces silk, | |
| Ts'an2 | t'u3 | ssŭ1 | |||
| Silkworm | vomit | silk |
Ts'an is composed of 虫 ch'ung insect, doubled, with a common phonetic.
T'u is composed of 口 k'ou mouth, with 土 t'u earth as phonetic.
Ssŭ see line 87.
| 338. |
蜂 |
釀 |
蜜 |
the bee makes honey. | |
| Fêng1 | niang4 | mi4 | |||
| Bee | ferment | honey |
Fêng is composed of 虫 ch'ung insect as radical, with a common phonetic (line 325). It is a generic term for wasps, bees, hornet etc. [The colloquial term for a bee is 蜜蜂 mi fêng; 蜂蜜 fêng mi is honey.]
Niang is composed of 酉 yu which originally meant to make spirit or wine in the 8th moon when the millet is ripe, and is often used as radical in characters connected with wine, with a common phonetic (line 38).
Mi is composed of 虫 ch'ung insect as radical, with a common phonetic (line 309).