杜
johnb
December 17, 2007 at 09:51 AM posted in General DiscussionToday we're going to look at 杜 [dù], which can mean "stop" and is used in a bunch of plant names, but is most commonly seen as a surname. The most famous bearer of that surname is 杜甫 [Dù Fǔ], a Tang Dynasty poet and the grandson of another famous poet, 杜审言 [Dù Shěnyán]. The Baidu Encyclopedia has a good article on Du Fu (in Chinese).
In the meaning of "stop," 杜 is commonly seen as part of the word 杜绝 [dùjué], which means "to stop, to put an end to." An example of its use is:
- 新的法规旨在杜绝诈骗行为。[Xīn de fǎguī zhǐzài dùjué zhàpiàn xíngwéi.] The new regulations are aimed at putting an end to fraud.
We'll be looking at surnames all week.
rich
February 09, 2008 at 06:23 PM
wow, i thought when I finally came back to 88groups I'd be way behind in the characters here... but not much changed.
goulnik
January 08, 2008 at 02:00 PM
杜 is also found in 杜撰 dùzhuàn v. fabricate; make up where 撰 means 'to write, to compose', found in this bbc article about paper stuffed buns (纸包子) some people would remember from a defunct advanced Chinesepod lesson on this topic.
come visit my group for more stories like this :-)
user76423
January 07, 2008 at 10:26 PM
for all German students: the website http://taeglich.chinesisch-trainer.de/index.php?alle=2 offers something similar: a character a day with background info, keyword(s), mnemonics, links, collocations. Until now more than 550 characters explained (in German). Enjoy.
goulnik
December 20, 2007 at 08:29 AM
on the subject of character frenzy, you may want to check a recent BBC news column on 拇指文化 (mǔzhǐ wénhuà) thumb culture and related book 《认得几个字》from Taiwanese author 张大春.
bazza
December 19, 2007 at 07:52 PM
I thought I'd type all these into my phone, as I find it excellent way to learn to recognise the characters and it's also handy for revision. :)
rich
December 19, 2007 at 04:27 PM
Hey hey, what happened to 5-a-day?
:P No problem, just been gone busy with end-term exams and then coming back to the States for a wee holiday before heading back to Scotland.
I, for some reason, have always liked the surname 杜 and I don't know why... just when I hear someone say that is there name, I like it and I don't know why. Not a very common surname, but even less common is another "du" surname which some friends have, 都 (not dōu, all, but dū, city).
Of course the radicals are kind of simple, 木 and 土, mù and tǔ, wood and dirt. Both can be the phonetic radical, but of course usually we say the right side is. Yet seems like both may have meaning, in the case of "stop", if you think of wood and mud being used to make a damn. But when it comes to plants and bird names, of course the 木 wins out as the best meaning, as a tree is a plant itself and where birds live. Good way to remember both usages, me thinks.
以明
bazza
April 08, 2008 at 07:36 PMMaybe someone else could carry it on?