庸詎

Chinese

		ordinary; to use	how (interj. of surprise)
trad. (庸詎)		庸	詎
simp. (庸讵)		庸	讵

Etymology

Literally, "by what; with what; because of what", according to an explanation given in the Jingdian Shiwen. See quotation below.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yōngjù

  (Zhuyin): ㄩㄥ ㄐㄩˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yōngjù
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄥ ㄐㄩˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yongjyù
    • Wade–Giles: yung¹-chü⁴
    • Yale: yūng-jyù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iongjiuh
    • Palladius: юнцзюй (junczjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jʊŋ⁵⁵ t͡ɕy⁵¹/

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• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*loŋ  ɡaʔ|ɡas/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	庸
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yōng
Middle Chinese	‹ yowng ›
Old Chinese	/*loŋ/
English	use; advantage
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	庸	詎	詎
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
No.	15459	7052	7058
Phonetic component	用	巨	巨
Rime group	東	魚	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	容		遽
Old Chinese	/*loŋ/	/*ɡaʔ/	/*ɡas/

Adverb

庸詎

1. (literary, rhetorical question) how

   • 庸詎知吾所謂「知」之非不知邪？庸詎知吾所謂「不知」之非知邪？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     庸讵知吾所谓「知」之非不知邪？庸讵知吾所谓「不知」之非知邪？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Yōngjù zhī wú suǒwèi “zhī” zhī fēi bùzhī yé? Yōngjù zhī wú suǒwèi “bùzhī” zhī fēi zhī yé? [Pinyin]

     How do you know, when I say "I know it," that it's impossible that I do not really know it? How do you know, when I say "I do not know it," that it's impossible that I do know it?

Synonyms

• 豈／岂 (qǐ)
• 何以 (héyǐ)
• 怎麼／怎么 (zěnme)