User:Fawknerfawk/Literary Chinese hapax legomena

This is a collection of Literary Chinese hapax legomena that i came across and found interesting.

Defining hapax legomena

Due to the fact that deliberate obsoletisms are not uncommon in Literary Chinese writing, especially in late Literary, i define a hapax legomenon in this context as a word that is attested only once in contemporaneous literature, unattested for at least 500 years following that, and with no or intermittent, isolated usage after that 500 years. For instance, if a word first saw use in Han, completely dropped off the radar for more than a thousand years, and got picked up again by some writer in Qing, i still consider it to be a hapax legomenon. With this definition, any false hapaxes in this list is poor lexicography on my part.

N.B. 連綿詞／连绵词 (liánmiáncí, “monomorphemic disyllables, usually rhyming or alliterative”) are generally not included because dear god are there a lot of them. They are certainly linguistically interesting though! It's just not the focus of this collection (at least at the moment). Single characters also do not generally make the list.

駿作

(hapax) to stand up quickly

若有賓客，弟子駿作。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
若有宾客，弟子骏作。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Guanzi, 5^th century BCE to 220 CE

Ruò yǒu bīnkè, dìzǐ jùnzuò. [Pinyin]

If there are guests coming to visit, disciples should immediately stand in greeting.

逸駭

(hapax) to rise abruptly

翔陽逸駭於扶桑之津。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
翔阳逸骇于扶桑之津。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 木華 (Mu Hua), 海賦 (Rhapsody of the Sea), 266–316 CE

Xiángyáng yìhài yú fúsāng zhī jīn. [Pinyin]

the Sun rises swiftly from the ford of Fusang.

撫然

(hapax) meaning uncertain; apparently delighted; pleased; satisfied

或撫然自喜，則狎玩不厭。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
或抚然自喜，则狎玩不厌。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 司空圖 (Sikong Tu), 容城侯傳 (Life of the Marquis of Rongcheng), 837–908 CE

Huò fǔrán zì xǐ, zé xiáwán bù yàn. [Pinyin]

Some are immensely pleased, becoming inappropriately intimate with him without tiring of it.

N.B. also recorded as 膴然. It is this particular sense that is a hapax; the word 撫然／抚然 (“despondent”) is otherwise attested as a variant form of 憮然／怃然 (wǔrán).

緡緜

(hapax) to take off one's clothes and cover (something) with it

緡、緜，施也。秦曰緡，趙曰緜，吴、越之間脱衣相被謂之緡緜。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
缗、绵，施也。秦曰缗，赵曰绵，吴、越之间脱衣相被谓之缗绵。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Yang Xiong, Fangyan, c. 1^st century BCE

Mín, mián, shī yě. Qín yuē mín, zhào yuē mián, wú, yuè zhījiān tuōyī xiàng bèi wèi zhī mínmián. [Pinyin]

Both mín and mián signifies to apply—mín is used in the Qin region, and mián in Zhao. In Wu and Yue, mínmián refers to the act of taking off one's clothes and covering something with it.

N.B. this is mention instead of use, so it technically doesn't meet the attestation criterion, but it's a fun word so i'm including it here anyway.