Zev Handel
@zevhandel.bsky.social
Author of 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙮 (2019) & 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝘼𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝘼𝙨𝙞𝙖 (@uwapress, 2025). Chinese characters, writing systems, historical phonology, etc.
https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295753027/chinese-characters-across-asia/
https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295753027/chinese-characters-across-asia/
49/ ... from writing a word for a giant snake and the name of an ancient Chinese state over 2,000 years ago and 1,500 km to the north, to humbly representing the consonant sound [b] in 17th-century Vietnamese Chữ Nôm writing!
October 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
49/ ... from writing a word for a giant snake and the name of an ancient Chinese state over 2,000 years ago and 1,500 km to the north, to humbly representing the consonant sound [b] in 17th-century Vietnamese Chữ Nôm writing!
47/ Here, for example, is the page from the bl- section of the Dictionarium with the entry for ‘fruit’ (trái in modern Vietnamese), along with one of the Nôm graphs that writes it.
𢁑 trái ‘fruit’: 巴 (b-) + 賴 (lại) for earlier blái
𢁑 trái ‘fruit’: 巴 (b-) + 賴 (lại) for earlier blái
October 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
47/ Here, for example, is the page from the bl- section of the Dictionarium with the entry for ‘fruit’ (trái in modern Vietnamese), along with one of the Nôm graphs that writes it.
𢁑 trái ‘fruit’: 巴 (b-) + 賴 (lại) for earlier blái
𢁑 trái ‘fruit’: 巴 (b-) + 賴 (lại) for earlier blái
42/ Among the variant forms of Nôm graphs writing ‘moon’ that are attested are:
⿰巴夌
𪩮
𣎞
𦝄 (Note the semantic component 月!)
菱
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
⿰巴夌
𪩮
𣎞
𦝄 (Note the semantic component 月!)
菱
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
October 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
42/ Among the variant forms of Nôm graphs writing ‘moon’ that are attested are:
⿰巴夌
𪩮
𣎞
𦝄 (Note the semantic component 月!)
菱
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
⿰巴夌
𪩮
𣎞
𦝄 (Note the semantic component 月!)
菱
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
39/ So take a look at that page again with the entry for ‘moon’. The text reads:
blang mạt blang: a lua: luna, æ.
blang tlòn: lua chea: pleniluniū, ij.
blang khuiét; mingoante ou quando não he chea: luna non rotunda extra plenilunium.
blang mạt blang: a lua: luna, æ.
blang tlòn: lua chea: pleniluniū, ij.
blang khuiét; mingoante ou quando não he chea: luna non rotunda extra plenilunium.
October 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
39/ So take a look at that page again with the entry for ‘moon’. The text reads:
blang mạt blang: a lua: luna, æ.
blang tlòn: lua chea: pleniluniū, ij.
blang khuiét; mingoante ou quando não he chea: luna non rotunda extra plenilunium.
blang mạt blang: a lua: luna, æ.
blang tlòn: lua chea: pleniluniū, ij.
blang khuiét; mingoante ou quando não he chea: luna non rotunda extra plenilunium.
37/ The Dictionarium contains words starting with bl-, ml-, mnh-, and tl-, and plenty of them.
Here’s a page from the ml- section.
Here’s a page from the ml- section.
October 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
37/ The Dictionarium contains words starting with bl-, ml-, mnh-, and tl-, and plenty of them.
Here’s a page from the ml- section.
Here’s a page from the ml- section.
34/ Check out the dictionary’s entry for ‘moon’, glossed as Portuguese lua, Latin luna.
October 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
34/ Check out the dictionary’s entry for ‘moon’, glossed as Portuguese lua, Latin luna.
28/ So how about the mystery character we started with, 𢁋 (⿱巴陵)? It writes the Vietnamese word trăng ‘moon’, and it has two parts. So is it a semantic-phonetic compound graph composed of 巴 and 陵?
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
28/ So how about the mystery character we started with, 𢁋 (⿱巴陵)? It writes the Vietnamese word trăng ‘moon’, and it has two parts. So is it a semantic-phonetic compound graph composed of 巴 and 陵?
19/ Some examples are:
1 𡗉 nhiều ‘many’
2 𠃣 ít ‘few’
3 𠀧 ba ‘three’
4 𦊚 bốn ‘four’
5 𦹵 cỏ ‘grass’
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
Can you spot #2 𠃣 and #4 𦊚 in the Nguyễn Trãi poem?
1 𡗉 nhiều ‘many’
2 𠃣 ít ‘few’
3 𠀧 ba ‘three’
4 𦊚 bốn ‘four’
5 𦹵 cỏ ‘grass’
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
Can you spot #2 𠃣 and #4 𦊚 in the Nguyễn Trãi poem?
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
19/ Some examples are:
1 𡗉 nhiều ‘many’
2 𠃣 ít ‘few’
3 𠀧 ba ‘three’
4 𦊚 bốn ‘four’
5 𦹵 cỏ ‘grass’
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
Can you spot #2 𠃣 and #4 𦊚 in the Nguyễn Trãi poem?
1 𡗉 nhiều ‘many’
2 𠃣 ít ‘few’
3 𠀧 ba ‘three’
4 𦊚 bốn ‘four’
5 𦹵 cỏ ‘grass’
[I put these in an image below in case they don't render for you.]
Can you spot #2 𠃣 and #4 𦊚 in the Nguyễn Trãi poem?
13/ The majority of graphs encountered in a Nôm text are unchanged from their Chinese origins and will mostly be recognizable to any of you who read Chinese or Japanese. In the first line of the poem, you can see 雖, 浪, 共, 英, and 三. But not all of these are what they seem!
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
13/ The majority of graphs encountered in a Nôm text are unchanged from their Chinese origins and will mostly be recognizable to any of you who read Chinese or Japanese. In the first line of the poem, you can see 雖, 浪, 共, 英, and 三. But not all of these are what they seem!
11/ (These readings are descended from a medieval southern variety of Chinese. They bear an obvious resemblance to Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese readings, as well as modern Chinese language pronunciations.)
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
11/ (These readings are descended from a medieval southern variety of Chinese. They bear an obvious resemblance to Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese readings, as well as modern Chinese language pronunciations.)
6/ Here is an early Nôm text, a poem by the great Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Trãi 阮廌 (1380–1442). On the left is a brush-written version (apologies for the poor quality image), on the right a modern presentation rendered from Unicode (in horizontal lines, left to right).
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
6/ Here is an early Nôm text, a poem by the great Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Trãi 阮廌 (1380–1442). On the left is a brush-written version (apologies for the poor quality image), on the right a modern presentation rendered from Unicode (in horizontal lines, left to right).
5/ Nôm was never standardized. There are variant character forms for the same word and many distinct writing practices, which varied by time and place. The degree of variation is apparent if you thumb through any modern Nôm dictionary.
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
5/ Nôm was never standardized. There are variant character forms for the same word and many distinct writing practices, which varied by time and place. The degree of variation is apparent if you thumb through any modern Nôm dictionary.
4/ But Nôm differs notably from those character-based writing systems in having many innovated compound graphs.
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
4/ But Nôm differs notably from those character-based writing systems in having many innovated compound graphs.
3/ Chữ Nôm 𡨸喃 (Nôm for short) developed around the 14th century. It’s an adaptation of the mainstream Chinese-character script used for writing the Vietnamese language. Earlier, in the first millennium, the Chinese script was also adapted to write Korean and Japanese ...
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
3/ Chữ Nôm 𡨸喃 (Nôm for short) developed around the 14th century. It’s an adaptation of the mainstream Chinese-character script used for writing the Vietnamese language. Earlier, in the first millennium, the Chinese script was also adapted to write Korean and Japanese ...
2/ The Chữ Nôm graph we’re going to seek to understand is 𢁋. (If the graph isn’t rendering for you properly: its structure is ⿱巴陵).
It’s an even more unusual graph than it appears at first glance! (We’ll get to why in a bit.)
It’s an even more unusual graph than it appears at first glance! (We’ll get to why in a bit.)
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
2/ The Chữ Nôm graph we’re going to seek to understand is 𢁋. (If the graph isn’t rendering for you properly: its structure is ⿱巴陵).
It’s an even more unusual graph than it appears at first glance! (We’ll get to why in a bit.)
It’s an even more unusual graph than it appears at first glance! (We’ll get to why in a bit.)
We've just enjoyed the bright harvest moon of Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋, 추석 秋夕, 月見, Trung Thu, etc.), so how about a moon-related linguistics thread?
We'll look at an unusual Chữ Nôm graph and recover some lost 17th-century Vietnamese sounds, among other things.
🌕 🇵🇹 🇻🇳
1/🧵
We'll look at an unusual Chữ Nôm graph and recover some lost 17th-century Vietnamese sounds, among other things.
🌕 🇵🇹 🇻🇳
1/🧵
October 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
We've just enjoyed the bright harvest moon of Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋, 추석 秋夕, 月見, Trung Thu, etc.), so how about a moon-related linguistics thread?
We'll look at an unusual Chữ Nôm graph and recover some lost 17th-century Vietnamese sounds, among other things.
🌕 🇵🇹 🇻🇳
1/🧵
We'll look at an unusual Chữ Nôm graph and recover some lost 17th-century Vietnamese sounds, among other things.
🌕 🇵🇹 🇻🇳
1/🧵
For example, is ‘toast’ a basic idea? Is ‘toothbrush’ a basic idea? Is ‘dodecahedron’? ‘Disgruntlement’? ‘Romantic love’? Is the slight indentation between the bottom of your nose and your upper lip a basic idea?
*************
Come hear more on Tuesday!
bsky.app/profile/zevh...
*************
Come hear more on Tuesday!
bsky.app/profile/zevh...
September 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
For example, is ‘toast’ a basic idea? Is ‘toothbrush’ a basic idea? Is ‘dodecahedron’? ‘Disgruntlement’? ‘Romantic love’? Is the slight indentation between the bottom of your nose and your upper lip a basic idea?
*************
Come hear more on Tuesday!
bsky.app/profile/zevh...
*************
Come hear more on Tuesday!
bsky.app/profile/zevh...
20/ So back to English: Is “Geodude” the only one of these names that doesn’t convey any impression of youth or smallness? For me, “dude” definitely has no such connotation. Indeed, the iconic uses of the word refer to full grown men.
But maybe other English speakers feel differently?
But maybe other English speakers feel differently?
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
20/ So back to English: Is “Geodude” the only one of these names that doesn’t convey any impression of youth or smallness? For me, “dude” definitely has no such connotation. Indeed, the iconic uses of the word refer to full grown men.
But maybe other English speakers feel differently?
But maybe other English speakers feel differently?
16/ The Korean name echoes one sense of German “klein”: young. Kkomadol is a compound of kkoma 꼬마 ‘kid’ and dol 돌 ‘rock’. Kkoma is an especially cute word, unlike the regular Korean words for ‘child’, ai 아이 and eorini 어린이.
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
16/ The Korean name echoes one sense of German “klein”: young. Kkomadol is a compound of kkoma 꼬마 ‘kid’ and dol 돌 ‘rock’. Kkoma is an especially cute word, unlike the regular Korean words for ‘child’, ai 아이 and eorini 어린이.
15/ The German word Kleinstein also appears to be a simple compound of klein ‘small, young’ and Stein ‘rock’.
I’ve seen claims that the name is also a pun on “Einstein”. But Geodude doesn’t look that smart to me, so I'm inclined to think this is a coincidence. Can a German speaker weigh in?
I’ve seen claims that the name is also a pun on “Einstein”. But Geodude doesn’t look that smart to me, so I'm inclined to think this is a coincidence. Can a German speaker weigh in?
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
15/ The German word Kleinstein also appears to be a simple compound of klein ‘small, young’ and Stein ‘rock’.
I’ve seen claims that the name is also a pun on “Einstein”. But Geodude doesn’t look that smart to me, so I'm inclined to think this is a coincidence. Can a German speaker weigh in?
I’ve seen claims that the name is also a pun on “Einstein”. But Geodude doesn’t look that smart to me, so I'm inclined to think this is a coincidence. Can a German speaker weigh in?
13/ Given the prominent fists on this creature, it’s also possible that the last syllable of Ishitsubute is intended to evoke the Japanese word te 手 ‘hand’. I’ll leave it to Japanese speakers to tell us if that’s plausible or not.
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
13/ Given the prominent fists on this creature, it’s also possible that the last syllable of Ishitsubute is intended to evoke the Japanese word te 手 ‘hand’. I’ll leave it to Japanese speakers to tell us if that’s plausible or not.
12/ So the presence of tsubute in the name definitely gives us a feeling that this is a little Pokémon.
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
12/ So the presence of tsubute in the name definitely gives us a feeling that this is a little Pokémon.
9/
🇯🇵 Japanese: Ishitsubute イシツブテ
🇰🇷 Korean: Kkomadol 꼬마돌
🇭🇰 Cantonese: Siu2kyun4sek6 小拳石
🇨🇳🇹🇼 Mandarin: Xiǎoquánshí 小拳石
🇩🇪 German: Kleinstein
🇫🇷 French: Racaillou
What sense is present in all of these names but missing from the English?
🇯🇵 Japanese: Ishitsubute イシツブテ
🇰🇷 Korean: Kkomadol 꼬마돌
🇭🇰 Cantonese: Siu2kyun4sek6 小拳石
🇨🇳🇹🇼 Mandarin: Xiǎoquánshí 小拳石
🇩🇪 German: Kleinstein
🇫🇷 French: Racaillou
What sense is present in all of these names but missing from the English?
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
9/
🇯🇵 Japanese: Ishitsubute イシツブテ
🇰🇷 Korean: Kkomadol 꼬마돌
🇭🇰 Cantonese: Siu2kyun4sek6 小拳石
🇨🇳🇹🇼 Mandarin: Xiǎoquánshí 小拳石
🇩🇪 German: Kleinstein
🇫🇷 French: Racaillou
What sense is present in all of these names but missing from the English?
🇯🇵 Japanese: Ishitsubute イシツブテ
🇰🇷 Korean: Kkomadol 꼬마돌
🇭🇰 Cantonese: Siu2kyun4sek6 小拳石
🇨🇳🇹🇼 Mandarin: Xiǎoquánshí 小拳石
🇩🇪 German: Kleinstein
🇫🇷 French: Racaillou
What sense is present in all of these names but missing from the English?
7/ The name also evokes “geode”. Geodes are cool.
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
7/ The name also evokes “geode”. Geodes are cool.
4/ Come to think of it, “geoduck” looks like it could be a Pokémon name too. One could imagine it as a baby pre-evolution of Geodude. Or of Psyduck. What would a geoduck look like reimagined as a Pokémon, I wonder?
August 30, 2025 at 5:13 AM
4/ Come to think of it, “geoduck” looks like it could be a Pokémon name too. One could imagine it as a baby pre-evolution of Geodude. Or of Psyduck. What would a geoduck look like reimagined as a Pokémon, I wonder?