from gbarto.com’s Language
Pages Dao-9 project:
An introduction to essential vocabulary for the first
nine books of the Dào.
In the first nine books of
the Dào, there are some words that come up time and
again, and which will be of much help for those trying to read it. This vocabulary list is subjective and far
from all-inclusive. But if you are
comfortable with it, there should be at least a few familiar looking characters
in whichever book you turn to.
|
Dao concepts |
|
|
道
Dao, way, road, path; to speak, to be spoken |
屈 dwell |
|
恒
lasting, constant, eternal |
爲in service; to do, to be as, to
act as, to become |
|
名
name, to name or be named |
天
heaven |
|
無 without,
nothing, to lack, to not exist |
土
earth |
|
有 with, to have, to exist |
天土 creation |
|
萬 10,000, myriad |
|
|
物 thing |
|
|
萬物 wàn-wù, the 10,000 things, the
world |
Grammar |
|
始 beginning |
之 ‘s, possessing or relating to |
|
妙 essence |
也
also, a particle signaling the end of a phrase |
|
玄 mysterious, profound |
不
not |
|
聖 wise |
而
and yet |
|
人 man |
以
so |
|
聖人 wise man, the sage |
兮
a pause, a breath in speaking |
Those curious about the sound of the Chinese should
visit our close-up look at the first chapter of the Dao. This page is from earlier work on the Dao and
not part of the forthcoming Dao-9 project.
Return to gbarto.com’s Language Pages.
Return to The Dao-9
project.