Benzi/Original character

[xng]

I just found another original character that has been elusive ie. 趖

The modern meaning is to 'walk fast' but the 'sitting down' character 坐 indicate to the contrary that the original meaning is 'to walk like sitting' ie. walk very slowly.

趖來趖去 was a favorite expression I often hear.

[xng]

Does anybody know the original character for encounter 'Tu'. It doesn't seem to be 遇 because consonant and tone don't match.

[Mark Yong]

林寶卿 suggests 拄. Initially, I thought 睹 was a likely candidate.

[xng]

林寶卿 suggests 拄. Initially, I thought 睹 was a likely candidate.

Thanks mark,

拄 is also confirmed in the UCLA website.

The sound and tone is correct but the modern meaning of 拄 is actually to 'poke' which is also a min word. So I am not sure whether this is the right character.

[xng]

xng,

這一 - Cit (combination of Cia and It) / This
This is quite unlikely, as 這 for "this" is a late 假借 borrowing in Mandarin from a character that originally meant "to go towards".

Mark yong,

You're right, 之 should be the original character, 《诗经》：“之子于归”（这小孩出嫁）
The ucla website is wrong on 這.

Found 3 more elusive original characters that is different from mandarin/cantonese from
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/闽南语

忝Tiam2：疲《诗经·小宛篇》：“无忝尔所生”（不要累了你的父母）
(This is questionable because the meaning in my dictionary is 'disgrace' and not 'tired')

湛Dam5：湿。《诗经·召南》“湛湛露斯”
(meaning in my dictionary is 'wet with dew', so this is very close)

宰 T'ai: Kill (C consonant in mandarin can be T or T' consonant in minnan)

Any arguments here ?

[xng]

delete

[xng]

Andrew,

That one has floored me for ages. 林寶卿 suggests that it is 告, but I find it difficult to justify. 就 has a close-enough meaning, but the problem would be reconciling the k- vs. ch- initials.

Another character where the character has a different consonant from mandarin/cantonese is 鳥.
This has a 'C'iau consonant rather than the 'N' consonant of mandarin/cantonese.

So 到 having a 'K' consonant is not impossible. The literary pronounciation is 'Tau' for 到底 with the same tone as 'Kau'. So this is the closest character.

[niuc]

I also find 就 (lit. ciu7) unlikely for kau3, as they are of different tones.

[xng]

姥 Boh for wife.

[xng]

Does anybody have the original meaning of this character 刣 ?

I can't find the meaning in modern mandarin dictionary or even the cantonese website.