扬 (yáng) — to raise, to lift up; to toss, to scatter (as in winnowing); to spread, to propagate (fame, reputation)
Definition
A literary/written verb spanning three senses — 'raise' (扬起手), 'winnow/scatter' (扬谷), and 'spread' (fame/name). In modern spoken Chinese, raising is usually 抬 or 举; 升/提升 cover upward movement or improvement.
verb
to raiseto lift upto tossto scatter (as in winnowing)to spreadto propagate (fame, reputation)
Examples
- ，。Tā qīng qīng yáng qǐ shǒu, xiàng dà jiā dǎ zhāo hu.He gently raised his hand to greet everyone.
- 。Nóng mín zài chǎng shàng yáng dào gǔ.The farmer is winnowing rice on the threshing ground.
- 扬。Tā zǎo yǐ míng yáng quán guó.He has long been famous across the country.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 揚; 扬 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng揚
Same sound today
The traditional form 揚 uses 手 to show a hand-related action and 昜 to give the sound; the simplified 扬 is a later abbreviation.
Appears in
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