| Change log entry 75112 | |
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| Processed by: | richwarm (2022-06-30 01:03:11 UTC) |
| Comment: |
<< review queue entry 71035 - submitted by 'unsin' >> 好象 is a typographical error or wrong version of 好像. If you want to keep this entry, it could be considered as pun. Direct translation should mean "good elephant" but sound exactly like 好像. ------------------------------------ Editor: The notion that "象 means elephant" is a simplification of the situation. You will find an entry for 好象 in each of the following dictionaries: - 汉语大词典 - 汉英词典 "A Chinese-English Dictionary" (1980) - Grand Ricci - Key - Wiktionary Historically, 象 did indeed evolve from a picture of an elephant, but it acquired additional senses including "to resemble", as seen in this example, written by the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai: 額鼻象五嶽，揚波噴雲雷。 Some time later, the character 像 was invented as a variant of 象. In 1964 the PRC, in the first round of character simplification, declared that 象 (not 像) was to be used for the "resemble" sense. In my 1980 Chinese-English dictionary, published in the PRC, the entry for 象 includes the following in its definition: "be like; resemble; take after", while 像 is defined only as a noun: "1. likeness (of sb.); portrait; picture 2. (physics) image". There is also the following entry: "好象 [hǎoxiàng] seem; be like". There is no entry for 好像. This situation continued until 1984, when it was declared that 像, not 象, was henceforth to be used for the "resemble" sense. In summary: For about 95% of the last 1,000 years, it has been acceptable, if not standard, to use 象 to mean "resemble". If one limits one's scope to PRC post-1984, then it's true that "好象 is a typographical error or wrong version of 好像". However, one may take a broader view. |
| Diff: |
# - 好象 好象 [hao3 xiang4] /to seem/to be like/ # # Editor: - 好象 好象 [hao3 xiang4] /to seem/to be like/ + 好象 好象 [hao3 xiang4] /to seem; to be like (variant of 好像[hao3 xiang4])/ |