吞 - thoitietviet.edu.vn

吞 U+541E, 吞 ← 吝[U+541D] CJK Unified Ideographs 吟 →[U+541F]

吞 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+4, 7 strokes, Cangjie input 一大口 (MKR), four-corner 20603, composition ⿱天口)

swallow
absorb, annex, engulf

㖔, 㧷, 㶺

Kangxi Dictionary: page 177, character 18
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3329
Dae Jaweon: page 395, character 2
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 585, character 4
Unihan data for U+541E

simp. and trad. 吞 alternative forms 呑

Attested somewhat late (in Warring States period’s texts).

Starostin reconstructs 吞 (OC *tʰən) derives it from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dʱɨ̄n/ŋ (“to swallow, to drink”), whence also Tibetan འཐུང (‘thung, “to drink”) & Lepcha ᰋᰩᰵ (thóng, “to drink”), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-tuŋ (“to drink, to suckle”); however, STEDT does not derive 吞 from or compare it to *m/s-tuŋ.

Schuessler (2007) compares it to several Kam-Tai words: Thai กลืน (glʉʉn), Ahom 𑜀𑜢𑜤𑜃 (k(l)en), Saek [script needed] (tlɯɯnA1), Proto-Kam-Sui *ʔdun, etc.

吞

to swallow (to cause food, drink, etc. to pass from the mouth into the stomach) 囫圇吞棗／囫囵吞枣 ― húlúntūnzǎo ― Literally, “to swallow a jujube whole” > figuratively, “to accept without thinking; to read without understanding”
- 子胥出走，邊候得之。子胥曰：「上索我者，以我有美珠也。今我已亡之矣。我且曰子取吞之。」候因釋之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]子胥出走，边候得之。子胥曰：「上索我者，以我有美珠也。今我已亡之矣。我且曰子取吞之。」候因释之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: Han Feizi, circa 2nd century BCEZǐxū chūzǒu, biānhòu dé zhī. Zǐxū yuē: “Shàng suǒ wǒ zhě, yǐ wǒ yǒu měizhū yě. Jīn wǒ yǐ wáng zhī yǐ. Wǒ qiě yuē zǐ qǔ tūn zhī.” Hòu yīn shì zhī. [Pinyin]When Tzŭ-hsü was making his escape, a frontier patrol caught him. Tzŭ-hsü said: “The authorities want me because they think I have a beautiful pearl. Now I have already lost it. But I will say that you have seized and swallowed it.” Thereupon the patrol released him.
- 一蛇吞象，厥大何如？ [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]From: The Verses of Chu, 4th century BCE – 2nd century CEYī shé tūn xiàng, jué dà hérú? [Pinyin]The snake that can swallow elephants — How big must it be?
- 吞舟之魚，碭而失水，則蟻能苦之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]吞舟之鱼，砀而失水，则蚁能苦之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge’s versionTūnzhōu zhī yú, dàng ér shīshuǐ, zé yǐ néng kǔ zhī. [Pinyin]If a fish that can swallow a boat be left dry by the flowing away of the water, then (even) the ants can trouble it.
to annex (territory, a country, etc.)
- 楚欲吞宋鄭而畏齊。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]楚欲吞宋郑而畏齐。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: Guanzi, 5th century BCE to 220 CEChǔ yù tūn Sòng Zhèng ér wèi Qí. [Pinyin]Chu wanted to swallow / annex Song and Cheng yet feared Qi.
- 今秦者，虎狼之國也，兼有吞周之意；…… [Classical Chinese, trad.]今秦者，虎狼之国也，兼有吞周之意；…… [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5th – 3rd centuries BCEJīn Qín zhě, hǔláng zhī guó yě, jiān yǒu tūn Zhōu zhī yì;…… [Pinyin]Now Qin, a state of tigers and wolves, is united around the idea of swallowing / annexing Zhou; […]

In Standard Mandarin, 吞 means “to swallow in whole or without chewing”, while 嚥／咽 (yàn) means “to swallow” in general. In many other varieties of Chinese however, 吞 means “to swallow” in general.

(to swallow): 吞吃 (tūnchī); (Hokkien) 嗒

(to annex):

simp. and trad. 吞 alternative forms 吴

吞

a surname

“吞”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014-
李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), “吞”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 230.

Shinjitai(extended)

呑

Printstandard

吞

(Jinmeiyō kanji)