336. | 曷 | 為 | 人 | how can you become men? | |
Ho2 | wei2 | jen2 | |||
How | become | man |
Ho is composed of 曰 yüeh to speak and an obsolete phonetic meaning vapour.
Wei see line 24.
Jen see line 1. [Père Zottoli has for this line "qui diceris homo," as though he had mistaken 爲 for 謂.]
337. | 蠶 | 吐 | 絲 | The silkworm produces silk, | |
Ts'an2 | t'u3 | ssŭ1 | |||
Silkworm | vomit | silk |
Ts'an is composed of 虫 ch'ung insect, doubled, with a common phonetic.
T'u is composed of 口 k'ou mouth, with 土 t'u earth as phonetic.
Ssŭ see line 87.
338. | 蜂 | 釀 | 蜜 | the bee makes honey. | |
Fêng1 | niang4 | mi4 | |||
Bee | ferment | honey |
Fêng is composed of 虫 ch'ung insect as radical, with a common phonetic (line 325). It is a generic term for wasps, bees, hornet etc. [The colloquial term for a bee is 蜜蜂 mi fêng; 蜂蜜 fêng mi is honey.]
Niang is composed of 酉 yu which originally meant to make spirit or wine in the 8th moon when the millet is ripe, and is often used as radical in characters connected with wine, with a common phonetic (line 38).
Mi is composed of 虫 ch'ung insect as radical, with a common phonetic (line 309).