Speculations exist about its connection to 尪 ( OC *qʷaːŋ, “ lame, crippled”) and 狂 ( OC *ɡʷaŋ, “ mad”), based on theories about the connection between ancient Chinese kingship and shamanism ( Keightley, 1995).Bodman (1980) connects 王 with 皇 ( OC *ɡʷaːŋ, “sovereign”), which Schuessler (2007) connects to this word family. waŋ ~ *waaŋ ( “ enclosure to go round ” ), which is part of a larger Austroasiatic word family, including 營 ( OC *ɢʷeŋ) and 環 ( OC *ɡʷraːn).The connection to the Old Khmer word would thus relate it to Proto-Mon-Khmer The semantic shift from "palace" to "king" parallels Egyptian pr ꜥꜣ ( “ pharaoh ”, literally “palace” ), from pr ( “ house ” ) + ꜥꜣ ( “ great, big ” ). This is perhaps supported by a bronze inscription where 王 refers to a place, not the Zhou king ( Shaughnessy, 1991). Schuessler (2007) alternatively proposes a connection to Old Khmer vāṅ, vaṅ (modern Khmer វាំង ( veăng ), “ royal palace” ), which he considers to be cognate with Khmer ហ្លួង ( luŏng, “ king ” ).He also compares it to Proto-Northern Naga *waŋ ( “ chief ” ). Tibetan *b- (unless *dw- can become db- for possible *b- ~ * w- variation, see 花). However, reconstructing the Old Chinese as *waŋ, he notes the mismatch between Old Chinese *w- vs. Schuessler (2007) compares it to Tibetan དབང ( dbang, “ strength, power ” ) and Burmese အန် ( an, “ strength, power ” ), which derive from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-baŋ ( “ strength, power ” ).Sagart and Baxter (2009) compare it to Tibetan གོང་མ ( gong ma, “ superior one ” ).A ceremonial axe was kept near the throne, and was used for performing rituals in ancient China.Ĭompare the unrelated 玉 ( “ jade ” ) and 主 ( “ master ” ). The modern interpretation is that the character is a pictogram ( 象形) of either an axe or a crown, one of two symbols of the king's power. Older representation of the character shows a man like 大 or 天 above a horizontal stroke. The vertical stroke is the king, the one who connects them together. The traditional interpretation is that the three horizontal strokes represent Heaven, Man and Earth. Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1099, character 10.王 ( Kangxi radical 96, 玉+-1, 4 strokes, cangjie input 一土 ( MG), four-corner 1010 4, composition ⿱ 一 土)
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