Page 25 - EALC C306/505

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generally means, “Those of X that are Y,” or “That portion of X that is Y.” That is to say,
the pattern is used to denote a particular part of a greater whole, hence the term “partitive
zhi.” To illustrate:

X that are Y X Y Oxen that are big All Big
(X 之 Y 者) (牛之大者) Oxen Oxen

In this text, we encounter the partitive in the phrase:

惑之甚者

“utmost confusion,” or “the extreme of confusion.” This pictures hùo 惑 as a body of
confusion, and picks out a sub-portion of that body: confusion of an extreme nature. Note
that whereas in the “X 之Y” structure, the Root is noun Y, which is modified by noun X,
in the partitive the root noun is X rather than Y (contrast “the Y of X” in the first case,
with the partitive sense, “that X which is Y). For example:

王之惑
The king’s confusion. (惑/confusion is the Root word)

王之惑者
Those kings who are confused. (王/those kings is the Root word)

Moreover, while “X zhi Y” links two nouns, the partitive basically links a root noun to a
modifying phrase that is basically verbal (or adjectival), but nominalized by zhĕ.

The partitive 之 is common, but is sometimes difficult to recognize because the Y-phrase
may be a complex verbal phrase, whose length masks its relationship to the 之, and, in
such cases, the 者 is often ellipsed.

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Written Exercises

Translate the following into English

1. 忠人路也

2. 忠者人路也

3. 人路弗由則惑矣