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7.7 Reduplicated words

This poem includes two words composed of a reiterated character, “reduplicated words.”
Reduplicated words are common in poetry, and may occur in prose as well. The most
common form is that found in this poem. Both youyou 悠悠 and mángmáng 茫茫 consist
of an SV whose original sense is preserved but intensified in the reduplicated word. The
reduplication in the first poem, xíngxíng 行行, is a less common instance of a repeated
verb expressing continuing action.

7.8 Numbers as semantic modifiers

The phrase sì gù 四顧, which appears in line 3, does not mean, as it might appear,
“looked four times.” When 四 is used in an adverbial position, it generally means “in all
four directions,” or simply, “all around.” Other numbers are also used in figurative senses.
The numbers 3, 9, and sometimes 7 are used to mean “many” (deciding when these
numbers mean “many” and when they are to be read literally is often difficult). The
number 100 means “the many” on a larger scale, generally when pointing towards a
variety of species (thus băicăo 百草 in line 4 of this poem is best rendered not in the
sense of “the many blades of grass” – and certainly not “the 100 blades of grass” – but
rather, “the many sorts of grass”). The number 10,000, of course, is also used to mean
“the many” or “all,” especially in the phrase wàn-wù 萬物: the world of things.

#4 “Míng yùe hé jǐao jǐao” 明月何皎皎

明 ming (Adj/SV) bright

皎 jǐao (Adj/SV) bright

皎皎 jǐaojǐao: (SV reduplicated binome) bright

照 zhào (V) to shine on

羅 lúo (N) silk, gauze, net; (Adj) silken, gauze-like

牀 chúang (N) bed

幃 wéi (N) a curtain, a screen, a tent

憂 you (V) to be anxious, to worry; (N) cares

愁 chóu (Adj) worried, distressed, depressed

憂愁 youchóu: (SV) melancholy, depressed by cares