Shengxun

In classical Chinese philology, "shengxun" (聲訓 "voice explanation") or "yinxun" (音訓 "sound explanation") is the practice of explaining a character by using a homophone or near-homophone. The practice is ancient, and can be seen in Pre-Qin texts. Xu Shen, author of the monumental "Shuowen Jiezi", employed "shengxun". For example, when Xu explained the word "ghost", he wrote:

人所歸爲鬼 (A ghost is where (the state that) human beings return to)

歸 ("to return to"; pinyin:guǐ) and 鬼("ghost"; pinyin:guī) are homophones. (A similar explanation of the word can be found in the earlier "Erya".)

The ancient Chinese dictionary "Shiming" is noted for using "shengxun" for most of its definitions.

"Shengxun" can be highly fanciful, and often results in folk etymology. However, the practice points to the idea of "cognate characters" (同源字) or what Bernhard Karlgren called "word families".

References

*"Zhongguo da baike quanshu". First Edition. Beijing; Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe. 1980-1993.