pause markers in classical Chinese; major and minor pauses
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Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
pause markers in classical Chinese writing; the distinction between major pauses (句, sentences) and minor pauses (读, phrases)
archaicA classical Chinese philology term. 句 (jù) indicates a complete semantic unit (sentence), while 读 (dòu) indicates a smaller pause where the meaning is incomplete but the rhythm allows a break (phrase or clause). Essential for reading unpunctuated classical texts.
Xué学
xí习
gǔ古
wén文
shǒu首
xiān先
yào要
xué学
huì会
míng明
biàn辨
jù句
dòu读
。
To study classical Chinese, one must first learn to clearly distinguish between sentences and phrases.
Jù句
dòu读
zhī之
bù不
zhī知
，
huò惑
zhī之
bù不
jiě解
。
Not knowing where the pauses are, one cannot resolve one's doubts.
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Gǔ古
rén人
dú读
shū书
fēi非
cháng常
zhòng重
shì视
jù句
dòu读
de的
xùn训
liàn练
。
Ancient scholars placed great importance on training in pause markers when reading.
Zhè这
jù句
huà话
de的
jù句
dòu读
yǒu有
wèn问
tí题
，
yīng应
gāi该
chóng重
xīn新
biāo标
diǎn点
。
The phrasing of this sentence has problems and should be repunctuated.