state one's name; common noun; generic term
Meanings
3 senses · 6 examplesverb
to announce one's name; to declare one's identity
archaicPrimarily used in classical martial arts novels and traditional operas, often in the command '来将通名！' (State your name, general!).
State your name, general!
In front of the battle lines, the two sides exchanged names before engaging in combat.
noun
common name; general term; generic name
In linguistics, refers to a general term as opposed to a proper name (专名).
'Cat' is a common noun, while 'Mimi' is a proper name.
'Doctor' is a common noun, while 'Doctor Zhang' is a proper noun.
noun
generic component in a proper noun indicating the category (as opposed to the specific name)
technicalFor example, in geographical names like '淮河' (Huai River), '河' (river) is the 通名 indicating it is a river, while '淮' is the 专名 (specific name). Also applies to mountains (山), lakes (湖), etc.
In 'Huai River', the word 'river' is the generic component.
In 'Mount Tai', 'mountain' is the generic component, while 'Tai' is the specific name.