吞

吞 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 一大口 (MKR), four-corner 2060₃, composition ⿱天口)

1. swallow
2. absorb, annex, engulf

• 㖔, 㧷, 㶺

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 177, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3329
• Dae Jaweon: page 395, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 585, character 4
• Unihan data for U+541E

Attested somewhat late (in Warring States period's texts).

Starostin reconstructs 吞 (OC *tʰən) derives it from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dʱɨ̄n/ŋ (“to swallow, to drink”), whence also Tibetan འཐུང ('thung, “to drink”) & Lepcha ᰋᰩᰵ (thóng, “to drink”), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-tuŋ (“to drink, to suckle”); however, STEDT does not derive 吞 from or compare it to *m/s-tuŋ.

Schuessler (2007) compares it to several Kam-Tai words: Thai กลืน (glʉʉn), Ahom 𑜀𑜢𑜤𑜃 (k(l)en), Saek [script needed] (tlɯɯn^A1), Proto-Kam-Sui *ʔdun, etc.

吞

1. to swallow (to cause food, drink, etc. to pass from the mouth into the stomach)

   囫圇吞棗／囫囵吞枣  ―  húlúntūnzǎo  ―  Literally, “to swallow a jujube whole” > figuratively, "to accept without thinking; to read without understanding"

   • 子胥出走，邊候得之。子胥曰：「上索我者，以我有美珠也。今我已亡之矣。我且曰子取吞之。」候因釋之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子胥出走，边候得之。子胥曰：「上索我者，以我有美珠也。今我已亡之矣。我且曰子取吞之。」候因释之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Han Feizi, circa 2^nd century BCE

     Zǐxū chūzǒu, biānhòu dé zhī. Zǐxū yuē: “Shàng suǒ wǒ zhě, yǐ wǒ yǒu měizhū yě. Jīn wǒ yǐ wáng zhī yǐ. Wǒ qiě yuē zǐ qǔ tūn zhī.” Hòu yīn shì zhī. [Pinyin]

     When Tzŭ-hsü was making his escape, a frontier patrol caught him. Tzŭ-hsü said: "The authorities want me because they think I have a beautiful pearl. Now I have already lost it. But I will say that you have seized and swallowed it." Thereupon the patrol released him.

   • 一蛇吞象，厥大何如？ [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE

     Yī shé tūn xiàng, jué dà hérú? [Pinyin]

     The snake that can swallow elephants — How big must it be?

   • 吞舟之魚，碭而失水，則蟻能苦之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     吞舟之鱼，砀而失水，则蚁能苦之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Tūnzhōu zhī yú, dàng ér shīshuǐ, zé yǐ néng kǔ zhī. [Pinyin]

     If a fish that can swallow a boat be left dry by the flowing away of the water, then (even) the ants can trouble it.

2. to annex (territory, a country, etc.)

   • 楚欲吞宋鄭而畏齊。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     楚欲吞宋郑而畏齐。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Guanzi, 5^th century BCE to 220 CE

     Chǔ yù tūn Sòng Zhèng ér wèi Qí. [Pinyin]

     Chu wanted to swallow / annex Song and Cheng yet feared Qi.

   • 今秦者，虎狼之國也，兼有吞周之意；…… [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     今秦者，虎狼之国也，兼有吞周之意；…… [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

     Jīn Qín zhě, hǔláng zhī guó yě, jiān yǒu tūn Zhōu zhī yì;...... [Pinyin]

     Now Qin, a state of tigers and wolves, is united around the idea of swallowing / annexing Zhou; [...]

In Standard Mandarin, 吞 means "to swallow in whole or without chewing", while 嚥／咽 (yàn) means "to swallow" in general. In many other varieties of Chinese however, 吞 means "to swallow" in general.

• (to swallow): 吞吃 (tūnchī); (Hokkien) 嗒

• (to annex):

吞

1. a surname

• “吞”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), “吞”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 230.

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

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• On (unclassified): どん (don)、とん (ton)、てん (ten)
• Kun: のむ (nomu, 吞む)

吞 • (tan) (hangeul 탄, revised tan, McCune–Reischauer t'an)

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吞: Hán Nôm readings: thôn, xôn

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.