白
38-590: White 馬 horse 非 is not 馬 horse 白 馬 非 馬 white horse {is not} horse — Gongsun Longzi The White Horse Dialogue in Chinese philosophy is a debate between two unnamed speakers on a proposition often translated as 'a white horse is not a horse'. It appears in the Warring States period text Gongsun Longzi attributed to Gongsun Long , grouped under the philosophical School of Names in later taxonomies. The dialogue constitutes
76-521: A broader denotational or connotational sememe and thus overlap within a semantic field . The former are sometimes called cognitive synonyms and the latter, near-synonyms, plesionyms or poecilonyms. Some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language) because etymology , orthography , phonic qualities, connotations , ambiguous meanings, usage , and so on make them unique. Different words that are similar in meaning usually differ for
114-527: A chapter of the eponymous Gongsun Longzi . The purported author, also known as "Master Gongsun Long" ( fl. 284–259 BCE ), was counted by later scholars among the School of Names in the Hundred Schools of Thought . Most of Gongsun's writings have been lost; the received Gongsun Longzi text contains only six of the recorded fourteen original chapters. Parts of the dialogue are dislocated and
152-586: A form of onoma ( ὄνομα 'name'). Synonyms are often from the different strata making up a language. For example, in English, Norman French superstratum words and Old English substratum words continue to coexist. Thus, today there exist synonyms like the Norman-derived people , liberty and archer , and the Saxon-derived folk , freedom and bowman . For more examples, see
190-448: A horse is not a horse is not as good as using a non-horse to show that a horse is not a horse, Heaven and earth are one attribute; the ten thousand things are one horse. The Mengzi ( 6A4 ) notes that bai 白 'white' has different connotations whether one is using it to refer to a graying person (who is worthy of respect because of his or her age) or a white horse (which should be treated like any other animal): Mencius said, 'There
228-589: A horse," the first line of the White Horse Dialogue obscurely asks 可 乎 ('Can it be that ...?'). This dialogue could be an attempted proof that a white horse is not a horse, or a question if such a statement is possible, or both. Bryan W. Van Norden suggests that "the Advocate is only arguing that 'a white horse is not a horse' could be true, given a certain interpretation. He might acknowledge that, in another interpretation, 'a white horse
266-579: A metonym is a type of synonym, and the word metonym is a hyponym of the word synonym . The analysis of synonymy, polysemy , hyponymy, and hypernymy is inherent to taxonomy and ontology in the information science senses of those terms. It has applications in pedagogy and machine learning , because they rely on word-sense disambiguation . The word is borrowed from Latin synōnymum , in turn borrowed from Ancient Greek synōnymon ( συνώνυμον ), composed of sýn ( σύν 'together, similar, alike') and - ōnym - ( -ωνυμ- ),
304-479: A reason: feline is more formal than cat ; long and extended are only synonyms in one usage and not in others (for example, a long arm is not the same as an extended arm ). Synonyms are also a source of euphemisms . Metonymy can sometimes be a form of synonymy: the White House is used as a synonym of the administration in referring to the U.S. executive branch under a specific president. Thus,
342-416: A small number of words are theorized to have been lost early in the text's transmission history. Thus, some commentators and translators rearrange some sentences for clarity. The dialogue is between two unnamed speakers: Is "a white horse is not a horse" assertible? Advocate: It is. Objector: How? Advocate: "Horse" is that by means of which one names the shape. "White" is that by means of which one names
380-472: Is a horse. ' " An alternative interpretation is offered in Feng Youlan 's A History of Chinese Philosophy : Strictly speaking, names or terms are divided into those that are abstract and those that are concrete. The abstract term denotes the universal, the concrete term the particular. The particular is the denotation, and the universal the connotation, of the term. In western inflected languages there
418-624: Is coinages , which may be motivated by linguistic purism . Thus, the English word foreword was coined to replace the Romance preface . In Turkish, okul was coined to replace the Arabic-derived mektep and mederese , but those words continue to be used in some contexts. Synonyms often express a nuance of meaning or are used in different registers of speech or writing. Various technical domains may employ synonyms to convey precise technical nuances. Some writers avoid repeating
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#1732772659943456-412: Is evident that white horses are not horses. This dialogue continues with deliberations over colored and colorless horses and whether white and horse can be separated from white horse . Other Gongsun Longzi chapters discuss "white horse"-related concepts of: jian 堅 'hard; hardness', and bai 白 'white; whiteness', ming 名 'name; term', shi 實 'solid; true, actual; fact, reality',
494-456: Is more specific than horse ), versus "a white horse is not a member of the set of horses" (obviously false). The Advocate in the dialogue is asserting a lack of identity between horses and white horses, while the Objector is interpreting the Advocate's statement as a claim that the category of horses does not include white ones. Beyond the inherent semantic ambiguities of "A white horse is not
532-415: Is no difference between our pronouncing a white horse to be white and our pronouncing a white man to be white. But is there no difference between the regard with which we acknowledge the age of an old horse and that with which we acknowledge the age of an old man? And what is it which is called righteousness? The fact of a man's being old? Or the fact of our giving honor to his age?' Other early "a white horse
570-493: Is no difficulty in distinguishing between the particular ('white' or 'horse') and the abstract ('whiteness' or 'horseness'). In Chinese, however, as the written characters are ideographic and pictorial and lack all inflection, there is no possible way, as far as the form of individual words is concerned, of distinguishing between abstract and concrete terms. Thus in Chinese the word designating a particular horse and that designating
608-405: Is not a horse" is parallel to "a sword is not a weapon," but the "Sophist" is treating the statement as parallel to "a sword is not a blade." Other interpretations have been put forward by Fung Yu-lan and Chad Hansen, among others. This work has been viewed by some as a serious logical discourse, by others as a facetious work of sophistry , and finally by some as a combination of the two. He
646-586: Is not a horse" references are found in the Hanfeizi ( 32 ), Mozi ( 11B ), and Zhanguoce ( 19.2 ). Gongsun Longzi Gongsun Long ( c. 320 – 250 BC ), courtesy name Zibing , was a Chinese philosopher, writer, and member of the School of Names , also known as the Logicians, of ancient Chinese philosophy . Gongsun ran a school and received patronage from rulers, advocating peaceful means of resolving disputes amid
684-402: Is not a horse' because the name diverges from the shape." Two Zhuangzi chapters ( 17 and 33 ) mock Gongsun Long, and another ( 2 ) combines his zhi 指 'attribute' and ma 馬 'horse' notions in the same context: To use an attribute to show that attributes are not attributes is not as good as using a nonattribute to show that attributes are not attributes. To use a horse to show that
722-502: Is not the pointed-out, to point out is not to point out", and "there is no 1 in 2". These paradoxes seem to suggest a similarity to the discovery in Greek philosophy that pure logic may lead to apparently absurd conclusions. Although not done justice by English translation, professor Zhenbin Sun considers Gongsun Long’s work on ming-shi, or name and reality, the most "profound and systematic" of
760-454: Is substitution: one form can be replaced by another in a sentence without changing its meaning. Words may often be synonymous in only one particular sense : for example, long and extended in the context long time or extended time are synonymous, but long cannot be used in the phrase extended family . Synonyms with exactly the same meaning share a seme or denotational sememe , whereas those with inexactly similar meanings share
798-510: Is to fall into disorder. To remain in order is to be correct. What is correct is used to rectify what is incorrect. [What is incorrect is not used to] doubt what is correct. To rectify is to rectify actuality, and to rectify the name [ming] corresponding to it. In the White Horse Dialogue ( 白馬論 ; Báimǎ lùn ), one interlocutor (sometimes called the "sophist") defends the truth of the statement "White horses are not horses," while
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#1732772659943836-730: The list of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English . Loanwords are another rich source of synonyms, often from the language of the dominant culture of a region. Thus, most European languages have borrowed from Latin and ancient Greek, especially for technical terms, but the native terms continue to be used in non-technical contexts. In East Asia , borrowings from Chinese in Japanese , Korean , and Vietnamese often double native terms. In Islamic cultures, Arabic and Persian are large sources of synonymous borrowings. For example, in Turkish , kara and siyah both mean 'black',
874-505: The Germanic term only as a noun, but has Latin and Greek adjectives: hand , manual (L), chiral (Gk); heat , thermal (L), caloric (Gk). Sometimes the Germanic term has become rare, or restricted to special meanings: tide , time / temporal , chronic . Many bound morphemes in English are borrowed from Latin and Greek and are synonyms for native words or morphemes: fish , pisci- (L), ichthy- (Gk). Another source of synonyms
912-463: The School of Names. As Gongsun Long enjoys the favor or rulers, his work also concerns social order. The Gongsun Long Zi reads: Heaven, earth, and their products are all things [物 wu]. When things possess the characteristics of things without exceeding them, there is actuality [shi]. When actuality actually fulfills its function as actuality, without wanting, there is order [位 wei]. To be out of order
950-428: The abstract zhi 指 'finger; pointing; designation; universal ' (like "whiteness"), and the concrete wu 物 'thing; object; particular ' (like "a white horse"). A common misunderstanding is that this paradox arises due to the lack of articles in the Chinese language. However, it is not exclusively associated with Chinese and can emerge in other languages as well. While the absence of articles in Chinese can make
988-596: The color. What names the color is not what names the shape. Hence, one may say "white horse is not horse". Objector: If there are white horses, one cannot say that there are no horses. If one cannot say that there are no horses, doesn't that mean that there are horses? For there to be white horses is for there to be horses. How could it be that the white ones are not horses? Advocate: If one wants horses, that extends to yellow or black horses. But if one wants white horses, that does not extend to yellow or black horses. Suppose that white horses were horses. Then what one wants [in
1026-423: The dialogue include A. C. Graham, Chad Hansen, Cristoph Harbsmeier, Kirill Ole Thompson, and Bryan W. Van Norden. In the Chinese philosophical tradition, the White Horse Dialogue's significance is evident from the number of Chinese classic texts directly or indirectly discussing it. The Liezi , which lists and criticizes the paradoxes of Gongsun Long as "perversions of reason and sense", explains "'A white horse
1064-631: The former being a native Turkish word, and the latter being a borrowing from Persian. In Ottoman Turkish , there were often three synonyms: water can be su (Turkish), âb (Persian), or mâ (Arabic): "such a triad of synonyms exists in Ottoman for every meaning, without exception". As always with synonyms, there are nuances and shades of meaning or usage. In English, similarly, there often exist Latin (L) and Greek (Gk) terms synonymous with Germanic ones: thought , notion (L), idea (Gk); ring , circle (L), cycle (Gk). English often uses
1102-440: The importance of the precision required in the language use and reveals how the complexity of language can lead to unexpected confusions. According to A. C. Graham , this "A white horse is not a horse" paradox plays upon the ambiguity of whether the 'is' in the statement means: In other words, the expression "white horse is not horse" is ambiguous between " white horse is not synonymous with horse " (true because white horse
1140-536: The interpretation of phrases more challenging, this paradox serves as an entry point for more profound philosophical explorations rather than being a straightforward result of Chinese grammar. Essentially, this paradox explores the ways in which human categorize and conceptualize "things" in minds and through language. The fact that all white horses are indeed horses does not imply that the term "horses" refers exclusively to white horses (it also includes horses of other colors, such as brown and black.). This paradox emphasizes
1178-542: The martial culture of the Warring States period . His collected works comprise the Gongsun Longzi ( 公孫龍子 ) anthology. Comparatively few details are known about his life, and much of his work has been lost—only six of the fourteen essays he originally authored are still extant. In book 17 of the Zhuangzi , Gongsun speaks of himself: When young, I studied the way of the former kings. When I grew up, I understood
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1216-530: The obviously false claim that white horses are not part of the group of horses. However, the "sophist" in the dialogue defends the statement under the interpretation, "Not all horses are white horses". The latter statement is actually true, since—as the "sophist" explains—"horses" includes horses that are white, yellow, brown, etc., while "white horses" includes only white horses, and excludes the others. A.C. Graham proposed this interpretation and illustrated it with an analogy. The "Objector" assumes that "a white horse
1254-474: The other interlocutor (sometimes called the "objector") disputes the truth of this statement. This has been interpreted in a number of ways. Possibly the simplest interpretation is to see it as based on a confusion of class and identity. The argument, by this interpretation, plays upon an ambiguity in Chinese that does not exist in English. The expression "X is not Y" (X非Y) can mean either The sentence "White horses are not horses" would normally be taken to assert
1292-419: The practice of kindness and duty. I united the same and different, separated hard from white, made so the not-so and admissible the inadmissible. I confounded the wits of the hundred schools and exhausted the eloquence of countless speakers. I took myself to have reached the ultimate. He is best known for a series of paradoxes in the tradition of Hui Shi , including "white horses are not horses", "when no thing
1330-422: The same word in close proximity, and prefer to use synonyms: this is called elegant variation . Many modern style guides criticize this. Synonyms can be any part of speech , as long as both words belong to the same part of speech. Examples: Synonyms are defined with respect to certain senses of words: pupil as the aperture in the iris of the eye is not synonymous with student . Similarly, he expired means
1368-464: The two cases] would be the same. If what one wants were the same, then 'white' would not differ from 'horse.' If what one wants does not differ, then how is it that yellow or black horses are acceptable in one case and unacceptable in the other case? It is clear that acceptable and unacceptable are mutually contrary. Hence, yellow and black horses are the same, one can respond that there are horses, but one cannot respond that there are white horses. Thus, it
1406-418: The universal, 'horseness,' are written and pronounced in the same way. Similarly with other terms, so that such words as 'horse' and 'white', being used to designate both the concrete particular and the abstract universal, thus hold two values. However, there are recent histories of Chinese philosophy that do not subscribe to Feng's interpretation. Other contemporary philosophers and sinologists who have analyzed
1444-541: Was also responsible for several other essays ( 論 ; lùn ; 'discourses', 'dialogues'), as short as 300 characters . synonymous A synonym is a word , morpheme , or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language , the words begin , start , commence , and initiate are all synonyms of one another: they are synonymous . The standard test for synonymy
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