推敲

Chinese

		push; refuse (responsibility); shove	extort; knock; to strike extort; knock; to strike; to knock (at a door); to hit
simp. and trad. (推敲)		推	敲
Literally: “to push or to knock”.

Etymology

From the story of the Tang dynasty poet Jia Dao (779–843). Legend has it that one day while he was riding on his donkey, he was deliberating over the following line in his poem:

鳥宿池邊樹，僧推月下門。 [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]

鸟宿池边树，僧推月下门。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

Niǎo sù chí biān shù, sēng tuī yuè xià mén. [Pinyin]

Birds built their nests by a serene pond up the tree;
Beneath the Moon, a monk pushes on the door wooden.

He was pondering whether the 推 (“to push”) should be replaced by 敲 (“to knock”).

In fact, he was so engrossed in his deliberation that he did not notice an official's convoy coming, and ran straight into it. He was then taken for questioning on why he failed to avoid the convoy, and he explained that he was deep in thought about a poem he composed. The official whom Jia ran into was Han Yu, a famous Tang dynasty essayist and poet. After deliberation, Han said 敲 (“to knock”) would be a better word choice in this verse, since it highlights the quietness of the night. Jia regarded Han as his “one-character teacher” (一字師), followed his advice, and finalised verses of the poem.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tuīqiāo

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄨㄟㄑㄧㄠ
Cantonese (Jyutping): teoi¹ haau¹
Min Nan (POJ): thui-khau

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: tuīqiāo
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄨㄟㄑㄧㄠ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tueichiau
  - IPA ^(key): /tʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: teoi¹ haau¹
  - Yale: tēui hāau
  - Cantonese Pinyin: toey¹ haau¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: têu¹ hao¹
  - IPA ^(key): /tʰɵy̯⁵⁵ häːu̯⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thui-khau
  - Tâi-lô: thui-khau
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tui'qaw
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tʰui⁴⁴⁻²² kʰaʊ⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰui³³ kʰaʊ³³/

Verb

推敲

to deliberate; to think over; to give a thought to; to weigh up; to scrutinize
經不起推敲 / 经不起推敲 ― jīngbùqǐ tuīqiāo ― to be unable to stand up to scrutiny

反覆推敲 ― fǎnfù tuīqiāo ― to repeatedly scrutinize

Japanese

Kanji in this term
推	敲
すい Grade: 6	こう Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

Pronunciation

On’yomi
- (Tokyo) すいこー [sùíkóó] (Heiban – [0])[1]
- IPA^(key): [sɨᵝiko̞ː]

Noun

推敲 (hiragana すいこう, rōmaji suikō)

revising, polishing of a text
推敲 (すいこう)に推敲 (すいこう)を重 (かさ)ねた。
Suikō ni suikō o kasaneta.
We made revision on top of revision.

Verb

推敲する (hiragana すいこうする, rōmaji suikō suru)

revise, polish a text

Conjugation

Conjugation of "推敲する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	推敲し	すいこうし	suikō shi
Continuative (連用形)	推敲し	すいこうし	suikō shi
Terminal (終止形)	推敲する	すいこうする	suikō suru
Attributive (連体形)	推敲する	すいこうする	suikō suru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	推敲すれ	すいこうすれ	suikō sure
Imperative (命令形)	推敲せよ¹ 推敲しろ²	すいこうせよ¹ すいこうしろ²	suikō seyo¹ suikō shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	推敲される	すいこうされる	suikō sareru
Causative	推敲させる推敲さす	すいこうさせるすいこうさす	suikō saseru suikō sasu
Potential	推敲できる	すいこうできる	suikō dekiru
Volitional	推敲しよう	すいこうしよう	suikō shiyō
Negative	推敲しない	すいこうしない	suikō shinai
Negative continuative	推敲せず	すいこうせず	suikō sezu
Formal	推敲します	すいこうします	suikō shimasu
Perfective	推敲した	すいこうした	suikō shita
Conjunctive	推敲して	すいこうして	suikō shite
Hypothetical conditional	推敲すれば	すいこうすれば	suikō sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative

Synonyms

練り直す

References

1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

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[NHK-1] 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN