夌 (líng): to dawdle; to walk slowly (arch…

Meanings

1 to dawdle; to walk slowly (archaic)
2 to encroach; to overstep; to violate (archaic, root of 凌/陵)
3 Ling, father of Emperor Yao in mythology

Characters

夌

líng

to climb over; overstep (archaic)

Examples

HSK 7-9

神话传说夌为尧帝之父。

Shénhuà chuánshuō Líng wéi Yáodì zhī fù.

Mythological accounts say Ling was the father of Emperor Yao.

HSK 7-9

古文献中，夌是凌、陵的古字。

Gǔ wénxiàn zhōng, líng shì líng, líng de gǔzì.

In ancient texts, 夌 is the original of 凌 (to encroach) and 陵 (tomb mound).

Tips

history

夌 is the historic root of two common modern characters: 凌 (with ice radical = 'to encroach / overcome / ice') and 陵 (with mound radical = 'imperial tomb / hill'). The graph itself shows a person hauling himself up a steep step - 'overstep / climb over' is the underlying image. As a personal name in mythology, 夌 appears in some Han-era genealogies as Emperor Yao's father.

register

Archaic - definitions follow classical attestation only. Lives today purely as a phonetic component inside the productive 夌 series: 凌, 陵, 棱 (edge), 绫 (silk damask), 菱 (water chestnut).

Components

radical

夊 suī

slow walking foot

Bottom 夊 (Kangxi #35, slow-walking foot) - the foot element below shows the body climbing. Indexes 夌 alongside 夏 (summer, originally a stepping foot).

semantic

土 tǔ

earth; mound

Top 土-like element - etymologically a mound or step. Marks 'something high to climb over', the original sense of 夌.