About
The character 斯, structurally composed of 其 indicating reference and 斤 representing an axe, originally held the concrete meaning of cleaving or dividing, a sense now largely obsolete. Through processes of phonetic adaptation and semantic extension in classical Chinese, it transitioned to function primarily as a demonstrative pronoun and adverb equivalent to "this" or "thus", while also serving as a connective particle in literary and philosophical texts. This evolution reflects a movement from a specific physical action to abstract grammatical roles, with the modern character retaining these later functions in formal constructs and compound phrases, detached from its initial pictorial suggestion.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
这个斯文的男孩是我的同学。
莫斯科是俄罗斯的首都。
斯科特先生来自英国。
斯里兰卡以红茶闻名。
瓦斯泄漏是非常危险的。
他对这件事进行了斯文的抗议。
波斯地毯具有独特的手工艺价值。
斯人已逝，但其精神永存。