Talk:cầu thị

Wrong etymology?

I doubt it is 求 + 視. It might be 求是, from 實事求是. Sinotransition (talk) 13:04, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

Could be. @PhanAnh123 is the expert. MuDavid 栘𩿠 (talk) 09:04, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

Sequences that can be read as cầu thị are strangely rare in older texts. The second oldest attestation I can find is in Lều chõng, in the set phrase cầu thị bất cầu kỳ (求是不求奇 "seek the truth/actual substance, not the unusual"). The oldest is I could find is Tự Đức thánh chế tự học giải nghĩa ca (嗣德聖製字學解義歌), which is a work that helps studying Chinese characters, in a sequence at the end of volume 3: 䚕求視䀡 ("lệ", cầu; "thị", xem, 䚕 means "to search out", 視 means "to look at"), so 求視 here does not even form a compound but belongs two different "dictionary entries", but it's still pretty telling that these two were put right next to each other ("to search out"-"to look at"). My best guess is that the modern word is a conflation between 求是 and 求視. PhanAnh123 (talk)