Abstract:

“Raise” and “bring up” are a pair of confusing words in Chinese. The article discusses the similarities and differences between the two words on the semantic and pragmatic levels, and points out that “raise” has dual identity with terminology and generic words. When used as a legal term, “raise” has broad and narrow meanings, while as a common word, only generalized. But the meaning of “raise” is only part of the meaning of “ bring up”. According to the scope of the words and the principle of interpretation of general-purpose dictionaries, the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary only releases the generalized meaning of “raise” and the cases only reflect a generalized usage. This treatment is no problem in itself, but we can make improvements in order to avoid misunderstanding.

Key words: raise, bring up, legal terminology, common words