《學而》 Passage 1.2

Master You, a disciple of Confucius

• 有 surname You (of the disciple Master You)
• 子 honorific: Master (title for the disciple You)

said, spoke

possessive pronoun: his, referring to the person under discussion

conduct, the way one carries oneself as a person

• 為 to act as, to behave as, to be
• 人 person, a human being

topic-marking particle: as for...

Marks 其為人 as the topic before the predicate 孝弟 — 'as for his character: filial and fraternal'. English cannot pause there; Lau's 'is such that' writes the seam out as words, and the other translators fold the topic into their sentence with nothing for the particle.

filial and fraternal, devoted to parents and deferential to elders

• 孝 filial, devoted to one's parents
• 弟 deferential and respectful to elder brothers and elders — read as 悌 (tì), not literally 'younger brother'

...yet is one who..., concessive nominalizing frame

而 is adversative here ('yet') and 者 nominalizes the clause; individually each is dropped by most translators, so they are grouped as one frame around 好犯上.

1. 者 zhě

   nominalizing particle: one who, those who

fond of, given to, inclined to

to offend against, transgress against one's superiors

• 犯 to offend against, to transgress, to violate
• 上 one's superior, someone in authority above oneself

are rare, are few

• 鮮 rare, few — read xiǎn 'rare, few', not the 'fresh' sense
• 矣 perfective/assertive final particle

not

fond of, given to, inclined to

to offend against, transgress against one's superiors

• 犯 to offend against, to transgress, to violate
• 上 one's superior, someone in authority above oneself

...yet is one who..., concessive nominalizing frame

而 is adversative here ('yet') and 者 nominalizes the clause; individually each is dropped by most translators, so they are grouped as one frame around 好作亂.

1. 者 zhě

   nominalizing particle: one who, those who

fond of, given to, inclined to

to create chaos, to stir up rebellion, to cause disorder

• 作 to make, to create, to stir up
• 亂 chaos, disorder, rebellion

there has never been such a case, negated-existential frame with a fronted pronoun object

• 未 not yet, never
• 之 it, this (resumptive pronoun for the situation described)
• 有 there is, to exist, to occur
• 也 declarative final particle

Classical negation fronts the pronoun object 之 before the verb 有: literally 'not yet has-it existed'.

exemplary person, gentleman, superior man

• 君 lord, ruler; 君子 is literally a lord's son
• 子 son; 君子 is literally a lord's son, one of the ruling class, which the Analects makes a term of character

to attend to, to devote effort to, to focus on

root, foundation, that which is fundamental

root, foundation

to become established, to stand firm

resultative conjunction: and then, thus

the Way, moral path, guiding principles

to grow, to arise, to emerge

filial and fraternal, devoted to parents and deferential to elders

• 孝 filial, devoted to one's parents
• 弟 deferential and respectful to elder brothers and elders — read as 悌 (tì), not literally 'younger brother'

topic-marking particle combination: as for...

• 也 particle marking the topic under discussion
• 者 nominalizing particle marking the topic

Marks 孝弟 as the topic under discussion before the predicate.

pronoun: it, they, referring back to filial and fraternal conduct

其 may instead be the modal 其…與 'is it not probably', as in 其恕乎 (15.24); Ames & Rosemont 'I suspect' and Lau 'perhaps' read it so.

copula: to be, is, are

humaneness, benevolence

possessive particle: of, 's

root, foundation

final particle marking a rhetorical question: is it not...?

Ames & Rosemont and Lau render it as an epistemic hedge ('I suspect', 'perhaps') rather than a literal question tag.