《憲問》 Passage 14.19

the Master, honorific title for Confucius

to speak of, remark about

Duke Ling of Wey, ruler of the state of Wey

• 衛 Wey, name of a state in the Zhou confederation
• 靈 Ling, posthumous epithet meaning numinous, spiritual
• 公 duke, ruler of a state

subordinating particle: marks the preceding clause as a nominalized object

lacking the Way, without moral principle

• 無 to lack, be without
• 道 the Way, right moral and political principle

final particle marking the close of a nominalized clause

English simply ends the that-clause without a marking word; the particle's function is carried by syntax and punctuation alone.

Kangzi, i.e. Ji Kangzi, head of the Ji family of Lu

• 康 Kang, posthumous epithet in 康子 (Ji Kangzi, 季孫肥); not a surname
• 子 honorific suffix: Master, in 康子 (Ji Kangzi); 康 is his posthumous epithet, not a surname

said, spoke

if this is so, this being the case (a conditional/summational discourse frame)

• 夫 discourse-initial particle introducing a statement: now, well
• 如 to be like, as
• 是 this, so; demonstrative pronoun

夫 is a discourse-opening particle that combines with 如是 ('thus') as a fixed transitional formula.

why, how (interrogative)

conjunctive particle after 奚: why then, how then

not

to lose (one's state or rule), be ruined

Confucius (literally 'Master Kong')

• 孔 Kong, surname of Confucius
• 子 master (honorific suffix appended to a surname, forming 'Confucius')

said, replied

Zhongshu Yu, an officer of Wey (also identified with Kong Wenzi)

• 仲 Zhong, first element of a personal name
• 叔 Shu, second element of a personal name
• 圉 Yu, given name of an officer of Wey

Slingerland renders this person by his alternate name, Kong Wenzi, rather than transliterating 仲叔圉.

to govern, manage, be in charge of

state guests, visiting envoys and dignitaries received at court

• 賓 guest, visitor
• 客 guest, visitor

Where the two graphs are distinguished the split is by rank of the visiting party — 鄭玄 on 大行人: 賓 the feudal lord in person, 客 the 孤卿 he sends — not the ruler's own guests against outsiders. Here the binome is unitary; no early commentator splits it.

Priest Tuo, an invocator/ritual official of Wey

• 祝 priest, invocator (a ritual official title)
• 鮀 Tuo, given name of a priest of Wey

to govern, manage, be in charge of

ancestral temple, ancestral shrine

• 宗 ancestral, of the clan lineage
• 廟 temple, shrine

Wangsun Jia, an officer of Wey

• 王 Wang, surname element in the name Wangsun
• 孫 grandchild, descendant (surname element in Wangsun)
• 賈 Jia, given name of an officer of Wey

to govern, manage, be in charge of

military affairs, the army

• 軍 army, military forces
• 旅 brigade, troops

if this is so, this being the case (a conditional/summational discourse frame)

• 夫 discourse-initial particle introducing a statement: now, well
• 如 to be like, as
• 是 this, so; demonstrative pronoun

several translators substitute a summary phrase referring back to the preceding list of officers rather than a literal 'thus'.

why, how (interrogative)

he, third-person pronoun referring to Duke Ling

classical grammar can read 其 here either as the subject pronoun 'he' or as a modal particle intensifying the rhetorical question; translators uniformly render it as the pronoun.

to lose (one's state or rule), be ruined