告

Denotes a formal or official transmission of information:

1. Informative / Declarative: To tell, announce, or notify; typically implies a formal proclamation or the establishment of a fact rather than casual conversation.

2. Ritual / Sacred: Reporting to ancestors or deities (e.g., 告廟), in the sense of rendering an account.

3. Adversarial / Legal: To accuse, impeach, or bring a lawsuit.

Primarily a transitive verb. It frequently appears in a ditransitive pattern—告 [person] 以 [matter]—where 以 introduces the content of the announcement. If 以 is absent, the matter may be implied or the focus remains on the act of notification.

• 謂 (wèi): Focuses on the act of addressing someone or calling something by a name; whereas 告 is an announcement.
• 報 (bào): Implies a response, a report back, or a reciprocal action (cyclical), while 告 is linear/outward.
• 諭 (yù): Specifically an instruction from a superior to an inferior with didactic weight.

// Tang-period reading: //gɑ̀u.

• Semantic variant: U+543F.

The primary ambiguity lies between "inform" and "accuse." Without clear contextual markers of the relationship between subject and object, the glyph remains neutral. The translator should determine if the social hierarchy suggests a notification or an indictment before committing to one sense.