Confucian Analects citations of dao verbally meaning "to guide; to lead" are: "The Master said, 'In guiding a state of a thousand chariots, approach your duties with reverence and be trustworthy in what you say" and "The Master said, 'Guide them by edicts, keep them in line with punishments, and the common people will stay out of trouble but will have no sense of shame." Pronunciation In Modern Standard Chinese, dao 's pronunciations are tonally differentiated between 4th falling tone dào "way; path" and 3rd dipping tone dǎo (usually written ) "guide; lead". Besides these common 4th and 3rd tonal specifications dào "way" and dǎo (or ) "guide", has a rare 1st level tone dāo pronunciation in the regional idiomatic expression shénshendāodāo "odd; bizarre". This reduplication of shen "spirit; god" and dao occurs in Northeast China speech. In Middle Chinese (ca. 6th–10th centuries CE) tone name categories, and were qusheng "departing tone" and shangsheng "rising tone". Historical linguists have reconstructed Middle "way" and "guide" as d'âu- and d'âu: (Bernhard Karlgren), dau and dau daw' and dawh dawX and daws (William H. Baxter), and dâuB and dâuC. In Old Chinese (ca. 7th–3rd centuries BCE) pronunciations, reconstructions for "way" and "guide" are *d'ôg (Karlgren), *dəw (Zhou), *dəgwx and *dəgwh, *luʔ, and *lûʔ and *lûh. Meanings The word dao has many meanings. For example, the Chinese Hanyu Da Zidian dictionary defines 39 meanings for dào "way; path" and 6 for dǎo () "guide; lead". John DeFrancis's Chinese-English dictionary gives twelve meanings for dào "way; path; say", three for dǎo (or ) "guide; lead", and one for dāo in an "odd, bizarre" idiomatic expression. Note that brackets clarify abbreviations and ellipsis marks omitted usage examples. 2dào N. [noun] road; path ◆M. [nominal measure word] ① (for rivers/topics/etc.) ② (for a course (of food); a streak (of light); etc.) ◆V. [verb] ① say; speak; talk (introducing direct quote, novel style) ... ② think; suppose ◆B.F. [bound form, bound morpheme] ① channel ② way; reason; principle ③ doctrine ④ Daoism ⑤ line ⑥〈hist.〉 [history] ⑦ district; circuit canal; passage; tube ⑧ say (polite words) ... See also 4dǎo, 4dāo 4dǎo B.F. [bound form] ① guide; lead ... ② transmit; conduct ... ③ instruct; direct ... 4dāo in shénshendāodāo ... R.F. [reduplicated form] 〈topo.〉[non-Mandarin form] odd; fantastic; bizarre Etymologies The etymological linguistic origins of dao "way; path" depend upon its Old Chinese pronunciation, which scholars have tentatively