The word adu is derived from the root shi(是)with a prefix a-(阿),which can be observed in the sketchbooks of the Jin and Liusong dynasties.It was originally a vernacular word in Northern China,and was brought to Southern China by people from the North when they fled to the South because of the downfall of the Western Jin dynasty.During the Tang and Song dynasties,it was mainly used as a literary quotation in the poems and proses,and thus was typically a literary word.The vernacular word udi(兀底),used commonly in the Song and Yuan dynasties,was a loanword from Old Turkic,thus was not derived from adu.In the Ming and Qing dynasties,as an metonym of money,adu switched toward being a vernacular word again,but this progress came to a halt because of some social factors in the beginning of the 20th century.The whole history of the word adu is a living example of how the vernacular and literary languages interact with each other continually in the history of the Chinese language.
万方数据