站

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *rteːms): semantic 立 + phonetic 占 (OC *ʔljem, *tjems). A relatively late character – not found in Shuowen; found in Guangyun.

A Northern Chinese word attested since the 9th-10th centuries. Displaced earlier 立 (OC *rɯb) in most modern northern Chinese varieties.

Generally considered to be a Mongolian influence in the Yuan Dynasty – an abbreviation of 站赤 (zhànchì, “post stations during the Yuan Dynasty”), from Middle Mongol ᠵᠠᠮᠴᠢ (ǰamči, “post station”) (> Mongolian замч (zamč, “guide; cicerone”)), a derivative of Middle Mongol ᠵᠠᠮ (ǰam, “way, path”) (> Mongolian зам (zam)).

Mongolian ǰam is undoubtedly cognate with Proto-Turkic *jam (“post station”) (> Turkish yam; ~ Russian ям (jam)) with the same meaning; see Yam (route). Also compare Turkish yamçı (“post rider”), Russian ямщи́к (jamščík, “drive, coachman”).

There is no scholarly consensus regarding the direction of borrowing. Generally it is believed that Turkic jam and Chinese zhàn are loanwords from Mongolian ǰam, however some (e.g. Tuymebayev in Казахско-монгольские лексические параллели) believe the directionality is reversed (i.e. Chinese "to stand > stand > station" → Middle Mongol → Turkic → Russian). Whatever the etymology, what is apparent is that the word jam has been around for a long time and was used by Central Asians to designate a key postal relay station or official.

In Chinese, this word has been competing with the native equivalent 驛／驿 (yì, “post station”) since its introduction. Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty saw a profusion of usages of zhàn, which was deliberately suppressed in the succeeding Ming Dynasty in favour of yì. Both were used in the subsequent Qing Dynasty, with zhàn eventually predominating in the modern times, being used to render the sense of "station" in modern concepts, such as "train station". Other Sinosphere countries show preference variations too: Vietnamese uses 站 (trạm), whereas Japanese and Korean still use 驛 for "station" (Japanese 駅 (えき, eki), Korean 역 (驛, yeok)).