<p>After a bit of research, I've come across a possible explanation.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.yywzb.com.cn/more.asp?infoid=5338" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this source</a> from the 语言文字报 Journal of Language and Writing (not sure the English name is correct) it appears that the character 论 was archaically used with the meaning of <strong>to edit, to compile</strong> as in the  word <strong>论纂 lun2 zuan3</strong>, same as 编撰 bian1 zhuan4. <br><br>The reference given is the scholar <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B2%81%E8%BF%85" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lu Xun</a> who in his <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B1%89%E6%96%87%E5%AD%A6%E5%8F%B2%E7%BA%B2%E8%A6%81" rel="nofollow noreferrer">teaching materials</a> for a class at Xiamen University, talked about the Analects:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>﹝ 孔子 ﹞ 既卒 [...]， 门人又相与辑其言行而<strong>论纂</strong>之， 谓之《论语》</p>
<p>[After Confucius' death], the disciples revised each other's notes [of the master's teachings] and compiled a book, which they called &quot;Edited words&quot;.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So if we take this for good, the 论 lún in 论语 is a legacy of the archaic 论纂 (to edit, to compile) as Confucius' disciples <em>compiled</em> his teachings into a volume that later became known as 论语, which literally means “edited words&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-17T17:20:16.053Z
Ah.  And so the first westerners to latinize the name of the compilation used "analect" to mean selected.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-17T17:26:46.267Z
That's correct, "analects" means precisely that. A compilation of selected speeches.
blackgreen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-01-17T11:54:27.210Z
2020-07-07T12:28:38.407Z
2020-07-07T12:28:38.407Z
blackgreen
<p>The character 论 has pinyin lùn for all uses except in 论语 where it is 
lún.  Is there some known historical reason for this change in pronunciation?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-25T15:31:34.720Z
I am not giving an answer because I only know about a Cantonese practice (I don't know if Mandarin follows the same habit or not. ) In Cantonese speech, tone 2 changes for characters are very common. For example, the standard Jyutping of 李 is / lei5 /, but it is often read with a tone 2 change and become / lei5*2 /. May be 论 can be read in a tone 2 changes when it is emphasized in Mandarin.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-27T01:25:37.567Z
[伦敦](https://youdao.com/w/伦敦) (lún dūn) = London, seems to be another example
Becky 李蓓
<etymology><pronunciation><history>
Why is there a special pronunciation of 论 just for 论语?
# Why is there a special pronunciation of 论 just for 论语?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-11-25)

The character 论 has pinyin lùn for all uses except in 论语 where it is
lún. Is there some known historical reason for this change in pronunciation?

**Tags:** etymology, pronunciation, history

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I am not giving an answer because I only know about a Cantonese practice (I don't know if Mandarin follows the same habit or not. ) In Cantonese speech, tone 2 changes for characters are very common. For example, the standard Jyutping of 李 is / lei5 /, but it is often read with a tone 2 change and become / lei5*2 /. May be 论 can be read in a tone 2 changes when it is emphasized in Mandarin.  
> **username_2**: [伦敦](https://youdao.com/w/伦敦) (lún dūn) = London, seems to be another example  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-01-17. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

After a bit of research, I've come across a possible explanation.

According to [this source](http://www.yywzb.com.cn/more.asp?infoid=5338) from the 语言文字报 Journal of Language and Writing (not sure the English name is correct) it appears that the character 论 was archaically used with the meaning of **to edit, to compile** as in the word **论纂 lun2 zuan3**, same as 编撰 bian1 zhuan4.   
  
The reference given is the scholar [Lu Xun](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B2%81%E8%BF%85) who in his [teaching materials](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B1%89%E6%96%87%E5%AD%A6%E5%8F%B2%E7%BA%B2%E8%A6%81) for a class at Xiamen University, talked about the Analects:

> ﹝ 孔子 ﹞ 既卒 [...]， 门人又相与辑其言行而**论纂**之， 谓之《论语》
>
> [After Confucius' death], the disciples revised each other's notes [of the master's teachings] and compiled a book, which they called "Edited words".

So if we take this for good, the 论 lún in 论语 is a legacy of the archaic 论纂 (to edit, to compile) as Confucius' disciples *compiled* his teachings into a volume that later became known as 论语, which literally means “edited words".

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ah.  And so the first westerners to latinize the name of the compilation used "analect" to mean selected.  
> **username_3**: That's correct, "analects" means precisely that. A compilation of selected speeches.  

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