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Definition 2025
吾
吾
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Translingual
| Stroke order | |||
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Han character
吾 (radical 30 口+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 一一口 (MMR), four-corner 10601, composition ⿱五口)
Derived characters
References
- KangXi: page 180, character 3
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3379
- Dae Jaweon: page 398, character 2
- Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 585, character 13
- Unihan data for U+543E
Chinese
|
simp. and trad. |
吾 | |
|---|---|---|
Glyph origin
| Historical forms of the character 吾
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| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Bamboo and silk script | Large seal script | Small seal script |
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| Characters in the same phonetic series (五) (Zhengzhang, 2003) | |
|---|---|
| Old Chinese | |
| 吾 | *ŋraː, *ŋaː |
| 衙 | *ŋraː, *ŋa, *ŋaʔ |
| 鼯 | *ŋaː |
| 浯 | *ŋaː |
| 珸 | *ŋaː |
| 郚 | *ŋaː |
| 齬 | *ŋaː, *ŋa, *ŋaʔ |
| 鯃 | *ŋaː |
| 娪 | *ŋaː |
| 梧 | *ŋaː |
| 峿 | *ŋaː |
| 五 | *ŋaːʔ |
| 伍 | *ŋaːʔ |
| 寤 | *ŋaːs |
| 啎 | *ŋaːs |
| 晤 | *ŋaːs |
| 悟 | *ŋaːs |
| 逜 | *ŋaːs |
| 窹 | *ŋaːs |
| 捂 | *ŋaːs |
| 鋙 | *ŋa, *ŋaʔ |
| 語 | *ŋaʔ, *ŋas |
| 圄 | *ŋaʔ |
| 敔 | *ŋaʔ |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ŋraː, *ŋaː) : semantic 口 + phonetic 五 (OC *ŋaːʔ).
Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋa (“I”). Cognate with 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ, “I”), 俺 (ǎn, “(dialectal Mandarin) I”), 𠊎 (“(Hakka) I”).
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): ng4
- Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ǹg / ngâ
- Min Dong (BUC): ngù
- Min Nan (POJ): ngô͘
- Wu (Wiktionary): ngu (T3); hhngg (T3)
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄨˊ
- Wade-Giles: wu2
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wu
- IPA (key): /u³⁵/
-
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Jyutping: ng4
- Yale: ǹgh
- Cantonese Pinyin: ng4
- IPA (key): /ŋ̍²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ǹg / ngâ
- Hakka Romanization System: ngˇ / nga´
- Hagfa Pinyim: ng2 / nga1
- IPA: /ŋ̍¹¹/, /ŋa²⁴/
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: ngù
- IPA (key): /ŋu⁵³/
- (Fuzhou)
- Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ngô͘
- Tâi-lô: ngôo
- Phofsit Daibuun: ngoo
- IPA (Xiamen): /ŋɔ²⁴/
- IPA (Quanzhou): /ŋɔ²⁴/
- IPA (Zhangzhou): /ŋɔ¹³/
- IPA (Taipei): /ŋɔ²⁴/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /ŋɔ²³/
- (Hokkien)
- Wu
- (Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: ngu (T3); hhngg (T3)
- IPA (key): /ŋv̩ʷ²³/, /ɦŋ̍²³/
- (Shanghainese)
| Rime | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 吾 | 吾 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| Initial (聲) | 疑 (31) | 疑 (31) |
| Final (韻) | 模 (23) | 麻 (98) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | I | II |
| Fanqie | 五乎切 | 五加切 |
| Reconstructions | ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang |
/ŋuo/ | /ŋˠa/ |
| Pan Wuyun |
/ŋuo/ | /ŋᵚa/ |
| Shao Rongfen |
/ŋo/ | /ŋa/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank |
/ŋɔ/ | /ŋaɨ/ |
| Li Rong |
/ŋo/ | /ŋa/ |
| Wang Li |
/ŋu/ | /ŋa/ |
| Bernard Karlgren |
/ŋuo/ | /ŋa/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex |
wú | yá |
| Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 吾 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) |
wú |
| Middle Chinese |
‹ ngu › |
| Old Chinese |
/*ŋˤa/ |
| English | I, my |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 吾 | 吾 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| No. | 13135 | 13146 |
| Phonetic component |
五 | 五 |
| Rime group |
魚 | 魚 |
| Rime subdivision |
0 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime |
牙 | 吾 |
| Old Chinese |
/*ŋraː/ | /*ŋaː/ |
| Notes | 允吾漢縣 | |
Definitions
吾
- (literary or dialectal) I
-
- 吾觀全地球之社會，未有凌亂舊金山之華人者。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- 吾观全地球之社会，未有凌乱旧金山之华人者。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
- From: February 1904, Liang Qichao, "Travel Notes of the New Continent"
- Wú guān quán dìqiú zhī shèhuì, wèi yǒu língluàn Jiùjīnshān zhī huárén zhě. [Pinyin]
- From all the societies I have seen in the world, there is no society as disorderly as the Chinese community in San Francisco.
-
- (literary or dialectal) my
- 吾皇 [Classical Chinese] ― wú huáng [Pinyin] ― my king
- 吾姆 [Hakka] ― ngâ mê [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ] ― my mom
- A surname. Wu
Synonyms
| Dialectal synonyms of 我 (“I”) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Variety | Location | Words |
| Classical Chinese | 吾、我、私、余、予、台、朕 | |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 我 | |
| Mandarin | Beijing | 我 |
| Jinan | 我、俺 | |
| Xi'an | 我 | |
| Wuhan | 我 | |
| Chengdu | 我 | |
| Yangzhou | 我 | |
| Hefei | 我 | |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 我 |
| Hong Kong | 我 | |
| Taishan | 我 | |
| Yangjiang | 我 | |
| Gan | Nanchang | 我 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 𠊎 |
| Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 𠊎 | |
| Liudui (S. Sixian) | 𠊎 | |
| Hsinchu (Hailu) | 𠊎 | |
| Dongshi (Dabu) | 𠊎 | |
| Zhuolan (Raoping) | 𠊎 | |
| Yunlin (Zhao'an) | 𠊎 | |
| Jin | Taiyuan | 我 |
| Min Bei | Jian'ou | 我 |
| Min Dong | Fuzhou | 我、奴 |
| Min Nan | Xiamen | 我 |
| Taipei | 我 | |
| Chaozhou | 我 | |
| Wu | Shanghai | 我、吾、阿拉 |
| Suzhou | 我、奴 | |
| Wenzhou | 我 | |
| Ningbo | 我、我儂、像我 | |
| Xiang | Changsha | 我 |
| Shuangfeng | 我、卬 | |
Compounds
Korean
Hanja
吾 • (o) (hangeul 오, revised o, McCune-Reischauer o)
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Vietnamese
Han character
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Readings
References
- Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
- Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
- Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm , NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999