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Definition 2024


U+611B, 愛
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-611B

[U+611A]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+611C]
See also:

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

(radical 61 +9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 月月心水 (BBPE), four-corner 20247, composition𢖻)

Derived terms

References

  • KangXi: page 395, character 13
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10947
  • Dae Jaweon: page 732, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2323, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+611B

Chinese

trad.
simp.
alt. forms
 

𢙴
𢛭
𢜤
𤔠
𤔤
𢟪
𢖻

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series () (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
*qɯːds
*qɯːds, *qaːds
*qɯːds, *qɯlʔ
*qɯːds, *qɯlʔ
*qɯːds
*qɯːds
*qaːds

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *qɯːds) : phonetic  + semantic .

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (34)
Final () (41)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ʔʌiH/
Pan
Wuyun
/ʔəiH/
Shao
Rongfen
/ʔɒiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ʔəjH/
Li
Rong
/ʔᴀiH/
Wang
Li
/ɒiH/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ʔɑ̆iH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
ài
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
ài
Middle
Chinese
‹ ʔojH ›
Old
Chinese
/*[q]ˤə[p]-s/
English to love; to grudge (< ‘draw close to oneself’?)

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/1
No. 1
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*qɯːds/
Notes

Definitions

  1. love; affection
    • 祖國 / 祖国   zǔguó ài   patriotism
  2. love; benevolence
    • 人間 / 人间   àirénjiān   to leave love behind
  3. to love
    • /    ài nǐ.   I love you.
    • /    ài tā ma?   Do you love him?
  4. affectionate
  5. beloved
  6. to like; to be fond of; to be keen on
  7. to be prone; to be easy to
  8. to treasure; to value
  9. (Hakka, Cantonese, Wu) to want (an object)
  10. (Min, Hakka) to want to do; to need to; must
  11. something one loves; someone whom one loves
    • /    ài   to sacrifice something one loves to someone else
  12. Honorific for someone else's daughter; variant of (āi).
    • /    lìngài   your precious daughter
  13. A surname.

Usage notes

  • When used for people, usually refers to romantic love. When used like this, older Mandarin speakers often describe the use of this term as overly 肉麻 (ròumá, “something that gives you the creeps, disgusting”). For this reason, the word 喜歡喜欢 (xǐhuān, “to like”) might be used instead. Using the word 喜歡喜欢 (xǐhuān) literally means like, but when used in a romantic context (especially boyfriend/girlfriend), it actually means love. However, younger Mandarin speakers seem to have been influenced somewhat by Western culture, and are now using the verb much more often than was socially acceptable in the past.

Compounds


Japanese

Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
あい
Grade: 4
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese (/ʔojH/, “to love”). Compare modern Mandarin (ài).

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana あい, romaji ai)

  1. love
  2. affection
Synonyms
Derived terms
Idioms
  •  (あい)して ()れば鼻欠 (はなか)けも (えくぼ) (aishite mireba hanakake mo ekubo): “if you love someone, even a missing nose is only a dimple” ⇒ when you love someone, you minimize their flaws

Proper noun

(hiragana あい, romaji Ai)

  1. A female given name
  2. A surname.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
めで
Grade: 4
kun'yomi

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, continuative or stem form) of Old Japanese verb 愛でる (mederu, to love; to appreciate or admire).[3][1]

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

(hiragana めで, romaji mede)

  1. (archaic) love, appreciation, dearness
    • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 5, poem 894)
       (めで) () (さかり) () 天下 (あめのした)  (まをし) () () () ()  (いへの) () ()  (えらひ) () () () () [Man'yōgana]
       (めで) (さか)りに  (あめ) (した)  (もう) (たま)いし  (いえ) ()と  (えら) (たま)いて [Modern spelling]
      mede no sakari ni ame no shita mōshitamai shi ie no ko to erabitamaite
      with the utmost of love, [Amaterasu] spoke under the heavens, and chose with her children...
Idioms
  •  (めで) (さか) (mede no sakari): the height of love, the utmost love
Related terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
まな
Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Originally a compound of (ma, true, genuine) + (na), an Old Japanese version of modern Japanese (no, possessive particle).[3] The use of here is an example of ateji.

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana まな, romaji mana)

  1. (archaic) (derived from prefix sense) something dear, something loved
    • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 14, poem 3462)
      麻奈 (まな)登伊布兒我 (といふこが) 安夜尓可奈思佐 (あやにかなしさ) [Man'yōgana]
       (まな)という ()が あやに (かな)しさ [Modern spelling]
      mana to iu ko ga aya ni kanashisa
      the child called a dear, such indescribable tenderness

Prefix

(hiragana まな, romaji mana-)

  1. before a common noun, expresses a sense of admiration or value: good, genuine; compare English the real deal
  2. before a noun describing a person, expresses praise or fondness: dear, beloved
Derived terms

Proper noun

(hiragana まな, romaji Mana)

  1. A female given name

Etymology 4

Used as ateji in various names. is a very common element in many, many names.

Proper noun

(hiragana あづみ, romaji Azumi, alternative reading ああい, romaji Āi, alternative reading あいか, romaji Aika, alternative reading あいす, romaji Aisu, alternative reading あき, romaji Aki, alternative reading あこ, romaji Ako, alternative reading あみか, romaji Amika, alternative reading あおい, romaji Aoi, alternative reading ありさ, romaji Arisa, alternative reading あや, romaji Aya, alternative reading あゆ, romaji Ayu, alternative reading ちぎり, romaji Chigiri, alternative reading ちか, romaji Chika, alternative reading ちかし, romaji Chikashi, alternative reading えりな, romaji Erina, alternative reading はあと, romaji Hāto, alternative reading ひかり, romaji Hikari, alternative reading いと, romaji Ito, alternative reading いとし, romaji Itoshi, alternative reading いつみ, romaji Itsumi, alternative reading いずみ, romaji Izumi, alternative reading かな, romaji Kana, alternative reading かなえ, romaji Kanae, alternative reading かなさ, romaji Kanasa, alternative reading きずな, romaji Kizuna, alternative reading こころ, romaji Kokoro, alternative reading このむ, romaji Konomu, alternative reading まどか, romaji Madoka, alternative reading まなぶ, romaji Manabu, alternative reading まなみ, romaji Manami, alternative reading めづる, romaji Mezuru, alternative reading めご, romaji Mego, alternative reading めぐ, romaji Megu, alternative reading めぐみ, romaji Megumi, alternative reading めぐむ, romaji Megumu, alternative reading めい, romaji Mei, alternative reading なる, romaji Naru, alternative reading なるこ, romaji Naruko, alternative reading のぞみ, romaji Nozomi, alternative reading らぶ, romaji Rabu, alternative reading るい, romaji Rui, alternative reading さら, romaji Sara, alternative reading さらん, romaji Saran, alternative reading つぐみ, romaji Tsugumi, alternative reading つくみ, romaji Tsukumi, alternative reading うい, romaji Ui, alternative reading よし, romaji Yoshi, alternative reading よしき, romaji Yoshiki, alternative reading よしみ, romaji Yoshimi)

  1. A female given name

References

  1. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3
  3. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Hanja

(ae) (hangeul , McCune-Reischauer ae, Yale ay)

  1. love

Vietnamese

Han character

(ái, áy)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.