Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

文 (radical 67 文+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 卜大 (YK), four-corner 0040₀, composition ⿱亠乂)

1. Kangxi radical #67, ⽂ ‎(“script”).

References

• KangXi: page 477, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 13450
• Dae Jaweon: page 831, character 39
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 2169, character 1
• Unihan data for U+6587

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 文
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bamboo and silk script	Large seal script	Small seal script

Ideogram (指事) : a man with a painted or tattooed chest – original form of 紋. In current form, tattoo has vanished, so simply an outline of a man (head, outstretched arms, legs, chest). Compare 大, which has no chest.

Pronunciation

Definitions

文

1. ^†Original form of 紋／纹 (wén, “mark, pattern, design, tattoo, decoration”).
2. Original form of 紋／纹 (wén, “to tattoo”).

   文身  ―  wénshēn  ―  to tattoo

   文面  ―  wénmiàn  ―  face tattoo

3. to cover

   文過 / 文过  ―  wénguò  ―  to cover one's fault

   文過飾非 / 文过饰非  ―  wénguòshìfēi  ―  to whitewash

4. writing; literary composition; literature

   文件  ―  wénjiàn  ―  document

   文章  ―  wénzhāng  ―  article, essay

5. literary
6. Short for 文讀／文读 (wéndú, “literary reading”).
7. written language

   Antonyms: 語／语 (yǔ)

   中文  ―  zhōngwén  ―  Chinese

   英文  ―  yīngwén  ―  English

8. culture

   文化  ―  wénhuà  ―  culture

   文明  ―  wénmíng  ―  civilization

9. civil, civilian

   文職 / 文职  ―  wénzhí  ―  civilian post

   文官  ―  wénguān  ―  civil official

   文武  ―  wénwǔ  ―  civilian and military

10. refined; educated; cultured; intellectual

    斯文  ―  sīwén  ―  refined, cultured

    文雅  ―  wényǎ  ―  elegant, refined

    文人  ―  wénrén  ―  scholar

11. ^†Classifier for coins.
12. A surname​.

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: もん (mon)
• Kan’on: ぶん (bun)
• Kun: ふみ (fumi), あや (aya)
• Nanori: かざり (kasari), ふ (fu), も (mo)

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 文 ‎(mjun, “ornate; a kind of coin; language, literature, a letter, a character”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) も​ん [móꜜǹ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [mõ̞ɴ]

Noun

文 ‎(hiragana もん, romaji mon)

1. the mon, an old currency
2. a unit of length for measuring the size of one's foot (from the way that the mon coins would be lined up and used as a kind of inch marker)
3. a character, a letter
4. writing, something written
5. a magical spell
6. (also spelled 紋) a design, a pattern
7. (also spelled 紋) a 家紋 ‎(kamon, “family crest”)

Usage notes

The design and crest senses are more often spelled 紋.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

A later borrowing from Middle Chinese. Compare modern Min Nan reading bûn, Hakka vûn.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) ぶ​ん [búꜜǹ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [bɯ̃ᵝɴ]

Noun

文 ‎(hiragana ぶん, romaji bun)

1. (grammar) a sentence
2. writing, composition
3. a design or pattern as decoration
4. literature, learning, scholarship
5. elegance, refinement (especially of writing or wording)
6. a saying, an aphorism, a proverb

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Possibly a shift from an older Middle Chinese-derived reading pun.^[3] Earlier Japanese writing was ambiguous regarding the final n sound spelled ん in modern Japanese, with this sound often spelled (and possibly pronounced) as む ‎(mu) instead.

*/pumu/ → /pumi/ → /ɸumi/

This reading appears in the Heian period, in works such as The Tale of Genji.^[3][1]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ふ​み [fúꜜmì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɸɯᵝmi]

Noun

文 ‎(hiragana ふみ, romaji fumi)

1. writing, something written
2. a letter (written communication), an epistle
3. (archaic) study, scholarship (especially of classical Chinese)
4. a style of 家紋 ‎(kamon, “family crest”)

Synonyms

• (letter, epistle): 手紙 (てがみ) ‎(tegami)

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Uncertain. Appears in texts from the early Heian period.^[3][1]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) あや​ [àyáꜜ] (Odaka - [2])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [a̠ja̠]

Noun

文 ‎(hiragana あや, romaji aya)

1. (also spelled 紋, 綾)
   1. a pattern, a design, especially one with diagonally crossing lines
   2. a diagonal crossing
   3. a flowery expression or turn of phrase
   4. a plot, a scheme
   5. a refrain or recurring phrase in a piece of music
   6. a harder vein or grain in a leaf or piece of wood or bamboo
   7. a stain, a blemish
   8. a mediator, a go-between (apparently from the way that a go-between can make the relationship more indirect and indistinct)
   9. a small indistinct fluctuation in a trend line
2. (also spelled 綾, 絢)
   1. a kind of woven silk textile with a diagonally crossing pattern
   2. short for 綾織 ‎(ayaori): a twill weave; someone who weaves twill
   3. short for 綾竹 ‎(ayadake): in a loom, a bamboo pole placed between the heddle and the back beam or platen, used to improve the handling
   4. short for 綾取り ‎(ayatori): cat's cradle

Usage notes

For the second group of senses, the 綾 spelling is more common.

Derived terms

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 4 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0
3. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Hanja

文 • ‎(mun)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 문 (McCune-Reischauer: mun, Yale: mun)

• Name (hangeul): 글월()

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

Compounds

• 呪文 (주문, jumun)
• 文魚 (문어, muneo)

Vietnamese

Han character

文 (văn, vấn)

Compounds

• 文化 (văn hóa, văn-hóa)