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Definition 2024

王

王

See also: 𤣩, 玉, and 主

Translingual

Stroke order
Japanese stroke order
Stroke order

Han character

王 (radical 96 玉+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 一土 (MG), four-corner 10104)

  1. Kangxi radical №96
  2. Shuōwén Jiězì radical №5

References

  • KangXi: page 727, character 2
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20823
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1137, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1099, character 10
  • Unihan data for U+738B

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 王

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 王
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bamboo and silk script Large seal script Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (王) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
皇 *ɡʷaːŋ
惶 *ɡʷaːŋ
遑 *ɡʷaːŋ
堭 *ɡʷaːŋ
煌 *ɡʷaːŋ
餭 *ɡʷaːŋ
騜 *ɡʷaːŋ
艎 *ɡʷaːŋ
隍 *ɡʷaːŋ
湟 *ɡʷaːŋ
徨 *ɡʷaːŋ
篁 *ɡʷaːŋ
蝗 *ɡʷaːŋ, *ɡʷraːŋ, *ɡʷraːŋs
凰 *ɡʷaːŋ
偟 *ɡʷaːŋ
媓 *ɡʷaːŋ
韹 *ɡʷaːŋ, *ɡʷraːŋ
葟 *ɡʷaːŋ
皝 *ɡʷaːŋʔ
汪 *qʷaːŋ, *qʷaːŋs, *qʷaŋʔ
尪 *qʷaːŋ
迋 *kʷaŋʔ, *kʰʷaŋ, *ɡʷaŋ, *ɢʷaŋs
逛 *kʷaŋʔ
誑 *kʷaŋs, *ɡʷaŋ, *kʷaŋs
匡 *kʰʷaŋ
筐 *kʰʷaŋ
框 *kʰʷaŋ
眶 *kʰʷaŋ
誆 *kʰʷaŋ, *ɡʷaŋs
邼 *kʰʷaŋ
恇 *kʰʷaŋ
劻 *kʰʷaŋ
洭 *kʰʷaŋ
軭 *kʰʷaŋ, *ɡʷaŋ
狂 *ɡʷaŋ, *ɡʷaŋs
軖 *ɡʷaŋ
鵟 *ɡʷaŋ
俇 *ɡʷaŋʔ
王 *ɢʷaŋ, *ɢʷaŋs
蚟 *ɢʷaŋ
彺 *ɢʷaŋ
旺 *ɢʷaŋs
諻 *qʰʷraːŋ
喤 *qʰʷraːŋ, *ɡʷraːŋ
瑝 *ɡʷraːŋ
锽 *ɡʷraːŋ
揘 *ɡʷaŋ

The traditional interpretation is that the three horizontal strokes represent Heaven, Man and Earth. The vertical stroke is the king, the one who connects them together. Older representation of the character shows a man like 大 or 天 above a horizontal stroke.

The modern interpretation is that the character is a pictogram (象形) of an axe, a symbol of the king's power. A ceremonial axe was kept near the throne, and was used for performing rituals in ancient China.

Compare the unrelated 玉 (OC *ŋoɡ, “jade”).

Pronunciation 1

Rime
Character 王
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 云 (35)
Final (韻) 陽 (106)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 雨方切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ɦʉɐŋ/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ɦʷiɐŋ/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ɣiuɑŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ɦuaŋ/
Li
Rong		 /ɣiuaŋ/
Wang
Li		 /ɣĭwaŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /iwaŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 wáng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 王
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 wáng
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ hjwang ›
Old
Chinese		 /*ɢʷaŋ/
English king

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 王
Reading # 1/2
No. 12742
Phonetic
component		 王
Rime
group		 陽
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 王
Old
Chinese		 /*ɢʷaŋ/

Definitions

王

  1. king; monarch
  2. champion
    棋王  ―  qíwáng  ―  chess champion
    拳王  ―  quánwáng  ―  boxing champion
  3. †grand; great
  4. †(of feudal monarchs) to see the emperor
  5. A surname​: Wang; Wong (Hong Kong)
Descendants

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Rime
Character 王
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 云 (35)
Final (韻) 陽 (106)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 于放切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ɦʉɐŋH/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ɦʷiɐŋH/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ɣiuɑŋH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ɦuaŋH/
Li
Rong		 /ɣiuaŋH/
Wang
Li		 /ɣĭwaŋH/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /iwaŋH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 wàng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 王
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 wàng
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ hjwangH ›
Old
Chinese		 /*ɢʷaŋ-s/
English be king

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 王
Reading # 2/2
No. 12746
Phonetic
component		 王
Rime
group		 陽
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 迋
Old
Chinese		 /*ɢʷaŋs/

Definitions

王

  1. † to reign; to rule
  2. †Alternative form of 旺 (wàng, “flourishing; prosperous”).

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

王

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Kanji in this term
王
おう
Grade: 1
on'yomi

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 王 ‎(hjwang, “king”).

Pronunciation

Noun

王 ‎(hiragana おう, romaji ō, historical hiragana わう)

  1. king

Synonyms

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. ↑ 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

Korean

Hanja

王 • ‎(wang)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul): 왕 (McCune-Reischauer: wang, Yale: wang)
  • Name (hangeul): 임금 (revised: imgeum, McCune-Reischauer: imgŭm, Yale: imkum)

Noun

王 • ‎(wang) ‎(hangeul 왕)

  1. Hanja form? of 왕, “king, monarch”.

Vietnamese

Han character

王 (vương, vướng)

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

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