Definify.com

Definition 2024


Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

(radical 109 +4, 9 strokes, cangjie input 竹手月山 (HQBU), four-corner 20604, composition)

References

  • KangXi: page 803, character 7
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 23196
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1219, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2474, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+770B

Chinese

simp. and trad.

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character
Bronze inscriptions Large seal script Small seal script

Ideogrammic compound (會意) :  (hand) +  (eye) – to put a hand above eyes to gaze afar.

Pronunciation 1



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 看 (見)
Mandarin Beijing /kʰan⁵¹/
Harbin /kʰan⁵³/
Tianjin /kʰan⁵³/
Jinan /kʰã²¹/
Qingdao /kʰã⁴²/
Zhengzhou /kʰan³¹²/
Xi'an /kʰã⁴⁴/
Xining /kʰã²¹³/
Yinchuan /kʰan¹³/
Lanzhou /kʰɛ̃n¹³/
Ürümqi /kʰan²¹³/
Wuhan /kʰan³⁵/
Chengdu /kʰan¹³/
Guiyang /kʰan²¹³/
Kunming /kʰã̠²¹²/
Nanjing /kʰaŋ⁴⁴/
Hefei /kʰæ̃⁵³/
Jin Taiyuan /kʰæ̃⁴⁵/
Pingyao /kʰɑŋ³⁵/
Hohhot /kʰæ̃⁵⁵/
Wu Shanghai /kʰø³⁵/
Suzhou /kʰø⁵¹³/
Hangzhou /kʰẽ̞⁴⁴⁵/
Wenzhou /kʰø⁴²/
Hui Shexian /kʰɛ³²⁴/
Tunxi
Xiang Changsha /kʰan⁵⁵/
Xiangtan /kʰan⁵⁵/
Gan Nanchang /kʰɵn²¹³/
Hakka Meixian /kʰon⁵³/
Taoyuan /kʰon⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /hɔn³³/
Nanning /hɔn³³/
Hong Kong /hɔn³³/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /kʰan²¹/
/kʰuã²¹/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /kʰɑŋ²¹²/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /kʰaŋ⁴⁴/
Shantou (Min Nan) /kʰaŋ²¹³/
/kʰuã²¹³/
/tʰõi⁵³/ 訓讀
Haikou (Min Nan) /mo²³/ 訓望

Rime
Character
Reading # 2/2
Initial () (29)
Final () (61)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/kʰɑnH/
Pan
Wuyun
/kʰɑnH/
Shao
Rongfen
/kʰɑnH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/kʰanH/
Li
Rong
/kʰɑnH/
Wang
Li
/kʰɑnH/
Bernard
Karlgren
/kʰɑnH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
kàn
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
kàn
Middle
Chinese
‹ khanH ›
Old
Chinese
/*[kʰ]ˤa[r]-s/
English gaze at

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 # 2/2
No. 7355
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*kʰaːns/

Definitions

  1. to look, to see, to watch
    電影 / 电影   kàn diànyǐng   to watch a movie
  2. (transitive) to read
    報紙 / 报纸   kàn bàozhǐ   to read the newspaper
  3. to visit, to call on
    我們有時我們祖母 [MSC, trad.]
    我们有时我们祖母 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒmen yǒushí qù kàn wǒmen de zǔmǔ. [Pinyin]
    We sometimes visit our grandmother.
  4. to think, to feel (that)
    最好出發 [MSC, trad.]
    最好出发 [MSC, simp.]
    kàn nǐ zuìhǎo jiù chūfā. [Pinyin]
    I think you'd better get going.
  5. to consider, to regard as, to treat like
    他們 [MSC, trad.]
    他们 [MSC, simp.]
    Tāmen bǎ tā kàn de yī wén bù zhí. [Pinyin]
    They treat him like dirt.
  6. to depend on
       yào kàn   it depends on...
  7. to treat (a patient or sickness)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of (“to look”)
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)
Mandarin Beijing
Taiwan
Jinan
Xi'an
Wuhan
Chengdu 、𧢭
Yangzhou
Hefei
Cantonese Guangzhou
Hong Kong
Taishan
Yangjiang
Gan Nanchang
Hakka Meixian
Miaoli (N. Sixian)
Liudui (S. Sixian)
Hsinchu (Hailu)
Dongshi (Dabu)
Zhuolan (Raoping)
Yunlin (Zhao'an)
Jin Taiyuan
Min Bei Jian'ou
Min Dong Fuzhou
Min Nan Quanzhou
Xiamen
Zhangzhou
Taipei
Chaozhou
Shantou
Wu Suzhou
Wenzhou
Xiang Changsha
Shuangfeng

Compounds

  • 看笑話看笑话
  • 看臺看台
  • 看茶
  • 看見看见 (kànjiàn)
  • 看親看亲
  • 看起來看起来 (kànqilai)
  • 看跌
  • 看輕看轻
  • 看透
  • 看醫生看医生
  • 看重 (kànzhòng)
  • 看開看开
  • 看頭看头
  • 看顧看顾
  • 看風使舵看风使舵
  • 看風色看风色
  • 看齊看齐

Pronunciation 2



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 看 (守)
Mandarin Beijing /kʰan⁵⁵/
Harbin /kʰan⁴⁴/
Tianjin /kʰan²¹/
Jinan /kʰã²¹/
Qingdao /kʰã²¹³/
Zhengzhou /kʰan²⁴/
Xi'an /kʰã²¹/
Xining /kʰã⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /kʰan⁴⁴/
Lanzhou /kʰɛ̃n³¹/
Ürümqi /kʰan⁴⁴/
Wuhan /kʰan³⁵/
Chengdu /kʰan¹³/
Guiyang /kʰan²¹³/
Kunming /kʰã̠²¹²/
Nanjing /kʰaŋ³¹/
Hefei /kʰæ̃²¹/
Jin Taiyuan /kʰæ̃¹¹/
Pingyao /kʰɑŋ¹³/
Hohhot /kʰæ̃⁵⁵/
Wu Shanghai /kʰø³⁵/
Suzhou /kʰø⁵⁵/
Hangzhou /kʰẽ̞³³/
Wenzhou /kʰø⁴²/
Hui Shexian /kʰɛ³²⁴/
Tunxi /kʰuːə¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /kʰan³³/
Xiangtan /kʰan⁵⁵/
Gan Nanchang /kʰɵn⁴²/ 養雞
Hakka Meixian /kʰon⁵³/
Taoyuan /kʰon⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /hɔn⁵³/
Nanning /hɔn⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /hɔn⁵⁵/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /kʰan⁵⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /kʰɑŋ²¹²/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /kʰaŋ⁴⁴/
Shantou (Min Nan) /tʰõi⁵³/ 訓讀
Haikou (Min Nan) /mo²³/ 訓望

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2
Initial () (29)
Final () (61)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/kʰɑn/
Pan
Wuyun
/kʰɑn/
Shao
Rongfen
/kʰɑn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/kʰan/
Li
Rong
/kʰɑn/
Wang
Li
/kʰɑn/
Bernard
Karlgren
/kʰɑn/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
kān
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
kān
Middle
Chinese
‹ khan ›
Old
Chinese
/*kʰˤa[r]/
English to watch, guard

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 # 1/2
No. 7354
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*kʰaːn/

Definitions

  1. to look after, to take care of, to tend, keep an eye on
    沒有小孩本事 [MSC, trad.]
    没有小孩本事 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā méiyǒu kān xiǎohái de běnshì. [Pinyin]
    He's not competent to look after young children.

Compounds

  • 看住
  • 看大
  • 看守 (kānshǒu)
  • 看守內閣看守内阁
  • 看守所
  • 看家
  • 看家戲看家戏
  • 看家狗
  • 看押 (kānyā)

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. watch over
  2. see

Readings

Compounds


Korean

Hanja

(gan) (hangeul , revised gan, McCune-Reischauer kan, Yale kan)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

(khán)

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