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Definition 2025
苦
苦
Translingual
Han character
苦 (radical 140 艸+5, 11 strokes, cangjie input 廿十口 (TJR), four-corner 44604, composition ⿱艹古)
References
- KangXi: page 1023, character 16
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30797
- Dae Jaweon: page 1482, character 13
- Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 5, page 3186, character 2
- Unihan data for U+82E6
Chinese
|
simp. and trad. |
苦 | |
|---|---|---|
Glyph origin
| Historical forms of the character 苦
| |
|---|---|
| Large seal script | Small seal script |
 |
 |
| Characters in the same phonetic series (古) (Zhengzhang, 2003) | |
|---|---|
| Old Chinese | |
| 箇 | *kaːls |
| 個 | *kaːls |
| 居 | *kɯ, *kas |
| 橭 | *kaː, *kʰaː |
| 嫴 | *kaː |
| 姑 | *kaː |
| 辜 | *kaː |
| 酤 | *kaː, *kaːs, *ɡaːʔ |
| 蛄 | *kaː |
| 鴣 | *kaː |
| 沽 | *kaː, *kaːʔ, *kaːs |
| 盬 | *kaː, *kaːʔ |
| 古 | *kaːʔ |
| 罟 | *kaːʔ |
| 估 | *kaːʔ |
| 鈷 | *kaːʔ |
| 詁 | *kaːʔ |
| 牯 | *kaːʔ |
| 故 | *kaːs |
| 固 | *kaːs |
| 稒 | *kaːɡs |
| 痼 | *kaːɡs |
| 錮 | *kaːɡs |
| 鯝 | *kaːɡs |
| 棝 | *kaːɡs |
| 凅 | *kaːɡs |
| 枯 | *kʰaː |
| 軲 | *kʰaː |
| 跍 | *kʰaː |
| 骷 | *kʰaː |
| 苦 | *kʰaːʔ, *kʰaːs |
| 葫 | *qʰaː, *ɡaː |
| 餬 | *ɡaː |
| 瑚 | *ɡaː |
| 湖 | *ɡaː |
| 鶘 | *ɡaː |
| 猢 | *ɡaː |
| 醐 | *ɡaː |
| 糊 | *ɡaː |
| 箶 | *ɡaː |
| 蝴 | *ɡaː |
| 胡 | *ɡaː |
| 瓳 | *ɡaː |
| 怙 | *ɡaːʔ |
| 祜 | *ɡaːʔ |
| 岵 | *ɡaːʔ |
| 婟 | *ɡaːʔ, *ɡaːɡs |
| 楛 | *ɡaːʔ |
| 据 | *ka |
| 裾 | *ka |
| 琚 | *ka |
| 椐 | *ka, *kas, *kʰa |
| 鶋 | *ka |
| 蜛 | *ka |
| 崌 | *ka |
| 涺 | *ka |
| 腒 | *ka, *ɡa |
| 鋸 | *kas |
| 倨 | *kas |
| 踞 | *kas |
| 涸 | *ɡaːɡ |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *kʰaːʔ, *kʰaːs) : semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ) – bitter (as in bitter plants).
Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ka. Cognate with 肝 (OC *kaːn, “liver”).
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): fu2
- Hakka (Sixian, PFS): fú / khú
- Min Dong (BUC): kū
- Min Nan (POJ): khó͘
- Wu (Wiktionary): khu (T2)
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄎㄨˇ
- Wade-Giles: k'u3
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuu
- IPA (key): /kʰu²¹⁴/
-
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Jyutping: fu2
- Yale: fú
- Cantonese Pinyin: fu2
- IPA (key): /fuː³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: fú / khú
- Hakka Romanization System: fu` / ku`
- Hagfa Pinyim: fu3 / ku3
- IPA: /fu³¹/, /kʰu³¹/
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: kū
- IPA (key): /kʰu³³/
- (Fuzhou)
- Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khó͘
- Tâi-lô: khóo
- Phofsit Daibuun: qor
- IPA (Xiamen): /kʰɔ⁵³/
- IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴/
- IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰɔ⁵³/
- IPA (Taipei): /kʰɔ⁵³/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰɔ⁴¹/
-
- (Hokkien)
- Wu
- (Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: khu (T2)
- IPA (key): /kʰv̩ʷ³⁴/
- (Shanghainese)
| Rime | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 苦 | 苦 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| Initial (聲) | 溪 (29) | 溪 (29) |
| Final (韻) | 模 (23) | 模 (23) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) | Departing (H) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | I | I |
| Fanqie | 康杜切 | 苦故切 |
| Reconstructions | ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang |
/kʰuoX/ | /kʰuoH/ |
| Pan Wuyun |
/kʰuoX/ | /kʰuoH/ |
| Shao Rongfen |
/kʰoX/ | /kʰoH/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank |
/kʰɔX/ | /kʰɔH/ |
| Li Rong |
/kʰoX/ | /kʰoH/ |
| Wang Li |
/kʰuX/ | /kʰuH/ |
| Bernard Karlgren |
/kʰuoX/ | /kʰuoH/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex |
kǔ | kù |
| Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 苦 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) |
kǔ |
| Middle Chinese |
‹ khuX › |
| Old Chinese |
/*kʰˤaʔ/ |
| English | bitter |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 苦 | 苦 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| No. | 4242 | 4243 |
| Phonetic component |
古 | 古 |
| Rime group |
魚 | 魚 |
| Rime subdivision |
0 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime |
苦 | 絝 |
| Old Chinese |
/*kʰaːʔ/ | /*kʰaːs/ |
Definitions
苦
- bitter
- 苦瓜 ― kǔguā ― bittermelon
- difficult; painful; hard
- hardship; suffering
- 辛苦 ― xīnkǔ ― laborious; hard; miserable
- (dialectal) excessive
- to cause someone suffering; to give someone a hard time
- to suffer from; to be handicapped by
- (obsolete or Min Dong) to worry about; to be concerned about
- strenuously; painstakingly
- 苦笑 ― kǔxiào ― to force a smile
Compounds
Derived terms from 苦
|
|
|
Japanese
Kanji
苦
Readings
- Goon: く (ku)
- Kan’on: こ (ko) (non-Jōyō reading)
- Kun: くるしい (苦しい, kurushii), くるしむ (苦しむ, kurushimu), くるしみ (苦しみ, kurushimi), くるしむめる (苦しめる, kurushimeru), にがい (苦い, nigai), にがむ (苦む, nigamu), にがみ (苦み, nigami), にがめる (苦める, nigameru), にがる (苦る, nigaru)
Compounds
Etymology
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 苦 |
|
く Grade: 3 |
| on'yomi |
From Middle Chinese 苦 (khuX, “suffering”).
Pronunciation
Noun
References
- ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
- ↑ 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
苦 • (go) (hangeul 고, revised go, McCune-Reischauer ko, Yale ko)
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