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Definition 2024


西

西

See also: , , , and

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

西 (radical 146 西+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 一金田 (MCW), four-corner 10600)

Derived characters

  • Index:Chinese_radical/西
  • 𪎢

References

  • KangXi: page 1128, character 10
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 34763
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1595, character 19
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2805, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+897F

Chinese

simp. and trad.
西
alt. forms

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 西
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Large seal script Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (西) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
*sɯːl, *sɯːl
*sraːls, *sɯːlʔ
西 *sɯːl
*sɯːl
*sɯːl
*sɯːl, *sɯːls
*sʰɯːns
*hjɯnʔ

Pictogram (象形) – a bag or basket, borrowed for phonetic value. Compare (OC *toːŋ, “bundle > east”). Traditionally explained as a pictogram of a bird settling into its nest, which by analogy with the setting of the sun means “west”. This etymology has been disputed (Sears), but Sagart (2004) stands by it.

Pronunciation



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 西
Mandarin Beijing /ɕi⁵⁵/
Harbin /ɕi⁴⁴/
Tianjin /ɕi²¹/
Jinan /ɕi²¹³/
Qingdao /si²¹³/
Zhengzhou /si²⁴/
Xi'an /ɕi²¹/
Xining /ɕji⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /ɕi⁴⁴/
Lanzhou /ɕi³¹/
Ürümqi /ɕi⁴⁴/
Wuhan /ɕi⁵⁵/
Chengdu /ɕi⁵⁵/
Guiyang /ɕi⁵⁵/
Kunming /ɕi⁴⁴/
Nanjing /si³¹/
Hefei /sz̩²¹/
Jin Taiyuan /ɕi¹¹/
Pingyao /ɕi¹³/
/sei¹³/ ~瓜
Hohhot /ɕi³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ɕi⁵³/
Suzhou /si⁵⁵/
Hangzhou /ɕi³³/
Wenzhou /sei³³/
Hui Shexian /si³¹/
Tunxi /se¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /si³³/
Xiangtan /si³³/
Gan Nanchang /ɕi⁴²/
Hakka Meixian /si⁴⁴/
Taoyuan /si²⁴/
Cantonese Guangzhou /sɐi⁵³/
Nanning /ɬɐi⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /sɐi⁵⁵/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /se⁵⁵/
/sai⁵⁵/ 東~
/si⁵⁵/ ~瓜
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /sɛ⁴⁴/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /sai⁵⁴/
/si⁵⁴/
Shantou (Min Nan) /si³³/
/sai³³/
Haikou (Min Nan) /si²³/
/tai²³/

Rime
Character 西
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (16)
Final () (39)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () IV
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/sei/
Pan
Wuyun
/sei/
Shao
Rongfen
/sɛi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/sɛj/
Li
Rong
/sei/
Wang
Li
/siei/
Bernard
Karlgren
/siei/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 西 西
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
Middle
Chinese
‹ sej › ‹ sej ›
Old
Chinese
/*s-nˤər/ /*s-nˤər/
English west west

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 西
Reading # 1/1
No. 13236
Phonetic
component
西
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
西
Old
Chinese
/*sɯːl/

Definitions

西

  1. west; western

Coordinate terms

Compounds

Usage notes

西 is the 146th radical of the Chinese dictionary. In its few compounds it most often appears at the top in the form 覀 as in . It is important to distinguish it from and .


Japanese

Kanji

西

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Usage notes

nishi may be used as separate word. sei, on the other hand, is used mainly in compounds, like 西南 (せいなん seinan) - south west (literally "west south").

Kanji in this term
西
にし
Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Noun

西 (hiragana にし, romaji nishi)

  1. the west

Pronunciation

Proper noun

西 (hiragana にし, romaji Nishi)

  1. A surname.

西 (hiragana , romaji Su)

  1. Spain

References

  1. 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō

Korean

Hanja

西(seo)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul):  (revised: seo, McCune-Reischauer: sŏ, Yale: se)
  • Name (hangeul): 서녘 (revised: seonyeok, McCune-Reischauer: sŏnyŏk, Yale: senyekh)
  • Examples
    • 서부 西部 (seobu) western (part)
  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Okinawan

Kanji

西 (hiragana いり, romaji iri)

Noun

西 (hiragana いり, romaji iri)

  1. the West

Compounds

  • 西風 (いりかじ, irikazi): west wind

Vietnamese

Han character

西 (tây, sài)

  • Sơn Tây 山西
  • Tây Sơn 西山
  • Sài Gòn 西貢
  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Readings

  • Nôm: tây, tê
  • phía tây : 費西

References

  • Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
  • Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
  • Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm , NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999