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Definition 2024


Translingual

Han character

(radical 172 +4, 12 strokes, cangjie input 大戈人土 (KIOG), four-corner 40014, composition)

References

  • KangXi: page 1365, character 12
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 41972
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1869, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 4093, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+96C4

Chinese

simp. and trad.

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series () (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
*kʷɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷrɯːŋ
*ɡʷɯŋ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ɡʷɯŋ) : phonetic  (OC *kʷɯːŋ) + semantic .

Pronunciation



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location
Mandarin Beijing /ɕyŋ³⁵/
Harbin /ɕyŋ²⁴/
/ɕyŋ⁴⁴/
Tianjin /ɕyŋ⁴⁵/
Jinan /ɕyŋ⁴²/
Qingdao /ɕiŋ⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ɕyuŋ⁴²/
Xi'an /ɕyŋ²⁴/
Xining /ɕyə̃²⁴/
Yinchuan /ɕyŋ⁵³/
Lanzhou /ɕỹn⁵³/
Ürümqi /ɕyŋ⁴⁴/
Wuhan /ɕioŋ²¹³/
Chengdu /ɕyoŋ³¹/
Guiyang /ɕioŋ²¹/
Kunming /ɕiŋ³¹/
Nanjing /ɕioŋ²⁴/
Hefei /ɕiŋ⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /ɕyəŋ¹¹/
Pingyao /ɕyŋ¹³/
Hohhot /ɕỹŋ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ɦioŋ²³/
Suzhou /ɦioŋ¹³/
Hangzhou /ɦioŋ²¹³/
Wenzhou /joŋ³¹/
Hui Shexian /ɕyʌ̃⁴⁴/
Tunxi /ɕin⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /ɕioŋ¹³/
Xiangtan /ɕin¹²/
Gan Nanchang /ɕiuŋ⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /hiuŋ¹¹/
Taoyuan /hioŋ¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /hoŋ²¹/
Nanning /huŋ²¹/
Hong Kong /huŋ²¹/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /hiɔŋ³⁵/
/hiŋ³⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /hyŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /xœyŋ²¹/
/xœyŋ³³/
Shantou (Min Nan) /hioŋ⁵⁵/
/heŋ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Min Nan) /hiɔŋ³¹/
/hiaŋ³¹/

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (35)
Final () (2)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () III
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ɦɨuŋ/
Pan
Wuyun
/ɦiuŋ/
Shao
Rongfen
/ɣiuŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ɦuwŋ/
Li
Rong
/ɣiuŋ/
Wang
Li
/ɣĭuŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren
/i̯uŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
yóng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
xióng
Middle
Chinese
‹ hjuwng ›
Old
Chinese
/*[ɢ]ʷəŋ/
English male

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 # 1/1
No. 4140
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ɡʷɯŋ/

Definitions

  1. (usually of animals) male
  2. masculine; powerful; grand
  3. powerful or influential person or state

Usage notes

  • Commonly used for animals to mean “male” in academic contexts, less commonly used in non-academic contexts (use instead), and not used for humans (use instead). For example:
    /    xióng   cock
       xióngniú   bull

Antonyms

  • (, “female”)

Compounds


Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
ゆう
Grade: S
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese (hjuwng, male).

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana ゆう, romaji )

  1. male
  2. something or someone excellent (male)
    一世 (いっせい) (ゆう)
    issei no
    one of the greatest men of his generation
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term

Grade: S
kun'yomi

/wo//o/

From Old Japanese. Persists in compounds, such as the first element o- in the modern Japanese term (otoko, man).[2][1]

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

(hiragana , romaji o, historical hiragana )

  1. (obsolete in isolation) man, male
    • 711-712, Kojiki (上巻 [Kamitsumaki])
       ()こそは ()にいませば
      na koso wa o ni imaseba
      As you yourself be male / a man...
  2. (obsolete) husband
    • 711-712, Kojiki (上巻 [Kamitsumaki])
       ()はもよ ()にしあれば () () () () () () (つま) ()
      wa wa moyo me ni shiareba na o kite o wa nashi na o kite tsuma wa nashi
      As I am a woman, without you, there are no husbands. Without you, there are no wives...
  3. something large, powerful, or otherwise masculine
     () (たけ)び/ () (だき) (ますら) ()
    otakebi/odaki/masurao
    a war cry / the larger of two waterfalls / manliness
  4. yang (as opposed to yin)
     () () () ()
    meo, meo
    yin-yang (two different kanji spellings, same reading and derivation)
Usage notes

Not used in isolation in modern Japanese.

Derived terms
Antonyms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
おす
Grade: S
kun'yomi

/wosu//osu/

Compound of (o, male) + (su), but the derivation of the su element is unknown.

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

(hiragana おす, katakana オス, romaji osu, historical hiragana をす)

  1. male
Usage notes

This is the most common reading of this term in modern Japanese when used as a standalone noun.

Only used to refer to non-human male organisms. As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana in biological contexts, as オス.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
おん
Grade: S
kun'yomi

/won//on/

Compound of (o, male) + (n). The latter -n element might be a contraction of the possessive particle (no).

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

(hiragana おん, romaji on, historical hiragana をん)

  1. male
Usage notes

Not used in isolation in modern Japanese.

Derived terms

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  2. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Hanja

(ung) (hangeul , revised ung, McCune-Reischauer ung, Yale wung)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

(hùng)

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