Translingual

Stroke order

Alternative forms

• 亻 (when used as a left radical)

Han character

人 (radical 9 人+0, 2 strokes, cangjie input 人 (O), four-corner 8000₀)

1. Kangxi radical #9, ⼈ ‎(“man”).

Usage notes

In print, 人 may have symmetric legs. However in handwriting, to distinguish from 入, the right leg will be shorter, the shape looking like a ʎ; in 入 the left leg is shorter.

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/人
• 飤

References

• KangXi: page 91, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 344
• Dae Jaweon: page 190, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 101, character 10
• Unihan data for U+4EBA

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 人
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bamboo and silk script	Large seal script	Small seal script
Oracle bone script j18642 j18643 j18644 j18645 j18646 j18647 j18648 j18649 j18650 j18651 j18652 j18653 j18654 j18655 j18656 j18657 j18658 j18659 j18660 j18661 j18662 j18663 j18664 j18665 j18666 j18667 j18668 j18669 j18670 j18671 j18672 j18673 j18674 j18675 j18676 j18677 j18678 j18679 j18680 j18681 j18682 j18683 j18684 j18685 j18686 j18687 j18688 j18689 j18690 j18691 j18692 j18693 j18694 j18695 j18696 j18697 j18698 j18699 j18700 j18701 j18702 j18703 j18704 j18705 j18706 j18707 j18708 j18709 j18710 j18711 j18712 j18713 j18714 j18715 j18716 j18717 j18718 j18719 j18720 j18721 j18722 j18723 j18724 j18725 j18726 j18727 j18728 j18729 j18730 j18731 j18732 j18733 j18734 j18735 j18736 j18737 j18738 j18739 j18740 j18741 j18742 j18743 j18744 j18745 j18746 j18747 j18748 j18749 j18750 j18751 j18752 j18753 j18754 j18755 j18756 j18757 j18758 j18759 j18760 j18761 j18762 j18763 j18764 j18765 j18766 j18767 j18768 j18769 j18770 j18771 Bronze inscriptions b12132 b12133 b12135 b12136 b12137 b12138 b12139 b12140 b12141 b12142 b12143 b12144 b12145 b12146 b12147 b12148 b12149 b12150 b12151 b12152 b12153 b12154 b12155 b12156 b12157 b12158 b12159 b12160 b12161 b12162 b12163 b12164 b12165 b12166 b12167 b12168 b12169 b12170 Large seal script L31206 L31207 L31208 L31209 L31210 L04628 L04629 L04630 L04631 L04632 L04633 L04634 L04635 L04636 L04637 L04638 L04639 L04640 L04641 L04642 L04643 L04644 L04645 L04646 L04647 Small seal script s05651
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (large seal) and Xu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Pictogram (象形) – resembles the legs of a human being. The ancient version of this character depicted a man with arms and legs. Compare 大.

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Definitions

人

1. man, person, people   (Classifier: 個／个)
   • 那人是誰？ / 那人是谁？  ―  Nà rén shì shuí?  ―  Who is that person?
   • 嗰個人係邊個嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, trad.]
     𠮶个人系边个嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, simp.]

     Go² go³jan^4-2 hai⁶ bin¹ go³ lai⁴ gaa³? [Jyutping]

     Who is that person?

   • 有人敲門了。 / 有人敲门了。  ―  Yǒurén qiāomén le.  ―  Someone knocked on the door.
2. human being, Homo sapiens
   • 人類 / 人类  ―  rénlèi  ―  humanity, human race, mankind
3. body
   • 這兩天人不大舒服。 [MSC, trad.]
     这两天人不大舒服。 [MSC, simp.]

     Zhè liǎng tiān rén bùdà shūfú. [Pinyin]

     I (lit. the body) haven't been feeling that well these few days.

4. everybody, everyone
   • 人人  ―  rénrén  ―  everybody
   • 人手一冊 / 人手一册  ―  rénshǒu yīcè  ―  It's a bestseller. (lit. Everyone has a copy.)
5. physical, psychological or moral quality or condition
   • 就我所知，他人不錯。 [MSC, trad.]
     就我所知，他人不错。 [MSC, simp.]

     Jiùwǒsuǒzhī, tā rén bùcuò. [Pinyin]

     As far as I know, he is kind (lit. his personality is not bad).

6. a person associated with a particular identity or trait; -er
   • 主持人  ―  zhǔchírén  ―  host
   • 香港人 [Cantonese]  ―  Hoeng¹ gong²jan⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  Hongkonger
7. manpower, worker, employee
8. ^†talent, a person of talent
9. ^†other people
   • 人云亦云  ―  rényún yìyún  ―  to follow the crowd (lit. to say what others say)
10. ^†common people, commoner
11. ^†adult, grown-up
    • 長大成人 / 长大成人  ―  chángdà chéngrén  ―  to grow up to be an adult
12. ^†reason
13. ^†sexual intercourse
    • 人道  ―  réndào  ―  sexual intercourse
    • 人事  ―  rénshì  ―  sexual intercourse
14. ^†company, companion, friend
15. ^†Alternative form of 仁 (rén, “kernel”).
16. ^†Alternative form of 仁 (rén, “charity”).
17. ^†artificial, man-made
    • 人禍 / 人祸  ―  rénhuò  ―  human disaster
18. ^†mortal
    • 人間 / 人间  ―  rénjiān  ―  the mortal world
19. ^†Alternative form of 仁 (rén, “loving, kind”).

Descendants

Etymology 2

The Min native word for "person"; used as a replacement character for 儂／侬. Use of 人 is recommended by Taiwan's Ministry of Education.

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

人 (Min)

1. man; person; people; human being; Homo sapiens
2. a person associated with a particular identity or trait; -er
   • 臺灣人 / 台湾人 [Min Nan]  ―  Tâi-oân-lâng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  Taiwanese
3. physical, psychological or moral quality or condition
   • 伊人袂䆀。 [Min Nan]  ―  I lâng bē-bái. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  He is kind (lit. His personality is not bad).

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

人 (Min)

1. other people
   • 人講三百六十-五行會當行行出狀元。 [Min Nan, trad.]
     人讲三百六十-五行会当行行出状元。 [Min Nan, simp.]
     From: 黃一飛 (Huang Yi-fei), 你苦無我苦

     Lâng kóng saⁿ-pah la̍k-cha̍p-gō͘ hâng ē-tàng hâng-hâng chhut chiōng-goân. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     People say you can be a master in any of the 365 trades.

2. I, me

Compounds

⇒ Appendix:Chinese compounds/人

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: にん (nin)
• Kan’on: じん (jin)
• Kun: ひと (hito), り (ri)
• Nanori: じ (ji), と (to), ね (ne), ひこ (hiko), ふみ (fumi)

Compounds

Etymology 1

/pi₁to₂/ → */pitə/ → /fito/ → /hito/

From Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ひと [hìtó] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2][3]
• (Tokyo) ひと​ [hìtóꜜ] (Odaka - [0])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [çi̥to̞]

Noun

人 ‎(counter 人, hiragana ひと, katakana ヒト, romaji hito)

1. person
2. human
3. someone else

Derived terms

Synonyms

• 方 (かた) ‎(kata) (honorific)

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 人 ‎(nyin, “person”). The goon, so likely the earlier borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• IPA^(key): [nĩɴ]

Counter

人 ‎(hiragana にん, romaji -nin)

1. people

Usage notes

The nin reading is used when counting three people or more. When counting one or two people as in 一人 ‎(hitori, “one person”) or 二人 ‎(futari, “two people”), the reading is り ‎(-ri).

Etymology 3

From Middle Chinese 人 ‎(nyin, “person”). The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑĩɴ]

Suffix

人 ‎(hiragana じん, romaji -jin)

1. person from that group

   アジア人 (じん)、イギリス人 (じん)、スペイン人 (じん)、ドイツ人 (じん)、アメリカ人 (じん)、スコットランド人 (じん)

   Ajiajin, Igirisujin, Supeinjin, Doitsujin, Amerikajin, Sukottorandojin

   an Asian, an Englishman, a Spaniard, a German, an American, a Scot

2. person who does the activity of the suffixed word

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 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
3. 1 2 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0

Korean

Hanja

人 • ‎(in)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 인 (revised: in, McCune-Reischauer: in, Yale: in)

• Name (hangeul): 사람 (revised: saram, McCune-Reischauer: saram, Yale: salam)

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

Compounds

Vietnamese

Han character

人 (nhân, nhơn)

1. (Northern Vietnam) Hán tự form of nhân, “human”
2. (Southern Vietnam) Hán tự form of nhơn, “human”

Noun

人

1. Abbreviation of người. (only in handwriting)

   con 人 = con người

Alternative forms

• ǹg

References

• Nom Foundation