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Definition 2024

城

城

See also: 坊

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

城 (radical 32 土+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 土戈竹尸 (GIHS), four-corner 43150, composition ⿰土成)

References

  • KangXi: page 229, character 32
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5086
  • Dae Jaweon: page 465, character 22
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 438, character 7
  • Unihan data for U+57CE

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 城

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 城
Bronze inscriptions Bamboo and silk script Large seal script Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (成) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
成 *djeŋ
城 *djeŋ
誠 *djeŋ
宬 *djeŋ
郕 *djeŋ
筬 *djeŋ
盛 *djeŋ, *djeŋs
珹 *djeŋ
晟 *djeŋs
墭 *djeŋs

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *djeŋ) : semantic 土 ‎(“soil”) + phonetic 成 ‎(OC *djeŋ).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 城
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 常 (25)
Final (韻) 清 (121)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 是征切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /d͡ʑiᴇŋ/
Pan
Wuyun		 /d͡ʑiɛŋ/
Shao
Rongfen		 /d͡ʑiæŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /d͡ʑiajŋ/
Li
Rong		 /ʑiɛŋ/
Wang
Li		 /ʑĭɛŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ʑi̯ɛŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 chéng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 城
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 chéng
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ dzyeng ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[d]eŋ/
English city wall

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 城
Reading # 1/1
No. 1418
Phonetic
component		 成
Rime
group		 耕
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 成
Old
Chinese		 /*djeŋ/

Definitions

城

  1. (historical) fort; castle
  2. defensive wall; fortification
  3. fortified settlement
  4. (by extension) any city or town
  5. municipality
  6. A surname​.

See also

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

城

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1

城 (shiro, gusuku, ki, shiki, jō): a castle.
Kanji in this term
城
しろ
Grade: 6
kun'yomi

Derivation unknown. The shiro reading for this character appears in 794 when the 山背 ‎(Yamashiro) region was renamed 山城[1], keeping the old reading and thus applying the shiro reading to the 城 kanji for the first time.

Pronunciation

Noun

城 ‎(hiragana しろ, romaji shiro)

  1. castle
Usage notes

The shiro reading may be used most often when this term appears as a standalone noun.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
城
ぐすく
Grade: 6
kun'yomi

Archaic Okinawan dialect term. The final ku may be cognate with mainland Japanese ki (see below).

Pronunciation

Noun

城 ‎(hiragana ぐすく, romaji gusuku)

  1. (obsolete) castle
    • 1531-1623: Omoro Sōshi
      一 聞得大君ぎや 降れて 遊びよわれば 天が下 平らげて ちよわれ 又 鳴響む精高子が 又 首里杜ぐすく 真玉杜ぐすく
Usage notes

Not used in isolation in modern Japanese. This term remains as an element in various place names.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
城
き
Grade: 6
kun'yomi

ki2: [kɨ] > [ki]

From Old Japanese. Perhaps cognate with a now-defunct Korean term: the Samguk Sagi (1145) equates Baekje 悦城 as 悦己 and 潔城 as 結己, indicating that the word 城 "castle" was read as 己 (*ki).

Pronunciation

Noun

城 ‎(hiragana き, romaji ki)

  1. (archaic) a structure surrounded by a moat or walls: a fortress, castle
    • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 20, poem 4331)
      天皇乃 等保能朝[廷]等 之良奴日 筑紫國波 安多麻毛流 於佐倍乃城曽等 聞食 四方國尓波 比等佐波尓 美知弖波安礼杼 登利我奈久 安豆麻乎能故波 伊田牟可比 加敝里見世受弖 伊佐美多流 多家吉軍卒等 祢疑多麻比 麻氣乃麻尓々々 多良知祢乃 波々我目可礼弖 若草能 都麻乎母麻可受 安良多麻能 月日餘美都々 安之我知流 難波能美津尓 大船尓 末加伊之自奴伎 安佐奈藝尓 可故等登能倍 由布思保尓 可知比伎乎里 安騰母比弖 許藝由久伎美波 奈美乃間乎 伊由伎佐具久美 麻佐吉久母 波夜久伊多里弖 大王乃 美許等能麻尓末 麻須良男乃 許己呂乎母知弖 安里米具[理] 事之乎波良[婆] 都々麻波受 可敝理伎麻勢登 伊波比倍乎 等許敝尓須恵弖 之路多倍能 蘇田遠利加敝之 奴婆多麻乃 久路加美之伎弖 奈我伎氣遠 麻知可母戀牟 波之伎都麻良波
    • 787-824: Nihon Ryōiki (preface, page 201)
      原夫内経外書 伝於日本 而興始代 凡有二時 皆自百済国将禮來之 軽嶋豊明宮御宇誉田天皇代 外書來之 礒城訓紀嶋金刺宮御宇鉄明天皇代 内典來也 [...]

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
城
しき
Grade: 6
kun'yomi

Originally a compound of 石 ‎(shi, “stone”) +‎ 城 ‎(ki, “castle, fortress”).

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

  • 磯城

Noun

城 ‎(hiragana しき, romaji shiki)

  1. (archaic) a castle, a fortress

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
城
じょう
Grade: 6
on'yomi

/zjau/ → */ʑɔː/ → /d͡ʑoː/

From Middle Chinese 城 ‎(dzyeng). Compare modern Min Nan 城 ‎(siâⁿ).

Pronunciation

Noun

城 ‎(hiragana じょう, romaji jō, historical hiragana じやう)

  1. a castle, a fortress
    盛岡 (もりおか)城 (じょう)
    Morioka jō
    Morioka Castle

See also

References

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

Korean

Hanja

城 • ‎(seong) (hangeul 성, McCune-Reischauer sŏng, Yale seng)

  1. defensive wall, rampart, e.g., The Great Wall of China
  2. fort, castle, citadel
  3. capital, city, town, borough, fortified settlement
  4. statehood
  5. to wall, castellate

Synonyms

Meronyms

Compounds

Usage notes

  • This ideogram may well imply fortification in itself whereas the city as one of its translations may not, hence maybe not worth a good one. This may be where the town should make sense of it instead, though it may be as improper as cognate to down, dune, etc.

Vietnamese

Han character

城 (thành, nhật)

Thành - Phiên âm: Thành

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

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