Translingual

Han character

幾 (radical 52 幺+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 女戈竹戈 (VIHI), four-corner 2225₃, composition ⿱𢆶戍)

Descendants

• き
• キ

Derived characters

• 機 畿 璣 嘰 䟇 譏 饑 穖 僟 磯 蟣 𦠄 𧰙 𧗓 𢇒 𢇓

References

• KangXi: page 342, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9208
• Dae Jaweon: page 652, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1095, character 8
• Unihan data for U+5E7E

Chinese

Glyph origin

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 𢆶 ‎(“silk threads; little things”) + 戍 ‎(“to guard against”) – watching over the fine details.

Note that the simplified form 几 (OC *krilʔ, “small table”) is also a traditional character on its own.

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

幾

1. how much; how many

   幾位？ / 几位？  ―  Jǐwèi?  ―  How many people [e.g. when entering restaurants]?

   • 你要幾瓶？ / 你要几瓶？  ―  Nǐ yào jǐ píng?  ―  How many bottles do you want?
   • 你會說幾種語言？ / 你会说几种语言？  ―  Nǐ huì shuō jǐ zhǒng yǔyán?  ―  How many languages do you speak?
2. (of number, time, date) what; which
   • 幾點鐘了？ / 几点钟了？  ―  Jǐ diǎnzhōng le?  ―  What time is it?
   • 今天幾號？ / 今天几号？  ―  Jīntiān jǐ hào?  ―  What's the date today?
   • 你幾號？ / 你几号？  ―  Nǐ jǐ hào?  ―  What's your number?
3. a few; some; several
   • 我邊等邊瀏覽幾本雜誌。 [MSC, trad.]
     我边等边浏览几本杂志。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ biān děng biān liúlǎn jǐ běn zázhì. [Pinyin]

     I browsed through some magazines while I waited.

   • 幾天后他將回來。 / 几天后他将回来。  ―  Jǐ tiān hòu tā jiāng huílái.  ―  He will be back in a few days.
4. (of numeral amounts) some; something; odd
   • 八十幾年 / 八十几年  ―  bāshí jǐ nián  ―  eighty-something years; eighty-odd years
5. (Cantonese) quite; rather; really; very; pretty
   • 幾好睇 / 几好睇 [Cantonese]  ―  gei² hou² tai² [Jyutping]  ―  quite good-looking
   • 嗰時我媽媽就要一支支噉呢啲長竹呢，就掛住啲衫要用佢插落去。幾辛苦嘅，有事會跌啲竹落街喎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     𠮶时我妈妈就要一支支噉呢啲长竹呢，就挂住啲衫要用佢插落去。几辛苦嘅，有事会跌啲竹落街㖞。 [Cantonese, simp.]
     From:

     Go² si⁴ ngo⁵ maa^1-4 maa¹ zau⁶ jiu³ jat¹ zi¹ zi¹ gam² ni¹ di¹ coeng⁴ zuk¹ ne¹, zau⁶ gwaa³ zyu⁶ di¹ saam¹ jiu³ jung⁶ keoi⁵ caap³ lok⁶ heoi³. Gei² san¹ fu² ge³, jau⁵ si⁶ wui⁶ dit³ di¹ zuk¹ lok⁶ gaai¹ wo³. [Jyutping]

     My mother used to stick sticks like those up there and hang clothes on them. It was rather difficult, and sometimes they would fall into the street.

   • 你冇女朋友？梗係唔信啦！冇理由㗎。你…幾好呀！ [Cantonese, trad.]
     你冇女朋友？梗系唔信啦！冇理由㗎。你…几好呀！ [Cantonese, simp.]
     From: 陳慧嫻, 紅茶館

     Nei⁵ mou⁵ neoi⁵ pang⁴ jau⁵? Gang² hai⁶ m⁴ seon³ laa¹! Mou⁵ lei⁵ jau⁴ gaa³. Nei⁵... Gei² hou² aa³! [Jyutping]

     You don't have a girlfriend? Of course I don't believe you! Impossible. You're… not bad!

Synonyms

• (how many) 多少 (duōshǎo)
• (Cantonese: quite) 挺 (tǐng)

Descendants

• → Thai: กี่ ‎(gìi, “how many; how much”)

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

幾

1. ^†fine; slight; minute
2. ^†dangerous
3. ^†Alternative form of 機／机 (jī, “governmental affairs”).
4. ^†symptom of a trend; omen
5. almost; nearly
   • 我被煙嗆得幾窒息。 [MSC, trad.]
     我被烟呛得几窒息。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ bèi yān qiàng dé jī zhìxī. [Pinyin]

     I was almost choked by the smoke.

   • 幾沒有人相信他病了。 [MSC, trad.]
     几没有人相信他病了。 [MSC, simp.]

     Jī méi yǒu rén xiàngxìn tā bìng le. [Pinyin]

     Almost no one believed that he was sick.

Compounds

Pronunciation 3

Definitions

幾

1. ^† to be near; to reach; to attain; to achieve

Compounds

Pronunciation 4

Definitions

幾

1. ^†Alternative form of 冀 (jì, “to hope; to look forward to”).
2. ^†Alternative form of 紀／纪 (jì, “age; year”).

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: け (ke) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kan’on: き (ki)
• Kun: いく (iku), いくつ (幾つ, ikutsu), いくら (幾ら, ikura)
• Nanori: い (i), く (ku)

Compounds

Noun

幾 ‎(hiragana いく, romaji iku)

1. some, several

Prefix

幾 ‎(hiragana いく, romaji iku-)

1. how many, how much

   幾箱要 (いくはこい)りますか

   iku hako irimasu ka

   How many boxes do you want?

2. some, several, having an indefinite number or quantity

   幾千 (いくせん)と云 (い)う人 (ひと)

   iku sen to iu hito

   Several thousands of people

3. some, many, having a considerable number

   幾日 (いくにち)も行 (い)っていた

   iku nichi mo itte ita

   I was gone for many days

Korean

Hanja

幾 • ‎(gi) (hangeul 기, McCune-Reischauer ki)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

幾 (cơ, kỉ, ki)

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