Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

象 (radical 152 豕+5, in Chinese 11 strokes, in Japanese 12 strokes, cangjie input 弓日心人 (NAPO), four-corner 2723₂, composition ⿳⺈𫩏𧰨)

References

• KangXi: page 1195, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36372
• Dae Jaweon: page 1658, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 3611, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8C61

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 象
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Pictogram (象形) - pictographic representation of an elephant. ⺈ represents the trunk, 𫩏 represents the head, and 𧰨 represents the body.

Etymology

This character is used to represent two semantic fields 'elephant, tusk' and 'to outline, depict, delineate, represent, resemble, map'. Both fields are found from the earliest layers of the edited literature onwards, whereas only the first meaning is amply attested in oracle bone inscriptions.

Traditionally, the two senses are treated as related, with the sense of 'to depict, to resemble' considered a derivative of the sense of 'elephant'. The derivation from the 'elephant' meaning to the 'likeness' meaning is explained in Han Feizi [ca. 221 BCE]: "Men rarely see living elephants. As they come by the skeleton of a dead elephant, they imagine its living form according to its features. Therefore it comes to pass that whatever people use for imagining the real is called 象."

Modern etymology studies on Old Chinese have challenged this opinion; see 像 (xiàng) for more discussion on the etymology of the second sense.

As for the 'elephant, tusk' sense, this is a widely used area word in East and Southeast Asia. Literature opinions differ on the origin and immediate relationship of this Chinese word; some (e.g. Schuessler 2007) believe the Chinese form is a loanword from a Southern language, since "it is hard to believe that people all over SE Asia and as far away as the Himalayan foothills would borrow a word for an indigenous animal from Northern China". Others believe the direction of borrowing is reversed (i.e. Tai-Kadai borrowing from Chinese), and that Chinese 象 should be compared with Tibetan གླང ‎(glang), གླང་ཆེན ‎(glang chen, “elephant”) arising from a common Proto-Sino-Tibetan *glaŋ ‎(“ox, bull; elephant”), which may ultimately have an Austroasiatic origin. The second viewpoint is supported by the early attestation of this character and the archaeological findings of the historical ranges of elephants.

See below for a tentative borrowing history of the various forms of this general area word.

Pronunciation

Definitions

象 (1)

(Chinese Chess) 象 (3)

象

1. elephant (mammal)
   • Synonyms: 大象 (dàxiàng)
   • 一頭象 / 一头象  ―  yī tóu xiàng  ―  one elephant
2. ivory, tusk
   • Synonyms: 象牙 (xiàngyá)
   • 象床  ―  xiàngchuáng  ―  ivory-decorated bed
3. (Chinese chess) elephant
   • Synonyms: 相 (xiāng)
4. symbol, emblem
   • 象徵 / 象征  ―  xiàngzhēng  ―  symbol
5. shape, figure
6. appearance, phenomenon
   • 現象 / 现象  ―  xiànxiàng  ―  phenomenon
   • 景象  ―  jǐngxiàng  ―  scene
7. (Chinese medicine) complexion
   • 病象  ―  bìngxiàng  ―  disease signs and symptoms
8. image, picture, portrait
   • ⇒ 像
9. sign, indication
10. imagination
11. law, legislation
12. principle
13. calendar
14. to imitate, to follow the example of
15. to trace, to outline, to depict
16. to resemble
    • ⇒ 像
    • 象形字  ―  xiàngxíngzì  ―  pictographic character
17. like, similar to
    • ⇒ 像
18. A surname​.

Compounds

Descendants

Proto-Sino-Tibetan *glaŋ ‎(“ox, bull; elephant”) (?)

• Old Chinese: 象 (*C.laŋʔ)
  • Late Han Chinese: 象 (ziɑŋ^B)
    • → Proto-Vietic *ʔa-ɟa:ŋ ‎(“elephant”)
    • Early Middle Chinese: 象 (zɨaŋ^B)
      • → Mongolian заан ‎(zaan), Kalmyk зан ‎(zan)
      • → Japanese 象 (ぞう) ‎(zō), Korean 상 ‎(sang), Vietnamese tượng
      • → Proto-Tai *ɟa:ŋᶜ ‎(“elephant”) > Thai ช้าง ‎(cháang), Lao ຊ້າງ ‎(sāng), Shan ၸၢင်ႉ ‎(tsaang)
        • → Proto-Lolo-Burmese: *tsaŋ ("elephant") > Burmese ဆင် ‎(hcang)
          • → Proto-Monic: *ciiŋ ("elephant") > Mon စိၚ် ‎(coiŋ)
      • Late Middle Chinese: 象 (sʱiaŋ^B)
        • → Japanese 象 (しょ​う) ‎(sho​u)
        • Early Mandarin: 象 (sjàŋ)
          • Modern Standard Mandarin: 象 (xiàng)

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: ぞう (zō)
• Kan’on: しょう (shō)
• Kun: かたどる (象る, katadoru)
• Nanori: かた (kata), たか (taka)

Etymology 1

/zau/ → /zɔː/ → /zoː/

From Middle Chinese 象 ‎(zjang^X, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Cantonese zoeng⁶.

The goon, so likely the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) ぞ​う [zóꜜò] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [zo̞ː]

Noun

象 ‎(counter 頭, hiragana ぞう, katakana ゾウ, romaji zō, historical hiragana ざう)

1. elephant

Derived terms

Etymology 2

/sjau/ → /sjɔː/ → /ɕɔː/ → /ɕoː/

From Middle Chinese 象 ‎(zjang^X, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Min Nan siōng or Mandarin xiàng.

The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) しょ​う [shóꜜò] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ː]

Noun

象 ‎(hiragana しょう, romaji shō, historical hiragana しやう)

1. likeness, appearance

Derived terms

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese. Cognate with 橒 ‎(kisa, “wood grain”), from the way that ivory also has a grain.^[3]

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [kʲisa̠]

Noun

象 ‎(hiragana きさ, romaji kisa)

1. (obsolete) elephant
   • 931–938, Wamyō Ruijushō, book 7, page 52:

     象 [...] 岐佐 [...] 獣名、似水牛、大耳、長鼻、眼細、牙長者也

   • 970-999, Utsubo Monogatari (Toshikage)

     それより西を行ケば、虎狼ひと山さワぐ所有り。キサ出デてその山をこしつ。

References

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

• Kōno, Tama (c. 970–999) Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 10: Utsubo Monogatari 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, ISBN 978-4-00-060010-1, published 1959.
• Minamoto, Shitagō; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, ISBN 978-4-653-00507-0, published 1968.

Korean

Hanja

象 • ‎(sang) (hangeul 상, McCune-Reischauer sang, Yale sang)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

象 (tượng)

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