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Definition 2024


U+4E2D, 中
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E2D

[U+4E2C]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+4E2E]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

(radical 2 +3, 4 strokes, cangjie input 中 (L), four-corner 50006, composition)

Derived characters

  • 𤆪

References

  • KangXi: page 79, character 3
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 73
  • Dae Jaweon: page 158, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 28, character 10
  • Unihan data for U+4E2D

Chinese

simp. and trad.
alt. forms 𠁦
𠁧
𠁩
𠔈
𠔗

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bamboo and silk script Large seal script Small seal script





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).
Characters in the same phonetic series () (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
*tuŋ, *tuŋs
*tuŋ
*tuŋ, *tuŋs
*tʰuŋ
*tʰuŋ
*tʰuŋ, *duŋ, *tjoŋ
*duŋ
*duŋ
*duŋ
*duŋs

Pictogram (象形) – a vertical stroke passing throught the center of , indicating the center. Originally a pictograph of a string heddle: (OC *ʔsuːŋs). It is also interpreted as a flagpole piercing the middle of a frame or an arrow in the center of a target.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t/duŋ. Cognate with Tibetan གཞུང (gzhung, middle, center).

Pronunciation 1



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location
Mandarin Beijing /ʈ͡ʂuŋ⁵⁵/
Harbin /ʈ͡ʂuŋ⁴⁴/
Tianjin /t͡suŋ²¹/
Jinan /ʈ͡ʂuŋ²¹³/
Qingdao /ʈ͡ʂəŋ²¹³/
Zhengzhou /ʈ͡ʂuŋ²⁴/
Xi'an /p͡fəŋ²¹/
Xining /ʈ͡ʂuə̃⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /ʈ͡ʂuŋ⁴⁴/
Lanzhou /p͡fə̃n³¹/
Ürümqi /ʈ͡ʂuŋ⁴⁴/
Wuhan /t͡soŋ⁵⁵/
Chengdu /t͡soŋ⁵⁵/
Guiyang /t͡soŋ⁵⁵/
Kunming /ʈ͡ʂoŋ⁴⁴/
Nanjing /ʈ͡ʂoŋ³¹/
Hefei /ʈ͡ʂəŋ²¹/
Jin Taiyuan /t͡suəŋ¹¹/
Pingyao /t͡suŋ¹³/
Hohhot /t͡sũŋ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /t͡soŋ⁵³/
Suzhou /t͡soŋ⁵⁵/
Hangzhou /t͡soŋ³³/
Wenzhou /t͡ɕoŋ³³/
Hui Shexian /t͡sʌ̃³¹/
Tunxi /t͡san¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /ʈ͡ʂoŋ³³/
Xiangtan /ʈ͡ʂən³³/
Gan Nanchang /t͡suŋ⁴²/
Hakka Meixian /tuŋ⁴⁴/ ~心
/t͡suŋ⁴⁴/ ~間
Taoyuan /tuŋ²⁴/
Cantonese Guangzhou /t͡soŋ⁵³/
Nanning /t͡suŋ⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /t͡suŋ⁵⁵/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /tiɔŋ⁵⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /tyŋ⁴⁴/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /tœyŋ⁵⁴/
/tœyŋ³³/ ~奬
Shantou (Min Nan) /toŋ³³/
/taŋ³³/
Haikou (Min Nan) /toŋ²³/

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2
Initial () (9)
Final () (2)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () III
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ʈɨuŋ/
Pan
Wuyun
/ʈiuŋ/
Shao
Rongfen
/ȶiuŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ʈuwŋ/
Li
Rong
/ȶiuŋ/
Wang
Li
/ȶĭuŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ȶi̯uŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
zhōng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
zhōng
Middle
Chinese
‹ trjuwng ›
Old
Chinese
/*truŋ/
English center

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 # 1/2
No. 17407
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*tuŋ/

Definitions

  1. middle; center
  2. medium; intermediary
  3. within; among; in
  4. while; in the process of; during; in the middle of
  5. (dialectal) all right; OK
  6. Short for 中國中国 (Zhōngguó, “China; Chinese”).
    • 關係 / 关系   Zhōng Měi guānxì   China–United States relation
  7. Short for 中學中学 (zhōngxué, “middle school”). Used only in the abbreviation of the name.
       Sān Zhōng   No.3 Middle School
  8. A surname. Zhong

Compounds

Pronunciation 2



Rime
Character
Reading # 2/2
Initial () (9)
Final () (2)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () III
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ʈɨuŋH/
Pan
Wuyun
/ʈiuŋH/
Shao
Rongfen
/ȶiuŋH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ʈuwŋH/
Li
Rong
/ȶiuŋH/
Wang
Li
/ȶĭuŋH/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ȶi̯uŋH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
zhòng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
zhòng
Middle
Chinese
‹ trjuwngH ›
Old
Chinese
/*truŋ-s/
English hit the center

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 # 2/2
No. 17410
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*tuŋs/

Definitions

  1. to hit the mark; to be correct; to be successful
  2. to be hit by; to suffer; to be affected by
  3. to win (a prize, a lottery)

Compounds


Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
なか
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana なか, romaji naka)

  1. inside
  2. middle
Derived terms

Proper noun

(hiragana なか, romaji Naka)

  1. A surname.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
なか
Grade: 1
on'yomi

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana ちゅう, romaji chū)

  1. middle, medium
    large, medium and small
  2. average; neither good nor poor
    の出来映え
    an average performance
  3. during; being in the process of doing
  4. second volume of a three volume set

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
うち
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana うち, romaji uchi)

(うち, uchi)
(うち, uchi)
内 is the most common kanji for this pronunciation.
  1. inside

Proper noun

(hiragana ちゅう, romaji Chū)

  1. short form for China or Chinese, Sino- (prefix)
    日中関係 (にっちゅうかんけい)
    Nitchū kankei
    Sino-Japanese relations

(hiragana あたり, romaji Atari)

  1. A surname.

(hiragana あたる, romaji Ataru)

  1. A female given name

Suffix

(hiragana じゅう, romaji -jū)

  1. during, in the course of, throughout
    世界 (せかい) (じゅう)
    sekai
    throughout the world
     (からだ) (じゅう)
    karada
    throughout the body
  2. all over, everywhere

(hiragana ちゅう, romaji -chū)

  1. being in the process of doing
    ダウンロード (ちゅう)
    daunrōdo-chū
    downloading; download in progress
    メンテ (ちゅう)
    mente-chū
    currently in maintenance

The distinction between じゅう () and ちゅう (chū) can be somewhat confusing: じゅう () means throughout, in all places, as in 一日中 (ichinichijū, all day long) or 体中 (karadajū, throughout the body), while ちゅう (chū) means within, but not everywhere, as in 授業中 (jugyōchū, in class, during class). Contrast “I worked on this all day long” with “I worked on this in class (but not necessarily for the entire time)”.

References

  1. 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  2. 1 2 3 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

Korean

Hanja

(jung)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul):  (McCune-Reischauer: chung, Yale: cwung)
  • Name (hangeul): 가운데 (revised: gaunde, McCune-Reischauer: kaunde, Yale: kawuntey)
  1. the middle, the center, the heart, the midst

Compounds

Noun

(jung) (hangeul )

  1. Hanja form? of , “the middle, medium, during”.

Vietnamese

Han character

(trung, trong, truông, đúng, trúng, truồng)

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

References