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Definition 2024

元

元

元 U+5143, 元
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5143
← 兂
[U+5142] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 兄 →
[U+5144]
See also: 示 and 亓

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

元 (radical 10 儿+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 一一山 (MMU), four-corner 10211, composition ⿱二儿)

Derived characters

References

  • KangXi: page 123, character 6
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1340
  • Dae Jaweon: page 258, character 3
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 264, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+5143

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 元

Glyph origin

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

j00003

j00004

j00005

j00006

j00007

j00008

j00009

j00010

j00011

j00012

j00013

j00014
Bronze inscriptions

b00016

b00017

b00018

b00019

b00020

b00021

b00022

b00023

b00024

b00025

b00026

b00027

b00028

b00029

b00030

b00031

b00032

b00033

b00034

b00035

b00036

b00037

b00038

b00039

b00040

b00041

b00042

b00043

b00044

b00045

b00046

b00047

b00048

b00049

b00050

b00051

b00052

b00053
Large seal script

L32110

L32111

L32112

L32113

L32114

L07440

L07442

L07443

L07444

L07445

L07446

L07447

L07448

L07449

L07450

L07451

L07452

L07453

L07454
Small seal script

s00003
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 (元) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
冠 *kŋoːn, *kŋoːns
莞 *kŋoːn, *ɦŋoːn, *ɦŋroːnʔ
脘 *ŋkoːnʔ
筦 *ŋkoːnʔ
梡 *ŋ̥ʰoːnʔ, *ɦŋoːn, *ɦŋoːnʔ
岏 *ŋoːn
刓 *ŋoːn
园 *ŋoːn
忨 *ŋoːn, *ŋoːns
蚖 *ŋoːn, *ŋon
黿 *ŋoːn, *ŋon
抏 *ŋoːn
玩 *ŋoːns
貦 *ŋoːns
翫 *ŋoːns
妧 *ŋoːns
完 *ɦŋoːn
捖 *ɦŋoːn
垸 *ɦŋoːn, *ɦŋoːns
綄 *ɦŋoːn, *ɦŋoːnʔ
院 *ɦŋoːn, *ɦŋons
皖 *ɦŋoːnʔ, *ɦŋroːnʔ
晥 *ɦŋoːnʔ
浣 *ɦŋoːnʔ
頑 *ŋroːn, *ŋroːn
睆 *ɦŋroːnʔ
鯇 *ɦŋroːnʔ
元 *ŋon
沅 *ŋon
芫 *ŋon
杬 *ŋon
邧 *ŋon, *ŋonʔ
阮 *ŋon, *ŋonʔ
俒 *ɦŋuːn, *ɦŋuːns

Pictogram (象形) – a figure with two lines 二 for a head (one connected to body, one above it), emphasizing the head.

Pronunciation

  • Dialectal data▼
Variety Location 元
Mandarin Beijing /yan³⁵/
Harbin /yan²⁴/
Tianjin /yan⁴⁵/
Jinan /yã⁴²/
Qingdao /yã⁴²/
Zhengzhou /yan⁴²/
Xi'an /yã²⁴/
Xining /yã²⁴/
Yinchuan /yan⁵³/
Lanzhou /yɛ̃n⁵³/
Ürümqi /yan⁵¹/
Wuhan /yɛn²¹³/
Chengdu /yan³¹/
Guiyang /ian²¹/
Kunming /iɛ̃³¹/
Nanjing /yen²⁴/
Hefei /yĩ⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /ye¹¹/
Pingyao /ye̞¹³/
Hohhot /ye³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ȵyø²³/
/ɦyø²³/
Suzhou /ɦiø¹³/
Hangzhou /ɦyõ²¹³/
Wenzhou /ȵy³¹/
Hui Shexian /ue⁴⁴/
Tunxi /ȵyɛ⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /yẽ¹³/
Xiangtan /yẽ¹²/
Gan Nanchang /ȵyɵn⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /ŋian¹¹/
Taoyuan /ŋien¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /jyn²¹/
Nanning /yn²¹/
Hong Kong /jyn²¹/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /guan³⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /ŋuoŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /ŋyiŋ³³/
Shantou (Min Nan) /ŋuaŋ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Min Nan) /zuaŋ³¹/
Rime
Character 元
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 元 (66)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 愚袁切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ŋʉɐn/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ŋʷiɐn/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ŋiuɐn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ŋuan/
Li
Rong		 /ŋiuɐn/
Wang
Li		 /ŋĭwɐn/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ŋi̯wɐn/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 yuán
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 元
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 yuán
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ ngjwon ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[ŋ]o[r]/ (< nasal + uvular)
English head; first

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 元
Reading # 1/1
No. 16145
Phonetic
component		 元
Rime
group		 元
Rime
subdivision		 3
Corresponding
MC rime		 元
Old
Chinese		 /*ŋon/

Definitions

元

  1. †head
    Synonyms: 頭／头 (tóu)
  2. first; primary; head; chief
  3. basic; fundamental
  4. origin; source
  5. Classifier for yuan or dollars.
    Synonyms: 圓／圆 (yuán)
  6. (mathematics) unknown variable
  7. Short for 元朝 (Yuáncháo, “Yuan Dynasty”).
  8. A surname​.

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

元

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Kanji in this term
元
もと
Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Noun

元 ‎(hiragana もと, romaji moto)

  1. cause, origin
  2. basis, foundation
  3. cost
    元 (もと)がとれる
    moto ga toreru
    to be able to cover the cost
  4. (finance) capital
  5. principal

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Proper noun

元 ‎(hiragana はじめ, romaji Hajime)

  1. A male given name

Korean

Hanja

元 • ‎(won)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul): 원 (McCune-Reischauer: wŏn)
  • Name (hangeul): 으뜸()
  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

元 (nguyên, nguyễn)

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

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