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Definition 2024

兩

兩

兩 U+5169, 兩
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5169
← 全
[U+5168] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 兪 →
[U+516A]
See also: 両 and 两

Translingual

Traditional 兩
Shinjitai 両
Simplified 两
Stroke order

Han character

兩 (radical 11 入+6, 8 strokes, cangjie input 一中月人 (MLBO), four-corner 10227, composition ⿱一⿻巾𠓜 or ⿱一⿻巾从)

References

  • KangXi: page 126, character 13
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1436
  • Dae Jaweon: page 272, character 11
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 24, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+5169

Chinese

trad. 兩
simp. 两
alt. forms 両

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 兩
Bronze inscriptions

b11978

b11979

b11980

b11981

b11982

b11983

b11984

b11985

b11986

b11987

b11988

b11989

b11990

b11991

b11992
Large seal script

L35075

L35076
Small seal script

s05489
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 (兩) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
倆 *raŋʔ
兩 *raŋʔ, *raŋs
脼 *raŋʔ
緉 *raŋʔ, *raŋs
蜽 *raŋʔ
魎 *raŋʔ
輛 *raŋs

Two 丙 side by side. 丙 (OC *pqraŋʔ) was originally phonetic for 兩 (OC *raŋʔ, *raŋs).

Etymology 1

Derivative: 輛 (OC *raŋs, “chariot”) (“paired > a set of wheels”).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 兩 兩
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Initial (聲) 來 (37) 來 (37)
Final (韻) 陽 (105) 陽 (105)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) III III
Fanqie 良㢡切 力讓切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /lɨɐŋX/ /lɨɐŋH/
Pan
Wuyun		 /liɐŋX/ /liɐŋH/
Shao
Rongfen		 /liɑŋX/ /liɑŋH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /lɨaŋX/ /lɨaŋH/
Li
Rong		 /liaŋX/ /liaŋH/
Wang
Li		 /lĭaŋX/ /lĭaŋH/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /li̯aŋX/ /li̯aŋH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 liǎng liàng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 兩
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 liǎng
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ ljangX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*p.raŋʔ/
English a pair

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 兩 兩
Reading # 1/2 2/2
No. 8054 8061
Phonetic
component		 兩 兩
Rime
group		 陽 陽
Rime
subdivision		 0 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 亮
Old
Chinese		 /*raŋʔ/ /*raŋs/
Notes 後作輛

Definitions

兩

  1. two
  2. some; few
Synonyms
  • 二 (èr, “two”)
Usage notes

Compounds

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Definitions

兩

  1. tael (an ancient unit of weight for silver, approximately 40 grams)
  2. market tael (市兩／市两) (equal to 50 grams)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (兩):

Japanese

Kanji

兩

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 両)

  1. both

Readings

Alternative forms

  • 两 (also kyūjitai)

Korean

Hanja

兩 • ‎(ryang) (hangeul 량, revised ryang, McCune-Reischauer ryang)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

兩 (lưỡng, lạng)

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

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