Translingual

Han character

彼 (radical 60 彳+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 竹人木竹水 (HODHE), four-corner 2424₇, composition ⿰彳皮)

References

• KangXi: page 365, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10066
• Dae Jaweon: page 685, character 18
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 817, character 10
• Unihan data for U+5F7C

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *pralʔ) : semantic 彳 + phonetic 皮 ‎(OC *bral).

Pronunciation

Definitions

彼

1. other; that; those

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: ひ (hi)
• Kan’on: ひ (hi)
• Kun: あ (a) (non-Jōyō reading), あの (彼の, ano) (non-Jōyō reading), あれ (are) (non-Jōyō reading), あれ (彼れ, are) (non-Jōyō reading), か (ka), かれ (kare), かの (kano), かの (彼の, kano) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Nanori: その (sono)

Compounds

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) か​ [káꜜ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠]

Pronoun

彼 ‎(hiragana か, romaji ka)

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese. Compound of 彼 ‎(ka, “that, yon”) +‎ れ ‎(re, nominalizing suffix for demonstratives). Found in the Man'yōshū compiled around 759.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) か​れ [káꜜrè] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɺ̠e̞]

Pronoun

彼 ‎(hiragana かれ, romaji kare)

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon
   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 18, poem 4045)

     於伎敝欲里 美知久流之保能 伊也麻之尓 安我毛布支見我 弥不根可母加礼

2. third person pronoun: he, she
   1. particularly, male personal third person pronoun: he
   2. by extension from he: boyfriend

Synonyms

• (boyfriend): 彼氏 (かれし) ‎(kareshi)

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Compound of 彼 ‎(ka, “that, yon”) +‎ の ‎(no, possessive particle).^[2][1]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) か​の [káꜜnò] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [kã̠no̞]

Pronoun

彼 ‎(hiragana かの, romaji kano)

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon
2. third person pronoun: he, she, it

Usage notes

The term kano has been mostly replaced by あの ‎(ano) in modern Japanese. Kano is still in use, but is viewed as more formal and archaic.^[2]

Derived terms

Etymology 4

/ka/ → /a/

Shift in pronunciation from ka above. Appears from the Heian period.^[2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [a̠]

Pronoun

彼 ‎(hiragana あ, romaji a)

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon

Derived terms

See also

• 此, 是, 之 (ko, kore)
• 其 (so, sore)

Etymology 5

Compound of 彼 ‎(a, “that, yon”) +‎ れ ‎(re, nominalizing suffix for demonstratives).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) あれ [àré] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [a̠ɺ̠e̞]

Pronoun

彼 ‎(hiragana あれ, romaji are)

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon
2. third person pronoun: he, she, it
3. second person pronoun: you
4. a euphemism for sex: it

See also

• 此, 是, 之 (ko, kore)
• 其 (so, sore)

Usage notes

More often spelled in hiragana, as あれ.

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Hanja

彼 • ‎(pi)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 피()

• Name (hangeul): 저, 그, 저쪽()

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Vietnamese

Han character

彼 (bỉ, bể, bở)

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