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Definition 2024


See also: , 𠬠, and

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

(radical 67 文+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 卜大 (YK), four-corner 00400, composition)

  1. Kangxi radical #67, (script).

References

  • KangXi: page 477, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 13450
  • Dae Jaweon: page 831, character 39
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 2169, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+6587

Chinese

simp. and trad.

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bamboo and silk script Large seal script Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series () (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
*mrɯn
*mrɯn
*mrɯn, *mɯn, *mɯns
*mrɯn
*mrɯn
*mɯːl
*mɯːl
*mɯːl
*mɯn
*mɯn
*mɯn
*mɯn
*mɯn
*mɯn
*mɯn
*mɯn, *mɯns
*mɯnʔ, *mɯns
*mɯns

Ideogram (指事) : a man with a painted or tattooed chest – original form of . In current form, tattoo has vanished, so simply an outline of a man (head, outstretched arms, legs, chest). Compare , which has no chest.

Pronunciation



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location
Mandarin Beijing /uən³⁵/
Harbin /uən²⁴/
Tianjin /vən⁴⁵/
Jinan /uẽ⁴²/
Qingdao /və̃⁴²/
Zhengzhou /uən⁴²/
Xi'an /vẽ²⁴/
Xining /uə̃²⁴/
Yinchuan /vəŋ⁵³/
Lanzhou /və̃n⁵³/
Ürümqi /vɤŋ⁵¹/
Wuhan /uən²¹³/
Chengdu /uən³¹/
Guiyang /uen²¹/
Kunming /uə̃³¹/
Nanjing /un²⁴/
Hefei /uən⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /vəŋ¹¹/
Pingyao /uŋ¹³/
Hohhot /və̃ŋ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /vəŋ²³/
Suzhou /vən¹³/
Hangzhou /ven²¹³/
Wenzhou /vaŋ³¹/
Hui Shexian /uʌ̃⁴⁴/
Tunxi /uɛ⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /uən¹³/
Xiangtan /uən¹²/
Gan Nanchang /un⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /vun¹¹/
Taoyuan /vun¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /mɐn²¹/
Nanning /mɐn²¹/
Hong Kong /mɐn²¹/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /bun³⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /uŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /uɔŋ²¹/
Shantou (Min Nan) /buŋ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Min Nan) /vun³¹/
/mui³¹/ ~昌

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (4)
Final () (59)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division () III
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/mɨun/
Pan
Wuyun
/miun/
Shao
Rongfen
/miuən/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/mun/
Li
Rong
/miuən/
Wang
Li
/mĭuən/
Bernard
Karlgren
/mi̯uən/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
wén
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
wén
Middle
Chinese
‹ mjun ›
Old
Chinese
/*mə[n]/
English ornate

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 # 1/1
No. 13015
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*mɯn/

Definitions

  1. Original form of (wén, “mark, pattern, design, tattoo, decoration”).
  2. Original form of (wén, “to tattoo”).
       wénshēn   to tattoo
       wénmiàn   face tattoo
  3. to cover
    /    wénguò   to cover one's fault
    過飾非 / 过饰非   wénguòshìfēi   to whitewash
  4. writing; literary composition; literature
       wénjiàn   document
       wénzhāng   article, essay
  5. literary
  6. Short for 文讀文读 (wéndú, “literary reading”).
  7. written language
    Antonyms: ()
       zhōngwén   Chinese
       yīngwén   English
  8. culture
       wénhuà   culture
       wénmíng   civilization
  9. civil, civilian
    /    wénzhí   civilian post
       wénguān   civil official
       wén   civilian and military
  10. refined; educated; cultured; intellectual
       wén   refined, cultured
       wén   elegant, refined
       wénrén   scholar
  11. Classifier for coins.
  12. A surname.

Compounds


Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
もん
Grade: 1
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese (mjun, ornate; a kind of coin; language, literature, a letter, a character).

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana もん, romaji mon)

  1. the mon, an old currency
  2. a unit of length for measuring the size of one's foot (from the way that the mon coins would be lined up and used as a kind of inch marker)
  3. a character, a letter
  4. writing, something written
  5. a magical spell
  6. (also spelled ) a design, a pattern
  7. (also spelled ) a 家紋 (kamon, family crest)
Usage notes

The design and crest senses are more often spelled .

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
ぶん
Grade: 1
on'yomi

A later borrowing from Middle Chinese. Compare modern Min Nan reading bûn, Hakka vûn.

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana ぶん, romaji bun)

  1. (grammar) a sentence
  2. writing, composition
  3. a design or pattern as decoration
  4. literature, learning, scholarship
  5. elegance, refinement (especially of writing or wording)
  6. a saying, an aphorism, a proverb
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
ふみ
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Possibly a shift from an older Middle Chinese-derived reading pun.[3] Earlier Japanese writing was ambiguous regarding the final n sound spelled in modern Japanese, with this sound often spelled (and possibly pronounced) as (mu) instead.

*/pumu//pumi//ɸumi/

This reading appears in the Heian period, in works such as The Tale of Genji.[3][1]

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana ふみ, romaji fumi)

  1. writing, something written
  2. a letter (written communication), an epistle
  3. (archaic) study, scholarship (especially of classical Chinese)
  4. a style of 家紋 (kamon, family crest)
Synonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
あや
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Uncertain. Appears in texts from the early Heian period.[3][1]

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana あや, romaji aya)

  1. (also spelled , )
    1. a pattern, a design, especially one with diagonally crossing lines
    2. a diagonal crossing
    3. a flowery expression or turn of phrase
    4. a plot, a scheme
    5. a refrain or recurring phrase in a piece of music
    6. a harder vein or grain in a leaf or piece of wood or bamboo
    7. a stain, a blemish
    8. a mediator, a go-between (apparently from the way that a go-between can make the relationship more indirect and indistinct)
    9. a small indistinct fluctuation in a trend line
  2. (also spelled , )
    1. a kind of woven silk textile with a diagonally crossing pattern
    2. short for 綾織 (ayaori): a twill weave; someone who weaves twill
    3. short for 綾竹 (ayadake): in a loom, a bamboo pole placed between the heddle and the back beam or platen, used to improve the handling
    4. short for 綾取り (ayatori): cat's cradle
Usage notes

For the second group of senses, the spelling is more common.

Derived terms

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  2. 1 2 3 4 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0
  3. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Hanja

(mun)
Eumhun:

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

Compounds


Vietnamese

Han character

(văn, vấn)

Compounds