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Definition 2025
水
水
Translingual
| Stroke order | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
Alternative forms
- 氵 (when used as a left Chinese radical)
Han character
水 (radical 85 水+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 水 (E), four-corner 12230)
- Kangxi radical #85, ⽔ (“water”).
Derived characters
- Index:Chinese radical/水
- 尿 𤆩 𤆲
References
- KangXi: page 603, character 1
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17083
- Dae Jaweon: page 992, character 9
- Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 1545, character 1
- Unihan data for U+6C34
Chinese
|
simp. and trad. |
水 | |
|---|---|---|
Glyph origin
| Historical forms of the character 水
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Bamboo and silk script | Large seal script | Small seal script |
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| Characters in the same phonetic series (水) (Zhengzhang, 2003) | |
|---|---|
| Old Chinese | |
| 沝 | *qʷljilʔ |
| 水 | *qʰʷljilʔ |
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese
- Gan (Wiktionary): sui3
- Hakka (Sixian, PFS): súi
- Jin (Wiktionary): sui2
- Min Dong (BUC): cūi
- Min Nan
- Wu (Wiktionary): sr (T2)
- Xiang (Wiktionary): xyei3
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄟˇ
- Wade-Giles: shui3
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shoei
- IPA (key): /ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴/
-
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Jyutping: seoi2
- Yale: séui
- Cantonese Pinyin: soey2
- IPA (key): /sɵy̯³⁵/
-
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
- Wiktionary: sui2
- IPA (key): /sui⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Gan
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: súi
- Hakka Romanization System: sui`
- Hagfa Pinyim: sui3
- IPA: /su̯i³¹/
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Jin
- Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: cūi
- IPA (key): /t͡sui³³/
- (Fuzhou)
- Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chúi / súi
- Tâi-lô: tsuí / suí
- Phofsit Daibuun: zuie, suie
- IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sui⁵³/, /sui⁵³/
- IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sui⁵⁵⁴/, /sui⁵⁵⁴/
- IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sui⁵³/, /sui⁵³/
- IPA (Taipei): /t͡sui⁵³/, /sui⁵³/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sui⁴¹/, /sui⁴¹/
- Note: chúi - vernacular; súi - literary.
- (Teochew)
- Peng'im: zui2
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsúi
- IPA (key): /t͡sui⁵²/
-
- (Hokkien)
- Wu
- (Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: sr (T2)
- IPA (key): /sz̩³⁴/
- (Shanghainese)
- Xiang
- Dialectal data▼
| Variety | Location | 水 |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | Beijing | /ʂuei²¹⁴/ |
| Harbin |
/ʂuei²¹³/ /suei²¹³/ |
|
| Tianjin | /suei¹³/ | |
| Jinan | /ʂuei⁵⁵/ | |
| Qingdao | /ʂue⁵⁵/ | |
| Zhengzhou | /ʂuei⁵³/ | |
| Xi'an | /fei⁵³/ | |
| Xining | /fɨ⁵³/ | |
| Yinchuan | /ʂuei⁵³/ | |
| Lanzhou | /fei⁴⁴²/ | |
| Ürümqi |
/ʂuei⁵¹/ /fei⁵¹/ |
|
| Wuhan | /suei⁴²/ | |
| Chengdu | /suei⁵³/ | |
| Guiyang | /suei⁴²/ | |
| Kunming | /ʂuei⁵³/ | |
| Nanjing | /ʂuəi²¹²/ | |
| Hefei | /ʂue²⁴/ | |
| Jin | Taiyuan | /suei⁵³/ |
| Pingyao | /suei⁵³/ | |
| Hohhot | /suei⁵³/ | |
| Wu | Shanghai | /sz̩³⁵/ |
| Suzhou | /sz̩ʷ⁵¹/ | |
| Hangzhou | /sz̩ʷei⁵³/ | |
| Wenzhou | /sz̩³⁵/ | |
| Hui | Shexian |
/ɕye³⁵/ /ɕy³⁵/ |
| Tunxi | /ɕy³¹/ | |
| Xiang | Changsha | /ɕyei⁴¹/ |
| Xiangtan | /ɕyəi⁴²/ | |
| Gan | Nanchang | /sui²¹³/ |
| Hakka | Meixian | /sui³¹/ |
| Taoyuan | /ʃui³¹/ | |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | /søy³⁵/ |
| Nanning | /sui³⁵/ | |
| Hong Kong | /søy³⁵/ | |
| Min | Xiamen (Min Nan) |
/sui⁵³/ /t͡sui⁵³/ |
| Fuzhou (Min Dong) | /t͡suoi³²/ | |
| Jian'ou (Min Bei) | /sy²¹/ | |
| Shantou (Min Nan) | /t͡sui⁵³/ | |
| Haikou (Min Nan) |
/sui³¹/ /tui²¹³/ |
| Rime | |
|---|---|
| Character | 水 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 書 (26) |
| Final (韻) | 脂 (18) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Closed |
| Division (等) | Chongniu III |
| Fanqie | 式軌切 |
| Reconstructions | |
| Zhengzhang Shangfang |
/ɕˠiuɪX/ |
| Pan Wuyun |
/ɕʷᵚiX/ |
| Shao Rongfen |
/ɕiuɪX/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank |
/ɕjwiX/ |
| Li Rong |
/ɕjuiX/ |
| Wang Li |
/ɕwiX/ |
| Bernard Karlgren |
/ɕwiX/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex |
shuǐ |
| Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 水 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) |
shuǐ |
| Middle Chinese |
‹ sywijX › |
| Old Chinese |
/*s.turʔ/ (E dialect: *-r > *-j) |
| English | water; river |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 水 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 11948 |
| Phonetic component |
水 |
| Rime group |
脂 |
| Rime subdivision |
2 |
| Corresponding MC rime |
水 |
| Old Chinese |
/*qʰʷljilʔ/ |
Definitions
水
- water
- liquid; potion; juice
- river
- body of water
- waterway
- flood
- additional cost or income
- Classifier for the number of times clothing was washed.
- A surname.
- Sui people
- 水書 / 水书 ― shuǐshū ― Shuishu (the traditional writing system of the Sui people)
Compounds
- ⇒ Appendix:Chinese compounds/水
Descendants
Japanese
Kanji
- (cold) water
- “water” radical (みず)
Readings
- Goon: すい (sui)
- Kan’on: すい (sui)
- Kun: みず (mizu) < みづ (midu)
- Nanori: うず (uzu), ずみ (zumi), つ (tsu), ど (do), み (mi), みさ (misa), みつ (mitsu), みな (mina), みん (min)
Compounds
|
|
|
Etymology 1
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 水 |
|
み Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi |
/mi1/ → /mi/
From Old Japanese. Typically found in compounds.[1] May be a contraction of mizu below.
Pronunciation
Noun
Derived terms
Etymology 2
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 水 |
|
みず Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi |
/mi1du/ → /midu/ → /mid͡zu → /mizu/
From Old Japanese. Possibly cognate with Korean 물 (mul, “water”); compare Middle Korean 밀 (mil, “water”).
Pronunciation
Noun
水 (hiragana みず, romaji mizu, historical hiragana みづ)
Derived terms
Idioms
|
Prefix
水 (hiragana みず, romaji mizu-, historical hiragana みづ)
Related terms
- 瑞 (mizu-): young and fresh
Etymology 3
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 水 |
|
すい Grade: 1 |
| on'yomi |
From Middle Chinese 水 (sywijX, “water”).
Pronunciation
Noun
- one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see the "Wu Xing" entry on Wikipedia
Etymology 4
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 水 |
|
もい Grade: 1 |
| Irregular |
From the meaning of “that which goes in the 盌 (moi, “bowl”)”.[1][2]
Pronunciation
- (Irregular reading)
- IPA(key): [mo̞i]
Noun
水 (hiragana もい, romaji moi, historical hiragana もひ)
References
- 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
Korean
Hanja
水 • (su)
Eumhun:
- Sound (hangeul): 수 (revised: su, McCune-Reischauer: su, Yale: swu)
- Name (hangeul): 물 (revised: mul, McCune-Reischauer: mul, Yale: mul)
Compounds
Miyako
Kanji
水 (mizu, mikɯ) (hiragana みず)
Etymology
Cognate with mainland Japanese 水 (mizu), Old Japanese 水 (midu).
Noun
水 (mizu, mikɯ) (hiragana みず)
References
Northern Amami-Oshima
Kanji
水 (mïzï) (hiragana むぃずぃ)
Etymology
Cognate with mainland Japanese 水 (mizu), Old Japanese 水 (midu).
Noun
水 (mïzï) (hiragana むぃずぃ)
Oki-No-Erabu
Kanji
水 (miji) (hiragana みじ)
Etymology
Cognate with mainland Japanese 水 (mizu), Old Japanese 水 (midu).
Noun
水 (miji) (hiragana みじ)
Okinawan
Kanji
水 (miji) (hiragana みじ)
Compounds
Etymology
From earlier 水 (みづ, midzu/midu), attested in 1711 in the Konkoukenshuu (混効験集). The word underwent a pronunciation change due to the shifting of /u/ to /i/ after alveolar consonants. Cognate with mainland Japanese 水 (mizu), Old Japanese 水 (midu).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mid͡ʑi/
Noun
水 (miji) (hiragana みじ)
Derived terms
Southern Amami-Oshima
Kanji
水 (mïdi) (hiragana むぃでぃ)
Etymology
Cognate with mainland Japanese 水 (mizu), Old Japanese 水 (midu).
Noun
水 (mïdi) (hiragana むぃでぃ)
Yonaguni
Kanji
水 (min) (hiragana みん)
Etymology
Cognate with mainland Japanese 水 (mizu), Old Japanese 水 (midu). Possibly also related to Korean 물 (mul, “water”), Middle Korean 밀 (mil, “water”).
Noun
水 (min) (hiragana みん)
References
- The Languages of Japan and Korea (2012), section Yonaguni, page 415 (as miɴ)





