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Definition 2024


Translingual

Han character

(radical 85 +5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 水一弓口 (EMNR), four-corner 31120, composition)

References

  • KangXi: page 613, character 9
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17245
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1006, character 8
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 3, page 1582, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+6CB3

Chinese

simp. and trad.

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Large seal script Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series () (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
*ɡ·raːlʔ
*kaːl
*kaːl, *ɡaːl
*kaːl
*kaːl
*kaːl
*kaːl
*kaːl
*kaːl
*kaːlʔ
*kaːlʔ
*kaːlʔ, *kaːnʔ
*kʰaːl, *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
*kʰaːl
*kʰaːlʔ
*kʰaːlʔ
*kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
*kʰaːls, *ɡaːl
*qʰaːl, *qʰaːls
*qʰaːl
*qʰaːl
*qʰaːls, *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
*ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
*ɡaːl
*ɡaːl
*ɡaːl
*ɡaːls
*qaːl
*qaːl, *qaːlʔ
*qaːl, *kʰraːls
*qaːl
娿 *qaːl, *qaːlʔ
*qaːl
*kʰraːlʔ
*qʰraːlʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ɡaːl) : semantic  + phonetic  (OC *kʰaːlʔ).

Etymology

Originally particularly used for the Yellow River, with other rivers known as (OC *qʰʷljilʔ). Later extended generally as a word for rivers in northern China but the influence of (OC *kroːŋ, “Yangtze River; river in southern China”) has meant that modern usage tends to favor it for shorter rivers and creeks except in historical cases.

External etymology uncertain. Various hypotheses have been proposed:

  • Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan རྒལ་བ (rgal ba, to cross, to traverse) (Coblin, 1986).
  • An Altaic loan. Compare Proto-Mongolic *gowl (river) > Mongolian ᠭᠣᠣᠯ (ɣool, river) (Mei and Norman, 1976). This was argued against in Zhang (1998).
  • Derived from (OC *ɡaː, “lake”) (Matisoff, 1995).

Pronunciation



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location
Mandarin Beijing /xɤ³⁵/
Harbin /xɤ²⁴/
Tianjin /xɤ⁴⁵/
Jinan /xə⁴²/
Qingdao /xə⁴²/
/xuə⁴²/
Zhengzhou /xɤ⁴²/
Xi'an /xuo²⁴/
Xining /xu²⁴/
Yinchuan /xə⁵³/
Lanzhou /xə⁵³/
Ürümqi /xɤ⁵¹/
Wuhan /xuo²¹³/
Chengdu /xo³¹/
Guiyang /xo²¹/
Kunming /xo³¹/
Nanjing /xo²⁴/
Hefei /xʊ⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /xɤ¹¹/
Pingyao /xɔ¹³/
/xei¹³/
Hohhot /xɤ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /vu²³/
Suzhou /ɦəu¹³/
Hangzhou /ɦo²¹³/
Wenzhou /vu³¹/
Hui Shexian /xo⁴⁴/
Tunxi /xo⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /xo¹³/
Xiangtan /ɦo¹²/
Gan Nanchang /ho²⁴/
Hakka Meixian /ho¹¹/
Taoyuan /ho¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /hɔ²¹/
Nanning /hɔ²¹/
Hong Kong /hɔ²¹/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /ho³⁵/
/o³⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /o⁵³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /ɔ²¹/
Shantou (Min Nan) /ho⁵⁵/
Haikou (Min Nan) /ho³¹/

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (33)
Final () (94)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ɦɑ/
Pan
Wuyun
/ɦɑ/
Shao
Rongfen
/ɣɑ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ɦa/
Li
Rong
/ɣɑ/
Wang
Li
/ɣɑ/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ɣɑ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
Middle
Chinese
‹ ha ›
Old
Chinese
/*[C.ɡ]ˤaj/
English river

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. 7459
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ɡaːl/

Definitions

  1. Yellow River
    1. (Chinese mythology) Hebo; the god of the Yellow River
    2. (Chinese mythology) Yellow River's Map; the plan of the Yellow River (mystic diagram said to have been supernaturally revealed)
  2. (by extension) river, especially a smaller river, creek, or stream, as distinguished from and
       liú   river
       xiǎo   small river, stream
  3. streamside; riverside
  4. (figuratively) Milky Way
  5. A surname: He; Ho

Compounds


Japanese

Kanji

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. river

Readings

Compounds

Alternative forms


Korean

Hanja

(ha) (hangeul , McCune-Reischauer ha, Yale ha)

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

Vietnamese

Noun

(, nghiệp, xương)

  1. river