Wiktionary

世

世 U+4E16, 世
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E16
← 丕
[U+4E15] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 丗 →
[U+4E17]

Translingual edit

Stroke order
 
Stroke order
 

Han character edit

世 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+4, 5 strokes, cangjie input 心廿 (PT), four-corner 44717, composition ⿻廿𠃊)

Derived characters edit

Descendants edit

Further reading edit

Chinese Wikisource has digitized text of the Kangxi Dictionary entry for 世:
[[wikisource:zh:康熙字典/一部/四畫#世|一部/四畫]]

Wikisource


  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 77, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 31
  • Dae Jaweon: page 155, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 14, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+4E16

Chinese edit

simp. and trad.
 世
alternative forms
 
丗 ancient
卋
㔺
𠀍
𠦔
丗 ancient
卋
㔺
𠀍
𠦔
𬆑

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character 世
Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
     
Bronze inscriptions
 

b02948

 

b02949

 

b02950

 

b02951

 

b02952

 

b02953

 

b02954

 

b02955

 

b02956

 

b02957

 

b02958

 

b02959

 

b02960

 

b02961

 

b02962

 

b02963

 

b02964

 

b02965

 

b02966

 

b02967

 

b02968

 

b02969

 

b02970

 

b02971

 

b02972

Small seal script
 

s01647

Transcribed ancient scripts
 

L35781

 

L35782

 

L35783

 

L35784

 

L35785

 

L35786

 

L35787

 

L35788

 

L35789

 

L35790

 

L35791

 

L35792

 

L35793

 

L19868

 

L19869

 

L19870

 

L19871

 

L19872

 

L19873

 

L19874

 

L19875

 

L19876

 

L19877

 

L19878

 

L19879

 

L19880

 

L19881

 

L19882

 

L19883

 

L19884

 

L19885

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 (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (世) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
貰 *ɦljebs, *hljebs
跇 *l̥ʰebs, *lebs
迣 *ʔljebs
世 *hljebs
泄 *lebs, *sled
枻 *lebs
詍 *lebs
靾 *lebs
袣 *lebs
抴 *lebs, *led
呭 *lebs
勩 *lebs, *libs
屜 *l̥ʰeːbs
鰈 *l̥ʰaːb, *l'eːb
渫 *zreːb, *sled
煠 *zreːb, *l̥ʰeb, *leb
喋 *rlaːb, *ʔl'eːb, *l'eːb
鞢 *rlaːb, *sleːb
殜 *l'eb, *leb, *lab
葉 *hljeb, *leb
弽 *hljeb, *hleːb
韘 *hljeb, *sleːb
枼 *leb
楪 *leb
揲 *leb, *l'eːb, *ɦljed
鍱 *leb
偞 *leb, *hleːb
蝶 *l̥ʰeːb, *l'eːb
牒 *l'eːb
蹀 *l'eːb
諜 *l'eːb
堞 *l'eːb
牃 *l'eːb
褋 *l'eːb
惵 *l'eːb
碟 *l'eːb
屧 *sleːb
屟 *sleːb
紲 *sled
齛 *sled
疶 *sled
緤 *sled
媟 *sled

Etymology edit

世 (OC *hljebs) is derived from iterative devoicing of 葉 (OC *leb, “leaf”) + *-s suffix, meaning successive foliages of a tree > generations. Compare Tibetan ལོ་མ (lo ma, “leaf”), Western Tibetan ལོབ་མ (lob ma, “leaf”) and Tibetan ལོ (lo, “year”).

Pronunciation edit

Note:
  • Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taiwan:
    • sì - vernacular;
    • sè - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 世
Mandarin Beijing /ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
Harbin /ʂʐ̩⁵³/
Tianjin /ʂʐ̩⁵³/
Jinan /ʂʐ̩²¹/
Qingdao /ʃz̩⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ʂʐ̩³¹²/
Xi'an /ʂʐ̩⁴⁴/
Xining /ʂʐ̩²¹³/
Yinchuan /ʂʐ̩¹³/
Lanzhou /ʂʐ̩¹³/
Ürümqi /ʂʐ̩²¹³/
Wuhan /sz̩³⁵/
Chengdu /sz̩¹³/
Guiyang /sz̩²¹³/
Kunming /ʂʐ̩²¹²/
Nanjing /ʂʐ̩⁴⁴/
Hefei /ʂʐ̩⁵³/
Jin Taiyuan /sz̩⁴⁵/
Pingyao /ʂʐ̩³⁵/
Hohhot /sz̩⁵⁵/
Wu Shanghai /sz̩³⁵/
Suzhou /sz̩ʷ⁵¹³/
Hangzhou /sz̩⁴⁴⁵/
Wenzhou /sei⁴²/
Hui Shexian /ɕi³²⁴/
Tunxi /ɕie⁴²/
/ɕi¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
Xiangtan /ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
Gan Nanchang /sz̩⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /sz̩⁵³/
Taoyuan /ʃï⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /sɐi³⁵/
Nanning /sɐi³³/
Hong Kong /sɐi³³/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /se²¹/
/si²¹/
/sua²¹/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /siɛ²¹²/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /si³³/
Shantou (Teochew) /si²¹³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ti³⁵/
Rime
Character 世
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 書 (26)
Final (韻) 祭 (35)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 舒制切
Baxter syejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ɕiᴇiH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ɕiɛiH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ɕjæiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ɕiajH/
Li
Rong 		/ɕiɛiH/
Wang
Li 		/ɕĭɛiH/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/ɕi̯ɛiH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		shì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		sai3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 世
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		shì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ syejH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*l̥ap-s/
English generation

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 世
Reading # 1/1
No. 11537
Phonetic
component 		世
Rime
group 		蓋
Rime
subdivision 		2
Corresponding
MC rime 		丗
Old
Chinese 		/*hljebs/
Notes 本枼葉初文（文源）

Definitions edit

世

  1. generation
    世代  ―  shìdài  ―  generation
    德皇威廉二世  ―  déhuáng Wēilián èr shì  ―  Kaiser Wilhelm II
  2. (literary, or in compounds) for many generations; spanning many generations
    世襲／世袭  ―  shìxí  ―  to inherit; to succeed
    世仇  ―  shìchóu  ―  hereditary enemy
  3. (in terms of address) longstanding friendship between two families; generations of family friendship
    世伯  ―  shìbó  ―  uncle (friend of one's father)
  4. lifetime; all one's life; one's whole life
    一生一世  ―  yīshēngyīshì  ―  all one's life
    下世 [Cantonese]  ―  haa6 sai3 [Jyutping]  ―  next life
  5. era; period; time
    當今之世／当今之世  ―  dāngjīn zhī shì  ―  at present; nowadays
  6. (geology) epoch (geochronologic unit)
    全新世  ―  quánxīnshì  ―  holocene
  7. world; people in the world
    世界  ―  shìjiè  ―  world
    在世  ―  zàishì  ―  alive
  8. (literary, or in compounds) dynasty; regime
  9. (literary, or in compounds) year; age
  10. (literary, or in compounds) worldly; profane; secular
    人情世故  ―  rénqíngshìgù  ―  ways of the world
  11. a surname

Synonyms edit

  • (generation): 代 (dài)
  • (for many generations):
  • (lifetime):
  • (era):
  • (world):
  • (dynasty):

Compounds edit

References edit

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

世

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings edit

Compounds edit

Compounds

Etymology 1 edit

Kanji in this term
世
よ
Grade: 3
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
代

⟨yo2⟩ → /yo/

From Old Japanese, pronunciation is distinct from 夜 (/⁠yo1⁠/, “night, nighttime”).

Change in meaning of 節 (yo), in the sense of the bamboos and reeds bulging at certain intervals.[1]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

世(よ) • (yo) 

  1. world, society
  2. this world, this life
    Synonym: 俗世間 (zoku seken)
  3. (archaic) generation, age, era
  4. lifetime
    Synonym: 一生 (isshō)
  5. lifespan
    Synonym: 寿命 (jumyō)
  6. time of year, season
    Synonyms: 時節 (jisetsu), 時期 (jiki), 折 (ori)
  7. relationship between a man and a woman
  8. period of a person leading as a patriarch (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
Derived terms edit
Derived terms

Etymology 2 edit

Kanji in this term
世
せい
Grade: 3
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 世 (MC syejH). The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Counter edit

世(せい) • (-sei) 

  1. generation
    ルパン三(さん)世(せい)
    Rupan-sansei
    Lupin the Third

Suffix edit

世(せい) • (-sei) 

  1. (geology) epoch

Proper noun edit

世(せい) • (Sei) 

  1. a female given name

References edit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean edit

Etymology edit

From Middle Chinese 世 (MC syejH).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 솅〮 (Yale: syéy)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[2] 누리〮 (Yale: nwùlí) 셰〯 (Yale: syěy)
Sinjeung Yuhap, 1576 인간 (Yale: inkan) 셰 (Yale: syey)

Pronunciation edit

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰe̞(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [세(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja edit

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

世 (eumhun 인간(人間) 세 (in'gan( 人間 ) se))

  1. Hanja form? of 세 (“world”).
  2. Hanja form? of 세 (“lineage; generation”).

Compounds edit

Compounds

References edit

  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

Okinawan edit

Kanji edit

世

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings edit

Compounds edit

Compounds

Etymology edit

Kanji in this term
世
ゆー
Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Cognate with mainland Japanese 世 (yo).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

世(ゆー) (yū) 

  1. age, era, period, time; rule
  2. world, society

Derived terms edit

References edit

  • “ゆー【世】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

Vietnamese edit

Han character edit

世: Hán Việt readings: thế
世: Nôm readings: thế, thá, thé, thể

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

References edit

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