Wiktionary

北

See also: 业, 比, 非, and 兆
北 U+5317, 北
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5317
← 化
[U+5316] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 匘 →
[U+5318]
北 U+F963, 北
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F963
← 異
[U+F962] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs 磻 →
[U+F964]

北 U+2F82B, 北
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F82B
← 匆
[U+2F82A] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 卉 →
[U+2F82C]
Commons:Category
Commons:Category
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Translingual edit

Stroke order (Japan)
 

Han character edit

北 (Kangxi radical 21, 匕+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 中一心 (LMP), four-corner 11110, composition ⿲⿱一㇀丨匕(GJKV) or ⿰⿱⿰一丨㇀匕(HT))

Derived characters edit

References edit

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 152, character 25
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2574
  • Dae Jaweon: page 342, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 262, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+5317

Further reading edit

Chinese edit

trad. 北
simp. # 北
alternative forms 业
𧉥
 
Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 北 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 北 (Cantonese)
  • 北 (Wu)

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character 北
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
         
Characters in the same phonetic series (北) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
背 *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs
鄁 *bɯːɡs
偝 *bɯːɡs
邶 *bɯːɡs
苝 *bɯːɡs
北 *pɯːɡ

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) – two men back to back. Originally meaning “back”; the character 背 (OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) refers to the original word.

Etymology edit

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ba (“to carry (on back), shoulder”).

The sense of “north” is derived from “back (of body)”: “back” → “to turn the back to; to retreat” → “north”.

The ancient Chinese value the southern direction and houses are traditionally oriented along a north-south axis, as evident in the fengshui theory and in the orientation of buildings in Chinese Neolithic sites. North is the direction the back is oriented to when the person is facing south.

Compare the graphical origin of 南 (OC *nuːm, “south”) (Sagart, 1988).

Pronunciation 1 edit

Note:
  • pak - vernacular ("north");
  • pok - literary ("defeat").
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 北
Mandarin Beijing /pei²¹⁴/
Harbin /pei²¹³/
Tianjin /pei¹³/
Jinan /pei²¹³/
Qingdao /pe⁵⁵/
Zhengzhou /pei²⁴/
Xi'an /pei²¹/
Xining /pɨ⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /pia¹³/
/pɛ¹³/
Lanzhou /pə¹³/
Ürümqi /pei²¹³/
Wuhan /pɤ²¹³/
Chengdu /pe³¹/
Guiyang /pɛ²¹/
Kunming /pə³¹/
Nanjing /pəʔ⁵/
Hefei /pɐʔ⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /pei⁵³/
Pingyao /pʌʔ¹³/ ～城
/piʌʔ¹³/ ～面面
Hohhot /piəʔ⁴³/
Wu Shanghai /poʔ⁵/
Suzhou /poʔ⁵/
Hangzhou /poʔ⁵/
Wenzhou /pai²¹³/
Hui Shexian /peʔ²¹/
Tunxi /pi⁵/
Xiang Changsha /pə²⁴/
Xiangtan /pæ²⁴/
Gan Nanchang /pɛt̚⁵/
Hakka Meixian /pet̚¹/
Taoyuan /pet̚²²/
Cantonese Guangzhou /pɐk̚⁵/
Nanning /pɐk̚⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /pɐk̚⁵/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /pɔk̚³²/
/pak̚³²/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /pɔyʔ²³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /pɛ²⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /pak̚²/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ʔbak̚⁵/
Rime
Character 北
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 幫 (1)
Final (韻) 登 (131)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 博墨切
Baxter pok
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/pək̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/pək̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/pək̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/pək̚/
Li
Rong 		/pək̚/
Wang
Li 		/pək̚/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/pək̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		bo
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		bak1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 北
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		běi
Middle
Chinese 		‹ pok ›
Old
Chinese 		/*pˁək/
English north

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 北
Reading # 1/1
No. 414
Phonetic
component 		北
Rime
group 		職
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		北
Old
Chinese 		/*pɯːɡ/

Definitions edit

北

  1. north; northern
    北移  ―  běi yí  ―  to move north
    北京  ―  Běijīng  ―  Beijing (literally, “northern capital”)
  2. to be defeated; to fail
    敗北／败北  ―  bàiběi  ―  to suffer defeat

Coordinate terms edit

西北 (xīběi) 北 東北／东北 (dōngběi)
西 (xī)   東／东 (dōng)
西南 (xīnán) 南 東南／东南 (dōngnán)


Compounds edit

Descendants edit

Sino-Xenic (北):
  • → Japanese: 北(ほく) (hoku)
  • → Korean: 북(北) (buk)
  • → Vietnamese: bắc (北)

Others:

Pronunciation 2 edit

Definitions edit

北

  1. † Original form of 背 (bèi, “back; to betray”).

References edit

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

北

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. north
  2. escape, run away

Readings edit

Compounds edit

Compounds

Etymology 1 edit

Kanji in this term
北
きた
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Attributed to Old Japanese,[1] although the exact phonetics are not clear, as the term is not cited in phonetic man'yōgana.

Ultimate derivation unknown.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

北(きた) • (kita) 

  1. north (cardinal point)
    • 905, Kokin Wakashū (book 9, poem 412)
      北(きた)へ行(ゆ)く雁(かり)ぞ鳴(な)くなるつれてこし数(かず)はたらでぞかへるべらなる
      kita e yuku kari zo nakunaru tsurete koshi kazu wa tarade zo kaeruberanaru
      (please add an English translation of this example)
    Antonym: 南 (minami)
  2. the North (northern part of a region)
  3. a northerly, north wind
    Synonym: 北風 (kitakaze, hokufū)
    Antonym: 南 (minami)
  4. Short for 北の方 (kita no kata): northward
  5. a developed country
    from the many countries in the Northern Hemisphere are considered developed
Coordinate terms edit
西(せい)北(ほく) (seihoku) (西(せい)北(ほく) (seihoku))
北(ほく)西(せい) (hokusei) (北(ほく)西(せい) (hokusei)) 		北(きた) (kita) (北(きた) (kita)) 東(とう)北(ほく) (tōhoku) (東(とう)北(ほく) (tōhoku))
北(ほく)東(とう) (hokutō) (北(ほく)東(とう) (hokutō))
西(にし) (nishi) (西(にし) (nishi))   東(ひがし) (higashi) (東(ひがし) (higashi))
西(せい)南(なん) (seinan) (西(せい)南(なん) (seinan))
南(なん)西(せい) (nansei) (南(なん)西(せい) (nansei)) 		南(みなみ) (minami) (南(みなみ) (minami)) 東(とう)南(なん) (tōnan) (東(とう)南(なん) (tōnan))
南(なん)東(とう) (nantō) (南(なん)東(とう) (nantō))


Derived terms edit
Derived terms

Proper noun edit

北(きた) or 北(キタ) • (Kita) 

  1. Kita (one of 23 special wards in Tokyo prefecture, Japan)
  2. (historical) the red-light district north of Edo Castle
    Synonyms: 北郭 (Hokkaku), 北国 (Hokkoku)
  3. a surname
  4. a female given name

Verb edit

北(きた)する • (kita suru) suru (stem 北(きた)し (kita shi), past 北(きた)した (kita shita))

  1. to go northwards
    Synonym: 北進する (hokushin suru)
Conjugation edit
Conjugation of "北する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 北し きたし kita shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 北し きたし kita shi
Shūshikei ("terminal") 北する きたする kita suru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 北する きたする kita suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 北すれ きたすれ kita sure
Meireikei ("imperative") 北せよ¹
北しろ² 		きたせよ¹
きたしろ² 		kita seyo¹
kita shiro²
Key constructions
Passive 北される きたされる kita sareru
Causative 北させる
北さす 		きたさせる
きたさす 		kita saseru
kita sasu
Potential 北できる きたできる kita dekiru
Volitional 北しよう きたしよう kita shiyō
Negative 北しない きたしない kita shinai
Negative continuative 北せず きたせず kita sezu
Formal 北します きたします kita shimasu
Perfective 北した きたした kita shita
Conjunctive 北して きたして kita shite
Hypothetical conditional 北すれば きたすれば kita sureba
¹ Written imperative

² Spoken imperative

Etymology 2 edit

Kanji in this term
北
ペー
Grade: 2
irregular

From Mandarin 北 (běi).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

北(ペー) • (pē) 

  1. (mahjong) north wind (mahjong tile)
    Hypernym: 風牌 (kazehai, fanpai)
  2. (mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of north wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)
    Hypernym: 役牌 (yakuhai, yaku-pai)
Coordinate terms edit

Etymology 3 edit

Kanji in this term
北
はい
Grade: 2
kun’yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 北 – see the following entry.
【背】6
[kanji] Grade 6 kanji
[kanji] back, stature
(This term, 北, is a variant kanji form of the above term.)

References edit

  1. ^ “北”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

Korean edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle Chinese 北 (MC pok).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 븍〮 (Yale: púk)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[2] 뒤〮 (Yale: twúy) 븍〮 (Yale: púk)
Sinjeung Yuhap, 1576 븍녁 (Yale: puknyek)
뒤 (Yale: twuy)		 븍 (Yale: puk)

Pronunciation edit

Hanja edit

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

北 (eumhun 북녘 북 (bungnyeok buk))

  1. Hanja form? of 북 (“north”).

Compounds edit

Compounds

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle Chinese 北 (MC bwojH).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 ᄈᆡᆼ〮 (Yale: ppóy)

Pronunciation edit

Hanja edit

北 (eumhun 달아날 배 (daranal bae))

  1. Hanja form? of 배 (“to escape; to flee”).

Compounds edit

Compounds

Proper noun edit

Hanja in this term
北

北 • (Buk) (hangeul 북)

  1. (in headlines) Short for 北(북)韓(한) (Bukhan, “(South Korea) North Korea”).
Usage notes edit

A common convention in news headlines, this is almost always written solely in the Hanja form, even in contemporary Korean text otherwise devoid of any Hanja.

See also edit

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

北

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings edit

Etymology edit

Kanji in this term
北
にし
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Cognate with mainland Japanese 西 (nishi, “west”).

Noun edit

北(にし) (nishi) 

  1. north; northern; northwards

Derived terms edit

References edit

  • “ニシ” in Haisai Okinawan Dialect.
  • “にし【北】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
  • “ニシ（にし）” in Okinawan Dialect Dictionary - Ajima.
  • “にし” in Okinawan Dictionary - KozaWeb.

Southern Amami-Oshima edit

Kanji in this term
北
にし
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Kanji edit

北

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings edit

Etymology edit

Cognate with mainland Japanese 西 (nishi, “west”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

北(にし) (nisi) 

  1. north; northern; northwards

References edit

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

Vietnamese edit

Han character edit

北: Hán Nôm readings: bắc, bác, bấc, bậc, bước

  1. chữ Hán form of bắc (“north”).

Zhuang edit

Noun edit

北

  1. Sawndip form of byaek (“vegetable”)
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