四

See also 西, 匹, and 㓁

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Etymology

The original shell and bone character was 一 written four times, 亖 (compare 二 and 三). The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside 口; this later evolved into the combination used today of 口 mouth and 八 divide which meant a dispersal of breath. It could thus be said that four is a borrowed meaning for this character.

Han character

四 (radical 31 囗+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 田金 (WC), four-corner 6021₀, composition ⿴囗儿)

1. four

Usage notes

Wikipedia

As superstition, 四 is avoided because similar to 死 (“death”) in sound.

See also

• 西 匹 㓁
• (Chinese written numbers): 〇  一  二  三  四  五  六  七  八  九  十
• (Chinese financial form): 肆

References

• KangXi: page 216, character 22
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4682
• Dae Jaweon: page 439, character 21
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 710, character 16
• Unihan data for U+56DB
• http://www.kanjinetworks.com/eng/kanji-dictionary/online-kanji-etymology-dictionary.cfm

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Cantonese

Hanzi

四 (jyutping sei3, si3, Yale sei3, si3)

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Hakka

Hanzi

四 (POJ sì, Guangdong si⁵ [Meixian], Hagfa Pinyim xi4)

References

• CCDICT (Chineselanguage.org)
• Academia Sinica - Hakka-English Dictionary
• Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

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Japanese

Japanese cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : 四

Etymology 1

/yo2/ *[jə] > /yo/ [jo].

Noun

四 (hiragana よ, romaji yo)

1. four

Etymology 2

Native yo (“id”) + n, influenced by analogy by the final sound in Chinese san (“three”).

Noun

四 (hiragana よん, romaji yon)

1. four
2. fourth

Etymology 3

Sino-Japanese reading.

Noun

四 (hiragana し, romaji shi)

1. four
2. fourth

Etymology 4

Number

四 (よん, yon)

1. four, 4

Etymology 5

From 亖 (“four”). The parallel lines have since evolved into an approximation of what a fist looks when viewed palm side down.

Kanji

四 (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On: し (shi)
• Kun: よ (yo), よつ (yotsu), よっつ (yottsu), よん (yon)
• Nanori: あ (a), つ (tsu), よつ (yotsu)

Compounds

• 四季 (しき, shiki): four seasons
• 四股 (しこ, shiko): sumo wrestler ceremonial leg raising and stomping
• 四大 (しだい, shidai): the four elements (Buddhism)
• 四月 (しがつ, shigatsu): April
• 四半 (しはん, shihan) a quarter

Derived terms

• 四捨五入 (shishagonyuu): rounding up (fractions)
• 四則計算 (shizokuenzan): the four basic arithmetic operations
• 四天王 (shitennou): the Four Heavenly Kings (Buddhism)
• 四面楚歌 (shimenzoka): facing hostility, difficulty, or frustration on all sides

References

• The Japan Times (March 17, 2010). You can count on the tales behind number-kanji. Accessed March 23, 2010.

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Korean

Hanja

四
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 사 (revised: sa, McCune-Reischauer: sa, Yale: sa)

• Name (hangeul): 넉 (revised: neok, McCune-Reischauer: nŏk, Yale: nek)

1. four

Compounds

• 四角
• 四捨五入
• 四季
• 四肢
• 四天王
• 四時
• 再三再四
• 四方
• 正四角形
• 正四面體
• 正四品

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Mandarin

Etymology

From Old Chinese *slyiy, affected by *s- of preceding *sum "3" (三), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *p-lëy "four" (compare Classical Tibetan bzhi)

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Numeral

四 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin sì)

1. four

Noun

四 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin sì)

1. (musical note) la

See also

• 工尺

Derived terms

• 四…八…
• 四壁
• 四边, 四边儿
• 四边形
• 四不像
• 四部
• 四重奏
• 四出
• 四处
• 四大皆空
• 四方
• 四顾
• 四海
• 四合房
• 四合院
• 四呼
• 四季
• 四角号码
• 四脚蛇
• 四邻
• 四面八方
• 四面楚歌
• 四拇指
• 四声
• 四时
• 四体
• 四外
• 四围
• 四维空间
• 四仙桌
• 四则
• 四肢
• 四周
• 四周围

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Min Nan

Hanzi

四 (traditional, POJ sù, sì)

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Vietnamese

Han character

四 (tứ, tớ, tư)

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Wu

Pronunciation

Latin Alphabet: szˋ

Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄙˋ