Wiktionary

左

左 U+5DE6, 左
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5DE6
← 工
[U+5DE5] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 巧 →
[U+5DE7]

Translingual edit

Stroke order
 

Han character edit

左 (Kangxi radical 48, 工+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 大一 (KM), four-corner 40011, composition ⿸𠂇工)

Derived characters edit

Descendants edit

References edit

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 325, character 8
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8720
  • Dae Jaweon: page 626, character 7
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 411, character 5
  • Unihan data for U+5DE6

Chinese edit

simp. and trad.
 左
alternative forms 𠂇
𢀡
㔫
屮
䶹
 
Wikipedia has articles on:

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character 左
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
           
Characters in the same phonetic series (左) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
左 *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls
佐 *ʔsaːls
袏 *ʔslaːls
蹉 *sʰlaːl
瑳 *sʰlaːl, *sʰlaːlʔ
搓 *sʰlaːl
磋 *sʰlaːl
溠 *sʰlaːl, *sraːl, *ʔsraːls
傞 *sʰlaːl, *slaːl
醝 *zlaːl
瘥 *zlaːl, *ʔsljal, *sʰreːls
鹺 *zlaːl
嵯 *zlaːl, *sʰral
嵳 *zlaːl
蒫 *zlaːl, *ʔsljal, *ʔslɯl
艖 *zlaːl, *sʰraːl
齹 *zlaːl, *sʰral, *zral
縒 *slaːlʔ, *sʰral, *sʰlaːɡ
褨 *slaːlʔ
嗟 *ʔsljal
差 *sʰraːl, *sʰraːls, *sʰreːl, *sʰreːl, *sʰreːls, *sʰral
鎈 *sʰraːl
槎 *zraːl, *zraːlʔ
髊 *zlals

Originally written 𠂇 in the oracle bone script: Pictogram (象形) – a left hand. Compare 又 (“right hand”).

Late bronze inscription forms show an added 工 (“work; to assist?”) component, making the current form a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls) and ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : phonetic 𠂇 (, “left hand”) + semantic 工 (“work”), representing the original form of 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”).

Etymology edit

Cognate with 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”) (< be on one's left side); mirror of the semantic relationship between 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “right”) and 佑 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “to assist”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Unrelated to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *b(w)aj (“left (hand)”) (STEDT).

“(politics) left-wing”
Semantic loan from English left, in turn a semantic loan from French gauche.

Pronunciation 1 edit

Note:
  • Quanzhou:
    • chó - vernacular;
    • chó͘ - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 左
Mandarin Beijing /t͡suo²¹⁴/
Harbin /t͡suo²¹³/
Tianjin /t͡suo¹³/
Jinan /t͡suə²¹/
Qingdao /t͡suə²¹³/
Zhengzhou /t͡suo⁵³/
Xi'an /t͡suo⁵³/
Xining /t͡su⁵³/
Yinchuan /t͡suə⁵³/
Lanzhou /t͡suə⁴⁴²/
Ürümqi /t͡suɤ⁵¹/
Wuhan /t͡suo⁴²/
Chengdu /t͡so⁵³/
Guiyang /t͡so⁴²/
Kunming /t͡so⁵³/
Nanjing /t͡so²¹²/
Hefei /t͡sʊ²⁴/
Jin Taiyuan /t͡sɤ⁵³/
Pingyao /t͡ɕie̞³⁵/
Hohhot /t͡suɤ⁵³/
Wu Shanghai /t͡su³⁵/
Suzhou /t͡səu⁵¹³/
Hangzhou /t͡so⁵³/
Wenzhou /t͡sɤu³⁵/
Hui Shexian /t͡so³⁵/
Tunxi /t͡so³¹/
Xiang Changsha /t͡so⁴¹/
Xiangtan /t͡so⁴²/
Gan Nanchang /t͡so²¹³/
Hakka Meixian /t͡so³¹/
Taoyuan /t͡so³¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /t͡sɔ³⁵/
Nanning /t͡sɔ³⁵/
Hong Kong /t͡sɔ³⁵/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /t͡so⁵³/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /t͡so³²/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /t͡sɔ²¹/
Shantou (Teochew) /t͡so⁵³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /to²¹³/
Rime
Character 左
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 精 (13)
Final (韻) 歌 (94)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 臧可切
Baxter tsaX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/t͡sɑX/
Pan
Wuyun 		/t͡sɑX/
Shao
Rongfen 		/t͡sɑX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/t͡saX/
Li
Rong 		/t͡sɑX/
Wang
Li 		/t͡sɑX/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/t͡sɑX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		zuǒ
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		zo2
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 左
Reading # 1/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		zuǒ
Middle
Chinese 		‹ tsaX ›
Old
Chinese 		/*tsˁa[j]ʔ/
English left (side)

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 左
Reading # 1/2
No. 18004
Phonetic
component 		左
Rime
group 		歌
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		左
Old
Chinese 		/*ʔsaːlʔ/

Definitions edit

左

  1. left (direction)
    左手  ―  zuǒshǒu  ―  left hand
  2. east; areas to the east
    江左  ―  jiāngzuǒ  ―  area east of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River
  3. (historical) inferior position
  4. unorthodox; wrong
  5. erroneously; mistakingly
    你想左了。  ―  Nǐ xiǎng zuǒ le.  ―  You are mistaken.
  6. different; divided; inconsistent
    相左  ―  xiàngzuǒ  ―  to conflict with each other; to fail to agree
  7. (politics) left-wing
  8. (chemistry) levo-
    左多巴  ―  zuǒduōbā  ―  levodopa
  9. (Sichuanese, of singing) out of tune; off-key
  10. (Southwestern Mandarin, including Sichuanese) to exchange
  11. (Eastern Min) devious, dishonest
  12. (Xiang) wrong; incorrect
  13. a surname
    左宗棠  ―  Zuǒ Zōngtáng  ―  Zuo Zongtang (Qing dynasty Chinese statesman and military leader)
Usage notes edit

In socialist nations e.g. mainland China, 左 is usually (not necessarily) put in quotation marks when referring to the leftism further to the correct party line.

Synonyms edit
Dialectal synonyms of 左 (“left”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 左
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 左
Mandarin Beijing 左
Taiwan 左
Tianjin 左
Chengde 左
Tangshan 左
Cangzhou 左
Baoding 左
Shijiazhuang 左
Chifeng 左
Hulunbuir (Hailar) 左
Heihe 左
Qiqihar 左
Harbin 左
Jiamusi 左
Baicheng 左
Changchun 左
Tonghua 左
Shenyang 左
Dandong 左
Jinzhou 左
Dalian 左
Yantai 左
Qingdao 左
Lijin 左
Zhucheng 左
Jinan 左
Jining 左
Wanrong 左
Shangqiu 左
Yuanyang 左
Zhengzhou 左
Lingbao 左
Xinyang 左
Baihe 左
Hanzhong 左
Xi'an 左
Baoji 左
Yinchuan 左
Tianshui 左
Lanzhou 左
Dunhuang 左
Xining 左
Hami 左
Ürümqi 左
Wuhan 左
Yichang 左
Xiangyang 左
Tianmen 左
Hong'an 左
Chengdu 左
Nanchong 左
Dazhou 左
Hanyuan 左
Xichang 左
Zigong 左
Chongqing 左
Guiyang 左
Zunyi 左
Bijie 左
Liping 左
Zhaotong 左
Dali 左
Kunming 左
Mengzi 左
Guilin 左
Liuzhou 左
Jishou 左
Changde 左
Anqing 左
Xuzhou 左
Fuyang 左
Wuhu 左
Yangzhou 左
Lianyungang 左
Lianshui 左
Nanjing 左
Hefei 左
Nantong 左
Malaysia 左
Singapore 左
Cantonese Guangzhou 左
Hong Kong 左
Macau 左
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 左
Singapore (Guangfu) 左
Gan Nanchang 左
Lichuan 左
Huizhou Shexian 左
Jin Taiyuan 左
Yangyuan 左
Datong 左
Xinzhou 左
Lishi 左
Linfen 左
Changzhi 左
Linhe 左
Jining 左
Hohhot 左
Erenhot 左
Pingshan 左
Zhangjiakou 左
Handan 左
Linzhou 左
Suide 左
Eastern Min Fuzhou 左
Southern Min Xiamen 倒
Quanzhou 倒
Zhangzhou 倒
Taipei 倒
New Taipei (Sanxia) 倒
Kaohsiung 倒
Yilan 倒
Changhua (Lukang) 倒
Taichung 倒
Tainan 倒
Hsinchu 倒
Kinmen 倒
Penghu (Magong) 倒
Penang (Hokkien) 倒
Singapore (Hokkien) 倒
Manila (Hokkien) 倒
Chaozhou 倒
Shantou 倒
Jieyang 倒
Singapore (Teochew) 倒
Wenchang 左
Zhongshan Min Shaxi (Longdu) 左
Dialectal synonyms of 錯 (“wrong”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 過誤, 誤, 謬, 謬誤, 訛
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 錯, 不對, 錯誤
Mandarin Beijing 錯, 左
Taiwan 錯, 不對
Jinan 錯, 差
Xi'an 錯
Ürümqi 錯
Wuhan 錯, 左
Chengdu 錯, 拐
Guilin 錯
Yangzhou 錯
Nanjing 差
Hefei 錯
Malaysia 錯, 不對
Singapore 錯, 不對
Cantonese Guangzhou 錯, 唔啱
Hong Kong 錯, 唔啱
Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou) 錯
Macau 錯
Guangzhou (Panyu) 錯
Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu) 唔啱
Guangzhou (Conghua) 錯
Guangzhou (Zengcheng) 錯
Foshan 錯
Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai) 錯
Foshan (Shunde) 錯
Foshan (Sanshui) 錯, 唔啱
Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming) 錯
Zhongshan (Shiqi) 錯
Zhuhai (Qianshan) 錯
Zhuhai (Doumen, Shangheng Tanka) 錯
Zhuhai (Doumen) 錯
Jiangmen (Baisha) 錯
Jiangmen (Xinhui) 錯
Taishan 錯
Kaiping (Chikan) 錯
Enping (Niujiang) 錯
Heshan (Yayao) 錯
Dongguan 錯
Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an) 錯
Yangjiang 錯
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 唔啱, 錯
Singapore (Guangfu) 唔啱, 錯
Gan Nanchang 錯
Lichuan 錯
Hakka Meixian 差, 唔啱
Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua) 錯
Dongguan (Qingxi) 錯
Shenzhen (Shatoujiao) 錯
Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui) 錯
Conghua (Lütian) 錯
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 唔著
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 唔著
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 唔著
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 唔著
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 唔著
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 唔著
Jin Taiyuan 錯, 不對, 差
Northern Min Jian'ou 錯
Eastern Min Fuzhou 賺
Matsu 賺
Southern Min Xiamen 賺, 毋著
Quanzhou 賺, 毋著
Shishi 賺
Zhangzhou 賺, 毋著
Zhao'an 毋著
Taipei 毋著
Kaohsiung 毋著
Penang (Hokkien) salah, 毋著, 賺
Singapore (Hokkien) salah, 毋著
Manila (Hokkien) 毋著, 賺
Chaozhou 賺
Shantou 賺, 唔對, 唔著
Jieyang 賺
Singapore (Teochew) salah, 唔著, 賺
Leizhou 無著
Wenchang 無著
Haikou 錯
Singapore (Hainanese) 無著
Zhongshan Min Shaxi (Longdu) 錯, 唔啱
Wu Shanghai 錯
Suzhou 錯
Ningbo 錯, 賺
Wenzhou 賺
Jinhua 賺
Xiang Changsha 錯, 左
Shuangfeng 造, 錯
Antonyms edit
  • 右 (yòu, “right”)

Pronunciation 2 edit

Rime
Character 左 左
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Initial (聲) 精 (13) 精 (13)
Final (韻) 歌 (94) 歌 (94)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) I I
Fanqie 臧可切 則箇切
Baxter tsaX tsaH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/t͡saX/ /t͡saH/
Li
Rong 		/t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑH/
Wang
Li 		/t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑH/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		zuǒ zuò
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		zo2 zo3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 左 左
Reading # 2/3 3/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		zuǒ zuǒ
Middle
Chinese 		‹ tsaX › ‹ tsaH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*tsˁa[j]ʔ/ /*tsˁarʔ-s/
English assist assist

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 左 左
Reading # 1/2 2/2
No. 18004 18006
Phonetic
component 		左 左
Rime
group 		歌 歌
Rime
subdivision 		1 1
Corresponding
MC rime 		左 佐
Old
Chinese 		/*ʔsaːlʔ/ /*ʔsaːls/

Definitions edit

左

  1. † Original form of 佐 (zuǒ, “to assist”).

Compounds edit

Descendants edit

Sino-Xenic (左):
  • → Japanese: 左(さ) (sa)
  • → Korean: 좌(左) (jwa)
  • → Vietnamese: tả (左)

Others:

References edit

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

左

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings edit

Alternative forms edit

Compounds edit

Etymology 1 edit

Kanji in this term
左
ひだり
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

/hidari/: *[pidari] → [ɸidari] → [çidari].

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.[1] From Proto-Japonic *pintari.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

左(ひだり) • (hidari) 

  1. (direction) left, the side of the left hand
    • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho, page 229:
      Fidari. ヒダリ (左) 左手, または, 左の方
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 1999 August 10, “封(ふう)印(いん)されし者(もの)の左(ひだり)腕(うで)”, in 幻の召喚神 [Phantom God], Konami:
      封(ふう)印(いん)された左(ひだり)腕(うで)。封(ふう)印(いん)を解(と)くと、無(む)限(げん)の力(ちから)を得(え)られる。
      Fūinsareta hidariude. Fūin o toku to, mugen no chikara o erareru.
      A sealed left arm. Whosoever breaks the seal shall earn infinite power.
  2. (politics) a leftist
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Kanji in this term
左
さ
Grade: 1
on’yomi

Middle Chinese 左

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

左(さ) • (sa) 

  1. the left in vertical writing
  2. the following (one)
    • 1905–06, Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat (text here):
      吾(わが)輩(はい)はまず彼(かれ)がどのくらい無(む)学(がく)であるかを試(ため)してみようと思(おも)って左(さ)の問(もん)答(どう)をして見(み)た。
      Wagahai wa mazu kare ga dono kurai mugaku de aru ka o tameshite miyō to omotte sa no mondō o shite mita.
      To judge just how uneducated he was, I posed the following question.

Prefix edit

左(さ) • (sa-) 

  1. to the left; on the left side
  2. (history, government) "of the left", senior or superior to 右 (u-, “of the right”)
    左(さ)衛(え)門(もん)
    Saemon
    the Gate Guard of the Left
    左(さ)大(だい)臣(じん)
    Sadaijin
    the Minister of the Left

References edit

  1. ^ “左”, 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 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

Korean edit

Etymology edit

From Middle Chinese 左 (MC tsaX).

Historical readings

Pronunciation edit

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [t͡ɕwa̠(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [좌(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

左 (eumhun 왼 좌 (oen jwa))

  1. Hanja form? of 좌 (“left (direction)”).

Derived terms 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 in this term
左
ひじゃい
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Etymology edit

From Proto-Ryukyuan *pidari, from Proto-Japonic *pintari. Cognate with Japanese 左 (hidari).

Noun edit

左(ひじゃい) (hijai) 

  1. (direction) left

Vietnamese edit

Han character edit

左: Hán Nôm readings: tả, tá

  1. left (direction)
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