探

See also: 深

探	U+63A2, 探 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-63A2

← 採
[U+63A1]

CJK Unified Ideographs

掣 →
[U+63A3]

Translingual edit

Han character edit

探 (Kangxi radical 64, 手+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 手月金木 (QBCD), four-corner 5709₄, composition ⿰扌罙)

Derived characters edit

𠽄

References edit

Kangxi Dictionary: page 438, character 14
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12276
Dae Jaweon: page 788, character 12
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1907, character 6
Unihan data for U+63A2

Chinese edit

trad.		探
simp. ^#		探
alternative forms		𢲘

Glyph origin edit

Characters in the same phonetic series (罙) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
探	l̥ʰuːm, l̥ʰuːms
棎	*ɦljom
賝	*l̥ʰum
琛	*l̥ʰum
穼	*srum
深	hljum, hljums

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰuːm, *l̥ʰuːms) : semantic 扌 (“hand”) + phonetic 𥥍 ().

Etymology edit

As the initial of the 罙 phonetic series is uncertain, 探 (tàn) may be related to 深 (shēn) (provided the initial was *nh-) (Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, this agrees with Mizo tham (“to feel (especially with the hand)”).

Pronunciation edit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tàn, tān (tan⁴, tan¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄢˋ, ㄊㄢ
Cantonese (Jyutping): taam³, taam¹
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): tâm / tham
Eastern Min (BUC): tăng
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): thàm / tham

(Teochew, Peng'im): tam³
Wu (Wugniu)
- (Northern): ⁵thoe

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tàn
  - Wade–Giles: tʻan⁴
  - Yale: tàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tann
  - Palladius: тань (tanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰän⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tān
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄢ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tan
  - Wade–Giles: tʻan¹
  - Yale: tān
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tan
  - Palladius: тань (tanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰän⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: taam³, taam¹
  - Yale: taam, tāam
  - Cantonese Pinyin: taam³, taam¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: tam³, tam¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaːm³³/, /tʰaːm⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tâm / tham
  - Hakka Romanization System: dam´ / tam
  - Hagfa Pinyim: dam¹ / tam⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /tam²⁴/, /tʰam⁵⁵/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: tăng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaŋ⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thàm
  - Tâi-lô: thàm
  - Phofsit Daibuun: taxm
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang): /tʰam⁴¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung): /tʰam²¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /tʰam¹¹/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tham
  - Tâi-lô: tham
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tafm
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰam⁴⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: tam³
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: thàm
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰam²¹³/
Wu
- (Shanghai):
  - Wugniu: ⁵thoe
  - MiniDict: thoe^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²thoe
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰø³⁴/

Middle Chinese: thom

Rime
Character	探
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)
Final (韻)	覃 (159)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	他含切
Baxter	thom
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰʌm/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰəm/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɒm/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰəm/
Li Rong	/tʰᴀm/
Wang Li	/tʰɒm/
Bernard Karlgren	/tʰăm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tān
Expected Cantonese Reflex	taam¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤ[ə]m/

(Zhengzhang): /*l̥ʰuːm/, /*l̥ʰuːms/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	探
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	tān
Middle Chinese	‹ thom ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥ˁ[ə]m/
English	put the hand into and test
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	探	探
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	11249	11250
Phonetic component	罙	罙
Rime group	侵	侵
Rime subdivision	3	3
Corresponding MC rime	探	僋
Old Chinese	/*l̥ʰuːm/	/*l̥ʰuːms/

Definitions edit

探

to reach for; to grope for
to find; to locate
to search; to explore
to inquire
to visit
to scout; to spy
spy
to try
to extend; to stretch out

Compounds edit

Descendants edit

→ Vietnamese: thăm

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

探

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

look for

Readings edit

Go-on: とん (ton)^{←とん (ton, historical)}^{←とむ (tomu, ancient)}
Kan-on: たん (tan, Jōyō)^{←たん (tan, historical)}^{←たむ (tamu, ancient)}
Kun: さがす (sagasu, 探す, Jōyō); さぐる (saguru, 探る, Jōyō)

Suffix edit

探(たん) • (-tan)

(archaic) spy from (a country)
- 1947, Ango Sakaguchi, 『二十七歳』
  独(どく)探(たん)のケンギを受(う)けて、大(たい)正(しょう)五(ご)年(ねん)だかに国(こく)外(がい)退(たい)去(きょ)を命(めい)じられたという。
  Doku-tan no kengi o ukete, Taishō go-nen daka ni kokugai taikyo o meijirareta to iu.
  [He was] accused of being a German spy and was officially deported in some time around 1916, as the story goes.