Wiktionary

三

See also: Ξ, ≡, ミ, 叁, 彡, and 丰
三 U+4E09, 三
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E09
← 丈
[U+4E08] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 上 →
[U+4E0A]
㈢ U+3222, ㈢
PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH THREE
← ㈡
[U+3221] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㈣ →
[U+3223]
㊂ U+3282, ㊂
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH THREE
← ㊁
[U+3281] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㊃ →
[U+3283]
Commons:Category
Commons:Category
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Translingual edit

Stroke order
 
Stroke order
 

Han character edit

三 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 一一一 (MMM), four-corner 10101, composition ⿱一二 or ⿱𠄟一)

  1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №4

Derived characters edit

Descendants edit

References edit

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 76, character 5
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12
  • Dae Jaweon: page 138, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 4, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+4E09

Further reading edit

Chinese Wikisource has digitized text of the Kangxi Dictionary entry for 三:
[[wikisource:zh:康熙字典/一部/二畫#三|一部/二畫]]

Wikisource

Chinese edit

simp. and trad.
 三
alternative forms 叄／叁／參／参 financial
𠫰／𠬅／𠬄 less used
弎
𢦘
 
Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 三 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 三 (Cantonese)
  • 三 (Classical)

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character 三
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Ancient script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
               
Oracle bone script
 

j00545

 

j00546

 

j00547

 

j00548

 

j00549

 

j00550

 

j00551

 

j00552

 

j00553

 

j00554

Bronze inscriptions
 

b00355

 

b00356

 

b00357

 

b00358

 

b00359

 

b00360

 

b00361

 

b00362

 

b00363

 

b00364

 

b00365

 

b00366

 

b00367

 

b00368

 

b00369

 

b00370

 

b00371

 

b00372

 

b00373

 

b00374

 

b00375

Small seal script
 

s00097

Transcribed ancient scripts
 

L12758

 

L12759

 

L12760

 

L12761

 

L12762

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 (三) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
三 *suːm, *suːms
弎 *suːm

Ideogram (指事) - three parallel strokes. Compare with 一, one stroke meaning “one”, 二, two strokes meaning “two”, and 亖, four strokes meaning “four”. Triplication of 一 (“one”).

Etymology edit

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-sum.

Pronunciation 1 edit

Note: sānr - (1) "the other woman; the other man", (2) "rfdef".
Note:
  • saⁿ - vernacular;
  • sam - literary.
Note:
  • san1 - vernacular;
  • sam1 - literary.
Rime
Character 三
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 談 (143)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 蘇甘切
Baxter sam
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sɑm/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sɑm/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɑm/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/sam/
Li
Rong 		/sɑm/
Wang
Li 		/sɑm/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/sɑm/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sān
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		saam1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 三
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sān
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sam ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.rum/ (*s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?)
English three

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 三
Reading # 1/2
No. 10963
Phonetic
component 		三
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		三
Old
Chinese 		/*suːm/

Definitions edit

三

  1. three
  2. (Mainland China, slang, neologism) the other woman; the other man
  3. (Mainland China, slang, neologism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
  4. a surname
See also edit
Chinese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 106 108 1012
Normal
(小寫／小写) 		〇, 零, 空 一, 蜀 二, 兩／两 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬／万,
十千 (Malaysia, Singapore) 		百萬／百万,
桶(Philippines),
面桶 (Philippines) 		億／亿 兆 (Taiwan)
萬億／万亿 (Mainland China)
Financial
(大寫／大写) 		零 壹 貳／贰 參／叁 肆 伍 陸／陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟
Playing cards in Mandarin · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
             
尖兒／尖儿 (jiānr) 二 (èr) 三 (sān) 四 (sì) 五 (wǔ) 六 (liù) 七 (qī)
             
八 (bā) 九 (jiǔ) 十 (shí) 鉤兒／钩儿 (gōur) 圈兒／圈儿 (quānr), 皮蛋 (pídàn, regional) K 小王 (xiǎowáng, black), 大王 (red),
小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ, black), 大鬼 (dàguǐ, red)

Compounds edit

Descendants edit

Sino-Xenic (三):
  • → Japanese: 三(さん) (san)
  • → Korean: 삼(三) (sam)
  • → Vietnamese: tam (三)

Others:

Pronunciation 2 edit

Rime
Character 三
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 談 (143)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 蘇暫切
Baxter samH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sɑmH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sɑmH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɑmH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/samH/
Li
Rong 		/sɑmH/
Wang
Li 		/sɑmH/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/sɑmH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sàn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		saam3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 三
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sān
Middle
Chinese 		‹ samH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.r[u]m-s/ (*s.r- > *s-, infl. by 四 *s-?)
English three times

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 三
Reading # 2/2
No. 10965
Phonetic
component 		三
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		三
Old
Chinese 		/*suːms/

Definitions edit

三 (obsolete)

  1. repeatedly; thrice
    三思  ―  sānsī  ―  to think carefully

Compounds edit

References edit

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

三

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. three

Readings edit

Compounds edit

Compounds

Alternative forms edit

  • (Financial/formal form): 参

Etymology 1 edit

Japanese cardinal numbers
 <  2 3 4  > 
    Cardinal : 三
Kanji in this term
三
さん
Grade: 1
on’yomi

*/sam/ → /samu/ → /saɴ/

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sam|samH). Compare modern Mandarin 三 (sān).

In Old Japanese, this kanji was used phonetically to transcribe さむ (samu).

Pronunciation edit

Numeral edit

三(さん) • (san) 

  1. three, 3
    Synonym: スリー (surī)
  2. third
Derived terms edit
Derived terms

Etymology 2 edit

Kanji in this term
三
さん
Grade: 1
on’yomi

Borrowing from Chinese 三 (sān), with the pitch accent different from etymology 1. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation edit

Numeral edit

三(サン) • (san) 

  1. three
Coordinate terms edit
Derived terms edit
Derived terms

Etymology 3 edit

Kanji in this term
三
み
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

⟨mi1⟩ → /mi/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *mi.

Likely an apophonic form of 六 (mu, “six”), compare 四 (yo, “four”) with 八 (ya, “eight”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation edit

Numeral edit

三(み) • (mi) 

  1. three
    一(ひ)、二(ふ)、三(み)、四(よ)、[…]
    hi, fu, mi, yo,[…]
    one, two, three, four, […]
Derived terms edit
Derived terms

Etymology 4 edit

Kanji in this term
三
みい
Grade: 1
irregular

/mi/ → /miː/

Shift from mi above.[1]

Pronunciation edit

Numeral edit

三(みい) • (mī) 

  1. (colloquial) three
    一(ひい)、二(ふう)、三(みい)、四(よお)、五(いつ)、六(むう)、七(なあ)、八(やあ)、九(こお)、十(とお)
    hī, fū, mī, yō, itsu, mū, nā, yā, kō, tō
    one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Coordinate terms edit
Japanese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Regular 零(れい) (rei)
零(ゼロ) (zero) 		一(いち) (ichi) 二(に) (ni) 三(さん) (san) 四(よん) (yon)
四(し) (shi) 		五(ご) (go) 六(ろく) (roku) 七(なな) (nana)
七(しち) (shichi) 		八(はち) (hachi) 九(きゅう) (kyū)
九(く) (ku) 		十(じゅう) (jū)
Formal 壱(いち) (ichi) 弐(に) (ni) 参(さん) (san) 拾(じゅう) (jū)
90 100 300 600 800 1,000 3,000 8,000 10,000 100,000,000
Regular 九(きゅう)十(じゅう) (kyūjū) 百(ひゃく) (hyaku)
一(いっ)百(ぴゃく) (ippyaku) 		三(さん)百(びゃく) (sanbyaku) 六(ろっ)百(ぴゃく) (roppyaku) 八(はっ)百(ぴゃく) (happyaku) 千(せん) (sen)
一(いっ)千(せん) (issen) 		三(さん)千(ぜん) (sanzen) 八(はっ)千(せん) (hassen) 一(いち)万(まん) (ichiman) 一(いち)億(おく) (ichioku)
Formal 一(いち)萬(まん) (ichiman)
1012 8×1012 1013 1016 6×1016 8×1016 1017 1018
一(いっ)兆(ちょう) (itchō) 八(はっ)兆(ちょう) (hatchō) 十(じゅっ)兆(ちょう) (jutchō) 一(いっ)京(けい) (ikkei) 六(ろっ)京(けい) (rokkei) 八(はっ)京(けい) (hakkei) 十(じゅっ)京(けい) (jukkei) 百(ひゃっ)京(けい) (hyakkei)

References edit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean edit

Etymology edit

Korean numbers (edit)
30
 ←  2 3 4  → 
    Native isol.: 셋 (set)
    Native attr.: 세 (se), (dated) 석 (seok), (archaic) 서 (seo)
    Sino-Korean: 삼 (sam)
    Hanja: 三
    Ordinal: 셋째 (setjjae)

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sam).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 삼 (Yale: sàm)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[1] 석〯 (Yale: sěk) 삼 (Yale: sàm)

Pronunciation edit

Hanja edit

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

三 (eumhun 셋 삼 (set sam))

  1. Hanja form? of 삼 (“three”).

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. [2]

Vietnamese edit

Han character edit

三: Hán Việt readings: tam (蘇(tô)甘(cam)切(thiết))[1][2][3][4]
三: Nôm readings: tam[1][2][3][4][5][6], ba[1], tám[5]

  1. chữ Hán form of tam (“three”).

Compounds edit

Compounds

References edit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bonet (1899).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Génibrel (1898).
  6. ^ Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
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