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Wiktionary

五

See also: 伍 and 𢀑
五 U+4E94, 五
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E94
← 亓
[U+4E93] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 井 →
[U+4E95]
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Contents

TranslingualEdit

Stroke order
 
Stroke order
 

Han characterEdit

五 (radical 7, 二+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 一木一 (MDM), four-corner 10107, composition ⿱一𫝀 or ⿻丅ユ or ⿻工𠃍)

Derived charactersEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • KangXi: page 86, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 257
  • Dae Jaweon: page 178, character 4
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 11, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+4E94

ChineseEdit

simp. and trad.
 五
variant forms 伍 financial
㐅
𠄡

Glyph originEdit

Historical forms of the character 五
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
         
Oracle bone script
 

j29736

 

j29737

 

j29738

 

j29739

 

j29740

 

j29741

 

j29742

 

j29743

 

j29744

 

j29745

 

j29746

 

j29747

 

j29748

 

j29749

 

j29750

 

j29751

 

j29752

 

j29753

 

j29754

 

j29755

 

j29756

 

j29757

 

j29758

 

j29759

 

j29760

 

j29761

 

j29762

 

j29763

 

j29764

 

j29765

 

j29766

 

j29767

 

j29768

 

j29769

 

j29770

 

j29771

 

j29772

 

j29773

 

j29774

 

j29775

 

j29776

 

j29777

 

j29778

 

j29779

 

j29780

 

j29781

Bronze inscriptions
 

b19855

 

b19856

 

b19857

 

b19858

 

b19859

 

b19860

 

b19861

 

b19862

 

b19863

 

b19864

 

b19865

 

b19866

 

b19867

 

b19868

 

b19869

 

b19870

 

b19871

 

b19872

 

b19873

 

b19874

 

b19875

 

b19876

 

b19877

 

b19878

 

b19879

 

b19880

 

b19881

 

b19882

 

b19883

Small seal script
 

s10919

Transcribed ancient scripts
 

L34450

 

L34451

 

L14821

 

L14822

 

L14823

 

L14824

 

L14825

 

L14826

 

L14827

 

L14828

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 (五) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
吾 *ŋraː, *ŋaː
衙 *ŋraː, *ŋa, *ŋaʔ
鼯 *ŋaː
浯 *ŋaː
珸 *ŋaː
郚 *ŋaː
齬 *ŋaː, *ŋa, *ŋaʔ
鯃 *ŋaː
娪 *ŋaː
梧 *ŋaː
峿 *ŋaː
五 *ŋaːʔ
伍 *ŋaːʔ
寤 *ŋaːs
啎 *ŋaːs
晤 *ŋaːs
悟 *ŋaːs
逜 *ŋaːs
窹 *ŋaːs
捂 *ŋaːs
鋙 *ŋa, *ŋaʔ
語 *ŋaʔ, *ŋas
圄 *ŋaʔ
敔 *ŋaʔ

One possibility is that 五 was originally written as five horizontal lines, similar to 一, 二, 三, and the obsolete 亖 (“four”), but in common writing the lines would blend together. Thus, two lines were turned vertical and the right one was shortened, to form one stroke with the middle horizontal line. An alternate hypothesis is that 五 originally resembled 㐅 with a bar on top and a bar on bottom, as in 𠄡. This would have meant five because when counting on a single hand, one first counts to five and then crosses back the other way to ten.

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *l/b-ŋa (“five”).

PronunciationEdit

Note:
  • ngô - vernacular;
  • ngū - literary.
  • Min Nan
    • Note:
    • gō͘/gǒ͘ - vernacular;
    • ngó͘/gó͘ - literary.
    Note:
    • ngou6 - vernacular;
    • ngou2, u2 - literary.
  • Wu
    • Note:
    • 3hhngg - vernacular;
    • 2u - literary.
    Rime
    Character 五
    Reading # 1/1
    Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
    Final (韻) 模 (23)
    Tone (調) Rising (X)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) I
    Fanqie 疑古切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/ŋuoX/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/ŋuoX/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/ŋoX/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/ŋɔX/
    Li
    Rong         		/ŋoX/
    Wang
    Li         		/ŋuX/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/ŋuoX/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		wǔ
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 五
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		wǔ
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ nguX ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*C.ŋˁaʔ/
    English five

    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 五
    Reading # 1/1
    No. 13147
    Phonetic
    component         		五
    Rime
    group         		魚
    Rime
    subdivision         		0
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		五
    Old
    Chinese         		/*ŋaːʔ/

    DefinitionsEdit

    五

    1. five
    2. A surname​. Wu (mainland China, Taiwan), Ng (Hong Kong)
    3. (printing) The size of type between 小五 (little 5) and 小四 (little 4), standardized as 10½ point.

    See alsoEdit

    Chinese numbers
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 108 1012
    Normal
    (小寫／小写)     		〇 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬／万 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

    CompoundsEdit

    Derived terms from 五

    DescendantsEdit

    Sino-Xenic (五):

    Others:

    JapaneseEdit

    Japanese cardinal numbers
     <  4 5 6  > 
        Cardinal : 五

    KanjiEdit

    五

    (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    1. five

    ReadingsEdit

    CompoundsEdit

    Compounds

    Etymology 1Edit

    Kanji in this term
    五
    いつ
    Grade: 1
    kun’yomi

    From Old Japanese.

    PronunciationEdit

    NounEdit

    五 (hiragana いつ, rōmaji itsu)

    1. five
    Derived termsEdit

    Etymology 2Edit

    Kanji in this term
    五
    ご
    Grade: 1
    on’yomi

    From Middle Chinese 五 (MC ŋuoX).

    PronunciationEdit

    • On’yomi
    • Audio
      		(file)

    NounEdit

    五 (hiragana ご, rōmaji go)

    1. five
    2. a name of a hole of a wind instrument
    Coordinate termsEdit
    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)

    Etymology 3Edit

    Kanji in this term
    五
    い
    Grade: 1
    kun’yomi

    PronunciationEdit

    NounEdit

    五 (hiragana い, rōmaji i)

    1. five

    KoreanEdit

    HanjaEdit

    五 (eumhun 다섯 오 (daseot o))

    1. Hanja form? of 오 (“five”).

    CompoundsEdit

    Compounds

    MulamEdit

    NumeralEdit

    五 (kwən1)

    1. five

    VietnameseEdit

    ZhuangEdit

    NumeralEdit

    五

    1. Sawndip form of haj (“five”)
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