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何

See also: 伺, 向, 同, and 回
何 U+4F55, 何
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F55
← 佔
[U+4F54] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 佖 →
[U+4F56]

TranslingualEdit

Stroke order
 

Han characterEdit

何 (radical 9, 人+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 人一弓口 (OMNR), four-corner 21220, composition ⿰亻可)

ReferencesEdit

  • KangXi: page 98, character 15
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 511
  • Dae Jaweon: page 208, character 5
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 130, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+4F55

ChineseEdit

simp. and trad.
 何

Glyph originEdit

Historical forms of the character 何
Shang Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
       
Oracle bone script
 

j18879

 

j18880

 

j18881

 

j18882

 

j18883

 

j18884

 

j18885

 

j18886

 

j18887

 

j18888

 

j18889

 

j18890

 

j18891

 

j18892

 

j18893

 

j18894

 

j18895

 

j18896

 

j18897

 

j18898

 

j18899

 

j18901

 

j18902

 

j18903

 

j18904

 

j18905

 

j18906

 

j18907

 

j18908

 

j18909

 

j18910

 

j18911

 

j18913

 

j18914

 

j18915

 

j18916

 

j18917

 

j18918

 

j18919

 

j18920

 

j18921

 

j18922

 

j18923

 

j18924

 

j18925

 

j18926

 

j18927

 

j18928

 

j18929

 

j18930

 

j18931

Bronze inscriptions
 

b12289

 

b12290

Small seal script
 

s05736

Transcribed ancient scripts
 

L32362

 

L08383

 

L08384

 

L08385

 

L08386

 

L08387

 

L08377

 

L08378

 

L08379

 

L08380

 

L08381

 

L08382

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 (可) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
砢 *ɡ·raːlʔ
柯 *kaːl
菏 *kaːl, *ɡaːl
牁 *kaːl
滒 *kaːl
哥 *kaːl
歌 *kaːl
謌 *kaːl
鴚 *kaːl
哿 *kaːlʔ
舸 *kaːlʔ
笴 *kaːlʔ, *kaːnʔ
軻 *kʰaːl, *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
珂 *kʰaːl
可 *kʰaːlʔ
岢 *kʰaːlʔ
坷 *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
蚵 *kʰaːls, *ɡaːl
呵 *qʰaːl, *qʰaːls
訶 *qʰaːl
抲 *qʰaːl
荷 *qʰaːls, *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
何 *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
河 *ɡaːl
苛 *ɡaːl
魺 *ɡaːl
袔 *ɡaːls
阿 *qaːl
妸 *qaːl, *qaːlʔ
疴 *qaːl, *kʰraːls
鈳 *qaːl
娿 *qaːl, *qaːlʔ
痾 *qaːl
跒 *kʰraːlʔ
閜 *qʰraːlʔ

Pictogram (象形): a man carrying something.

Pronunciation 1Edit

Note:
  • hô/hô͘ - literary;
  • ôa - vernacular.
  • Wu
    • Rime
    Character 何
    Reading # 1/2
    Initial (聲) 匣 (33)
    Final (韻) 歌 (94)
    Tone (調) Level (Ø)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) I
    Fanqie 胡歌切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/ɦɑ/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/ɦɑ/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/ɣɑ/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/ɦa/
    Li
    Rong         		/ɣɑ/
    Wang
    Li         		/ɣɑ/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/ɣɑ/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		hé
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 何
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		hé
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ ha ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*[ɡ]ˁaj/
    English what

    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 何
    Reading # 1/2
    No. 7458
    Phonetic
    component         		可
    Rime
    group         		歌
    Rime
    subdivision         		1
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		何
    Old
    Chinese         		/*ɡaːl/

    DefinitionsEdit

    何

    1. (interrogative pronoun asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc. of something) what; which
      何處 / 何处  ―  héchù  ―  where [lit. what place]
      何日  ―  hérì  ―  what day; when
    2. where; what place
    3. (interrogative pronoun asking for reason, manner, etc. of an action) why; how
      何必  ―  hébì  ―  why must you
      何不  ―  hébù  ―  why not
    4. † (forming emphatic sentences) so; such; what; how
    5. A surname​.
    SynonymsEdit
    Dialectal synonyms of 什麼 (“what”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Classical Chinese 何
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 什麼
    Mandarin Beijing 什麼, 嗎兒
    Taiwan 什麼
    Tianjin 嗎
    Harbin 啥
    Shenyang 什麼, 啥
    Jinan 麼兒, 麼, 什麼
    Muping 麼, 麼個
    Luoyang 啥
    Wanrong 色
    Xi'an 啥
    Xining 啥
    Xuzhou 啥, 啥子
    Yinchuan 啥
    Ürümqi 啥
    Wuhan 麼事
    Chengdu 啥, 啥子
    Guiyang 哪樣
    Liuzhou 什嗎
    Kunming 什麼
    Nanjing 什麼
    Hefei 哄個
    Nantong 甚呢
    Cantonese Guangzhou 乜, 乜嘢, 乜嘢嘢, 咩, 咩嘢
    Hong Kong 乜, 乜嘢, 乜嘢嘢, 咩, 咩嘢
    Taishan 乜
    Dongguan 乜, 乜嘢
    Yangjiang 乜, 乜嘢
    Gan Nanchang 什哩
    Lichuan 什仔
    Pingxiang 咋個
    Hakka Meixian 麼個
    Xingning 麼個
    Huidong (Daling) 麼個
    Qujiang 麼個
    Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang) 麼個
    Changting 麼個
    Pingyu 麼個
    Wuping 麼個
    Liancheng 麼個
    Yudu 子個
    Ruijin 咩, 唔幾
    Shicheng 什麼
    Shangyou 哪個, 哪項, 個哪
    Miaoli (N. Sixian) 麼個
    Liudui (S. Sixian) 麼個
    Hsinchu (Hailu) 麼個
    Dongshi (Dabu) 麼個
    Hsinchu (Raoping) 麼個
    Yunlin (Zhao'an) 麼個
    Huizhou Jixi 麼仂
    Jin Taiyuan 甚
    Xinzhou 甚
    Min Bei Jian'ou 孰事, 孰麼
    Min Dong Fuzhou 什乇, 什名, 什乇名, 面乇名
    Matsu 什乇
    Min Nan Xiamen 什物, 啥物, 啥貨
    Quanzhou 什物, 啥物, 乜
    Zhangzhou 哪貨仔, 哪貨, 哪仔, 哪物仔, 哪物, 什物, 啥物, 啥貨
    Taipei 啥貨, 啥物, 啥
    Kaohsiung 啥, 啥貨, 啥物
    Tainan 啥物, 啥貨
    Taichung 啥
    Hsinchu 啥
    Lukang 啥物, 啥貨
    Sanxia 啥
    Yilan 啥貨
    Kinmen 啥貨, 啥物, 物代
    Magong 啥貨, 物代
    Penang 何物
    Singapore 什物
    Philippines (Manila) 啥物
    Medan 何物
    Chaozhou 乜個, 乜
    Haikou 乜, 個乜
    Leizhou 乜
    Pinghua Nanning 門, 哪門
    Wu Shanghai 啥, 啥個
    Suzhou 啥
    Hangzhou 啥
    Wenzhou 何呢
    Chongming 何
    Danyang 點高
    Jinhua 待, 淡
    Ningbo 啥
    Xiang Changsha 麼子
    Shuangfeng 麼子
    Loudi 麼子

    DescendantsEdit

    • (Hokkien dialect) Tagalog: Ho

    Pronunciation 2Edit

    Rime
    Character 何
    Reading # 2/2
    Initial (聲) 匣 (33)
    Final (韻) 歌 (94)
    Tone (調) Rising (X)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) I
    Fanqie 胡可切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/ɦɑX/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/ɦɑX/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/ɣɑX/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/ɦaX/
    Li
    Rong         		/ɣɑX/
    Wang
    Li         		/ɣɑX/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/ɣɑX/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		hè
    Zhengzhang system (2003)
    Character 何
    Reading # 2/2
    No. 7466
    Phonetic
    component         		可
    Rime
    group         		歌
    Rime
    subdivision         		1
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		荷
    Old
    Chinese         		/*ɡaːlʔ/
    Notes 同荷

    DefinitionsEdit

    何

    1. † Original form of 荷 (“to carry”).

    Pronunciation 3Edit

    DefinitionsEdit

    何

    1. † Original form of 呵 (“to scold; to criticise; to denounce”).

    CompoundsEdit

    Derived terms from 何

    Further readingEdit

    JapaneseEdit

    KanjiEdit

    何

    (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    1. what

    ReadingsEdit

    PronunciationEdit

    CompoundsEdit

    InterjectionEdit

    Kanji in this term
    何
    なに
    Grade: 2
    kun’yomi

    何 (hiragana なに, rōmaji nani)

    1. What?, Huh?


    PronounEdit

    Kanji in this term
    何
    なに
    Grade: 2
    kun’yomi

    何 (hiragana なに, rōmaji nani) (alternative reading hiragana なん, romaji nan)

    1. what
    2. that thing (used in place of words you can't remember at the moment.)

    Usage notesEdit

    • 何 is usually read as なに, but before だ, で, の, it is read as なん. When followed by で, both readings are possible, albeit with different meanings.

    Derived termsEdit

    Derived terms

    Related termsEdit

    See alsoEdit

    Classical Japanese pronouns and demonstratives
    First person Second person Close to speaker Close to listener Far from both Interrogative Reflexive
    Person あ (a), あれ (are)
    わ (wa), われ (ware)
    まろ (maro)     		な (na), なれ (nare)
    なんぢ (nanji)
    まし (mashi)
    いまし (imashi)
    みまし (mimashi)
    きみ (kimi)     		こ (ko), これ (kore) そ (so), それ (sore) あ (a), あれ (are)
    か (ka), かれ (kare)     		た (ta), たれ (tare)
    なにがし (nanigashi)     		おの (ono)
    Thing こ (ko), これ (kore) そ (so), それ (sore) あ (a), あれ (are)
    か (ka), かれ (kare)     		いづれ (izure)
    なに (nani)
    Location ここ (koko) そこ (soko) あしこ (ashiko)
    かしこ (kashiko)     		いづこ (izuko)
    いづく (izuku)
    いどこ (idoko)
    どこ (doko)
    Direction こち (kochi)
    こなた (konata)     		そち (sochi)
    そなた (sonata)     		あち (achi)
    あなた (anata)
    かなた (kanata)     		いづち (izuchi)
    いづら (izura)
    いづかた (izukata)
    Manner か (ka)
    かく (kaku)
    かくて (kakute)
    かう (kō)     		さ (sa), さて (sate)
    しか (shika)     		いか (ika)
    Time いつ (itsu)

    PrefixEdit

    Kanji in this term
    何
    なん
    Grade: 2
    kun’yomi

    何 (hiragana なん, rōmaji nan-)

    1. what number, how many (used with a counter)
    2. (used with も) many (used with a counter)
      この広 (こう)告 (こく)を何 (なん)回 (かい)も見 (み)た
      kono kōkoku o nankai mo mita
      I've seen this ad many times

    Derived termsEdit

    Derived terms

    ReferencesEdit

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō

    KoreanEdit

    HanjaEdit

    何 • (ha) (hangeul 하)

    1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

    KunigamiEdit

    KanjiEdit

    何

    PronunciationEdit

    PronounEdit

    何 (hiragana ぬー, romaji nū)

    1. what

    MiyakoEdit

    KanjiEdit

    何

    PronunciationEdit

    PronounEdit

    何 (hiragana のー, romaji nō)

    1. what

    OkinawanEdit

    KanjiEdit

    何

    PronunciationEdit

    PronounEdit

    何 (hiragana ぬー, romaji nū)

    1. what

    VietnameseEdit

    Han characterEdit

    何 (hà, gã)

    1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

    ReferencesEdit

    YaeyamaEdit

    KanjiEdit

    何

    PronunciationEdit

    PronounEdit

    何 (hiragana のー, romaji nō)

    1. what

    YonaguniEdit

    KanjiEdit

    何

    PronunciationEdit

    PronounEdit

    何 (hiragana ぬー, romaji nū)

    1. what
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