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

Stroke order

Han characterEdit

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

Derived charactersEdit

哬荷

ReferencesEdit

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

ChineseEdit

simp. and trad.		何
alternative forms		⿰彳可

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

In the oracle bone script, a pictogram (象形): a man carrying something on their shoulder – the original form of 荷 (OC *ɡaːlʔ, “to carry”).

The object being carried may have been 戈, in which case the character is also an ideogrammic compound (會意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 戈 (OC *koːl, “dagger-axe”).

In the bronze inscriptions, some forms of the character were phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ), from which the modern form derives.

EtymologyEdit

Cognate with the following interrogative pronouns:

胡 (OC *ɡaː, “what; why”)
奚 (OC *ɡeː, “what; why; where”)
曷 (OC *ɡaːd, “why”)
盍 (OC *ɡaːb, “why not”): from the fusion of 何不 (OC *ɡaːl pɯ, “why not”)

In Sino-Tibetan, cognate with Tibetan ག་ན (ga na, “where; how”), Tibetan ག་རུ (ga ru, “to where”) (Schuessler, 2007).

STEDT, on the other hand, compares 何 (OC *ɡaːlʔ) to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ka (“which; like; diectic; interrogative”), to which 幾 (OC *kɯlʔ, “how many”) and 豈 (OC *ŋ̊ʰɯlʔ, “how”) are also compared.

Pronunciation 1Edit

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): hé (he²)

(Zhuyin): ㄏㄜˊ

(Chengdu, SP): ho²
Cantonese
(Guangzhou, Jyutping): ho⁴

(Taishan, Wiktionary): ho³
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): hò

(Meixian, Guangdong): ho²
Min Bei (KCR): ǒ̤
Min Dong (BUC): ò̤
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): hô / hô͘ / ôa

(Teochew, Peng'im): ho⁵
Wu (Wiktionary): hhu (T3); hha (T3)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: hé
  - Zhuyin: ㄏㄜˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: her
  - Tongyong Pinyin: hé
  - Wade–Giles: ho²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ³⁵/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: ho²
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: xo
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /xo²¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: ho⁴
  - Yale: hòh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ho⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: ho⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː²¹/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: ho³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hᵘɔ²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hò
  - Hakka Romanization System: hoˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: ho²
  - Sinological IPA: /ho¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: ho²
  - Sinological IPA: /ho¹¹/
Min Bei
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: ǒ̤
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɔ²¹/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: ò̤
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /o⁵³/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hô
  - Tâi-lô: hô
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hooi
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /ho¹³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei): /ho²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hɤ²³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hô͘
  - Tâi-lô: hôo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hoo
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /hɔ²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ôa
  - Tâi-lô: uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: oaa
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ua²³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /ua¹³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei): /ua²⁴/

Note:

hô/hô͘ - literary (incl. surname);
ôa - vernacular.

(Teochew)
- Peng'im: ho⁵
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hô
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /ho⁵⁵/

Wu

(Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: hhu (T3); hha (T3)
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɦv̩ʷ²³/, /ɦa̱²³/

Middle Chinese: /ɦɑ/

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
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ho⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɡ]ˤaj/

(Zhengzhang): /*ɡaːl/

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

(literary, 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
(literary) where; what place
(literary) interrogative pronoun asking for reason, manner, etc. of an action}} why; how
何必 ― hébì ― why must you

何不 ― hébù ― why not
(literary) (forming emphatic sentences) so; such; what; how
A surname.
何應欽 / 何应钦 ― Hé Yìngqīn ― He Yingqin (Kuomintang general)

DescendantsEdit

→ Tagalog: Ho (Hokkien dialect)

Pronunciation 2Edit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): hè (he⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄏㄜˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ho⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: hè
  - Zhuyin: ㄏㄜˋ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: heh
  - Tongyong Pinyin: hè
  - Wade–Giles: ho⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: ho⁶
  - Yale: hoh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ho⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ho⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː²²/

Middle Chinese: /ɦɑ^X/

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	/ɦɑ^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦɑ^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣɑ^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦa^X/
Li Rong	/ɣɑ^X/
Wang Li	/ɣɑ^X/
Bernard Karlgren	/ɣɑ^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	hè
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ho⁶

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*ɡaːlʔ/

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

^† Original form of 荷 (“to carry”).

Pronunciation 3Edit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): hē (he¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄏㄜ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ho¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: hē
  - Zhuyin: ㄏㄜ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: he
  - Tongyong Pinyin: he
  - Wade–Giles: ho¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: ho¹
  - Yale: hō
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ho¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: ho¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː⁵⁵/

DefinitionsEdit

何

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

ReferencesEdit

“何”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00111
“Entry #2874”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

JapaneseEdit

KanjiEdit

何

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

what

ReadingsEdit

Go-on: が (ga)^{←が (ga, historical)}
Kan-on: か (ka, Jōyō)^{←か (ka, historical)}
Kun: なに (nani, 何, Jōyō)^{←なに (nani, historical)}; なん (nan, 何, Jōyō ^†)^{←なん (nan, historical)}; いず (izu, 何)^{←いづ (idu, historical)}; いずれ (izure, 何れ)^{←いづれ (idure, historical)}; いずく (izuku, 何く)^{←いづく (iduku, historical)}
Nanori: あが (aga)

PronunciationEdit

Kun’yomi

(Tokyo) なに [náꜜnì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [na̠ɲ̟i]
Audio (file)

Kun’yomi

(Tokyo) なん [náꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [nã̠ɴ]

CompoundsEdit

See 何/derived_terms § Japanese.

InterjectionEdit

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

何(なに) • (nani)

What?, Huh?

PronounEdit

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

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

what
- 794, Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki (page 92)
  汝何所爲奈尓世牟止曽
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

See 何/derived_terms § Japanese.

Related termsEdit

何(ど)れ (dore) which one?
何(ど)の (dono) (of) what?
何(ど)処(こ) (doko) where?
何(ど)方(ちら) (dochira) which way?
如何(どう) (dō) in what manner?

PrefixEdit

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

何(なん) • (nan-)

what number, how many (used with a counter)
(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

See 何/derived_terms § Japanese.

ReferencesEdit

Unknown (794), Yoshinori Kobayashi, editor, Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki (Kojisho Ongi Shūsei) (in Japanese), volume 1, Kyūko Shoin, published 1978, →ISBN.

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

KoreanEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle Chinese 何 (MC ɦɑ).

HanjaEdit

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

何

Wikisource

何 (eumhun 어찌 하 (eojji ha))

Hanja form^? of 하 (“how; what”).

CompoundsEdit

Compounds

하필 (何必, hapil)
기하학 (幾何學, gihahak)
육하원칙 (六何原則, yukhawonchik)

ReferencesEdit

국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

KunigamiEdit

KanjiEdit

何

ReadingsEdit

Kun: ぬー (nū)

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /nuː/

PronounEdit

何 (hiragana ぬー, rōmaji nū)

what

MiyakoEdit

KanjiEdit

何

ReadingsEdit

Kun: のー (nō)

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /noː/

PronounEdit

何 (hiragana のー, rōmaji nō)

what

OkinawanEdit

KanjiEdit

ReadingsEdit

Kun: ぬー (nū, 何)

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /nuː/

PronounEdit

何 (hiragana ぬー, rōmaji nū)

what

VietnameseEdit

Han characterEdit

何: Hán Nôm readings: hà, gã, há

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

ReferencesEdit

Nom Foundation

YaeyamaEdit

KanjiEdit

何

ReadingsEdit

Kun: のー (nō)

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /noː/

PronounEdit

何 (hiragana のー, rōmaji nō)

what

YonaguniEdit

KanjiEdit

何

ReadingsEdit

Kun: ぬー (nū)

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /nuː/

PronounEdit

何 (hiragana ぬー, rōmaji nū)

what

[SMK2-1] 1.0 ^1.1 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō

[1]

	ko- “this” (close to speaker)	so- “that” (close to listener)	a- “that over there” (far from both)	do- “which” (indeterminate, question)
Object	これ (kore)	それ (sore)	あれ (are)	どれ (dore)
Object	これら (korera)	それら (sorera)	あれら (arera)	—
Determiner	この (kono)	その (sono)	あの (ano)	どの (dono)
Determiner	これらの (korera no)	それらの (sorera no)	あれらの (arera no)	—
Kind	こんな (konna)	そんな (sonna)	あんな (anna)	どんな (donna)
Place	ここ (koko)	そこ (soko)	あそこ (asoko)*	どこ (doko)
Place	こっから (kokkara)	そっから (sokkara)	—	どっから (dokkara)
Direction	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
Direction	こっち (kotchi)	そっち (sotchi)	あっち (atchi)	どっち (dotchi)
Human	こいつ (koitsu)	そいつ (soitsu)	あいつ (aitsu)	どいつ (doitsu)
Human	こちら様 (kochirasama)	そちら様 (sochirasama)	あちら様 (achirasama)	どちら様 (dochirasama)
Manner	こう (kō)	そう (sō)	ああ (ā)**	どう (dō)
Degree	こんくらい (konkurai)	そんくらい (sonkurai)	あんくらい (ankurai)	どんくらい (donkurai)
Degree	こんだけ (kondake)	そんだけ (sondake)	あんだけ (andake)	どんだけ (dondake)
* irregular ** regular (long vowel)

	a-/wa- “I, we” (first person)	na-/-ma- “you, ye, thou” (second person)	k- “this” (close to speaker)	s- “that” (close to listener)	a-/ka- “that over there” (far from both)	i-/ta-/nani- “who, what, where, how, when” (interrogative)	ono- “oneself” (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) おのれ (onore)
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)	いづく (izuku) いづこ (izuko) 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)

何

TranslingualEdit

Han characterEdit

Derived charactersEdit

ReferencesEdit

ChineseEdit

Glyph originEdit

EtymologyEdit

Pronunciation 1Edit

DefinitionsEdit

QuotationsEdit

SynonymsEdit

CompoundsEdit

DescendantsEdit

Pronunciation 2Edit

DefinitionsEdit

Pronunciation 3Edit

DefinitionsEdit

ReferencesEdit

JapaneseEdit

KanjiEdit

ReadingsEdit

PronunciationEdit

CompoundsEdit

InterjectionEdit

PronounEdit

Usage notesEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

See alsoEdit

PrefixEdit

Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

KoreanEdit

EtymologyEdit

HanjaEdit

CompoundsEdit

ReferencesEdit

KunigamiEdit

KanjiEdit

ReadingsEdit

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

MiyakoEdit

KanjiEdit

ReadingsEdit

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

OkinawanEdit

KanjiEdit

ReadingsEdit

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

VietnameseEdit

Han characterEdit

ReferencesEdit

YaeyamaEdit

KanjiEdit

ReadingsEdit

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

YonaguniEdit

KanjiEdit

ReadingsEdit

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit