See also: and
U+5169, 兩
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5169

[U+5168]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+516A]
U+F978, 兩
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F978

[U+F977]
CJK Compatibility Ideographs
[U+F979]

Translingual edit

Traditional
Shinjitai
Simplified
Stroke order
 

Han character edit

(Kangxi radical 11, +6, 8 strokes, cangjie input 一中月人 (MLBO), four-corner 10227, composition 𠓜)

Derived characters edit

References edit

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 126, character 13
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1436
  • Dae Jaweon: page 272, character 11
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 24, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+5169

Chinese edit

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character




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).

According to Shuowen Jiezi an ideogrammic compound (會意会意): + . Baxter (1992) observes that, in historical forms, the character is two (OC *praŋʔ) joined together; this would make 丙 the phonetic component in a sort of phono-ideogrammic compound (see also Baxter & Sagart (2014)).

Etymology edit

Unknown. Schuessler (2007) proposes two possible etymologies:

Derivative: (OC *raŋs, “chariot”) (literally “that which is paired”, i.e. “a set of wheels”).

Pronunciation 1 edit

trad.
simp.
alternative forms
𭃂


Note:
  • lâng - vernacular;
  • liōng - literary.
  • Southern Min
  • Note:
    • nn̄g/nňg/nō͘ - vernacular;
    • lióng - literary.
    Note:
    • no6 - vernacular;
    • liang2 - literary.
  • Wu
  • Xiang

  • Rime
    Character
    Reading # 1/2
    Initial () (37)
    Final () (105)
    Tone (調) Rising (X)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division () III
    Fanqie
    Baxter ljangX
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang
    /lɨɐŋX/
    Pan
    Wuyun
    /liɐŋX/
    Shao
    Rongfen
    /liɑŋX/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank
    /lɨaŋX/
    Li
    Rong
    /liaŋX/
    Wang
    Li
    /lĭaŋX/
    Bernard
    Karlgren
    /li̯aŋX/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex
    liǎng
    Expected
    Cantonese
    Reflex
    loeng5
    BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)
    liǎng
    Middle
    Chinese
    ‹ ljangX ›
    Old
    Chinese
    /*p.raŋʔ/
    English a pair

    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
    Reading # 1/2
    No. 8054
    Phonetic
    component
    Rime
    group
    Rime
    subdivision
    0
    Corresponding
    MC rime
    Old
    Chinese
    /*raŋʔ/

    Definitions edit

    1. two
      熱氣球热气球  ―  liǎng zhī rèqìqiú  ―  two hot air balloons
    2. two (used in radio communications in aviation and by the military)
    3. some; few
      你們辛苦 [MSC, trad.]
      你们辛苦 [MSC, simp.]
      Nǐmen zhè liǎng tiān zhēn gòu xīnkǔ de. [Pinyin]
      You've really been working hard the past few days.
    4. different; distinct
        ―  liǎngyàng  ―  difference
      我們 [MSC, trad.]
      我们 [MSC, simp.]
      Wǒmen shuō de shì liǎng huí shì. [Pinyin]
      We are talking about different things.
    5. a surname
    Usage notes edit
    • In Standard Mandarin, (liǎng) is used when counting things with a measure word, (èr) is used in numbers.
      • Examples with (liǎng)
          ―  liǎng ge rén  ―  two people
          ―  liǎng nián  ―  two years
          ―  liǎng bǎi  ―  two hundred
          ―  liǎng qiān  ―  two thousand
      • Examples with (èr)
        二十  ―  èrshí  ―  twenty (literally, “two tens”)
          ―  èr bǎi  ―  two hundred
        第二  ―  dì'èr  ―  second
        But not *個人
    Synonyms edit
    • (èr, “two”)

    Compounds edit

    Pronunciation 2 edit

    trad. /
    simp.
    alternative forms
    𭃂
     
    Wikipedia has articles on:


    Note:
    • niên2 - Chaozhou;
    • nion2 - Shantou.
  • Wu

  • Rime
    Character
    Reading # 1/2
    Initial () (37)
    Final () (105)
    Tone (調) Rising (X)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division () III
    Fanqie
    Baxter ljangX
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang
    /lɨɐŋX/
    Pan
    Wuyun
    /liɐŋX/
    Shao
    Rongfen
    /liɑŋX/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank
    /lɨaŋX/
    Li
    Rong
    /liaŋX/
    Wang
    Li
    /lĭaŋX/
    Bernard
    Karlgren
    /li̯aŋX/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex
    liǎng
    Expected
    Cantonese
    Reflex
    loeng5
    BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)
    liǎng
    Middle
    Chinese
    ‹ ljangX ›
    Old
    Chinese
    /*p.raŋʔ/
    English a pair

    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
    Reading # 1/2
    No. 8054
    Phonetic
    component
    Rime
    group
    Rime
    subdivision
    0
    Corresponding
    MC rime
    Old
    Chinese
    /*raŋʔ/

    Definitions edit

    1. tael (a traditional unit of weight)
      1. (Mainland China) Short for 市兩市两 (shìliǎng, “market tael, equal to 1/10 of a catty or 50 grams”).
      2. (Hong Kong) equal to 1/16 of a catty or 37.7994 grams
      3. (Taiwan) Short for 臺兩台两 (“Taiwanese tael, equal to 1/16 of a catty or 37.5 grams”).
      4. (historical) metal currency unit used in China and Japan
    2. Short for 公兩公两 (gōngliǎng, “hectogram”).
    Usage notes edit
    • In older literature, using for "tael" and for "two" can be seen.
    • The variant form 𭃂 is commonly found in shop signs displaying prices.

    Compounds edit

    Pronunciation 3 edit



    Rime
    Character
    Reading # 2/2
    Initial () (37)
    Final () (105)
    Tone (調) Departing (H)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division () III
    Fanqie
    Baxter ljangH
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang
    /lɨɐŋH/
    Pan
    Wuyun
    /liɐŋH/
    Shao
    Rongfen
    /liɑŋH/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank
    /lɨaŋH/
    Li
    Rong
    /liaŋH/
    Wang
    Li
    /lĭaŋH/
    Bernard
    Karlgren
    /li̯aŋH/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex
    liàng
    Expected
    Cantonese
    Reflex
    loeng6
    Zhengzhang system (2003)
    Character
    Reading # 2/2
    No. 8061
    Phonetic
    component
    Rime
    group
    Rime
    subdivision
    0
    Corresponding
    MC rime
    Old
    Chinese
    /*raŋs/
    Notes

    Definitions edit

    1. Original form of (liàng).

    Pronunciation 4 edit

    For pronunciation and definitions of – see .
    (This character is a variant form of ).

    Compounds edit

    Descendants edit

    Sino-Xenic ():

    Others:

    Further reading edit

    Japanese edit

    Shinjitai

    Kyūjitai

    Kanji edit

    (uncommon “Hyōgai” kanjikyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form )

    1. both

    Readings edit

    Alternative forms edit

    • (also kyūjitai)

    Korean edit

    Etymology 1 edit

    Hanja edit

    (eumhun (du ryang), South Korea (du yang))

    1. Hanja form? of (both).

    Compounds edit

    Etymology 2 edit

    Hanja edit

    (eumhun (nyang nyang), South Korea (nyang yang))

    1. Hanja form? of ((archaic) (units of measure) a liang or tael, a unit of weight equivalent to about 40 g).
    2. Hanja form? of ((archaic) (units of coinage) a nyang).

    Vietnamese edit

    Han character edit

    : Hán Nôm readings: lưỡng[1][2][3][4][5][6], lượng[1][2][4][5][6], lạng[1][2][3][5][6][7]

    1. Nôm form of lạng (tael (unit of weight equal to 37.8 grams)).
    2. chữ Hán form of lượng (tael).
    3. chữ Hán form of lưỡng (two, both).

    References edit