剡

剡 U+5261, 剡 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5261 ← 剠 [U+5260] CJK Unified Ideographs 剢 → [U+5262]

Translingual

Han character

剡 (Kangxi radical 18, 刀+8, 10 strokes, cangjie input 火火中弓 (FFLN), four-corner 9280₀, composition ⿰炎刂)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 141, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2059
• Dae Jaweon: page 321, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 346, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5261

Chinese

trad.		剡
simp. #		剡

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (炎) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
倓	*l'oːmʔ, *l'aːm, *l'aːms
緂	*l̥ʰaːm, *l̥ʰaːmʔ, *l̥ʰjam
毯	*l̥ʰaːmʔ
菼	*l̥ʰaːmʔ
裧	*l̥ʰaːmʔ, *l̥ʰjam, *l̥ʰjams
賧	*l̥ʰaːms
睒	*l̥ʰaːms, *hljamʔ
舕	*l̥ʰaːms
談	*l'aːm
郯	*l'aːm
惔	*l'aːm, *l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms
錟	*l'aːm
淡	*l'aːm, *l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms, *lamʔ
痰	*l'aːm
餤	*l'aːm
啖	*l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms
腅	*l'aːms
剡	*ɦljamʔ, *lamʔ
覢	*hljamʔ
掞	*hljams
炎	*ɦlam
琰	*lamʔ
棪	*lamʔ
扊	*lamʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɦljamʔ, *lamʔ): phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam) + semantic 刂 (“knife”).

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-rjam (“sharp”) (STEDT, Schuessler, 2007). Initial *r- was re-interpreted as pre-initial and dropped; whereas doublets 磏 (OC *r(i)am, “whetstone”) and 鐮 (OC *ɡ·rem, “sickle”) retain *r-.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎn (yan³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jim⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎn
    • Wade–Giles: yen³
    • Yale: yǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yean
    • Palladius: янь (janʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: jim⁵
    • Yale: yíhm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jim⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yim⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːm¹³/

---

• Middle Chinese: yemX

Rime
Character	剡
Reading #	1/2
Initial (聲)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	鹽 (153)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	以冉切
Baxter	yemX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jiᴇmX/
Pan Wuyun	/jiɛmX/
Shao Rongfen	/jæmX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jiamX/
Li Rong	/iɛmX/
Wang Li	/jĭɛmX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/i̯ɛmX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yǎn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jim5

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*N-r[a]mʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*lamʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	剡
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yǎn
Middle Chinese	‹ yemX ›
Old Chinese	/*N-r[a]mʔ/
English	sharp; pierce
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	剡
Reading #	2/2
No.	14317
Phonetic component	炎
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	琰
Old Chinese	/*lamʔ/

Definitions

剡

1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) sharp; pointed

   alt. forms: 掞, 覃

2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to sharpen
3. (literary, obsolete) to lift, raise
4. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to put forward, propose (someone); to nominate

Compounds

• 刻剡
• 刳剡
• 刳舟剡楫
• 剡利
• 剡剡
• 剡奏
• 剡摲 / 剡𰓼
• 剡注
• 剡移
• 剡耜
• 剡薦 / 剡荐
• 剡鋒 / 剡锋
• 剡章
• 剸剡 / 𰄞剡
• 奏剡
• 平剡
• 翠剡
• 薦剡 / 荐剡

See also

• 䎦 (yǎn)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Shàn (Shan⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sim⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Shàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Shàn
    • Wade–Giles: Shan⁴
    • Yale: Shàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shann
    • Palladius: Шань (Šanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂän⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: sim⁶
    • Yale: sihm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sim⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: xim⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːm²²/

---

• Middle Chinese: dzyemX

Rime
Character	剡
Reading #	2/2
Initial (聲)	常 (25)
Final (韻)	鹽 (153)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	時染切
Baxter	dzyemX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡ʑiᴇmX/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡ʑiɛmX/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡ʑjæmX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡ʑiamX/
Li Rong	/ʑiɛmX/
Wang Li	/ʑĭɛmX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʑi̯ɛmX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sim6

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɦljamʔ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	剡
Reading #	1/2
No.	14311
Phonetic component	炎
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	剡
Old Chinese	/*ɦljamʔ/

Definitions

剡

1. a historical county of Kuaiji in Han dynasty, now 嵊州 (Shèngzhōu), Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China
2. (～溪) Shan Creek, upper stretch of Cao'e River

Compounds

• 剡中
• 剡客
• 剡楮
• 剡溪
• 剡牘 / 剡牍
• 剡硾
• 剡紙 / 剡纸
• 剡藤

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of 剡 – see 燄 (“blazing force; to scorch”). (This character is an obsolete form of 燄).

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of 剡 – see 緂 (“to twist hemp fibers”). (This character is an obsolete form of 緂).

Compounds

• 剡麻

References

• 羅竹風 [Luo, Zhufeng], editor (1986–1994), “剡”, in 漢語大詞典 [Hanyu Da Cidian] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Shanghai: Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, →ISBN
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), B00228

Japanese

Kanji

剡

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. sharp
2. sharp-pointed
3. sharpen

Readings

• On (unclassified): えん (en)、せん (sen)、ぜん (zen)
• Kun: するどい (surudoi)、そるどくする (sorudokusuru)、けずる (kezuru)

Korean

Hanja

剡 (eum 섬 (seom))
剡 (eum 염 (yeom))

1. sharp