See also:
U+54C9, 哉
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-54C9

[U+54C8]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+54CA]

Translingual edit

Han character edit

(Kangxi radical 30, +6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 十戈口 (JIR), four-corner 43650, composition 𢦏)

Derived characters edit

References edit

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 189, character 8
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3596
  • Dae Jaweon: page 408, character 14
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 611, character 7
  • Unihan data for U+54C9

Chinese edit

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character
Spring and Autumn
Bronze inscriptions
 

Phono-semantic compound (形聲形声, OC *ʔslɯː): semantic + phonetic 𢦏 (OC *ʔslɯː).

Etymology 1 edit

simp. and trad.
alternative forms

𠳆

Pronunciation edit



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (13)
Final () (41)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Baxter tsoj
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/t͡sʌi/
Pan
Wuyun
/t͡səi/
Shao
Rongfen
/t͡sɒi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/t͡səj/
Li
Rong
/t͡sᴀi/
Wang
Li
/t͡sɒi/
Bernard
Karlgren
/t͡sɑ̆i/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
zāi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
zoi1
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
zāi zāi
Middle
Chinese
‹ tsoj › ‹ tsoj ›
Old
Chinese
/*[ts]ˁə/ /*[ts]ˁə/
English begin (particle)

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 # 1/1
No. 16490
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ʔslɯː/

Definitions edit

  1. grammatical particle indicating emphasis
    1. sentence-medial particle indicating inverted construction for the emphasis of the predicate
      [Classical Chinese]  ―  zāi sī yán! [Pinyin]  ―  How great, these words!
    2. sentence-final particle indicating exclamation, emphasis, or strong intention
  2. begin, commence
    [Classical Chinese, trad.]
    [Classical Chinese, simp.]
    From: The Book of Documents, circa 4th – 3rd century BCE
    Wéi sānyuè zāi shēngpò, Zhōugōng chū jī zuò xīndàyì yú dōngguó luò. [Pinyin]
    On the third month, when the moon began to wane, the duke of Zhou commenced the foundations, and proceeded to build the new great city of Lo, of the eastern states.
See also edit

Compounds edit

Etymology 2 edit

simp. and trad.
alternative forms

According to Qian (2010), in contemporary Shanghainese, it has become through lenition (/zəʔ/ > /ləʔ/). Compare : /zɑ̃¹¹³/ > /lɑ̃¹¹³/. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation edit


Definitions edit

(Wu)

  1. (Northern Wu) Sentence-final particle used to indicate the present tense
    大家 [Suzhounese, trad.]
    大家 [Suzhounese, simp.]
    From: 1993, Li Rong, 蘇州方言詞典
    Everyone come over, let's eat!

Usage notes edit

  • Unlike Standard Chinese, Northern Wu languages can mark for some tenses, like many European languages. This term, therefore, cannot be accurately translated into Standard Chinese. In contemporary Shanghainese, is more common.

Etymology 3 edit

simp. and trad.

Pronunciation edit


Definitions edit

  1. (Hokkien) Only used in 佳哉.

Compounds edit

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

Readings edit

Etymology 1 edit

Kanji in this term
さい
Jinmeiyō
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese (MC tsoj).

Affix edit

(さい) (sai

  1. expression of exclamation or excitement
Derived terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Kanji in this term
かな
Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entry.
かな
[particle] [from early 700s] (Classical Japanese or literary) expresses wonder or postulation on the part of the speaker
(This term, , is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Korean edit

Hanja edit

(eum (jae))

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

Vietnamese edit

Han character edit

: Hán Nôm readings: tai, tơi

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