Wiktionary

四

See also: 西, 匹, and 㓁
四 U+56DB, 四
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-56DB
← 囚
[U+56DA] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 囜 →
[U+56DC]
㈣ U+3223, ㈣
PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH FOUR
← ㈢
[U+3222] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㈤ →
[U+3224]
㊃ U+3283, ㊃
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH FOUR
← ㊂
[U+3282] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㊄ →
[U+3284]
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四

Translingual

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Stroke order (Sans-serif)
 
Stroke order
 

Han character

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四 (Kangxi radical 31, 囗+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 田金 (WC), four-corner 60210, composition ⿴囗⿰丿㇄(GHTV) or ⿴囗儿(JK))

  1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №503

Derived characters

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 216, character 22
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4682
  • Dae Jaweon: page 439, character 21
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 710, character 16
  • Unihan data for U+56DB

Chinese

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Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 四 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 四 (Cantonese)

Glyph origin

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Characters in the same phonetic series (四) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
訵 *l̥ʰids
四 *hljids
泗 *hljids
駟 *hljids
柶 *hljids
牭 *hljids
呬 *hrids

The word "four" was written as 亖 (sì) before Western Zhou and 四 (sì) appeared in late Spring and Autumn period. This alternative form was used to prevent confusion of 亖 (sì) and 二 (“two”) or 三 (“three”) in vertical writing. It was standardized in Qin dynasty.

The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside 口 (kǒu); this later evolved into the combination used today of 口 (kǒu, “mouth”) and 八 (bā, “divide”) which meant a dispersal of breath. It could thus be said that four is a borrowed meaning for this character. The original sense is preserved in 呬 (OC *hrids), by adding an extra 口. Compare this character with 只 and 曰.

Etymology 1

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simp. and trad.
 四
alternative forms
肆 financial
亖 ancient
皿
龱
𠁤
肆 financial
亖 ancient
皿
龱
𠁤
𠃢 ancient
𦉭
 

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-lij.

Pronunciation

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Note:
Note:
  • sei3 - vernacular;
  • si3 - literary (rare) and in 四正.
Note:
  • sé - vernacular;
  • sé̤ṳ - literary.
Note:
  • si4 - vernacular;
  • so4 - literary.
Note:
  • Xiamen, Quanzhou, Nan'an, Hui'an, Zhangzhou, Changtai, Zhangpu, Longyan, Taiwan, Singapore, Penang:
    • sì - vernacular;
    • sù/sìr - literary.
  • Jinjiang, Philippines:
    • sì - vernacular and literary.
Note: 5syu (Ningbo) - only used in 四圍／四围,.
Rime
Character 四
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 脂 (15)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 息利切
Baxter sijH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/siɪH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/siH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sjɪH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/siH/
Li
Rong 		/siH/
Wang
Li 		/siH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/siH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		si3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 四
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sijH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.li[j]-s/
English four

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 四
Reading # 1/1
No. 12022
Phonetic
component 		四
Rime
group 		至
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		四
Old
Chinese 		/*hljids/

Definitions

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四

  1. four
  2. (literary) in or from the four directions
  3. (music) la (musical note)
  4. (printing) English; The size of type between 小四 (little 4) and 小三 (little 3), standardized as 14 point.

Usage notes

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Wikipedia has an article on:

As superstition, 四 (MC siɪH) is avoided because it is similar to 死 (MC sˠiɪX, “death”) in sound.

See also

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Chinese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 106 108 1012
Normal
(小寫 / 小写) 		〇, 零, 空 一, 蜀 二, 兩 / 两 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬 / 万,
十千 (Malaysia, Singapore) 		百萬 / 百万,
桶(Philippines),
面桶 (Philippines) 		億 / 亿 兆 (Taiwan)
萬億 / 万亿 (Mainland China)
Financial
(大寫 / 大写) 		零 壹 貳 / 贰 參 / 叁 肆 伍 陸 / 陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟
Playing cards in Mandarin · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
             
尖兒 / 尖儿 (jiānr) 二 (èr) 三 (sān) 四 (sì) 五 (wǔ) 六 (liù) 七 (qī)
             
八 (bā) 九 (jiǔ) 十 (shí) 鉤兒 / 钩儿 (gōur) 圈兒 / 圈儿 (quānr), 皮蛋 (pídàn, regional) K 小王 (xiǎowáng, black), 大王 (red),
小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ, black), 大鬼 (dàguǐ, red)

Compounds

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (四):
  • → Japanese: 四(し) (shi)
  • → Korean: 사(四) (sa)
  • → Vietnamese: tứ (四)

Others:

Etymology 2

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simp. and trad.
 四

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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四

  1. (music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note low la (6̣).
    Synonym: 士 (shì) (Cantonese opera)

Further reading

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Japanese

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Japanese cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : 四

Kanji

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四

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

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Compounds

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Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
四
よ
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

⟨yo2⟩ → */jə/ → /jo/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *yə.

In modern Japanese, Japonic よ (yo) is more common than Sinitic し (shi, see Etymology 3) outside fixed compounds, which is similar to 七(なな) (nana) but different from other numerals. The reason may be a superstitious connection to 死(し) (shi, “death”), or simply avoiding confusion with similar sounding 一(いち) (ichi, “one”) and 七(しち) (shichi, “seven”).

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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四(よ) • (yo) 

  1. four, 4
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
四
よん
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Shift from yo above,[1][2] influenced by analogy by the final sound of preceding number 三 (san, “three”). The most common form as a stand-alone number.

Pronunciation

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  • (Tokyo) よん [yóꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
  • IPA(key): [jõ̞ɴ]
  • Audio:(file)

Numeral

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四(よん) • (yon) 

  1. four, 4
Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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Kanji in this term
四
し
Grade: 1
on'yomi

/si/ → /ɕi/

From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪH).

Compare modern Hakka 四 (si).

Alternative forms

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  • (financial form) 肆

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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四(し) • (shi) 

  1. four, 4
Usage notes
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Due to Chinese influence, 四 (shi) is sometimes avoided as it is homonymous to 死 (shi, “death”).

Derived terms
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Derived terms

Noun

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四(し) • (shi) 

  1. the fourth

Affix

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四(し) • (shi) 

  1. four
  2. fourth
  3. quadruple
  4. here and there
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 4

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Kanji in this term
四
すう
Grade: 1
irregular

From Mandarin 四 (sì).[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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四(スー) • (sū) 

  1. (mahjong) four, 4
Coordinate terms
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Derived terms
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Derived terms

See also

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v • d • e
Japanese numbers
NumberKanjiKanaRomaji
0零れい、ゼロrei, zero
1一、壱、弌、壹いちichi
2二、弐、貳、貮にni
3三、参さんsan
4四、肆よん、しyon, shi
5五、伍ごgo
6六、陸ろくroku
7七、漆なな、しちnana, shichi
8八、捌はちhachi
9九、玖きゅう、くkyū, ku
10十、拾じゅうjū
100百、陌、佰ひゃくhyaku
1,000千、阡、仟せんsen
10,000一万、万、一萬、萬いちまん、まんichiman, man
100,000,000一億、億いちおく、おくichioku, oku

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

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Korean numbers (edit)
40
 ←  3 4 5  → 
    Native isol.: 넷 (net)
    Native attr.: 네 (ne), (dated) 넉 (neok), (archaic) 너 (neo)
    Sino-Korean: 사 (sa)
    Hanja: 四
    Ordinal: 넷째 (netjjae)

Etymology

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From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪH).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰa̠(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

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Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

四 (eumhun 넉 사 (neok sa))

  1. hanja form? of 사 (“four”)

Compounds

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Compounds

References

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

Old Japanese

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Etymology

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From Proto-Japonic *yə.

Also used as 借訓 (shakkun) kana for ⟨yo2⟩.

Numeral

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四 (yo2) (kana よ)

  1. four, 4

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Japanese: 四 (yo, yon)

Vietnamese

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Han character

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四: Hán Việt readings: tứ[1][2][3]
四: Nôm readings: tớ[1][2][4], tứ[2][3], tư[4]

  1. chữ Hán form of tứ (“four”).
  2. chữ Nôm form of tư (“four; fourth”).

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hồ (1976).
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