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]
Commons:Category
Commons:Category
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TranslingualEdit

Stroke order (Sans-serif)
 
Stroke order
 

Han characterEdit

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 charactersEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • KangXi: 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

ChineseEdit

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

Glyph originEdit

Historical forms of the character 四
Shang Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming) Libian (compiled in Qing)
Bronze inscriptions Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Shizhoupian script Ancient script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts Clerical script
                       
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 before Western Zhou and 四 appeared in late Spring and Autumn period. This alternative form was used to prevent confusion of 亖 and 二 or 三 in vertical writing. It was standardized in Qin dynasty.

The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside 口; this later evolved into the combination used today of 口 (“mouth”) and 八 (“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.

Etymology 1Edit

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

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ləj.

PronunciationEdit

Note:
  • sei3 - vernacular;
  • si3 - literary (rare) and in 四正.
  • Gan
  • Hakka
  • Jin
  • Min Bei
  • Min Dong
    • Note:
    • sé - vernacular;
    • sé̤ṳ - literary.
  • Min Nan
    • Note:
    • Xiamen, Quanzhou, Hui'an, Zhangzhou, Changtai, Zhangpu, Longyan, Taiwan, Singapore, Penang:
      • sì - vernacular;
      • sù/sìr - literary.
    • Jinjiang, Philippines:
      • sì - vernacular and literary.
  • (Teochew)
  • Wu
  • Xiang
    • 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/
    Bernard
    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/

    DefinitionsEdit

    四

    1. four
    2. (literary) four directions; all directions
      Synonym: 四方 (sìfāng)
    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 notesEdit

     
    Wikipedia has an article on:

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

    See alsoEdit

    Chinese numbers
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 108 1012
    Normal
    (小寫／小写)     		〇, 零 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬／万
    十千 (Malaysia, Singapore)     		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 Chinese · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
                 
    尖兒／尖儿／尖儿／尖儿 二 (èr) 三 四 (sì) 五 (wǔ) 六 七 (qī)
                 
    八 (bā) 九 (jiǔ) 十 (shí) 鉤兒／钩儿／钩儿／钩儿 圈兒／圈儿／圈儿／圈儿, 皮蛋 (pídàn, regional) K 小王 (xiǎowáng, black), 大王 (red), 小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ, black), 大鬼 (dàguǐ, red)

    CompoundsEdit

    DescendantsEdit

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

    Others:

    Etymology 2Edit

    simp. and trad.
    		 四

    PronunciationEdit

    DefinitionsEdit

    四

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

    Further readingEdit

    JapaneseEdit

    KanjiEdit

    四

    (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    ReadingsEdit

    CompoundsEdit

    Etymology 1Edit

    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), or simply avoiding confusion with similar sounding 一(いち) (ichi) and 七(しち) (shichi).

    PronunciationEdit

    NumeralEdit

    四(よ) • (yo) 

    Japanese cardinal numbers
     <  3 4 5  > 
        Cardinal : 四
    1. four, 4
    Derived termsEdit
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2Edit

    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.

    PronunciationEdit

    NumeralEdit

    四(よん) • (yon) 

    1. four, 4
    Derived termsEdit

    Etymology 3Edit

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

    /si/ → /ɕi/

    From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪH).

    Compare modern Hakka 四 (si).

    Alternative formsEdit

    • (financial form) 肆

    PronunciationEdit

    NumeralEdit

    四(し) • (shi) 

    1. four, 4
    Usage notesEdit

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

    Derived termsEdit
    Derived terms

    NounEdit

    四(し) • (shi) 

    1. the fourth

    AffixEdit

    四(し) • (shi) 

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

    Etymology 4Edit

    Kanji in this term
    四
    すう
    Grade: 1
    irregular

    From Mandarin 四 (sì).[1][2][3]

    PronunciationEdit

    NumeralEdit

    四(スー) • (sū) 

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

    See alsoEdit

    Japanese numbers
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    Regular 零(れい) (rei)
    零(ゼロ) (zero)     		一(いち) (ichi) 二(に) (ni) 三(さん) (san) 四(よん) (yon)
    四(し) (shi)     		五(ご) (go) 六(ろく) (roku) 七(なな) (nana)
    七(しち) (shichi)     		八(はち) (hachi) 九(きゅう) (kyū)
    九(く) (ku)     		十(じゅう) (jū)
    Formal 壱(いち) (ichi) 弐(に) (ni) 参(さん) (san) 拾(じゅう) (jū)
    90 100 300 600 800 1,000 3,000 8,000 10,000 100,000,000
    Regular 九(きゅう)十(じゅう) (kyūjū) 百(ひゃく) (hyaku)
    一(いっ)百(ぴゃく) (ippyaku)     		三(さん)百(びゃく) (sanbyaku) 六(ろっ)百(ぴゃく) (roppyaku) 八(はっ)百(ぴゃく) (happyaku) 千(せん) (sen)
    一(いっ)千(せん) (issen)     		三(さん)千(ぜん) (sanzen) 八(はっ)千(せん) (hassen) 一(いち)万(まん) (ichiman) 一(いち)億(おく) (ichioku)
    Formal 一(いち)萬(まん) (ichiman)
    1012 8×1012 1013 1016 6×1016 8×1016 1017 1018
    一(いっ)兆(ちょう) (itchō) 八(はっ)兆(ちょう) (hatchō) 十(じゅっ)兆(ちょう) (jutchō) 一(いっ)京(けい) (ikkei) 六(ろっ)京(けい) (rokkei) 八(はっ)京(けい) (hakkei) 十(じゅっ)京(けい) (jukkei) 百(ひゃっ)京(けい) (hyakkei)

    ReferencesEdit

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
    3. ^ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

    KoreanEdit

    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)

    EtymologyEdit

    From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪH).

    Historical readings

    PronunciationEdit

    • (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.

    HanjaEdit

    Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

    Wikisource

    四 (eumhun 넉 사 (neok sa))

    1. Hanja form? of 사 (“four”).

    CompoundsEdit

    Compounds

    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]

    Old JapaneseEdit

    EtymologyEdit

    From Proto-Japonic *yə.

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

    NumeralEdit

    四 (yo2) (kana よ)

    1. four, 4

    Derived termsEdit

    DescendantsEdit

    • Japanese: 四 (yo, yon)

    VietnameseEdit

    Han characterEdit

    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. Nôm form of tư (“four; fourth”).

    Derived termsEdit

    Derived terms

    ReferencesEdit

    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).
    Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=四&oldid=73229415"