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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Translingual edit

Stroke order (Sans-serif)
 
Stroke order
 

Han character edit

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 edit

References edit

  • 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 edit

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

Glyph origin edit

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 (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.

Etymology 1 edit

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-ləj.

Pronunciation edit

Note:
  • sei3 - vernacular;
  • si3 - literary (rare) and in 四正.
Note:
  • sé - vernacular;
  • sé̤ṳ - literary.
Note:
  • Xiamen, Quanzhou, Hui'an, Zhangzhou, Changtai, Zhangpu, Longyan, Taiwan, Singapore, Penang:
    • sì - vernacular;
    • sù/sìr - literary.
  • Jinjiang, Philippines:
    • sì - vernacular and literary.
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/

Definitions edit

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 notes edit

 
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 edit

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 edit

Descendants edit

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

Others:

Etymology 2 edit

simp. and trad.
 四

Pronunciation edit

Definitions edit

四

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

Further reading edit

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

四

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings edit

Compounds edit

Etymology 1 edit

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).

Pronunciation edit

Numeral edit

四(よ) • (yo) 

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

Etymology 2 edit

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 edit

Numeral edit

四(よん) • (yon) 

  1. four, 4
Derived terms edit

Etymology 3 edit

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 edit

  • (financial form) 肆

Pronunciation edit

Numeral edit

四(し) • (shi) 

  1. four, 4
Usage notes edit

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

Derived terms edit
Derived terms

Noun edit

四(し) • (shi) 

  1. the fourth

Affix edit

四(し) • (shi) 

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

Etymology 4 edit

Kanji in this term
四
すう
Grade: 1
irregular

From Mandarin 四 (sì).[1][2][3]

Pronunciation edit

Numeral edit

四(スー) • (sū) 

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

See also edit

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)

References edit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: 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 edit

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 edit

From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪH).

Historical readings

Pronunciation edit

  • (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 edit

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

四 (eumhun 넉 사 (neok sa))

  1. Hanja form? of 사 (“four”).

Compounds edit

Compounds

References edit

  • 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 edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Japonic *yə.

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

Numeral edit

四 (yo2) (kana よ)

  1. four, 4

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Japanese: 四 (yo, yon)

Vietnamese edit

Han character edit

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 terms edit

Derived terms

References edit

  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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