幺

See also: 么, ㄠ, and ㆯ

幺 U+5E7A, 幺 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5E7A ← 幹 [U+5E79] CJK Unified Ideographs 幻 → [U+5E7B]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

幺 (radical 52, 幺+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 女戈 (VI), composition ⿱𠃋厶(GHT) or ⿱𡿨厶(JK))

1. Kangxi radical #52, ⼳.

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/幺
• 幼 幻 幽

Descendants

• ㄠ (Zhuyin alphabet)

References

• KangXi: page 341, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9189
• Dae Jaweon: page 650, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1092, character 14
• Unihan data for U+5E7A

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		幺
alternative forms		么

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 幺
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script

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

	Old Chinese
幺	*qiːw
吆	*qiːw

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): yāo, āo (yao¹, ao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄠ, ㄠ

  (Chengdu, SP): yao¹

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jiu¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): yêu
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): io / au

  (Teochew, Peng'im): iao¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: yāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄠ
    • Wade–Giles: yao1
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iau
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yao
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant)⁺
    • Pinyin: āo
    • Zhuyin: ㄠ
    • Wade–Giles: ao1
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: au
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ao
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: yao¹
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: iao
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iau⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jiu¹
    • Yale: yīu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jiu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yiu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːu̯⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yêu
    • Hakka Romanization System: ieu´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yeu¹
    • Sinological IPA: /i̯eu̯²⁴/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yêu
    • Hakka Romanization System: (r)ieu´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yeu¹
    • Sinological IPA: /(j)i̯eu̯²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: io / au
    • Tâi-lô: io / au
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ioy, aw
    • IPA (Xiamen): /io⁴⁴/, /aʊ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /io³³/, /aʊ³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /io⁴⁴/, /aʊ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /io⁴⁴/, /aʊ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /iɤ⁴⁴/, /aʊ⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: iao¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: iau
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iau³³/

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• Middle Chinese: /ʔeu/

Rime
Character	幺
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	影 (34)
Final (韻)	蕭 (93)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	於堯切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔeu/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔeu/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔeu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔɛw/
Li Rong	/ʔeu/
Wang Li	/ieu/
Bernard Karlgren	/ʔieu/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yāo

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ʔˤ[i]w/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qiːw/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	幺
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yāo
Middle Chinese	‹ ʔew ›
Old Chinese	/*ʔˁ[i]w/
English	small (Shuōwén)
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	幺
Reading #	1/1
No.	14618
Phonetic component	幺
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	幺
Old Chinese	/*qiːw/

Definitions

幺

1. tiny; minute

   幺麼 / 幺麽  ―  yāomó  ―  small; minute

2. youngest

   老幺  ―  lǎoyāo  ―  informal manner of referring to the last (youngest) child in a family

3. one (an alternative way of saying the numeral, especially on the phone or in the military)
4. ace; one on dice or dominoes
5. A surname​.
6. (loanword, Mainland China) yocto- (SI unit prefix)

Compounds

• 么二
• 么二三的
• 么喝
• 么女 (yāonǚ)
• 么師／么师
• 么末
• 么篇
• 么絃
• 么麼／么么

• 么麼小丑／么么小丑
• 六幺／六么 (Liùyāo)
• 十三幺 (shísānyāo)
• 告么
• 呼么喝六
• 喝六呼么
• 小么兒／小么儿
• 幺兒／么兒 (yāo'ér)

• 幺匿 (yāonì)
• 幺溝／幺沟／么沟 (Yāogōu)
• 弄鬼妝么／弄鬼妆么
• 挑么挑六
• 清么
• 老幺／老么 (lǎoyāo)
• 臭么
• 裝么／装么

Usage notes

• 么 is used instead of 幺 in mahjong and as a surname. Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian (《现代汉语规范词典》) says '幺' and '么' are different characters.

See also

SI prefix
Last
介/仄	攸/幺

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 幺 – see 糸 (“thin silk; etc.”). (This character, 幺, is a variant form of 糸.)

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Japanese

Kanji

幺

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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Readings

• On (unclassified): よう (yō)
• Kun: ちいさい (chiisai)

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Korean

Hanja

幺 • (yo) (hangeul 요, revised yo, McCune–Reischauer yo)

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Vietnamese

Han character

幺 (yêu)

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