Wiktionary

微

See also: 徵, 徴, and 徹
微 U+5FAE, 微
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5FAE
← 徭
[U+5FAD] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 徯 →
[U+5FAF]

TranslingualEdit

Japanese 微
Simplified 微
Traditional 微

Alternative formsEdit

Note that the middle component is written as 𡵂 (⿳山一几) in simplified Chinese and Korean. In Japanese, the middle component is written as 𡵉 (⿱山兀). In traditional Chinese, the middle component is written (⿳山一儿), as found in the Kangxi dictionary.

Han characterEdit

微 (Kangxi radical 60, 彳+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 竹人山弓大 (HOUNK) or 竹人山山大 (HOUUK), four-corner 28240, composition ⿰彳𢼸(GK) or ⿰彳𣁋(TJV))

Derived charactersEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • KangXi: page 370, character 12
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10203
  • Dae Jaweon: page 696, character 15
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 837, character 10
  • Unihan data for U+5FAE

ChineseEdit

trad. 微
simp. # 微
2nd round simp. 𡵉
alternative forms 㣲
𢕧
𢼸

Glyph originEdit

Characters in the same phonetic series (微) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
矀 *mrɯl, *mɯl
覹 *mrɯl
黴 *mrɯl, *mɯːls
薇 *mrɯl, *mɯl
媺 *mrɯlʔ
微 *mɯl
溦 *mɯl
癓 *mɯl
徽 *hmɯl
幑 *hmɯl

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *mɯl): semantic 彳 + phonetic 𢼸 ().

EtymologyEdit

"not; no"
The negative root *m + 惟 (OC *ɢʷi, “to be”) (Pulleybank, 1995).
"small"
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mwəj (“fine; delicate”) (STEDT). Cognate with Burmese မွေ့ (mwe., “delicate”).

Pronunciation 1Edit

Rime
Character 微
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4)
Final (韻) 微 (21)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 無非切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/mʉi/
Pan
Wuyun 		/mʷɨi/
Shao
Rongfen 		/miuəi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/muj/
Li
Rong 		/miuəi/
Wang
Li 		/mĭwəi/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/mwe̯i/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		wéi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		mei4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 微
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		wēi
Middle
Chinese 		‹ mjɨj ›
Old
Chinese 		/*məj/
English small

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 微
Reading # 1/1
No. 12801
Phonetic
component 		微
Rime
group 		微
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		微
Old
Chinese 		/*mɯl/

DefinitionsEdit

微

  1. tiny; small; trifling
  2. to decline; to deteriorate
  3. humble; low-ranking
  4. slight; gentle
  5. slightly; gently
  6. † to not have
  7. micro- (SI unit prefix)
  8. (～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 微 (MC mʉi)
  9. (～日) (telegraphy) the fifth day of a month

CompoundsEdit

Derived terms from 微

See alsoEdit

SI prefix
Last Next
毫 (háo) 微 奈/納／奈/纳

DescendantsEdit

Sino-Xenic (微):
  • → Japanese: 微(み) (mi); 微(び) (bi)
  • → Korean: 미(微) (mi)
  • → Vietnamese: vi (微)

Pronunciation 2Edit

DefinitionsEdit

微 (Min Nan)

  1. (mouth, eyes, etc.) to close slightly
  2. a little

CompoundsEdit

  • 沙微 (“sa-bui”) (Min Nan)

JapaneseEdit

KanjiEdit

微

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

  1. delicate

ReadingsEdit

Etymology 1Edit

AffixEdit

微(び) • (bi) 

  1. tiny; small; minute

Etymology 2Edit

AffixEdit

微(み) • (mi) 

  1. tiny; small; minute

KoreanEdit

HanjaEdit

微, eumhun 작을 미 (jageul mi)

  1. Hanja form? of 미 (“small, few, little, hidden”).

微, eumhun 자질구레할 미 (jajilgurehal mi)

  1. Hanja form? of 미 (“minor, trivial, trifling”).

VietnameseEdit

Han characterEdit

微: Hán Nôm readings: vi

  1. chữ Hán form of vi (“micro-”).

ZhuangEdit

NounEdit

微

  1. Sawndip form of feiz (“fire”)
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