Wiktionary

文

See also: 又, 𠬠, and 攵
文 U+6587, 文
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6587
← 斆
[U+6586] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 斈 →
[U+6588]
⽂ U+2F42, ⽂
KANGXI RADICAL SCRIPT
← ⽁
[U+2F41] 		Kangxi Radicals ⽃ →
[U+2F43]
㉆ U+3246, ㉆
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH SCHOOL
← ㉅
[U+3245] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㉇ →
[U+3247]

TranslingualEdit

Stroke order
 

Han characterEdit

See images of
Radical 67 文

文 (Kangxi radical 67, 文+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 卜大 (YK), four-corner 00400, composition ⿱亠乂)

  1. Kangxi radical #67, ⽂.

Derived charactersEdit

DescendantsEdit

  • 𘱒 (Khitan Small Script)

ReferencesEdit

  • KangXi: page 477, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 13450
  • Dae Jaweon: page 831, character 39
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2169, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+6587

ChineseEdit

simp. and trad.
 文

Glyph originEdit

Historical forms of the character 文
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
         
Characters in the same phonetic series (文) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
旻 *mrɯn
旼 *mrɯn
汶 *mrɯn, *mɯn, *mɯns
忞 *mrɯn
盿 *mrɯn
枚 *mɯːl
玫 *mɯːl
玟 *mɯːl
文 *mɯn
紋 *mɯn
蚊 *mɯn
雯 *mɯn
彣 *mɯn
馼 *mɯn
鳼 *mɯn
鼤 *mɯn, *mɯns
抆 *mɯnʔ, *mɯns
紊 *mɯns

Ideogram (指事): a man with a painted or tattooed chest – original form of 紋. In current form, tattoo has vanished, so simply an outline of a man (head, outstretched arms, legs, chest). Compare 大, which has no chest.

EtymologyEdit

Possibly a derivation, with -n nominal suffix, of 煤 (OC *mɯː) "soot (obs.), ink (obs.), coal" (Schuessler, 2007).

Semantic shift: "pattern, tattoo (made of soot)", "written glyph (made of ink)" > "literature" > "refined, cultured" (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation 1Edit

Note:
  • man4-2 - “writing; (written) language”.
  • Gan
  • Hakka
  • Jin
  • Min Bei
  • Min Dong
  • Min Nan
  • Wu
  • Xiang
    • Dialectal data
    Variety Location 文
    Mandarin Beijing /uən³⁵/
    Harbin /uən²⁴/
    Tianjin /vən⁴⁵/
    Jinan /uẽ⁴²/
    Qingdao /və̃⁴²/
    Zhengzhou /uən⁴²/
    Xi'an /vẽ²⁴/
    Xining /uə̃²⁴/
    Yinchuan /vəŋ⁵³/
    Lanzhou /və̃n⁵³/
    Ürümqi /vɤŋ⁵¹/
    Wuhan /uən²¹³/
    Chengdu /uən³¹/
    Guiyang /uen²¹/
    Kunming /uə̃³¹/
    Nanjing /un²⁴/
    Hefei /uən⁵⁵/
    Jin Taiyuan /vəŋ¹¹/
    Pingyao /uŋ¹³/
    Hohhot /və̃ŋ³¹/
    Wu Shanghai /vəŋ²³/
    Suzhou /vən¹³/
    Hangzhou /ven²¹³/
    Wenzhou /vaŋ³¹/
    Hui Shexian /uʌ̃⁴⁴/
    Tunxi /uɛ⁴⁴/
    Xiang Changsha /uən¹³/
    Xiangtan /uən¹²/
    Gan Nanchang /un⁴⁵/
    Hakka Meixian /vun¹¹/
    Taoyuan /vun¹¹/
    Cantonese Guangzhou /mɐn²¹/
    Nanning /mɐn²¹/
    Hong Kong /mɐn²¹/
    Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /bun³⁵/
    Fuzhou (Min Dong) /uŋ⁵³/
    Jian'ou (Min Bei) /uɔŋ²¹/
    Shantou (Min Nan) /buŋ⁵⁵/
    Haikou (Min Nan) /vun³¹/
    /mui³¹/ ～昌
    Rime
    Character 文
    Reading # 1/1
    Initial (聲) 明 (4)
    Final (韻) 文 (59)
    Tone (調) Level (Ø)
    Openness (開合) Closed
    Division (等) III
    Fanqie 無分切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/mɨun/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/miun/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/miuən/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/mun/
    Li
    Rong         		/miuən/
    Wang
    Li         		/mĭuən/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/mi̯uən/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		wén
    Expected
    Cantonese
    Reflex         		man4
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 文
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		wén
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ mjun ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*mə[n]/
    English ornate

    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 文
    Reading # 1/1
    No. 13015
    Phonetic
    component         		文
    Rime
    group         		文
    Rime
    subdivision         		1
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		文
    Old
    Chinese         		/*mɯn/

    DefinitionsEdit

    文

    1. † Original form of 紋／纹 (wén, “mark, pattern, design, tattoo, decoration”).
      文如貍／文如狸 [Classical Chinese]  ―  wén rú lí [Pinyin]  ―  having a pattern like that of a wild cat
    2. Original form of 紋／纹 (wén, “to tattoo”).
      文身  ―  wénshēn  ―  to tattoo
      文面  ―  wénmiàn  ―  face tattoo
    3. writing; literary composition; literature (Classifier: 篇 c)
      文章  ―  wénzhāng  ―  article, essay
      散文  ―  sǎnwén  ―  prose
      文不對題／文不对题  ―  wénbùduìtí  ―  (of writing or speech) to be beside the point; to be off-topic; to be irrelevant to the subject
      呢篇文寫得唔錯。 [Cantonese, trad.]
      呢篇文写得唔错。 [Cantonese, simp.]
      ni1 pin1 man4-2 se2 dak1 m4 co3. [Jyutping]
      This essay is written quite well.
    4. official document
    5. literary language; Literary Chinese
      半文半白  ―  bànwénbànbái  ―  half literary, half vernacular
    6. Short for 文讀／文读 (wéndú, “literary reading”).
    7. script; written form
      甲骨文  ―  jiǎgǔwén  ―  oracle bone script
      書同文，車同軌。／书同文，车同轨。 [Classical Chinese]  ―  Shū tóng wén, chē tóng guǐ. [Pinyin]  ―  Same ruts for carriages, same script for writing. (i.e., universal standards)
      天城文  ―  tiānchéngwén  ―  Devanagari
    8. (written) language
      Antonym: 語／语 (yǔ)
      中文  ―  zhōngwén  ―  Chinese
      英文  ―  yīngwén  ―  English
    9. culture
      文化  ―  wénhuà  ―  culture
      文明  ―  wénmíng  ―  civilization
    10. liberal arts; humanities
    11. natural or social phenomenon
      天文  ―  tiānwén  ―  astronomy
      人文  ―  rénwén  ―  humanities; letters
    12. ritual; etiquette
      繁文縟節／繁文缛节  ―  fánwénrùjié  ―  (please add an English translation of this example)
    13. of a government position, non-military: civil, civilian
      文職／文职  ―  wénzhí  ―  civilian post
      文官  ―  wénguān  ―  civil official
      文武  ―  wénwǔ  ―  civilian and military
    14. gentle; refined
      斯文  ―  sīwén  ―  refined, cultured
      文雅  ―  wényǎ  ―  elegant, refined
    15. 47th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "pattern, repetition" (𝌴)
    16. (archaic) Classifier for coins.
    17. (numismatics) mill (a tenth of a cent)
      一文  ―  yī wén  ―  one mill
    18. (～日) (telegraphy) the twelfth day of a month
      文夕大火  ―  Wénxī Dàhuǒ  ―  1938 Changsha fire
    19. a surname
      文天祥  ―  Wén Tiānxiáng  ―  Wen Tianxiang (Chinese politician and poet in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty)

    CompoundsEdit

    Derived terms from 文

    Pronunciation 2Edit

    DefinitionsEdit

    文

    1. to cover
      文過／文过  ―  wénguò, wènguò  ―  to cover one's fault

    Pronunciation 3Edit

    For pronunciation and definitions of 文 – see 蚊 (“(Cantonese) yuan; dollar; buck”).
    (This character, 文, is a variant form of 蚊.)

    ReferencesEdit

    JapaneseEdit

    KanjiEdit

    文

    (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    ReadingsEdit

    Etymology 1Edit

    Kanji in this term
    文
    もん
    Grade: 1
    on’yomi

    From Middle Chinese 文 (mjun, “ornate; a kind of coin; language, literature, a letter, a character”).

    PronunciationEdit

    NounEdit

    文(もん) • (mon) 

    1. the mon, an old currency
    2. a unit of length for measuring the size of one's foot (from the way that the mon coins would be lined up and used as a kind of inch marker)
    3. a character, a letter
    4. writing, something written
    5. a magical spell
    6. (also spelled 紋) a design, a pattern
    7. (also spelled 紋) a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”)
    Usage notesEdit

    The design and crest senses are more often spelled 紋.

    Derived termsEdit
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2Edit

    Kanji in this term
    文
    ぶん
    Grade: 1
    on’yomi

    A later borrowing from Middle Chinese. Compare modern Min Nan reading bûn, Hakka vûn.

    PronunciationEdit

    NounEdit

    文(ぶん) • (bun) 

    1. (grammar) a sentence
    2. writing, composition
    3. a design or pattern as decoration
    4. literature, learning, scholarship
    5. elegance, refinement (especially of writing or wording)
    6. a saying, an aphorism, a proverb
    Derived termsEdit
    Derived terms

    Etymology 3Edit

    Kanji in this term
    文
    ふみ
    Grade: 1
    kun’yomi

    Possibly a shift from an older Middle Chinese-derived reading pun.[3] Earlier Japanese writing was ambiguous regarding the final n sound spelled ん in modern Japanese, with this sound often spelled (and possibly pronounced) as む (mu) instead.

    */pumu/ → /pumi/ → /ɸumi/

    This reading appears in the Heian period, in works such as The Tale of Genji.[3][1]

    PronunciationEdit

    NounEdit

    文(ふみ) • (fumi) 

    1. writing, something written
    2. a letter (written communication), an epistle
    3. (archaic) study, scholarship (especially of classical Chinese)
    4. a style of 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”)
    SynonymsEdit
    Derived termsEdit

    Etymology 4Edit

    Kanji in this term
    文
    あや
    Grade: 1
    kun’yomi

    Uncertain. Appears in texts from the early Heian period.[3][1]

    PronunciationEdit

    NounEdit

    文(あや) • (aya) 

    1. (also spelled 紋, 綾)
      1. a pattern, a design, especially one with diagonally crossing lines
      2. a diagonal crossing
      3. a flowery expression or turn of phrase
      4. a plot, a scheme
      5. a refrain or recurring phrase in a piece of music
      6. a harder vein or grain in a leaf or piece of wood or bamboo
      7. a stain, a blemish
      8. a mediator, a go-between (apparently from the way that a go-between can make the relationship more indirect and indistinct)
      9. a small indistinct fluctuation in a trend line
    2. (also spelled 綾, 絢)
      1. a kind of woven silk textile with a diagonally crossing pattern
      2. short for 綾織 (ayaori): a twill weave; someone who weaves twill
      3. short for 綾竹 (ayadake): in a loom, a bamboo pole placed between the heddle and the back beam or platen, used to improve the handling
      4. short for 綾取り (ayatori): cat's cradle
    Usage notesEdit

    For the second group of senses, the 綾 spelling is more common.

    Derived termsEdit
    Derived terms

    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 2.2 2.3 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

    KoreanEdit

    EtymologyEdit

    From Middle Chinese 文 (MC mɨun). Recorded as Middle Korean 문 (mwun) (Yale: mwun) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

    PronunciationEdit

    HanjaEdit

    Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

    Wikisource

    文 (eumhun 글월 문 (geurwol mun))

    1. Hanja form? of 문 (“writing”).

    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]

    VietnameseEdit

    Han characterEdit

    文: Hán Việt readings: văn[1][2][3]
    文: Nôm readings: văn[1][2][4], von[3][5][4], vằn[1][2]

    1. chữ Hán form of văn (“literature; letters; culture; civilization”).

    CompoundsEdit

    ReferencesEdit

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 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 Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
    5. ^ Hồ (1976).
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