See also: , , and 𫞟
U+70BA, 為
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-70BA

[U+70B9]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+70BB]

Translingual

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Stroke order
 
Traditional
Simplified
Japanese
Korean

Han character

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(Kangxi radical 86, +5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 戈大弓火 (IKNF), four-corner 20227, composition ⿵⿻𬼀𠃌)

Derived characters

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Descendants

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 669, character 10
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 18981
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2198, character 11
  • Unihan data for U+70BA

Chinese

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trad. /
simp.
alternative forms 𤔡
𫞟
𬊓
𦥮 ancient

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character
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
         

Simplified from .

In the oracle bone script, it is an ideogrammic compound (會意会意) : (hand) + (elephant) — a hand holding an elephant. The later became (“hand; claw”).

Shuowen Jiezi interprets the character as a representation of the female macaque.

Etymology

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The two pronunciations below (“to make; to do; to be”, “for; to; because”) are cognate; the latter is the *–s derivative of the former. Words meaning “to make, to do” often have secondary meanings of “for, as” – compare .

Etymology not certain. Starostin compared this word with Tibetan བགྱིད (bgyid, to make, to manufacture), བགྱི་བ (bgyi ba, action, deed), ཡིན (yin, is, be) and Burmese ဝေ (we, to distribute, to share). Schuessler (2007) listed *ʔaajh (to give) (> Khmer ឲ្យ (ʼaoy, to give, to donate)) and Khmer ធ្វើ (thvəə, to do, to make), although the vowels do not match.

The graphic representation using a monkey or an elephant probably stems from a homophonic or near-homophonic etymon which was rarely attested; compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b/g-woj-n > Jingpho woi (monkey) and possibly (OC *ɢʷan, “ape”). STEDT considers this word to be a possible descendant of Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-gwi(j) (elephant). Outside Sino-Tibetan, compare Proto-Vietic *-vɔːj (elephant) > Vietnamese voi (elephant).

Pronunciation 1

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Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2
Initial () (35)
Final () (14)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division () III
Fanqie
Baxter hjwe
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ɦˠiuᴇ/
Pan
Wuyun
/ɦʷᵚiɛ/
Shao
Rongfen
/ɣiuɛ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ɦjwiə̆/
Li
Rong
/ɣjue/
Wang
Li
/ɣǐwe/
Bernard
Karlgren
/wie̯/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
wéi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
wai4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
wéi
Middle
Chinese
‹ hjwe ›
Old
Chinese
/*ɢʷ(r)aj/
English make, do, act as

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
Reading # 1/2
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ɢʷal/
Notes

Definitions

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  1. to do; to make
    所欲所欲  ―  wéisuǒyùwéi  ―  to do whatever one wants to do
  2. to administer; to govern
  3. to construct; to make
  4. to become; to turn into
      ―  fēnwéi  ―  to divide into, to split into
    組織合併組織 [MSC, trad.]
    组织合并组织 [MSC, simp.]
    Nà liǎng ge zǔzhī yǐ hébìng wéi yī ge zǔzhī. [Pinyin]
    Those two organizations have been amalgamated into single one.
    重新結晶原來結構 [MSC, trad.]
    重新结晶原来结构 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā jiāng chóngxīn jiéjīng wéi yuánlái de jiégòu. [Pinyin]
    It will recrystallize into the original structure.
    晉升上校 [MSC, trad.]
    晋升上校 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā bèi jìnshēng wéi shàngxiào. [Pinyin]
    He was promoted to colonel.
  5. to be (equivalent to, equal to)
    失業率20%。失业率20%。  ―  Shīyèlǜ wéi 20%.  ―  Unemployment is running at 20 per cent.
    寬度7 [MSC, trad.]
    宽度7 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā de kuāndù wéi 7 mǐ. [Pinyin]
    It is 7 metres in width.
    公斤 [MSC, trad.]
    公斤 [MSC, simp.]
    Yī gōngjīn wéi liǎng bàng. [Pinyin]
    A kilogram is two pounds.
  6. to take something as
  7. to act as; to serve as; to behave as
    同志總書記中央 [MSC, trad.]
    同志总书记中央 [MSC, simp.]
    yǐ Xí Jìnpíng tóngzhì wéi zǒngshūjì de dǎng zhōngyāng [Pinyin]
    Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary
  8. by
    社會接受 [MSC, trad.]
    社会接受 [MSC, simp.]
    wéi shèhuì suǒ jiēshòu [Pinyin]
    to not be accepted by society
  9. Suffix used after a single-character adjective to form an adverb
    不滿不满  ―  wéi bùmǎn  ―  greatly dissatisfied
    流傳广流传  ―  guǎng wéi liúchuán  ―  widely circulated
  10. Suffix used after a single-character adverb for emphasis
    激動激动  ―  wéi jīdòng  ―  very emotional
    緊張紧张  ―  wéi jǐnzhāng  ―  extremely nervous

Compounds

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Pronunciation 2

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Rime
Character
Reading # 2/2
Initial () (35)
Final () (14)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division () III
Fanqie
Baxter hjweH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ɦˠiuᴇH/
Pan
Wuyun
/ɦʷᵚiɛH/
Shao
Rongfen
/ɣiuɛH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ɦjwiə̆H/
Li
Rong
/ɣjueH/
Wang
Li
/ɣǐweH/
Bernard
Karlgren
/wie̯H/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
wèi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
wai6
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
wèi
Middle
Chinese
‹ hjweH ›
Old
Chinese
/*ɢʷ(r)aj-s/
English for, because

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
Reading # 2/2
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ɢʷals/

Definitions

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  1. for
    服務服务  ―  wèi mín fúwù  ―  to serve the people
    什麼 [MSC, trad.]
    什么 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ néng wèi nǐ zuò diǎn shénme ma? [Pinyin]
    Can I do something for you?
    高興高兴  ―  Wǒ zhēn wèi nǐ gāoxìng!  ―  I am really happy for you!
  2. because of
    生氣生气  ―  wèi zhè shēngqì o.  ―  So that's what you're upset about?
    自己錯誤道歉 [MSC, trad.]
    自己错误道歉 [MSC, simp.]
    wèi zìjǐ de cuòwù dàoqiàn. [Pinyin]
    He gave an apology for his mistake.
  3. for the sake of
    公平起見公平起见  ―  wèi gōngpíng qǐjiàn  ―  for the sake of fairness
    五斗米折腰五斗米折腰  ―  wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhéyāo  ―  don't bow down for the sake of five pecks (or decalitres) of rice
    實現理想奮鬥 [MSC, trad.]
    实现理想奋斗 [MSC, simp.]
    wèi shíxiàn lǐxiǎng ér fèndòu [Pinyin]
    to strive to make one’s dream come true
  4. (literary) to
    不足外人道不足外人道  ―  bùzú wèi wàirén dào  ―  not worth saying to outsiders

Compounds

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic ():
  • Japanese: () (i)
  • Middle Korean: 위ᄒᆞ다 (wuyhota)
  • Vietnamese:
  • Japanese

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    Shinjitai

    Kyūjitai

    Kanji

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    (Jōyō kanjishinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form )

    Readings

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    Compounds

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    Etymology 1

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    Kanji in this term

    Grade: S
    on'yomi
    Alternative spelling
    (kyūjitai)

    /wi//i/

    From Middle Chinese (MC hjwe).

    Noun

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    () (i (wi)?

    1. the twelfth string on a (koto, Japanese zither)
    2. a fingering method for playing the 尺八 (shakuhachi, Japanese endblown flute)

    Affix

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    () (i (wi)?

    1. do, perform, carry out
    Derived terms
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    Etymology 2

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    Kanji in this term
    ため
    Grade: S
    kun'yomi
    Alternative spelling
    (kyūjitai)
    For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entry.
    ため
    [noun] an advantage, benefit
    [noun] a cause, reason
    [noun] an objective, sake
    [noun] the affecting, concerning, regarding
    [proper noun] a surname
    Alternative spelling
    為め
    (This term, , is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

    Etymology 3

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    Kanji in this term

    Grade: S
    kun'yomi
    Alternative spelling
    (kyūjitai)
    For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entry.
    [verb] (archaic) to do
    [verb] (archaic) to cause, become
    (This term, , is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

    Usage notes

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    • Also used as 借音 (shakuon) kana for ⟨su⟩.

    Korean

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    Hanja

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    (eumhun (hal wi))

    1. Alternative form of (to do; act)

    Vietnamese

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    Han character

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    : Hán Nôm readings: vi, vị,

    1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.