然

TranslingualEdit

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han characterEdit

然 (radical 86, 火+8, 12 strokes, cangjie input 月大火 (BKF), four-corner 2333₃, composition ⿱肰灬)

Derived charactersEdit

燃, 橪, 㒄, 撚, 㜣, 繎, 嘫

ReferencesEdit

KangXi: page 675, character 12
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19149
Dae Jaweon: page 1086, character 20
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2213, character 5
Unihan data for U+7136

ChineseEdit

trad.		然
simp. ^#		然
alternative forms		𤉷 ⿱犬一 (second-round simplified)

Glyph originEdit

Historical forms of the character 然
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
嘫	*rneːn
然	*njen
肰	*njen
繎	njon, njen
燃	*njen
蹨	njenʔ, neːnʔ
橪	njenʔ, ʔneːn
撚	*neːnʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *njen): phonetic 肰 (OC *njen, “dog meat”) + semantic 火 (“fire”) – to burn. Also ideogrammic compound (會意). The derivative 燃 (OC *njen) stands for the original word in Modern Chinese.

Note that the upper left component is analyzed as 肉 (meat), and in the component 肰 it is drawn as a tilted 月 (“moon”), appearing more like 夕 (“evening”) with an extra stroke; compare 祭, 將.

EtymologyEdit

A fusion of 如 (OC *nja, *njas) with an element *-n which has a demonstrative meaning (Schuessler, 2007).

PronunciationEdit

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): rán (ran²)

(Zhuyin): ㄖㄢˊ

(Chengdu, SP): ran²
Cantonese (Jyutping): jin⁴
Gan (Wiktionary): len⁴
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): yèn / yàn

(Meixian, Guangdong): yan²
Jin (Wiktionary): ran¹
Min Bei (KCR): ǐng
Min Dong (BUC): iòng
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): liân / jiân

(Teochew, Peng'im): riêng⁵ / riang⁵
Wu (Wiktionary): zoe (T3)
Xiang (Wiktionary): yenn²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: rán
  - Zhuyin: ㄖㄢˊ
  - Wade–Giles: jan²
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ran
  - Tongyong Pinyin: rán
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐän³⁵/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: ran²
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: rhan
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /zan²¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jin⁴
  - Yale: yìhn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jin⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: yin⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːn²¹/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: len⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɛn³⁵/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yèn
  - Hakka Romanization System: ienˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: yan²
  - Sinological IPA: /i̯en¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yàn
  - Hakka Romanization System: (r)ianˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: yan²
  - Sinological IPA: /(j)i̯an¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: yan²
  - Sinological IPA: /ian¹¹/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: ran¹
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /ʐæ̃¹¹/
Min Bei
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: ǐng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /iŋ²¹/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: iòng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /yoŋ⁵³/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Taipei, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liân
  - Tâi-lô: liân
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lieen
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Taipei, Xiamen): /liɛn²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jiân
  - Tâi-lô: jiân
  - Phofsit Daibuun: jieen
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ʑiɛn²³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡ʑiɛn¹³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: riêng⁵ / riang⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: jiêng / jiâng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /d͡zieŋ⁵⁵/, /d͡ziaŋ⁵⁵/

Note:

riêng5 - Chaozhou;
riang5 - Shantou, Jieyang, Chenghai, Chaoyang.

Wu

(Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: zoe (T3)
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /z̻ø²³/

Xiang

(Changsha)
- Wiktionary: yenn²
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /yẽ¹³/

Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 然
Mandarin	Beijing	/ʐan³⁵/
	Harbin	/ʐan²⁴/
	Tianjin	/ian⁴⁵/ /ʐan⁴⁵/
	Jinan	/ʐã⁴²/
	Qingdao	/iã⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/ʐan⁵³/ /ʐan⁴²/ ～而
	Xi'an	/ʐã²⁴/
	Xining	/ʐã²⁴/
	Yinchuan	/ʐan⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/ʐɛ̃n⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/ʐan⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/nan²¹³/
	Chengdu	/zan³¹/
	Guiyang	/zan²¹/
	Kunming	/ʐã̠³¹/
	Nanjing	/ʐaŋ²⁴/
	Hefei	/ʐæ̃⁵⁵/ /ʐən⁵⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/zæ̃¹¹/
	Pingyao	/ʐɑŋ¹³/
	Hohhot	/ʐæ̃⁵³/
Wu	Shanghai	/zø²³/
	Suzhou	/zø¹³/
	Hangzhou	/zz̩ʷõ²¹³/
	Wenzhou	/ji³¹/
Hui	Shexian	/ie⁴⁴/
Hui	Tunxi	/iɛ⁴⁴/
Xiang	Changsha	/yẽ¹³/
Xiang	Xiangtan	/iẽ¹²/
Gan	Nanchang	/lɛn⁴⁵/
Hakka	Meixian	/ian¹¹/
Hakka	Taoyuan	/ʒen¹¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/jin²¹/
	Nanning	/jin²¹/
	Hong Kong	/jɐn²¹/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/lian³⁵/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/yoŋ⁵³/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/iŋ²¹/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/ziaŋ⁵⁵/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/zin³¹/

Middle Chinese: /ȵiᴇn/

Rime
Character	然
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	日 (38)
Final (韻)	仙 (77)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	如延切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵiᴇn/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵiɛn/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑjæn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵian/
Li Rong	/ȵiɛn/
Wang Li	/ȵʑĭɛn/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȵʑi̯ɛn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	rán
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jin⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[n]a[n]/

(Zhengzhang): /*njen/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	然
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	rán
Middle Chinese	‹ nyen ›
Old Chinese	/*[n]a[n]/
English	so, thus; (adv suffix)
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	然
Reading #	1/1
No.	10756
Phonetic component	肰
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	然
Old Chinese	/*njen/

DefinitionsEdit

然

^† Original form of 燃 (rán, “to burn”).
- 凡有四端於我者，知皆擴而充之矣，若火之始然，泉之始達。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  凡有四端于我者，知皆扩而充之矣，若火之始然，泉之始达。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Mencius, circa 4^th century BCE
  Fán yǒu sìduān yú wǒ zhě, zhī jiē kuò ér chōng zhī yǐ, ruò huǒ zhī shǐ rán, quán zhī shǐ dá. [Pinyin]
  Since all men have these four principles in themselves, let them know to give them all their development and completion, and the issue will be like that of fire which has begun to burn, or that of a spring which has begun to find vent.
^† so; thus; in this manner; like this
然後 / 然后 ― ránhòu ― then [lit. after things turn out this way]

不然 ― bùrán ― or else, otherwise [lit. not so]

非然也。 [Classical Chinese] ― Fēi rán yě. [Pinyin] ― It is not so. / That is not how it is.
- 子曰：「何必高宗，古之人皆然。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  子曰：“何必高宗，古之人皆然。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Zǐ yuē: “Hé bì Gāo Zōng, gǔ zhī rén jiē rán.” [Pinyin]
  The Master said, "Why must Gao Zong be referred to as an example of this? The ancients were all like this.
^† Suffix forming adverbs, sometimes also adjectives, with an abstract meaning of “in the manner of, like”.
顯然 / 显然 ― xiǎnrán ― apparently, obviously

果然 ― guǒrán ― as expected [lit. as a result]

龐然大物 / 庞然大物 ― pángrándàwù ― giant, something enormous [lit. a bigly big thing]

喟然長嘆 / 喟然长叹 ― kuìránchángtàn ― to sigh (with 喟 being an onomatopoeia)
^† but
然而 ― rán'ér ― but
- 吾不能早用子，今急而求子，是寡人之過也。然鄭亡，子亦有不利焉。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  吾不能早用子，今急而求子，是寡人之过也。然郑亡，子亦有不利焉。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Commentary of Zuo, circa 4^th century BCE
  Wú bùnéng zǎo yòng zǐ, jīn jí ér qiú zǐ, shì guǎrén zhī guò yě. Rán Zhèng wáng, zǐ yì yǒu bùlì yān. [Pinyin]
  That I was not able to employ you earlier, and now beg your help in my straits, I acknowledge to be my fault. But if Zheng perish, you also will suffer loss.
^† correct; right
不以為然 / 不以为然 ― bùyǐwèirán ― to not regard as correct; to object
- 子曰：「雍之言然。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  子曰：“雍之言然。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Zǐ yuē: “Yōng zhī yán rán.” [Pinyin]
  The Master said, "Yong's words are right."
^† to regard as correct; to agree
- 沛公然其計，從之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  沛公然其计，从之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, circa 91 BCE
  Pèi gōng rán qí jì, cóng zhī. [Pinyin]
  Liu Bang agreed with his plan and followed it.
(Teochew) to resemble; to be like

SynonymsEdit

Dialectal synonyms of 像 (“to be like; to be similar to; to resemble”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		似
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		像
Mandarin	Taiwan	像
	Muping	像
	Wanrong	像
	Wuhan	像
	Chengdu	像
	Guilin	像
	Malaysia	像
	Singapore	像
Cantonese	Guangzhou	似
	Hong Kong	似
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	似
	Singapore (Guangfu)	似
Gan	Nanchang	像
Gan	Lichuan	像
Jin	Taiyuan	像
Min Dong	Fuzhou	像
Min Nan	Xiamen	像
	Taipei	像
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	像
	Kaohsiung	像
	Yilan	像
	Changhua (Lukang)	像
	Taichung	像
	Tainan	像
	Hsinchu	像
	Kinmen	像
	Penghu (Magong)	像
	Singapore (Hokkien)	𫝛
	Chaozhou	然
	Shantou	然
	Jieyang	然
	Haikou	像
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	像
Wu	Danyang	像
Wu	Ningbo	像, 像人家, 像家