Wiktionary

男

See also: 勇
男 U+7537, 男
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7537
← 甶
[U+7536] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 甸 →
[U+7538]
㊚ U+329A, ㊚
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH MALE
← ㊙
[U+3299] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㊛ →
[U+329B]

Translingual

edit
Stroke order
 
Stroke order (Japan)
 

Han character

edit

男 (Kangxi radical 102, 田+2, 7 strokes, cangjie input 田大尸 (WKS), four-corner 60427, composition ⿱田力)

Derived characters

edit

References

edit
  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 759, character 2
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 21730
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1169, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2529, character 5
  • Unihan data for U+7537

Chinese

edit
simp. and trad.
 男
alternative forms 㽖
侽

Glyph origin

edit
Historical forms of the character 男
Shang Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
           

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 田 (“field”) + 力 (“strength”) – man providing the strength for agricultural and/or other kinds of (physical) labour on a field.

Etymology

edit

Probably an area word. Compare Proto-Kiranti *nam (“man”), Proto-Monic *k()ɲoom (“young child”), Proto-Wa *h/ʔn[o]m (“young man”), Thai หนุ่ม (nùm, “young man; young”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Wang (1982) connects it to 農 (OC *nuːŋ, “farmer”). Goldin (2021) suggests a connection to 任 (OC *njɯms, “to bear; to be in charge”).

Pronunciation

edit
Note:
  • lam5 - Chaozhou;
  • nam5 - Shantou.
Rime
Character 男
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 泥 (8)
Final (韻) 覃 (159)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 那含切
Baxter nom
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/nʌm/
Pan
Wuyun 		/nəm/
Shao
Rongfen 		/nɒm/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/nəm/
Li
Rong 		/nᴀm/
Wang
Li 		/nɒm/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/năm/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		nán
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		naam4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 男
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		nán
Middle
Chinese 		‹ nom ›
Old
Chinese 		/*nˁ[ə]m/
English man, male

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 男
Reading # 1/1
No. 9354
Phonetic
component 		男
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		2
Corresponding
MC rime 		南
Old
Chinese 		/*nuːm/

Definitions

edit

男

  1. man; (only of human in Standard Chinese) male
    男人  ―  nánrén  ―  man
    男孩  ―  nánhái  ―  boy
    Coordinate term: 女
  2. son
    長男／长男  ―  zhǎngnán  ―  eldest son
  3. baron, lowest of the five ranks of Chinese aristocracy (五等爵位) under the Zhou dynasty
  4. a surname

Synonyms

edit
  • 公 (gōng, “male (of animals)”)

Compounds

edit

Descendants

edit
Sino-Xenic (男):
  • → Japanese: 男(なん) (nan); 男(だん) (dan)
  • → Korean: 남(男) (nam)
  • → Vietnamese: nam (男)

References

edit

Japanese

edit

Kanji

edit
男

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. man
  2. son
  3. baron

Readings

edit

Compounds

edit
Compounds

Etymology 1

edit
Kanji in this term
男
おとこ
Grade: 1
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
漢 (manga slang)

⟨woto2ko1⟩ → */wotəkʷo/ → /wotoko/ → /otoko/

From Old Japanese.

Derived from おと (oto, “young?”, cognate with Old Japanese 復つ (wotu → otsu, “to become young again”)) +‎ 子 (ko, “child”).

Compare 少女 (otome, “young woman”).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

男(おとこ) • (otoko) ←をとこ (wotoko)?

  1. a male person
    Antonym: 女 (onna)
  2. (specifically) a man, an adult male
    Antonym: 女 (onna)
  3. 男, 漢: (specifically) a manly man
  4. a male lover
    Synonyms: 愛人 (aijin), 情人 (jōjin, jōnin), 情夫 (jōfu)
  5. a manservant
    Synonym: 下男 (genan)
  6. a husband
    Synonym: 夫 (otto)
  7. (obsolete) an unmarried young man
  8. (colloquial) homosexuality
    Synonyms: 男色 (danshoku), 若道 (nyakudō)
Derived terms
edit
Derived terms
Idioms
edit
Idioms
Proverbs
edit

Proper noun

edit

男(おとこ) • (Otoko) ←をとこ (wotoko)?

  1. a surname

Etymology 2

edit
Kanji in this term
男
お
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

/wo/ → /o/

From Old Japanese.

Alternative forms

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

男(お) • (o) ←を (wo)?

  1. a man
    Antonym: 女 (me)
    • 711–712, Kojiki, poem 5:
      ...那許曾波(なこそは)遠(を)迩伊麻世婆(にいませば)... [Man'yōgana]
      ...汝(な)こそはをにいませば... [Modern spelling]
      na koso wa o ni imaseba
      (please add an English translation of this example)
  2. a husband
    Synonym: 夫 (otto)
    Antonym: 女 (me)
  3. a male
    Antonym: 女, 牝, 雌 (me)
  4. something large, powerful, or otherwise masculine
Derived terms
edit
Derived terms

Etymology 3

edit
Kanji in this term
男
おのこ
Grade: 1
irregular
Alternative spelling
男の子

Compound of 男 (o, “male”, see above) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 子 (ko, “child”).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

男(おのこ) • (onoko) ←をのこ (wonoko)?

  1. a boy
Derived terms
edit
Derived terms

Etymology 4

edit
Kanji in this term
男
なん
Grade: 1
goon

/nam/ → /namʉ/ → /naɴ/

From Middle Chinese 男 (MC nom).

The 呉音 (goon) reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

男(なん) • (nan) 

  1. a man
    Synonym: 男性 (dansei)
  2. a son
    Synonyms: 倅 (segare), 息子 (musuko)
Derived terms
edit

Etymology 5

edit
Kanji in this term
男
だん
Grade: 1
kan'on

/dam/ → /damʉ/ → /daɴ/

From Middle Chinese 男 (MC nom).

The 漢音 (kan'on) reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

男(だん) • (dan) 

  1. a man
  2. a son
  3. a young man, especially one who reached adulthood
    Synonyms: 壮丁 (sōtei), 若者 (wakamono)
  4. (historical) a baron
    Synonym: 男爵 (danshaku)

Proper noun

edit

男(だん) • (Dan) 

  1. a male given name

References

edit
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “おと‐こ［をと‥］ 【男】 ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  4. ^ “お［を］ 【雄・男・牡・夫】 ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[2] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 “お‐の‐こ［を‥］ 【男子・男】 ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[3] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 “だん 【男】 ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[4] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)

Korean

edit

Etymology

edit

From Middle Chinese 男 (MC nom). Recorded as Middle Korean 남 (nam) (Yale: nam) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

edit
Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

男 (eumhun 사내 남 (sanae nam))

  1. hanja form? of 남 (“man”)

Compounds

edit
Compounds

References

edit
  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [6]

Kunigami

edit

Kanji

edit
男

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

edit

Etymology 1

edit

From Proto-Ryukyuan *weke + *-ga (“diminutive suffix”).

Noun

edit

男(いけが) (ikhekha) 

  1. man

Etymology 2

edit

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wenga.

Noun

edit

男(うんが) (unkha) 

  1. man

Okinawan

edit

Kanji

edit
男

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

edit

Etymology 1

edit
Kanji in this term
男
ゐきが
Grade: 1
kun'yomi
Kanji in this term
男
ゆきが
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

From Proto-Ryukyuan *weke + *-ga (“diminutive suffix”).

Noun

edit

男(ゐきが) or 男(ゆきが) (wikiga or yukiga) 

  1. man
Derived terms
edit

Etymology 2

edit
Kanji in this term
男
をぅとぅく
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Possibly from Japanese 男 (otoko, “man”).

Noun

edit

男(うぅとぅく) (wutuku) 

  1. (literary) man

References

edit
  • “ゐきが【男】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

Okinoerabu

edit

Kanji

edit
男

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

edit

Etymology

edit
Kanji in this term
男
いぃんが
Grade: 1
Kanji in this term
男
ゐんが
Grade: 1

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wenga.

Noun

edit

男(いぃんが) or 男(ゐんが) (yinga or inga) 

  1. man

References

edit

Vietnamese

edit

Han character

edit

男: Hán Việt readings: nam[1][2][3]
男: Nôm readings: nam[1][2]

  1. chữ Hán form of nam (“man; male”).

Derived terms

edit

References

edit
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ^ Trần (2004).

Yonaguni

edit

Kanji

edit
男

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wenga.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

男(びんが) (binga) 

  1. man

Yoron

edit

Kanji

edit
男

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Ryukyuan *weke + *-ga (“diminutive suffix”).

Noun

edit

男(をぅいが) (ōiga) 

  1. man
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=男&oldid=81374745"