薇

薇 U+8587, 薇 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8587 ← 薆 [U+8586] CJK Unified Ideographs 薈 → [U+8588]

Translingual

Han character

薇 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+13, 19 strokes, cangjie input 廿竹人大 (THOK), four-corner 4424₈, composition ⿱艹微)

Derived characters

• 𫲛, 𧢤

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1060, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32092
• Dae Jaweon: page 1524, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3303, character 12
• Unihan data for U+8587

Chinese

trad.		薇
simp. #		薇

Glyph origin

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／形声, OC *mrɯl, *mɯl) : semantic 艸 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 微 (OC *mɯl).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wēi, wéi

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄟ, ㄨㄟˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bî

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wēi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wei
    • Wade–Giles: wei¹
    • Yale: wēi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uei
    • Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wéi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wéi
    • Wade–Giles: wei²
    • Yale: wéi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wei
    • Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: mei⁴
    • Yale: mèih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: méi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bî
    • Tâi-lô: bî
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bii
    • IPA (Xiamen): /bi²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bi²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bi¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bi²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi²³/

---

• Middle Chinese: mij, mj+j

Rime
Character	薇	薇
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	脂 (17)	微 (21)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	武悲切	無非切
Baxter	mij	mj+j
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mˠiɪ/	/mʉi/
Pan Wuyun	/mᵚi/	/mʷɨi/
Shao Rongfen	/miɪ/	/miuəi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mji/	/muj/
Li Rong	/mji/	/miuəi/
Wang Li	/mi/	/mĭwəi/
Bernard Karlgren	/mi/	/mwe̯i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	mí	wéi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mei4	mei4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*mrɯl/, /*mɯl/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	薇	薇
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	12798	12803
Phonetic component	微	微
Rime group	微	微
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	眉	微
Old Chinese	/*mrɯl/	/*mɯl/

Definitions

薇

1. Osmunda regalis, a species of fern (also known as royal fern or flowering fern)

   • 陟彼南山、言采其薇。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zhì bǐ nánshān, yán cǎi qí wēi. [Pinyin]

     I ascended that hill in the south, and gathered the royal ferns.

2. Used in 薔薇／蔷薇 (qiángwēi, “multiflora rose”).

See also

• 蕨 (jué, “bracken, eagle fern”)

Compounds

• 採薇／采薇 (cǎiwéi)
• 白薇 (báiwēi)
• 紫薇 (zǐwēi)
• 菲薇
• 薇蕨
• 薔薇／蔷薇 (qiángwēi)
• 薔薇戰爭／蔷薇战争
• 薔薇硝／蔷薇硝
• 薔薇科／蔷薇科
• 薔薇露／蔷薇露
• 采薇 (cǎiwéi)
• 野薔薇／野蔷薇

 

Japanese

Kanji

薇

(Hyōgai kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: み (mi)
• Kan-on: び (bi)
• Kun: ぜんまい (zenmai, 薇)

Compounds

• 薔薇(ばら) (bara): rose

Etymology

Kanji in this term
薇
ぜんまい Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
紫萁 (uncommon) 狗脊 (rare)

薇 (zenmai): a coiled fiddlehead frond of the Japanese flowering fern.

Uncertain. Theories include:

• Shift from 銭舞 (zeni mai, literally “coin + twirling / spinning”), from the way the fiddleheads look like rotating or twirling coins
• Shift from 銭巻き (zeni maki, literally “coin + roll”), from the way the coil of a fiddlehead with the hole in the center looks like a traditional coin (which also has a hole in the center)
• Shift from 千巻き (sen maki, literally “thousand + roll”), from the way the repeating pattern of the fiddleheads look like a lot of small things in a roll

The "roll" derivation would align with the derivation of synonym 巻子 (makago).

First attested in 1709.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぜんまい [zèńmáí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [d͡zẽ̞mːa̠i]

Noun

薇(ぜんまい) or 薇(ゼンマイ) • (zenmai) 

1. [from 1709] Japanese flowering fern (Osmunda japonica), of which the young fiddleheads are edible

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ゼンマイ.

Derived terms

• 発条・撥条 (zenmai, “clockwork spring”, from the visual similarity to a coiled fern fiddlehead)

Further reading

• Entry at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 薇 (MC mij). Recorded as Middle Korean 미 (mi) (Yale: mi) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Wikisource

薇 (eumhun 장미 미 (jangmi mi))
薇 (eumhun 고비 미 (gobi mi))

1. hanja form^? of 미 (“rose”)
2. hanja form^? of 미 (“Osmunda japonica”)

Compounds

Compounds

• 장미 (薔薇, jangmi)
• 장미색 (薔薇色, jangmisaek)

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

Vietnamese

Han character

薇: Hán Nôm readings: vi

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