蠆

See also: 躉 and 虿

蠆	U+8806, 蠆 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8806

← 蠅
[U+8805]

CJK Unified Ideographs

蠇 →
[U+8807]

Translingual edit

Han character edit

蠆 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+13, 19 strokes, cangjie input 廿田月戈 (TWBI), four-corner 4413₆, composition ⿱萬虫)

a kind of scorpion
a sting in the tail

References edit

Kangxi Dictionary: page 1099, character 24
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 33694
Dae Jaweon: page 1563, character 25
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2889, character 20
Unihan data for U+8806

Chinese edit

trad.		蠆
simp.		虿
alternative forms		䘍𧍣𧓵

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character 蠆
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (萬) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
糲	m·raːds, m·rads, *m·raːd
犡	m·raːds, m·rads
噧	hmreːds, r̥ʰaːd
邁	*mraːds
勱	*mraːds
蠆	*m̥ʰraːds
厲	*m·rads
勵	*m·rads
礪	*m·rads
蠣	*m·rads
蠇	*m·rads
癘	*m·rads
濿	*m·rads
櫔	*m·rads
巁	*m·rads
贎	m·rads, mlans
萬	*mlans

Originally written as 萬. 虫 (“creature”) was added to disambiguate it from 萬 (“myriad, ten thousand”).

Etymology edit

From 厲 (OC *m·rads, “sharp”) with a nominalizing devoicing, a realization of a Sino-Tibetan prefix *s-, probably the one used in words for animals (Schuessler, 2007). Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstruct it with an additional animal prefix *m-. It may also be connected to 蜇 (OC *ʔl'ed, “to sting”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation edit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): chài (chai⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄔㄞˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): caai³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chài
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄞˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chài
  - Wade–Giles: chʻai⁴
  - Yale: chài
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chay
  - Palladius: чай (čaj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰaɪ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: caai³
  - Yale: chaai
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsaai³
  - Guangdong Romanization: cai³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaːi̯³³/

Middle Chinese: trhaejH

Rime
Character	蠆
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	徹 (10)
Final (韻)	夬 (29)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	丑犗切
Baxter	trhaejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʈʰˠai^H/
Pan Wuyun	/ʈʰᵚai^H/
Shao Rongfen	/ȶʰai^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʈʰaɨjs^H/
Li Rong	/ȶʰai^H/
Wang Li	/ȶʰæi^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȶʰai^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	chài
Expected Cantonese Reflex	caai³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*mə-r̥ˤa[t]-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*m̥ʰraːds/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	蠆
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	chài
Middle Chinese	‹ trhæj^H ›
Old Chinese	/*mə-r̥ˁa[t]-s/
English	scorpion
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	蠆
Reading #	1/1
No.	12620
Phonetic component	萬
Rime group	祭
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	蠆
Old Chinese	/*m̥ʰraːds/

Definitions edit

蠆

(obsolete) venomous creature; scorpion
- 蜂蠆虺蛇不螫，猛獸不據，攫鳥不搏。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  蜂虿虺蛇不螫，猛兽不据，攫鸟不搏。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Tao Te Ching, 4^th century BCE
  Fēngchài huǐshé bù shì, měngshòu bù jù, jué niǎo bù bó. [Pinyin]
  Bees and scorpions and asps and adders will not sting him; fierce beasts will not seize him; predatory birds will not strike him.
- 下堂兮見蠆，出門兮觸螽，
  巷有兮蚰蜓，邑多兮螳螂。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  下堂兮见虿，出门兮触螽，
  巷有兮蚰蜓，邑多兮螳螂。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE, translated based on David Hawkes' version
  Xiàtáng xī jiàn chài, chūmén xī chù zhōng,
  Xiàng yǒu xī yóutíng, yì duō xī tángláng. [Pinyin]
  Going down from the hall I see scorpions; going out of the gate I run into locusts;
  In the alleyways there are centipedes; in the town there are many mantises.
Used in 蠆芥／虿芥.