須

Historical forms of the character 須
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

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

	Old Chinese
盨	*sraʔ
須	*so
鬚	*so
嬃	*so
蕦	*so

Pictogram (象形) : 彡 (“hair”) + 頁 (“head”) – a head with hair on its side – beard; whiskers — original character of 鬚 (OC *so). Originally a single picture, but abstracted in the seal script into a compound.

Etymology 1 edit

“to wait”: Schuessler (2007), reconstructing the Old Chinese as *sno, suggests that it is probably a causative derivation from 懦 (OC *njo, “weak; soft”), literally “to make (time) pliant”.

Pronunciation edit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xū (xu¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄩ
Cantonese (Jyutping): seoi¹
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sî
Northern Min (KCR): sṳ́
Eastern Min (BUC): sṳ̆
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): su / si

(Teochew, Peng'im): su¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xū
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄩ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: syu
  - Wade–Giles: hsü¹
  - Yale: syū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiu
  - Palladius: сюй (sjuj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕy⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: seoi¹
  - Yale: sēui
  - Cantonese Pinyin: soey¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: sêu¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɵy̯⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sî
  - Hakka Romanization System: xi´
  - Hagfa Pinyim: xi¹
  - Sinological IPA: /si²⁴/
Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: sṳ́
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sy⁵⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: sṳ̆
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sy⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: su
  - Tâi-lô: su
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sw
  - IPA (Xiamen, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /su⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /su³³/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: si
  - Tâi-lô: si
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sy
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /si⁴⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: su¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: su
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /su³³/

Middle Chinese: sju

Rime
Character	須
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	相俞切
Baxter	sju
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɨo/
Pan Wuyun	/sio/
Shao Rongfen	/sio/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/suə̆/
Li Rong	/sio/
Wang Li	/sĭu/
Bernard Karlgren	/si̯u/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xū
Expected Cantonese Reflex	seoi¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[s]o/

(Zhengzhang): /*so/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	須
Reading #	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xū
Middle Chinese	‹ sju ›
Old Chinese	/*[s]o/
English	斯須 a short time
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	須
Reading #	1/1
No.	13955
Phonetic component	須
Rime group	侯
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	須
Old Chinese	/*so/

Definitions edit

須

must; have to; should
(alt. form 䇓／𰩧, 𩓣) ^† to wait
(alt. form 需) ^† to need
(literary) to halt; to bring to an end
(literary) to use
(literary, or in compounds) short moment
須臾／须臾 ― xūyú ― in an instant
a surname: Xu

Synonyms edit

(must): 須要／须要 (xūyào)
(to use):

使出 (shǐchū)
使用 (shǐyòng)
利用 (lìyòng)
動用／动用 (dòngyòng)
取用 (qǔyòng)
吸納／吸纳 (xīnà)
善用 (shànyòng) (to put to good use)
套用 (tàoyòng) (to apply mechanically)
實用／实用 (shíyòng)
應用／应用 (yìngyòng)
採用／采用 (cǎiyòng)
採納／采纳 (cǎinà)
搬 (bān) (to apply mechanically)
搬動／搬动 (bāndòng)
施用 (shīyòng)
沿用 (yányòng) (to continue to use)
用 (yòng)
硬套 (yìngtào) (to apply mechanically)
起動／起动 (Quanzhou Hokkien, Xiamen Hokkien)
運用／运用 (yùnyòng)
錄用／录用 (lùyòng)

(to halt):

中斷／中断 (zhōngduàn)
中止 (zhōngzhǐ)
休止 (xiūzhǐ)
停 (tíng)
停歇 (tíngxiē)
停止 (tíngzhǐ)
夭閼／夭阏 (yǎo'è)
干休 (gānxiū) (literary)
放煞 (Min Nan)
斷站／断站 (Xiamen Hokkien)
斷節／断节 (Xiamen Hokkien)
暫停／暂停 (zàntíng) (temporarily)
歇 (xiē)
止 (zhǐ) (literary, or in compounds)
止息 (zhǐxī)
止煞 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
瀦／潴 (Quanzhou Hokkien)
煞 (Hokkien)
煞手 (Hokkien)
甘休 (gānxiū) (to be willing to give up)
終止／终止 (zhōngzhǐ)
絕／绝 (jué) (literary, or in compounds)
罷／罢
罷休／罢休 (bàxiū) (chiefly in the negative)
罷手／罢手 (bàshǒu)
間斷／间断
頓／顿

(short moment):

一剎／一刹 (yīchà)
一剎那／一刹那 (yīchànà)
一會兒／一会儿
一目𥍉仔 (chi̍t-ba̍k-nih-á) (Hokkien)
一瞬間／一瞬间 (yīshùnjiān)
剎那／刹那
少刻 (shǎokè)
少時／少时
少頃／少顷 (shǎoqǐng)
時刻／时刻 (shíkè)
有頃／有顷 (yǒuqǐng) (literary)
漏 (lòu) (literary, or in compounds)
片刻 (piànkè)
瞬息 (shùnxī)
瞬間／瞬间 (shùnjiān)
霎時／霎时 (shàshí)
頃刻／顷刻 (qǐngkè)

Usage notes edit

For the sense of "must" or "need to", this word is frequently mistaken with 需 (xū). 須／须 is usually followed by a verb or an adverb while 需 is usually followed by a noun.

Compounds edit

Etymology 2 edit

For pronunciation and definitions of 須 – see 鬚 (“beard; whisker; antenna; feeler; etc.”). (This character is the simplified form of 鬚).
Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.