象 - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: 𧰼 and

Stroke order
Stroke order in simplified Chinese
Japanese
Simplified
Traditional

(Kangxi radical 152, +5 in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 豕+4 in simplified Chinese, 12 strokes in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 11 strokes in simplified Chinese, cangjie input 弓日心人 (NAPO), four-corner 27232, composition𧰨(G) or ⿳𫩏𧰨(HT) or ⿸⿳𫩏⿹⿱丿⿱丿丿⿺丿(JKV))

trad.
simp. #
2nd round simp. ⿱⺈𫩏

| | Old Chinese | | | -------------------------------- | ----------------- | | | *l'aːŋʔ, *ljaŋʔ | | | *ljaŋʔ | | | *ljaŋʔ | | | *ljaŋʔ | | | *ljaŋʔ, *hljaŋs | | | *ljaŋʔ | | | *ljaŋʔ, *laŋʔ | | | *ljaŋʔ | | | *ljaŋʔ |

Pictogram (象形) - pictographic representation of an elephant. represents the trunk, 𫩏 represents the head, and 𧰨 represents the body.

This character is used to represent two semantic fields ‘elephant; tusk’ and ‘to outline; to depict; to delineate; to represent; to resemble; to map’. Both fields are found from the earliest layers of the edited literature onwards, whereas only the first meaning is amply attested in oracle bone inscriptions.

Traditionally, the two senses are treated as related, with the sense of ‘to depict; to resemble’ considered a derivative of the sense of ‘elephant’. The derivation from the ‘elephant’ meaning to the ‘likeness’ meaning is explained in Han Feizi First attested in c. 221 BCE: “Men rarely see living elephants. As they come by the skeleton of a dead elephant, they imagine its living form according to its features. Therefore it comes to pass that whatever people use for imagining the real is called 象.”

Modern etymology studies on Old Chinese have challenged this opinion.

As for the ‘elephant; tusk’ sense, this is a widely used area word in East and Southeast Asia. Literature opinions differ on the origin and immediate relationship of this Chinese word; some (e.g. Schuessler, 2007) believe the Chinese form is a loanword from a Southern language, since it is unlikely that peoples all over Southeast Asia and the Himalayan foothills would borrow a word from Northern China to denote an indigenous animal. Others believe the direction of borrowing is reversed (i.e. Tai-Kadai borrowing from Chinese), and that Chinese 象 should be compared with Tibetan གླང (glang), གླང་ཆེན (glang chen, “elephant”) arising from a common Proto-Sino-Tibetan *glaŋ (“ox, bull; elephant”), which may ultimately have an Austroasiatic origin (Behr, 2004). The second viewpoint is supported by the early attestation of this character and the archaeological findings of the historical ranges of elephants. However, Schuessler disputes that second viewpoint and links ST *glaŋ to (OC *klaːŋ, “ox, bull”).

See below for a tentative borrowing history of the various forms of this general area word.


Note:

Note:

Note:


BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
ModernBeijing(Pinyin) xiàng
MiddleChinese zjangX
OldChinese /*s-[d]aŋʔ/
English elephant
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
Reading # 1/1
No. 13664
Phoneticcomponent
Rimegroup
Rimesubdivision 0
CorrespondingMC rime
OldChinese /*ljaŋʔ/

象 (1)

(Chinese Chess) 象 (3)

  1. elephant (Classifier: m; m c mn)
    yòu xiàng ― young elephant
  2. ivory; tusk
    Synonym: 象牙 (xiàngyá)
    xiàngchuáng ― ivory-decorated bed
  3. (xiangqi) elephant: 🩩 (on the black side) (Classifier: c)
    Synonym:
  4. (chess) bishop
  5. symbol; emblem
    xiàngzhēng ― symbol
  6. appearance; shape; phenomenon
    tiānxiàng ― celestial phenomenon
    xiànxiàng ― phenomenon
    jǐngxiàng ― scene
  7. (traditional Chinese medicine) complexion
    bìngxiàng ― disease signs and symptoms
  8. image; picture; portrait
    See also:
  9. sign; indication
  10. (obsolete) law; legislation
  11. (obsolete) principle
  12. (obsolete) calendar
  13. (literary) to imitate; to follow the example of
    xiàngxíng ― pictogram
    聲詞声词xiàngshēngcí ― onomatopoeia
  14. (literary) to trace; to outline; to depict
  15. to resemble
    See also:
  16. (historical) government official that translates southern languages
  17. (~) (historical) Xiang, a commandery of Han China
  18. a surname

Dialectal synonyms of 大象 (“elephant”) [map]

Variety Location Words edit
Classical Chinese
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)
Taxonomic name
Northeastern Mandarin Taiwan 大象
Singapore 大象
Central Plains Mandarin Luoyang
Wanrong
Xi'an
Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)
Lanyin Mandarin Ürümqi
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu
Wuhan
Guiyang
Liuzhou 大象
Cantonese Guangzhou 大笨象
Hong Kong 大笨象
Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou)
Macau 大笨象
Guangzhou (Panyu) 大笨象
Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu) 大笨象
Guangzhou (Conghua) 大笨象
Guangzhou (Zengcheng) 大笨象
Foshan 大笨象
Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai) 大笨象
Foshan (Shunde) 大笨象
Foshan (Sanshui) 大笨象
Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming) 大象
Zhongshan (Shiqi) 大笨象
Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou) 大笨象
Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)
Zhuhai (Doumen)
Jiangmen (Baisha)
Jiangmen (Xinhui)
Taishan , 大笨象
Taishan (Guanghai) 大象哥, 大象
Kaiping (Chikan)
Enping (Niujiang)
Heshan (Yayao)
Dongguan 大笨象
Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an) 大笨象
Nanning 大笨象
Wuzhou 大笨象
Yulin 大象
Hepu (Lianzhou) 大象
Guiping 大笨象
Mengshan (Xihe)
Guigang (Nanjiang) 大笨象
Beiliu (Tangliao)
Baise 大笨象
Bobai 大象
Lingshan
Pubei
Qinzhou 大笨象
Beihai 大笨象
Ningming 大象
Hengzhou 大象
Hezhou (Pumen, Babu) 大象
Mandalay (Taishan)
Gan Nanchang
Hakka Meixian
Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua) 大笨象
Dongguan (Qingxi)
Shenzhen (Shatoujiao) 大笨象
Zhongshan (Wuguishan) 大笨象
Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui) 大笨象
Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua) 大象
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 象仔, 大象
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 象仔, 大象
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) , 大象
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) , 大象
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) , 大象
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) , 大象
Beiliu (Tang'an)
Mashan (Pianlian)
Jin Taiyuan
Northern Min Jian'ou
Eastern Min Fuzhou
Southern Min Xiamen
Quanzhou
Zhangzhou
Zhao'an
Dongshan
Taipei
New Taipei (Sanxia)
Kaohsiung
Yilan
Changhua (Lukang)
Taichung
Taichung (Wuqi)
Tainan
Taitung
Hsinchu
Kinmen
Penghu (Magong)
Penang (Hokkien)
Singapore (Hokkien) , 大象
Manila (Hokkien)
Pingnan (Shangdu)
Shantou
Shantou (Chaoyang)
Haikou
Puxian Min Putian
Central Min Yong'an
Zhongshan Min Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi) 大笨象, 大象
Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 大象
Wu Shanghai , 象鼻頭
Shanghai (Chongming)
Suzhou
Danyang
Hangzhou
Xiang Quanzhou 大象

Others:

Chess pieces in Mandarin · 國際象棋棋子 / 国际象棋棋子 (guójì xiàngqí qízǐ) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
(wáng),國王 / 国王 (guówáng) (hòu),皇后 (huánghòu) / (jū),城堡 (chéngbǎo) (xiàng),主教 (zhǔjiào) / (mǎ),騎士 / 骑士 (qíshì) (bīng)
  1. ^ Vovin, Alexander (2011) First and second person singular pronouns: a pillar or a pillory of the ‘Altaic’ hypothesis?‎[1], pages 271–272

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 𧰼)

Kanji in this term
ぞうGrade: 5
goon

/zau/ → /zɔː/ → /zoː/

From Middle Chinese (zjangX, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Cantonese reading zoeng6.

The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

象(ぞう) or 象(ゾウ) () ←**ざう** (zau)? (counter )

  1. elephant
Kanji in this term
しょうGrade: 5
kan'on

/sjau/ → /sjɔː/ → /ɕɔː/ → /ɕoː/

From Middle Chinese (zjangX, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Min Nan reading siōng or Mandarin xiàng.

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

象(しょう) (shō) ←**しやう** (syau)?

  1. likeness, appearance
Kanji in this term
きさGrade: 5
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. Cognate with (kisa, “wood grain”), from the way that ivory also has a grain.[3]

象(きさ) (kisa)

  1. (obsolete) elephant

    • 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 7, page 52:
      象 [...] 岐佐 [...] 獣名、似水牛、大耳、長鼻、眼細、牙長者也
      Elephant, [...] kisa a kind of beast, looks like water buffalo, having big ears, long nose, slender eyes and long teeth
    • 970–999, Utsubo Monogatari, page Toshikage:
      それより西を行ケば、虎狼ひと山さワぐ所有り。キサ出デてその山をこしつ。
      When he went west from there, there was a place where tigers and monkeys clamoured on a mountain. Elephants had set out and crossed that mountain
  2. 1.0 1.1 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. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

From Middle Chinese (MC zjangX). Recorded as Middle Korean 샤ᇰ〮 (syáng) (Yale: syang) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Wikisource

(eumhun 코끼리 (kokkiri sang))

  1. hanja form? of (“elephant”)
  2. hanja form? of (“shape; figure; appearance”)

象: Hán Nôm readings: tượng

  1. (in compounds) elephant
  2. a xiangqi piece which represents an elephant
  3. shape; scene