九

See also 玖, and 丸

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Etymology

Pictogram (象形) – a stylized hand, with bent wrist/forearm (hence the hook stroke at lower right). Earlier forms resemble 手, 寸.

九 is meant to symbolize a fist tightening to bump up against something; thus, there is a metaphorical bumping up of nine against ten, which is the the last number when counting on one's fingers.

Han character

九 (radical 5 乙+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 大弓 (KN), four-corner 4001₇, composition ⿰乙丿)

1. nine

Related characters

• 丸

References

• KangXi: page 83, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 167
• Dae Jaweon: page 168, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 48, character 5
• Unihan data for U+4E5D
• http://www.kanjinetworks.com/eng/kanji-dictionary/online-kanji-etymology-dictionary.cfm

See also

• (Chinese written numbers): 〇  一  二  三  四  五  六  七  八  九  十
• (Chinese financial form): 玖

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Cantonese

Etymology

From Old Chinese *k^wyu^?, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t-kua (compare Classical Tibetan dgu)

Hanzi

九 (jyutping gau2, Yale gau2)

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Hakka

Hanzi

九 (POJ kíu, Guangdong kiu³; kieu³ [Hong Kong], Hagfa Pinyim giu3)

References

• CCDICT (Chineselanguage.org)
• Academia Sinica - Hakka-English Dictionary
• Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

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Japanese

Kanji

九 (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. nine

Readings

• Go'on: く (ku)
• Kan'on: きゅう (kyū), (historical) きう (kiu)
• Kun: ここの (kokono), ここのつ (九つ, kokonotsu)
• Nanori: いちじく (ichijiku), いちのく (ichinoku), この (kono), ひさし (hisashi)

Compounds

Compounds

九夏 (きゅうか, kyūka): 九官鳥 (きゅうかんちょう, kyūkanchō): a mina or mynah bird 九牛一毛 (きゅうぎゅういちもう, kyū gyū ichi mō): nine cows one hair (a drop in the ocean) 九九, 九々 (くく, kuku): Multiplication table 九月 (くがつ, kugatsu): September 九死 (きゅうし, kyūshi): near death, nearly dead, a close shave 九州 (きゅうしゅう, Kyūshū): the Kyūshū region of Japan 九重 (ここのえ, kokonoe): 九寸五分 (くすんごぶ, kusun gobu): a short sword, a dagger 九星 (きゅうせい, kyūsei): 九折 (きゅうせつ, kyūsetsu): 九泉 (きゅうせん, kyūsen): the nether world 九地 (きゅうち, kyūchi): 九天 (きゅうてん, kyūten): the Ninth Heaven (the highest of heavens) 九拝 (きゅうはい, kyūhai): 九分 (くぶ, kubu): 九輪 (くりん, kurin): 九六 (くんろく, kunroku):

Etymology 1

Japanese cardinal numbers

<  8	9	10  >
Cardinal : 九

From Early Middle Chinese. Goon, the initial reading when first borrowed into Japanese.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• IPA: /ku/, [kɯᵝ]

Alternative forms

• 玖

Number

九 (hiragana く, romaji ku)

1. nine
2. ninth

Noun

九 (hiragana く, romaji ku)

1. nine
2. the ninth

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese. Kan'on, a later reading. Borrowed after palatalisation occurred in Middle Chinese.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• IPA: /kju.u/, [kjɯᵝː]

Number

九 (hiragana きゅう, romaji kyū, historical hiragana きう)

1. nine

Noun

九 (hiragana きゅう, romaji kyū, historical hiragana きう)

1. nine
2. an indeterminate large number, a myriad, a great many
3. (divination) the number of yang, in opposition to 六 (roku, “six”) as the number of yin

Alternative forms

• (large number): 究

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: /ko.ko.no/, [ko̞ko̞no̞]

Counter

九 (hiragana ここの, romaji kokono)

1. nine

Etymology 4

/kokono/ > /kono/

Abbreviation of Old Japanese kokono (“nine”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ko̞no̞]

Number

九 (hiragana この, romaji kono)

1. nine

   ひい、ふう、みい、…なな、やあ、この、とお

   hī, fū, mī, ... nana, yā, kono, tō

   one, two, three, ... seven, eight, nine, ten

Alternative forms

• この

Usage notes

Generally only used when counting out loud, as in the example above. In writing, usually found spelled out in hiragana as この to make the reading unambiguous.

References

• The Japan Times (March 17, 2010). You can count on the tales behind number-kanji. Accessed March 23, 2010.

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Korean

Hanja

九
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 구 (revised: gu, McCune-Reischauer: ku, Yale: kwu)

• Name (hangeul): 아홉 (revised: ahop, McCune-Reischauer: ahop, Yale: ahop)

1. nine

Compounds

• 正九品
• 從九品
• 重九
• 九重
• 九月
• 九輪
• 九冬
• 九九
• 九泉
• 九官鳥
• 九天
• 九界
• 九經
• 九族

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Mandarin

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Hanzi

九 (pinyin jiǔ (jiu3), xiǎng (xiang3), xiàng (xiang4), Wade-Giles chiu³, hsiang³, hsiang⁴)

Compounds

九一八事变 (九一八事變)

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Min Nan

Hanzi

九 (traditional, POJ kiú, káu, kiáu)

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Vietnamese

Han character

九 (cửu)

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Wu

Hanzi

Latin Alphabet: juˇ

Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄐ一ㄡˇ