乾

See also: 亁 and 干

Translingual

Han character

乾 (radical 5 乙+10, 11 strokes, cangjie input 十十人弓 (JJON), four-corner 4841₇, composition ⿸⿰𠦝𠂉乙)

References

• KangXi: page 84, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 204
• Dae Jaweon: page 172, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 56, character 10
• Unihan data for U+4E7E

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Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): phonetic 倝 + semantic 乙

Etymology 1

		-
trad.		乾
simp.		干

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kan (“dry, dry up”). Cognate with Burmese ခန်း (hkan:, “to dry up, to evaporate”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gān (gan¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gon¹
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): kôn
• Min Nan (POJ): kan / koaⁿ
• Wu (WT Romanisation): koe (T1)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: gān
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄢ
    • Wade-Giles: kan¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gan
    • IPA ^(key): /ka̠n⁵⁵/

    • 175px

      (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: gon¹
    • Yale: gōn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gon¹
    • IPA ^(key): /kɔːn⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kôn
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /kon²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kan / koaⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: kan / kuann
    • IPA (Taipei): /kan⁴⁴/, /kuã⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kan³⁴/, /kuã³⁴/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: koe (T1)
    • IPA ^(key): /kø⁵³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (乾, reconstructed)
Character (乾), Pronunciation 1/2
Initial: 見 (28) Final: 寒 Division: I			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 古寒切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/kɑn/	/kɑn/	/kɑn/	/kɑn/	/kan/	/kɑn/	/kɑn/

Old Chinese pronunciation (乾, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
乾								gān								‹ kan ›								/*[k]ˤar/								dry
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					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
乾					3698					倝					元					1					干					/*kaːn/

Definitions

乾

1. dry

   我喉嚨很乾。 [MSC, trad.]

   我喉咙很干。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ hóulóng hěn gān. [Pinyin]

   My throat feels dry.

2. clean

   乾淨／干净 ("clean")

3. adoptive; foster
4. in vain; for nothing

Compounds

Derived terms

• 乾兒子／干儿子 ("godson")

• 乾冰／干冰 ("dry ice")

• 乾冷／干冷 ("dry and cold")

• 乾咳／干咳 ("dry cough")

• 乾咽／干咽 ("to swallow dry food")

• 乾哭／干哭 ("cry without tears")

• 乾嗽／干嗽 ("dry cough")

• 乾嘔／干呕 ("to retch")

• 乾女兒／干女儿 ("goddaughter")

• 乾妹子／干妹子 ("godsister")

• 乾娘／干娘 ("godmother")

• 乾媽／干妈 ("godmother")

• 乾季／干季 ("dry season")

• 乾寒／干寒 ("dry and cold")

• 乾屍／干尸 ("mummy")

• 乾巴／干巴 ("insipid")

• 乾巴巴／干巴巴 ("insipid")

• 乾急／干急 ("anxious but unable to do anything")

• 乾性油／干性油 ("dry oil")

• 乾打雷，不下雨／干打雷，不下雨 ("thunder but no rain")

• 乾旱／干旱 ("drought")

• 乾杯／干杯 ("cheers")

• 乾板／干板 ("dry plate")

• 乾果／干果 ("dry fruit")

• 乾枯／干枯 ("dried-up")

• 乾柴烈火／干柴烈火 ("blazing fire and dry wood")

• 乾洗／干洗 ("dry cleaning")

• 乾涸／干涸 ("dry up")

• 乾淨／干净 ("clean")

• 乾淨利落／干净利落 ("as neat as pin")

• 乾渴／干渴 ("thirsty")

• 乾澀／干涩 ("dry and coarse")

• 乾灰／干灰 ("lime")

• 乾燥／干燥 ("dry")

• 乾燥劑／干燥剂 ("desiccant")

• 乾燥箱／干燥箱 ("desiccator")

• 乾爹／干爹 ("godfather")

• 乾爽／干爽 ("dry and crisp")

• 乾瘦／干瘦 ("skinny")

• 乾癟／干瘪 ("dry and shrivelled")

• 乾皺／干皱 ("kraurosis")

• 乾着急／干着急 ("anxious but unable to do anything")

• 乾瞪眼／干瞪眼 ("look on in despair")

• 乾禮／干礼, 乾禮兒／干礼儿 ("monetary gift")

• 乾笑／干笑 ("hollow laugh")

• 乾粉／干粉 ("dried vermicelli")

• 乾糧／干粮 ("food prepared for journey")

• 乾結／干结 ("dry and hard")

• 乾絲／干丝 ("dried bean curd")

• 乾股／干股 ("stock dividend")

• 乾肥／干肥 ("dried manure")

• 乾脆／干脆 ("clear-cut")

• 乾花／干花 ("dried flower")

• 乾草／干草 ("hay")

• 乾菜／干菜 ("dried vegetable")

• 乾薪／干薪 ("salary drawn for a sinecure")

• 乾號／干号, 乾嚎／干嚎 ("pretending to howl")

• 乾血漿／干血浆 ("dry plasma")

• 乾裂／干裂 ("seasoning crack")

• 乾親／干亲 ("nominal kinship")

• 乾親家／干亲家

• 乾貝／干贝 ("dried scallop")

• 乾貨／干货 ("dried fruits and nuts")

• 乾酪／干酪 ("cheese")

• 乾電池／干电池 ("dry cell")

• 乾飯／干饭 ("cooked rice")

• 乾餾／干馏 ("dry distillation")

• 乾鬆／干松 ("dry and loose")

• 豆乾／豆干 (dòugān, "dried tofu")

Etymology 2

		-
simp. and trad.		乾

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-ka-n (“heaven, sky, sun”). Cognate with Tibetan མཁའ (mkha'), ནམ་མཁའ (nam mkha', “sky, heaven”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qián (qian²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kin⁴
• Min Nan (POJ): khiân

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: qián
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄢˊ
    • Wade-Giles: ch'ien²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyan
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵/

    • (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: kin⁴
    • Yale: kìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kin⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰiːn²¹/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khiân
    • Tâi-lô: khiân
    • IPA (Taipei): /kʰiɛn²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰiɛn¹³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (乾, reconstructed)
Character (乾), Pronunciation 2/2
Initial: 群 (30) Final: 仙 Division: III			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 渠焉切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ɡiᴇn/	/gi̯ɛn/	/ɡiɛn/	/ɡiɛn/	/gian/	/ɡĭɛn/	/ɡjæn/

Old Chinese pronunciation (乾, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
乾								qián								‹ gjen ›								/*[ɡ](r)ar/								heaven; heavenly
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					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
乾					3709					倝					元					1					乾					/*ɡran/

Definitions

乾

1. One of the Eight Trigrams.

   乾道 ("ways of heaven; natural law")

2. ^† sky; heaven
3. ^† sun
4. ^† emperor
5. ^† man, male
6. A surname​.

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Japanese

Kanji

乾

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. northwest
2. dehydrate
3. arid
4. drought
5. imbibe
6. paradise
7. the emperor

Readings

• Goon: かん (kan), げん (gen)
• Kan’on: かん (kan), けん (ken)
• Kun: かわく (kawaku), かわかす (kawakasu), いぬい (inui)

Noun

乾 (hiragana いぬい, romaji inui, historical hiragana いぬゐ)

1. (obsolete) northwest

Proper noun

乾 (hiragana いぬい, romaji Inui, historical hiragana いぬゐ)

1. A surname​.

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Korean

Hanja

乾 (geon, gan) (hangeul 건, 간, revised geon, gan, McCune-Reischauer kŏn, kan)

1. (하늘 건, haneul-): sky
2. (건괘 건, geon-gwae-): ☷ or the 1st of the Eight Trigrams (☰☱☲☳☴☵☶☷ or 八卦 (팔괘, palgwae))
3. (임금 건, im-geum-): king
4. (마를 건, mareul-): to be dry

Synonyms

• 天 (천, cheon)
• 干 (간, gan) (translingual; simplified hanzi for 乾)

Antonyms

• 坤 (곤, gon)
• 地 (지, gi) earth
• 濕 (습, seup) wet

See also

八卦 (팔괘, palgwae)

7+0=111+000 (U+2630)*	☰	乾	天	sky
6+1=110+001 (U+2631)	☱	兌	澤	marsh
5+2=101+010 (U+2632)	☲	離	火	fire
4+3=100+011 (U+2633)	☳	震	雷	thunder
3+4=011+100 (U+2634)	☴	巽	風	wind
2+5=010+101 (U+2635)	☵	坎	水	water
1+6=001+110 (U+2636)	☶	艮	山	mountain
0+7=000+111 (U+2637)	☷	坤	地	earth

[*] Decimal pair=Binary pair (Codepoint). (The solid bar "—" of the Trigrams may be assigned to the binary number "1", while the split bar "--" to "0".)

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Vietnamese

Han character

乾 (kiền, cạn, can, càn, khan, gàn, phạm)

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References

• Nom Foundation