兼

Translingual

Etymology

Ideogrammic compound (會意): Hand 又 (as in 肀) holding two grain stalks 禾

Han character

兼 (radical 12 八+8, 10 strokes, cangjie input 廿難金 (TXC), four-corner 8023₇)

1. unite, combine
2. connect
3. and

Derived characters

• 廉 嫌 鎌 謙

Related characters

• 禾

References

• KangXi: page 128, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1483
• Dae Jaweon: page 288, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 249, character 8
• Unihan data for U+517C

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		兼

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiān (jian¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gim¹
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): kiâm

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: jiān
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢ
    • Wade-Giles: chien¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jian
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: gim¹
    • Yale: gīm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gim¹
    • IPA ^(key): /kiːm⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kiâm
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /ki̯am²⁴/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (兼, reconstructed)
Character (兼), Pronunciation 1/2
Initial: 見 (28) Final: 添 Division: IV			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 古甜切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/kem/	/kiem/	/kem/	/kem/	/kɛm/	/kiem/	/kɛm/
Character (兼), Pronunciation 2/2
Initial: 見 (28) Final: 添 Division: IV			Openness: Open Tone: Departing (H)			Fanqie: 古念切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/kemH/	/kiemH/	/kemH/	/kemH/	/kɛmH/	/kiemH/	/kɛmH/

Old Chinese pronunciation (兼, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
兼								jiān								‹ kem ›								/*[k]ˤem/								combine; at the same 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					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
兼					6063					兼					談					2					兼					/*keːm/
兼					6069					兼					談					2					兼					/*keːms/					別分紀念切，集韻並

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Japanese

Kanji

兼

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• On: けん (ken)
• Kun: かねる (兼ねる, kaneru)

Compounds

• 兼営
• 兼官
• 兼業
• 兼勤
• 兼言
• 兼行
• 兼修
• 兼職
• 兼摂

• 兼帯
• 兼題
• 兼任
• 兼備
• 兼併
• 兼補
• 兼務
• 兼有
• 兼用

Related terms

• 兼す

Conjunction

-兼- (-けん-, -ken-)

1. -cum-, concurrently, in addition
   • 書斎兼応接間
     しょさいけんおうせつま
     shosai ken ōsetsuma
     study-cum-drawing room
     
     
   • 首相兼外相
     しゅしょうけんがいしょう
     shushō ken gaishō
     someone who holds the offices of both Prime Minister and Foriegn Minister

Proper noun

兼 (hiragana けん, romaji Ken)

1. A male given name

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Korean

Hanja

兼 (gyeom) (hangeul 겸, revised kyeom, McCune-Reischauer kyŏm, Yale kyeom)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

Usage notes

It is interesting to note that the pronunciation of 겸 is similar to that of com, which is an English prefix meaning together, connected and united. This word also used as part of 겸손할 겸 (謙, qian in chinese or ken in japanese; meaning humility). It implies that humility is essential to unity and living together.

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Vietnamese

Han character

兼 (kiêm, kem, kèm, cồm)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.