太

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See also: 大 and 犬

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
太-bw.png

Etymology[edit]

A superlative variant of 大 (“big”).

Also Simplified from 能, as in 态 (from 態).

Han character[edit]

太 (radical 37 大+1, 4 strokes, cangjie input 大戈 (KI), four-corner 40030, composition ⿵大丶)

  1. big, great, grand
  2. extremely
  3. too, too much

Derived characters[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 248, character 10
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5834
  • Dae Jaweon: page 505, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 524, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+592A

Chinese[edit]

-
simp. and trad.
 太

Pronunciation[edit]

Middle Chinese pronunciation (太, reconstructed)
Character (太), Pronunciation 1/1

Initial: 透 (6)
Final: 泰
Division: I

Openness: Open
Tone: Departing (H)

 Fanqie: 他蓋切
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 Bernard
Karlgren		 Li
Rong		 Pan
Wuyun		 Edwin
Pulleyblank		 Wang
Li		 Shao
Rongfen
/tʰɑiH/ /tʰɑiH/ /tʰɑiH/ /tʰɑiH/ /tʰajH/ /tʰɑiH/ /tʰɑiH/
Old Chinese pronunciation (太, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character Modern Beijing
(Pinyin)		 Middle Chinese Old Chinese English
太 tài ‹ thajH › /*l̥ ˤa[t]-s/ great

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
太 1937 大 祭 1 泰 /*tʰaːds/

Adjective[edit]

太

  1. very, extremely
    他不太舒服  ―  tā bù tài shūfú  ―  He's not very well
  2. too (much), excessive
    別吃太多派。 [MSC, trad.]
    别吃太多派。 [MSC, simp.]
    Bié chī tài duō pài. [Pinyin]
    Don't eat too much pie.
    他的褲子太短，外套和背心又太肥大。 [MSC, trad.]
    他的裤子太短，外套和背心又太肥大。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā de kùzǐ tài duǎn, wàitào hé bèixīn yòu tài féidà. [Pinyin]
    His trousers were too short and his coat and vest too loose.
  3. highest, greatest, most

Usage notes[edit]

  • (very, too): 太 in the sense of very and too much can be emphasis by putting 了 ("le") at the end of the sentence.
太好了！ [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Tàihǎole! [Pinyin]
Very good! / Great!
小貓太可愛了！ [MSC, trad.]
小猫太可爱了！ [MSC, simp.]
Xiǎomāo tài kěài le! [Pinyin]
The kitten is so cute!

Noun[edit]

太

  1. Miss, Mrs
    李太  ―  lǐ tài  ―  Mrs. Li
    陳太 / 陈太  ―  chén tài  ―  Mrs. Chen
    太太  ―  tàitài  ―  wife

Proper noun[edit]

太

  1. Lake Tai (太湖), a large freshwater lake west of Shanghai in eastern China

Compounds[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

See also:
太

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. (adjective): fat

Readings[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Old Japanese.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

太 (hiragana ふと, romaji futo)

  1. fatness
  2. a fat person, a fatty
  3. fat-necked shamisen
  4. thick thread
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Synonyms[edit]

Prefix[edit]

太 (hiragana ふと, romaji futo-)

  1. added to words describing gods or the emperor or other exalted subjects to denote greatness or excellence
    • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 17, poem #4031); text here
      奈加等美乃 敷刀能里<等其>等 伊比波良倍 安<賀>布伊能知毛 多我多米尓奈礼
      中臣の 太祝詞言 言ひ祓へ 贖ふ命も 誰がために汝れ
      なかとみの ふとのりとごと いひはらへ あかふいのちも たがためになれ
      Nakatomi no / futonoritogoto / iiharae / akau inochi mo / ta ga tame ni nare
      Reciting the Nakatomi's excellent ritual offering, who's [long] life was prayed for? Yours.}}
  2. added to regular nouns to denote fatness or thickness
    太 (ふと)腿 (もも)、太 (ふと)箸 (ばし)
    futo-momo, futo-bashi
    the thigh (the thick part of the leg), fat chopsticks (used at New Years)
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms

Etymology 2[edit]

The Old Japanese 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal (sentence-final) form”) of adjective 太い (futoi, “fat, thick, big”).[2]

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

太 (hiragana ふとし, romaji Futoshi)

  1. A male given name.

Etymology 3[edit]

Derived from the root word 大 (ō, “great, big”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Proper noun[edit]

太 (hiragana おお, romaji Ō, historical hiragana おほ)

  1. A surname​.

Etymology 4[edit]

From Middle Chinese 太 (thajH). Compare modern Mandarin 太 (tài).

Pronunciation[edit]

Prefix[edit]

太 (hiragana たい, romaji tai)

  1. big, fat, great
Usage notes[edit]
  • Only found in compounds.
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms

Etymology 5[edit]

From a colloquial form of 太 in Middle Chinese. Compare the similar corruption in Mandarin 大 (dà).

Pronunciation[edit]

Prefix[edit]

太 (hiragana た, romaji ta)

  1. big, fat, great
Usage notes[edit]

Only found in compounds.

Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms

References[edit]

  1. ^ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3
  2. ^ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]

太 (tae)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul): 태 (revised: tae, McCune-Reischauer: t'ae)
  • Name (hangeul): 클 (revised: keul, McCune-Reischauer: k'ul)
  1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

太 (thái)

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