左

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Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
左-bw.png

Etymology[edit]

Originally written . Pictogram (象形) - a left hand. Compare 又 ("right hand").

左 was orginally a combined form of  and 工 ("work") meaning "to help". But later 佐 took this meaning and 左 then took the meaning of .

Han character[edit]

左 (radical 48 工+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 大一 (KM), four-corner 40011, composition ⿸𠂇工)

  1. left
  2. east
  3. unorthodox, improper
  4. a surname

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 325, character 8
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8720
  • Dae Jaweon: page 626, character 7
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 411, character 5
  • Unihan data for U+5DE6

Chinese[edit]

-
simp. and trad.
 左

Pronunciation[edit]

Middle Chinese pronunciation (左, reconstructed)
Character (左), Pronunciation 1/2

Initial: 精 (13)
Final: 歌
Division: I

Openness: Open
Tone: Rising (X)

 Fanqie: 臧可切
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 Bernard
Karlgren		 Li
Rong		 Pan
Wuyun		 Edwin
Pulleyblank		 Wang
Li		 Shao
Rongfen
/t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑX/ /t͡saX/ /t͡sɑX/ /t͡sɑX/
Character (左), Pronunciation 2/2

Initial: 精 (13)
Final: 歌
Division: I

Openness: Open
Tone: Departing (H)

 Fanqie: 則箇切
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 Bernard
Karlgren		 Li
Rong		 Pan
Wuyun		 Edwin
Pulleyblank		 Wang
Li		 Shao
Rongfen
/t͡sɑH/ /t͡sɑH/ /t͡sɑH/ /t͡sɑH/ /t͡saH/ /t͡sɑH/ /t͡sɑH/
Old Chinese pronunciation (左, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character Modern Beijing
(Pinyin)		 Middle Chinese Old Chinese English
左 zuǒ ‹ tsaX › /*tsˤa[j]ʔ/ left (side)
左 zuǒ ‹ tsaX › /*tsˤa[j]ʔ/ assist
左 zuǒ ‹ tsaH › /*tsˤarʔ-s/ assist

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
左 18004 左 歌 1 左 /*ʔsaːlʔ/
左 18006 左 歌 1 佐 /*ʔsaːls/

References[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

/hidari/: *[pidari] → [ɸidari] → [çidari].

Kanji[edit]

See also:
左

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings[edit]
Compounds[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

左 (hiragana ひだり, romaji hidari)

  1. (direction) left, the side of the left hand
    • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho (page 229)
      Fidari. ヒダリ (左) 左手, または, 左の方
  2. (politics) a leftist
Antonyms[edit]
  • (left): 右 (migi, “right”)
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

左 (hiragana さ, romaji sa)

  1. the left in vertical writing
  2. the following (one)
    • 1905, Natsume Sōseki, 吾輩は猫である:
      吾輩 (わがはい)はまず彼 (かれ)がどのくらい無学 (むがく)であるかを試 (ため)してみようと思 (おも)って左 (さ)の問答 (もんどう)をして見 (み)た。
      wagahai wa mazu kare ga dono kurai mugaku de aru ka o tameshite miyō to omotte sa no mondō o shite mita.
      To judge just how uneducated he was, I posed the following question.

References[edit]

Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]

左 (jwa)
Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul): 좌 (revised: jwa, McCune-Reischauer: chwa)
  • Name (hangeul): 左()
  1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

Compounds[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

左 (tả, tá, huy)

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