形

Translingual

Stroke order

Etymology

Ideogrammic compound (會意): 幵 + 彡. In current form 幵 has been simplified to 开.

Han character

形 (radical 59 彡+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 一廿竹竹竹 (MTHHH), four-corner 1242₂, composition ⿰开彡)

1. form, shape, appearance

Synonyms

• (form): 樣 (样, 様), 型

References

• KangXi: page 363, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9969
• Dae Jaweon: page 681, character 25
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 852, character 10
• Unihan data for U+5F62

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Cantonese

Hanzi

形 (Yale ying4)

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Japanese

Kanji

形 (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On: けい (kei), ぎょう (gyō)
• Kun: がた (gata), かた (kata), かたち (katachi), かたぎ (katagi), なり (nari)
• Nanori: ち (chi)

Compounds

Compounds

形声 (けいせい, keisei): the phonosemantic formation of a kanji character from elements signifying meaning and elements signifying sound 形成 (けいせい, keisei): formation, shape 形而下 (けいじか, keijika): physical, material 形而上 (けいじじょう, keijijō): metaphysical 形而上学 (けいじじょうがく, keijijōgaku): metaphysics 形容詞 (けいようし, keiyōshi): adjective 形容動詞 (けいようどうし, keiyō dōshi): (Japanese grammar) adjectival noun, na- adjective

形態 (けいたい, keitai): shape, form 形態学 (けいたいがく, keitaigaku): (biology) morphology 形態論 (けいたいろん, keitairon): (linguistics) morphology 形体 (けいたい, keitai): physical shape 形相 (ぎょうそう, gyōsō): a facial expression, a look 形相 (けいそう, keisō): (philosophy) the form, the eidos; the Platonic ideal 原形質 (げんけいしつ, genkeishitsu): protoplasm

Etymology 1

Probably related to 堅い / 硬い / 固い (katai), hard.

Alternative forms

• 型

Noun

形 (hiragana かた, romaji kata)

1. a shape
2. a form
3. a pattern, die, or model from which copies are made
4. on a coin, the side with writing on it: see antonym 縵面 (name)
5. collateral for borrowed money

Etymology 2

Derived from /kata/ above. Changes to /gata/ due to rendaku (連濁).

Alternative forms

• 型

Suffix

形 (hiragana がた, romaji gata)

1. (affixed to nouns): the shape or form of the affixed noun

   渦巻き形

   うずまきがた
   uzumakigata

   a whirlpool shape

   卵形

   たまごがた
   tamagogata

   an egg shape

2. (affixed to on'yomi nouns): a typical example of the affixed noun; the type of the affixed noun

   学者形

   がくしゃがた
   gakushagata

   a scholar type

   英雄形

   えいゆうがた
   eiyūgata

   a hero type

Usage notes

For a shape, the spelling 形 is more commonly used. For a type, the spelling 型 is more commonly used.

Etymology 3

Derived from 形木 (katagi), itself a compound of 形 (kata, “shape”) +‎ 木 (ki, “tree, wood”), meaning stencil. The ki changes to gi due to rendaku (連濁).

Alternative forms

• 気質
• 容気

Noun

形 (hiragana かたぎ, romaji katagi)

1. social customs, mores
2. one's appearance; one's stance or body language
3. one's character, disposition, nature

Suffix

形 (hiragana かたぎ, romaji katagi)

1. the character, disposition, or nature of the affixed noun

Etymology 4

Origins unknown. Appears to be /kata/ + /chi/, but the derivation of the /chi/ element is unclear.

Alternative forms

• 容

Noun

形 (hiragana かたち, romaji katachi)

1. shape or form
2. form, as opposed to substance
3. shapeliness: see 形有り (katachiari)

Etymology 5

From Chinese 形.

Suffix

形 (hiragana けい, romaji -kei)

1. (linguistics) grammatical tense

   過去形

   かこけい
   kakokei

   the past tense

   将来形

   しょうらいけい
   shōraikei

   the future tense

2. (Japanese grammar) a conjugation form of a verb

   連用形

   れんようけい
   ren'yōkei

   the continuative form

   命令形

   めいれいけい
   meireikei

   the imperative or command form

Etymology 6

From 成り (nari), the continuative form (連用形 (ren'yōkei)) of the verb 成る (naru).

Alternative forms

• 態
• なり

Usage notes

The most common form for this use is なり, for all parts of speech.

Noun

形 (hiragana なり, romaji nari)

1. one's clothing and appearance
2. one's body shape or form
3. one's circumstances or situation
4. one's reputation
5. following the plain imperfective form (attributive form, 連対形 (rentaikei)) or plain perfective form of a verb, indicates the state of the affixed verb or phrase: compare English just as

   人々の言うなりになった

   ひとびとのいうなりになった
   hitobito no iu nari ni natta

   things turned out just as people were saying

6. following the plain imperfective form (attributive form, 連対形 (rentaikei)) of an adjective, indicates responding to the affixed adjective: compare English fitting

   寒ければ寒いなりの厚着をする

   さむければさむいなりのあつぎをする
   samukereba samui nari no atsugi o suru

   if it's cold, then put on warm clothing / if it's cold, then put on warm clothes for cold weather

7. following the plain imperfective form (attributive form, 連対形 (rentaikei)) of a verb, indicates the moment of the action occurring: compare English as soon as

   断りを聞くなり泣き出した

   ことわりをきくなりなきだした
   kotowari o kiku nari nakidashita

   she burst into tears as soon as she heard the rejection

8. following a noun, indicates a state fitting or becoming to the affixed noun

   子供なりに想像する

   こどもなりにそうぞうする
   kodomo nari ni sōzō suru

   imagine in a way fitting for a child / imagine like a child (implies that the subject is a child)

   自分なりの判断

   じぶんなりのはんだん
   jibun nari no handan

   my own kind of decision / deciding in my own way

9. following a noun, indicates that shape or form: compare English like

   弓なりになる

   ゆみなりになる
   yumi nari ni naru

   to become bow-shaped / to become like a bow

Suffix

形 (hiragana なり, romaji nari)

1. following the continuative form (連用形 (ren'yōkei)) of a verb, indicates the state of the affixed verb or phrase: compare English just as

   人々が言いなりになった

   ひとびとがいいなりになった
   hitobito ga iinari ni natta

   things turned out just as people say

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Korean

Hanja

形 (hangeul 형, revised hyeong, McCune-Reischauer hyŏng, Yale hyeng)

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Mandarin

Hanzi

形 (pinyin fǎng (fang3), xíng (xing2), Wade-Giles fang³, hsing²)

Compounds

• 形上
• 形于色
• 形体
• 形像
• 形势
• 形变
• 形容
• 形式
• 形态
• 形态学
• 形成
• 形旁
• 形状
• 形神
• 形象
• 形貌
• 形质
• 形迹
• 形骸
• 新月形面包

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Middle Chinese

Han character

形 (*heng)

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Vietnamese

Han character

形 (hình, hềnh)