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[edit] Translingual

simplified

traditional

Stroke order
愛-bw.png

[edit] Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): phonetic  + semantic 

[edit] Han character

(radical 61 +9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 月月心水 (BBPE), four-corner 20247, composition ⿱⿱)

  1. love, be fond of, like

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] References

  • KangXi: page 395, character 13
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10947
  • Dae Jaweon: page 732, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2323, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+611B

[edit] Cantonese

[edit] Hanzi

(simplified , jyutping oi3, Yale ngoi3, oi3)

  1. love

[edit] Japanese

[edit] Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

[edit] Readings

Note that it is read as わい (wai) in the ateji spelling 可愛い (かわいい, kawaii, cute), but this is irregular.

[edit] Compounds

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Noun

(hiragana あい, romaji ai)

  1. love, affection

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Prefix

(hiragana まな, romaji mana-)

  1. expresses praise or fondness

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Proper noun

(hiragana あい, romaji Ai)

  1. A female given name

[edit] Korean

[edit] Hanja

(hangeul , revised ae, McCune-Reischauer ae, Yale ay)


[edit] Mandarin

simplified

traditional

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Hanzi

(simplified , pinyin ài (ai4), Wade-Giles ai4)

[edit] Noun

(traditional, Pinyin ài, simplified )

  1. (Beginning Mandarin) love

[edit] Verb

(traditional, Pinyin ài, simplified )

  1. (Beginning Mandarin) to love; to be fond of

[edit] Usage notes

When used for people, ài usually refers to romantic love. When used like this, older Mandarin speakers often describe the use of this term as overly 肉麻 (ròumá, adj. something that gives you the creeps, disgusting). For this reason, the word 喜歡 (xǐhuān, to like) might be used instead. Using the word xǐhuān literally means like, but when used in a romantic context (especially boyfriend/girlfriend), it actually means love. However, younger Mandarin speakers seem to have been influenced somewhat by Western culture, and are now using the verb ài much more often than was socially acceptable in the past.

[edit] Compounds

[edit] References

  • 2000, Shao, Jingmin (ed.), HSK Dictionary (HSK汉语水平考试词典) (in Mandarin/English), Shanghai: Huadong Teachers College Publishers, ISBN 7561720785:

[edit] Min Nan

simplified

traditional

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: [ ai˨˩ ]

[edit] Noun

(traditional, POJ ài, simplified )

  1. love

[edit] Verb

(traditional, POJ ài, simplified )

  1. to love; to like; to be fond of
  2. want; must; need
  3. to be prone; to be easy to
  4. to treasure; to value

[edit] See also

  • (Mandarin) (yào) want; must; need

[edit] References

  • "" (in Taiwanese/English). On-line Taiwanese/Mandarin Dictionary (台文/華文線頂辭典). URL accessed on 2011-01-29.

[edit] Vietnamese

[edit] Han character

(ái, áy)

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