玉

See also: 王, 𤣩, and 主

Translingual

Stroke order

Japanese stroke order

Alternative forms

• 王 (when used as a Chinese Radical)
• 𤣩

Etymology

		玉
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

The character was similar to 王. The dot have been added to differentiate them. It originally meant "blemished jade". Also written 玊 (su4) for the same reason.

Pictogram (象形) : a picture of a 琮 (cong), a sort of ritual jade totem.

It is also interpreted as three pieces of jade strung together on a string.

References

• Richard Sears, "玉 etymology" (in Mandarin/English), Chinese Etymology. URL accessed on 2014-02-18.
• 2005, William McNaughton, Reading & Writing Chinese: Simplified Character Edition, 2nd Edition, Tuttle, ISBN 978-0804835091, page 15:

Han character

玉 (radical 96 玉+0, 5 strokes, cangjie input 一土戈 (MGI), four-corner 1010₃)

1. jade, originally nephrite but now including jadeite as well
2. precious stone, gem

References

• KangXi: page 726, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20821
• Dae Jaweon: page 1135, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1100, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7389

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		玉

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yù (yu⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄩˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): juk⁶
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): nyu̍k
• Min Nan (POJ): gi̍k / gio̍k

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: yù
    • Zhuyin: ㄩˋ
    • Wade-Giles: yü⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiw
    • IPA ^(key): /y⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: juk⁶
    • Yale: yuhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: juk⁹
    • IPA ^(key): /jʊk̚²/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nyu̍k
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /nyuk̚⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gi̍k / gio̍k
    • Tâi-lô: gi̍k / gio̍k
    • IPA (Taipei): /gik̚⁴/, /giɔk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /gik̚¹²¹/, /giɔk̚¹²¹/
  • Note: gi̍k - vernacular, gio̍k - literary.

Middle Chinese pronunciation (玉, reconstructed)
Character (玉), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 疑 (31) Final: 燭 Division: III			Openness: Open Tone: Checked (Ø)			Fanqie: 魚欲切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ŋɨok̚/	/ŋi̯wok̚/	/ŋiok̚/	/ŋiok̚/	/ŋuawk̚/	/ŋĭwok̚/	/ŋiok̚/

Old Chinese pronunciation (玉, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
玉								yù								‹ ngjowk ›								/*[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?)/								jade
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
玉					15971					玉					屋					0					玉					/*ŋoɡ/

Noun

玉

1. jade

Compounds

• 愛玉冰

References

• Taiwan Min Nan Common Words Dictionary (臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典)

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Japanese

Kanji

玉

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: ごく (goku) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kan’on: ぎょく (gyoku)
• Kun: たま (tama)

Synonyms

• (precious treasure): 宝

Etymology 1

kun'yomi

Noun

玉 (hiragana たま, romaji tama)

1. ball

Etymology 2

on'yomi

Noun

玉 (hiragana ぎょく, romaji gyoku)

1. precious stone
2. a chicken’s egg (to be eaten)
3. a stock being traded
4. geisha

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of 玉将

Noun

玉 (hiragana ぎょく, romaji gyoku)

1. king in shogi

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Korean

Hanja

玉 (ok)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 옥 (revised: ok, McCune-Reischauer: ok, Yale: ok)

• Name (hangeul): 구슬()

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Vietnamese

Han character

玉 (ngọc)

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