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Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
白-order.gif
Stroke order
白-bw.png

Phonosemantic interpretation[edit]

Old Chinese Initial /*p-/ lends semantic value Spread. Pictogram (象形) of an acorn, the white meat of which is revealed when the nut is spread open in being split. For acorn, compare . Source: Howell & Morimoto

Etymology[edit]

Pictogram (象形) – originally an acorn. The character acquired its current meaning of white from the color of the acorn’s flesh. The original meaning has been lost. (Compare – originally “nose”, now “self”.)

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

Han character[edit]

(radical 106 +0, 5 strokes, cangjie input 竹日 (HA), four-corner 26000)

  1. white
  2. pure, unblemished
  3. bright
  4. used as a surname

Derived characters[edit]

References[edit]


Cantonese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA: /paːk˨/

Hanzi[edit]

(jyutping baak6, Yale baak6)


Hakka[edit]

Hanzi[edit]

(POJ pha̍k, Guangdong p'ak8, Hagfa Pinyim pag6, ped6)

References[edit]


Japanese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (しろ): IPA: /ɕi.ꜜɾo/

Kanji[edit]

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings[edit]

Compounds[edit]

Noun[edit]

(hiragana しろ, romaji shiro)

  1. white
  2. a white go stone
  3. innocence

Noun[edit]

(hiragana しら, romaji shira)

  1. white, Old Japanese pronunciation, now only seen in compounds

Derived terms[edit]

  • 白髪 (しらが, shiraga): white hair
  • 白鳥 (しらとり, shiratori): swan
  • 白羽 (しらは, shiraha): white feather
  • 白地 (しらじ, shiraji): white background
  • 白樺 (しらかば, shirakaba): Japanese white birch
  • 白木 (しらき, shiraki): plain wood, unfinished woodwork
  • 白雪 (しらゆき, shirayuki): white snow
  • 白旗 (しらはた, shirahata): white flag
  • 白浜 (しらはま, shirahama): white sandy beach
  • 白壁 (しらかべ, shirakabe): white plaster wall
  • 白子 (しらこ, shirako): soft roe, milt
  • {{l|ja|白百合|tr=しらゆり, shirayuri}: white lily
  • 白糸 (しらいと, shiraito): white thread
  • 白菊 (しらぎく, shiragiku): white chrysanthemum
  • 白鷺 (しらさぎ, shirasagi): generic name for herons with all-white plumage (inc. egrets)
  • 白州,白洲, 白沙 (しらす, shirasu): bar of white sand
  • 白梅 (しらうめ, shiraume): white plum blossoms;  white Japanese apricot;  white-blossomed plum
  • 白む (しらむ, to grow light;  to become white;  to turn grey (gray)):
  • 白雲 (しらくも, shirakumo): white clouds
  • 白玉 (しらたま, shiratama): white gem (e.g. pearl)
  • 白玉椿 (しらたまつばき, shiratamatsubaki): common camelia
  • 白ける (しらける, shirakeru):
  • 白子干し (しらすぼし, shirasuboshi): dried young sardines
  • 白刃 (しらは, shiraha): drawn sword, naked sword
  • 白滝 (しらたき, shirataki): sheet-like waterfall
  • 白茶ける (しらちゃける, shirachakeru): to fade,  to discolor
  • 白々しい (しらじらしい, shirajirashii): pure-white, very clear
  • 白魚 (しらうお, shirauo): icefish
  • 白帆 (しらほ, shiraho): white sail
  • 白露 (しらつゆ, shiratsuyu): glistening dew
  • 白砂 (しらすな, shirasuna): white sand
  • 白太 (しらた, shirata): sapwood
  • 白癩 (しらはたけ, shirahatake): vitiligo
  • 白絹 (しらぎぬ, shiraginu): white silk

Related terms[edit]


Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]


Eumhun:

  • Sound (hangeul):  (revised: baek, McCune-Reischauer: paek, Yale: payk)
  • Name (hangeul): 희다 (revised: huida, McCune-Reischauer: hŭida, Yale: huyta)

See also[edit]


Mandarin[edit]

simpl. and trad.

Pronunciation[edit]

Hanzi[edit]

(pinyin bái (bai2), (bo2), Wade-Giles pai2, po2)

Adjective[edit]

(traditional and simplified, Pinyin bái)

  1. (Beginning Mandarin) white
  2. (Beginning Mandarin) clear; pure; plain; blank

Adverb[edit]

(traditional and simplified, Pinyin bái)

  1. (Elementary Mandarin) in vain

Usage notes[edit]

  • The reading is almost never used in spoken Mandarin. The most well-known usage of is in the name of a leading Tang dynasty poet Lǐ Bó (李白) (now commonly pronounced Lǐ Bái); this reading is decreasingly common in China.

Compounds[edit]

References[edit]

  • "" (in Mandarin/English), Pleco Dictionary. URL accessed on 2011-01-30.
  • 2000, Jingmin (ed.) Shao, HSK Dictionary (HSK汉语水平考试词典) (in Mandarin/English), Shanghai: Huadong Teachers College Publishers, ISBN 7561720785:
  • "" (in Mandarin/English), Dr. eye. URL accessed on 2011-01-30.

Middle Chinese[edit]

Han character[edit]

(*bhæk)


Min Nan[edit]

simpl. and trad.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA: [ peʔ˥˥ ]
  • IPA: [ pek˥˥ ]

Adjective[edit]

(traditional and simplified, POJ pe̍h)

  1. white

Adjective[edit]

(traditional and simplified, POJ pe̍k)

  1. used abstractly in compound words to convey the sense of transparent, unobscured or understandable

Usage notes[edit]

  • Read as pe̍h when by itself, and in most compounds. There are only a few compounds in which the pe̍k reading is used.

References[edit]

  • "" (in Taiwanese/English), On-line Taiwanese/Mandarin Dictionary (台文/華文線頂辭典). URL accessed on 2011-01-30.

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

白 (bạch, bạc)

Adjective[edit]

  1. white