相

See also 租

Translingual

Phonosemantic interpretation

Old Chinese Initial /*s-/ lends semantic value Small/Thin/Slender. Final consonant /*-ng/ lends semantic value Extension. Semantic indicator 木 tree/wood + 目 here an abbreviated form of phono-semantic indicator 省 (focus the eyes on a small/slight object) → eyes focused narrowly on a slender tree (establishing a mutual relation between observer and observed). Present-day meanings are via association and extension. Source: Howell & Morimoto

Etymology

Ideogrammic compound (會意): 木 + 目.

Han character

相 (radical 109 目+4, 9 strokes, cangjie input 木月山 (DBU), four-corner 4690₀, composition ⿰木目)

1. mutual, reciprocal, each other

Derived characters

• 想 箱 霜

References

• KangXi: page 800, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 23151
• Dae Jaweon: page 1216, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2470, character 13
• Unihan data for U+76F8

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Cantonese

Hanzi

相 (jyutping soeng1, Yale seung1)

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Japanese

Kanji

相 (grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. mutual, reciprocal, with one another
2. appearance, look

Readings

• Goon: そう (sō), (historical) さう (sau)
• Kan’on: しょう (shō), (historical) しゃう (shau)
• Kun: あい (ai), こもごも (komogomo), さが (saga)
• Nanori: あ (a), い (i), おう (ō), さ (sa), さが (saga), すけ (suke)

Compounds

Compounds

相撲 (すもう, sumō): sumo 相談 (そうだん, sōdan): consultation 相手 (あいて, aite): companion, partner, opponent

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese stem form of verb あう: to meet, to be together, etc.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [a̠i]

Prefix

相 (hiragana あい, romaji ai)

1. mutual, together, each other, meeting

   兄弟はいつも相戦うものだ。

   きょうだいはいつもあいたたかうものだ。
   Kyōdai wa itsu mo aitatakau mono da.

   Brothers (siblings) will always fight (with each other).

Suffix

相 (hiragana あい, romaji ai)

1. mutual, together, each other, meeting

Usage notes

Generally, 相 when used as a prefix, 合い when used as a suffix.

• 相手 (あいて, aite): partner, opponent
• 意味合い (いみあい, imiai): implication, shade of meaning, nuance

Etymology 2

Originally a compound of Old Japanese elements 此 (ko, “this”) +‎ も (mo, “too”) +‎ 此 (ko, “this”) +‎ も (mo, “too”). Appears as komokomo in older texts, evolving into komogomo in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ko̞mo̞go̞mo̞], [ko̞mo̞ŋo̞mo̞]

Alternative forms

• こもごも, 交交, 交, 更

Adverb

相 (hiragana こもごも, romaji komogomo)

1. alternating, one after another

   悲喜相

   ひきこもごも
   hiki komogomo

   sadness and happiness one after another ⇒ mixed feelings

2. all mixed up and indistinct

   相考える

   こもごもかんがえる
   komogomo kangaeru

   to be mixed up in one's thoughts, to think confusedly

Usage notes

Most often seen spelled in hiragana as こもごも. May also be spelled variously as 交交, 交, 更.

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [sa̠ga̠], [sa̠ŋa̠]

Alternative forms

• 性

Noun

相 (hiragana さが, romaji saga)

1. nature, personality
2. fate, destiny
3. a habit, custom, or practice
4. the good and bad of a person; especially, one's faults

Synonyms

• (nature): 性質 (せいしつ, seishitsu)
• (fate): 運命 (うんめい, unmei); 宿命 (しゅくめい, shukumei)
• (habit): 癖 (くせ, kuse)
• (custom): 習慣 (しゅうかん, shūkan); 慣わし, 習わし (ならわし, narawashi)
• (good and bad): 善悪 (ぜんあく, zen'aku)
• (faults): 欠点 (けってん, ketten); 短所 (たんしょ, tansho); 悪癖 (わるぐせ, waruguse; あくへき, akuheki)

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese, deriving from the meaning of with from the way that a minister would always be with their lord. Kan'on, so likely a later borrowing than the sō reading.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: kan'on
• IPA: [ɕʲo̞ː]

Suffix

相 (hiragana しょう, romaji -shō, historical hiragana しゃう)

1. minister of state

   首相

   しゅしょう
   shushō

   prime minister

   内相

   ないしょう
   naishō

   minister of the interior

Synonyms

• 大臣 (だいじん, daijin)

Etymology 5

From Middle Chinese. Goon, so likely an earlier borrowing than the shō reading.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: goon
• IPA: [so̞ː]

Noun

相 (hiragana そう, romaji sō, historical hiragana さう)

1. appearance, how something looks
2. an aspect of something

   大自然の色々な相

   だいしぜんのいろいろなそう
   daishizen no iroiro na sō

   various aspects of nature

3. (grammar) grammatical aspect
4. (physics) a phase, as of matter
5. (ikebana) the central supporting branch of an ikebana arrangement

Related terms

• (ikebana): 役枝 (やくえだ, yakueda)

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Korean

Hanja

相 (hangeul 상, revised sang, McCune-Reischauer sang, Yale sang)

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Mandarin

Hanzi

相 (pinyin xiāng (xiang1), xiàng (xiang4), Wade-Giles hsiang¹, hsiang⁴)

Compounds

• 相反
• 相信
• 照相机

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Vietnamese

Han character

相 (tương, tướng, rương)