相

See also: 租

Translingual

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
2. a surname

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^(key): [a̠i]

Prefix

相 (hiragana あい, romaji ai-)

1. mutual, together, each other, meeting

   兄弟 (きょうだい)はいつも相 (あい)戦 (たたか)うものだ。

   kyōdai wa itsumo ai-tatakau 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^(key): [ko̞mo̞ɡo̞mo̞], [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 (ひき)相 (こもごも)

   hiki komogomo

   sadness and happiness one after another ⇒ mixed feelings

2. all mixed up and indistinct

   相 (こもごも)考 (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^(key): [sa̠ɡa̠], [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^(key): [ɕʲo̞ː]

Suffix

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

1. minister of state

   首 (しゅ)相 (しょう)

   shushō

   prime minister

   内 (ない)相 (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^(key): [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 (だいしぜん)の色々 (いろいろ)な相 (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 (sang) (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)

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Compounds

• 相反
• 相信
• 照相机

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Vietnamese

Han character

相 (tương, tướng, rương)

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