知

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

知 (radical 111 矢+3, 8 strokes, cangjie input 人大口 (OKR), four-corner 8640₀, composition ⿰矢口)

Descendants

• ち

See also

• 呹

References

• KangXi: page 824, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 23935
• Dae Jaweon: page 1235, character 27
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2581, character 2
• Unihan data for U+77E5

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		知

Etymology

The two pronunciations are cognate. The word is possibly of Sino-Tibetan origin, compare Mizo hria, hre, hriat (“to know”), Jingpho chye (“to know”), Tibetan རིག་པ (rig pa, “to know”).

Graphically: 矢 + 口 (“mouth”). 矢 may be phonetic as well.

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhī (zhi¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄓ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi¹
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): tî
• Min Nan (POJ): chai / ti
• Wu (WT Romanisation): tsr (T1)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: zhī
    • Zhuyin: ㄓ
    • Wade-Giles: chih¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jy
    • IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi¹
    • Yale: jī
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi¹
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡siː⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tî
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /ti²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chai / ti
    • Tâi-lô: tsai / ti
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡saɪ⁴⁴/, /ti⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡saɪ³⁴/, /ti³⁴/
  • Note: chai - colloquial; ti - literary.
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: tsr (T1)
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩⁵³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (知, reconstructed)
Character (知), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 知 (9) Final: 支 Division: III			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 陟移切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ʈiᴇ/	/ȶie̯/	/ȶie/	/ʈiɛ/	/ʈiə̆/	/ȶǐe/	/ȶjɛ/

Old Chinese pronunciation (知, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
知								zhī								‹ trje ›								/*tre/								know
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
知					11495					矢					支					0										/*ʔl'e/					沈兼士依韻會所引說文從口矢聲

Definitions

知

1. to know; to understand, to comprehend

   • 「亢」之為言也，知進而不知退，知存而不知亡，知得而不知喪。其唯聖人乎！知進退存亡而不失其正者，其唯聖人乎！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

     “亢”之为言也，知进而不知退，知存而不知亡，知得而不知丧。其唯圣人乎！知进退存亡而不失其正者，其唯圣人乎！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: I Ching, 3rd – 2nd millennia BCE

     "kàng" zhī wéi yán yě, zhī jìn ér bù zhī tuì, zhī cún ér bù zhī wáng, zhī dé ér bù zhī sàng. Qí wéi shèngrén hū! Zhī jìntuìcúnwáng ér bù shī qí zhèng zhě, qí wéi shèngrén hū! [Pinyin]

     The force of that phrase - 'exceeding the proper limits' - indicates the knowing to advance but not to retire; to maintain but not to let perish to get but not to lose. He only is the sage who knows to advance and to retire, to maintain and to let perish; and that without ever acting incorrectly. Yes, he only is the sage!

   • 子曰：「由！誨女知之乎？知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

     子曰：“由！诲女知之乎？知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐ yuē: "yóu! Huì rǔ zhì zhī hū? Zhī zhī wéi zhī zhī, bù zhī wéi bù zhī, shì zhì yě." [Pinyin]

     The Master said, "You, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge."

   • 知人知面不知心  ―  zhī rén zhī miàn bù zhī xīn  ―  One may know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature

   • 我唔知。 [Guangzhou Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

     Ngo⁵ m⁴ zi¹ . [Jyutping]

     I don't know.

2. ^† to cause to know; to tell, to inform
   • 通知
3. ^† to administer, to take charge of
   • 知縣／知县
   • 知客
4. ^† to distinguish
5. ^† to appreciate
6. ^† to be close friends; close friends
   • 知己
   • 知友
7. ^† to perceive
8. ^† to participate in; to have a hand in

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (知):

• Japanese: 知 (ち, chi)
• Korean: 지 (知, ji)
• Vietnamese: tri (知)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhì (zhi⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄓˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi³
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): tî

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: zhì
    • Zhuyin: ㄓˋ
    • Wade-Giles: chih⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyh
    • IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi³
    • Yale: ji
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi³
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³³/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tî
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /ti²⁴/

Definitions

知

1. (= 智) ^† knowing, wisdom, intelligence
   • 求知
   • 無知／无知

   • 子曰：「由！誨女知之乎？知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

     子曰：“由！诲女知之乎？知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐ yuē: "yóu! Huì rǔ zhì zhī hū? Zhī zhī wéi zhī zhī, bù zhī wéi bù zhī, shì zhì yě." [Pinyin]

     The Master said, "You, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge."

Compounds

Derived terms

• 告知

• 求知

• 求知慾／求知欲

• 無知／无知

• 知友

• 知己

• 知曉／知晓

• 知書達理／知书达理

• 知識／知识

• 知道

• 通知

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Japanese

Kanji

知

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. to know
2. wisdom

Readings

• Goon: ち (chi)
• Kan’on: ち (chi)
• Kun: しる (shiru), しらせる (shiraseru)
• Nanori: とも (tomo)

Compounds

• 知性 (ちせい, chisei): the mind
• 感知 (かんち, kanchi): perception
• 英知
• 機知
• 知恵
• 知能
• 知謀
• 無知
• 理知

Derived terms

• お知らせ, 御知らせ (おしらせ, oshirase)

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Korean

Hanja

知 (ji) (hangeul 지, revised ji, McCune-Reischauer chi, Yale ci)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

知 (tri, trơ)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.