蛇

Translingual

Han character

蛇 (radical 142 虫+5, 11 strokes, cangjie input 中戈十心 (LIJP), four-corner 5311₁, composition ⿰虫它)

References

• KangXi: page 1080, character 20
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32964
• Dae Jaweon: page 1548, character 36
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2845, character 8
• Unihan data for U+86C7

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		蛇

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shé (she²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄜˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): se⁴
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): sà
• Min Nan (POJ): chôa / siâ
• Wu (WT Romanisation): zo (T3)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: shé
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄜˊ
    • Wade-Giles: shê²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sher
    • IPA ^(key): /ʂɤ³⁵/

    • (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: se⁴
    • Yale: sèh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: se⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /sɛː²¹/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sà
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /sa¹¹/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chôa / siâ
    • Tâi-lô: tsuâ / siâ
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡sua²³/, /ɕia²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sua¹³/, /ɕia¹³/
  • Note: siâ is literary.
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: zo (T3)
    • IPA ^(key): /z̻o²³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (蛇, reconstructed)
Character (蛇), Pronunciation 1/3
Initial: 以 (36) Final: 支 Division: III			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 弋支切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/jiᴇ/	/ie̯/	/ie/	/jiɛ/	/jiə̆/	/jǐe/	/jɛ/
Character (蛇), Pronunciation 2/3
Initial: 透 (6) Final: 歌 Division: I			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 託何切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/tʰɑ/	/tʰɑ/	/tʰɑ/	/tʰɑ/	/tʰa/	/tʰɑ/	/tʰɑ/
Character (蛇), Pronunciation 3/3
Initial: 船 (27) Final: 麻 Division: III			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 食遮切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ʑia/	/d͡ʑʰi̯a/	/d͡ʑia/	/ʑia/	/ʑia/	/d͡ʑĭa/	/ʑia/

Old Chinese pronunciation (蛇, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
蛇								shé								‹ zyæ ›								/*Cə.lAj/								snake
蛇								yí								‹ ye ›								/*laj/								委蛇 compliant, complacent
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
蛇					12211					它					歌					1					佗					/*l̥ʰaːl/					注説文同它
蛇					12232					它					歌					1					蛇					/*ɦljaːl/
蛇					12236					它					歌					1					移					/*lal/

Noun

蛇 (classifier 條/条)

1. (Elementary Mandarin) snake, serpent

   耶和華神對女人說，你作的是什麼事呢？女人說，那蛇引誘我，我就吃了。 [MSC, trad.]

   耶和华神对女人说，你作的是什么事呢？女人说，那蛇引诱我，我就吃了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yēhéhuá shén duì nǚrén shuō, nǐ zuò de shì shénme shì ne? Nǚrén shuō, nà shé yǐnyòu wǒ, wǒ jiù chī le. [Pinyin]

   And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: soe⁴
    • Yale: sèuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soe⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /sœː²¹/

Noun

蛇

1. (Cantonese, Hong Kong) transliteration for sir (used when addressed policeman or male school teachers)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yí (yi²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: yí
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˊ
    • Wade-Giles: i²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yi
    • IPA ^(key): /i³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁴
    • Yale: yìh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /jiː²¹/

Syllable

蛇

1. (used only as a phonetic element)

   蛇蛇  ―  yíyí  ―  facile (of words); calmly; leisurely

   委蛇  ―  wěiyí  ―  winding; meandering; pretending interest and sympathy

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Japanese

Kanji

蛇

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: い (i) (non-Jōyō reading), じゃ (ja), た (ta) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kan’on: い (i) (non-Jōyō reading), しゃ (sha) (non-Jōyō reading), た (ta) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kan’yōon: だ (da)
• Kun: へび (hebi), くちなわ (kuchinawa)

Compounds

• 蛇口 (じゃぐち, jaguchi)

Etymology 1

pemi → ɸemi → hemi.

Noun

蛇 (hiragana へみ, romaji hemi)

1. (obsolete) a snake

Etymology 2

From earlier hemi. Medial /m/ loses nasal quality becoming a plosive.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) へ​び [héꜜbì] (Atamadaka - [1])
• IPA^(key): [he̞βi]

Noun

蛇 (hiragana へび, romaji hebi)

1. a snake; a serpent

Etymology 3

kutinapa → kutinaɸa → kutinawa → kuchinawa. From the verb kuchi- (“to rot”) nominalized and napa (“string, cord”). Literally "rotten string" based on the appearance of a snake.

Noun

蛇 (hiragana くちなわ, romaji kuchinawa, historical hiragana くちなは)

1. (obsolete) a snake

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Korean

Hanja

蛇 (sa, i) (hangeul 사, 이, revised sa, i, McCune-Reischauer sa, i, Yale sa, i)

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

蛇 (xà)

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