間

See also: 间, 閒, and 閑

Translingual

Etymology

Originally 閒.

Han character

間 (radical 169 門+4, 12 strokes, cangjie input 日弓日 (ANA), four-corner 7760₇, composition ⿵門日)

1. interval, space
2. place, between
3. spacial concept experienced in between what the viewer sees and how the viewer perceives it.

References

• KangXi: page 1333, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 41249
• Dae Jaweon: page 1839, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 7, page 4288, character 6
• Unihan data for U+9593

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Chinese

		-
trad.		間
simp.		间

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiān, jiǎn (jian¹, jian³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢ, ㄐㄧㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gaan¹
• Min Nan (POJ): king / kan / kàn

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: jiān
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢ
    • Wade-Giles: chien¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jian
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

    • (file)

      
      
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: jiǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢˇ
    • Wade-Giles: chien³
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jean
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: gaan¹
    • Yale: gāan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gaan¹
    • IPA ^(key): /kɑːn⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: king / kan / kàn
    • Tâi-lô: king / kan / kàn
    • IPA (Taipei): /kiŋ⁴⁴/, /kan⁴⁴/, /kan¹¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kiŋ³⁴/, /kan³⁴/, /kan²¹/
  • Note: king - vernacular, kan, kàn - literary.

Middle Chinese pronunciation (間, reconstructed)
Character (間), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 見 (28) Final: 山 Division: II			Openness: Open Tone: Departing (H)			Fanqie: 古莧切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/kɣɛnH/	/kănH/	/kɛnH/	/kɯænH/	/kəɨnH/	/kænH/	/kænH/

Old Chinese pronunciation (間, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
間								jiān								‹ kɛn ›								/*kˤre[n]/								interval
間								jiān								‹ kɛn ›								/*kˤre[n]/								間關 sound of a chariot's linchpin (Ode 218.1)
間								xián								‹ hɛn ›								/*N-kˤre[n]/								idle
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
間					6226					閒					元					2					閒					/*kreːn/					原作閒同說文
間					6228					閒					元					2					襇					/*kreːns/					閒後起字體

Definitions

1. room
   • 房間／房间 ("room")
   • 衛生間／卫生间 ("bathroom, toilet")
   • 衣帽間／衣帽间 ("cloakroom")
   • 雙人間／双人间 ("double room")
2. within a definite time period or place
   • 時間／时间 ("time, period")
   • 晚間／晚间 ("evening, night")
   • 世間／世间 ("world, earth")
   • 空間／空间 ("space")
3. section of a room; lateral space between two pairs of pillars

Postposition

間

1. ​ among; between

   • 小鳥們在樹枝間唱歌。 [MSC, trad.]

     小鸟们在树枝间唱歌。 [MSC, simp.]

     Xiǎo niǎo men zài shùzhī jiān chàng gē. [Pinyin]

     The birds were singing among the branches of the tree.

   • 兩個公司間的談判非常成功。 [MSC, trad.]

     两个公司间的谈判非常成功。 [MSC, simp.]

     Liǎng ge gōngsī jiān de tánpàn fēicháng chénggōng. [Pinyin]

     The negotiations between the two companies were successful.

   • 兩點間直線最短。 [MSC, trad.]

     两点间直线最短。 [MSC, simp.]

     Liǎng diǎn jiān zhíxiàn zuì duǎn. [Pinyin]

     The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Classifier

間

1. classifier for houses and other buildings

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiàn (jian⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gaan³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: jiàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢˋ
    • Wade-Giles: chien⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiann
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: gaan³
    • Yale: gaan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gaan³
    • IPA ^(key): /kɑːn³³/

Definitions

1. opening; gap; break
2. to separate
3. to alternate

References

• (Mandarin) "間" (in Mandarin), Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典). URL accessed on 2011-10-19.
• (Min Nan) Taiwan Min Nan Common Words Dictionary (臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典)

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Japanese

Ryakuji for 間, based on ryakuji for 門; compare also 開.

Kanji

間

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: けん (ken)
• Kan’on: かん (kan)
• Kun: あいだ (aida), ま (ma), あい (ai)
• Nanori: ちか (chika)

Compounds

• 人間 (にんげん, ningen)

Noun

間 (hiragana あいだ, romaji aida)

1. a space
2. a while; an interval
3. between
4. during

Derived terms

• この間 (このあいだ, kono aida)
• 間中 (あいだじゅう, aidajū)

References

JIS: 3456 Kuten: 2054 Shift JIS: 8ad4 EUC-JP: B4D6 Frequency: 33 Nelson: 4949

New Nelson: 6391 Halpern: 3323 Halpern Learners: 2094 Heisig: 1620 Tuttle Kanji Dictionary: 8e4.3

1. Source: EDICT and KANJIDIC files licensed by the Electronic Dictionaries Research Group.

Noun

間 (hiragana ま, romaji ma)

1. space; room

Derived terms

• 床の間 (とこのま, toko no ma)
• 茶の間 (ちゃのま, cha no ma)
• 束の間 (つかのま, tsuka no ma)
• 間に合う (まにあう, ma ni au)

Synonyms

• 中 (なか, naka)

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Korean

Hanja

間 (gan)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 간 (revised: gan, McCune-Reischauer: kan, Yale: kan)

• Name (hangeul): 사이 (revised: sai, McCune-Reischauer: sai)

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

間 (gian, dán, gián)

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

References

• Nom Foundation