掙

See also: 挣

掙 U+6399, 掙 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6399 ← 掘 [U+6398] CJK Unified Ideographs 掚 → [U+639A]

Translingual

Han character

掙 (Kangxi radical 64, 手+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 手月尸木 (QBSD), four-corner 5205₇, composition ⿰扌爭)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 438, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12265
• Dae Jaweon: page 788, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 3, page 1901, character 2
• Unihan data for U+6399

Chinese

trad.		掙
simp.		挣

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 爭.

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): zhèng, zhēng (zheng⁴, zheng¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄥˋ, ㄓㄥ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): зын (zɨn, III)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zaang¹, zang¹, zaang⁶
• Eastern Min (BUC): cĕng
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chng / cheng / chiⁿ / chiāⁿ
• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹tsen

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhèng
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄥˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhèng
    • Wade–Giles: chêng⁴
    • Yale: jèng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jenq
    • Palladius: чжэн (čžɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂɤŋ⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jheng
    • Wade–Giles: chêng¹
    • Yale: jēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jeng
    • Palladius: чжэн (čžɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/

Note:

• Mainland:
  • zhēng - used only in 掙扎／挣扎 (zhēngzhá).
• Taiwan:
  • zhèng - "to earn (money)";
  • zhēng - other senses.

• (Dungan)
  • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: зын (zɨn, III)
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡səŋ⁴⁴/

  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zaang¹, zang¹, zaang⁶
    • Yale: jāang, jāng, jaahng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzaang¹, dzang¹, dzaang⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: zang¹, zeng¹, zang⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡saːŋ⁵⁵/, /t͡sɐŋ⁵⁵/, /t͡saːŋ²²/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: cĕng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɛiŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chng
    • Tâi-lô: tsng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zngf
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sŋ̍³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cheng
    • Tâi-lô: tsing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zefng
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tsinn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: cvy
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡sĩ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiāⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tsiānn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: cvia
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡siã³³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹tsen
    • MiniDict: tsen^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹tsen
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sən⁵³/

Definitions

掙

1. to struggle to get free

   掙扎／挣扎  ―  zhēngzhā  ―  to struggle

   掙斷繩索／挣断绳索  ―  zhèng duàn shéngsuǒ  ―  to break oneself free from a rope

   • 那獃子左掙右掙，掙不得脫手。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     那獃子左挣右挣，挣不得脱手。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West, 16^th century CE

     Nà dāizi zuǒ zhèng yòu zhèng, zhèng bù dé tuōshǒu. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. to struggle to support
3. to earn; to make

   掙面子／挣面子  ―  zhèng miànzi  ―  to earn "face" from others

   你每個月掙多少錢？ [MSC, trad.]
   你每个月挣多少钱？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ měi ge yuè zhèng duōshao qián? [Pinyin]

   How much do you make each month?

4. to hold open (with force)

Synonyms

• (to earn):

Dialectal synonyms of 掙 (“to earn”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		掙
Mandarin	Beijing	掙
	Taiwan	賺
	Jinan	掙
	Xi'an	掙
	Wuhan	賺
	Chengdu	掙
	Yangzhou	尋
	Hefei	掙
Cantonese	Guangzhou	搵
	Hong Kong	搵
	Yangjiang	賺, 搵
Gan	Nanchang	掙
Hakka	Meixian	做
Jin	Taiyuan	掙
Northern Min	Jian'ou	趁
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	趁
Southern Min	Xiamen	趁
	Chaozhou	趁
Wu	Suzhou	掙
	Wenzhou	近
Xiang	Changsha	掙
	Shuangfeng	掙

Compounds

• 呆呆掙掙／呆呆挣挣
• 呆掙／呆挣
• 囈掙／呓挣
• 垂死掙扎／垂死挣扎
• 展掙／展挣
• 彈掙／弹挣
• 扎掙／扎挣
• 打掙／打挣
• 掙命／挣命 (zhèngmìng)
• 掙扎／挣扎 (zhēngzhá)
• 掙挫／挣挫
• 掙揣／挣揣 (zhèngchuài)
• 掙脫／挣脱 (zhèngtuō)
• 掙臉／挣脸
• 掙錢／挣钱 (zhèngqián)
• 掙開／挣开
• 掙䦟／挣䦷
• 放懞掙／放蒙挣
• 痴掙／痴挣
• 硬掙／硬挣
• 立掙／立挣
• 馬掙力戰／马挣力战

 

References

• “掙”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

掙

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

1. to wrench open
2. to ((force)) with all one's might

Readings

• On (unclassified): そう (sō); しょう (shō)
• Kun: さす (sasu)

Vietnamese

Han character

掙: Hán Nôm readings: tránh, giành

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.