艱

See also: 艰

艱 U+8271, 艱 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8271 ← 艰 [U+8270] CJK Unified Ideographs 色 → [U+8272]

Translingual

Han character

艱 (Kangxi radical 138, 艮+11, 17 strokes, cangjie input 廿人日女 (TOAV), four-corner 4753₂, composition ⿰𦰩艮)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1013, character 29
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30600
• Dae Jaweon: page 1473, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3171, character 5
• Unihan data for U+8271

Chinese

trad.		艱
simp.		艰
alternative forms		𦫒 囏 𡆒 𮎚 𡿤

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (艮) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
艱	*krɯːn
齦	*kʰrɯːnʔ, *kʰɯːnʔ, *ŋɯn
眼	*ŋrɯːnʔ
蛝	*ɡrɯːn
限	*ɡrɯːnʔ
硍	*ɡrɯːnʔ
豤	*kʰɯːnʔ, *kʰɯːnʔ, *kʰuːn
詪	*ɡlɯːnʔ, *kɯːnʔ, *kɯːns
根	*kɯːn
跟	*kɯːn
珢	*kɯːn, *kɯːns, *ŋrɯn
艮	*kɯːns
茛	*kɯːns
墾	*kʰɯːnʔ
懇	*kʰɯːnʔ
垠	*ŋɯːn, *ŋrɯn, *ŋɯn
泿	*ŋɯːn, *ŋrɯn
痕	*ɡɯːn
拫	*ɡɯːn
鞎	*ɡɯːn
很	*ɡɯːnʔ
恨	*ɡɯːns
銀	*ŋrɯn
檭	*ŋrɯn

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *krɯːn) : semantic 𦰩 + phonetic 艮 (OC *kɯːns).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiān (jian¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gaan¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kân / kiên / kiân
• Eastern Min (BUC): găng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): kan / kian

  (Teochew, Peng'im): gang¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiān
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jian
    • Wade–Giles: chien¹
    • Yale: jyān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jian
    • Palladius: цзянь (czjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gaan¹
    • Yale: gāan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gaan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: gan¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaːn⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kân / kiên
    • Hakka Romanization System: gan´ / gien´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gan¹ / gian¹
    • Sinological IPA: /kan²⁴/, /ki̯en²⁴/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kân / kiân
    • Hakka Romanization System: gan´ / gian´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gan¹ / gian¹
    • Sinological IPA: /kan²⁴/, /ki̯an²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: găng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kan
    • Tâi-lô: kan
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kafn
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kan⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kan³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kian
    • Tâi-lô: kian
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kiefn
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kiɛn⁴⁴/

Note:

• kan - literary;
• kian - vernacular.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: gang¹
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kang
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ³³/

---

• Middle Chinese: kean

Rime
Character	艱
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	山 (73)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	古閑切
Baxter	kean
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kˠɛn/
Pan Wuyun	/kᵚæn/
Shao Rongfen	/kæn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kəɨn/
Li Rong	/kɛn/
Wang Li	/kæn/
Bernard Karlgren	/kăn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiān
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gaan1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kˤrə[r]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*krɯːn/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	艱
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jiān
Middle Chinese	‹ kɛn ›
Old Chinese	/*kˁrə[r]/
English	difficulty
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	艱
Reading #	1/1
No.	3912
Phonetic component	艮
Rime group	文
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	閒
Old Chinese	/*krɯːn/

Definitions

艱

1. difficult; hard
2. ^† hardship; suffering
3. ^† disaster
4. ^† dangerous
5. ^† parent's death

Compounds

• 丁內艱／丁内艰
• 丁外艱／丁外艰
• 丁艱／丁艰 (dīngjiān)
• 人艱不拆／人艰不拆 (rénjiānbùchāi)
• 備嘗艱苦／备尝艰苦
• 內艱／内艰
• 共體時艱／共体时艰
• 創業維艱／创业维艰
• 國困民艱／国困民艰
• 國步艱難／国步艰难
• 外艱／外艰
• 委重投艱／委重投艰
• 時艱／时艰 (shíjiān)
• 步履維艱／步履维艰 (bùlǚwéijiān)
• 歷盡艱辛／历尽艰辛 (lìjìnjiānxīn)
• 歷盡艱險／历尽艰险
• 涉艱履危／涉艰履危
• 物力維艱／物力维艰
• 稼穡艱難／稼穑艰难
• 維艱／维艰 (wéijiān)
• 舉步維艱／举步维艰 (jǔbùwéijiān)
• 艱危／艰危 (jiānwēi)
• 艱困／艰困
• 艱子／艰子
• 艱巨／艰巨 (jiānjù)
• 艱深／艰深 (jiānshēn)
• 艱澀／艰涩 (jiānsè)
• 艱苦／艰苦 (jiānkǔ)
• 艱苦卓絕／艰苦卓绝 (jiānkǔzhuójué)
• 艱苦奮鬥／艰苦奋斗 (jiānkǔfèndòu)
• 艱虞／艰虞
• 艱貞／艰贞
• 艱辛／艰辛 (jiānxīn)
• 艱險／艰险 (jiānxiǎn)
• 艱難／艰难 (jiānnán)
• 艱難險阻／艰难险阻 (jiānnánxiǎnzǔ)
• 蒿目時艱／蒿目时艰
• 運拙時艱／运拙时艰
• 險阻艱難／险阻艰难

 

References

• “艱”, 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

艱

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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Readings

• Go-on: けん (ken)
• Kan-on: かん (kan)
• Kun: なやむ (nayamu, 艱む); かたい (katai, 艱い); なやみ (nayami)

Korean

Hanja

艱 • (gan) (hangeul 간, revised gan, McCune–Reischauer kan, Yale kan)

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Vietnamese

Han character

艱: Hán Nôm readings: gian

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