巳

See also: 己 and 已

巳	U+5DF3, 巳 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5DF3

← 已
[U+5DF2]

CJK Unified Ideographs

巴 →
[U+5DF4]

⺒	U+2E92, ⺒ CJK RADICAL SNAKE

← ⺑
[U+2E91]

CJK Radicals Supplement

⺓ →
[U+2E93]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

See images of
Radical 49 巳

巳 (Kangxi radical 49, 己+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 口山 (RU), four-corner 7771₇, composition ⿺乚コ)

Derived characters

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 326, character 12
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8744
Dae Jaweon: page 631, character 1
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 984, character 2
Unihan data for U+5DF3

Chinese

simp. and trad.		巳

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 巳
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
巳	ljɯʔ, lɯs
祀	*ljɯʔ
汜	*ljɯʔ
戺	*zrɯʔ
起	*kʰɯʔ
熙	*qʰlɯ
媐	qʰlɯ, lɯ
圯	*lɯ
异	lɯ, lɯs
巸	*lɯ

Two different theories:

Pictogram (象形) of a fetus (it can be seen in 包, 胞. In 包, the radical should represent the placenta. 胞 today means "cell").
Pictogram (象形) of a snake (therefore, it should be similar to 巴). This theory is found in the Shuowen Jiezi, which however is not based on oracle bones versions of characters.

The character is similar to 已, which cannot be found in the Shuowen Jiezi.

Etymology 1

巳 (OC s-ləʔ) displaced 子 (OC tsəʔ), the original sixth earthly branch which denoted the moon's "coming forth" stage (i.e. early waning-gibbous phase) "due to phonological closeness (combined with the semantic opacity of the Branch terms at later eras)" (Smith, 2011).

Association with the snake was possibly arbitrary, analogous to how 辰, the fifth earthly branch, was arbitrarily associated with the dragon (Ferlus, 2013).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sì (si⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄙˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zi⁶
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): si⁵
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): sǐr / sū / chī

(Teochew, Peng'im): zi⁶
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶zy

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sì
  - Zhuyin: ㄙˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sìh
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ⁴
  - Yale: sz̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syh
  - Palladius: сы (sy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: zi⁶
  - Yale: jih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzi⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ji⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː²²/
Puxian Min
- (Putian, Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: si⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬi²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sǐr
  - Tâi-lô: sǐr
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ²²/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sū
  - Tâi-lô: sū
  - Phofsit Daibuun: su
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /su³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /su²²/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chī
  - Tâi-lô: tsī
  - Phofsit Daibuun: ci
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡si²²/
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡si³³/

Note: chī - vernacular, sū - literary.

- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: zi⁶
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsĭ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡si³⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶zy
  - MiniDict: zy^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³zr
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /zz̩²³/

Middle Chinese: ziX

Rime
Character	巳
Reading #	2/3
Initial (聲)	邪 (17)
Final (韻)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	詳里切
Baxter	ziX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/zɨ^X/
Pan Wuyun	/zɨ^X/
Shao Rongfen	/zie^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/zɨ^X/
Li Rong	/ziə^X/
Wang Li	/zĭə^X/
Bernard Karlgren	/zi^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*s-[ɢ]əʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*ljɯʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	巳
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	sì
Middle Chinese	‹ zi^X ›
Old Chinese	/*s-[ɢ]əʔ/
English	6th earthly branch
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	巳
Reading #	1/2
No.	12007
Phonetic component	巳
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	似
Old Chinese	/*ljɯʔ/

Definitions

巳

sixth of twelve earthly branches (十二支)
snake (蛇) of Chinese zodiac

Coordinate terms

(Chinese earthly branches) 地支 (dìzhī); 子, 丑 (chǒu), 寅 (yín), 卯 (mǎo), 辰 (chén), 巳 (sì), 午 (wǔ), 未 (wèi), 申 (shēn), 酉 (yǒu), 戌, 亥 (hài) ^{(Category: zh:Chinese earthly branches)}

Compounds

上巳 (Shàngsì)
巳時／巳时 (sìshí)
巳蛇

References

(Min Nan) “Entry #210”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 巳 – see 已 (“to stop; to finish; already; have done something; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 已).

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

巳

Wikipedia ^ja

Kanji

巳

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

sign of the snake

Readings

Go-on: じ (ji)
Kan-on: し (shi)
Kun: み (mi, 巳)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
巳
み Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

巳

Wikipedia ^ja

Assumed to be an abbreviation of 蛇 (hemi, “snake”, modern reading hebi).^[1]^[2]

Philological analyses presume this was read as mi₂ in Old Japanese, as names 身麻呂 (mi₂maro₂, “a male born on the year of the Snake”) and 身売 (mi₂me₁, “a female born on the year of the Snake”) were recorded in Shōsōin documents, alongside other names born on the Chinese zodiac.^[3]^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) み [mì] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[4]^[5]
IPA^(key): [mʲi]

Homophones: 身, 実

Proper noun

巳(み) • (Mi)

the Snake, the sixth of the twelve Earthly Branches (by extension):
Hypernyms: 十二支, 地支

Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥
- 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho:
  ^[6]
  Mi. ミ (巳) 例, Minotoqi (巳の時) 午前八時から十時まで.
  Mi. Example: Minotoki (time of the Snake). A time from 8 AM to 10 AM.
1. a year corresponding to the year of the Snake
2. south-southeast: a direction pointed thirty degrees from south to east
3. 10 am
4. April

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
巳
し Jinmeiyō
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 巳 (zi^X).

Affix

巳(し) • (Shi)

the Snake, the sixth of the twelve Earthly Branches
Hypernyms: 十二支, 地支

Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 “み【巳】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
The 語源説 (gogensetsu, “etymological theory”) section says:
1. ヘミ（蛇）の略〔日本釈名・和訓栞・大言海〕。
2. ミ（実）の義〔言元梯〕。
The 上代特殊仮名遣い (Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, “A/B distinction in Old Japanese”) section says:

ミ
上代の文献にこの語の直接の仮名書き例はないが、十二支に基づくと見られる人名の表記が正倉院文書の戸籍帳に少なからずあり、その中に「巳」に基づく「身麻呂」「身売」などの名があることから、「巳」は「身」と同じくミだったろうと推定されている。
（※青色は甲類に属し、赤色は乙類に属する。）
^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
^ Omodaka, Hisataka (1967) 時代別国語大辞典上代編 [The dictionary of historical Japanese: Old Japanese] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN, pages 696-697
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, →ISBN.

Korean

Hanja

巳 • (sa) (hangeul 사, revised sa, McCune–Reischauer sa, Yale sa)

the hours from 9 to 11
6th terrestrial branch