低

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低 U+4F4E, 低
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F4E
← 位
[U+4F4D] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 住 →
[U+4F4F]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
7 strokes

Han character[edit]

低 (radical 9, 人+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 人竹心一 (OHPM) or 人竹女戈 (OHVI), four-corner 22240, composition ⿰亻氐)

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 98, character 8
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 504
  • Dae Jaweon: page 207, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 137, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+4F4E

Chinese[edit]

trad. 低
simp. # 低

Glyph origin[edit]

Historical forms of the character 低
Small seal script
ACC-s05919.svg

s05919

References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (氐) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
低 *tiːl
氐 *tiːl, *til
袛 *tiːl
羝 *tiːl
眡 *tiːl, *djilʔ
岻 *tiːl, *dil
奃 *tiːl
趆 *tiːl, *tiːls
柢 *tiːl, *tiːlʔ, *tiːls
邸 *tiːlʔ
底 *tiːlʔ
詆 *tiːlʔ, *diːl
坻 *tiːlʔ, *tjelʔ, *dil
抵 *tiːlʔ
牴 *tiːlʔ
觝 *tiːlʔ
弤 *tiːlʔ
軧 *tiːlʔ
骶 *tiːls
砥 *tjelʔ, *tjil, *tjilʔ, *tjils
胝 *til
疷 *til
秪 *til
泜 *dil
蚳 *dil
彽 *dil
阺 *dil
貾 *dil
祗 *tjil
厎 *tjilʔ, *tjɯʔ
茋 *tjilʔ
鴟 *tʰjil
汦 *kjeʔ, *tjil

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *tiːl): semantic 亻 (“man, person”) + phonetic 氐 (OC *tiːl, *til) – a person lowering themselves, bowing.

Etymology 1[edit]

Cognate with 底 (OC *tiːlʔ, “bottom”), 柢 (OC *tiːl, *tiːlʔ, *tiːls, “root of a tree; base”), Tibetan མཐིལ (mthil, “bottom; floor”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation[edit]

Rime
Character 低
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 端 (5)
Final (韻) 齊 (39)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) IV
Fanqie 都奚切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/tei/
Pan
Wuyun 		/tei/
Shao
Rongfen 		/tɛi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/tɛj/
Li
Rong 		/tei/
Wang
Li 		/tiei/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/tiei/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		dī
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		dai1
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 低
Reading # 1/1
No. 2234
Phonetic
component 		氐
Rime
group 		脂
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		低
Old
Chinese 		/*tiːl/

Definitions[edit]

低

  1. low (of height)
  2. low (of quantity); behind average
    他們抱怨工資過低。 [MSC, trad.]
    他们抱怨工资过低。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tāmen bàoyuàn gōngzī guò dī. [Pinyin]
    They complained that the wages were too low.
    低糖的高纖豆漿 / 低糖的高纤豆浆  ―  dī táng de gāo xiān dòujiāng  ―  Low Sugar, High Fiber Soy Milk
  3. low (of voice); quiet; soft
  4. to lower; to hang (one's head); to bend; to bow
Synonyms[edit]
Dialectal synonyms of 低 (“low”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 低
Mandarin Beijing 低
Taiwan 低
Jinan 低
Xi'an 低
Wuhan 低, 矮
Chengdu 矮, 低
Yangzhou 低
Hefei 低, 矮
Malaysia 低
Singapore 低
Cantonese Guangzhou 低
Hong Kong 低
Taishan 低
Yangjiang 低
Singapore (Guangfu) 低
Gan Nanchang 低, 矮
Hakka Meixian 低, 矮
Jin Taiyuan 低
Min Bei Jian'ou 矮
Min Dong Fuzhou 下, 矮
Min Nan Xiamen 下
Quanzhou 下
Zhangzhou 下
Taipei 下 GT
Penang (Hokkien) 下
Singapore (Hokkien) 下
Chaozhou 下, 矮
Shantou 下
Jieyang 下
Singapore (Teochew) 下
Pontianak (Teochew) 下
Wu Suzhou 低
Ningbo 低, 矮
Zhoushan 低, 矮
Wenzhou 低, 矮
Xiang Changsha 低, 矮, 下
Shuangfeng 低, 矮
Note GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Compounds[edit]

Derived terms from 低

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Definitions[edit]

低

  1. (Min Nan) Alternative form of 下 (“low”).

Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

低

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. low
  2. short
  3. humble

Readings[edit]

Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]

低 (eumhun 낮을 저 (najeul jeo))

  1. Hanja form? of 저 (“low”).
  2. Hanja form? of 저 (“cheap”).

Compounds[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

低: Hán Nôm readings: đây, đay, đê

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

References[edit]

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