低

Translingual

Stroke order

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *tiːl): semantic 亻 ‎(“man, person”) + phonetic 氐 ‎(OC *tiːl, *til) – a person lowering themselves, bowing. Note that 氐 is a person bowing or stooping, hence connotation of “down, low, bow”.

Han character

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)

1. low
2. to lower, hang, bend, bow

References

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

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		低

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dī (di¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dai¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: dī
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄧ
    • Wade-Giles: tih¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: di
    • IPA ^(key): /ti⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: dai¹
    • Yale: dāi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dai¹
    • IPA ^(key): /tɐi̯⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: /tei/▼

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

• Old Chinese▼

  (Zhengzhang): /*tiːl/

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/

Adjective

低

1. low (close to the ground)
2. low (lacking in quantity)

   • 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.

3. low; quiet; soft

Compounds

• 低體溫症／低体温症 (dītǐwēnzhèng)
• 低B (dībì)

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Japanese

Kanji

低

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. low
2. short
3. humble

Readings

• Goon: たい (tai)
• Kan’on: てい (tei)
• Kun: ひくい (hikui)

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Korean

Hanja

低 • ‎(jeo) (hangeul 저, revised jeo, McCune-Reischauer chŏ)

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

低 (đây, đay, đê)

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

References

• Nom Foundation