個

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See also: 个
個 U+500B, 個
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-500B
← 倊
[U+500A] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 倌 →
[U+500C]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
個-order.gif

Han character[edit]

個 (radical 9, 人+8, 10 strokes, cangjie input 人田十口 (OWJR), four-corner 26200, composition ⿰亻固)

Derived characters[edit]

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 107, character 17
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 758
  • Dae Jaweon: page 228, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 178, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+500B

Chinese[edit]

trad. 個/箇
simp. 个

Glyph origin[edit]

Characters in the same phonetic series (古) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
箇 *kaːls
個 *kaːls
居 *kɯ, *kas
橭 *kaː, *kʰaː
嫴 *kaː
姑 *kaː
辜 *kaː
酤 *kaː, *kaːs, *ɡaːʔ
蛄 *kaː
鴣 *kaː
沽 *kaː, *kaːʔ, *kaːs
盬 *kaː, *kaːʔ
古 *kaːʔ
罟 *kaːʔ
估 *kaːʔ
鈷 *kaːʔ
詁 *kaːʔ
牯 *kaːʔ
故 *kaːs
固 *kaːs
稒 *kaːɡs
痼 *kaːɡs
錮 *kaːɡs
鯝 *kaːɡs
棝 *kaːɡs
凅 *kaːɡs
枯 *kʰaː
軲 *kʰaː
跍 *kʰaː
骷 *kʰaː
苦 *kʰaːʔ, *kʰaːs
葫 *qʰaː, *ɡaː
餬 *ɡaː
瑚 *ɡaː
湖 *ɡaː
鶘 *ɡaː
猢 *ɡaː
醐 *ɡaː
糊 *ɡaː
箶 *ɡaː
蝴 *ɡaː
胡 *ɡaː
瓳 *ɡaː
怙 *ɡaːʔ
祜 *ɡaːʔ
岵 *ɡaːʔ
婟 *ɡaːʔ, *ɡaːɡs
楛 *ɡaːʔ
据 *ka
裾 *ka
琚 *ka
椐 *ka, *kas, *kʰa
鶋 *ka
蜛 *ka
崌 *ka
涺 *ka
腒 *ka, *ɡa
鋸 *kas
倨 *kas
踞 *kas
涸 *ɡaːɡ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *kaːls): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 固 (OC *kaːs).

Etymology[edit]

The semantics may have developed along the grammaticalisation process "bamboo stalk" (箇) > "piece, item" > "classifier for every category of noun" > "possessive particle, generic particle". If so, it would then possibly be cognate with 竿 (OC *kaːn, “bamboo, rod”). Compare Tibetan མཁར་བ (mkhar ba), འཁར་བ ('khar ba, “walking stick, staff”) and Thai ก้าน (gâan, “stem, stalk”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Note:
  • ge - classifier;
  • gě - colloquial, used in 自個兒.
  • Cantonese
  • Gan
  • Hakka
  • Jin
  • Min Dong
    • Note:
    • gó̤ - literary;
    • gá - classifier.
  • Min Nan
    • Note:
    • kò - literary (including classifier for months);
    • ê/gê - generic classifier;
    • ê - possessive particle (usually written as 的).
    Note:
    • go6 - literary;
    • gai5 - classifier, or particle introducing the object of the verb (equivalent to 把);
    • gai7 - possessive particle;.
  • Wu
    • Note:
    • 5geq ~ 5hheq ~ 4eq - classifier or particle;
    • 2ku - literary.
  • Xiang
    • Rime
    Character 個
    Reading # 1/1
    Initial (聲) 見 (28)
    Final (韻) 歌 (94)
    Tone (調) Departing (H)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) I
    Fanqie 古賀切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/kɑH/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/kɑH/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/kɑH/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/kaH/
    Li
    Rong         		/kɑH/
    Wang
    Li         		/kɑH/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/kɑH/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		gè
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 個
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		gè
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ kaH ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*kˁa[r]-s/
    English piece, item

    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 個
    Reading # 1/1
    No. 4208
    Phonetic
    component         		古
    Rime
    group         		歌
    Rime
    subdivision         		1
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		箇
    Old
    Chinese         		/*kaːls/
    Notes 見儀禮鄭注

    Definitions[edit]

    個

    1. piece; item; individual
      個人 / 个人  ―  gèrén  ―  an individual; personal
      個體 / 个体  ―  gètǐ  ―  individuality
    2. size; height
      個子 / 个子  ―  gèzi  ―  height; stature
      個兒 / 个儿  ―  gèr  ―  size
    3. separate; respective; separately; individually
      個別 / 个别  ―  gèbié  ―  individual; separate; some; a couple of
    4. single; alone
    5. (dialectal Hakka, dialectal Min, dialectal Wu) one
    6. The generic classifier for people or for things lacking specific classifiers.
    7. Classifier for hours and months.
    8. Alternative classifier, for nouns having specific classifiers. Often colloquial and regional. Usage varies greatly between different topolects.
    9. (Cantonese) Classifier for yuan, dollars, etc., used when followed by cents.
    10. (Mandarin, colloquial) Particle, placed between a verb and numbers, showing that the following numbers are approximate, not accurate.
    11. (Mandarin, Cantonese, colloquial) Particle, placed between a verb and its object or complement, adding a sense of ease, swiftness and one-offness to the action.
    12. (Mandarin, colloquial) Particle used after 些 (xiē).
    13. (dialectal Mandarin) Particle used in some time-related words.
    14. (literary or Wu, Xiang, Gan, dialectal Cantonese, dialectal Min) (= 搿) this; that
    15. (Cantonese, Wu) Word-initial particle, serving as the definite article.
    16. (dialectal Cantonese, Hakka, Wu, Teochew, Hokkien) Possessive particle. Equivalent to Mandarin 的 (de).
      → 嘅 (ge3) (Cantonese), 格 (kaq) (Wu), 的 (ê) (Min Nan)
    17. (dialectal) Sentence-final declarative, affirmative, or prohibitive particle. Equivalent to Mandarin 的 (de), 了 (le).
    18. (often dialectal) Emphatic particle between a pronoun and a noun, usually to highlight some negative quality of the person.

    Usage notes[edit]

    • For Min Nan, Taiwan's Ministry of Education recommends 个 for the general classifier ê and 的 for the possessive particle to differentiate them from 個 (kò).
    • For Hakka, Taiwan's Ministry of Education recommends 个 for the possessive particle.

    Synonyms[edit]

    Dialectal synonyms of 個 (“classifier for people”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 個
    Mandarin Beijing 個
    Taiwan 個
    Jinan 個
    Xi'an 個
    Wuhan 個
    Chengdu 個
    Yangzhou 個
    Hefei 個
    Cantonese Guangzhou 個
    Hong Kong 個
    Taishan 個
    Yangjiang 個
    Gan Nanchang 個, 隻
    Hakka Meixian 隻
    Jin Taiyuan 個
    Min Bei Jian'ou 隻
    Min Dong Fuzhou 隻, 個
    Changle 隻
    Fuqing 隻
    Yongtai 隻
    Gutian 隻
    Fu'an 隻
    Ningde 隻
    Shouning 個
    Zhouning 隻
    Fuding 個
    Min Nan Xiamen 個
    Taipei 個
    Kaohsiung 個
    Penang 個
    Chaozhou 個
    Haikou 個, 枚
    Wu Shanghai 個
    Suzhou 個
    Wenzhou 個
    Xiang Changsha 個, 隻
    Shuangfeng 個
    Dialectal synonyms of 的 (“possessive particle”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Classical Chinese 之
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 的
    Mandarin Beijing 的
    Taiwan 的
    Malaysia 的
    Singapore 的
    Cantonese Guangzhou 嘅
    Hong Kong 嘅
    Taishan 個
    Gan Nanchang 个
    Hakka Meixian 个
    Miaoli (N. Sixian) 个
    Liudui (S. Sixian) 个
    Hsinchu (Hailu) 个
    Dongshi (Dabu) 个
    Hsinchu (Raoping) 个
    Yunlin (Zhao'an) 个
    Jin Taiyuan 的
    Min Dong Fuzhou 其
    Min Nan Xiamen 个
    Chaozhou 個
    Shantou 個
    Wu Shanghai 個
    Wenzhou 個
    Xiang Changsha 的

    Compounds[edit]

    Derived terms from 個

    Descendants[edit]

    Sino-Xenic (個):

    Others:

    • → Vietnamese: cái

    Japanese[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    個

    (grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    Readings[edit]

    • Go-on: か (ka)
    • Kan-on: か (ka)
    • Tō-on: こ (ko, Jōyō)

    Counter[edit]

    個 (hiragana こ, rōmaji -ko)

    1. item, article, thing
      あの枝 (えだ)に桜 (さくら)ん坊 (ぼ)が十 (じゅう)二 (に)個 (こ)だけあります。
      Ano eda ni sakuranbo ga jūni-ko dake arimasu.
      There are only twelve cherries on that branch.

    Usage notes[edit]

    This is the most generic counter in Japanese. It can be used to count just about anything.

    Korean[edit]

    Hanja[edit]

    個 • (gae) (hangeul 개, McCune–Reischauer kae)

    1. a piece
    2. a unit
    3. an item.

    Vietnamese[edit]

    Han character[edit]

    個 (cá, cái)

    1. generic classifier

    References[edit]

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