僧

僧 U+FA31, 僧 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-FA31 ← 侮 [U+FA30] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 免 → [U+FA32]

僧 U+2F80A, 僧 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F80A ← 備 [U+2F809] CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 像 → [U+2F80B]

Translingual

Japanese	僧
Simplified	僧
Traditional	僧

Alternative forms

Note difference between Chinese form, which uses 曾, and Japanese shinjitai which uses 曽. Both forms are encoded under the same codepoint due to Han unification.

Etymology

Japanese shinjitai form: Simplified from 僧 (曾 → 曽).

Han character

僧 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+12 in Chinese, 人+11 in Japanese, 14 strokes in Chinese, 13 strokes in Japanese, cangjie input 人金田日 (OCWA), four-corner 2826₆, composition ⿰亻曾 (GTKV) or ⿰亻曽 (J))

Related characters

• 增 (増) 憎

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 117, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1076
• Dae Jaweon: page 248, character 20
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 222, character 1
• Unihan data for U+50E7

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		僧

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 僧
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Small seal script s05925 Transcribed ancient scripts L11518 L11519
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 (曾) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
潧	*ʔsrɯn
繒	*ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯŋ
增	*ʔsɯːŋ, *ʔsɯːŋs
憎	*ʔsɯːŋ
磳	*ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯŋ
曾	*ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯːŋ
矰	*ʔsɯːŋ
罾	*ʔsɯːŋ
熷	*ʔsɯːŋ
竲	*ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯŋ
橧	*ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯŋ
譄	*ʔsɯːŋ
蹭	*sʰɯːŋs
層	*zɯːŋ
贈	*zɯːŋs
僧	*sɯːŋ
鬙	*sɯːŋ
甑	*ʔsɯŋs
鄫	*zɯŋ
驓	*zɯŋ
嶒	*zɯŋ
噌	*sʰɯːŋ
鏳	*zrɯːŋ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sɯːŋ) : semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 曾 (OC *ʔsɯːŋ, *zɯːŋ) – a kind of person (a Buddhist monk).

Etymology

Clipping of 僧伽 (MC song gja, “sangha; community of monks, nuns, novices and laity”); see there for more.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sēng (seng¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zang¹ / sang¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sên
• Eastern Min (BUC): cĕng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): chng / cheng / sng / seng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): zêng¹

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹sen

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: seng
    • Wade–Giles: sêng¹
    • Yale: sēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: seng
    • Palladius: сэн (sɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɤŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: zang¹ / sang¹
    • Yale: jāng / sāng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzang¹ / sang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zeng¹ / seng¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɐŋ⁵⁵/, /sɐŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sên
    • Hakka Romanization System: sen´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sen¹
    • Sinological IPA: /sen²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: cĕng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɛiŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chng
    • Tâi-lô: tsng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zngf
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sŋ̍³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cheng
    • Tâi-lô: tsing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zefng
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sng
    • Tâi-lô: sng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sngf
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sŋ̍³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seng
    • Tâi-lô: sing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sefng
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /siɪŋ⁴⁴/

Note:

• chng, cheng - vernacular;
• sng, seng - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: zêng¹
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tseng
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡seŋ³³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹sen
    • MiniDict: sen^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹sen
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /sən⁵³/

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• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 僧
Mandarin	Beijing	/səŋ⁵⁵/
	Harbin	/t͡səŋ⁴⁴/
	Tianjin	/səŋ²¹/
	Jinan	/səŋ²¹³/
	Qingdao	/səŋ²¹³/
	Zhengzhou	/səŋ²⁴/
	Xi'an	/səŋ²¹/
	Xining	/sə̃⁴⁴/
	Yinchuan	/səŋ⁴⁴/
	Lanzhou	/sə̃n³¹/
	Ürümqi	/sɤŋ⁴⁴/
	Wuhan	/sən⁵⁵/
	Chengdu	/sən⁵⁵/
	Guiyang	/sen⁵⁵/
	Kunming	/sə̃⁴⁴/
	Nanjing	/sən³¹/
	Hefei	/sən²¹/
Jin	Taiyuan	/səŋ¹¹/
	Pingyao	/səŋ¹³/
	Hohhot	/sə̃ŋ³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/səŋ⁵³/
	Suzhou	/sən⁵⁵/
	Hangzhou	/sen³³/
	Wenzhou	/saŋ³³/
Hui	Shexian	/sʌ̃³¹/
	Tunxi	/sɛ¹¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/t͡sən³³/
	Xiangtan	/t͡sən³³/
Gan	Nanchang	/sɛn⁴²/
Hakka	Meixian	/sen⁴⁴/
	Taoyuan	/sen²⁴/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/sɐŋ⁵³/
	Nanning	/t͡sɐŋ⁵⁵/
	Hong Kong	/sɐŋ⁵⁵/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/siŋ⁵⁵/ /t͡siŋ⁵⁵/ 俗
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/t͡sɛiŋ⁴⁴/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/t͡saiŋ⁴⁴/ /saiŋ⁵⁴/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/t͡seŋ³³/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/t͡sɔŋ³³/ /t͡seŋ³³/

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• Middle Chinese: song

Rime
Character	僧
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	登 (129)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	蘇增切
Baxter	song
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/səŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/səŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/səŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/səŋ/
Li Rong	/səŋ/
Wang Li	/səŋ/
Bernard Karlgren	/səŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sēng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sang1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*sɯːŋ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	僧
Reading #	1/1
No.	16628
Phonetic component	曾
Rime group	蒸
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	僧
Old Chinese	/*sɯːŋ/
Notes	梵譯僧伽saṁɡha省稱

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 僧

1. (Buddhism) monk; bonze
2. a surname

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Japanese

Kanji

僧

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 僧)

1. Buddhist priest
2. monk

Readings

• Go-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)
• Kun: ぼうず (bōzu)

Compounds

• 仏(ぶっ)法(ぽう)僧(そう) (buppōsō)
• 僧(そう)位(い) (sōi)
• 僧(そう)伽(ぎゃ) (sōgya)
• 僧(そう)俗(ぞく) (sōzoku)
• 僧(そう)侶(りょ) (sōryo)
• 僧(そう)兵(へい) (sōhei)
• 僧(そう)号(ごう) (sōgō)
• 僧(そう)坊(ぼう), 僧(そう)房(ぼう) (sōbō)
• 僧(そう)堂(どう) (sōdō)
• 僧(そう)家(か) (sōka)
• 僧(そう)寺(じ) (sōji)
• 僧(そう)尼(に) (sōni)
• 僧(そう)帽(ぼう)弁(べん) (sōbōben)
• 僧(そう)庵(あん) (sōan)
• 僧(そう)形(ぎょう) (sōgyō)
• 僧(そう)服(ふく) (sōfuku)
• 僧(そう)正(じょう) (sōjō)
• 僧(そう)籍(せき) (sōseki)
• 僧(そう)綱(ごう) (sōgō)
• 僧(そう)職(しょく) (sōshoku)
• 僧(そう)衣(い) (sōi)
• 僧(そう)都(ず) (sōzu)
• 僧(そう)門(もん) (sōmon)
• 僧(そう)院(いん) (sōin)
• 売(まい)僧(す) (maisu)
• 学(がく)僧(そう) (gakusō)
• 小(こ)僧(ぞう) (kozō)
• 尼(に)僧(そう) (nisō)
• 禅(ぜん)僧(そう) (zensō)
• 高(こう)僧(そう) (kōsō)

 

Noun

僧(そう) • (sō) 

1. a (Buddhist) priest, bonze

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Korean

Hanja

僧 • (seung) (hangeul 승, McCune–Reischauer sŭng)

1. a (Buddhist) priest, bonze

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Vietnamese

Han character

僧: Hán Nôm readings: tăng

1. a (Buddhist) priest, bonze