兮

Translingual

Han character

兮 (Kangxi radical 12, 八+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 金一女尸 (CMVS), four-corner 8020₇, composition ⿱八丂)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 127, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1455
• Dae Jaweon: page 283, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 241, character 6
• Unihan data for U+516E

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Chinese

trad.		兮
simp. #		兮

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 兮
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script j11575 j11576 j11577 j11578 j11579 j11580 j11581 j11582 j11583 j11584 j11585 Bronze inscriptions b07112 b07113 b07114 b07115 b07116 b07117 b07118 Small seal script s03508 Transcribed ancient scripts L02483 L02484 L02485
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 (兮) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
盻	*ŋeːs, *ɢeːs
兮	*ɢeː
枍	*qeːs

Originally the same character as 乎 (OC *ɢaː). The oracle bone form consists of 丂 (“fork in a tree”) and two vertical strokes above; the two strokes are parallel in most oracle bone attestations, possibly representing finer branches (i.e. the sound produced by wind blows past these branches).

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xī (xi¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hai⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): ê / hê

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xī
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: si
    • Wade–Giles: hsi¹
    • Yale: syī
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shi
    • Palladius: си (si)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: hai⁴
    • Yale: hàih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hai⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: hei⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐi̯²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ê / hê
    • Tâi-lô: ê / hê
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ee, hee
    • IPA (Xiamen): /e²⁴/, /he²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /e²⁴/, /he²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /e¹³/, /he¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /e²⁴/, /he²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /e²³/, /he²³/

Note:

• ê - vernacular;
• hê - literary.

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• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 兮
Mandarin	Beijing	/ɕi⁵⁵/
	Harbin	/ɕi⁴⁴/
	Tianjin	/ɕi²¹/
	Jinan	/ɕi²¹³/
	Qingdao	/ɕi²¹³/
	Zhengzhou	/ɕi²⁴/
	Xi'an	/ɕi²¹/
	Xining	/ɕi⁴⁴/
	Yinchuan	/ɕi¹³/
	Lanzhou	/ɕi⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/ɕi⁴⁴/
	Wuhan	/ɕi⁵⁵/
	Chengdu	/ɕi⁵⁵/
	Guiyang	/ɕi⁵⁵/
	Kunming	/ɕi⁴⁴/
	Nanjing	/ɕi³¹/
	Hefei	/sz̩²¹/
Jin	Taiyuan	/ɕi¹¹/
	Pingyao	/ɕi¹³/
	Hohhot	/ɕi³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/ɕi⁵³/
	Suzhou	/i⁵⁵/
	Hangzhou	/ɦi²¹³/
	Wenzhou	/ji³¹/
Hui	Shexian	/ɕi³¹/
	Tunxi
Xiang	Changsha	/ɕi³³/
	Xiangtan	/ɕi³³/
Gan	Nanchang
Hakka	Meixian	/hi⁴⁴/
	Taoyuan	/hi²⁴/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/hɐi²¹/
	Nanning	/hɐi²¹/
	Hong Kong	/hɐi²¹/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/he³⁵/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/hie⁴⁴/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/xi⁴⁴/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/hi³³/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/hi²³/

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• Middle Chinese: hej

Rime
Character	兮
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	齊 (39)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	胡雞切
Baxter	hej
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦei/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦei/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣɛi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦɛj/
Li Rong	/ɣei/
Wang Li	/ɣiei/
Bernard Karlgren	/ɣiei/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xí
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hai4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ɡˤe/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɢeː/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	兮
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xī
Middle Chinese	‹ hej ›
Old Chinese	/*ɡˁe/
English	(final particle)
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	兮
Reading #	1/1
No.	13231
Phonetic component	兮
Rime group	支
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	奚
Old Chinese	/*ɢeː/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 兮

1. (literary) Sentence-final exclamatory particle.

   子夏問曰：「『巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮，素以為絢兮。』何謂也？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   子夏问曰：「『巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮，素以为绚兮。』何谓也？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

   Zǐ Xià wèn yuē: “‘qiǎoxiào qiàn xī, měimù pàn xī, sù yǐwéi xuàn xī.’ Héwèi yě?” [Pinyin]

   Zi Xia asked, saying, "What is the meaning of the passage - 'The pretty dimples of her artful smile! The well-defined black and white of her eye! The plain ground for the colors?'"

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Japanese

Kanji

兮

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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

Readings

• On (unclassified): けい (kei)
• Kun: の (no)

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Korean

Hanja

兮 (eum 혜 (hye))

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

兮: Hán Nôm readings: hề

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