口

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See also: ロ (katakana), ㅁ (hangul), and 囗 (wéi)
口 U+53E3, 口
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-53E3
← 叢
[U+53E2] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 古 →
[U+53E4]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
口-order.gif

Usage notes[edit]

This character (口) is used within characters; if a square is instead used as an enclosure (around) a character, then the character 囗 is used instead.

Han character[edit]

Commons-logo.svg
See images of
Radical 30 口

口 (radical 30, 口+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 口 (R), four-corner 60000, composition ⿰丨コ or ⿱冂一)

  1. Kangxi radical #30, ⼝.
  2. Shuōwén Jiězì radical №22

Derived characters[edit]

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 171, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3227
  • Dae Jaweon: page 379, character 17
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 566, character 14
  • Unihan data for U+53E3

Chinese[edit]

simp. and trad.
 口
variant forms 𠙵
𠮚
Wikipedia has an article on:
• 口

Glyph origin[edit]

Historical forms of the character 口
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu Slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
口-bronze-shang.svg 口-oracle.svg 口-bronze.svg 口-silk.svg 口-seal.svg 口-bigseal.svg
Characters in the same phonetic series (口) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
口 *kʰoːʔ
叩 *kʰoːʔ
扣 *kʰoːʔ, *kʰoːs
釦 *kʰoːʔ
筘 *kʰoːs

Pictogram (象形) – resembles an open mouth.

Pronunciation[edit]

Note:
  • kou2 - vernacular;
  • kou3 - literary.
  • (Dungan)
    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
  • Cantonese
  • Hakka
  • Min Bei
  • Min Nan
    • Note:
    • kháu - vernacular;
    • káu - vernacular (limited, e.g. 啞口);
    • khó͘/khió - literary.
  • Wu
    • Dialectal data▼
    Variety Location 口
    Mandarin Beijing /kʰou²¹⁴/
    Harbin /kʰou²¹³/
    Tianjin /kʰou¹³/
    Jinan /kʰou⁵⁵/
    Qingdao /kʰou⁵⁵/
    Zhengzhou /kʰou⁵³/
    Xi'an /kʰou⁵³/
    Xining /kʰɯ⁵³/
    Yinchuan /kʰəu⁵³/
    Lanzhou /kʰou⁴⁴²/
    Ürümqi /kʰɤu⁵¹/
    Wuhan /kʰəu⁴²/
    Chengdu /kʰəu⁵³/
    Guiyang /kʰəu⁴²/
    Kunming /kʰəu⁵³/
    Nanjing /kʰəɯ²¹²/
    Hefei /kʰɯ²⁴/
    Jin Taiyuan /kʰəu⁵³/
    Pingyao /kʰəu¹³/
    Hohhot /kʰəu⁵³/
    Wu Shanghai /kʰɤ³⁵/
    Suzhou /kʰɤ⁵¹/
    Hangzhou /kʰø⁵³/
    Wenzhou /kʰau³⁵/
    Hui Shexian /kʰiu³⁵/
    Tunxi /t͡ɕʰiu³¹/
    Xiang Changsha /kʰəu⁴¹/
    Xiangtan /kʰəɯ⁴²/
    Gan Nanchang /kʰiɛu²¹³/
    Hakka Meixian /kʰeu³¹/
    Taoyuan /kʰeu³¹/
    Cantonese Guangzhou /hɐu³⁵/
    Nanning /hɐu³⁵/
    Hong Kong /hɐu³⁵/
    Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /kʰɔ⁵³/
    /kʰau⁵³/
    Fuzhou (Min Dong) /kʰau³²/
    Jian'ou (Min Bei) /kʰe²¹/
    Shantou (Min Nan) /kʰau⁵³/
    Haikou (Min Nan) /xɔu²¹³/
    /xau²¹³/
    Rime
    Character 口
    Reading # 1/1
    Initial (聲) 溪 (29)
    Final (韻) 侯 (137)
    Tone (調) Rising (X)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) I
    Fanqie 苦后切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/kʰəuX/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/kʰəuX/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/kʰəuX/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/kʰəwX/
    Li
    Rong         		/kʰuX/
    Wang
    Li         		/kʰəuX/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/kʰə̯uX/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		kǒu
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 口
    Reading # 1/1
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		kǒu
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ khuwX ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*kʰˁ(r)oʔ/
    English mouth

    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 口
    Reading # 1/1
    No. 7490
    Phonetic
    component         		口
    Rime
    group         		侯
    Rime
    subdivision         		0
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		口
    Old
    Chinese         		/*kʰoːʔ/

    Definitions[edit]

    口

    1. (anatomy) mouth (Classifier: 把 c)
      漱漱你的口。  ―  Shù shù nǐ de kǒu.  ―  Rinse your mouth out.
    2. entrance; opening; mouth (of an object)
      入口  ―  rùkǒu  ―  entrance
      出口  ―  chūkǒu  ―  exit
    3. hole; cut
      口子  ―  kǒuzi  ―  hole
      傷口 / 伤口  ―  shāngkǒu  ―  wound
    4. government organ; department
    5. Classifier for family members, populations and guns.
    6. Classifier for bites or mouthfuls.
      我可以吃一口嗎？ / 我可以吃一口吗？  ―  Wǒ kěyǐ chī yī kǒu ma?  ―  Can I have a bite?
    7. (neologism, slang) to have oral sex

    Synonyms[edit]

    Dialectal synonyms of 嘴 (“mouth”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Classical Chinese 口
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 嘴
    Mandarin Beijing 嘴
    Taiwan 嘴
    Tianjin 嘴
    Jinan 嘴
    Xi'an 嘴
    Wuhan 嘴、嘴巴、嘴巴子
    Chengdu 嘴巴
    Yangzhou 嘴、嘴巴子
    Hefei 嘴
    Cantonese Guangzhou 嘴、口
    Yangjiang 嘴、口
    Gan Nanchang 嘴巴
    Hakka Meixian 嘴
    Miaoli (N. Sixian) 嘴
    Liudui (S. Sixian) 嘴
    Hsinchu (Hailu) 嘴
    Dongshi (Dabu) 嘴
    Hsinchu (Raoping) 嘴
    Yunlin (Zhao'an) 嘴
    Sabah 嘴、嘴角
    Jin Taiyuan 嘴
    Min Bei Jian'ou 喙
    Min Dong Fuzhou 喙
    Min Nan Xiamen 喙、喙斗、喙口
    Quanzhou 喙、喙斗、喙口
    Zhangzhou 喙、喙斗、喙口
    Taipei 喙
    Kaohsiung 喙
    Philippines (Manila) 喙
    Chaozhou 喙
    Wu Suzhou 嘴
    Wenzhou 嘴、嘴嘴
    Xiang Changsha 嘴巴、嘴巴子
    Shuangfeng 嘴巴

    Compounds[edit]

    Derived terms from 口

    Japanese[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    口

    (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    Readings[edit]

    Compounds[edit]

    Terms derived from 口

    Etymology 1[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    口
    くつ
    Grade: 1
    kun’yomi

    /kutu/ → /kut͡su/

    From Old Japanese. Appears in compound terms listed in the Wamyō Ruijushō of 938 CE.

    The ancient combining form of modern reading kuchi.[1] Likely the original form.

    No longer productive in modern Japanese. Only found in older compounds.

    There are interesting potential phonetic and semantic overlaps with Middle Chinese 窟 (MC kʰuət̚, “hole; cave”), 口 (MC kʰəuX, “mouth; opening; hole”); Korean 굳 (gut), 굿 (gut, “hole; hollow; cavity”); possibly even Ainu クㇳ (kut), クッチ (kutchi, “throat”). One possibility is that these represent prehistoric nativized borrowings from Chinese. However, there is yet no clear evidence of relatedness.

    Pronunciation[edit]

    • Kun’yomi
    • The pitch accent is derived from the entire compound word.

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana くつ, rōmaji kutsu)

    1. mouth
    Derived terms[edit]
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    口
    くち
    Grade: 1
    kun’yomi

    */kutu i/ → /kuti/ → /kut͡ɕi/

    From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[2]

    Shift from kutu above, probably by fusion with ancient nominal particle い (i). Compare the phonetic development of 神 (kami, “spirit, god”) from kamu + i, 木 (ki, “tree”) from ko + i, 目 (me, “eye”) from ma + i.

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana くち, rōmaji kuchi)

    1. mouth
      • 1999 July 22, “グレード・ビル [Great Bill]”, in Vol.4 (in Japanese), Konami:
        どんなものでも丸 (まる)飲 (の)みできる大 (おお)きな口 (くち)を持 (も)っている。
        Donna mono de mo marunomi dekiru ōkina kuchi o motteiru.
        Its massive mouth can swallow whole anything whole.
    2. opening
    Derived terms[edit]
    Derived terms

    Etymology 3[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    口
    く
    Grade: 1
    on’yomi

    From Middle Chinese 口 (MC kʰəuX). The goon, so likely the initial borrowing.

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana く, rōmaji ku)

    1. (Buddhism) the mouth
    2. (Buddhism) (by extension) one's speech, one's words
    3. the mouthpiece of a flute

    Counter[edit]

    口 (hiragana く, rōmaji -ku)

    1. used to count people
    2. used to count per-person portions
    3. used to count open-mouthed containers
    4. used to count bladed weapons or tools

    Etymology 4[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    口
    こう
    Grade: 1
    on’yomi

    From Middle Chinese 口 (MC kʰəuX). The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing.

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Counter[edit]

    口 (hiragana こう, rōmaji -kō)

    1. used to count people
    2. used to count bladed weapons or tools

    References[edit]

    1. ^ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
    2. ^ c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 14, poem 3532), text here
    3. ^ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    4. ^ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
    • The Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary. →ISBN

    Korean[edit]

    Hanja[edit]

    口 (eumhun 입 구 (ip gu))

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

    Compounds[edit]

    References[edit]

    Kunigami[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    口

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana くちー, romaji khuchii)

    1. mouth
    2. language
    3. dialect
    4. speech

    Miyako[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    口

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana ふつ, romaji futsu)

    1. mouth
    2. language
    3. dialect
    4. speech

    Compounds[edit]

    Okinawan[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    口

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana くち, romaji kuchi)

    1. mouth
    2. language
    3. dialect
    4. speech

    Compounds[edit]

    Vietnamese[edit]

    Han character[edit]

    口 (khẩu)

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

    Yaeyama[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    口

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana ふつぃ, romaji futsï)

    1. mouth
    2. language
    3. dialect
    4. speech

    Yonaguni[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    口

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    口 (hiragana ってぃ, romaji tti)

    1. mouth
    2. language
    3. dialect
    4. speech
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