吳

吳 U+5433, 吳 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5433 ← 吲 [U+5432] CJK Unified Ideographs 吴 → [U+5434]

See also: 吴 and 呉

Translingual

Traditional	吳
Shinjitai	呉
Simplified	吴

Han character

吳 (radical 30 口+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 口女弓大 (RVNK), four-corner 2680₁, composition ⿺夨口)

References

• KangXi: page 179, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3365
• Dae Jaweon: page 396, character 15
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 595, character 8
• Unihan data for U+5433

---

Chinese

trad.		吳/吴
simp.		吴
alt. forms		呉 𡗾

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 吳
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (吳) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
	Old Chinese
吳	*ŋʷaː
蜈	*ŋʷaː

Ideogrammic compound (會意): 口 (“mouth”) + 夨 (“man with tilted head”) – to speak loudly.

Etymology 1

Perhaps related to Tibetan ངར་སྐད (ngar skad, “roar; shout”), Tibetan ང་རོ (nga ro, “roar; yell; shout”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wú (wu²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ng⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ǹg
• Min Dong (BUC): ngù
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): ngô͘ / gô͘

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ghou⁵

• Wu (Wiktionary): hhu (T3)

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: wú
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˊ
    • Wade-Giles: wu²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wu
    • IPA ^(key): /u³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: ng⁴
    • Yale: ǹgh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ng⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ng⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /ŋ̍²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ǹg
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ng²
    • IPA: /ŋ̍¹¹/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ngù
    • IPA ^(key): /ŋu⁵³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Lukang, Sanxia, Magong, Hsinchu)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ngô͘
    • Tâi-lô: ngôo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ngoo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ŋɔ̃²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ŋɔ̃²⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ŋɔ̃²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ŋɔ̃²³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Tainan, Yilan, Kinmen, Taichung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gô͘
    • Tâi-lô: gôo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: goo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /gɔ²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /gɔ²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /gɔ¹³/
    • IPA (Kinmen): /gɔ²⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ghou⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: gôu
    • IPA ^(key): /ɡou⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: hhu (T3)
    • IPA ^(key): /ɦv̩ʷ²³/

---

• Middle Chinese: /ŋuo/▼

Rime
Character	吳
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	五乎切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋuo/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋuo/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋo/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋɔ/
Li Rong	/ŋo/
Wang Li	/ŋu/
Bernard Karlgren	/ŋuo/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wú

• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter-Sagart): /*ŋʷˤa/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ŋʷaː/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	吳
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wú
Middle Chinese	‹ ngu ›
Old Chinese	/*ŋʷˤa/
English	shout; name of a state
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	吳
Reading #	1/1
No.	13094
Phonetic component	吳
Rime group	魚
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	吾
Old Chinese	/*ŋʷaː/
Notes	金文象對人口出大聲，令其震驚而側首避讓，馮時說

Definitions

吳

1. ^† to speak loudly; to shout

   • 不吳不敖，胡考之休。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

     不吴不敖，胡考之休。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, circa 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Bù wú bù áo, hú kǎo zhī xiū. [Pinyin]

     There is no noise, no insolence: An auspice, [all this], of great longevity.

2. ^† big
3. (historical) (～國) one of the Warring States
4. (historical) (～國) Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms
5. the territory those states held, around the Yangtze delta
6. Wu; the Chinese dialects of that territory, including Suzhounese and Shanghainese

   ⇒ 吳語

7. A surname​.
8. (～港) a harbor in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Descendants

• → Tagalog: Go, Wu

Compounds

• 伐東吳／伐东吴
• 句吳／句吴
• 吳下阿蒙／吴下阿蒙
• 吳儂／吴侬
• 吳剛／吴刚
• 吳剛伐桂／吴刚伐桂
• 吳國／吴国 (Wúguó)
• 吳子／吴子
• 吳宮教陣／吴宫教阵
• 吳市吹簫／吴市吹箫

• 吳派／吴派
• 吳淞江／吴淞江
• 吳牛喘月／吴牛喘月
• 吳茱萸／吴茱萸 (wúzhūyú)
• 吳語／吴语 (wúyǔ)
• 吳越／吴越 (Wúyuè)
• 吳越同舟／吴越同舟
• 吳越春秋／吴越春秋
• 吳郭魚／吴郭鱼 (wúguōyú)
• 吳都／吴都

• 吳鉤／吴钩
• 吳頭楚尾／吴头楚尾
• 吳鳳／吴凤
• 吳鹽／吴盐
• 吹簫吳市／吹箫吴市
• 大吳／大吴
• 孫吳／孙吴 (Sūnwú)
• 宋畫吳冶／宋画吴冶
• 東吳／东吴 (Dōngwú)
• 楚尾吳頭／楚尾吴头

See also

Dynasties (朝代) in Chinese history
Name	Time period	Divisions
Xia 夏 (～朝, ～代)	2070 – 1600 BCE
Shang 商 (～朝, ～代) 殷 (～朝, ～代)	1600 – 1046 BCE
Zhou 周 (～朝, ～代)	1046 – 256 BCE	Western Zhou 西周
		Eastern Zhou 東周／东周	Spring and Autumn period 春秋
			Warring States period 戰國／战国
Qin 秦 (～朝, ～代)	221 – 206 BCE
Han 漢／汉 (～朝, ～代)	206 BCE – 220 CE	Western Han 西漢／西汉
		Xin 新 (～朝)
		Eastern Han 東漢／东汉
Three Kingdoms 三國／三国	220 – 280 CE	Wei 魏
		Shu 蜀
		Wu 吳／吴
Jin 晉／晋 (～朝, ～代)	265 – 420 CE	Western Jin 西晉／西晋
		Eastern Jin 東晉／东晋
Southern and Northern dynasties 南北朝	420 – 589 CE	Northern dynasties 北朝	Northern Wei 北魏
			Western Wei 西魏
			Eastern Wei 東魏／东魏
			Northern Zhou 北周
			Northern Qi 北齊／北齐
		Southern dynasties 南朝	Liu Song 劉宋／刘宋
			Southern Qi 南齊／南齐
			Liang 梁 (～朝, ～代)
			Chen 陳／陈 (～朝, ～代)
Sui 隋 (～朝, ～代)	581 – 618 CE
Tang 唐 (～朝, ～代)	618 – 907 CE
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 五代十國／五代十国	907 – 960 CE
Liao 遼／辽 (～朝, ～代)	907 – 1125 CE
Song 宋 (～朝, ～代)	960 – 1279 CE	Northern Song 北宋
		Southern Song 南宋
Western Xia 西夏	1038 – 1227 CE
Jin 金 (～朝, ～代)	1115 – 1234 CE
Western Liao 西遼／西辽	1124 – 1218 CE
Yuan 元 (～朝, ～代)	1271 – 1368 CE
Ming 明 (～朝, ～代)	1368 – 1644 CE
Qing 清 (～朝, ～代)	1636 – 1912 CE

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yú (yu²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄩˊ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: yú
    • Zhuyin: ㄩˊ
    • Wade-Giles: yü²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yu
    • IPA ^(key): /y³⁵/

Definitions

吳

1. Alternative form of 虞 (yú).

---

Japanese

Kanji

吳

(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): ご (go)
• Kun: くれ (kure), くれる (kureru)

Usage notes

This character lacks JIS support. The character 呉 (U+5449) is used instead in Japanese.

---

Korean

Hanja

吳 • (o, ho) (hangeul 오, 호, McCune-Reischauer o, ho)

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

---

Vietnamese

Han character

吳 (ngô, ngo)

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