哥

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

哥 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 一口弓口 (MRNR), four-corner 1062₁, composition ⿱⿹丅口可(GHTV) or ⿱可可(JK))

Derived characters

• 歌

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 190, character 8
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3641
• Dae Jaweon: page 409, character 25
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 624, character 19
• Unihan data for U+54E5

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		哥

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (可) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
砢	*ɡ·raːlʔ
柯	*kaːl
菏	*kaːl, *ɡaːl
牁	*kaːl
滒	*kaːl
哥	*kaːl
歌	*kaːl
謌	*kaːl
鴚	*kaːl
哿	*kaːlʔ
舸	*kaːlʔ
笴	*kaːlʔ, *kaːnʔ
軻	*kʰaːl, *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
珂	*kʰaːl
可	*kʰaːlʔ
岢	*kʰaːlʔ
坷	*kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
蚵	*kʰaːls, *ɡaːl
呵	*qʰaːl, *qʰaːls
訶	*qʰaːl
抲	*qʰaːl
荷	*qʰaːls, *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
何	*ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
河	*ɡaːl
苛	*ɡaːl
魺	*ɡaːl
袔	*ɡaːls
阿	*qaːl
妸	*qaːl, *qaːlʔ
疴	*qaːl, *kʰraːls
鈳	*qaːl
娿	*qaːl, *qaːlʔ
痾	*qaːl
跒	*kʰraːlʔ
閜	*qʰraːlʔ

Stacked form of 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ).

Etymology

“elder brother”

This sense is attested in Medieval Chinese, and became popular during the Tang dynasty, gradually displacing 兄 (MC xjwaeng).

It is a clipping of 阿哥 (MC 'a ka), a borrowing from (Mei, 2015). Compare Proto-Mongolic *aka, whence also Mongolian ᠠᠬ᠎ᠠ (ak-a, “elder brother”). Related to 阿干 (MC 'a kan), which is the definite form of the same Xianbei word (Mei, 2015).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): gē (ge¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄜ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): go¹

• Cantonese (Jyutping): go¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kô
• Eastern Min (BUC): gŏ̤
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): ko / ko͘ / koh

  (Teochew, Peng'im): go¹

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ku

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gē
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄜ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ge
    • Wade–Giles: ko¹
    • Yale: gē
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ge
    • Palladius: гэ (gɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɤ⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed) (哥兒／哥儿)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gēr
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄜㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ger
    • Wade–Giles: ko¹-ʼrh
    • Yale: gēr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ge'l
    • Palladius: гэр (gɛr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɤɻ⁵⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 哥兒／哥儿 歌兒／歌儿

  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: go¹
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: go
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ko⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: go¹
    • Yale: gō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: go¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: go¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɔː⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kô
    • Hakka Romanization System: go^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: go¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ko²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gŏ̤
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ko⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ko
    • Tâi-lô: ko
    • Phofsit Daibuun: koy
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kɤ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ko³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /ko⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ko͘
    • Tâi-lô: koo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kof
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kɔ³³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koh
    • Tâi-lô: koh
    • Phofsit Daibuun: koiq
    • IPA (Taipei): /koʔ³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kɤʔ³²/

Note: koh - only in 哥哥.

• • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: go¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ko
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ko³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹ku
    • MiniDict: ku^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ku
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ku⁵³/

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• Middle Chinese: ka

Rime
Character	哥
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	古俄切
Baxter	ka
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/kɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/kɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ka/
Li Rong	/kɑ/
Wang Li	/kɑ/
Bernard Karlgren	/kɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gē
Expected Cantonese Reflex	go1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*kaːl/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	哥
Reading #	1/1
No.	7437
Phonetic component	可
Rime group	歌
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	歌
Old Chinese	/*kaːl/
Notes	後作歌

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 哥

1. older brother; elder brother
2. older male relative of the same generation
3. (polite) term of address for a male person of the same age
4. ^† Original form of 歌 (gē, “song”).

Descendants

• (said by Chinese race)

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Japanese

Kanji

哥

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. kanji used to transliterate borrowings from foreign languages
2. sing, singing
3. elder brother

Readings

• Go-on: か (ka)
• Kan-on: か (ka)
• Tō-on: こ (ko)
• Kun: うた (uta, 哥)、うたう (utau, 哥う)^{←うたふ (utafu, 哥ふ, historical)}

Compounds

Compounds

• 哥沢(うたざわ) (utazawa)
• 哥窯(かよう) (Kayō)
• 哥老(かろう)会(かい) (Karōkai)
• 哥里米(クリム)汗(ハン)国(こく) (Kurimu Han-koku)
• 鸚哥(いんこ) (inko)
• 哥倫比亜(コロンビア) (Koronbia)
• 八(ハッ)哥(カ)鳥(チョウ) (hakkachō), 哥哥(はは)鳥(ちょう) (hahachō)
• 墨西哥(メキシコ) (Mekishiko)

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Korean

Hanja

哥 • (ga) (hangeul 가, revised ga, McCune–Reischauer ka)

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

(deprecated template usage) 哥 (ca, kha)

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