Translingual [ edit ]
Stroke order
Stroke order
Han character [ edit ]
多 (Kangxi radical 36, 夕 +3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 弓戈弓戈 (NINI ), four-corner 27207 , composition ⿱夕 夕 )
Derived characters [ edit ]
侈 , 𠀲 , 哆 , 垑 , 姼 , 㡅 , 恀 , 拸 , 陊 , 䏧 , 栘 , 㶴 , 迻 , 眵 , 移 , 䇋 , 蛥 , 袳 , 誃 , 趍 , 跢 , 䡔 , 𮠨 , 鉹 , 夥 , 䬷 , 夦 , 䮈 (𬳾 ), 黟 , 卶 , 㩼 , 夠 (够 ), 翗 , 夡 , 㷇 , 㚊 , 㚌 , 㚋 , 䫂 , 郺 , 㚍 , 㚉 , 奓 , 㝖 , 爹 , 𣆚 , 茤 , 㗬 , 袲 , 𭅚 , 㞔 , 㢁 , 扅 , 痑
Descendants [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
KangXi: page 246 , character 11
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5756
Dae Jaweon: page 489, character 6
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 862, character 2
Unihan data for U+591A
Chinese [ edit ]
Glyph origin [ edit ]
Old Chinese
多
*ʔl'aːl
哆
*ʔl'aːlʔ, *ʔl'aːls, *ʔr'aːls, *hr'aːl, *l̥ʰjaːlʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *l̥ʰjɯs
跢
*ʔl'aːls, *ʔl'aːds
痑
*ʔl'aːls, *l̥ʰaːl, *l̥ʰaːn
爹
*daːʔ, *tjaː
陊
*l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ
橠
*naːlʔ
袲
*naːlʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *lal
奓
*ʔr'aːl, *ʔr'aːls
栘
*ɦljeːl, *lal
黟
*ʔleːl, *ʔlil
趍
*sʰlo, *l'al
誃
*l'al, *l̥ʰjalʔ
簃
*l'al, *lal
眵
*ʔljjal, *l̥ʰjal
恀
*ʔljalʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *ɦljalʔ
侈
*l̥ʰjalʔ
姼
*l̥ʰjalʔ, *ɦljal, *ɦljalʔ
鉹
*l̥ʰjalʔ, *lal
垑
*l̥ʰjalʔ
袳
*l̥ʰjalʔ
卶
*l̥ʰjals, *hljals
宜
*ŋral
誼
*ŋrals
竩
*ŋrals
移
*lal
迻
*lal
扅
*lal
拸
*lal, *lalʔ
熪
*lal
謻
*lal
蛥
*ɢljad
Ideogrammic compound (會意 ) – two pieces of meat (肉 ). In the bronze script, 肉 was corrupted into 夕 due to visual similarity, making 多 into a duplication of 夕 . The form with 夕 was inherited in later scripts.
Chi (2010) suggests that meat is scarce in ancient times, so two pieces of meat is a lot, citing a passage from Mencius :
七十 者 可以 食 肉 矣 。 [MSC , trad. and simp. ] Qīshí zhě kěyǐ shí ròu yǐ. [Pinyin] Persons of seventy years may eat meat.
Chang Ping-chuan suggests that it is the duplicative nature of the character that gives the meaning of "many", just like in 林 (“forest”), from 木 (“tree; wood”).
Etymology 1 [ edit ]
Etymology unclear. Schuessler (2007) suggests that it is in the same word family as 諸 (OC *tjaː, *tja , “many; all”) and 庶 (OC *hljaɡs , “many”).
Hill (2014, 2019) compares it to Tibetan ཆེ ( che , “ big ” ) , མཐེ ་བོ ( mthe bo , “ thumb ” ) , Burmese တယ် ( tai , “ very ” ) . STEDT derives the latter two from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ta-j ( “ big ” ) , whose Chinese comparandum is 大 (OC *daːds , “large”) instead; Baxter (1992) has also compared it to this etymon.
Baxter and Sagart (1998) propose that there may be a prefix *t- in this word that gives a mass noun reading, which may nullify the connection to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ta-j ( “ big ” ) . However, Baxter and Sagart (2014) may have withdrawn from this theory since they no longer indicate the *t as a prefix.
Also compare Proto-Tai *ʰlaːjᴬ ( “ many, much ” ) , whence Thai หลาย ( hlǎai , “ many ” ) and Zhuang lai ( “ many ” ) , and Proto-Hlai *hləːy ( “ many ” ) (Gong Qunhu, 2002 ; Schuessler, 2007 ; Baxter and Sagart, 2014 ). Schuessler (2007) considers the Chinese word to be from Kra-Dai , but others suggest that the direction of borrowing may have been the other way (Li, 1977 ; Baxter and Sagart, 1998 ; Norquest, 2007 ).
Pronunciation [ edit ]
Mandarin
(Standard )
(Pinyin ) : duō , duó (duo1 , duo2 )
(Zhuyin ) : ㄉㄨㄛ, ㄉㄨㄛˊ
(Chengdu , SP ) : do1
(Dungan , Cyrillic and Wiktionary ) : дуә (duə, I)
Cantonese
(Guangzhou –Hong Kong , Jyutping ) : do1 , doe1
(Taishan , Wiktionary ) : o1
Gan (Wiktionary ) : do1
Hakka
(Sixian , PFS ) : tô
(Meixian , Guangdong ) : do1
Jin (Wiktionary ) : de1
Min Bei (KCR ) : duói / dó̤ / do̿
Min Dong (BUC ) : dŏ̤
Min Nan
(Hokkien , POJ ) : to / to͘
(Teochew , Peng'im ) : do1
Wu (Wugniu )
Xiang (Wiktionary ) : do1
Note : duó - colloquial variant (“so, how, what”).
Note : doe1 - colloquial variant (“few”).
Note :
duói - vernacular;
dó - literary;
do̿ - limited (e.g. 多謝 ).
Min Dong
Min Nan
Wu
Xiang
Baxter –Sagart system 1.1 (2014 )
Character
多
Reading #
1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)
duō
Middle Chinese
‹ ta ›
Old Chinese
/*[t.l]ˁaj/
English
many
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
多
Reading #
1/1
No.
2637
Phonetic component
多
Rime group
歌
Rime subdivision
1
Corresponding MC rime
多
Old Chinese
/*ʔl'aːl/
Notes
甲 金 文 從 二 肉 非 二 夕
Definitions [ edit ]
多
many ; much ; a lot of ; numerous
街上 有 很 多 人 。 ― Jiēshàng yǒu hěn duō rén. ― There is a lot of people in the street
Antonym: 少
( after an amount ) over ; and more; more than
兩 年 多 / 两 年 多 ― liǎng nián duō ― more than two years
( after an amount but before the classifier ) as much as
100 多 MB ― 100 duō MB ― as much as 100 MB
十 幾 多 年 / 十 几 多 年 [Cantonese ] ― sap6 gei2 do1 nin4 [Jyutping] ― so many decades
( before a classifier ) multiple
Antonym: 單 / 单
多 個 方面 / 多 个 方面 ― duō ge fāngmiàn ― multiple facets
( used in comparison structure 得多 , 多了 ) much more; a lot more; far more
他 比 我 高 得 多 。 ― Tā bǐ wǒ gāo de duō . ― He is a lot taller than I am.
病人 今天 好 多 了 。 ― Bìngrén jīntiān hǎo duō le. ― The patient is much better today.
more
我 應該 多 運動 。/ 我 应该 多 运动 。 ― Wǒ yīnggāi duō yùndòng. ― I should exercise more .
冚 多 張 被 / 冚 多 张 被 [Cantonese ] ― kam2 do1 zoeng1 pei5 [Jyutping] ― put on one more blanket
今天 比 昨天 冷 ,得 多 穿 一 件 外套 。 [MSC , trad. and simp. ] Jīntiān bǐ zuótiān lěng, děi duō chuān yī jiàn wàitào. [Pinyin] Today is colder than yesterday, so you have to put on one more jacket.
extra ; in excess
佢 真係 好 易 醉 ,飲 多 兩 杯 啤酒 就 冧 咗 喇 。 [Cantonese , trad. ] 佢 真系 好 易 醉 ,饮 多 两 杯 啤酒 就 冧 咗 喇 。 [Cantonese , simp. ] keoi5 zan1 hai6 hou2 ji6 zeoi3 , jam2 do1 loeng5 bui1 be1 zau2 zau6 lam3 zo2 laa3 . [Jyutping] He gets drunk really easily. He passed out after drinking a few extra glasses of beer.
( used in question ) how ; how much ; what
你 到 學校 要 走 多 遠 的 距離 ? [MSC , trad. ] 你 到 学校 要 走 多 远 的 距离 ? [MSC , simp. ] Nǐ dào xuéxiào yào zǒu duō yuǎn de jùlí? [Pinyin] How far do you have to walk to get to school?
你 多 高 ? ― Nǐ duō gāo? ― How tall are you?
( emphasis in exclamations ) so ; how ; what
看 她 多 漂亮 啊 ! ― Kàn tā duō piàoliàng a! ― Look how pretty she is!
她 戴 的 帽子 多 可愛 呀 ! [MSC , trad. ] 她 戴 的 帽子 多 可爱 呀 ! [MSC , simp. ] Tā dài de màozǐ duō kě'ài ya! [Pinyin] What an adorable hat she is wearing! / The hat she is wearing is so adorable!
to have a lot
to have more; to have too much; to have too many
他 買 了 四 張 票 ,多 了 一 張 。 [MSC , trad. ] 他 买 了 四 张 票 ,多 了 一 张 。 [MSC , simp. ] Tā mǎi le sì zhāng piào, duō le yī zhāng. [Pinyin] He bought four tickets, which was one too many.
屋企 多 咗 一 個 人 。 [Cantonese , trad. ] 屋企 多 咗 一 个 人 。 [Cantonese , simp. ] uk1 kei2 do1 zo2 jat1 go3 jan4 . [Jyutping] The household has a new member.
( Cantonese ) few ; little
咁多 多 [Cantonese ] ― gam3 doe1 doe1 [Jyutping] ― just this much (meaning “just very few”)
Usage notes [ edit ]
( over, more than ) : When the number is smaller or equal to 10, 多 can be put after the measure word. If it is bigger than ten, 多 has to be put before the measure word.
( more ) : In Mandarin, 多 is usually placed before the verb, but in Cantonese, it is usually placed after the verb.
Synonyms [ edit ]
Dialectal synonyms of
多 (“many; much”)
[map]
( after an amount ) : 幾 / 几 (jǐ ); ( Min Nan ) 外
Dialectal synonyms of
多 (“how (to what degree)”)
[map]
Dialectal synonyms of
多麼 (“how; what; so; such”)
[map]
Variety
Location
Words
Classical Chinese
何等 , 何其 , 一何 , 何哉 , 何等也 , 何則
Formal (Written Standard Chinese )
多麼 , 何等 , 何其
Mandarin
Beijing
多麼 , 多
Taiwan
多麼 , 多
Jinan
多麼 , 多
Xi'an
多
Wuhan
幾 , 幾樣 , 好
Chengdu
好 , 多
Guilin
好
Yangzhou
多
Hefei
好
Malaysia
多
Singapore
多麼 , 多
Cantonese
Guangzhou
幾 , 幾咁
Hong Kong
幾 , 幾咁
Yangjiang
幾
Gan
Nanchang
幾
Hakka
Meixian
幾
Jin
Taiyuan
多麼 , 多來
Min Bei
Jian'ou
幾多
Min Dong
Fuzhou
若夥 , 若
Min Nan
Xiamen
偌 , 偌爾仔
Quanzhou
偌
Zhangzhou
偌 , 偌爾仔 , 偌仔爾
Taipei
偌爾 , 偌仔爾
Kaohsiung
偌爾 , 偌仔爾
Penang (Hokkien)
偌
Singapore (Hokkien)
偌
Manila (Hokkien)
偌
Chaozhou
若
Singapore (Teochew)
若
Wu
Shanghai
多少 , 幾化
Suzhou
幾化
Wenzhou
幾倈 , 幾恁
Xiang
Changsha
幾 , 幾多 , 好
Shuangfeng
幾 , 好
Compounds [ edit ]
Descendants [ edit ]
Others :
Etymology 2 [ edit ]
Pronunciation [ edit ]
Min Nan
(Hokkien : Xiamen , Quanzhou , Jinjiang , Taipei , Lukang , Kinmen , Magong , Hsinchu , Philippines , Singapore )
(Hokkien : Zhangzhou , Kaohsiung , Tainan , Yilan , Taichung )
(Hokkien : Lukang )
(Hokkien : Sanxia )
(Teochew )
Definitions [ edit ]
多
( Min Nan ) Alternative form of 濟 / 济 ( “ many ” )
Etymology 3 [ edit ]
Pronunciation [ edit ]
Definitions [ edit ]
多
( Cantonese ) Short for 多士 (“toast ”).
奶油多 [Cantonese ] ― naai5 jau4 do1 [Jyutping] ― toast with condensed milk and butter
Japanese [ edit ]
多
(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji )
many , much
Readings [ edit ]
Compounds [ edit ]
多( た ) • (ta- )
multi-
多( た ) 言( げん ) 語( ご ) 辞( じ ) 書( しょ ) ta gengojishomulti lingual dictionary
多 (eumhun 많을 다 ( maneul da ) )
Hanja form? of 다 ( “ many , a lot of ” ) .
Compounds [ edit ]
多國籍 (다국적, dagukjeok)
多口 (다구, dagu)
多力 (다력, daryeok)
多分 (다분, dabun)
多勢 (다세, dase)
多夫 (다부, dabu)
多妻 (다처, dacheo)
多幸 (다행, daheng)
多思 (다사, dasa)
多怯 (다겁, dageop)
多數 (다수, dasu)
多數決 (다수결, dasugyeol)
多樣 (다양, dayang)
多福 (다복, dabok)
Okinawan [ edit ]
多
(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji )
Readings [ edit ]
Vietnamese [ edit ]
Han character [ edit ]
多 : Hán Nôm readings: đa , nhật
chữ Hán form of đa ( “ multi- , poly- ” ) .
Nôm form of đi ( “ to go , to walk ” ) .
Nôm form of đa ( “ banyan ” ) .
Nôm form of da ( “ banyan ” ) .
Nôm form of da ( “ skin ” ) .
Nôm form of đưa ( “ to hand , to give ” ) .