夜

See also: 亱

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

夜 (Kangxi radical 36, 夕+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 卜人弓大 (YONK), four-corner 0024₇, composition ⿱亠⿰亻⿴夂丶)

Derived characters

• 液

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 246, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5763
• Dae Jaweon: page 490, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 285, character 1
• Unihan data for U+591C

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		夜
alternative forms		亱 𠙑

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 夜
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
夜	*laːɡs
鵺	*laːɡs
迹	*ʔsleːɡ
跡	*ʔsleːɡ
亦	*laːɡ
弈	*laːɡ
奕	*laːɡ
帟	*laːɡ
腋	*laːɡ
掖	*laːɡ
焲	*laːɡ
液	*laːɡ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *laːɡs) : phonetic 亦 (OC *laːɡ) + semantic 夕 (“moon”).

The lower-right portion is a corruption/graphical variant of 夕; the remainder (亠 + 亻) is a reduced and distorted form of 亦, used phonetically.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-r(j)ak.

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 夜

1. night

   See also: 晚

2. occurring during the night
3. (Cantonese) late (in the night)

   我呢排晚晚都好夜先返屋企。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   ngo⁵ ni¹ paai⁴ maan⁵ maan⁵ dou¹ hou² je⁶ sin¹ faan¹ uk¹ kei^5-2. [Jyutping]

   Recently, I've been going home quite late in the night.

4. Classifier for the number of nights.

   三天兩夜／三天两夜  ―  sān tiān liǎng yè  ―  three days and two nights

Compounds

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

夜

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. night, nighttime

Readings

• Go-on: や (ya, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: や (ya, Jōyō)
• Kun: よ (yo, 夜, Jōyō); よる (yoru, 夜, Jōyō)
• Nanori: やす (yasu)

Compounds

Compounds

• 夜(や)夜(や), 夜(や)々(や) (yaya)
• 夜(や)陰(いん) (yain)
• 夜(や)間(かん) (yakan)
• 夜(や)行(ぎょう) (yagyō)
• 夜(や)勤(きん) (yakin)
• 夜(や)景(けい) (yakei)
• 夜(や)行(こう) (yakō)
• 夜(や)座(ざ), 夜(や)坐(ざ) (yaza)
• 夜(や)食(しょく) (yashoku, “night meal, midnight snack”)
• 夜(や)中(ちゅう) (yachū)
• 夜(や)半(はん) (yahan)
• 暗(あん)夜(や), 闇(あん)夜(や) (an'ya)
• 一(いち)夜(や) (ichiya)
• 雨(う)夜(や) (uya)
• 月(げつ)夜(や) (getsuya)
• 五(ご)夜(や) (goya)
• 今(こん)夜(や) (kon'ya)
• 昨(さく)夜(や) (sakuya)
• 終(しゅう)夜(や) (shūya)
• 初(しょ)夜(や) (shoya)
• 除(じょ)夜(や) (joya)
• 深(しん)夜(や) (shin'ya)
• 初(そ)夜(や) (soya)
• 昼(ちゅう)夜(や) (chūya)
• 通(つ)夜(や) (tsuya), 通(つう)夜(や) (tsūya)
• 徹(てつ)夜(や) (tetsuya)
• 日(にち)夜(や) (nichiya)
• 暮(ぼ)夜(や) (boya)
• 連(れん)夜(や) (ren'ya)
• 十六夜(いざよい) (izayoi, “sixteenth night of every month”)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
夜
よる Grade: 2
kun'yomi

⟨yo₁ru⟩ → */jʷoru/ → /joru/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *yoru.

Derived from yo below, suffixed with an element ru of unclear meaning. Compare 日 (hi, “day”) → 昼 (hiru, “daytime”), which seems to use this same ru element.

Now the most common term for night in modern Japanese.

Noun

夜(よる) • (yoru) 

1. night, evening

   東(とう)京(きょう)の夜(よる)

   Tōkyō no yoru

   Tokyo nights

   夜(よる)の街(まち)を歩(ある)く

   yoru no machi o aruku

   to walk the streets at night (lit. "to walk the night streets")

   不(ふ)安(あん)な夜(よる)を過(す)ごす

   fuan na yoru o sugosu

   to endure a night of anxiety

   (literally, “to pass an uneasy night”)

   夜(よる)の星(ほし)空(ぞら)を見(み)上(あ)げる

   yoru no hoshizora o miageru

   to look up at the night's starry sky

   Synonym: 夜間 (yakan)

   Antonym: 昼 (hiru)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 夜(よる)夜(よる), 夜(よる)々(よる) (yoruyoru)
• お夜(よる), 御(お)夜(よる) (o-yoru)
• 夜(よる)鶯(うぐいす) (yoru uguisu)
• 夜(ヨル)顔(ガオ) (yorugao)
• 夜(よる)席(せき) (yoruseki)
• 夜(よる)の御(お)殿(とど) (yoru no otodo)
• 夜(よる)の御(お)座(まし) (yoru no omashi)
• 夜(よる)の底(そこ) (yoru no soko)
• 夜(よる)の殿(との) (yoru no tono)
• 夜(よる)の帳(とばり)が下(お)りる (yoru no tobari ga oriru)
• 夜(よる)の錦(にしき) (yoru no nishiki)
• 夜(よる)昼(ひる) (yoruhiru)
• 夜(よる)夜(よ)中(なか) (yoru yonaka)
• 夜(よる)を昼(ひる)になす (yoru o hiru ni nasu)
• 小(こ)夜(よる) (koyoru)

Idioms

• 夜(よる)の衣(ころも)を返(かえ)す (yoru no koromo o kaesu)

Proper noun

夜(よる) • (Yoru) 

1. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
夜
よ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

⟨yo₁⟩ → /jʷo/ → /jo/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *yo.

In modern development, this term has taken on a more literary sense.

Noun

夜(よ) • (yo) 

1. (literary) night, evening

   『真(ま)夏(なつ)の夜(よ)の夢(ゆめ)』

   “Manatsu no Yo no Yume”

   A Midsummer Night's Dream

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 夜(よ)夜(よ), 夜(よ)々(よ) (yoyo)
• 夜(よ)上(あ)がり (yoagari)
• 夜(よ)明(あ)け (yoake)
• 夜(よ)風(かぜ) (yokaze)
• 夜(よ)着(ぎ) (yogi)
• 夜(よ)籠(ご)もる (yogomoru)
• 夜(よ)さり (yosari), 夜(よう)さり (yōsari)
• 終(よ)夜(すがら) (yosugara)
• 夜(よ)釣(づり), 夜釣(よづ)り (yozuri)
• 夜(よ)な夜(よ)な (yonayona)
• 夜(よ)中(なか) (yonaka)
• 夜(よ)長(なが) (yonaga)
• 夜(よ)の目(め) (yo no me)
• 夜(よ)一(ひと)夜(よ) (yo hitoyo)
• 夜(よ)更(ふ)け, 夜(よ)深(ふ)け (yofuke)
• 昨夜(よべ) (yobe), 昨夜(ようべ) (yōbe)
• 夜(よ)間(ま) (yoma)
• 終夜(よもすがら) (yomosugara)
• 夜(よ)も日(ひ)も明(あ)けない (yo mo hi mo akenai)
• 夜(よ)を明(あ)かす (yo o akasu)
• 夜(よ)を掛(か)く (yo o kaku)
• 夜(よ)を籠(こ)む (yo o komu)
• 夜(よ)半(わ) (yowa)
• 夜(よ)を徹(てっ)する (yo o tessuru)
• 夜(よ)を日(ひ)に継(つ)ぐ (yo o hi ni tsugu)
• 小(さ)夜(よ) (sayo)
• 千(ち)夜(よ) (chiyo)
• 月(つき)夜(よ) (tsukiyo), 月(つく)夜(よ) (tsukuyo)
• 一(ひと)夜(よ) (hitoyo)
• 闇(やみ)夜(よ) (yamiyo)

See also

• 夕(ゆう) (yū), 夕(ゆう)べ (yūbe)

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Korean

Hanja

夜 (eumhun 밤 야 (bam ya))

1. night

Compounds

• 심야 (深夜, simya, “midnight”)
• 야경 (夜景, yagyeong, “night view”)
• 야근 (夜勤, yageun, “night overtime”)
• 백야 (白夜, baegya, “midnight sun”)

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Oki-No-Erabu

Kanji

夜 (kun'yomi いぃーる, romaji yīru)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *yoru, from Proto-Japonic *yoru. Cognate with Japanese 夜 (よる, yoru, “night”).

Noun

夜 (hiragana いぃーる, romaji yīru)

1. night

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Okinawan

Kanji

夜

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

• On (unclassified): や (ya, Jōyō)
• Kun: ゆる (yuru, 夜); ゆー (yū, 夜)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
夜
ゆる Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From Proto-Ryukyuan *yoru, from Proto-Japonic *yoru. Cognate with Japanese 夜 (yoru, “night”).

Counter

1. nights

   一(ちゅ)夜(ゆる) ― chuyuru ― one night

   二(た)夜(ゆる) ― tayuru ― two nights

Noun

夜(ゆる) (yuru) 

1. night

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
夜
ゆー Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From Proto-Ryukyuan *yo, from Proto-Japonic *yo. Cognate with Japanese 夜 (yo, “night”).

Noun

夜(ゆー) (yū) 

1. night

References

• “ユル” in Haisai Okinawan Dialect.
• “ユル（ゆる）” in Okinawan Dialect Dictionary - Ajima.
• “ゆる” in Okinawan Dictionary - KozaWeb.
• Kokuritsu Kokugo Kenkyūjo (国立国語研究所) (1963) 沖縄語辞典 (Okinawa-go Jiten) [Dictionary of the Okinawan Language] (in Japanese), Tokyo (東京): Okurashō Insatsu Kyoku (財務省印刷局)
• “ユー” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).
• “ユル” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).

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Old Japanese

Etymology 1

From Proto-Japonic *yoru. Derived from yo₁ below, suffixed with an element ru of unclear meaning. Compare 日 (pi₁, “day”) → 昼 (pi₁ru, “daytime”), which seems to use this same ru element.

Used as a standalone noun but not in compounds.

Noun

夜 (yo₁ru) (kana よる)

1. night, evening
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 5, poem 807:
     , text here

     宇豆都仁波安布余志勿奈子奴婆多麻能用流能伊昧仁越都伎提美延許曽

     ututu ni pa apu yo₂si mo nasi nubatama no₂ yo₁ru no₂ ime₂ ni wo tugi₁te miye ko₂so₂

     There is no way to see you in reality. Please continue to appear in dreams of the night!

   Antonym: 昼 (pi₁ru)

Derived terms

• 夜昼 (yo₁rupi₁ru)

Descendants

• Japanese: 夜 (yoru)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Japonic *yo. First attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Used as both a standalone noun and in compounds.

Noun

夜 (yo₁) (kana よ)

1. night, evening
   • 711–712, Kojiki, poem 3:

     ...阿遠夜麻迩比賀迦久良婆奴婆多麻能用波伊傅那牟...

     ...awoyama ni pi₁ ga kakuraba nubatama no₂ yo₁ pa idenamu...

     As soon as the sun hides behind the verdant mountains, then jet-black night will come.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 夜烏 (yo₁garasu)
• 夜聲 (yo₁go₂we)
• 夜戸出 (yo₁to₁de)
• 夜鳴き, 夜泣き, 夜啼き (yo₁naki₁)
• 夜の悉 (yo₁ no₂ ko₂to₂go₂to₂)
• 夜更く (yo₁puku)
• 夜道, 夜路 (yo₁mi₁ti)
• 夜ら (yo₁ra)
• 雨夜 (amayo₁)
• 新た夜 (aratayo₁)
• この夜 (ko₂no₂ yo₁)
• 足り夜 (tariyo₁)
• 千夜 (tiyo₁)
• 二夜 (putayo₁)
• 百夜 (momoyo₁)
• 闇夜 (yami_(?)yo₁)
• 闇の夜 (yami_(?) no₂ yo₁)

Descendants

• Japanese: 夜 (yo)

Etymology 3

Attested in the Hizen-no-kuni Fudoki (c. 739 CE) and in the Man'yōshū (759 CE) as the Eastern Old Japanese variation of yo above.

Noun

夜 (yu) (kana ゆ)

1. (regional, Eastern Old Japanese) night, evening
   • c. 732-739, Hizen-no-kuni Fudoki (poem 1)

     志努波羅能意登比賣能古袁佐比登由母為禰弖牟志太夜伊幣爾久太佐牟

     sino₁para no₂ oto₂pi₁me₁ no₂ ko₁ wo sa-pi₁to₂yu mo inetemu sida ya ipe₁ ni kudasamu

     Once I've taken her, slept with her a single night―that little lady, the girl from the bamboo brakes―I'll send her down to her home.

     [Note: Some later manuscripts erroneously replace the man'yōgana 袁 (wo) with 素 (⟨so₁⟩ → so).]

See also

• 夕 (yupu)

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 夜 (dạ, dà)

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

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Yonaguni

Kanji

夜 (kun'yomi どぅる, romaji duru)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *yoru, from Proto-Japonic *yoru. Cognate with Japanese 夜 (よる, yoru, “night”).

Noun

夜 (hiragana どぅる, romaji duru)

1. night