大

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See also: 犬, 太, 六, 丈, and ㅊ
大 U+5927, 大
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5927
← 夦
[U+5926] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 夨 →
[U+5928]
⼤ U+2F24, ⼤
KANGXI RADICAL BIG
← ⼣
[U+2F23] 		Kangxi Radicals ⼥ →
[U+2F25]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
3 strokes
Stroke order
大-order.gif

Han character[edit]

Commons-logo.svg
See images of
Radical 37 大

大 (radical 37, 大+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 大 (K), four-corner 40030 or 40800, composition ⿻一人 or ⿸𠂇㇏)

  1. Kangxi radical #37, ⼤.

Derived characters[edit]

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 248, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5831
  • Dae Jaweon: page 492, character 25
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 520, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+5927

Chinese[edit]

simp. and trad.
 大
alternative forms 亣
𠘲
Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 大 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 大 (Cantonese)

Glyph origin[edit]

Historical forms of the character 大
Shang Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu Slip and silk script Qin slip script Shizhoupian script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
大-bronze-shang.svg 大-oracle.svg 大-bronze.svg 大-bronze-spring.svg 大-bronze-warring.svg 大-silk.svg 大-slip.svg 大-zhou.svg 大-seal.svg 大-bigseal.svg
Characters in the same phonetic series (大) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
馱 *daːl, *daːds
大 *daːds, *daːds
忕 *tʰaːds, *daːds, *djads
太 *tʰaːds
汰 *tʰaːds
汏 *daːds, *tʰaːd
軑 *daːds, *deːds
釱 *daːds, *deːds
达 *tʰeːds
杕 *deːds

Ideogram (指事): a person 人 with arms stretched out as far as possible, implying the meaning of big/great/large.

Compare with 尢, which is a man with bent legs.

Compare also 文, which is a man with arms outstretched and a crest or tattoo on his chest, and to 夭, which is a man with arms outstretched and leaning to side (running).

Etymology[edit]

Three pronunciations can be found in Modern Standard Mandarin:

  1. Modern dà, from Middle Chinese dɑH, from Old Chinese *lˤaːts. The phonological development from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese is irregular. Original sense: "big" (Shijing). Derived senses: "size" (Mozi), "thick" (Zhuangzi), "to respect" (Mengzi), "to respect" (Xunzi), "to extol" (Gongyang Zhuan), "to exaggerate" (Classic of Rites), "arrogant" (Guoyu), "good" (I Ching), "(of time) long" (Erya), "senior" (Shijing).
  2. Modern dài, from Middle Chinese dɑiH, from Old Chinese *lˤaːts. This Middle Chinese pronunciation-preserving (i.e. literary) pronunciation occurs only in compounds such as 大夫 (dàifu, “doctor”) and 大王 (dàiwang, “(in operas, old novels) king; ringleader”).
  3. Modern tài, from Middle Chinese tʰɑiH, from Old Chinese *l̥ˤaːts. This is the ancient form of 太 (tài, “too, excessively”) and this orthographical usage is obsolete in modern languages.

Pronunciation 2), the diphthong reading, is traditionally regarded as the correct one. However, the monophthong reading 1) has been recorded as early as Han Dynasty, and Sui-Tang rhyme books record both. Both readings are reflected in Sino-xenic readings in non-Sinitic languages, although the diphthong readings dominate in compounds. Axel Schüssler postulates that all pronunciations can eventually be traced back to liquid initials, i.e. 1,2) **laːts, 3) **hlaːts.

The three pronunciations are cognate. Within Chinese, they are cognate with 太 (OC *tʰaːds, “too, excessively”), 泰 (OC *tʰaːds, “big”). Wang (1982) also lists 誕 (OC *l'aːnʔ, “big, magniloquent, ridiculous”) as a cognate, which Schuessler (2007) suggests is cognate with 延 (OC *lan, *lans, “to extend”) instead. There are no unambiguous Tibeto-Burman cognates. Proto-Tibeto-Burman *taj (“big”), from which came Written Tibetan མཐེ་བོ (mthe bo, “thumb”), Anong tʰɛ (“big; large; great”), Mikir tʰè, ketʰè ("id."), Burmese တယ် (tai, “very”), is often compared with. There is no final –s in the Tibeto-Burman words, but a –y, which, according to James Matisoff, "indicates emergent quality in stative verbs". Also compare Chinese 多 (OC *ʔl'aːl, “many, much”), 都 (OC *taː, “all”).

Pronunciation 1[edit]

Note:
  • daai6-2 - “only so big/old”;
  • daai6-1 - “small”.
  • Gan
    • Note: to5 - limited (e.g. 大(姑)娘, 大(姑)爺).
    Note:
    • tōa/tā - vernacular;
    • tāi - literary.
    Note:
    • dua7 - vernacular;
    • dai6 - literary.
  • Wu
    • Note:
    • 3du - vernacular;
    • 3da - literary.
  • Xiang
    • Note:
    • dai5 - vernacular;
    • da4 - literary.
    • Dialectal data
    Variety Location 大 (大小)
    Mandarin Beijing /ta⁵¹/
    Harbin /ta⁵³/
    Tianjin /tɑ⁵³/
    Jinan /ta²¹/
    Qingdao /ta²¹³/
    Zhengzhou /ta³¹²/
    Xi'an /ta⁴⁴/
    Xining /ta²¹³/
    Yinchuan /ta¹³/
    Lanzhou /ta¹³/
    Ürümqi /ta²¹³/
    Wuhan /ta³⁵/
    Chengdu /ta¹³/
    Guiyang /ta²¹³/
    Kunming /ta̠²¹²/
    Nanjing /tɑ⁴⁴/
    Hefei /ta⁵³/
    Jin Taiyuan /ta⁴⁵/
    Pingyao /tei³⁵/
    /tɑ³⁵/
    Hohhot /ta⁵⁵/
    Wu Shanghai /da²³/
    /du²³/
    Suzhou /dəu³¹/
    Hangzhou /dɑ¹³/
    /do¹³/
    Wenzhou /da²²/
    /dɤu²²/
    Hui Shexian /tʰa²²/
    /tʰo²²/
    Tunxi /tʰo¹¹/
    Xiang Changsha /ta⁵⁵/
    /tai¹¹/
    Xiangtan /dai²¹/
    Gan Nanchang /tʰo²¹/ ～娘,姑母
    Hakka Meixian /tʰai⁵³/
    Taoyuan /tʰɑi⁵⁵/
    Cantonese Guangzhou /tai²²/
    Nanning /tai²²/
    Hong Kong /tai²²/
    Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /to²²/
    /tua²²/
    Fuzhou (Min Dong) /tuɑi²⁴²/
    Jian'ou (Min Bei) /tuɛ⁴⁴/
    Shantou (Min Nan) /tai³⁵/
    /tua³¹/
    Haikou (Min Nan) /ʔda³⁵/
    /ʔdua²³/
    Rime
    Character 大 大
    Reading # 1/2 2/2
    Initial (聲) 定 (7) 定 (7)
    Final (韻) 泰 (25) 歌 (94)
    Tone (調) Departing (H) Departing (H)
    Openness (開合) Open Open
    Division (等) I I
    Fanqie 徒蓋切 唐佐切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/dɑiH/ /dɑH/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/dɑiH/ /dɑH/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/dɑiH/ /dɑH/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/dajH/ /daH/
    Li
    Rong         		/dɑiH/ /dɑH/
    Wang
    Li         		/dɑiH/ /dɑH/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/dʱɑiH/ /dʱɑH/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		dài duò
    Expected
    Cantonese
    Reflex         		daai6 do6
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 大 大
    Reading # 1/2 2/2
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		dà dà
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ daH › ‹ dajH ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*lˁat-s/ (MC F!) /*lˁa[t]-s/
    English big big

    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 大 大
    Reading # 1/2 2/2
    No. 1934 1939
    Phonetic
    component         		大 大
    Rime
    group         		祭 祭
    Rime
    subdivision         		1 1
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		䭾 大
    Old
    Chinese         		/*daːds/ /*daːds/

    Definitions[edit]

    大

    1. of great size; big; large; huge
      這個太大了！ / 这个太大了！  ―  Zhè ge tài dà le!  ―  This is too big!
      呢條褲好大條。 [Cantonese, trad.]
      呢条裤好大条。 [Cantonese, simp.]
      ni1 tiu4 fu3 hou2 daai6 tiu4. [Jyutping]
      This pair of pants is very big.
      Synonym: 鴻／鸿 (hóng) (literary)
      Antonym: 小 (xiǎo)
    2. big; great
      中美關係已有很大改善。 [MSC, trad.]
      中美关系已有很大改善。 [MSC, simp.]
      Zhōng Měi guānxì yǐ yǒu hěn dà gǎishàn. [Pinyin]
      Relations between China and America have improved greatly.
      漢語大詞典 / 汉语大词典  ―  Hànyǔ Dà Cídiǎn  ―  the Great Chinese Dictionary
    3. great of its kind
      昨天下大雨。  ―  Zuótiān xià dàyǔ.  ―  There was heavy rain yesterday.
      好大𠹻味 [Cantonese]  ―  hou2 daai6 zam6 mei6 [Jyutping]  ―  a very strong smell
    4. in an extreme manner; greatly
      大哭  ―  dà kū  ―  to cry violently
      大吃一驚 / 大吃一惊  ―  dàchīyījīng  ―  to be greatly shocked
      大不相同  ―  dà bù xiàngtóng  ―  to be greatly different
      你遇到這種情況，大可以走人哪。 [MSC, trad.]
      你遇到这种情况，大可以走人哪。 [MSC, simp.]
      Nǐ yùdào zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng, dà kěyǐ zǒurén na. [Pinyin]
      If you come across this kind of situation, you absolutely can leave.
      你可不知道，他昨兒過來大折騰了一場。好家伙，差點兒沒把這兒拆嘍！ [dialectal Mandarin, trad.]
      你可不知道，他昨儿过来大折腾了一场。好家伙，差点儿没把这儿拆喽！ [dialectal Mandarin, simp.]
      Nǐ kě bù zhīdào, tā zuór guòlai dà zhēteng le yī chǎng. Hǎojiāhuo, chàdiǎnr méi bǎ zhèr chāi lou! [Pinyin]
      You don't even know, yesterday he came over and wildly stirred up trouble. Oh my God, he almost tore this place apart!
    5. main; major
      他們將車一直開到大門口。 [MSC, trad.]
      他们将车一直开到大门口。 [MSC, simp.]
      Tāmen jiāng chē yīzhí kāi dào dà ménkǒu. [Pinyin]
      They drove right up to the main gate.
      他是一家石油公司的大股東。 [MSC, trad.]
      他是一家石油公司的大股东。 [MSC, simp.]
      Tā shì yījiā shíyóu gōngsī de dà gǔdōng. [Pinyin]
      He is a major stockholder in an oil company.
    6. well-known; successful (only applied to some occupations)
      大書法家 / 大书法家  ―  dà shūfǎjiā  ―  a well-known calligrapher
    7. mature; grown up
      See also: 老
      你多大了？  ―  Nǐ duō dà le?  ―  How old are you?
      她比他大。  ―  Tā bǐ tā dà.  ―  She is older than him.
      你隻狗係咁大㗎喇。 [Cantonese, trad.]
      你只狗系咁大㗎喇。 [Cantonese, simp.]
      nei5 zek3 gau2 hai6 gam3 daai6-2 gaa3 laa3. [Jyutping]
      Your dog isn't going to grow any older.
    8. (Cantonese) to grow up
      喺廣州大 / 喺广州大 [Cantonese]  ―  hai2 gwong2 zau1 daai6 [Jyutping]  ―  to grow up in Guangzhou
    9. (Cantonese) to be older than
      Antonym: 細／细 (xì)
      我大佢兩年。 / 我大佢两年。 [Cantonese]  ―  ngo5 daai6 keoi5 loeng5 nin4. [Jyutping]  ―  I am older than them by two years.
    10. (dialectal) father
    11. (dialectal) father's elder or younger brother
    12. (Cantonese) small
      咁大 [Cantonese]  ―  gam3 daai6-1 [Jyutping]  ―  so puny
    13. (Cantonese, slang) to intimidate; to threaten
      你大我呀？ [Cantonese]  ―  nei5 daai6 ngo5 aa4? [Jyutping]  ―  Are you trying to intimidate me?
    14. (Cantonese, euphemistic) number two
      我好急呀，要去大。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]
      ngo5 hou2 gap1 aa3, jiu3 heoi3 daai6. [Jyutping]
      I need to go number two.
    15. Short for 大學／大学 (dàxué, “university”). Used only in the abbreviation of the name.
      北大  ―  Běidà  ―  Peking University
    16. 45th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "greatness" (𝌲)
    17. A surname​.
    Synonyms[edit]
    Dialectal synonyms of 大 (“big; large”) [map]
    Variety Location Words
    Classical Chinese 大
    Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 大
    Mandarin Beijing 大
    Taiwan 大
    Jinan 大
    Xi'an 大
    Wuhan 大
    Chengdu 大
    Yangzhou 大
    Hefei 大
    Singapore 大
    Cantonese Guangzhou 大
    Hong Kong 大
    Yangjiang 大
    Singapore (Guangfu) 大
    Gan Nanchang 大
    Hakka Meixian 大
    Miaoli (N. Sixian) 大
    Liudui (S. Sixian) 大
    Hsinchu (Hailu) 大
    Dongshi (Dabu) 大
    Hsinchu (Raoping) 大
    Yunlin (Zhao'an) 大
    Jin Taiyuan 大
    Min Bei Jian'ou 大
    Min Dong Fuzhou 大
    Min Nan Xiamen 大
    Quanzhou 大
    Jinjiang 大
    Shishi 大
    Singapore (Hokkien) 大
    Manila (Hokkien) 大
    Chaozhou 大
    Chaoyang 大
    Singapore (Teochew) 大
    Singapore (Hainanese) 大
    Wu Suzhou 大
    Wenzhou 大
    Xiang Changsha 大
    Shuangfeng 大

    Compounds[edit]

    Derived terms from 大

    Descendants[edit]

    Sino-Xenic (大):
    • → Japanese: 大(だい) (dai)
    • → Okinawan: 大 (だー) (dā)
    • → Korean: 대 (大, dae)
    • → Vietnamese: đại (大)

    Pronunciation 2[edit]

    Note:
    • dà - variant used in 大王 (“ringleader; monarch”).
  • Cantonese
  • Hakka
  • Jin
  • Min Dong
  • Min Nan
    • Rime
    Character 大
    Reading # 1/2
    Initial (聲) 定 (7)
    Final (韻) 泰 (25)
    Tone (調) Departing (H)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) I
    Fanqie 徒蓋切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/dɑiH/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/dɑiH/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/dɑiH/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/dajH/
    Li
    Rong         		/dɑiH/
    Wang
    Li         		/dɑiH/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/dʱɑiH/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		dài
    Expected
    Cantonese
    Reflex         		daai6

    Definitions[edit]

    大

    1. Used in 大夫 (dàifu, “doctor”).
    2. Used in 大城 (Dàichéng, “Daicheng, Hebei”).
    3. Used in 大王 (dàiwáng, “(in operas, old novels) king; ringleader”).

    Compounds[edit]

    Derived terms from 大

    Pronunciation 3[edit]

    For pronunciation and definitions of 大 – see 太 (“too; so; etc.”).
    (This character, 大, is an ancient form of 太.)
    For pronunciation and definitions of 大 – see 泰 (“big; large; great; extensive; etc.”).
    (This character, 大, is an ancient form of 泰.)

    References[edit]

    Japanese[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    大

    (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    Readings[edit]

    Compounds[edit]

    Compounds

    Etymology 1[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    大
    だい
    Grade: 1
    on’yomi

    From Middle Chinese 大 (MC dɑiH).

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Prefix[edit]

    大(だい) • (dai-) 

    1. big, large
      大(だい)ピンチ
      dai-pinchi
      tremendous crisis
      大(だい)ヒットする
      dai-hitto suru
      to become a smash hit
    2. the large part of
    3. (religion) arch-

    Suffix[edit]

    大(だい) • (-dai) 

    1. Abbreviation of 大学 (daigaku, “university”).
      東(とう)大(だい) ― Tōdai ― Tokyo Univ.
      阪(はん)大(だい) ― Handai ― Osaka Univ.
      北(ほく)大(だい) ― Hokudai ― Hokkaido Univ.
      北(ほく)陸(りく)大(だい) ― Hokurikudai ― Hokuriku Univ.
    Usage notes[edit]

    This is often the first half two-character shorthand name of universities, for example 東大 (Tōdai, “Tokyo University”). Reading of first character often changes from kun'yomi to on'yomi.

    Derived terms[edit]

    Etymology 2[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    大
    おお
    Grade: 1
    kun’yomi

    /opo/ → /ofo/ → /owo/ → /oː/

    From Old Japanese 大 (opo), from Proto-Japonic *əpə.

    Prefix[edit]

    大(おお) • (ō-) ←おほ (ofo)?

    1. big; great
      大(おお)馬鹿(ばか)な
      ō-baka na
      extremely foolish
    Derived terms[edit]
    Related terms[edit]

    References[edit]

    1. ^ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    2. ^ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

    Korean[edit]

    Etymology[edit]

    From Middle Chinese 大 (MC dɑiH).

    Historical Readings
    Dongguk Jeongun Reading
    Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 땡〮 (Yale: ttáy)
    Middle Korean
    Text Eumhun
    Gloss (hun) Reading
    Sinjeung Yuhap, 1576 크다 (Yale: khuta) 대 (Yale: tay)

    Pronunciation[edit]

    • (in 大口, 大邱, 大斗, 大文, and 大田):
    • (big; main; etc.):
      • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [tɛ(ː)] ~ [te̞(ː)]
      • Phonetic hangul: [대(ː)/데(ː)]
        • Long vowel distinction only applies at the initial position. Most speakers no longer distinguish vowel length at any position.

    Hanja[edit]

    Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

    Wikisource

    大 (eumhun 큰 대 (keun dae))

    1. Hanja form? of 대 (“large; big”). [noun]
    2. Hanja form? of 대 (“big, great; main, major”). [affix]

    Compounds[edit]

    References[edit]

    • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

    Okinawan[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    大

    (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    Readings[edit]

    Compounds[edit]

    Compounds

    Etymology 1[edit]

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Prefix[edit]

    大 (hiragana でー, rōmaji dē-)

    1. big, large

    Etymology 2[edit]

    From Proto-Ryukyuan *opo, from Proto-Japonic *əpə.

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Prefix[edit]

    大 (hiragana うふ, rōmaji ufu-)

    1. big; great
    2. greater
    Derived terms[edit]
    Related terms[edit]

    Vietnamese[edit]

    Hán Tự[edit]

    大: Hán Việt readings: đại (度(đạc)柰(nại)切(thiết))[1][2][3]
    大: Nôm readings: đại[1][2][3][4], đài[1][2], dãy[3][5], dảy[3], đẫy[3]

    1. Hán tự form of đại (“big; great”).

    Compounds[edit]

    References[edit]

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nguyễn (2014).
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Trần (2004).
    4. ^ Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
    5. ^ Hồ (1976).
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