左

Translingual

Stroke order

Etymology

左 is a combined form of 工, meaning work, and two other strokes that signify hand (compare 又). The left hand works together with the right hand when doing a task.

Han character

左 (radical 48 工+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 大一 (KM), four-corner 4001₁, composition ⿸𠂇工)

1. left
2. east
3. unorthodox, improper
4. a surname

Descendants

• さ

References

• KangXi: page 325, character 8
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8720
• Dae Jaweon: page 626, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 411, character 5
• Unihan data for U+5DE6

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Cantonese

Hanzi

左 (Jyutping zo2, Yale jo2)

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Japanese

Etymology 1

/hidari/: *[pidari] → [ɸidari] → [çidari].

Kanji

左

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: さ (sa)
• Kan’on: さ (sa)
• Kun: ひだり (hidari), もとる (motoru), たすける (tasukeru)

Compounds

• 左遷 (sasen)
• 左官 (sakan)
• 左派 (saha)
• 左右 (sayū)
• 左翼 (sayoku)
• 左側 (hidarigawa)
• 左利き (hidarikiki)
• 左手 (hidarite)
• 左巻き (hidarimaki)

Etymology 2

Noun

左 (hiragana ひだり, romaji hidari)

1. (direction) left, the side of the left hand
   • 1603–1604: Nippo Jisho (page 229)

     Fidari. ヒダリ (左) 左手, または, 左の方

2. (politics) a leftist

Antonyms

• (left): 右 (migi, “right”)

Etymology 3

Noun

左 (hiragana さ, romaji sa)

1. the left in vertical writing
2. the following (one)
   • 1905, Natsume Sōseki, 吾輩は猫である:

     吾輩 (わがはい)はまず彼 (かれ)がどのくらい無学 (むがく)であるかを試 (ため)してみようと思 (おも)って左 (さ)の問答 (もんどう)をして見 (み)た。

     wagahai wa mazu kare ga dono kurai mugaku de aru ka o tameshite miyō to omotte sa no mondō o shite mita.

     To judge just how uneducated he was, I posed the following question.

References

• 1980 April 18 [1603–1604], Tadao Doi, Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, ISBN 4-0008-0021-3:

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Korean

Hanja

左 (jwa)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 좌 (revised: jwa, McCune-Reischauer: chwa)

• Name (hangeul): 左()

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Mandarin

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Hanzi

左 (Pinyin zuǒ (zuo3), Wade-Giles tso³)

Compounds

• 左榜右臂
• 左边, 左边儿
• 左不过
• 左侧
• 左道旁门
• 左顾右盼
• 左近
• 左邻右舍
• 左轮
• 左面
• 左派
• 左撇子
• 左倾
• 左手
• 左首, 左首儿
• 左舷
• 左翼
• 左右
• 左…右…
• 左右逢源
• 左右开弓
• 左右手
• 左右为难
• 左证
• 左支右绌

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Min Nan

Hanzi

左 (TLPA tsó (tso²))

References

• Taiwan Min Nan Common Words Dictionary (臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典)

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Vietnamese

Han character

左 (tả, tá, huy)