左

左 U+5DE6, 左 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5DE6 ← 工 [U+5DE5] CJK Unified Ideographs 巧 → [U+5DE7]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

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

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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Chinese

simp. and trad.		左

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 左
Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (左) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
	Old Chinese
左	*ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls
佐	*ʔsaːls
袏	*ʔslaːls
蹉	*sʰlaːl
瑳	*sʰlaːl, *sʰlaːlʔ
搓	*sʰlaːl
磋	*sʰlaːl
溠	*sʰlaːl, *sraːl, *ʔsraːls
傞	*sʰlaːl, *slaːl
醝	*zlaːl
瘥	*zlaːl, *ʔsljal, *sʰreːls
鹺	*zlaːl
嵯	*zlaːl, *sʰral
嵳	*zlaːl
蒫	*zlaːl, *ʔsljal, *ʔslɯl
艖	*zlaːl, *sʰraːl
齹	*zlaːl, *sʰral, *zral
縒	*slaːlʔ, *sʰral, *sʰlaːɡ
褨	*slaːlʔ
嗟	*ʔsljal
差	*sʰraːl, *sʰraːls, *sʰreːl, *sʰreːl, *sʰreːls, *sʰral
鎈	*sʰraːl
槎	*zraːl, *zraːlʔ
髊	*zlals

Originally as 𠂇 in the oracle bone script: Pictogram (象形) – a left hand. Compare 又 (“right hand”).

Late bronze inscription forms show an added 工 (“work; to assist?”) component, i.e. the current form is a phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls): phonetic 𠂇 + semantic 工, representing the original form of 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): zuǒ (zuo³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄗㄨㄛˇ

  (Chengdu, SP): zo³

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zo²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chó
• Min Dong (BUC): cō̤
• Min Nan (POJ): chó / chó͘
• Wu (Wiktionary): tsu (T2)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: zuǒ
    • Zhuyin: ㄗㄨㄛˇ
    • Wade-Giles: tso³
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzuoo
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡su̯ɔ²¹⁴/
• • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: zo³
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: zo
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡so⁵³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: zo²
    • Yale: jó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzo²
    • Guangdong Romanization: zo²
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sɔː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chó
    • Hakka Romanization System: zo`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: zo³
    • IPA: /t͡so³¹/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: cō̤
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡so³³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, mainstream Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chó
    • Tâi-lô: tsó
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zoir
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡so⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡so⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡so⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡so⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sɤ⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chó͘
    • Tâi-lô: tsóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zor
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sɔ⁵⁵⁴/

Note:

• Quanzhou:
  • chó - vernacular;
  • chó͘ - literary.

• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: tsu (T2)
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sv̩ʷ³⁴/

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• Dialectal data▼

Variety	Location	edit 左
Mandarin	Beijing	/t͡suo²¹⁴/
	Harbin	/t͡suo²¹³/
	Tianjin	/t͡suo¹³/
	Jinan	/t͡suə²¹/
	Qingdao	/t͡suə²¹³/
	Zhengzhou	/t͡suo⁵³/
	Xi'an	/t͡suo⁵³/
	Xining	/t͡su⁵³/
	Yinchuan	/t͡suə⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/t͡suə⁴⁴²/
	Ürümqi	/t͡suɤ⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/t͡suo⁴²/
	Chengdu	/t͡so⁵³/
	Guiyang	/t͡so⁴²/
	Kunming	/t͡so⁵³/
	Nanjing	/t͡so²¹²/
	Hefei	/t͡sʊ²⁴/
Jin	Taiyuan	/t͡sɤ⁵³/
	Pingyao	/t͡ɕie̞³⁵/
	Hohhot	/t͡suɤ⁵³/
Wu	Shanghai	/t͡su³⁵/
	Suzhou	/t͡səu⁵¹³/
	Hangzhou	/t͡so⁵³/
	Wenzhou	/t͡sɤu³⁵/
Hui	Shexian	/t͡so³⁵/
	Tunxi	/t͡so³¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/t͡so⁴¹/
	Xiangtan	/t͡so⁴²/
Gan	Nanchang	/t͡so²¹³/
Hakka	Meixian	/t͡so³¹/
	Taoyuan	/t͡so³¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/t͡sɔ³⁵/
	Nanning	/t͡sɔ³⁵/
	Hong Kong	/t͡sɔ³⁵/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/t͡so⁵³/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/t͡so³²/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/t͡sɔ²¹/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/t͡so⁵³/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/to²¹³/

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• Middle Chinese: /t͡sɑ^X/, /t͡sɑ^H/▼

Rime
Character	左	左
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	精 (13)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	歌 (94)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	臧可切	則箇切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡saX/	/t͡saH/
Li Rong	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Wang Li	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zuǒ	zuò

• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter-Sagart): /*tsˤa[j]ʔ/, /*tsˤarʔ-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ʔsaːlʔ/, /*ʔsaːls/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	左	左	左
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zuǒ	zuǒ	zuǒ
Middle Chinese	‹ tsaX ›	‹ tsaX ›	‹ tsaH ›
Old Chinese	/*tsˤa[j]ʔ/	/*tsˤa[j]ʔ/	/*tsˤarʔ-s/
English	left (side)	assist	assist
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	左	左
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	18004	18006
Phonetic component	左	左
Rime group	歌	歌
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	左	佐
Old Chinese	/*ʔsaːlʔ/	/*ʔsaːls/

Definitions

左

1. left (direction)

   左手  ―  zuǒshǒu  ―  left hand

2. east; areas to the east
3. (historical) inferior position
4. unorthodox; wrong
5. erroneously; mistakingly

   你想左了。  ―  Nǐ xiǎng zuǒ le.  ―  You are mistaken.

6. different; divided; inconsistent
7. (politics) left-wing
8. (Sichuan, of singing) out of tune; off-key
9. (Southwestern Mandarin, including Sichuan) to exchange
10. A surname​.

Antonyms

• 右 (yòu, “right”)

Compounds

Derived terms from 左

• 不左不右
• 反左書／反左书
• 可操左券
• 如左右手
• 如持左券
• 左……右……
• 左不過／左不过
• 左丘 (Zuǒqiū)
• 左丞
• 左乙
• 左使
• 左來右去／左来右去
• 左側／左侧 (zuǒcè)
• 左傳／左传 (Zuǒzhuàn)
• 左傾／左倾 (zuǒqīng)
• 左列
• 左券 (zuǒquàn)
• 左券在握
• 左史
• 左右 (zuǒyòu)
• 左右兩難／左右两难
• 左右前後／左右前后
• 左右夾攻／左右夹攻
• 左右手
• 左右支絀／左右支绌
• 左右為難／左右为难
• 左右翼
• 左右袒
• 左右逢源
• 左右開弓／左右开弓
• 左嗓子
• 左圖右史／左图右史
• 左契
• 左學／左学
• 左宜右有
• 左師／左师

• 左徒
• 左心室
• 左思右想 (zuǒsīyòuxiǎng)
• 左性
• 左手 (zuǒshǒu)
• 左拾遺／左拾遗
• 左挈右提
• 左提右挈
• 左撇子 (zuǒpiězi)
• 左擁右抱／左拥右抱 (zuǒyōngyòubào)
• 左支右吾
• 左支右絀／左支右绌
• 左方
• 左書／左书
• 左榜右臂
• 左氏春秋
• 左江
• 左派 (zuǒpài)
• 左湊／左凑
• 左營／左营
• 左猜
• 左獄／左狱
• 左皮氣／左皮气
• 左縈右拂／左萦右拂
• 左纛
• 左翼 (zuǒyì)
• 左舷 (zuǒxián)
• 左行
• 左衝右突／左冲右突 (zuǒchōngyòutū)
• 左衽
• 左袒
• 左計／左计
• 左證／左证
• 左賢王／左贤王
• 左輔右弼／左辅右弼
• 左輪／左轮 (zuǒlún)

• 左轉／左转 (zuǒzhuǎn)
• 左近
• 左道 (zuǒdào)
• 左道旁門／左道旁门
• 左遮右攩
• 左遷／左迁 (zuǒqiān)
• 左邊／左边 (zuǒbiān)
• 左鄰右舍／左邻右舍 (zuǒlín-yòushè)
• 左鎮人／左镇人
• 左降
• 左面 (zuǒmiàn)
• 左顧／左顾
• 左顧右盼／左顾右盼
• 左首
• 弄左性
• 所謀輒左／所谋辄左
• 披髮左衽／披发左衽 (pīfàzuǒrèn)
• 持左券
• 操左券
• 旁門左道／旁门左道
• 江左
• 江左夷吾
• 淮左
• 牛心左性
• 男左女右
• 相左 (xiāngzuǒ)
• 穩操左券／稳操左券
• 羊左之誼／羊左之谊
• 虛左／虚左
• 虛左以待／虚左以待
• 被髮左衽／被发左衽
• 證左／证左
• 道左 (dàozuǒ)
• 鄰左／邻左
• 閭左／闾左
• 驗左／验左

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Japanese

Kanji

左

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: さ (sa)
• Kan’on: さ (sa)
• Kun: ひだり (hidari)

Alternative forms

• 㔫

Compounds

• 左遷 (させん) (sasen)
• 左官 (さかん) (sakan)
• 左派 (さは) (saha)
• 左右 (さゆう) (sayū)
• 左翼 (さよく) (sayoku)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
左
ひだり Grade: 1
kun'yomi

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

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) ひだり [hìdárí] (Heiban - [0])
  • IPA^(key): [çida̠ɾi]

Noun

左 (hiragana ひだり, rōmaji 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

   • 1999 August 10, “封ふう印いんされし者ものの左ひだり腕うで [Left Arm of the Sealed One]”, in 幻の召喚神 [Phantom God] (in Japanese), Konami:

     封 (ふう)印 (いん)された左 (ひだり)腕 (うで)。封 (ふう)印 (いん)を解 (と)くと、無 (む)限 (げん)の力 (ちから)を得 (え)られる。

     Fūinsareta hidariude. Fūin o toku to, mugen no chikara o erareru.

     A sealed left arm. Whosoever breaks the seal shall earn infinite power.

2. (politics) a leftist

Antonyms

• (left): 右 (みぎ) (migi, “right”)

Derived terms

• 左 (ひだり)側 (がわ) (hidarigawa)
• 左 (ひだり)利 (き)き (hidarikiki)
• 左 (ひだり)手 (て) (hidarite)
• 左 (ひだり)巻 (ま)き (hidarimaki)
• 左 (ひだり)上 (うえ) (hidariue)
• 左 (ひだり)下 (した) (hidarishita)
• 右 (みぎ)左 (ひだり) (migihidari)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
左
さ Grade: 1
on'yomi

Middle Chinese 左

Pronunciation

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) さ​ [sáꜜ] (Atamadaka - [1])
  • IPA^(key): [sa̠]

Noun

左 (hiragana さ, rōmaji 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

• Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, ISBN 978-4-00-080021-1, published 1980.

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Korean

Pronunciation

• Sound: [t͡ɕwɐ]
• Name: [øn]/[we̞n]

Hanja

左 • (jwa)

• Eumhun:
  • Sound (hangeul): 좌 (McCune-Reischauer: chwa, Yale: cwa)
  • Name (hangeul): 왼 (revised: oen, McCune-Reischauer: oen, Yale: oyn)

1. left (direction)

Derived terms

• 좌수사 (左水使, jwasusa)
• 좌승지 (左承旨, jwaseungji)
• 좌우 (左右, jwau)
• 좌우지간 (左右之間, jwaujigan)
• 좌익 (左翼, jwaik)
• 좌익수 (左翼手, jwaiksu)
• 좌의정 (左議政, jwauijeong)
• 좌지우지 (左之右之, jwajiuji)
• 좌천 (左遷, jwacheon)
• 좌측 (左側, jwacheuk)
• 좌향좌 (左向左, jwahyangjwa)

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Vietnamese

Han character

左 (tả, tá)

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