左

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

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

Descendants

• さ

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 325, character 8
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8720
• Dae Jaweon: page 626, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): 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
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States		Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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／形声, OC *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls) : phonetic 𠂇 () + semantic 工, representing the original form of 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”).

Etymology

Cognate with 佐 (OC *ʔsaːls, “to assist”) (< be on one's left side); mirror of the semantic relationship between 右 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “right”) and 佑 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “to assist”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Unrelated to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *b(w)aj (“left (hand)”) (STEDT).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 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. (Sichuanese, of singing) out of tune; off-key
9. (Southwestern Mandarin, including Sichuanese) to exchange
10. a surname

Usage notes

In communist publications, 左 is usually put in quotation marks when referring to something further to the left of the correct party line.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 左 (“left”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		左
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		左
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	左
	Taiwan	左
	Chengde	左
	Chifeng	左
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	左
	Heihe	左
	Qiqihar	左
	Harbin	左
	Jiamusi	左
	Baicheng	左
	Changchun	左
	Tonghua	左
	Shenyang	左
	Jinzhou	左
	Malaysia	左
	Singapore	左
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	左
	Tangshan	左
	Cangzhou	左
	Baoding	左
	Shijiazhuang	左
	Lijin	左
	Jinan	左
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Dalian	左
	Dandong	左
	Yantai	左
	Qingdao	左
	Zhucheng	左
Central Plains Mandarin	Lingbao	左
	Jining	左
	Wanrong	左
	Linfen	左
	Shangqiu	左
	Yuanyang	左
	Zhengzhou	左
	Xinyang	左
	Baihe	左
	Xi'an	左
	Baoji	左
	Tianshui	左
	Xining	左
	Xuzhou	左
	Fuyang	左
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	左
	Lanzhou	左
	Dunhuang	左
	Hami	左
	Ürümqi	左
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	左
	Nanchong	左
	Dazhou	左
	Hanyuan	左
	Xichang	左
	Zigong	左
	Chongqing	左
	Wuhan	左
	Yichang	左
	Xiangyang	左
	Tianmen	左
	Guiyang	左
	Zunyi	左
	Bijie	左
	Liping	左
	Zhaotong	左
	Dali	左
	Kunming	左
	Mengzi	左
	Guilin	左
	Liuzhou	左
	Jishou	左
	Changde	左
	Hanzhong	左
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	左
	Yangzhou	左
	Lianyungang	左
	Lianshui	左
	Nantong	左
	Anqing	左
	Wuhu	左
	Hefei	左
	Hong'an	左
Cantonese	Guangzhou	左
	Hong Kong	左
	Macau	左
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	左
	Singapore (Guangfu)	左
Gan	Nanchang	左
	Lichuan	左
Huizhou	Shexian	左
Jin	Taiyuan	左
	Yangyuan	左
	Datong	左
	Xinzhou	左
	Lüliang (Lishi)	左
	Changzhi	左
	Linhe	左
	Jining	左
	Hohhot	左
	Erenhot	左
	Pingshan	左
	Zhangjiakou	左
	Handan	左
	Linzhou	左
	Suide	左
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	左
Southern Min	Xiamen	倒
	Quanzhou	倒
	Zhangzhou	倒
	Taipei	倒
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	倒
	Kaohsiung	倒
	Yilan	倒
	Changhua (Lukang)	倒
	Taichung	倒
	Tainan	倒
	Hsinchu	倒
	Kinmen	倒
	Penghu (Magong)	倒
	Penang (Hokkien)	倒
	Singapore (Hokkien)	倒
	Manila (Hokkien)	倒
	Chaozhou	倒
	Shantou	倒
	Jieyang	倒
	Singapore (Teochew)	倒
	Wenchang	左
Zhongshan Min	Shaxi (Longdu)	左

Antonyms

• 右 (yòu, “right”)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (左):

• → Japanese: 左(さ) (sa)
• → Korean: 좌(左) (jwa)
• → Vietnamese: tả (左)

Others:

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

左

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: さ (sa, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: さ (sa, Jōyō)
• Kun: ひだり (hidari, 左, Jōyō)

Alternative forms

• 㔫

Compounds

• 左(さ)遷(せん) (sasen)
• 左(さ)官(かん) (sakan)
• 左(さ)派(は) (saha)
• 左(さ)右(ゆう) (sayū)
• 左(さ)翼(よく) (sayoku)

Etymology 1

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

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

Noun

左(ひだり) • (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], 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

Noun

左(さ) • (sa) 

1. the left in vertical writing
2. the following (one)
   • 1905–06, Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat (text here):

     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, published 1980, →ISBN.

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Korean

Pronunciation

• Sound: [t͡ɕwɐ]
• Name: [øn]/[we̞n]

Hanja

左 • (jwa)

• Eumhun:
  • Sound (hangeul): 좌
  • Name (hangeul): 왼
    

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

(deprecated template usage) 左 (tả, tá)

1. left (direction)