常

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See also: 𝌸
常 U+5E38, 常
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5E38
← 帷
[U+5E37] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 帹 →
[U+5E39]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
11 strokes

Han character[edit]

常 (radical 50, 巾+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 火月口中月 (FBRLB), four-corner 90227, composition ⿱尚巾 or ⿱龸吊)

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 333, character 12
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8955
  • Dae Jaweon: page 639, character 13
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 744, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+5E38

Chinese[edit]

simp. and trad.
 常
Wikipedia has an article on:
• Chang (surname) (English)

Glyph origin[edit]

Characters in the same phonetic series (尚) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
當 *taːŋ, *taːŋs
襠 *taːŋ
鐺 *taːŋ, *sʰraːŋ
簹 *taːŋ
璫 *taːŋ
檔 *taːŋ, *taːŋs
儅 *taːŋ, *taːŋs
蟷 *taːŋ
擋 *taːŋʔ, *taːŋs
黨 *taːŋʔ, *tʰaːŋʔ
讜 *taːŋʔ
欓 *taːŋʔ
譡 *taːŋs
闣 *taːŋs
瓽 *taːŋs
鏜 *tʰaːŋ
闛 *tʰaːŋ, *daːŋ
鼞 *tʰaːŋ
曭 *tʰaːŋʔ
儻 *tʰaːŋʔ, *tʰaːŋs
戃 *tʰaːŋʔ
矘 *tʰaːŋʔ
爣 *tʰaːŋʔ
攩 *hl'aːŋʔ, *ɦʷlaːŋʔ, *ɦʷlaːŋs
淌 *tʰaːŋʔ
倘 *tʰaːŋʔ
躺 *tʰaːŋʔ
趟 *tʰaːŋs, *rtaːŋ, *rtaːŋs
堂 *daːŋ
坣 *daːŋ
棠 *daːŋ
糛 *daːŋ
螳 *daːŋ
隚 *daːŋ
橖 *daːŋ
掌 *tjaŋʔ
廠 *tʰjaŋʔ, *tʰjaŋs
敞 *tʰjaŋʔ
僘 *tʰjaŋʔ
氅 *tʰjaŋʔ
常 *djaŋ
嘗 *djaŋ
裳 *djaŋ
徜 *djaŋ
尚 *djaŋ, *djaŋs
甞 *djaŋ
鋿 *djaŋ
嫦 *djaŋ
償 *djaŋ, *djaŋs
賞 *hjaŋʔ
瞠 *rtʰaːŋ
撐 *rtʰaːŋ
樘 *rtʰaːŋ
橕 *rtʰaːŋ
牚 *rtʰaːŋs
埫 *tʰoŋʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *djaŋ): phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 巾.

Pronunciation[edit]

Note:
  • siông/siâng - literary;
  • siûⁿ/siôⁿ - vernacular;
  • chhiâng - vernacular (only in 常在).
  • Dialectal data▼
Variety Location 常
Mandarin Beijing /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵/
Harbin /ʈ͡ʂʰaŋ²⁴/
Tianjin /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ⁴⁵/
/t͡sʰɑŋ⁴⁵/
Jinan /ʈ͡ʂʰaŋ⁴²/
Qingdao /tʃʰaŋ⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ʈ͡ʂʰaŋ⁴²/
Xi'an /ʈ͡ʂʰaŋ²⁴/
Xining /ʈ͡ʂʰɔ̃²⁴/
Yinchuan /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ⁵³/
Lanzhou /ʈ͡ʂʰɑ̃⁵³/
Ürümqi /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ⁵¹/
Wuhan /t͡sʰaŋ²¹³/
Chengdu /saŋ³¹/
Guiyang /saŋ²¹/
Kunming /ʈ͡ʂʰã̠³¹/
Nanjing /ʈ͡ʂʰaŋ²⁴/
Hefei /ʈ͡ʂʰɑ̃⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /t͡sʰɒ̃¹¹/
Pingyao /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ¹³/
Hohhot /t͡sʰɑ̃³¹/
Wu Shanghai /zɑ̃²³/
Suzhou /zã¹³/
Hangzhou /d͡zɑŋ²¹³/
Wenzhou /ji³¹/
Hui Shexian /t͡ɕʰia⁴⁴/
Tunxi /t͡ɕiau⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /ʂan¹³/
Xiangtan /ʂɔn¹²/
Gan Nanchang /sɔŋ⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /soŋ¹¹/
Taoyuan /ʃoŋ¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /sœŋ²¹/
Nanning /t͡sʰœŋ²¹/
Hong Kong /sœŋ²¹/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /siɔŋ³⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /suoŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /iɔŋ²¹/
Shantou (Min Nan) /siaŋ⁵⁵/
/siõ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Min Nan) /tiaŋ³¹/
/saŋ³¹/ 平時
Rime
Character 常
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 常 (25)
Final (韻) 陽 (105)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 市羊切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/d͡ʑɨɐŋ/
Pan
Wuyun 		/d͡ʑiɐŋ/
Shao
Rongfen 		/d͡ʑiɑŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/d͡ʑɨaŋ/
Li
Rong 		/ʑiaŋ/
Wang
Li 		/ʑĭaŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/ʑi̯aŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		cháng
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 常
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		cháng
Middle
Chinese 		‹ dzyang ›
Old
Chinese 		/*[d]aŋ/
English constant

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 常
Reading # 1/1
No. 11152
Phonetic
component 		尚
Rime
group 		陽
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		常
Old
Chinese 		/*djaŋ/

Definitions[edit]

常

  1. normal; general; common
  2. constant; invariable
  3. often; frequently
  4. 51st tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "constancy"
  5. A surname​.

Synonyms[edit]

Dialectal synonyms of 常常 (“often; frequently”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 經常、時常、常常、時時、往往、每每
Mandarin Beijing 常
Taiwan 常常
Jinan 常常、常、時常
Xi'an 常常、常、時常
Wuhan 帶常、時常
Chengdu 時常、常常、隨時
Yangzhou 常
Hefei 常
Cantonese Guangzhou 時時、長時、周時、遇時
Hong Kong 成日、經常、時時、周時、周不時
Hong Kong (Weitou) 經常
Yangjiang 周時
Gan Nanchang 千長、時常
Hakka Meixian 輒常、長時、時常
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 輒輒、輒常、長透、常常、時常、不時、時時
Liudui (S. Sixian) 輒輒、輒常、長透、登常、常常、時常、不時、時時
Hsinchu (Hailu) 輒輒、輒常、長透、常常、時常、不時、時時
Dongshi (Dabu) 輒輒、長在、輒常、常常、時常、不時、時時
Zhuolan (Raoping) 輒輒、常勻、輒常、長透、常常、時常、不時、時時
Yunlin (Zhao'an) 輒輒、不時、輒、恬恬、長透、時時
Hong Kong 長日
Jin Taiyuan 常常、時常
Min Dong Fuzhou 稠稠、稠、盡稠
Min Nan Xiamen 定定、長長、四常、時常、常常
Quanzhou 定定、長長、四常、時常、常常
Zhangzhou 定定、時常、常常
Chaozhou 長時
Wu Suzhou 時常、常時、常樁
Wenzhou 清清
Xiang Changsha 練常、打常、扯常
Shuangfeng 練常、常常

Compounds[edit]

Derived terms from 常

References[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

常

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. eternal, unchanging
  2. ordinary, usual
  3. continuation
  4. Hitachi Province

Readings[edit]

Compounds[edit]
Compounds

Etymology 1[edit]

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
Kanji in this term
常
じょう
Grade: 5
on’yomi

/d͡ʑau/ → /d͡ʑɔː/ → /d͡ʑoː/

From Middle Chinese 常 (MC d͡ʑɨɐŋ).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

常 (hiragana じょう, rōmaji jō, historical hiragana じやう)

  1. (obsolete) always, constantly, consistently

Noun[edit]

常 (hiragana じょう, rōmaji jō, historical hiragana じやう)

  1. a traditional Japanese unit of length, equal to one 丈 (jō, roughly three meters) and three 尺 (shaku, roughly one foot or thirty centimeters)

Etymology 2[edit]

Kanji in this term
常
きだ
Grade: 5
kun’yomi

*⟨ki1da⟩ → */kʲida/ → /kida/

First attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Cognate with root kiza in 刻む (kizamu, “to mince; to slice; to cut a thing into pieces; to groove, to nick, to notch”).[1]

Also sometimes read as kita.

Pronunciation[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

常 (hiragana きだ, rōmaji kida, alternative reading きた, rōmaji kita)

  1. (obsolete) a traditional Japanese unit of measure for the length of cut cloth, equal to one 丈 (jō, roughly three meters) and three 尺 (shaku, roughly one foot or thirty centimeters)
  2. (obsolete) a traditional Japanese unit of measure for the area of an agricultural field or paddy, equal to either 360 歩 (bu, around 1190 square meters), later reduced to 300 歩 (bu)/坪 (tsubo, almost 992 square meters)
    Synonym: 段 (tan)

Counter[edit]

常 (hiragana きだ, rōmaji -kida)

  1. counter for cuts or strips of something

Etymology 3[edit]

Kanji in this term
常
つね
Grade: 5
kun’yomi

/tune/ → /t͡sune/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū, compiled around 759 CE.[1] May be cognate with 綱 (tsuna, “thick rope; binding”), with underlying ideas of "connection, continuance".

Pronunciation[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

常 (-na inflection, hiragana つね, rōmaji tsune)

  1. (obsolete) eternal, permanent, consistent
  2. (obsolete) normal, everyday, regular, usual, ordinary
    Synonyms: 普段 (fudan), 普通 (futsū), 平素 (heiso)
Usage notes[edit]

This appears as an adjective in older texts with the classical attributive form tsune naru. When used attributively in modern Japanese, this term is used with the particle の (no) instead:

  • 常 (つね)の人 (ひと)
    tsune no hito
    everyday people, regular people

Modern Japanese does still use this term as an adverb, with particle に (ni):

  • このカメラは常 (つね)にオンになっている。
    Kono kamera wa tsune ni on ni natte iru.
    This camera is always on.
  • あの会社 (かいしゃ)はサービスが常 (つね)に悪 (わる)い。
    Ano kaisha wa sābisu ga tsune ni warui.
    That company has consistently bad service.

Derived terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

常 (hiragana つね, rōmaji tsune)

  1. constancy, continuance
  2. the ordinary, the everyday

Etymology 4[edit]

Kanji in this term
常
とこ
Grade: 5
kun’yomi

⟨to2ko2⟩ → */təkə/ → /toko/

From Old Japanese. Possibly cognate with 時 (toki, “time”).

The way the term is used in the historical record suggests that this was originally a noun. By the time of written Japanese, however, this term only appears in compounds, never on its own, and its usage is more as an adjective to modify other nouns.

Pronunciation[edit]

Prefix[edit]

常 (hiragana とこ, rōmaji toko-)

  1. eternal, forever, unchanging, everlasting
Usage notes[edit]

Only used in compounds. Attaches to nouns and other nominals, often (but not always) with the now-obsolete possessive particle つ (tsu).

Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms

Etymology 5[edit]

Kanji in this term
常
とことわ
Grade: 5
kun’yomi

/tokotoba/ → /tokotowa/

From Old Japanese. Read as tokotoba until the Heian period.[1][2]

Appears to be originally a compound of 常 (toko, “eternal”, see above) +‎ とわ (towa, “permanence, unchangingness”, from earlier とば toba).

This latter element is of unclear derivation. Some sources[1] indicate that towa as an independent term arose as a contraction of earlier tokotoba, suggesting the possibility that toba was initially a compound of particles と (to, adverbial particle) + は (wa, formerly ba, even earlier pa; topic particle). However, other sources[4] describe tokotowa as an intensified or emphatic form of towa.

Pronunciation[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

常 (-na inflection, hiragana とことわ, rōmaji tokotowa, historical hiragana とことは)

  1. (archaic, rare) permanent, eternal
    Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)
  2. (archaic, rare) usual, ordinary
    Synonym: 常 (tsune)
Usage notes[edit]

Listed in dictionaries[1][2][5] as a 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjective”). However, actual usage suggests that this was only used with particle に (ni) as an adverb, and never with particle な (na) or classical なる (naru) as an adjective. When this appears attributively, it is followed by particle の (no),[4] the usual construction when using a noun to modify another noun.

Noun[edit]

常 (hiragana とことわ, rōmaji tokotowa, historical hiragana とことは)

  1. (archaic, rare) permanence, eternity
    Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

Etymology 6[edit]

Kanji in this term
常
とわ
Grade: 5
kun’yomi

/toba/ → /towa/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Tales of Ise, likely dating to the early 900s CE. Pronounced as toba until the later Heian period.[1]

Ultimate derivation unknown. May be a contraction of earlier tokotoba (see above),[1] or may have been an independent term used to form tokotoba as a compound.[4]

Pronunciation[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Adjective[edit]

常 (-na inflection, hiragana とわ, rōmaji towa, historical hiragana とは)

  1. constant, permanent, everlasting
    Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)
Usage notes[edit]

Listed in some dictionaries[1][2][5] as a 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjective”); other sources[4] only list this as a 副詞 (fukushi, “adverb”). Historical usage suggests that this was only used with particle に (ni) as an adverb, and not with particle な (na) or classical なる (naru) as an adjective. When this appears attributively, it is followed by particle の (no),[2][5][4] the usual construction when using a noun to modify another noun.

Noun[edit]

常 (hiragana とわ, rōmaji towa, historical hiragana とは)

  1. constancy, permanence, everlastingness
    Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]

常 • (sang) (hangeul 상, revised sang, McCune–Reischauer sang)

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

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

常 (thường, sàn)

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