幾

See also: 几

Translingual

Han character

幾 (Kangxi radical 52, 幺+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 女戈竹戈 (VIHI), four-corner 2225₃, composition ⿻⿻𢆶戈人(G) or ⿹⿻𢆶戈人(HTJK))

Derived characters

• 機, 畿, 璣, 嘰, 䟇, 譏, 饑, 穖, 僟, 磯, 蟣, 𦠄, 𧰙, 𧗓, 𢇒, 𢇓

Descendants

• き (Hiragana character derived from Man'yōgana)
• キ (Katakana character derived from Man'yōgana)
• 𛀤
• 𛀥

Related characters

• 几 (In simplified Chinese)

Usage notes

In standards of Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, the 人 component in the lower left of 幾 touches but does not cross the horizontal stroke in the 戈 component. In standard of Mainland China, the top of the 人 component crosses over the horizontal stroke in the 戈 component.

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 342, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9208
• Dae Jaweon: page 652, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1095, character 8
• Unihan data for U+5E7E

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Chinese

trad.		幾
simp.		几*
alternative forms		㡬 𢆻 𢆼

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 幾
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (幾) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
機	*kɯl
譏	*kɯl
嘰	*kɯl
磯	*kɯl
鞿	*kɯl
饑	*kɯl
禨	*kɯl, *kɯls
幾	*kɯl, *kɯlʔ, *ɡɯl, *ɡɯls
鐖	*kɯl
僟	*kɯl
璣	*kɯl
蟣	*kɯlʔ, *ɡɯl
穖	*kɯlʔ
畿	*ɡɯl

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 𢆶 (“silk threads; little things”) + 戍 (“to guard against”) – watching over the fine details.

Note that the simplified form 几 (OC *krilʔ, “small table”) is also a traditional character on its own.

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): jǐ (ji³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧˇ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): җи (ži, II)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gei²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kí
• Eastern Min (BUC): gūi / gī
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): kúi / kí

  (Teochew, Peng'im): gui² / gi¹ / gua³

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁵ci

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jǐ
    • Wade–Giles: chi³
    • Yale: jǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jii
    • Palladius: цзи (czi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi²¹⁴/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: җи (ži, II)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi⁵¹/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gei²
    • Yale: géi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gei²
    • Guangdong Romanization: géi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kei̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kí
    • Hakka Romanization System: gi`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gi³
    • Sinological IPA: /ki³¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gūi / gī
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kui³³/, /ki³³/

Note:

• gūi - vernacular;
• gī - literary.

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kúi / kí
    • Tâi-lô: kuí / kí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kuie, kie
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kui⁵³/, /ki⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kui⁵⁵⁴/, /ki⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kui⁵³/, /ki⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kui⁵³/, /ki⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kui⁴¹/, /ki⁴¹/

Note:

• kúi - vernacular;
• kí - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: gui² / gi¹ / gua³
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kúi / ki / kuà
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kui⁵²/, /ki³³/, /kua²¹³/

Note:

• gui2 - vernacular;
• gi1 - literary;
• gua3 - variant.

• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁵ci
    • MiniDict: ci^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²ji
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡ɕi³⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: kj+jX

Rime
Character	幾
Reading #	3/4
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	微 (20)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	居狶切
Baxter	kj+jX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kɨiX/
Pan Wuyun	/kɨiX/
Shao Rongfen	/kiəiX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kɨjX/
Li Rong	/kiəiX/
Wang Li	/kĭəiX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ke̯iX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gei2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kəjʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kɯlʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	幾
Reading #	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ kjɨjX ›
Old Chinese	/*kəjʔ/
English	few; how many
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	幾
Reading #	2/4
No.	5800
Phonetic component	幾
Rime group	微
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	蟣
Old Chinese	/*kɯlʔ/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 幾

1. how much; how many

   幾位？／几位？  ―  Jǐwèi?  ―  How many people [e.g. when entering restaurants]?

   • 你要幾瓶？／你要几瓶？  ―  Nǐ yào jǐ píng?  ―  How many bottles do you want?

   • 你會說幾種語言？ [MSC, trad.]
     你会说几种语言？ [MSC, simp.]

     Nǐ huì shuō jǐ zhǒng yǔyán? [Pinyin]

     How many languages do you speak?

2. (of number, time, date) what; which
   • 幾點鐘了？／几点钟了？  ―  Jǐ diǎnzhōng le?  ―  What time is it?
   • 今天幾號？／今天几号？  ―  Jīntiān jǐ hào?  ―  What's the date today?
   • 你幾號？／你几号？  ―  Nǐ jǐ hào?  ―  What's your number?
3. a few; some; several

   • 我邊等邊瀏覽幾本雜誌。 [MSC, trad.]
     我边等边浏览几本杂志。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ biān děng biān liúlǎn jǐ běn zázhì. [Pinyin]

     I browsed through some magazines while I waited.

   • 幾天后他將回來。 [MSC, trad.]
     几天后他将回来。 [MSC, simp.]

     Jǐ tiān hòu tā jiāng huílái. [Pinyin]

     He will be back in a few days.

4. (of numeral amounts) some; something; odd
   • 八十幾年／八十几年  ―  bāshí jǐ nián  ―  eighty-something years; eighty-odd years
5. (Cantonese) quite; rather; really; very; pretty
   • 幾好睇／几好睇 [Cantonese]  ―  gei² hou² tai² [Jyutping]  ―  quite good-looking

   • 嗰時我媽媽就要一支支噉啲衣裳竹呢，就掛住啲衫要用佢插落去。幾辛苦㗎，有事會跌啲竹落街㗎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     嗰时我妈妈就要一支支噉啲衣裳竹呢，就挂住啲衫要用佢插落去。几辛苦㗎，有事会跌啲竹落街㗎。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: [1]

     go² si⁴ ngo⁵ maa^1-4 maa¹ zau⁶ jiu³ jat¹ zi¹ zi¹ gam² di¹ ji¹ soeng⁴ zuk¹ ne¹, zau⁶ gwaa³ zyu⁶ di¹ saam¹ jiu³ jung⁶ keoi⁵ caap³ lok⁶ heoi³. gei² san¹ fu² gaa³, jau⁵ si⁶ wui⁵ dit³ di¹ zuk¹ lok⁶ gaai¹ gaa³. [Jyutping]

     My mother used to take bamboo poles like those, hang clothes on them and poke them down. It was rather difficult, and sometimes they would fall into the street.

   • 你冇女朋友？梗係唔信啦！冇理由㗎。你…幾好呀！ [Cantonese, trad.]
     你冇女朋友？梗系唔信啦！冇理由㗎。你…几好呀！ [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: (deprecated template usage) 陳慧嫻, (deprecated template usage) 紅茶館

     nei⁵ mou⁵ neoi⁵ pang⁴ jau⁵? gang² hai⁶ m⁴ seon³ laa¹! mou⁵ lei⁵ jau⁴ gaa³. nei⁵... gei² hou² aa³! [Jyutping]

     You don't have a girlfriend? Of course I don't believe you! Impossible. You're… not bad!

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 多少 (“how many; how much”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		幾, 幾何, 幾多, 幾許, 多少
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		多少
Mandarin	Beijing	多少
	Taiwan	多少
	Jinan	多少
	Xi'an	多少
	Wuhan	幾多, 好多
	Chengdu	好多
	Guilin	好多
	Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine)	幾, 幾多
	Yangzhou	多少
	Hefei	好些, 好多
	Singapore	多少
Cantonese	Guangzhou	幾多, 幾
	Hong Kong	幾多, 幾
	Taishan	幾多
	Yangjiang	幾多, 幾
	Singapore (Guangfu)	幾多, 幾
Gan	Nanchang	幾多
Hakka	Meixian	幾多
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	幾多
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	幾多
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	幾多
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	幾多
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	幾多
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	幾多
Jin	Taiyuan	多少
Northern Min	Jian'ou	幾多
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	若夥
	Singapore (Fuqing)	若夥
Southern Min	Xiamen	偌濟
	Quanzhou	偌濟
	Shishi	偌濟
	Zhangzhou	偌濟
	Zhao'an	偌濟
	Tainan	偌濟, 幾
	Penang (Hokkien)	幾
	Singapore (Hokkien)	偌濟, 幾
	Manila (Hokkien)	偌濟, 幾
	Chaozhou	若濟
	Shantou	若濟
	Jieyang	若濟
	Pontianak (Teochew)	若濟
	Haikou	偌濟
Wu	Shanghai	多少, 幾化, 幾多化 dated
	Shanghai (Qingpu)	幾好
	Shanghai (Jiading)	幾漢
	Shanghai (Chongming)	多話
	Suzhou	幾化
	Wuxi	幾化
	Ningbo	多少
	Wenzhou	幾倈兒, 幾倈
	Lishui	幾粒
	Qingyuan	多
Xiang	Changsha	好多
	Xiangtan	幾, 幾多
	Shuangfeng	好多, 幾多

• (Cantonese: quite) 挺 (tǐng), 頗／颇 (pō)

Descendants

• → Northern Thai: ᨠᩦ᩵
• → Khün: ᨠᩦ᩵
• → Lü: ᦂᦲᧈ (k̇ii¹)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jī (ji¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gei¹
• Eastern Min (BUC): gĭ
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): ki / kí

  (Teochew, Peng'im): gi¹

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹ci

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jī
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ji
    • Wade–Giles: chi¹
    • Yale: jī
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ji
    • Palladius: цзи (czi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gei¹
    • Yale: gēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: géi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kei̯⁵⁵/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gĭ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ki⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ki
    • Tâi-lô: ki
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ky
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /ki⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ki³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kí
    • Tâi-lô: kí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kie
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /ki⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ki⁴¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ki⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: gi¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ki
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ki³³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹ci
    • MiniDict: ci^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ji
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡ɕi⁵³/

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• Middle Chinese: kj+j

Rime
Character	幾
Reading #	2/4
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	微 (20)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	居依切
Baxter	kj+j
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kɨi/
Pan Wuyun	/kɨi/
Shao Rongfen	/kiəi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kɨj/
Li Rong	/kiəi/
Wang Li	/kĭəi/
Bernard Karlgren	/ke̯i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gei1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kəj/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kɯl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	幾
Reading #	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jī
Middle Chinese	‹ kjɨj ›
Old Chinese	/*kəj/
English	small; almost
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	幾
Reading #	1/4
No.	5795
Phonetic component	幾
Rime group	微
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	機
Old Chinese	/*kɯl/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 幾

1. ^† fine; slight; minute
2. ^† dangerous
3. ^† (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 機／机 (jī, “governmental affairs”).
4. ^† symptom of a trend; omen
5. almost; nearly

Pronunciation 3

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jī (ji¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gei¹
• Eastern Min (BUC): gĭ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jī
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ji
    • Wade–Giles: chi¹
    • Yale: jī
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ji
    • Palladius: цзи (czi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gei¹
    • Yale: gēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: géi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kei̯⁵⁵/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gĭ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ki⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: gj+j

Rime
Character	幾
Reading #	1/4
Initial (聲)	群 (30)
Final (韻)	微 (20)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	渠希切
Baxter	gj+j
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɡɨi/
Pan Wuyun	/ɡɨi/
Shao Rongfen	/ɡiəi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/gɨj/
Li Rong	/ɡiəi/
Wang Li	/ɡĭəi/
Bernard Karlgren	/ge̯i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	qí
Expected Cantonese Reflex	kei4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡɯl/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	幾
Reading #	3/4
No.	5804
Phonetic component	幾
Rime group	微
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	祈
Old Chinese	/*ɡɯl/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 幾

1. ^† to be near; to reach; to attain; to achieve

Pronunciation 4

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jì (ji⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jì
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jì
    • Wade–Giles: chi⁴
    • Yale: jì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jih
    • Palladius: цзи (czi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi⁵¹/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 幾

1. ^† (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 冀 (jì, “to hope; to look forward to”).
2. ^† (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 紀／纪 (jǐ, “age; year”).

Further reading

• “Entry #8349”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

幾

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: け (ke)
• Kan-on: き (ki, Jōyō)
• Kun: いく (iku, 幾, Jōyō); いくつ (ikutsu, 幾つ); いくら (ikura, 幾ら)
• Nanori: い (i); く (ku)

Compounds

• 幾(いく)程(ほど) (ikuhodo, “how many, how much”)
• 幾(いく)つ (ikutsu, “how old”)
• 幾(いく)ら (ikura, “how many”)
• 幾(いく)人(にん) (ikunin), 幾(いく)人(たる) (ikutaru, “number of people”)
• 幾(き)何(か) (kika), 幾(いく)何(ばく) (ikubaku, “geometry”)
• 幾(き)何(か)学(がく) (kikagaku, “geometry (study of)”)

• 幾(いく)夜(よ) (ikuyo, “number of nights”)
• 幾(いく)夜(よ)も (ikuyo mo, “for several nights”)
• 幾(いく)分(ぶん) (ikubun, “partially”)
• 幾(いく)千(せん) (ikusen, “thousands”)
• 幾(いく)日(にち) (ikunichi, “how many days”)

• 幾(いく)日(にち)も (ikunichi mo, “for some days”)
• 幾(いく)度(ど) (ikudo), 幾(いく)度(たび) (ikutabi, “how often”)
• 幾(いく)度(ど)も (ikudo mo, “frequently”)
• 幾(いく)許(ばく) (ikubaku, “how much”)
• 幾(いく)許(ばく)も無(な)く (ikubaku mo naku, “before long”)

Noun

幾(いく) • (iku) 

1. some, several

Prefix

幾(いく) or 幾(prefix) • (iku or prefix) [[Category:Japanese
|いく]]

1. how many, how much

   幾(いく)箱(はこ)要(い)りますか。

   Iku-hako irimasu ka.

   How many boxes do you want?

2. some, several, having an indefinite number or quantity

   幾(いく)千(せん)と云(い)う人(ひと)

   iku-sen to iu hito

   several thousand people

3. some, many, having a considerable number

   幾(いく)日(にち)も行(い)っていた。

   Iku-nichi mo itte ita.

   I was gone for many days.

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Korean

Hanja

幾 • (gi) (hangeul 기)

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 幾 (cơ, kỉ, ki)

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