文字

Chinese

		language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle	letter; symbol; character letter; symbol; character; word
simp. and trad. (文字)		文	字

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): wénzì

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): вынзы (vɨnzɨ, I-III)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ zi⁶
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): vùn-sṳ
• Eastern Min (BUC): ùng-cê
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): bûn-lī / bûn-jī

  (Teochew, Peng'im): bhung⁵ ri⁷

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wénzì
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúnzìh
    • Wade–Giles: wên²-tzŭ⁴
    • Yale: wén-dz̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wentzyh
    • Palladius: вэньцзы (vɛnʹczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən³⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: вынзы (vɨnzɨ, I-III)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /vəŋ²⁴ t͡sz̩⁴⁴/

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

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: man⁴ zi⁶
    • Yale: màhn jih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ dzi⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ ji⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ t͡siː²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: vùn-sṳ
    • Hakka Romanization System: vun^ˇ sii
    • Hagfa Pinyim: vun² si⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /vun¹¹ sɨ⁵⁵/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ùng-cê
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /uŋ⁵³⁻²¹ ^(t͡s-)ʒɛi²⁴²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-lī
    • Tâi-lô: bûn-lī
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bunli
    • IPA (Taipei): /bun²⁴⁻¹¹ li³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bun²⁴⁻²² li⁴¹/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ li³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /bun²⁴⁻²² li²²/
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-jī
    • Tâi-lô: bûn-jī
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bunji
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ zi³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bun¹³⁻²² d͡zi²²/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: bhung⁵ ri⁷
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bûng jī
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /buŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ d͡zi¹¹/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 文字

1. written symbols; writing; script; text; characters (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)
2. writing style wording; language (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)

Synonyms

• (writing): 筆墨／笔墨 (bǐmò), 翰墨 (hànmò)

See also

• 書寫系統／书写系统 (shūxiě xìtǒng)

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
文	字
もん Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
goon

From Middle Chinese 文字 (MC mjun dziH, literally “writing + character”). Compare modern Cantonese reading man⁴ zi⁶.

Noun

文(もん)字(じ) • (monji) 

1. a letter, a character (symbol for a sound or a word)
2. (linguistics) script, writing system
3. (specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
4. writing in general, written words
5. (by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
6. (by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
7. (by extension from the “writing” sense) studies

Usage notes

This reading is less common than moji, below.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
文	字
もん > も Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
irregular	goon

/mond͡ʑi/ → /mod͡ʑi/

Sound shift from monji above.

Noun

文(も)字(じ) • (moji) 

1. a letter or character (symbol for a sound or a word)
2. (linguistics) script, writing system
3. (specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
4. writing in general, written words
5. (by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
6. (by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
7. (by extension from the “writing” sense) studies
8. (chiefly Kansai) the tails side of a coin, the side with writing on it
9. (chiefly Kansai, by extension) a coin, money

Usage notes

This reading is more common than monji above.

The tails and coin, money senses are specific to this moji reading.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 顔(かお)文(も)字(じ) (kaomoji): smiley
• 絵(え)文(も)字(じ) (emoji): emoji (not to be confused with emoticon)
• 大(おお)文(も)字(じ) (ōmoji): uppercase letter
• 小(こ)文(も)字(じ) (komoji): lowercase letter
• キリル文(も)字(じ) (kiriru moji): Cyrillic letter
• 文(も)字(じ)通(どお)り (mojidōri): literal, literally
• 文(も)字(じ)化(ば)け (mojibake): corrupt characters or letters, especially from display or transfer through an inappropriate character set or encoding, e.g., •¶Žš‰»‚¯, which is a corruption of 文字化け

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Korean

Hanja in this term
文	字

Noun

文字 • (munja) (hangeul 문자)

1. hanja form^? of 문자 (“letter”)

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Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
文	字

Noun

文字

1. chữ Hán form of văn tự (“writing system, script”).