李

See also: 季

Character	李 U+674E, 李
Name	CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-674E
Block	CJK Unified Ideographs
← 杍 [U+674D] [U+674F] 杏 →

Translingual

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *rɯʔ): semantic 木 ‎(“tree”) + phonetic 子 ‎(OC *ʔslɯʔ)

Han character

李 (radical 75 木+3, 7 strokes, cangjie input 木弓木 (DND), four-corner 4040₇, composition ⿱木子)

1. plum tree
2. the fruit of the plum
3. judge

References

• KangXi: page 511, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14459
• Dae Jaweon: page 895, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1162, character 8
• Unihan data for U+674E

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		李

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǐ (li³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lei⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): lí
• Min Nan (POJ): lí

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: lǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄧˇ
    • Wade-Giles: lih³
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lii
    • IPA ^(key): /li²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: lei⁵
    • Yale: léih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lei⁵
    • IPA ^(key): /lei̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: lí
    • Hakka Romanization System: li`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: li³
    • IPA: /li³¹/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lí
    • Tâi-lô: lí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lie
    • IPA (Taipei): /li⁵³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /li⁵³/

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• Dialectal data▼

Variety	Location	edit 李
Mandarin	Beijing	/li²¹⁴/
	Harbin	/li²¹³/
	Tianjin	/li¹³/
	Jinan	/li⁵⁵/
	Qingdao	/li⁵⁵/
	Zhengzhou	/li⁵³/
	Xi'an	/li⁵³/
	Xining	/l̩⁵³/
	Yinchuan	/li⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/li⁴⁴²/
	Ürümqi	/li⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/ni⁴²/
	Chengdu	/ni⁵³/
	Guiyang	/ni⁴²/
	Kunming	/li⁵³/
	Nanjing	/li²¹²/
	Hefei	/zz̩²⁴/
Jin	Taiyuan	/li⁵³/
	Pingyao	/li⁵³/
	Hohhot	/li⁵³/
Wu	Shanghai	/li²³/
	Suzhou	/li³¹/
	Hangzhou	/li⁵³/
	Wenzhou	/lei³⁵/
Hui	Shexian	/li³⁵/
	Tunxi	/li²⁴/
Xiang	Changsha	/li⁴¹/
	Xiangtan	/ni⁴²/
Gan	Nanchang	/li²¹³/
Hakka	Meixian	/li³¹/
	Taoyuan	/li³¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/lei²³/
	Nanning	/li²⁴/
	Hong Kong	/lei¹³/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/li⁵³/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/li³²/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/li²¹/ /sɛ⁴⁴/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/li⁵³/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/li²¹³/

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• Middle Chinese: /lɨ^X/▼

Rime
Character	李
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	良士切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/lɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/lɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/lieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lɨX/
Li Rong	/liəX/
Wang Li	/lĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/liX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lǐ

• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter-Sagart): /*C.rəʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*rɯʔ/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	李
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	lǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ liX ›
Old Chinese	/*C.rəʔ/
English	plum
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	李
Reading #	1/1
No.	17869
Phonetic component	子
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	里
Old Chinese	/*rɯʔ/

Noun

李

1. plum

Proper noun

李

1. A surname​, listed fourth in the Baijiaxing

Usage notes

In mainland China or among its expatriates, this name is generally romanized "Li" in accordance with the Hanyu Pinyin system. Although an identical transliteration is used in Wade-Giles, similarity to the English name has made the romanization "Lee" more common in Hong Kong and Taiwan. A notable example to this is Bruce Lee.

Descendants

• English: Li, Lee
• Tagalog: (from Hokkien) Sy

References

• (Hakka) Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

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Japanese

Kanji

李

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. plum

Readings

• Goon: り (ri)
• Kan’on: り (ri)
• Kun: すもも (sumomo)
• Nanori: もも (momo), い (i)

Noun

李 ‎(hiragana すもも, romaji sumomo)

1. plum (Prunus salicina)

Alternative forms

• 酸桃

Proper noun

李 ‎(katakana リ, hiragana り, romaji Ri)

1. Japanese reading of the Chinese or Korean surname.

李 ‎(katakana リー, hiragana りい, romaji Rī)

1. Japanese reading of the Chinese surname.

李 ‎(katakana イ, hiragana い, romaji I)

1. Japanese reading of the Korean surname.

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Korean

Hanja

李 • ‎(ri, i)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 리, 이 (revised: Lee, (NK) ri, Rhee, (SK) i, I, McCune-Reischauer: (NK) ri, (SK) i, Yi, Yale: (NK) li, (SK) i)

• Name (hangeul): 자두(Jadu)()

1. (North Korea) 리, (South Korea) 이: the second most common surname in Korea
2. (North Korea) 리, (South Korea) 이: plum

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Vietnamese

Han character

李 (lí)

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

References

• Nom Foundation