林

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

林 (Kangxi radical 75, 木+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 木木 (DD), four-corner 4499₀, composition ⿰木木)

Derived characters

• 㑣, 啉, 𡍚, 㛦, 崊, 㣩, 惏, 㨆, 淋, 晽, 𦝃, 𤊩, 琳, 䢞, 𪾭, 碄, 綝(𬘭), 諃, 𨂕, 醂, 𧇨, 𪳻, 𮨭(𬱾), 𣒜, 彬, 郴, 㪔, 𬃂, 𬃴, 䫐(𬃲), 𠓭, 冧, 𠩵, 㚞, 㝝, 𡹇, 麻, 𣇰, 森, 菻, 𠄻, 痳, 罧, 𥦝, 𪩦, 𦋗, 箖, 𧇃, 𤾓, 䦥, 霖, 𧇥, 𠐙, 𬴫, 𪎦, 𣟒
• 𣑽, 𫦯, 㭝, 𠵂, 埜, 梦, 𡘽, 婪, 𡹚, 梵, 梺, 椘, 𢛓, 𫿱, 𣈅, 𣓏, 𪵝, 焚, 㷊, 棼, 棽, 棾, 𣓕, 𣓴, 𪲡, 𬂽, 榃, 楚, 𥁹, 𥓙, 禁, 𣕯, 𣕽, 𣕾, 𪲵, 𫱒, 𬃕, 𬃚, 𧛀, 𧩋, 𧯴, 𧼖, 䠂, 辳, 㯄, 𧹫, 𪳟, 𨨗, 樷, 㯟, 㯬, 𪳯, 𬄜, 檒(𮨴), 𣜕, 𨤳, 𪳽, 𬄰, 𩤆, 𣝹, 㰈, 𬷞, 麓, 𧰔, 𬅐, 𬅛, 𮟝, 𣫓

Further reading

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 516, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14551
• Dae Jaweon: page 903, character 19
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1164, character 7
• Unihan data for U+6797

• Unihan data for U+F9F4

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		林

Glyph origin

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

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

	Old Chinese
婪	*ɡ·ruːm
惏	*ɡ·ruːm
啉	*ɡ·ruːm
漤	*ɡ·ruːmʔ
醂	*ɡ·ruːmʔ
林	*ɡ·rɯm
琳	*ɡ·rɯm
淋	*ɡ·rɯm, *ɡ·rɯms
痳	*ɡ·rɯm
箖	*ɡ·rɯm
霖	*ɡ·rɯm
菻	*ɡ·rɯmʔ, *ɡ·rɯms
罧	*slɯmʔ, *srɯms
棽	*r̥ʰɯm, *srɯm
綝	*r̥ʰɯm
郴	*r̥ʰɯm
禁	*krɯm, *krɯms
襟	*krɯm
僸	*krɯms, *ŋɡrɯmʔ
澿	*ɡrɯm
噤	*ɡrɯmʔ, *ɡrɯms
凚	*ɡrɯmʔ, *ɡrɯms
齽	*ɡrɯms

Duplication of 木 (“tree”) to give the idea of multiple trees (compare 森), thus a forest.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ram (“jungle; forest; country; field”) (STEDT). Cognate with 森 (OC *srɯm, “forest”), Mizo ram (“forest; country”), Karbi ram (“jungle”).

Or perhaps an area word (Schuessler, 2007), shared with Khmer រាម (riəm, “thick bushy jungle that grows along a stream”), , , Mon ရာံ (rèm, “copse; patch of woodland”).

"Hayashi"

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 林.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lín (lin²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄧㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lam⁴
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): lìm

  (Meixian, Guangdong): lim²

• Northern Min (KCR): lâng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): nâ / lîm

  (Teochew, Peng'im): na⁵ / lim⁵

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁶lin

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lín
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄧㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lín
    • Wade–Giles: lin²
    • Yale: lín
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lin
    • Palladius: линь (linʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lin³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: lam⁴
    • Yale: làhm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lam⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: lem⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɐm²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: lìm
    • Hakka Romanization System: limˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: lim²
    • Sinological IPA: /lim¹¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: lim²
    • Sinological IPA: /lim¹¹/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: lâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /laŋ³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nâ / lîm
    • Tâi-lô: nâ / lîm
    • Phofsit Daibuun: naa, liim
    • IPA (Xiamen): /nã²⁴/, /lim²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /nã²⁴/, /lim²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /nã¹³/, /lim¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /nã²⁴/, /lim²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /nã²³/, /lim²³/

Note:

• nâ - vernacular;
• lîm - literary (surname).

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: na⁵ / lim⁵
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: nâ / lîm
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /na⁵⁵/, /lim⁵⁵/

Note:

• na5 - vernacular;
• lim5 - literary (surname).

• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁶lin
    • MiniDict: lin^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³lin
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /lin²³/

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• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 林
Mandarin	Beijing	/lin³⁵/
	Harbin	/lin²⁴/
	Tianjin	/lin⁴⁵/
	Jinan	/liẽ⁴²/
	Qingdao	/liə̃⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/lin⁴²/
	Xi'an	/liẽ²⁴/
	Xining	/liə̃²⁴/
	Yinchuan	/liŋ⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/lĩn⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/liŋ⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/nin²¹³/
	Chengdu	/nin³¹/
	Guiyang	/nin²¹/
	Kunming	/lĩ¹/
	Nanjing	/lin²⁴/
	Hefei	/lin⁵⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/liəŋ¹¹/
	Pingyao	/liŋ¹³/
	Hohhot	/lĩŋ³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/liŋ²³/
	Suzhou	/lin¹³/
	Hangzhou	/lin²¹³/
	Wenzhou	/leŋ³¹/
Hui	Shexian	/liʌ̃⁴⁴/
	Tunxi	/lin⁴⁴/
Xiang	Changsha	/lin¹³/
	Xiangtan	/nin¹²/
Gan	Nanchang	/lin⁴⁵/
Hakka	Meixian	/lim¹¹/
	Taoyuan	/lim¹¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/lɐm²¹/
	Nanning	/lɐm²¹/
	Hong Kong	/lɐm²¹/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/lim³⁵/ /na³⁵/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/liŋ⁵³/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/leiŋ³³/ /laŋ³³/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/lim⁵⁵/ /nã⁵⁵/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/lim³¹/

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• Middle Chinese: lim

Rime
Character	林
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	侵 (139)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	力尋切
Baxter	lim
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/liɪm/
Pan Wuyun	/lim/
Shao Rongfen	/ljem/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lim/
Li Rong	/liəm/
Wang Li	/lĭĕm/
Bernard Karlgren	/li̯əm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lín
Expected Cantonese Reflex	lam4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[r]əm/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡ·rɯm/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	林
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	lín
Middle Chinese	‹ lim ›
Old Chinese	/*[r]əm/
English	forest
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	林
Reading #	1/1
No.	8165
Phonetic component	林
Rime group	侵
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	林
Old Chinese	/*ɡ·rɯm/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 林

1. forest; grove; woods
2. circle; community; group of similar people or things
3. commonly romanized as Lin, Lim, and Lam
4. Hayashi (a Japanese surname)
5. Hayashi (a Japanese female given name)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (林):

• → Japanese: 林(りん) (rin)
• → Korean: 림(林) (rim), 임(林) (im)
• → Vietnamese: lâm (林)

Others:

• → English: Lin, Lam, Lim
• → Tagalog: Lim

Further reading

• “Entry #4208”, 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.

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Japanese

Kanji

林

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: りん (rin, Jōyō)^{←りん (rin, historical)←りむ (rimu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: りん (rin, Jōyō)^{←りん (rin, historical)←りむ (rimu, ancient)}
• Kun: はやし (hayashi, 林, Jōyō); おおい (ōi, 林い)^{←おほい (ofoi, 林い, historical)}
• Nanori: き (ki); きみ (kimi); しげ (shige); しげる (shigeru); とき (toki); ふさ (fusa); もと (moto); もり (mori); よし (yoshi)

Compounds

• 林(りん)檎(ご) (ringo, “apple”)
• 少林(しょうりん) (Shōrin)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
林
はやし Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese.

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 生やす (hayasu, “to grow”).

Noun

林(はやし) • (hayashi) 

1. a grove, woods, copse
2. (figurative) a forest of something

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 梅(うめ)林(ばやし) (umebayashi)
• 小(こ)林(ばやし) (Kobayashi)
• 竹(たけ)林(ばやし) (takebayashi)
• 松(まつ)林(ばやし) (matsubayashi)

See also

• 森(もり) (mori, “forest”, generally larger than a hayashi)

Proper noun

林(はやし) • (Hayashi) 

1. a surname
2. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
林
りん Grade: 1
on’yomi

/rimʉ/ → /riɴ/

From Middle Chinese 林 (MC lim).

Affix

林(りん) • (rin) 

1. grove, forest, woods, copse
2. gathering
3. lined up

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 林間(りんかん) (rinkan)
• 林業(りんぎょう) (ringyō)
• 林道(りんどう) (rindō)
• 林(りん)野(や) (rin'ya)
• 林立(りんりつ) (rinritsu)
• 学林(がくりん) (gakurin)
• 翰林(かんりん) (kanrin)
• 芸林(げいりん) (geirin)
• 原生林(げんせいりん) (genseirin)
• 混交林(こんこうりん) (konkōrin)
• 山林(さんりん) (sanrin)
• 辞(じ)林(りん) (jirin)
• 樹林(じゅりん) (jurin)
• 純林(じゅんりん) (junrin)
• 書林(しょりん) (shorin)
• 松林(しょうりん) (shōrin)
• 植林(しょくりん) (shokurin)
• 僧林(そうりん) (sōrin)
• 森林(しんりん) (shinrin)
• 疎(そ)林(りん) (sorin)
• 造林(ぞうりん) (zōrin)
• 竹林(ちくりん) (chikurin)
• 梅林(ばいりん) (bairin)
• 密林(みつりん) (mitsurin)

Proper noun

林(りん) • (Rin) 

1. a surname
2. (rare) a female given name

Usage notes

As a surname, this reading is more often used by people of Chinese ancestry, since it is similar to the Mandarin Chinese reading of Lín.

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Korean

Hanja

林 (eumhun 수풀 림 (supul rim), word-initial (South Korea) 수풀 임 (supul im))

1. forest

Compounds

• 임야 (林野, imya): forest land, woods and fields

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Vietnamese

Han character

林: Hán Nôm readings: lâm, Lâm

1. forest
2. gathering
3. dense
4. a surname

References

• Hán Việt Tự Điển Thiều Chửu v. 3.0, http://vietnamtudien.org/thieuchuu, http://vietnamtudien.org/thieuchuu/&h75.htm#26519