淡

See also: 澹

淡 U+6DE1, 淡 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6DE1 ← 淠 [U+6DE0] CJK Unified Ideographs 淢 → [U+6DE2]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

淡 (radical 85, 水+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 水火火 (EFF), four-corner 3918₉, composition ⿰氵炎)

References

• KangXi: page 630, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17660
• Dae Jaweon: page 1032, character 17
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1660, character 8
• Unihan data for U+6DE1

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Chinese

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
倓	*l'oːmʔ, *l'aːm, *l'aːms
緂	*l̥ʰaːm, *l̥ʰaːmʔ, *l̥ʰjam
毯	*l̥ʰaːmʔ
菼	*l̥ʰaːmʔ
裧	*l̥ʰaːmʔ, *l̥ʰjam, *l̥ʰjams
賧	*l̥ʰaːms
睒	*l̥ʰaːms, *hljamʔ
舕	*l̥ʰaːms
談	*l'aːm
郯	*l'aːm
惔	*l'aːm, *l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms
錟	*l'aːm
淡	*l'aːm, *l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms, *lamʔ
痰	*l'aːm
餤	*l'aːm
啖	*l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms
腅	*l'aːms
剡	*ɦljamʔ, *lamʔ
覢	*hljamʔ
掞	*hljams
炎	*ɦlam
琰	*lamʔ
棪	*lamʔ
扊	*lamʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *l'aːm, *l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms, *lamʔ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam)

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		淡

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): dàn (dan⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄢˋ

  (Chengdu, SP): dan⁴

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou, Jyutping): taam⁵, daam⁶

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): am⁴

• Gan (Wiktionary): tan⁵
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): thâm / tham

  (Meixian, Guangdong): tam¹ / tam⁴

• Jin (Wiktionary): dan³
• Min Dong (BUC): dâng

• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): tāⁿ / tām

  (Teochew, Peng'im): dan⁶ / dam⁶

• Wu (Wiktionary): de (T3)
• Xiang (Wiktionary): dan⁵ / dan⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: dàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄢˋ
    • Wade–Giles: tan4
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dann
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàn
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tän⁵¹/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: dan⁴
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: dan
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tan²¹³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: taam⁵, daam⁶
    • Yale: táahm, daahm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: taam⁵, daam⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: tam⁵, dam⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰäːm¹³/, /täːm²²/

Note:

• taam5 - vernacular;
• daam6 - literary.

• (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  • Wiktionary: am⁴
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /am²¹/

Gan

• (Nanchang)
  • Wiktionary: tan⁵
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰan¹¹/

Hakka

• (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thâm / tham
  • Hakka Romanization System: tam´ / tam
  • Hagfa Pinyim: tam¹ / tam⁴
  • Sinological IPA: /tʰam²⁴/, /tʰam⁵⁵/
• (Meixian)
  • Guangdong: tam¹ / tam⁴
  • Sinological IPA: /tʰam⁴⁴/, /tʰam⁵³/

Jin

• (Taiyuan)⁺
  • Wiktionary: dan³
  • Sinological IPA (old-style): /tæ̃⁴⁵/

Min Dong

• (Fuzhou)
  • Bàng-uâ-cê: dâng
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɑŋ²⁴²/

Min Nan

• (Hokkien)
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāⁿ / tām
  • Tâi-lô: tānn / tām
  • Phofsit Daibuun: dva, dam
  • IPA (Xiamen): /tã²²/, /tam²²/
  • IPA (Quanzhou): /tã⁴¹/, /tam⁴¹/
  • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tã²²/, /tam²²/
  • IPA (Taipei): /tã³³/, /tam³³/
  • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tã³³/, /tam³³/

Note:

• tāⁿ - vernacular;
• tām - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: dan⁶ / dam⁶
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tăⁿ / tăm
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tã³⁵/, /tam³⁵/

Note:

• dan6 - vernacular;
• dam6 - literary.

Wu

• (Shanghainese)
  • Wiktionary: de (T3)
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /d̻e̞²³/

Xiang

• (Changsha)
  • Wiktionary: dan⁵ / dan⁴
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tan²¹/, /tan⁴⁵/

Note:

• dan5 - vernacular;
• dan4 - literary.

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• Middle Chinese: /dɑm^X/, /dɑm^H/

Rime
Character	淡	淡
Reading #	2/4	4/4
Initial (聲)	定 (7)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	談 (143)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	徒敢切	徒濫切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/dɑmX/	/dɑmH/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑmX/	/dɑmH/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑmX/	/dɑmH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/damX/	/damH/
Li Rong	/dɑmX/	/dɑmH/
Wang Li	/dɑmX/	/dɑmH/
Bernard Karlgren	/dʱɑmX/	/dʱɑmH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	dàn	dàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	daam6	daam6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[l]ˤamʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*l'aːmʔ/, /*l'aːms/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	淡
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	dàn
Middle Chinese	‹ damX ›
Old Chinese	/*[l]ˁamʔ/
English	insipid
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	淡	淡
Reading #	2/4	3/4
No.	14300	14305
Phonetic component	炎	炎
Rime group	談	談
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	噉	憺
Old Chinese	/*l'aːmʔ/	/*l'aːms/

Definitions

淡

1. (of food) bland; tasteless

   啲湯好淡 / 啲汤好淡 [Cantonese]  ―  di¹ tong¹ hou² taam⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  the soup is very bland

2. (of color) light; pale

   Synonym: 淺／浅 (qiǎn)

   Antonyms: 濃／浓 (nóng), 深 (shēn)

3. (of liquid or gas) thin; low in density
4. indifferent; cold
5. slack; dull

   淡季  ―  dànjì  ―  slack season; off-season

6. meaningless; trivial

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 淡 (“tasteless; not salty”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		淡
Mandarin	Beijing	淡, 口輕
	Taiwan	淡
	Harbin	淡
	Muping	善
	Jinan	淡, 甜, 口輕
	Luoyang	甜
	Wanrong	甜
	Xi'an	甜, 淡
	Xining	甜, 淡
	Ürümqi	淡
	Wuhan	淡
	Chengdu	淡
	Guiyang	淡
	Liuzhou	淡
	Xuzhou	淡
	Yangzhou	淡
	Nanjing	淡
	Hefei	淡
	Singapore	淡
Cantonese	Guangzhou	淡
	Hong Kong	淡
	Dongguan	淡
	Yangjiang	淡
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	淡
Gan	Nanchang	淡
	Lichuan	淡
	Pingxiang	淡
Hakka	Meixian	淡
	Yudu	淡
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	淡
	Liudui (S. Sixian)	淡
	Hsinchu (Hailu)	淡
	Dongshi (Dabu)	淡
	Hsinchu (Raoping)	淡
	Yunlin (Zhao'an)	淡
	Senai (Huiyang)	淡
Jin	Taiyuan	淡, 甜
	Xinzhou	甜
Min Bei	Jian'ou	䭕
Min Dong	Fuzhou	䭕
	Changle	䭕
	Fuqing	䭕
	Yongtai	䭕
	Gutian	䭕
	Fu'an	䭕
	Ningde	䭕
	Shouning	䭕
	Zhouning	䭕
	Fuding	䭕
Min Nan	Xiamen	䭕
	Quanzhou	䭕
	Yongchun	䭕
	Zhangzhou	䭕
	Longhai	䭕
	Changtai	䭕
	Zhangpu	䭕
	Zhao'an	䭕
	Penang (Hokkien)	䭕
	Singapore (Hokkien)	䭕
	Chaozhou	䭕
	Shantou	䭕
	Chenghai	䭕
	Jieyang	䭕
	Haifeng	䭕
	Bangkok (Teochew)	䭕
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	䭕
	Leizhou	䭕
	Haikou	䭕
Puxian Min	Putian	䭕
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	淡
Wu	Shanghai	淡
	Chongming	淡
	Suzhou	淡
	Danyang	淡
	Hangzhou	淡
	Ningbo	淡
	Wenzhou	淡
	Jinhua	淡
Xiang	Changsha	淡
	Shuangfeng	淡
	Loudi	淡

Compounds

Derived terms from 淡

• 下淡水溪
• 冷淡 (lěngdàn)
• 喫淡酒
• 平和恬淡
• 平淡 (píngdàn)
• 平淡無奇／平淡无奇
• 恬淡 (tiándàn)
• 恬淡寡欲
• 恬淡無欲／恬淡无欲
• 恬淡無為／恬淡无为
• 慘淡／惨淡 (cǎndàn)
• 扯淡 (chědàn)
• 攻苦食淡
• 暗淡 (àndàn)
• 暗淡無光／暗淡无光 (àndànwúguāng)
• 民患淡食
• 沖淡／冲淡 (chōngdàn)
• 泔淡
• 海水淡化 (hǎishuǐ dànhuà)
• 淡不剌
• 淡不淡
• 淡交
• 淡入
• 淡冷處／淡冷处
• 淡出 (dànchū)
• 淡化 (dànhuà)
• 淡妝／淡妆 (dànzhuāng)
• 淡妝濃抹／淡妆浓抹
• 淡妝素服／淡妆素服
• 淡季 (dànjì)
• 淡巴菰 (dànbāgū)

• 淡廝／淡厮
• 淡彩
• 淡忘 (dànwàng)
• 淡抹
• 淡掃蛾眉／淡扫蛾眉
• 淡於名利／淡于名利
• 淡月
• 淡水 (dànshuǐ)
• 淡水河 (Dànshuǐ Hé)
• 淡水湖 (dànshuǐhú)
• 淡水漁業／淡水渔业
• 淡水養殖／淡水养殖
• 淡水魚／淡水鱼 (dànshuǐyú)
• 淡江 (Dànjiāng)
• 淡江大學／淡江大学
• 淡泊 (dànbó)
• 淡泊名利 (dànbómínglì)
• 淡淡 (dàndàn)
• 淡漠 (dànmò)
• 淡濛濛／淡蒙蒙
• 淡然 (dànrán)
• 淡然無味／淡然无味
• 淡然處之／淡然处之
• 淡竹
• 淡而無味／淡而无味
• 淡色
• 淡薄 (dànbó)
• 淡薄無味／淡薄无味
• 淡話／淡话
• 淡雅 (dànyǎ)
• 淡青

• 淡飯／淡饭
• 淡飯清茶／淡饭清茶
• 淺淡／浅淡 (qiǎndàn)
• 清淡 (qīngdàn)
• 清茶淡話／清茶淡话
• 清茶淡飯／清茶淡饭
• 澹淡
• 澹淡經營／澹淡经营
• 濃妝淡抹／浓妆淡抹
• 濃抹淡妝／浓抹淡妆
• 濃淡／浓淡 (nóngdàn)
• 熬枯受淡
• 熬清守淡
• 發淡科／发淡科
• 看淡後市／看淡后市
• 粉淡香殘／粉淡香残
• 粗茶淡飯／粗茶淡饭 (cūchádànfàn)
• 粗衣淡飯／粗衣淡饭
• 素淡 (sùdàn)
• 說淡話／说淡话
• 輕描淡寫／轻描淡写 (qīngmiáodànxiě)
• 閒扯淡／闲扯淡
• 雅淡
• 雲淡風輕／云淡风轻
• 顄淡 (hàndàn)
• 風輕雲淡／风轻云淡 (fēngqīngyúndàn)
• 鬼扯淡
• 鹹嘴淡舌／咸嘴淡舌
• 黯淡
• 黯淡無光／黯淡无光
• 黲淡／黪淡 (cǎndàn)

Etymology 2

simp. and trad.		淡

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎn, yàn (yan³, yan⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˇ, ㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jim⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: yǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˇ
    • Wade–Giles: yen3
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yean
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎn
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn²¹⁴/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: yàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˋ
    • Wade–Giles: yen4
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yann
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yàn
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jim⁵
    • Yale: yíhm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jim⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yim⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːm¹³/

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• Middle Chinese: /jiᴇm^X/

Rime
Character	淡
Reading #	3/4
Initial (聲)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	鹽 (153)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	以冉切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jiᴇmX/
Pan Wuyun	/jiɛmX/
Shao Rongfen	/jæmX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jiamX/
Li Rong	/iɛmX/
Wang Li	/jĭɛmX/
Bernard Karlgren	/i̯ɛmX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yǎn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jim5

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*lamʔ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	淡
Reading #	4/4
No.	14319
Phonetic component	炎
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	琰
Old Chinese	/*lamʔ/
Notes	見宋玉賦

Definitions

淡

1. Only used in 淡淡 (yǎnyǎn, yànyàn).
2. ^‡ appearance of water

Compounds

• 流水淡淡

Etymology 3

simp. and trad.		淡

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tán (tan²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): taam⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: tán
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄢˊ
    • Wade–Giles: tʻan2
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tarn
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tán
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰän³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: taam⁴
    • Yale: tàahm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: taam⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: tam⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰäːm²¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: /dɑm/

Rime
Character	淡
Reading #	1/4
Initial (聲)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	徒甘切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/dɑm/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑm/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑm/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/dam/
Li Rong	/dɑm/
Wang Li	/dɑm/
Bernard Karlgren	/dʱɑm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tán
Expected Cantonese Reflex	taam4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*l'aːm/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	淡
Reading #	1/4
No.	14296
Phonetic component	炎
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	談
Old Chinese	/*l'aːm/

Definitions

淡

1. ^† Alternative form of 痰 (tán).
2. ^‡ appearance of water

   See also: 澹

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of 淡 – see 䭕 (“(Min) tasteless; insipid”). (This character, 淡, is a variant form of 䭕.)

References

• “淡”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

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Japanese

Kanji

淡

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. diluted
2. pale

Readings

• Go-on: だん (dan)^{←だん (dan, historical)←だむ (damu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: たん (tan, Jōyō)^{←たん (tan, historical)←たむ (tamu, ancient)}
• Kun: あわい (awai, 淡い, Jōyō); うすい (usui, 淡い)

Compounds

• 淡(たん)白(ぱく) (tanpaku)
• 冷(れい)淡(たん) (reitan)
• 淡(たん)々(たん) (tantan)

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Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 淡 (MC dɑm^X, dɑm^H). Recorded as Middle Korean 담〯 (Yale: tam) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Wikisource

淡 (eumhun 맑을 담 (malgeul dam))

1. Hanja form^? of 담 (“clean; clear; pure”).

Compounds

Compounds

• 담수 (淡水, damsu, “fresh water”)
• 냉담 (冷淡, naengdam, “cold; indifferent”)
• 농담 (濃淡, nongdam)
• 담백 (淡白, dambaek)
• 아담 (雅淡, adam)
• 담담 (淡淡, damdam)

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

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Vietnamese

Han character

淡: Hán Nôm readings: đạm, đượm, vạm, đặm

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