玉

See also: 王, 𤣩, and 主

Translingual

Stroke order

Japanese stroke order

Alternative forms

• 王 (when used as a Chinese Radical)
• 𤣩

Etymology

Historical forms of the character 玉
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script

The character's shape was historically very similar to 王 (wáng); a dot was introduced to differentiate the two. It originally meant "blemished jade". 玉 can also be found written as 玊 (sù) for the same reason.

Pictogram (象形): a picture of a cong (琮), a sort of ritual jade totem.

It is also interpreted as three pieces of jade strung together on a string.

References

• Richard Sears (accessed 2014-02-18), “玉 etymology”, in Chinese Etymology^[1] (in Mandarin/English)
• McNaughton, William (2005) Reading & Writing Chinese: Simplified Character Edition, 2nd Edition edition, Tuttle, ISBN 978-0804835091, page 15

Han character

玉 (radical 96 玉+0, 5 strokes, cangjie input 一土戈 (MGI), four-corner 1010₃)

1. jade, originally nephrite but now including jadeite as well
2. precious stone, gem

References

• KangXi: page 726, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20821
• Dae Jaweon: page 1135, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1100, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7389

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		玉

Alternative forms

• 𤣩

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yù (yu⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄩˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): juk⁶
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): ngiu̍k
• Min Dong (BUC): nguŏh / ngṳ̆k
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): ge̍k / gio̍k

• Wu (Wiktionary): nyoq (T5)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: yù
    • Zhuyin: ㄩˋ
    • Wade-Giles: yü⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiw
    • IPA ^(key): /y⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: juk⁶
    • Yale: yuhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: juk⁹
    • IPA ^(key): /jʊk̚²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngiu̍k
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngiug
    • IPA: /ɲi̯uk̚⁵/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: nguŏh / ngṳ̆k
    • IPA ^(key): /ŋuoʔ⁵/, /ŋyʔ⁵⁵/
    • Note: nguŏh - colloquial; ngṳ̆k - literary.
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ge̍k / gio̍k
    • Tâi-lô: gi̍k / gio̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gek, giok
    • IPA (Taipei): /giɪk̚⁴/, /giɔk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /giɪk̚¹²¹/, /giɔk̚¹²¹/
    • Note: ge̍k - vernacular; gio̍k - literary.
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: nyoq (T5)
    • IPA ^(key): /ȵʊʔ¹²/

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• Dialectal data▼

Variety	Location	edit 玉
Mandarin	Beijing	/y⁵¹/
	Harbin	/y⁵³/
	Tianjin	/y⁵³/
	Jinan	/y²¹/
	Qingdao	/y⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/y³¹²/
	Xi'an	/y²¹/
	Xining	/y⁴⁴/
	Yinchuan	/y¹³/
	Lanzhou	/y¹³/
	Ürümqi	/y²¹³/
	Wuhan	/y³⁵/
	Chengdu	/y¹³/
	Guiyang	/i²¹³/
	Kunming	/i²¹²/
	Nanjing	/y⁴⁴/
	Hefei	/zz̩ʷ⁵³/
Jin	Taiyuan	/y⁴⁵/
	Pingyao	/y³⁵/
	Hohhot	/y⁵⁵/
Wu	Shanghai	/ȵioʔ¹/
	Suzhou	/ȵioʔ³/
	Hangzhou	/ȵioʔ²/
	Wenzhou	/ȵo²¹³/
Hui	Shexian	/y²²/
	Tunxi	/ȵy¹¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/y⁵⁵/ /ʐəu²⁴/
	Xiangtan	/y⁵⁵/
Gan	Nanchang	/y²¹/
Hakka	Meixian	/ŋiuk̚⁵/
	Taoyuan	/ŋiuk̚⁵⁵/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/jok̚²/
	Nanning	/juk̚²²/
	Hong Kong	/juk̚²/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/giɔk̚⁵/ /gik̚⁵/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/ŋuoʔ⁵/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/ŋy⁴²/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/gek̚⁵/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/zi³³/ /zi³⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: /ŋɨok̚/▼

Rime
Character	玉
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	燭 (8)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	魚欲切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋɨok̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋiok̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiok̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋuawk̚/
Li Rong	/ŋiok̚/
Wang Li	/ŋĭwok̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/ŋi̯wok̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yù

• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter-Sagart): /*[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?)/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ŋoɡ/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	玉
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yù
Middle Chinese	‹ ngjowk ›
Old Chinese	/*[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?)/
English	jade
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	玉
Reading #	1/1
No.	15971
Phonetic component	玉
Rime group	屋
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	玉
Old Chinese	/*ŋoɡ/

Noun

玉

1. jade

Compounds

• 冰肌玉骨 (bīng jī yù gǔ)
• 愛玉冰／爱玉冰
• 拋磚引玉／抛砖引玉 (pāozhuān-yǐnyù)

• 玉器 (yùqì)
• 玉皇 (Yùhuáng)
• 玉石 (yùshí)

• 玉米 (yùmǐ)
• 碎玉 (suìyù)
• 黃玉／黄玉 (huángyù)

References

• (Min Nan) “Entry #1846”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

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Japanese

Kanji

玉

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: ごく (goku) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kan’on: ぎょく (gyoku)
• Kun: たま (tama)

Synonyms

• (precious treasure): 宝

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
玉
たま Grade: 1
kun'yomi

kun'yomi

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) たま​ [tàmáꜜ] (Odaka - [2])
• IPA^(key): [ta̠ma̠]

Noun

玉 ‎(hiragana たま, romaji tama)

1. ball

Derived terms

Derived terms

藻玉 (もだま) ‎(modama): St. Thomas bean

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
玉
ぎょく Grade: 1
on'yomi

on'yomi

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) ぎょく [gyòkú] (Heiban - [0]) ​
• (Tokyo) ぎょ​く [gyóꜜkù] (Atamadaka - [1]) (a stock being traded)
• IPA^(key): [ɡjo̞kɯᵝ]

Noun

玉 ‎(hiragana ぎょく, romaji gyoku)

1. precious stone
2. a chicken’s egg (to be eaten)
3. a stock being traded
4. geisha

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
玉
ぎょく Grade: 1
on'yomi

Abbreviation of 玉将

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) ぎょ​く [gyóꜜkù] (Atamadaka - [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɡjo̞kɯᵝ]

Noun

玉 ‎(hiragana ぎょく, romaji gyoku)

1. king in shogi

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Korean

Hanja

玉 • ‎(ok)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 옥 (revised: ok, McCune-Reischauer: ok, Yale: ok)

• Name (hangeul): 구슬()

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

Compounds

• 玉編

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Vietnamese

Han character

玉 (ngọc)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.