甘草

Chinese

		sweet; willingly; Gansu province (abbrev.)	grass; straw; draft (of a document) grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty
trad. (甘草)		甘	草
simp. #(甘草)		甘	草

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gāncǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄢ ㄘㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gam¹ cou²
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): kâm-chhó

  (Hailu, HRS): gam^ˋ co^ˊ

• Eastern Min (BUC): găng-chō̤
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): gang¹ cor³
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): kam-chhó

  (Teochew, Peng'im): gam¹ cao²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gāncǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄢ ㄘㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gancǎo
    • Wade–Giles: kan¹-tsʻao³
    • Yale: gān-tsǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gantsao
    • Palladius: ганьцао (ganʹcao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kän⁵⁵ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 乾草 / 干草 甘草

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gam¹ cou²
    • Yale: gām chóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gam¹ tsou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: gem¹ cou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɐm⁵⁵ t͡sʰou̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kâm-chhó
    • Hakka Romanization System: gam^ˊ co^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gam¹ co³
    • Sinological IPA: /kam²⁴ t͡sʰo³¹/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: gam^ˋ co^ˊ
    • Sinological IPA: /kam⁵³ t͡sʰo²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: găng-chō̤
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ^(t͡sʰ-)ʒo³³/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gang¹ cor³ [Phonetic: gang⁵ cor³]
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: gang-chô̤
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ⁵³³⁻¹¹ t͡sʰɒ⁴⁵³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gang¹ cor³ [Phonetic: gang⁵ nor³]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ⁵⁴⁴⁻²¹ ^(t͡sʰ-)nɒ³³²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kam-chhó
    • Tâi-lô: kam-tshó
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kamzhoir
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /kam⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰo⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /kam³³ t͡sʰo⁵⁵⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /kam⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰo⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /kam⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰo⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /kam⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰɤ⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: gam¹ cao²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kam tsháu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kam³³⁻²³ t͡sʰau⁵²/

Noun

甘草

1. licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis, whose root often used in traditional Chinese medicine to improve qi)

   甘草和百藥。 [Puxian Min, trad.]
   甘草和百药。 [Puxian Min, simp.]

   gang¹ cor³ hor² beh⁶ ieo⁷. [Pouseng Ping'ing]

   Like licorice among herbs — able to get along with everyone.

   (literally, “Licorice harmonizes with a hundred medicines.”)

2. (figurative) supporting character, or actors performing such roles, especially experienced ones

   甘草演員／甘草演员  ―  gāncǎo yǎnyuán  ―  supporting actor/actress, especially an experienced one

Synonyms

• (licorice): 國老／国老 (guólǎo)

Dialectal synonyms of 甘草 (“licorice”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		甘草
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	甘草
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	甘草
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	甘草
Cantonese	Hong Kong	甘草
Gan	Nanchang	甘草
	Lichuan	甘草
Hakka	Yudu	甘草
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	甘草
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	甘草
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	甘草
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	甘草
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	甘草
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	甘草
Jin	Taiyuan	甜根草, 甜草根兒
Southern Min	Xiamen	甘草
	Quanzhou	甘草
	Zhangzhou	甘草
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	甘草
Wu	Suzhou	甘草
	Danyang	甘草
Xiang	Loudi	甘草

• (supporting character): 綠葉／绿叶 (lǜyè)

Derived terms

• 四兩甘草開藥店 / 四两甘草开药店
• 炙甘草 (zhìgāncǎo)
• 甘草和百藥 / 甘草和百药
• 甘草糖 (gāncǎotáng)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (甘草):

• → Japanese: 甘草(かんぞう) (kanzō)
• → Korean: 감초(甘草) (gamcho)
• → Vietnamese: cam thảo (甘草)

Others:

• → Zhuang: gamcauj

See also

• 補益藥／补益药 (bǔyìyào)
• 藥材／药材 (yàocái)

References

• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 87.

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
甘	草
かん Grade: S	そう > ぞう Grade: 1
on'yomi

Middle Chinese 甘草

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かんぞー [kàńzóó] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) かんぞー [káꜜǹzòò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [kã̠nd͡zo̞ː]

Noun

甘(かん)草(ぞう) or 甘草(カンゾウ) • (kanzō) ^{←かんざう (kanzau)?}

1. licorice

   Synonyms: (obsolete) 蕗草 (rosō), 甘木 (amaki)

Derived terms

• 甘草(かんぞう)エキス (kanzō ekisu, “licorice extract”)
• 甘草(かんぞう)の丸呑(まるの)み (kanzō no marunomi)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
甘	草
あま Grade: S	くさ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

甘 (ama, “sweet”) +‎ 草 (kusa, “grass”)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あまくさ [àmákúsá] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) あまくさ [àmáꜜkùsà] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ma̠kɯ̟sa̠]

Noun

甘(あま)草(くさ) • (amakusa) 

1. licorice

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
甘	草
あま Grade: S	き Grade: 1
kun'yomi	irregular

Alternative spelling
甘木

甘 (ama, “sweet”) +‎ 木 (ki, “tree”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a̠ma̠kʲi]

Noun

甘(あま)草(き) • (amaki) 

1. (obsolete) licorice

References

• “甘草”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

Korean

Hanja in this term
甘	草

Noun

甘草 • (gamcho) (hangeul 감초)

1. hanja form^? of 감초 (“licorice”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
甘	草

Noun

甘草

1. chữ Hán form of cam thảo (“licorice”)