笑

See also: 咲

Translingual

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *sqʰows): semantic 竹 + phonetic 夭 ‎(OC *qoːwʔ, *qrow, *qrowʔ).

A Chinese scholar once said “when bamboo takes the wind it leans back gently like a man who laughs”. This is only a mnemonic and not the etymology of the character.

Han character

笑 (radical 118 竹+4, 10 strokes, cangjie input 竹竹大 (HHK), four-corner 8843₂, composition ⿱⺮夭)

References

• KangXi: page 879, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 25885
• Dae Jaweon: page 1307, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 5, page 2950, character 10
• Unihan data for U+7B11
• McNaughton, William (2005) Reading & Writing Chinese: Simplified Character Edition, 2nd Edition edition, Tuttle, ISBN 978-0804835091, page 14

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		笑

Alternative forms

• 关, 咲

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiào (xiao⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): seu
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): chhiò / siàu / chhiàu

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ciê³ / cio³

• Wu (Wiktionary): xiau (T2)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: xiào
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˋ
    • Wade-Giles: hsiao⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiaw
    • IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu³
    • Yale: siu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu³
    • IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: seu
    • Hakka Romanization System: seu
    • Hagfa Pinyim: seu⁴
    • IPA: /se̯u⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhiò / siàu / chhiàu
    • Tâi-lô: tshiò / siàu / tshiàu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: chioix, siaux, chiaux
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡ɕʰio¹¹/, /ɕiaʊ¹¹/, /t͡ɕʰiaʊ¹¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡ɕʰiɤ²¹/, /ɕiaʊ²¹/, /t͡ɕʰiaʊ²¹/
    • Note: chhiò - vernacular; siàu, chhiàu - literary.
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ciê³ / cio³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tshiè / tshiò
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰie²¹³/, /t͡sʰio²¹³/
    • Note: ciê3 - Chaozhou; cio3 - Shantou.
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: xiau (T2)
    • IPA ^(key): /ɕiɔ³⁴/

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• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter-Sagart): /*[s-l]aw-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sqʰows/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	笑
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiào
Middle Chinese	‹ sjewH ›
Old Chinese	/*[s-l]aw-s/
English	to laugh
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	笑
Reading #	1/1
No.	14621
Phonetic component	夭
Rime group	宵
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	𥬇
Old Chinese	/*sqʰows/
Notes	原下從犬，注或作此。漢書作八下夭

Noun

笑 (classifier 個／个 (gè))

1. laugh
2. smile

   笑容  ―  xiàoróng  ―  smile

Verb

笑

1. to laugh at
2. to smile
3. to laugh at (to ridicule)

See also

• (to laugh at): 嘲 (cháo), 嗤 (chī)

References

• 笑 in CEDICT on MDBG

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Japanese

Kanji

笑

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. to laugh; laughter
2. to smile; a smile

Readings

• Goon: しょう (shō) > せう (seu)
• Kan’on: しょう (shō) > せう (seu)
• Kun: わらう (笑う warau) > わらふ (warafu), えむ (笑む emu) > ゑむ (wemu), わらい (笑い warai) > わらひ (warahi), えみ (笑み, emi) > ゑみ (wemi)
• Nanori: えみ (emi) > ゑみ (wemi)

Compounds

Compounds

酒 (えぐし) ‎(egushi): an alcoholic beverage that puts the drinker into a good mood 笑気 (しょうき) ‎(shōki): laughing gas 苦笑 (くしょう) ‎(kushō): a wry smile, wry laughter

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
笑
わら(い) Grade: 4
kun'yomi

The 連用形 ‎(ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 笑う ‎(warau, “to laugh; to smile”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) わらい [wàráí] (Heiban - [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠ɾ̠a̠i]

Alternative forms

• w

Noun

笑 ‎(hiragana わらい, romaji warai, historical hiragana わらひ)

1. a laugh, laughing, laughter
2. a smile, smiling

Usage notes

More commonly spelled with the okurigana, as 笑い.

The warai reading is more commonly associated with the laugh senses. The emi reading is more commonly associated with the smile senses.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
笑
え(み) Grade: 4
kun'yomi

the 連用形 ‎(ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 笑む ‎(emu, “to smile; to laugh”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) え​み [éꜜmì] (Atamadaka - [1])
• IPA^(key): [e̞mi]

Noun

笑 ‎(hiragana えみ, romaji emi, historical hiragana ゑみ)

1. a smile, smiling
2. a laugh, laughing, laughter

Usage notes

More commonly spelled with the okurigana, as 笑み.

The emi reading is more commonly associated with the smile senses. The warai reading is more commonly associated with the laugh senses.

Proper noun

笑 ‎(hiragana えみ, romaji Emi, historical hiragana ゑみ)

1. a female given name
2. a surname

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Korean

Hanja

笑 • ‎(so)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 소 (McCune-Reischauer: so, Yale: so)

• Name (hangeul): 웃을()

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

笑 (tiếu, téo)

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