紙

See also: 纸 and 帋

Translingual

Han character

紙 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+4, 10 strokes, cangjie input 女火竹女心 (VFHVP), four-corner 2294₀, composition ⿰糸氏)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 918, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27293
• Dae Jaweon: page 1347, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3375, character 12
• Unihan data for U+7D19

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Chinese

trad.		紙
simp.		纸

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 紙
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
氏	*skeŋ, *kje, *ɡjeʔ
衹	*kje, *ɡe
紙	*kjeʔ
帋	*kjeʔ
扺	*kjeʔ
坁	*kjeʔ
汦	*kjeʔ, *tjil
忯	*ɡje, *ɡe
眂	*ɡje, *ɡils
舐	*ɦljeʔ
芪	*ɡe
祇	*ɡe
疧	*ɡe
軝	*ɡe
蚔	*ɡe

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kjeʔ) : semantic 糸 (“silk”) + phonetic 氏 (OC *skeŋ, *kje, *ɡjeʔ).

Etymology

Unknown. It has been connected to Vietnamese giấy (< Proto-Vietic *k-cajʔ).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): zhǐ (zhi³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄓˇ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): зы (zɨ, II)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chṳ́
• Eastern Min (BUC): cāi
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): chóa / chí

  (Teochew, Peng'im): zua²

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁵tsy

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄓˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǐh
    • Wade–Giles: chih³
    • Yale: jř
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyy
    • Palladius: чжи (čži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: зы (zɨ, II)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩⁵¹/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: zi²
    • Yale: jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chṳ́
    • Hakka Romanization System: zii`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: zi³
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sɨ³¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: cāi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sai³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chóa / chí
    • Tâi-lô: tsuá / tsí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zoar, cie
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sua⁵³/, /t͡si⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sua⁵⁵⁴/, /t͡si⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sua⁵³/, /t͡si⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡sua⁵³/, /t͡si⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sua⁴¹/, /t͡si⁴¹/

Note:

• chóa - vernacular;
• chí - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: zua²
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsuá
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sua⁵²/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁵tsy
    • MiniDict: tsy^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tsr
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sz̩³⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: tsyeX

Rime
Character	紙
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	支 (11)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	諸氏切
Baxter	tsyeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡ɕiᴇX/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡ɕiɛX/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡ɕjɛX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ciə̆X/
Li Rong	/t͡ɕieX/
Wang Li	/t͡ɕǐeX/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡ɕie̯X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*k.teʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kjeʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	紙
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zhǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ tsyeX ›
Old Chinese	/*k.teʔ/
English	paper
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	紙
Reading #	1/1
No.	11516
Phonetic component	氏
Rime group	支
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	紙
Old Chinese	/*kjeʔ/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 紙

1. paper (Classifier: 張／张)

   她買了紙、筆等文具。 [MSC, trad.]
   她买了纸、笔等文具。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā mǎi le zhǐ, bǐ děng wénjù. [Pinyin]

   She bought paper, pens, and other such stationery.

   他用棕色的紙把包裹包起來。 [MSC, trad.]
   他用棕色的纸把包裹包起来。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā yòng zōngsè de zhǐ bǎ bāoguǒ bāo qǐlái. [Pinyin]

   He wrapped brown paper around the package.

   • 自古書契多編以竹簡，其用縑帛者謂之為紙。縑貴而簡重，並不便於人。倫乃造意，用樹膚、麻頭及敝布、魚網以為紙。元興元年奏上之，帝善其能，自是莫不從用焉，故天下咸稱「蔡侯紙」。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     自古书契多编以竹简，其用缣帛者谓之为纸。缣贵而简重，并不便于人。伦乃造意，用树肤、麻头及敝布、鱼网以为纸。元兴元年奏上之，帝善其能，自是莫不从用焉，故天下咸称「蔡侯纸」。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of the Later Han, circa 5^th century CE

     Zìgǔ shūqì duō biān yǐ zhújiǎn, qí yòng jiānbó zhě wèi zhī wéi zhǐ. Jiān guì ér jiǎn zhòng, bìng bù biàn yú rén. Lún nǎi zàoyì, yòng shùfū, mátóu jí bìbù, yúwǎng yǐ wéi zhǐ. Yuánxìng yuánnián zòu shàng zhī, dì shàn qí néng, zì shì mò bù cóng yòng yān, gù tiānxià xián chēng “Cài hóu zhǐ”. [Pinyin]

     In ancient times writings and inscriptions were generally made on tablets of bamboo or on pieces of silk called zhi. But silk being costly and bamboos heavy they were not convenient to use. Cai Lun then initiated the idea of making paper from the bark of trees, remnants of hemp, rags of cloth and fishing nets. He submitted the process to the emperor in the first year of Yuanxing and received praise for his ability. From this time, paper has been in use everywhere and is universally called "the paper of Marquis Cai".

2. (chiefly Cantonese) currency

   港紙／港纸 [Cantonese]  ―  gong² zi² [Jyutping]  ―  Hong Kong dollar

   加紙／加纸 [Cantonese]  ―  gaa¹ zi² [Jyutping]  ―  Canadian dollar

3. (Cantonese) banknote; bill (Classifier: 張／张)

   十蚊紙／十蚊纸 [Cantonese]  ―  sap⁶ man¹ zi² [Jyutping]  ―  ten-dollar bill

4. Classifier for document and letters.
5. Short for 紙錢／纸钱 (zhǐqián, “paper made to resemble money and burnt as an offering to the dead”).
6. (Mandarin, neologism, slang) Eye dialect spelling of 子.

   妹紙／妹纸  ―  mèizhǐ  ―  girl

   胖紙／胖纸  ―  pàngzhǐ  ―  fatty

7. a surname

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (紙):

• → Japanese: 紙(し) (shi)
• → Korean: 지(紙) (ji)
• → Vietnamese: chỉ (紙)

Others:

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

紙

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. paper

Alternative forms

• 帋 (zokuji)

Readings

• Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kun: かみ (kami, 紙, Jōyō)

Compounds

• 折(おり)紙(がみ) (origami), 折(お)り紙(がみ) (origami, “origami”)
• 切(きり)紙(がみ) (kirigami), 切(き)り紙(がみ) (kirigami, “kirigami”)
• 紙(し)幣(へい) (shihei, “paper money, bill, note”)
• 手(て)紙(がみ) (tegami, “letter”)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
紙
かみ Grade: 2
kun’yomi

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

紙(かみ) • (kami) 

1. paper

Derived terms

• 紙(かみ)パック (kamipakku)

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Korean

Hanja

紙 • (ji) (hangeul 지)

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

(deprecated template usage) 紙 (chỉ, giấy)

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