考

See also: 攷

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

考 (Kangxi radical 125, 老+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 十大卜尸 (JKYS), four-corner 4420₇, composition ⿱耂丂(GTV) or ⿱耂⿺㇉一(H) or ⿱耂⿺㇉丿(JK))

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 960, character 27
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 28843
• Dae Jaweon: page 1408, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2779, character 2
• Unihan data for U+8003

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		考

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 考
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
丂	*kʰluːʔ
攷	*kʰluːʔ
考	*kʰluːʔ
烤	*kʰluːʔ
拷	*kʰluːʔ
栲	*kʰluːʔ
洘	*kʰluːʔ
銬	*kʰluːs
巧	*kʰruːʔ, *kʰruːs
朽	*qʰluʔ

Variant of 老 (OC *ruːʔ) – Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 耂 (“an old man with long hair, bent over”) + 匕 (“a cane”) – an old man, leaning on a cane. Compare top component to 孝 (OC *qʰruːs).

Structurally related to 老 (OC *ruːʔ); the most commonly cited example of 轉注 (“reciprocal meaning”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kǎo (kao³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): haau²
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): kháu

  (Meixian, Guangdong): kau³

• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): khóⁿ / khó

  (Teochew, Peng'im): kao²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kǎo
    • Wade–Giles: kʻao³
    • Yale: kǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kao
    • Palladius: као (kao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: haau²
    • Yale: háau
    • Cantonese Pinyin: haau²
    • Guangdong Romanization: hao²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /haːu̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kháu
    • Hakka Romanization System: kau`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: kau³
    • Sinological IPA: /kʰau̯³¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: kau³
    • Sinological IPA: /kʰau³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khóⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: khónn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qvor
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰɔ̃⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khó
    • Tâi-lô: khó
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qoir
    • IPA (Taipei, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kʰo⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰɤ⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: kao²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kháu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰau⁵²/

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• Middle Chinese: khawX

Rime
Character	考
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	溪 (29)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	苦浩切
Baxter	khawX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kʰɑuX/
Pan Wuyun	/kʰɑuX/
Shao Rongfen	/kʰɑuX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kʰawX/
Li Rong	/kʰɑuX/
Wang Li	/kʰɑuX/
Bernard Karlgren	/kʰɑuX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	kǎo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hou2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*k-r̥ˤuʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kʰluːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	考
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	kǎo
Middle Chinese	‹ khawX ›
Old Chinese	/*k-r̥ˁuʔ/
English	old; deceased father
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	考
Reading #	1/1
No.	7404
Phonetic component	丂
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	考
Old Chinese	/*kʰluːʔ/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 考

1. ^† long-lived; elderly
2. ^† deceased father; posthumous name for male relations

   • 祭王父曰皇祖考，王母曰皇祖妣。父曰皇考，母曰皇妣。夫曰皇辟。生曰父、曰母、曰妻，死曰考、曰妣、曰嬪。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     祭王父曰皇祖考，王母曰皇祖妣。父曰皇考，母曰皇妣。夫曰皇辟。生曰父、曰母、曰妻，死曰考、曰妣、曰嫔。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Jì wángfù yuē huángzǔkǎo, wángmǔ yuē huángzǔbǐ. Fù yuē huángkǎo, mǔ yuē huángbǐ. Fū yuē huángpì. Shēng yuē fù, yuē mǔ, yuē qī, sǐ yuē kǎo, yuē bǐ, yuē pín. [Pinyin]

     In sacrificing to them, a grandfather is called 'the sovereign grandfather'; a grandmother, 'the sovereign grandmother'; a father, 'the sovereign father'; a mother, 'the sovereign mother; a husband, 'the sovereign pattern.' While alive, the names of 'father', 'mother', and 'wife' are used; when they are dead, those of 'the completed one', 'the corresponding one', and 'the honored one'.

3. to examine; to check
4. to consider

   考慮／考虑  ―  kǎolǜ  ―  to consider

5. to study; to investigate
6. to test; to assess

   考考你的數學能力。 [MSC, trad.]
   考考你的数学能力。 [MSC, simp.]

   Kǎo kǎo nǐ de shùxué nénglì. [Pinyin]

   Testing your maths prowess.

7. to have a test; to have an exam

   考滿分GRE／考满分GRE  ―  kǎo mǎnfēn GRE  ―  to get full marks on the GRE

   考車、考車牌 [Cantonese, trad.]
   考车、考车牌 [Cantonese, simp.]

   haau² ce¹, haau² ce¹ paai⁴ [Jyutping]

   to take a driver's license test

8. exam; test

Compounds

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

考

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. thought
2. consideration

Readings

• Go-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←かう (kau, historical)}
• Kan-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←かう (kau, historical)}
• Kun: かんがえる (kangaeru, 考える, Jōyō)^{←かんがへる (kangaferu, 考へる, historical)←かむかへる (kamukaferu, 考へる, ancient)}; かんがえ (kangae)

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Korean

Hanja

考 (eumhun 생각할 고 (saenggakhal go))

1. Hanja form^? of 고 (“to think”).

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 考 (khảo)

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