草

See also: 艸

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

草 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 廿日十 (TAJ), four-corner 4440₆, composition ⿱艹早)

Derived characters

• 𠹊, 愺, 𭡶, 𣺞, 𦞻, 𬃸, 𬊳, 𨕡, 騲(𮪤), 𮏱, 𢾳, 𬞁, 𮑅, 𠌓, 䓥, 𭆍, 𤌸

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1030, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30945
• Dae Jaweon: page 1489, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3203, character 4
• Unihan data for U+8349

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Chinese

trad.		草
simp. #		草

Glyph origin

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

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

	Old Chinese
早	*ʔsuːʔ
草	*sʰuːʔ
愺	*sʰuːʔ
騲	*sʰuːʔ
皁	*zuːʔ
皂	*zuːʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰuːʔ) : semantic 艸 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 早 (OC *ʔsuːʔ). Originally referred to 皂, and later borrowed for the “grass” sense, replacing 艸.

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-tswa-n (“grass”); cognate with Tibetan རྩྭ (rtswa, “grass”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

Alternatively, it may be related to 芻 (OC *sʰro, “hay”), from Austroasiatic; compare Mon ချဲ (“grass; weeds; hay”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): cǎo (cao³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄠˇ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): цо (co, II)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cou²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chhó
• Northern Min (KCR): chǎu
• Eastern Min (BUC): chāu / chō̤
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): chháu / chhó / chhó͘

  (Teochew, Peng'im): co² / cao²

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁵tshau

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cǎo
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻao³
    • Yale: tsǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsao
    • Palladius: цао (cao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: цо (co, II)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔ⁵¹/

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

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: cou²
    • Yale: chóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: cou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰou̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhó
    • Hakka Romanization System: co`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: co³
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰo³¹/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: chǎu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰau²¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: chāu / chō̤
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰau³³/, /t͡sʰo³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chháu
    • Tâi-lô: tsháu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhao
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /t͡sʰau⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰau⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰau⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhó
    • Tâi-lô: tshó
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhoir
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰo⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /t͡sʰo⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰɤ⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhó͘
    • Tâi-lô: tshóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhor
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰɔ⁵⁵⁴/

Note:

• chháu - vernacular;
• chhó/chhó͘ - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: co² / cao²
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tshó / tsháu
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰo⁵²/, /t͡sʰau⁵²/

Note:

• co2 - vernacular;
• cao2 - literary.

• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁵tshau
    • MiniDict: tshau^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tshau
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sʰɔ³⁴/

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• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 草
Mandarin	Beijing	/t͡sʰɑu²¹⁴/
	Harbin	/t͡sʰau²¹³/
	Tianjin	/t͡sʰɑu¹³/
	Jinan	/t͡sʰɔ⁵⁵/
	Qingdao	/t͡sʰɔ⁵⁵/
	Zhengzhou	/t͡sʰau⁵³/
	Xi'an	/t͡sʰau⁵³/
	Xining	/t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
	Yinchuan	/t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/t͡sʰɔ⁴⁴²/
	Ürümqi	/t͡sʰɔ⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/t͡sʰau⁴²/
	Chengdu	/t͡sʰau⁵³/
	Guiyang	/t͡sʰao⁴²/
	Kunming	/t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
	Nanjing	/t͡sʰɔo²¹²/
	Hefei	/t͡sʰɔ²⁴/
Jin	Taiyuan	/t͡sʰau⁵³/
	Pingyao	/t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
	Hohhot	/t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
Wu	Shanghai	/t͡sʰɔ³⁵/
	Suzhou	/t͡sʰæ⁵¹/
	Hangzhou	/t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
	Wenzhou	/t͡sʰɜ³⁵/
Hui	Shexian	/t͡sʰɔ³⁵/
	Tunxi	/t͡sʰə³¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/t͡sʰau⁴¹/
	Xiangtan	/t͡sʰaɯ⁴²/
Gan	Nanchang	/t͡sʰɑu²¹³/
Hakka	Meixian	/t͡sʰau³¹/
	Taoyuan	/t͡sʰo³¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/t͡sʰou³⁵/
	Nanning	/t͡sʰu³⁵/
	Hong Kong	/t͡sʰou³⁵/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/t͡sʰo⁵³/ /t͡sʰau⁵³/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/t͡sʰau³²/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/t͡sʰau²¹/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/t͡sʰau⁵³/ /t͡sʰo⁵³/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/sau²¹³/

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• Middle Chinese: tshawX

Rime
Character	草
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	采老切
Baxter	tshawX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sʰɑuX/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sʰɑuX/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sʰɑuX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sʰawX/
Li Rong	/t͡sʰɑuX/
Wang Li	/t͡sʰɑuX/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡sʰɑuX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	cǎo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cou2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[tsʰ]ˤuʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sʰuːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	草	草
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	cǎo	cǎo
Middle Chinese	‹ tshawX ›	‹ tshawX ›
Old Chinese	/*[tsʰ]ˁuʔ/	/*[tsʰ]ˁuʔ/
English	grass, plants	rough, coarse
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	草
Reading #	1/1
No.	16547
Phonetic component	早
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	草
Old Chinese	/*sʰuːʔ/
Notes	說文作艸

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 草

1. grass; straw; thatch
2. herbal grasses; herbs
3. (by extension) any such green, leafy plant without any bark (plants, not trees)
4. draft; sketch
5. sloppy; hasty
6. (calligraphy) Short for 草書／草书 (cǎoshū, “cursive script (grass script)”).
   1. cursive
7. (chemistry) oxalic
8. (slang, euphemistic, Internet slang) (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 肏 (cào, “fuck”).

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (草):

• → Japanese: 草(そう) (sō)
• → Korean: 초(草) (cho)
• → Vietnamese: thảo (草)

Others:

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 草 – see 皂 (“black; acorn; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 皂).

(deprecated template usage)

Etymology 3

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 草 (kusa, “LOL”). See the Japanese entry for more information.

As an interjection, this term is easily confused with the native “fuck” sense above. To distinguish between the two senses, 中國語／中国语 (Zhōngguóyǔ, “Chinese”) and 日本語／日本语 (Rìběnyǔ, “Japanese”) are usually put in parentheses following the term to specify which sense is intended.

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 草

1. (neologism, Internet slang) LOL

   草（中日雙語）／草（中日双语）  ―  cǎo (zhōngrì shuāngyǔ)  ―  fuck lmao

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Japanese

Kanji

草

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)^{←さう (sau, historical)}
• Kan-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)^{←さう (sau, historical)}
• Kun: くさ (kusa, 草, Jōyō)
• Nanori: そ (so); や (ya); かや (kaya); しげ (shige)

Compounds

Compounds

• 篝(かがり)火(び)草(そう) (kagaribisō): cyclamen
• 鹿(か)の子(こ)草(そう) (kanokosō): valerian
• 甘草(かんぞう) (kanzō): licorice
• 吉草(きっそう) (kissō): valerian
• 駒(コマ)草(クサ) (komakusa): Dicentra peregrina
• 纈草(けっそう) (kessō): valerian
• 香草(こうそう) (kōsō): fragrant herb
• 嫩草(どんそう) (donsō): young grass
• 波布草(はぶそう) (habusō): coffee senna
• 菠薐草(ほうれんそう) (hōrensō): spinach
• 薬草(やくそう) (yakusō): medicinal herb or plants
• 鎧(よろい)草(ぐさ) (yoroigusa): Angelica dahurica

• 緑(りょく)草(そう) (ryokusō): lush green grass
• 霊草(れいそう) (reisō): mysterious or mystical herb or plants
• 草書(そうしょ) (sōsho): grass script (cursive writing)
• 草(くさ)冠(かんむり) (kusakanmuri): "grass crown"
• 草(くさ)木(き) (kusaki): grass(es) and trees - plants
• 穀草(こくそう) (kokusō): cereal, rice grasses
• 草原(そうげん) (sōgen): grassland, meadow
• 草(くさ)薙(なき)の剣(つるぎ) (Kusanaki no Tsurugi): Kusanagi no Tsurugi
• 七(なな)草(くさ)の節句(せっく) (nanakusa no sekku): the festival of seven herbs
• 豚(ぶた)草(くさ) (butakusa): common ragweed
• ぺんぺん草(ぐさ) (penpengusa): shepherd's purse

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
草
くさ Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kusa. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

The development of the fake, amateur senses is unclear.

Alternative forms

• 艸 (uncommon)

Noun

草(くさ) • (kusa) 

1. grass

   草(くさ)を刈(か)る

   kusa o karu

   to cut grass

   Synonym: (in reference to a lawn) 芝生 (shibafu)

2. a weed
3. a herb

   Synonyms: ハーブ (hābu), (medicinal) 薬草 (yakusō), (cooking) 香草 (kōsō)

4. a scout, a spy (from the way one would hide in the grass to observe enemy troops)
5. (figurative, slang, rare) pubic hair

Prefix

草(くさ) • (kusa-) 

1. a fake, a mimic, not the real thing

   草(くさ)蜉蝣(かげろう)

   kusakagerō

   a lacewing fly (literally, “fake or mimic dragonfly”, from the visual resemblance)

2. amateur, small-time

   草(くさ)野(や)球(きゅう)、草(くさ)競(けい)馬(ば)

   kusayakyū, kusakeiba

   amateur or pick-up baseball, small-time horse-racing

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
草
そう Grade: 1
on’yomi

/sau/ → /sɔː/ → /soː/

From Middle Chinese 草 (MC tshawX).

Noun

草(そう) • (sō) ^{←さう (sau)?}

1. grass
2. a draft, a rough copy
3. cursive, calligraphy in a running hand
4. something unofficial, an informal abbreviation or knock-off

Synonyms

• (draft): 草案(そうあん) (sōan)
• (cursive): 草書(そうしょ) (sōsho, a document), 草仮名(そうがな) (sōgana, phonetic man'yōgana characters written in cursive)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
草
くさ Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From the resemblance of multiple repetitions of w (w, “LOL”) to grass: wwwwwwwww.

Possibly influenced by the term くすくす (kusukusu), an adverb indicating stifled laughter. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

草(くさ) • (kusa) 

1. (Internet slang) "grass", in reference to the expression w (w, “LOL”); LOLs

Phrase

草(くさ) • (kusa) 

1. Short for 草生える (kusa haeru): (Internet slang) …it's hilarious

   鯖(さば)落(お)ちて草(くさ)

   saba ochite kusa

   lol the server's down

   下手(へた)すぎて草(くさ)

   heta-sugite kusa

   hilariously shitty

   4日(よっか)しかないのは草(くさ)

   yokka shika nai no wa kusa

   I've got only 4 days left lol

Derived terms

• 大草原(だいそうげん) (daisōgen, literally “great fields of grass”)
• 草(くさ)生(は)える (kusahaeru, literally “grass grows”)
• 草(くさ)不可避(ふかひ) (kusafukahi, literally “grass unavoidable”)
• 草(くさ)に(に)草(くさ)生(は)やすな (kusa ni kusa hayasu-na, literally “don't grow grass near grass”)

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Korean

Hanja

草 (eumhun 풀 초 (pul cho))

1. grass

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 草 (thảo, tháu, xáo)

1. grass
2. straw
3. thatch
4. herbs

References

• Nom Foundation