藍

See also: 籃 and 蓝

Translingual

Han character

藍 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+14 in Chinese and Korean, 艸+15 in Japanese, 18 strokes in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 17 strokes in mainland China, cangjie input 廿尸戈廿 (TSIT) or 廿尸一廿 (TSMT), four-corner 4410₇, composition ⿱艹監)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1064, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32258
• Dae Jaweon: page 1528, character 35
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3311, character 8
• Unihan data for U+85CD

---

Chinese

trad.		藍
simp.		蓝
alternative forms		兰 second round simplified

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
藍	*ɡ·raːm
襤	*ɡ·raːm
籃	*ɡ·raːm
懢	*ɡ·raːm, *ɡ·raːms
儖	*ɡ·raːm
蘫	*ɡ·raːm, *qʰlaːms
攬	*ɡ·raːmʔ
欖	*ɡ·raːmʔ
覽	*ɡ·raːmʔ
爁	*ɡ·raːmʔ, *ɡ·raːms, *ɡ·rams
擥	*ɡ·raːmʔ
灠	*ɡ·raːmʔ
濫	*ɡ·raːms, *ɡraːmʔ
嚂	*ɡ·raːms, *kʰlaːms, *qʰlaːmʔ
纜	*ɡ·raːms
監	*kraːm, *kraːms
礛	*kraːm
鑑	*kraːm, *kraːms, *kraːms
艦	*ɡraːmʔ
檻	*ɡraːmʔ, *ɡraːms
壏	*ɡraːmʔ
轞	*ɡraːmʔ
鹽	*ɡ·lam, *ɡ·lams

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡ·raːm) : semantic 艹 (“grass”) + phonetic 監 (OC *kraːm, *kraːms): The indigo plant

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-ram (“indigo”). Cognate with Lepcha [script needed] (ryom), Mru charam, Tibetan རམས (rams, “indigo”), which Laufer (1916) considers to be a Chinese loan. 藍 (OC *ɡ·raːm) was also borrowed as Proto-Tai *g.raːmᴬ (STEDT) and possibly Nyah Kur [script needed] (khràam), Surin Khmer [script needed] (kraːm), and Proto-Vietic *ɟaːm (“indigo”) (→ Vietnamese chàm). Schuessler (2007) considers this an areal word, possibly from Southeast Asia; confer Proto-Austronesian *taRum (“indigo plant and dye”) (> Malay tarum) and Khmer ត្រុំ (trom).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lán (lan²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): laam⁴
• Gan (Wiktionary): lan⁴
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): làm

  (Meixian, Guangdong): lam²

• Eastern Min (BUC): làng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): nâ / lâm

  (Teochew, Peng'im): lam⁵ / nam⁵ / na⁵

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁶le
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): lan²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lán
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lán
    • Wade–Giles: lan²
    • Yale: lán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lan
    • Palladius: лань (lanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /län³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: laam⁴
    • Yale: làahm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: laam⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: lam⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /laːm²¹/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: lan⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lan³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: làm
    • Hakka Romanization System: lamˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: lam²
    • Sinological IPA: /lam¹¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: lam²
    • Sinological IPA: /lam¹¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: làng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃aŋ⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nâ / lâm
    • Tâi-lô: nâ / lâm
    • Phofsit Daibuun: naa, laam
    • IPA (Xiamen): /nã²⁴/, /lam²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /nã²⁴/, /lam²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /nã¹³/, /lam¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /nã²⁴/, /lam²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /nã²³/, /lam²³/

Note:

• nâ - vernacular;
• lâm - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: lam⁵ / nam⁵ / na⁵
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: lâm / nâm / nâ
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lam⁵⁵/, /nam⁵⁵/, /na⁵⁵/

Note:

• lam5 - Chaozhou;
• nam5 - Shantou;
• na5 - surname.

• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁶le
    • MiniDict: le^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³le
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /le²³/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: lan²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃an¹³/

---

• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 藍
Mandarin	Beijing	/lan³⁵/
	Harbin	/lan²⁴/
	Tianjin	/lan⁴⁵/
	Jinan	/lã⁴²/
	Qingdao	/lã⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/lan⁴²/
	Xi'an	/lã²⁴/
	Xining	/lã²⁴/
	Yinchuan	/lan⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/lɛ̃n⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/lan⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/nan²¹³/
	Chengdu	/nan³¹/
	Guiyang	/nan²¹/
	Kunming	/lã̠³¹/
	Nanjing	/laŋ²⁴/
	Hefei	/læ̃⁵⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/læ̃¹¹/
	Pingyao	/lɑŋ¹³/
	Hohhot	/læ̃³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/le²³/
	Suzhou	/le̞¹³/
	Hangzhou	/lẽ̞²¹³/
	Wenzhou	/la³¹/
Hui	Shexian	/lɛ⁴⁴/
	Tunxi	/lɔ⁴⁴/
Xiang	Changsha	/lan¹³/
	Xiangtan	/nan¹²/
Gan	Nanchang	/lan⁴⁵/
Hakka	Meixian	/lam¹¹/
	Taoyuan	/lɑm¹¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/lam²¹/
	Nanning	/lam²¹/
	Hong Kong	/lam²¹/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/lam³⁵/ /na³⁵/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/laŋ⁵³/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/laŋ³³/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/lam⁵⁵/ /nã⁵⁵/ 姓
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/lam³¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: lam

Rime
Character	藍
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	魯甘切
Baxter	lam
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/lɑm/
Pan Wuyun	/lɑm/
Shao Rongfen	/lɑm/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lam/
Li Rong	/lɑm/
Wang Li	/lɑm/
Bernard Karlgren	/lɑm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lán
Expected Cantonese Reflex	laam4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[N-k.]rˤam/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡ·raːm/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	藍
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	lán
Middle Chinese	‹ lam ›
Old Chinese	/*[N-k.]rˁam/
English	indigo
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	藍
Reading #	1/1
No.	6082
Phonetic component	監
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	藍
Old Chinese	/*ɡ·raːm/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 藍

1. blue

   藍色／蓝色  ―  lánsè  ―  blue color

2. indigo plant;
3. (politics) related to the pro-unification pan-Blue coalition of Taiwan
4. a surname Lan

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (藍):

• → Japanese: 藍(らん) (ran)
• → Korean: 남(藍) (nam)
• → Vietnamese: lam (藍)

Others:

• • Thai: คราม (kraam)
  • Lao: ຄາມ (khām)
• • Thai: ฮ่อม (hɔ̂ɔm)
  • Zhuang: romj, goromj
• → Khmer: ត្រុំ (trom)

Compounds

(deprecated template usage)

---

Japanese

Kanji

藍

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. the Japanese indigo or Chinese indigo plant, Persicaria tinctoria
2. the color indigo
3. kanji used to transliterate Buddhist terms borrowed from Sanskrit

Readings

• Go-on: らん (ran, Jōyō)^{←らん (ran, historical)←らむ (ramu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: らん (ran, Jōyō)^{←らん (ran, historical)←らむ (ramu, ancient)}
• Kun: あい (ai, 藍, Jōyō)^{←あゐ (awi, あゐ, historical)}

Compounds

Compounds

• 藍(らん)衣(い)社(しゃ) (Ran'isha)
• 藍玉(らんぎょく) (rangyoku): aquamarine (gem)
• 藍(らん)紫(し)色(しょく) (ranshishoku)
• 藍綬(らんじゅ)褒章(ほうしょう) (Ranju Hōshō)
• 藍(らん)晶石(しょうせき) (ranshōseki, “cyanite”)
• 藍(らん)色(しょく) (ranshoku): the color indigo: dark blue
• 藍(らん)閃石(せんせき) (ransenseki)
• 藍藻(ランソウ) (ransō)
• 藍(らん)鉄鉱(てっこう) (rantekkō)
• 藍田(らんでん) (Randen)
• 藍靛(らんてん) (ranten)
• 藍(らん)銅鉱(どうこう) (randōkō)
• 藍(らん)毘(び)尼(に)園(おん) (Ranbini-on)
• 藍碧(らんぺき) (ranpeki)
• 芥藍(カイラン) (kairan)
• 伽藍(がらん) (garan)
• 甘藍(カンラン) (kanran)
• 洎夫(サフ)藍(ラン) (safuran)
• 芥(ジエ)藍(ラン)菜(ツァイ) (jierantsai)
• 出藍(しゅつらん) (shutsuran)
• 青藍(せいらん) (seiran)
• 僧(そう)伽(が)藍(らん)摩(ま) (sōgaranma)
• 堆藍(たいらん) (tairan)
• 洞庭藍(トウテイラン) (tōteiran)
• 銅藍(どうらん) (dōran)
• 白藍(はくらん) (hakuran)
• 板藍根(バンランコン) (banrankon)
• 毘(び)藍(らん)婆(ば) (Biranba)
• 洋藍(ようらん) (yōran)

Etymology

藍 (ai): the Japanese indigo or Chinese indigo plant, Persicaria tinctoria.

藍 (ai): the color indigo.

Kanji in this term
藍
あい Grade: S
kun’yomi

/awi/ → */aji/ → /ai/

From Old Japanese.

There are various theories regarding the ultimate derivation, all suggesting a relation to 青 (awo → ao, “blue”):

• May be an alteration from 青色 (awoiro → aoiro):

  ⟨awoiro₂⟩ → /awoirə/ → /awɨrə/ → /airo/ → /ai/

• May be a fusion of 青 (awo → ao) and い (i, emphatic nominative particle)

  */awo i/ → */awɨ/ → */awi/ → */aji/ → /ai/

• May be derived from a compound of 青 (awo → ao) +‎ 居 (wi → i, “there is”), expressing the sense that the indigo plant contains the color blue:

  /awowi/ → */awːɨ/ → /awi/ → */aji/ → /ai/

Given that many Old Japanese terms have been derived from adding an emphatic nominative particle い (i), and the spelling was historically awi, the second derivation seems likely.

Noun

1. the Japanese indigo or Chinese indigo plant, Persicaria tinctoria

   Synonyms: 藍蓼 (aitade), 蓼藍 (tade-ai)

   Hypernym: 蓼 (tade)

2. the color indigo, from the dye processed from the stems and leaves of various indigo plants

   Synonyms: 藍色 (aiiro, ranshoku), インジゴ (injigo), インディゴ (indigo)

3. Short for 藍蝋 (airō): indigo pigment made from boiled-down indigo dye liquid

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as アイ.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 藍色(あいいろ) (aiiro)
• 藍(あい)絵(え) (ai-e)
• 藍返(あいがえ)し (aigaeshi)
• 藍型(あいがた) (aigata)
• 藍紙(あいがみ) (aigami)
• 藍瓶(あいがめ), 藍甕(あいがめ) (aigame)
• 藍革(あいかわ) (aikawa)
• 藍隈(あいぐま) (aiguma)
• 藍(アイ)子(ゴ) (aigo)
• 藍鮫(アイザメ) (aizame)
• 藍下(あいした) (aishita)
• 藍汁(あいしる) (aishiru)
• 藍住(あいずみ) (Aizumi)
• 藍墨(あいずみ) (aizumi)
• 藍(あい)摺(ず)り (aizuri)
• 藍染(あいぞめ), 藍(あい)染(ぞ)め (aizome)
• 藍(あい)建(だ)て (aidate)
• 藍蓼(アイタデ) (aitade)
• 藍茸(アイタケ) (aitake)
• 藍玉(あいだま) (aidama) an indigo ball
• 藍(あい)韋(なめし) (ai-nameshi)
• 藍(あい)鼠(ねずみ) (ainezumi): bluish gray
• 藍花(あいばな) (aibana)
• 藍棒(あいぼう) (aibō)
• 藍(あい)微塵(みじん) (ai-mijin)
• 藍(アイ)水(ミ)泥(ドロ) (aimidoro)
• 藍(あい)海松(みる)茶(ちゃ) (aimirucha)
• 藍(あい)屋(や) (aiya)
• 藍焼(あいやき), 藍(あい)焼(や)き (aiyaki)
• 藍役(あいやく) (aiyaku)
• 藍蝋(あいろう) (airō): indigo pigment made from boiled-down indigo dye liquid
• 紫陽花(あじさい) (ajisai)
• インド藍(あい) (Indo-ai)
• 薄藍(うすあい) (usuai)
• 韓藍(からあい) (karaai)
• 木(キ)藍(アイ) (kiai)
• 紅(くれない) (kurenai), 呉(くれ)の藍(あい) (Kure-no-ai)
• 濃(こ)藍(あい) (koai), 濃藍(こいあい) (koiai)
• 紺藍(こんあい) (kon-ai)
• 地入(じい)れ藍(あい) (jiire ai)
• 白藍(しろあい) (shiroai)
• 人造(じんぞう)藍(あい) (jinzō-ai)
• 蓼藍(タデアイ) (tadeai)
• 漬藍(つけあい) (tsukeai)
• 天然(てんねん)藍(あい) (tennen-ai)
• 泥藍(どろあい) (doroai)
• 二藍(ふたあい) (futa-ai)
• ベロ藍(あい) (bero-ai)
• 襤褸(ぼろ)藍(あい) (boro-ai)
• 本藍(ほんあい) (hon-ai)
• 揉(も)み藍(あい) (momiai)
• 山藍(やまあい) (yamaai), 山藍(やまい) (yamai)
• 琉球(リュウキュウ)藍(アイ) (Ryūkyū-ai)

Proverbs

• 青(あお)は藍(あい)より出(い)でて藍(あい)より青(あお)し (ao wa ai yori idete ai yori aoshi)

Proper noun

藍(あい) • (Ai) ^{←あゐ (awi)?}

1. a female given name

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Further reading

• Entry at Nihonjiten (in Japanese)

---

Korean

Hanja

藍 • (ram>nam) (hangeul 람>남, McCune–Reischauer ram>nam, Yale lam>nam)

Hanja

藍 (eumhun 쪽 람 (jjok ram))

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

Hanja

藍 (eumhun 볼 감 (bol gam))

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

---

Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 藍 (lam, chàm, rôm, rườm, trôm, xám)

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

References

• Nôm Foundation