西

See also: 四 and 酉

§Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

§Etymology

Pictogram (象形): a bag or basket, borrowed for phonetic value. Compare 東 (originally bundle, now east). Traditionally (albeit wrongly) explained as a pictogram of a bird settling into its nest, and by analogy with the setting of the sun means "west".

Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

§Han character

西 (radical 146 西+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 一金田 (MCW)西, four-corner 1060₀, composition ⿻兀囗)

§References

• KangXi: page 1128, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 34763
• Dae Jaweon: page 1595, character 19
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2805, character 2
• Unihan data for U+897F

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§Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		西

§Etymology

• "Image of a bird sitting on its nest... the West, for the birds go to roost when the sun is setting" --Wieger.

§Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xī (xi¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sai¹
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): sî
• Min Nan (POJ): sai / se / si
• Wu (WT Romanisation): xi (T1)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: xī
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ
    • Wade-Giles: hsih¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shi
    • IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵/

    • (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: sai¹
    • Yale: sāi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sai¹
    • IPA ^(key): /sɐi̯⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sî
    • IPA (Siyen, including Miaoli): /ɕi²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sai / se / si
    • Tâi-lô: sai / se / si
    • IPA (Taipei): /saɪ⁴⁴/, /se⁴⁴/, /ɕi⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /saɪ³⁴/, /se³⁴/, /ɕi³⁴/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: xi (T1)
    • IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (西, reconstructed)
Character (西), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 心 (16) Final: 齊 Division: IV			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 先稽切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/sei/	/siei/	/sei/	/sei/	/sɛj/	/siei/	/sɛi/

Old Chinese pronunciation (西, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
西								xī								‹ sej ›								/*s-nˤər/								west
西								xī								‹ sej ›								/*s-nˤər/								west
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					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
西					13236					西					微					1					西					/*sɯːl/

§Noun

西

1. west, western

§Coordinate terms

• 東／东
• 南
• 北

§Compounds

Derived terms

(headwords) 西安 (Xī'ān) 西班牙 (Xībānyá) 西半球 (Xībànqiú) 西北 (xīběi) 西边 (xībiān) 西邊兒, 西边儿 (xībiānr) 西部 (xībù) 西餐 (xīcān) 西點, 西点 (Xīdiǎn) 西方 (xīfāng) 西非 (Xīfēi) 西風, 西风 (xīfēng) 西鳳酒, 西凤酒 (Xīfèngjiǔ) 西服 (xīfú) 西瓜 (xīguā) 西紅柿, 西红柿 (xīhóngshì) 西葫蘆, 西葫芦 (xīhúlu) 西化 (xīhuà) 西經, 西经 (xījīng) 西曆, 西历 (xīlì) 西米 (xīmǐ) 西面 (xīmiàn) 西南 (xīnán) 西歐, 西欧 (Xī Oū) 西人 (xīrén) 西薩摩亞, 西萨摩亚 (Xī Sàmóyà) 西曬, 西晒 (xīshài) 西施 (Xī Shī) 西式 (xīshì) 西天 (Xītiān) 西頭, 西头 (xītóu)

西文 (xīwén) 西西里 (Xīxīlǐ) 西西里島, 西西里岛 (Xīxīlǐdǎo) 西学, 西學 (Xīxué) 西洋 (xīyáng) 西洋畫, 西洋画 (xīyánghuà) 西洋景 (xīyángjǐng) 西洋參, 西洋参 (xīyángshēn) 西藥, 西药 (xīyào) 西醫, 西医 (xīyī) 西遊記, 西游记 (Xīyóu Jì) 西語, 西语 (xīyǔ) 西域 (Xīyù) 西樂, 西乐 (xīyué) 西元 (xīyuán) 西裝, 西装 (xīzhuāng) 檳榔西施, 槟榔西施 (bīnláng xīshī) (tailwords) 巴西 (Bāxī) 病老歸西, 病老归西 (bìnglǎoguīxī) 不中不西 (bùzhōngbùxī) 沉西 (chénxī) 臭東西, 臭东西 (chòudōngxi) 東西, 东西 (dōngxi) (other) 抱痛西河 (bàotòngxīhé) 北大西洋 (Běi Dàxī Yáng) 賓西法尼亞, 宾西法尼亚 (Bīnxīfǎníyà) 玻利尼西亞, 玻利尼西亚 (Bōlìníxīyà) 拆穿西洋鏡, 拆穿西洋镜 (chāichuān xīyángjìng) 拆東牆補西牆, 拆东墙补西墙 (chāidōngqiáng bǔxīqiáng) 拆西補東, 拆西补东 (chāixībǔdōng) 法西斯 (fǎxīsī) 新西蘭, 新西兰 (Xīnxīlán)

§Usage notes

西 is the 146th radical of the Chinese dictionary. In its few compounds it most often appears at the top in the form 覀 as in 覄. It is important to distinguish it from 襾 and 酉.

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§Japanese

§Kanji

西

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

§Readings

• Goon: さい (sai)
• Kan’on: せい (sei)
• Kun: にし (nishi)

§Compounds

• 西欧 (せいおう, seiō): Western Europe
• 西瓜 (すいか, suika): watermelon
• 西経 (せいけい, seikei): west longitude
• 西の対 (にしのたい, nishi no tai)

• 西洋 (せいよう, seiyō): the West, western countries
• 西暦 (せいれき, seireki): western calendar
• 関西 (かんさい, Kansai)

§Usage notes

nishi may be used as separate word. sei, on the other hand, is used mainly in compounds, like 西南 (せいなん seinan) - south west (literally "west south").

Kanji in this term

西

にし Grade: 2

kun'yomi

§Noun

西 (hiragana にし, romaji nishi)

1. the west

§Proper noun

西 (hiragana にし, romaji Nishi)

1. A surname​.

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§Korean

§Hanja

西 (seo)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 서 (revised: seo, McCune-Reischauer: sŏ, Yale: se)

• Name (hangeul): 서녘 (revised: seonyeok, McCune-Reischauer: sŏnyŏk, Yale: senyekh)
• Examples
  • 서부 西部 (seobu) western (part)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

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§Okinawan

§Kanji

西 (hiragana いり, romaji iri)

§Noun

西 (hiragana いり, romaji iri)

1. the West

§Compounds

• 西風 (いりかじ, irikazi): west wind

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§Vietnamese

§Han character

西 (tây)

• Sơn Tây 山西
• Tây Sơn 西山

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

§Readings

• Nôm: tây, tê
• phía tây : 費西

§References

• Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
• Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
• Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm , NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999

• ^ Chinese Etymology, Richard Sears