西

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See also: 四, 酉, 襾, and 覀
西 U+897F, 西
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-897F
← 襾
[U+897E] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 覀 →
[U+8980]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
西-order.gif

Han character[edit]

Commons-logo.svg
See images of
Radical 146 西

西 (radical 146, 襾+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 一金田 (MCW), four-corner 10600, composition ⿱一𠁤)

Derived characters[edit]

References[edit]

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

Chinese[edit]

simp. and trad.
 西
alternative forms 㢴
卤

Glyph origin[edit]

Historical forms of the character 西
Shang Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
西-oracle.svg 西-bronze.svg 西-seal.svg 西-bigseal.svg
Characters in the same phonetic series (西) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
粞 *sɯːl, *sɯːl
洒 *sraːls, *sɯːlʔ
西 *sɯːl
卤 *sɯːl
卥 *sɯːl
栖 *sɯːl, *sɯːls
茜 *sʰɯːns
哂 *hjɯnʔ

Pictogram (象形) – a bag or basket, borrowed for phonetic value. Compare 東 (OC *toːŋ, “bundle > east”). Traditionally explained as a pictogram of a bird settling into its nest, which by analogy with the setting of the sun means “west”. This etymology has been disputed (Sears), but Sagart (2004) stands by it.

Etymology[edit]

The word is traditionally reconstructed to have a /*s/-initial in Old Chinese, e.g. /*sɯːl/ in Zhengzhang (2003). However, recent scholarship has suggested that the Old Chinese initial should instead be reconstructed as /*s-nˤ/, one of the reasons being 西 appears to be the phonetic in 迺 (nǎi), the archaic graphic variant of 乃 (OC *nɯːʔ). The new reconstruction, /*s-nˤər/ in Baxter and Sagart (2014), also accounts for how 西 can be the phonetic in 哂 (shěn, “to smile”). For more information, see Sagart (2004), Baxter and Sagart (2014) and Nohara (2018).

In light of the new construction with the initial consonant cluster /*s-nˤ/, the possibilities of the etymology of 西, aside from being cognate with 棲／栖 (qī, “to roost; to rest”) (B-S OC /*s-nˤər/), include:

  • Related to Tibetan ནེར་བ (ner ba, “to sink; to fall gradually”) (Unger, 1990).
  • Related to Chepang नेलःसा (nelʔ‑, “to go down; to sink”), which may be the same etymon as the Written Tibetan word above (Schuessler, 2007).
  • Related to the root 尼 (nǐ, “to stop”) (OC /*nˤərʔ/ for intransitive form, /*nˤərʔ-s/ for transitive form in Baxter and Sagart (2014)).
  • An Austroasiatic nominal n-infix derivative from the root "go down", as in Old Mon cnis (“ghat”) < Old Mon cis (“to go down”) , with Proto-Austroasiatic *tsn- > Proto-Sinitic *sn-. Therefore, this etymon literally means "the place where one goes down to > Mon "ghat" > OC "nest, west". The base form is 濟 (OC *ʔsliːls) via Austroasiatic (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation[edit]

Note:
  • sai - vernacular;
  • se - literary;
  • si - vernacular (limited, e.g. 西瓜).
Note:
  • sai - literary;
  • si1 - vernacular (for 西瓜).
  • Wu
  • Xiang
    • Dialectal data
    Variety Location 西
    Mandarin Beijing /ɕi⁵⁵/
    Harbin /ɕi⁴⁴/
    Tianjin /ɕi²¹/
    Jinan /ɕi²¹³/
    Qingdao /si²¹³/
    Zhengzhou /si²⁴/
    Xi'an /ɕi²¹/
    Xining /ɕji⁴⁴/
    Yinchuan /ɕi⁴⁴/
    Lanzhou /ɕi³¹/
    Ürümqi /ɕi⁴⁴/
    Wuhan /ɕi⁵⁵/
    Chengdu /ɕi⁵⁵/
    Guiyang /ɕi⁵⁵/
    Kunming /ɕi⁴⁴/
    Nanjing /si³¹/
    Hefei /sz̩²¹/
    Jin Taiyuan /ɕi¹¹/
    Pingyao /ɕi¹³/
    /sei¹³/ ～瓜
    Hohhot /ɕi³¹/
    Wu Shanghai /ɕi⁵³/
    Suzhou /si⁵⁵/
    Hangzhou /ɕi³³/
    Wenzhou /sei³³/
    Hui Shexian /si³¹/
    Tunxi /se¹¹/
    Xiang Changsha /si³³/
    Xiangtan /si³³/
    Gan Nanchang /ɕi⁴²/
    Hakka Meixian /si⁴⁴/
    Taoyuan /si²⁴/
    Cantonese Guangzhou /sɐi⁵³/
    Nanning /ɬɐi⁵⁵/
    Hong Kong /sɐi⁵⁵/
    Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /se⁵⁵/
    /sai⁵⁵/ 東～
    /si⁵⁵/ ～瓜
    Fuzhou (Min Dong) /sɛ⁴⁴/
    Jian'ou (Min Bei) /sai⁵⁴/
    /si⁵⁴/
    Shantou (Min Nan) /si³³/
    /sai³³/
    Haikou (Min Nan) /si²³/
    /tai²³/
    Rime
    Character 西
    Reading # 1/1
    Initial (聲) 心 (16)
    Final (韻) 齊 (39)
    Tone (調) Level (Ø)
    Openness (開合) Open
    Division (等) IV
    Fanqie 先稽切
    Reconstructions
    Zhengzhang
    Shangfang         		/sei/
    Pan
    Wuyun         		/sei/
    Shao
    Rongfen         		/sɛi/
    Edwin
    Pulleyblank         		/sɛj/
    Li
    Rong         		/sei/
    Wang
    Li         		/siei/
    Bernard
    Karlgren         		/siei/
    Expected
    Mandarin
    Reflex         		xī
    Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
    Character 西 西
    Reading # 1/2 2/2
    Modern
    Beijing
    (Pinyin)         		xī xī
    Middle
    Chinese         		‹ sej › ‹ sej ›
    Old
    Chinese         		/*s-nˁər/ /*s-nˁər/
    English west 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 西
    Reading # 1/1
    No. 13236
    Phonetic
    component         		西
    Rime
    group         		微
    Rime
    subdivision         		1
    Corresponding
    MC rime         		西
    Old
    Chinese         		/*sɯːl/

    Definitions[edit]

    西

    1. west; western
    2. (～村) Xi (a village in Dongsong, Luoning, Luoyang, Henan, China)

    Coordinate terms[edit]

    • (compass points)
    西北 北 東北
    西 Compass rose simple plain.svg 東
    西南 南 東南


    Compounds[edit]

    Derived terms from 西

    Descendants[edit]

    Sino-Xenic (西):
    • → Japanese: 西(さい) (sai); 西(せい) (sei)
    • → Korean: 서 (西, seo)
    • → Vietnamese: tây (西)

    Others:

    Japanese[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    西

    (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    1. west
    2. Europe, European
    3. kanji used to transliterate foreign languages
    4. Short for 西班牙 (Supein): Spain, Spanish
    5. autumn

    Readings[edit]

    Compounds[edit]

    Compounds

    Etymology 1[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    西
    にし
    Grade: 2
    kun’yomi

    From adnominal 往にし (inishi, “leaving, passing”), as the direction of sunset. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

    Pronunciation[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    西(にし) • (nishi) 

    1. west (one of the four cardinal directions)
      Antonym: 東 (higashi)
    2. the West
    3. wind blowing from the west
      Antonym: 東 (higashi)
    4. (theater) in kabukii:
      1. the left side of the stage in the Edo-style
      2. the right side of the stage in Kyoto and Osaka styles
    5. (sumo) lower-ranked wrestlers listed on the left side of a banzuke
      Antonym: 東 (higashi)
    6. a capitalist state (originally western Europe, as opposed to Eastern Bloc countries)
      Synonym: 西側 (nishigawa)
      Antonym: 東 (higashi)
    Coordinate terms[edit]
    • (compass points)
    西北(せいほく) (seihoku)/北西(ほくせい) (hokusei) 北(きた) (kita) 東北(とうほく) (tōhoku)/北東(ほくとう) (hokutō)
    西(にし) (nishi) Compass rose simple plain.svg 東(ひがし) (higashi)
    西南(せいなん) (seinan)/南西(なんせい) (nansei) 南(みなみ) (minami) 東南(とうなん) (tōnan)/南東(なんとう) (nantō)


    Derived terms[edit]
    Derived terms
    Idioms[edit]
    Proverbs[edit]
    Idioms

    Proper noun[edit]

    西(にし) • (Nishi) 

    1. (Buddhism) Synonym of 西方浄土 (Saihō Jōdo): the western paradise of Amitabha Buddha
    2. (Buddhism) Short for 西本願寺 (Nishi Hongan-ji): a Buddhist temple in Kyoto
      Synonym: お西 (o-Nishi)
    3. (historical) a red-light district in Edo-period Shinjuku (as it was located west of Edo Castle)
    4. a place name, especially the name of various wards in major cities throughout Japan
    5. a surname

    Etymology 2[edit]

    Kanji in this term
    西
    しゃー
    Grade: 2
    Irregular

    Possibly a corruption of Mandarin 西 (xī, “west”).

    Noun[edit]

    西(シャー) • (shā) 

    1. (mahjong) west wind (mahjong tile)
      Hypernym: 風牌 (kazehai, fanpai)
    2. (mahjong)} a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of west wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)
      Hypernym: 役牌 (yakuhai, yaku-pai)
    See also[edit]

    References[edit]

    1. ^ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    2. ^ 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō

    Korean[edit]

    Hanja[edit]

    西 (eumhun 서녘 서 (seonyeok seo))

    1. west; western
    2. westward
    3. permeate; seep; saturate

    Okinawan[edit]

    Kanji[edit]

    西

    (grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

    Readings[edit]

    Noun[edit]

    西 (hiragana いり, romaji iri)

    1. the West

    Compounds[edit]

    • 西風 (いりかじ, irikazi, “west wind”)

    Vietnamese[edit]

    Han character[edit]

    西: Hán Nôm readings: tây

    1. west
    2. West (the Western world)
    • Sơn Tây 山西
    • Tây Sơn 西山
    • Sài Gòn 西貢
    • phía tây : 費西

    References[edit]

    • 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
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