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

Usage notes[edit]

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.

Derived characters[edit]

References[edit]

  • 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

Chinese[edit]

simp. and trad.
 西
alt. forms 㢴

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.

Pronunciation[edit]

Note:
  • sai - vernacular;
  • se - literary;
  • si - vernacular (limited, e.g. 西瓜).
Note:
  • sai - literary;
  • si1 - vernacular (for 西瓜).
  • 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-nˤər/ /*s-nˤər/
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

Coordinate terms[edit]

Compounds[edit]

Derived terms from 西

Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

西

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings[edit]

Compounds[edit]

Compounds

Etymology 1[edit]

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

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

西 (hiragana にし, rōmaji nishi)

  1. west (one of the four cardinal directions)
    Antonyms: 東 (higashi)
  2. the West
  3. wind blowing from the west
  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) the names of sumo wrestlers on the left side of a banzuke
  6. by extension of the West sense, a capitalist state
    Synonyms: 西側 (nishigawa)
Derived terms[edit]
Idioms[edit]
Idioms

Proper noun[edit]

西 (hiragana にし, rōmaji 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
    Synonyms: お西 (o-Nishi)
  3. (historical) the red-light district in Edo-period Shinjuku
    as the district was at the west of Edo Castle
  4. name of a district in various prefectures of Japan
  5. A surname​.

Etymology 2[edit]

Kanji in this term
西
す
Grade: 2
Irregular

Short-form of ateji spelling 西班牙 (Supein).

Proper noun[edit]

西 (hiragana す, rōmaji Su)

  1. Spain

Etymology 3[edit]

Kanji in this term
西
しゃー
Grade: 2
Irregular

Derivation unknown.

Noun[edit]

西 (katakana シャー, rōmaji shā)

  1. (mahjong) west wind (tile)
  2. (mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “hand”) of a triplet or quad of west wind tiles, see 役牌

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 • (seo)

  1. west; western

Okinawan[edit]

Kanji[edit]

西 (hiragana いり, romaji iri)

Noun[edit]

西 (hiragana いり, romaji iri)

  1. the West

Compounds[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

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