西

See also: 四, 酉, 襾, and 覀

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

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

Derived characters

• 𪎢

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: 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

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		西
alternative forms		㢴

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 西
Shang		Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): xī (xi¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): щи (xi, I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sai¹
• Gan (Wiktionary): xi¹
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): sî

  (Meixian, Guangdong): xi¹

• Jin (Wiktionary): xi¹
• Northern Min (KCR): sái / sí
• Eastern Min (BUC): să̤
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): sai / se / si

  (Teochew, Peng'im): sai¹ / si¹

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹shi
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): xi¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xī
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: si
    • Wade–Giles: hsi¹
    • Yale: syī
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shi
    • Palladius: си (si)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: щи (xi, I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi²⁴/

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

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: sai¹
    • Yale: sāi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sai¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sei¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐi̯⁵⁵/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: xi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁴²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sî
    • Hakka Romanization System: xi´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /si²⁴/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: xi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /si⁴⁴/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: xi¹
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /ɕi¹¹/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: sái / sí
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sai⁵⁴/, /si⁵⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: să̤
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sai / se / si
    • Tâi-lô: sai / se / si
    • Phofsit Daibuun: say, sef, sy
    • IPA (Xiamen): /sai⁴⁴/, /se⁴⁴/, /si⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sai³³/, /se³³/, /si³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /sai⁴⁴/, /se⁴⁴/, /si⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /sai⁴⁴/, /se⁴⁴/, /si⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sai⁴⁴/, /se⁴⁴/, /si⁴⁴/

Note:

• sai - vernacular;
• se - literary;
• si - vernacular (limited, e.g. 西瓜 (xīguā)).

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: sai¹ / si¹
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sai / si
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sai³³/, /si³³/

Note:

• sai - literary;
• si1 - vernacular (for 西瓜).

• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹shi
    • MiniDict: shi^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹xi
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɕi⁵³/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: xi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi³³/

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• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 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 (Hokkien)	/se⁵⁵/ /sai⁵⁵/ 東～ /si⁵⁵/ ～瓜
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/sɛ⁴⁴/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/sai⁵⁴/ /si⁵⁴/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/si³³/ /sai³³/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/si²³/ /tai²³/

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• Middle Chinese: sej

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
Baxter	sej
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
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sai1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s-nˤər/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sɯːl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	西
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xī
Middle Chinese	‹ sej ›
Old Chinese	/*s-nˁər/
English	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

(deprecated template usage) 西

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

Coordinate terms

• 東／东 (dōng)
• 南 (nán)
• 北 (běi)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (西):

• → Japanese: 西(さい) (sai); 西(せい) (sei); 西(シャー) (shā)
• → Korean: 서(西) (seo)
• → Vietnamese: tây (西)

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

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

• Go-on: さい (sai, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: せい (sei, Jōyō)
• Tō-on: すい (sui)
• Kun: にし (nishi, 西, Jōyō)
• Nanori: あき (aki); いり (iri); かわち (kawachi)^{←かはち (kafati, historical)}

Compounds

Compounds

• 西(さい)域(いき) (saīki)
• 西(さい)下(か) (saika)
• 西(さい)国(こく) (saikoku), 西(さい)国(ごく) (saigoku)
• 西(さい)方(ほう) (saihō)
• 西(せい)方(ほう) (seihō)
• 西(せい)域(いき) (seīki)
• 西(せい)欧(おう) (Seiō, “Western Europe”)
• 西(せい)紀(き) (seiki)
• 西(せい)経(けい) (seikei, “west longitude”)
• 西(セイ)蔵(ゾウ) (Seizō)
• 西(せい)哲(てつ) (seitetsu)
• 西(せい)部(ぶ) (seibu)
• 西(せい)風(ふう) (seifū)
• 西(せい)洋(よう) (seiyō, “the West, western countries”)
• 西(せい)暦(れき) (seireki, “western calendar”)
• 西(スイ)瓜(カ) (suika, “watermelon”)
• 西(さい)海(かい) (saikai), 西(さい)海(かい) (Saikai)
• 以(い)西(せい) (isei)
• 関(かん)西(さい) (Kansai)
• 泰(たい)西(せい) (taisei)
• 鎮(ちん)西(ぜい) (Chinzei)
• 東(とう)西(ざい) (tōzai)
• 日(にっ)西(せい) (Nissei)
• 米(べい)西(せい)戦(せん)争(そう) (Bei-Sei Sensō)
• 北(ほく)西(せい) (hokusei)
• 西比利亜(シベリア) (Shiberia)
• 西班牙(スペイン) (Supein)
• 西蔵(チベット) (Chibetto)
• 仏蘭西(フランス) (Furansu)

Etymology 1

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?)

Noun

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)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 西(にし)風(かぜ) (nishikaze)
• 西(にし)方(かた) (nishikata), 西(にし)方(がた) (nishigata)
• 西(にし)側(がわ) (nishigawa)
• 西(にし)方(ざま) (nishizama)
• 西(にし)の対(たい) (nishi no tai)
• 西(にし)日(び) (nishibi)
• 真(ま)西(にし) (manishi)

Idioms

• 西(にし)向(む)く侍(さむらい) → 二四(にし)六九(むく)士(さむらい) (nishi muku samurai, “westward-facing samurai → mnemonic for months with less than 31 days, with 士 standing for 十一”)

Proverbs

Idioms

• 西(にし)と言(い)うたら東(ひがし)を悟(さと)れ (nishi to iu tara higashi o satore, “what is called in the west is realized in the east → necessary to understand the back as well as the front”)
• 西(にし)と言(い)えば東(ひがし)と言(い)う (nishi to ieba higashi to iu, “something spoken from the west is different in the east → tell the opposite thing every time”)
• 西(にし)も東(ひがし)も分(わ)からない (nishi mo higashi mo wakaranai, “cannot tell east from west → cannot be understood at all”)
• 犬(いぬ)が西(にし)向(む)きゃ尾(お)は東(ひがし) (inu ga nishi mukya o wa higashi, “dog faces west while its tail points east → clearly obvious”)

Proper noun

西(にし) or 西(proper) • (nishi or proper) [[Category:Japanese
|にし]]

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

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
西
しゃー Grade: 2
irregular

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

Noun

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

• 風(かぜ)牌(ハイ) (kazehai, “wind tiles”): 東(トン) (ton, “east wind”), 南(ナン) (nan, “south wind”), 西(シャー) (shā, “west wind”), 北(ペー) (pē, “north wind”)

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Korean

Hanja

西 (eumhun 서녘 서 (seonyeok seo))

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

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Okinawan

Kanji

西

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: いり (iri, 西)

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: 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

• 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