諺

See also: 谚

諺 U+8AFA, 諺 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8AFA ← 諹 [U+8AF9] CJK Unified Ideographs 諻 → [U+8AFB]

Translingual

Han character

諺 (Kangxi radical 149, 言+9, 16 strokes, cangjie input 卜口卜竹竹 (YRYHH) or 卜口卜大竹 (YRYKH), four-corner 0062₂, composition ⿰訁彦 or ⿰訁彥)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1172, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 35747
• Dae Jaweon: page 1637, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4001, character 2
• Unihan data for U+8AFA

Chinese

trad.		諺
simp.		谚

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
喭	*ŋaːns, *ŋrans
鏟	*sŋ̊ʰreːnʔ, *sŋ̊ʰraːns
産	*sŋreːnʔ
簅	*sreːnʔ
摌	*sreːnʔ
嵼	*sŋreːnʔ
滻	*sŋreːnʔ
顏	*ŋraːn
楌	*ŋraːn
偐	*ŋraːns
齴	*ŋranʔ
遃	*ŋranʔ
嵃	*ŋranʔ
彦	*ŋrans
諺	*ŋrans

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yàn (yan⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jin⁶
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): ngien / ngian

  (Hailu, HRS): ngien^˖

• Eastern Min (BUC): ngiêng
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): ngeng⁵ / ngieng⁵
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): giān / gān

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ngang⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yàn
    • Wade–Giles: yen⁴
    • Yale: yàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yann
    • Palladius: янь (janʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: jin⁶
    • Yale: yihn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jin⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: yin⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːn²²/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngien
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngien
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋi̯en⁵⁵/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngian
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngian
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋi̯an⁵⁵/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngien^˖
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋien³³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ngiêng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋiɛŋ²⁴²/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian, Jiangkou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: ngeng⁵
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: ngēng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋɛŋ¹¹/
  • (Nanri)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: ngeng⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋe̞ŋ¹¹/
  • (Xianyou, Youyang)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: ngieng⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋiɛŋ²¹/
  • (Fengting)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: ngieng⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋieŋ²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: giān
    • Tâi-lô: giān
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gien
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /ɡiɛn²²/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /ɡiɛn⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gān
    • Tâi-lô: gān
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gan
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /ɡan³³/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /ɡan⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /ɡan²²/

Note:

• giān - literary;
• gān - vernacular.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: ngang⁶
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ngăng
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋaŋ³⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: ngjenH

Rime
Character	諺
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	仙 (79)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	魚變切
Baxter	ngjenH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋˠiᴇnH/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋᵚiɛnH/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiænH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋianH/
Li Rong	/ŋjɛnH/
Wang Li	/ŋĭɛnH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ŋi̯ɛnH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jin6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ŋra[n]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ŋrans/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	諺
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yàn
Middle Chinese	‹ ngjenH ›
Old Chinese	/*ŋra[n]-s/
English	saying, proverb
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	諺
Reading #	1/1
No.	14413
Phonetic component	彦
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	彥
Old Chinese	/*ŋrans/

Definitions

諺

1. proverb; maxim
2. Korean hangul

   See also: 諺文

   《論語諺解》／《论语谚解》  ―  “Lùnyǔ yànjiě”  ―  The Analects, with Korean Translation

Compounds

• 俗諺 / 俗谚 (súyàn)
• 俚諺 / 俚谚
• 俗諺俚語 / 俗谚俚语
• 古諺 / 古谚 (gǔyàn)
• 時諺 / 时谚
• 西諺 / 西谚 (xīyàn)
• 諺文 / 谚文 (yànwén)
• 諺言 / 谚言
• 諺語 / 谚语 (yànyǔ)
• 農諺 / 农谚 (nóngyàn)
• 鄙諺 / 鄙谚
• 里諺
• 野諺 / 野谚

References

• “諺”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), “谚”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 215.

Japanese

Kanji

諺

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: げん (gen)
• Kan-on: げん (gen)
• Kun: ことわざ (kotowaza, 諺)

Compounds

• 諺文(ウンムン) (unmun)
• 諺文(オンモン) (onmon)
• 諺苑(げんえん) (gen'en)
• 諺解(げんかい) (genkai)
• 諺言(げんげん) (gengen)
• 諺語(げんご) (gengo)
• 諺文(げんぶん) (genbun)
• 古諺(こげん) (kogen)
• 世諺(せいげん) (seigen)
• 西諺(せいげん) (seigen)
• 俗諺(ぞくげん) (zokugen)
• 天気俚諺(てんきりげん) (tenkirigen)
• 鄙諺(ひげん) (higen)
• 俚諺(りげん) (rigen)
• 法諺(ほうげん) (hōgen)

Kanji in this term
諺
ことわざ Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

Etymology

From 言(こと) (koto) + 業(わざ) (waza).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ことわざ [kòtówázá] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) ことわざ [kòtówázáꜜ] (Odaka – [4])
• IPA^(key): [ko̞to̞β̞a̠za̠]

Noun

諺(ことわざ) • (kotowaza) 

1. a proverb (phrase expressing a basic truth)

Usage notes

Both kanji and hiragana form are common.

References

• “^▲諺”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

Korean

Hanja

諺 • (eon, an) (hangeul 언, 안, revised eon, an, McCune–Reischauer ŏn, an, Yale en, an)

1. old name for Hangeul, the Korean script; Eonmun
2. vernacular Korean language (in contrast to written Chinese texts)
3. a proverb

Vietnamese

Han character

諺: Hán Nôm readings: ngạn

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