音

音 U+97F3, 音 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-97F3 ← 韲 [U+97F2] CJK Unified Ideographs 韴 → [U+97F4]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

音 (Kangxi radical 180, 音+0, 9 strokes, cangjie input 卜廿日 (YTA), four-corner 0060₁, composition ⿱立日 or ⿱亠𣅑)

1. Kangxi radical #180, ⾳.

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/音
• 意 暗 章 戠 闇

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1396, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 43265
• Dae Jaweon: page 1912, character 16
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4495, character 1
• Unihan data for U+97F3

---

Chinese

simp. and trad.		音

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 音
Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
諳	*qɯːm
腤	*qɯːm
嬜	*qɯːm, *qʰaːm, *qʰrɯm
喑	*qɯːm, *qrɯm, *qrɯms
揞	*qɯːmʔ, *qrɯːms
隌	*qɯːmʔ, *qrɯm
罯	*qɯːmʔ, *qɯːb
暗	*qɯːms
闇	*qɯːms
黯	*qrɯːm, *qrɯːmʔ
歆	*qʰrɯm
愔	*qɯm
韾	*qɯm
音	*qrɯm
瘖	*qrɯm
窨	*qrɯms
湆	*kʰrɯb

Ideogram (指事) : 言 (“word”) with something in 口 (“mouth”) – sound comes from the mouth.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): yīn (yin¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄣ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): йин (yin, I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jam¹

• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): yîm
• Northern Min (KCR): éng
• Eastern Min (BUC): ĭng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): im

  (Teochew, Peng'im): im¹ / ing¹

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹in

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yīn
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yin
    • Wade–Giles: yin¹
    • Yale: yīn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: in
    • Palladius: инь (inʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /in⁵⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: йин (yin, I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iŋ²⁴/

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

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jam¹
    • Yale: yām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐm⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yîm
    • Hakka Romanization System: im´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yim¹
    • Sinological IPA: /im²⁴/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yîm
    • Hakka Romanization System: (r)im´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yim¹
    • Sinological IPA: /(j)im²⁴/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: éng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /eiŋ⁵⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ĭng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: im
    • Tâi-lô: im
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ym
    • IPA (Xiamen): /im⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /im³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /im⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /im⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /im⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: im¹ / ing¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: im / ing
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /im³³/, /iŋ³³/

Note: ing1 - Chenghai.

• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹in
    • MiniDict: in^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹in
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /in⁵³/

---

• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 音
Mandarin	Beijing	/in⁵⁵/
	Harbin	/in⁴⁴/
	Tianjin	/in²¹/
	Jinan	/iẽ²¹³/
	Qingdao	/iə̃²¹³/
	Zhengzhou	/in²⁴/
	Xi'an	/iẽ²¹/
	Xining	/iə̃⁴⁴/
	Yinchuan	/iŋ⁴⁴/
	Lanzhou	/ĩn³¹/
	Ürümqi	/iŋ⁴⁴/
	Wuhan	/in⁵⁵/
	Chengdu	/in⁵⁵/
	Guiyang	/in⁵⁵/
	Kunming	/ĩ⁴⁴/
	Nanjing	/in³¹/
	Hefei	/in²¹/
Jin	Taiyuan	/iəŋ¹¹/
	Pingyao	/iŋ¹³/
	Hohhot	/ĩŋ³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/iŋ⁵³/
	Suzhou	/in⁵⁵/
	Hangzhou	/ʔin³³/
	Wenzhou	/j̠aŋ³³/
Hui	Shexian	/iʌ̃³¹/
	Tunxi	/in¹¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/in³³/
	Xiangtan	/in³³/
Gan	Nanchang	/in⁴²/
Hakka	Meixian	/im⁴⁴/
	Taoyuan	/im²⁴/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/jɐm⁵³/
	Nanning	/jɐm⁵⁵/
	Hong Kong	/jɐm⁵⁵/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/im⁵⁵/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/iŋ⁴⁴/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/eiŋ⁵⁴/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/im³³/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/im²³/

---

• Middle Chinese: 'im

Rime
Character	音
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	影 (34)
Final (韻)	侵 (140)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	於金切
Baxter	'im
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔˠiɪm/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔᵚim/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔiem/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔjim/
Li Rong	/ʔjəm/
Wang Li	/ĭĕm/
Bernard Karlgren	/ʔi̯əm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yīn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jam1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[q](r)əm/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qrɯm/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	音
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yīn
Middle Chinese	‹ ʔim ›
Old Chinese	/*[q](r)əm/
English	sound, tone
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	音
Reading #	1/1
No.	15223
Phonetic component	音
Rime group	侵
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	音
Old Chinese	/*qrɯm/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 音

1. sound; voice; tone

   See also: 聲

2. news; tidings
3. (music) pitch; note
4. (phonetics) pronunciation; syllable

   京音  ―  jīngyīn  ―  Beijing pronunciation

   潮音  ―  cháoyīn  ―  Teochew pronunciation

   中古音  ―  zhōnggǔyīn  ―  Middle Chinese pronunciation

   方音  ―  fāngyīn  ―  dialectal pronunciation

   陽江音／阳江音  ―  Yángjiāng yīn  ―  Yangjiang pronunciation

Synonyms

• (sound): 聲音／声音 (shēngyīn), (literary) 音聲／音声 (yīnshēng)

Compounds

(deprecated template usage)

---

Japanese

Kanji

音

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. sound
2. timbre
3. Short for 音楽 (ongaku): music
4. speech (phonetics)
5. Short for 字音 (jion): Chinese-derived reading of a kanji
6. news, tidings

Readings

• Go-on: おん (on, Jōyō)^{←おん (on, historical)←おむ (omu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: いん (in, Jōyō)^{←いん (in, historical)←いむ (imu, ancient)}
• Kun: おと (oto, 音, Jōyō); と (to, 音); ね (ne, 音, Jōyō)
• Nanori: お (o); とん (ton); なり (nari); ねね (nene); のん (non); ひびき (hibiki); りり (riri)

Compounds

Compounds

• 音(おん)韻(いん) (on'in)
• 音(おん)価(か) (onka)
• 音(おん)階(かい) (onkai)
• 音(おん)楽(がく) (ongaku, “music”)
• 音(おん)感(かん) (onkan)
• 音(おん)義(ぎ) (ongi)
• 音(おん)響(きょう) (onkyō, “sound”)
• 音(おん)曲(きょく) (onkyoku)
• 音(おん)訓(くん) (onkun)
• 音(おん)耗(もう) (onmō)
• 音(おん)叉(さ) (onsa)
• 音(おん)子(し) (onshi, “phonon”)
• 音(おん)字(じ) (onji)
• 音(おん)質(しつ) (onshitsu)
• 音(おん)色(しょく) (onshoku)
• 音(おん)信(しん) (onshin)
• 音(おん)塵(じん) (onjin)
• 音(おん)声(せい) (onsei)
• 音(おん)制(せい) (onsei)
• 音(おん)節(せつ) (onsetsu)
• 音(おん)素(そ) (onso)
• 音(おん)息(そく) (onsoku)
• 音(おん)速(そく) (onsoku)
• 音(おん)痴(ち) (onchi)
• 音(おん)注(ちゅう) (onchū)
• 音(おん)調(ちょう) (onchō)
• 音(おん)程(てい) (ontei)
• 音(おん)通(つう) (ontsū)
• 音(おん)読(どく) (ondoku)
• 音(おん)波(ぱ) (onpa)
• 音(おん)標(ぴょう)文(も)字(じ) (onpyōmoji)
• 音(おん)便(びん) (onbin)
• 音(おん)符(ぷ) (onpu)
• 音(おん)譜(ぷ) (onpu)
• 音(おん)問(もん) (onmon)
• 音(おん)訳(やく) (on'yaku)
• 音(おん)律(りつ) (onritsu)
• 音(おん)量(りょう) (onryō)
• 観(かん)音(のん) (kannon)
• 子(し)音(いん) (shīn), 子(し)音(おん) (shion, “consonant”)
• 震(しん)音(おん) (shin'on, “tremolo”)
• 琵(び)音(おん) (bion): arpeggio
• 母(ぼ)音(いん) (boin), 母(ぼ)音(おん) (bōn, “vowel”)
• 漣(れん)音(おん) (ren'on, “mordent”)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
音
おん Grade: 1
on’yomi

*/ʔiəm/ → /əmʉ/ → /omʉ/ → /oɴ/

From Middle Chinese 音 (MC 'im).

Noun

音(おん) • (on) 

1. sound
2. (linguistics) speech sound
3. Short for 音読み (on'yomi): the Chinese-derived reading of a kanji
4. (by extension) reading of a Chinese character outside the Japanese language; rime
5. Short for 音楽 (ongaku): music

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 五(ご)十(じゅう)音(おん) (gojūon)
• 唇(しん)音(おん) (shin'on)
• 舌(ぜつ)音(おん) (zetsuon)
• 破(は)擦(さつ)音(おん) (hasatsu-on)
• 発(はつ)音(おん) (hatsuon)
• 破(は)裂(れつ)音(おん) (haretsu-on)
• 鼻(び)音(おん) (bion)
• 摩(ま)擦(さつ)音(おん) (masatsu-on)
• 録(ろく)音(おん) (rokuon)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
音
おっと Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Kanji in this term
音
おと Grade: 1
kun’yomi

⟨oto₂⟩ → */otə/ → /oto/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *ətə.

Appears in the late 1400s with the geminate pronunciation /otto/. This reading is very rare, and appears to have fallen out of use.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おと​ [òtóꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [o̞to̞]
• IPA^(key): [o̞t̚to̞]

(rare, obsolete)

Noun

音(おと) • (oto) 

1. a sound

   音(おと)を漏(も)らす

   oto o morasu

   to let out a sound

2. when used with a "hear" verb, a rumor or fame (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
3. news, tidings
4. a reply, response

Usage notes

Oto is used for loud sounds and voices, as opposed to ne (see below).

Derived terms

• 足音(あしおと) (ashioto)
• 音(おと)に聞(き)く (oto ni kiku)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
音
と Grade: 1
kun’yomi

⟨to₂⟩ → */tə/ → /to/

The shift from oto above, with the initial o being dropped.

The drop is likely due to haplology with the possessive particle の (no).

Noun

音(と) • (to) 

1. sound; echo; voice
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3453:
     , text here

     可是能(かぜの)等(と)能(の)登抱吉和伎母賀(とほきわぎもが)吉西斯伎奴(きせしきぬ)多母登乃久太利(たもとのくだり)麻欲比伎尓家利(まよひきにけり) [Man'yōgana]

     風(かぜ)の音(と)の遠(とほ)き我妹(わぎも)が着(き)せし衣(きぬ)手(た)本(もと)のくだりまよひ来(き)にけり [Modern spelling]

     kaze no to no tōki wagimo ga kiseshi-kinu tamoto no kudari, mayoi-ki ni keri

     My dear wife, far away (as the sound of the wind), some threads of the sleeves of the kimono you made me wear have come to be worn and chafed!

Derived terms

• 風(かぜ)の音(と)の (kaze no to no, pillow word)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
音
ね Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese.

Alternative forms

• 哭

Noun

音(ね) • (ne) 

1. a sound, voice
2. the cry of an animal

Usage notes

Ne is used for relatively soft sounds and voices that appeals to human emotions, as opposed to oto (see above).

Derived terms

• 音(ね)色(いろ) (neiro, “timbre”)
• 泣(な)く, 哭(な)く (naku, “cry”)
• 空(そら)音(ね) (sorane, “imitative cry”)

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
音
いん Grade: 1
kan’on

From Middle Chinese 音 (MC 'im).

The kan'on pronunciation, so likely a later borrowing.

Affix

音(いん) • (in) 

1. (uncommon) Alternative form of 音 (on)
   1. sound

      子(し)音(いん)、母(ぼ)音(いん) ― shiin, boin ― (also shion, boon) consonant; vowel

   2. news; tidings; word

      音(いん)信(しん) ― inshin ― (also onshin) message, news

---

Korean

Hanja

音 (eumhun 소리 음 (sori eum))

1. (소리 음, sori-): sound
2. (소식 음, sosig-): news
3. (말 음, mal-): speech
4. (음 음, eum-): pronunciation
   • 訓之對 文字讀聲 (훈지대 문자독성, hunjidae munjadokseong) the complement of the hun (hence) the sound reading a (Chinese) character.

Synonyms

• 聲

Compounds

Derived terms

• 音訓 (음훈) eumhun
• 音讀 (음독) strait or loud reading
• 音聲 (음성) voice
• 音樂 (음악) music

• 字音 (자음) pronunciation
• 發音 (발음) pronunciation
• 子音 (자음) consonant
• 母音 (모음) vowel
• 表音 (표음) phonetic representation

---

Kunigami

Kanji

音

• Kun: ふと゚ぅー (futū)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *oto, from Proto-Japonic *ətə.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɸutˀuː/

Noun

音 (hiragana ふと゚ぅー, romaji futū)

1. sound

---

Okinawan

Kanji

音

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: うとぅ (utu, 音)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *oto, from Proto-Japonic *ətə.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔutu/

Noun

音(うとぅ) (utu) 

1. sound

---

Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 音 (âm, ậm, ơm)

1. sound; noise

Compounds

• 音聲 (âm thanh)
• 元音 (nguyên âm)
• 回音 (hồi âm)
• 觀音 (Quan Âm)
• 輔音 (phụ âm)
• 音樂 (âm nhạc)
• 音樂古典 (âm nhạc cổ điển)

Usage notes

• Chữ Nôm. The modern Vietnamese equivalent is âm.

References

• www.chunom.org

---

Yaeyama

Kanji

音

• Kun: うとぅ (utu)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *oto, from Proto-Japonic *ətə.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔutu/

Noun

音 (hiragana うとぅ, romaji utu)

1. sound

---

Yonaguni

Kanji

音

• Kun: うとぅ (utu)

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *oto, from Proto-Japonic *ətə.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /utu/

Noun

音 (hiragana うとぅ, romaji utu)

1. sound