高

See also: 髙

高	U+9AD8, 高 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9AD8

← 髗
[U+9AD7]

CJK Unified Ideographs

髙 →
[U+9AD9]

⾼	U+2FBC, ⾼ KANGXI RADICAL TALL

← ⾻
[U+2FBB]

Kangxi Radicals

⾽ →
[U+2FBD]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order

Stroke order

References[edit]

KangXi: page 1451, character 26
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 45313
Dae Jaweon: page 1979, character 4
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4593, character 1
Unihan data for U+9AD8

Chinese[edit]

simp. and trad.		高
alternative forms		髙皋 “tall”

Wikipedia has articles on:

高 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
高 (Cantonese)

Stylized form of 高, emblem of Kaohsiung

Glyph origin[edit]

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

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

	Old Chinese
高	*kaːw
膏	kaːw, kaːws
篙	*kaːw
稿	*kaːwʔ
稾	kaːwʔ, kʰaːws
槁	kaːwʔ, kʰaːwʔ
縞	kaːwʔ, kaːws
暠	*kaːwʔ
槀	*kaːwʔ
藁	*kaːwʔ
燺	*kʰaːwʔ
薧	kʰaːwʔ, kʰaːws, *qʰaːw
犒	*kʰaːws
蒿	*qʰaːw
藃	qʰaːws, qʰraːw, *qʰraw
豪	*ɡaːw
毫	*ɡaːw
壕	*ɡaːw
濠	*ɡaːw
鎬	*ɡaːwʔ
滈	ɡaːwʔ, qʰraːwɢ
鄗	ɡaːwʔ, kʰraːw, *qʰaːwɢ
鰝	ɡaːwʔ, qʰaːwɢ
薃	*ɡaːwʔ
搞	*kruːʔ
敲	kʰraːw, kʰraːws
髇	*qʰraːw
嗃	qʰraːw, qʰraːws, *qʰaːwɢ
巐	*kʰl'awʔ
歊	qʰraw, qʰoːwɢ
謞	qʰaːwɢ, qʰraːwɢ
熇	qʰaːwɢ, qʰoːwɢ, *qʰoːɡ
碻	*kʰraːwɢ
塙	*kʰraːwɢ
毃	*kʰraːwɢ
翯	qʰraːwɢ, ɡraːwɢ, *ɡoːwɢ
瀥	*qʰraːwɢ

Pictogram (象形) – a picture of a building. Compare to 京.

Etymology[edit]

Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-gaw (“head”). However, 元 (OC *ŋon, “head”) instead is more likely to be related to this Proto-Sino-Tibetan root given its significant semantic agreement (Schuessler, 2007).

Likely allofams are 喬 (OC *ɡrew, “tall”), and perhaps 浩 (OC *ɡuːʔ, “vast”) (although the vowels do not agree).

Pronunciation[edit]

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): gāo (gao¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄍㄠ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): го (go, I)
Cantonese (Jyutping): gou¹
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): kô

(Meixian, Guangdong): gau¹
Jin (Wiktionary): gau¹
Min Dong (BUC): gŏ̤
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): kau / ko / ko͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): gao¹ / go¹
Wu (Wiktionary): kau (T1)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: gāo
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄠ
  - Wade–Giles: kao¹
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gau
  - Tongyong Pinyin: gao
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: го (go, I)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɔ²⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: gou¹
  - Yale: gōu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gou¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: gou¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kou̯⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kô
  - Hakka Romanization System: go´
  - Hagfa Pinyim: go¹
  - Sinological IPA: /ko²⁴/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: gau¹
  - Sinological IPA: /kau⁴⁴/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: gau¹
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /kau¹¹/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: gŏ̤
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ko⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kau
  - Tâi-lô: kau
  - Phofsit Daibuun: kaw
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kau⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /kau³³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ko
  - Tâi-lô: ko
  - Phofsit Daibuun: koy
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /kɤ⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /ko³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /ko⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ko͘
  - Tâi-lô: koo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: kof
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /kɔ³³/

Note:

kau - vernacular;
ko/ko͘ - literary (including surname).

(Teochew)
- Peng'im: gao¹ / go¹
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kau / ko
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /kau³³/, /ko³³/

Note: go1 - surname.

Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: kau (T1)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɔ⁵³/

Middle Chinese: /kɑu/

Rime
Character	高
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	古勞切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kɑu/
Pan Wuyun	/kɑu/
Shao Rongfen	/kɑu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kaw/
Li Rong	/kɑu/
Wang Li	/kɑu/
Bernard Karlgren	/kɑu/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gāo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gou¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*Cə.[k]ˤaw/

(Zhengzhang): /*kaːw/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	高
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	gāo
Middle Chinese	‹ kaw ›
Old Chinese	/*Cə.[k]ˁaw/
English	high, tall
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	高
Reading #	1/1
No.	3726
Phonetic component	高
Rime group	宵
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	髙
Old Chinese	/*kaːw/

Definitions[edit]

高

tall; high
高原 ― gāoyuán ― plateau

這座山特別高。 / 这座山特别高。 ― Zhè zuò shān tèbié gāo. ― This mountain is especially tall.

生得高嘅女仔 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]
saang¹ dak¹ gou¹ ge³ neoi⁵ zai² [Jyutping]
a tall girl

唔好擺得咁高啦。 [Cantonese, trad.]
唔好摆得咁高啦。 [Cantonese, simp.]
m⁴ hou² baai² dak¹ gam³ gou¹ laa¹. [Jyutping]
Don't put it so high.
of high level; above average
很高的價格 / 很高的价格 ― hěn gāo de jiàgé ― high price

高糖量 ― gāo tángliàng ― high sugar content

很高的標準 / 很高的标准 ― hěn gāo de biāozhǔn ― very high standard

高年級 / 高年级 ― gāo niánjí ― (please add an English translation of this example)

我比他高一班。 ― Wǒ bǐ tā gāo yī bān. ― (please add an English translation of this example)
high place
居高臨下 / 居高临下 ― jūgāolínxià ― to occupy a high position and look down
loud
高歌 ― gāogē ― to sing loudly
(geometry) altitude
求梯形的高 ― qiú tīxíng de gāo ― find the altitude of the trapezium
(honorific) your
(chemistry) per-
高錳酸鉀 / 高锰酸钾 ― gāoměngsuānjiǎ ― potassium permanganate
A surname, Gao (surname)
高適 / 高适 ― Gāo Shì ― Gao Shi (Tang dynasty poet)

Synonyms[edit]

See 高/derived_terms § Chinese.

Antonyms[edit]

(tall): 矮 (ǎi, “short”)
(high): 低 (dī, “low”)

Descendants[edit]

→ English: Gao, Kao

Compounds[edit]

See 高/derived_terms § Chinese.

Descendants[edit]

Sino-Xenic (高):

→ Japanese: 高(こう) (kō)
→ Korean: 고 (高, go)
→ Vietnamese: cao (高)

Japanese[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

髙

Kanji[edit]

高

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

tall
high

Readings[edit]

Go-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←かう (kau, historical)}
Kan-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←かう (kau, historical)}
Kun: たか (taka, 高, Jōyō); たかい (takai, 高い, Jōyō); たかまる (takamaru, 高まる, Jōyō); たかめる (takameru, 高める, Jōyō); たかさ (takasa, 高さ)

Etymology 1[edit]

Kanji in this term
高
たか Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Pronunciation[edit]

Kun’yomi

(Tokyo) たか [tàkáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[1]^[2]
(Tokyo) たか [táꜜkà] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [ta̠ka̠]

Noun[edit]

高(たか) • (taka)

maximum, the limit

Idioms[edit]

高(たか)が知(し)れている (taka ga shirete iru)
高(たか)を括(くく)る (taka o kukuru)

Derived terms[edit]

丈(たけ) (take)
岳(たけ) (take), 嶽(たけ) (take)
長(た)ける (takeru)
高(たか)い (takai)
高(たか)々(だか) (takadaka)

Etymology 2[edit]

Kanji in this term
高
こう Grade: 2
on’yomi

Prefix[edit]

高(こう) • (kō-) ^[3]

high, higher

高(こう)学(がく)歴(れき)

kō-gakureki

high academic achievement; higher education

高(こう)画質(がしつ)

kō-gashitsu

high image quality