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

Stroke order

Stroke order

Alternative forms

• 髙

Han character

高 (radical 189, 高+0, 10 strokes, cangjie input 卜口月口 (YRBR), four-corner 0022₇, composition ⿳亠口冋)

1. Kangxi radical #189, ⾼.

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/高
• 傐 嗃 塙 嵪 搞 滈 䧚 𢲤 𣉞 槁 熇 犒 禞 䐧 皜 碻 稿 縞(缟) 謞 鎬(镐) 䬘 䮦 髇 鰝
• 𠞟 鄗 敲 㪣 歊 毃 鶮 㙜 槀 稾 膏 嵩 蒿 暠 篙 翯 㾸

See also

• 喬

References

• 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

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		高
alternative forms		髙

Stylized form of 高, emblem of Kaohsiung

Glyph origin

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

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

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): gāo (gao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄠ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic): 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)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: gāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄠ
    • Wade–Giles: kao1
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gau
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gao
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic: 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): /kaʊ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kaʊ³³/
  • (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/

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• 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

高

1. tall; high

   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.

2. 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

   高血壓 / 高血压  ―  gāoxuèyā  ―  high blood pressure

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

3. loud

   高歌  ―  gāogē  ―  to sing loudly

4. (honorific) your
5. A surname, Gao (surname)

Synonyms

• See 高/derived terms § Chinese.

Antonyms

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

Descendants

• → English: Gao, Kao

Compounds

• See 高/derived terms § Chinese.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (高):

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

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Japanese

Alternative forms

• 髙

Kanji

高

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. tall
2. high

Readings

• 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

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

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) たか​ [tàkáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• (Tokyo) た​か [táꜜkà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ta̠ka̠]

Noun

高(たか) • (taka) 

1. maximum, the limit

Idioms

• 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

• 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

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

Prefix

高(こう) • (kō-) 

1. 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

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Korean

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Hanja

高 (eumhun 높을 고 (nopeul go))

1. Hanja form^? of 고 (“high, tall”).

Compounds

• 고등학교 (高等學校, godeunghakgyo, “high school”)

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Vietnamese

Han character

高: Hán Việt readings: cao (古(cổ)勞(lao)切(thiết))
高: Nôm readings: cao, sào, kiêu

1. Hán tự form of cao (“high; tall”).
2. Nôm form of sào (“pole; stick”).

Compounds

• 最高 (tối cao)
• 朝高 (chiều cao)
• 高原 (cao nguyên)
• 高壓 (cao áp, “high pressure”)
• 高棉 (Cao Miên, “Cambodia”)
• 高級 (cao cấp)
• 高速 (cao tốc)