鯤

See also: 鲲

Translingual

Han character

鯤 (Kangxi radical 195, 魚+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 弓火日心心 (NFAPP), four-corner 2631₁, composition ⿰魚昆)

1. (fish) fry
2. enormous legendary fish

See also

• 卵
• 蛋
• 鮞
• 鲕
• 鲲

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1473, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 46247
• Dae Jaweon: page 2005, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4696, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9BE4

---

Chinese

trad.		鯤
simp.		鲲

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
昆	*kuːn
琨	*kuːn
鯤	*kuːn
菎	*kuːn
崐	*kuːn
蜫	*kuːn
惃	*kuːn, *kuːnʔ
錕	*kuːn, *kuːnʔ
猑	*kuːn
騉	*kuːn
緄	*kuːnʔ
輥	*kuːnʔ
棍	*kuːns, *ɡuːnʔ
餛	*ɡuːn
混	*ɡuːnʔ
焜	*ɡuːnʔ
倱	*ɡuːnʔ
掍	*ɡuːnʔ
箟	*kʰrun

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kūn (kun¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kwan¹ / gwan¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kūn
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kun
    • Wade–Giles: kʻun¹
    • Yale: kwūn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuen
    • Palladius: кунь (kunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯ən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: kwan¹ / gwan¹
    • Yale: kwān / gwān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kwan¹ / gwan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: kuen¹ / guen¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷʰɐn⁵⁵/, /kʷɐn⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: kwon

Rime
Character	鯤
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	魂 (55)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	古渾切
Baxter	kwon
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kuən/
Pan Wuyun	/kuon/
Shao Rongfen	/kuən/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kwən/
Li Rong	/kuən/
Wang Li	/kuən/
Bernard Karlgren	/kuən/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gūn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gwan1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*kuːn/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	鯤
Reading #	1/1
No.	7521
Phonetic component	昆
Rime group	文
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	昆
Old Chinese	/*kuːn/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 鯤

1. fish roe; fry; spawn
2. the kun, a sea monster that transforms into a roc (鵬／鹏 (péng))

References

• “鯤”, 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–

(deprecated template usage)

---

Japanese

Kanji

鯤

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

1. large mythical fish
2. roe

Readings

• Go-on: こん (kon)
• Kan-on: こん (kon)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
鯤
こん Hyōgaiji
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 鯤 (MC kwon).

Noun

鯤(こん) • (kon) 

1. (Chinese mythology) a mythological giant fish that is several thousand 里 (ri, “leagues”) long and that lives in the northern seas

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

---

Korean

Hanja

鯤 • (gon) (hangeul 곤, revised gon, McCune–Reischauer kon, Yale kon)

1. (곤이 곤, gon-i-): roe; very young fish
2. (곤어 곤, gon-eo-): mythical fish of an unaccountable length