鹿

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

鹿 (Kangxi radical 198, 鹿+0, 11 strokes, cangjie input 戈難心 (IXP), four-corner 0021₁, composition ⿸⿸广⿻コ⿰丨丨比)

1. Kangxi radical #198, ⿅.

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/鹿
• 塵

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1508, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 47586
• Dae Jaweon: page 2036, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4727, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9E7F

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Chinese

trad.		鹿
simp. #		鹿

鹿

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 鹿
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
鄜	*pʰlo, *roːɡ
鹿	*b·roːɡ
漉	*roːɡ
轆	*roːɡ
簏	*roːɡ
螰	*roːɡ
麓	*roːɡ
騼	*roːɡ
摝	*roːɡ
廘	*roːɡ
蔍	*roːɡ
鏕	*roːɡ

Pictogram (象形) – a deer. Current form is highly abstracted – legs have transformed to 比 – note grouping of front and rear legs, which are bent – head has transformed to middle component (similar to 凸/曲), while antlers on top and extended lip/mouth on left transformed into 广. This transformation occurred during seal characters.

Contrast the very different development of 馬 (“horse”), and the transformation in 𢊁 (as in 薦), which has the head of 鹿 but the legs of 馬 (灬).

Etymology

Uncertain, though possibly Sino-Tibetan (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Northern Naga *gjuk "deer, sambar", from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *g-rjuk (French, 1983); Also according to French, Benedict relates the Tibeto-Burman item to Western Gurung [script needed] (gju, “sheep”), yet the Gurung item has an alternative explanation (compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *luk (“sheep”)).

Note also Nùng klook (“deer”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lù (lu⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): luk⁶ / luk^6-2
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): lu̍k
• Northern Min (KCR): lù
• Eastern Min (BUC): lĕ̤k / lṳ̆k
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): lo̍k / lak

  (Teochew, Peng'im): dêg⁸

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵loq

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lù
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lù
    • Wade–Giles: lu⁴
    • Yale: lù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: luh
    • Palladius: лу (lu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lu⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: luk⁶ / luk^6-2
    • Yale: luhk / lúk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: luk⁹ / luk^9-2
    • Guangdong Romanization: lug⁶ / lug^6-2
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lʊk̚²/, /lʊk̚²⁻³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: lu̍k
    • Hakka Romanization System: lug
    • Hagfa Pinyim: lug⁶
    • Sinological IPA: /luk̚⁵/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: lù
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lu⁴²/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: lĕ̤k / lṳ̆k
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃øyʔ⁵/, /l̃yʔ⁵/

Note:

• lĕ̤k - vernacular;
• lṳ̆k - literary.

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lo̍k / lak
    • Tâi-lô: lo̍k / lak
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lok, lag
    • IPA (Xiamen): /lɔk̚⁴/, /lak̚³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /lɔk̚²⁴/, /lak̚⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /lɔk̚¹²¹/, /lak̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /lɔk̚⁴/, /lak̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /lɔk̚⁴/, /lak̚³²/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: dêg⁸
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: te̍k
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tek̚⁴/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵loq
    • MiniDict: 'loh^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²'loq
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /loʔ³⁴/

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• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 鹿
Mandarin	Beijing	/lu⁵¹/
	Harbin	/lu⁵³/
	Tianjin	/lu⁵³/
	Jinan	/lu²¹/
	Qingdao	/lu²⁴/
	Zhengzhou	/lu²⁴/
	Xi'an	/lu²¹/
	Xining	/lv̩⁴⁴/
	Yinchuan	/lu¹³/
	Lanzhou	/lu¹³/
	Ürümqi	/lu²¹³/
	Wuhan	/nəu²¹³/
	Chengdu	/nu³¹/
	Guiyang	/nu²¹/
	Kunming	/lu³¹/
	Nanjing	/luʔ⁵/
	Hefei	/luəʔ⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/luəʔ²/
	Pingyao	/luʌʔ⁵³/
	Hohhot	/luəʔ⁴³/
Wu	Shanghai	/loʔ¹/
	Suzhou	/loʔ³/
	Hangzhou	/loʔ²/
	Wenzhou	/lɤu²¹³/
Hui	Shexian	/lu²²/
	Tunxi	/ləu¹¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/ləu²⁴/
	Xiangtan	/nəɯ²⁴/
Gan	Nanchang	/luʔ⁵/
Hakka	Meixian	/luk̚⁵/
	Taoyuan	/luk̚⁵⁵/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/lok̚²/
	Nanning	/luk̚²²/
	Hong Kong	/luk̚²/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/lɔk̚⁵/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/løyʔ⁵/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/lu⁴²/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/tek̚⁵/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/lok̚⁵/ /ʔdiak̚³/

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• Middle Chinese: luwk

Rime
Character	鹿
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	屋 (3)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	盧谷切
Baxter	luwk
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/luk̚/
Pan Wuyun	/luk̚/
Shao Rongfen	/luk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ləwk̚/
Li Rong	/luk̚/
Wang Li	/luk̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/luk̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lù
Expected Cantonese Reflex	luk6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*mə-rˤok/

  (Zhengzhang): /*b·roːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	鹿
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	lù
Middle Chinese	‹ luwk ›
Old Chinese	/*mə-rˁok/
English	deer
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	鹿
Reading #	1/1
No.	8565
Phonetic component	鹿
Rime group	屋
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	禄
Old Chinese	/*b·roːɡ/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 鹿

1. deer
2. a surname

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 鹿 (“deer”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		鹿
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		鹿
Taxonomic name		鹿
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	鹿
	Taiwan	鹿
	Singapore	鹿
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	鹿
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	鹿
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	鹿
	Xi'an	鹿
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	鹿
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	鹿子
	Wuhan	鹿, 板鹿
	Guiyang	鹿
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	鹿
	Hefei	鹿
Cantonese	Guangzhou	鹿
	Hong Kong	鹿
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	鹿
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	鹿
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	鹿
	Yangjiang	鹿
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	鹿
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	鹿
Gan	Nanchang	鹿
	Pingxiang	鹿
Hakka	Meixian	鹿仔
	Dabu (Xihe)	鹿
	Jiexi	鹿
	Luhe	鹿仔
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	鹿仔
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	鹿仔
	Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian)	鹿
	Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian)	鹿
	Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian)	鹿仔
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	鹿仔
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	鹿
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	鹿仔, 鹿
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	鹿
	Hong Kong	鹿
	Kuala Lumpur (Dabu)	鹿
	Senai (Huiyang)	鹿
	Sungai Tapang, Batu Kawa (Hepo)	鹿
Jin	Taiyuan	鹿兒
Northern Min	Jian'ou	鹿
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	鹿
Southern Min	Xiamen	鹿
	Quanzhou	鹿
	Jinjiang	鹿
	Zhao'an	鹿仔
	Dongshan	鹿
	Taipei	鹿仔
	Taipei (Wanhua)	鹿仔
	New Taipei (Tamsui)	鹿, 鹿仔
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	鹿仔
	New Taipei (Pingxi)	鹿
	Kaohsiung	鹿仔
	Kaohsiung (Cijin)	鹿仔
	Kaohsiung (Hongmaogang, Siaogang)	鹿仔
	Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang)	鹿
	Kaohsiung (Tianliao)	鹿仔
	Yilan	鹿仔
	Yilan (Toucheng)	鹿仔
	Changhua (Lukang)	鹿仔
	Taichung	鹿仔
	Taichung (Wuqi)	鹿仔
	Tainan	鹿
	Tainan (Anping)	鹿仔
	Taitung	鹿
	Hsinchu	鹿仔
	Kinmen	鹿仔, 鹿
	Penghu (Magong)	鹿
	Penghu (Xiyu)	鹿
	Penang (Hokkien)	鹿
	Singapore (Hokkien)	鹿
	Manila (Hokkien)	鹿
	Chaozhou	鹿
	Bangkok (Teochew)	鹿
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	鹿
	Leizhou	鹿
Puxian Min	Putian	鹿
Central Min	Yong'an	鹿
Wu	Shanghai	鹿
	Suzhou	鹿
	Wuxi	鹿
	Danyang	鹿頭
	Hangzhou	鹿
	Ningbo	鹿
	Wenzhou	鹿
	Jinhua	鹿
Xiang	Changsha	鹿
	Shuangfeng	鹿

References

• “Entry #8111”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

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Japanese

Kanji

鹿

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. deer

Readings

• Go-on: ろく (roku)
• Kan-on: ろく (roku)
• Kun: か (ka, 鹿, Jōyō ^†); しか (shika, 鹿, Jōyō); かせぎ (kasegi, 鹿); かのしし (kanoshishi, 鹿); しし (shishi, 鹿)

Compounds

Compounds

• 葦鹿(あしか) (ashika): sea lion
• 大鹿(おおじか) (ōjika): moose
• 氈鹿(かもしか) (kamoshika): serow
• 鹿猪(しかいのしし) (shikainoshishi): babirusa
• 鹿肉(しかにく) (shikaniku): venison
• 麝香鹿(じゃこうじか) (jakōjika): musk deer

• 馴鹿(トナカイ) (tonakai), 馴鹿(じゅんろく) (junroku): reindeer
• 日本鹿(にほんじか) (nihonjika): sika deer
• 馬鹿(ばか) (baka): fool
• 麋鹿(びろく) (biroku): moose and deer
• 箆鹿(へらじか) (herajika): moose
• 鹿砦(ろくさい) (rokusai): abatis

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
鹿
か Grade: 4
kun'yomi

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese.

Noun

鹿(か) • (ka) 

1. (archaic) deer

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 鹿沼(かぬま) (Kanuma): Kanuma, Tochigi

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
鹿
しか Grade: 4
kun'yomi

/seka/ → /sika/

Originally a compound of 夫 (se, “male”) +‎ 鹿 (ka, “deer”), in contrast to 女鹿 (meka, “female deer”, archaic).

Noun

鹿(しか) • (shika) 

1. deer

   奈(な)良(ら)公(こう)園(えん)には鹿(しか)しかいない。

   Nara kōen ni wa shika shika inai.

   There is nothing but deer in Nara Park.

Idioms

Idioms

• 鹿(しか)を逐(お)う者(もの)は山(やま)を見(み)ず (shika o ou mono wa yama o mizu): “someone chasing a deer doesn't see the mountain” → a metaphor for how someone who is fixed on a target can be oblivious to the challenges in the way

Descendants

• → English: sika deer

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
鹿
かせぎ Grade: 4
kun'yomi

From the resemblance to a 桛木 (kasegi, “cross-shaped spindle; a branching point in a tree”)

Noun

鹿(かせぎ) • (kasegi) 

1. (archaic) deer
   • 1212: Hōjōki

     山鳥(やまどり)のほろと鳴(な)くを聞(き)きても、父(ちち)か母(はは)かと疑(うたが)ひ、峰(みね)のかせぎの近(ちか)くなれたるにつけても、世(よ)に遠(とお)ざかるほどを知(し)る。

     Yamadori no horo to naku o kikite mo, chichi ka haha ka to utagahi, mine no kasegi no chikaku naretaru ni tsukete mo, yo ni tōzakaru hodo oshiru.

     Hearing the horo call of the mountain pheasant, wondering if it were my father or mother [calling from beyond the grave], and seeing how the deer on the ridge are so tame that they come close by, all of it shows me how far away I am from the world.

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
鹿
かのしし Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Originally a compound of 鹿 (ka, “deer”) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 肉 (しし, “meat, flesh”).

Alternative forms

• 鹿の肉

Noun

鹿(かのしし) • (kanoshishi) 

1. (archaic) deer
2. deer meat: venison

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
鹿
しし Grade: 4
kun'yomi

From 肉 (shishi, “meat, flesh”).

Alternative forms

• 獣, 猪

Noun

鹿(しし) • (shishi) 

1. (archaic) a beast (used for its meat, such as a boar or a deer)
2. short for 猪武者 (inoshishi musha): a reckless warrior
3. short for 鹿狩り (shishi-gari): a deer hunter
4. (slang) a female attendant at a bathhouse or hot spring
5. (slang, archaic) a female prostitute at a bathhouse or hot spring

Usage notes

The beast sense is more commonly spelled 獣.

Etymology 6

Kanji in this term
鹿
ろく Grade: 4
on'yomi

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese 鹿 (luwk, “deer”). Compare modern (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Min Nan reading lo̍k.

Noun

鹿(ろく) • (roku) 

1. deer
2. venison or wild boar meat

References

• Ichiko, Teiji (1212) Hōjōki (Shintei), Iwanami Shoten, published 1989, →ISBN
• Nishio, Minoru (1957) Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Hōjōki, Tsurezuregusa, Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

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Korean

Hanja

鹿 • (rok, nok) (hangeul 록, 녹, revised rok, nok, McCune–Reischauer rok, nok, Yale lok, nok)

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 鹿 (lộc, lê)

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