改

改 U+6539, 改 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6539 ← 攸 [U+6538] CJK Unified Ideographs 攺 → [U+653A]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

改 (Kangxi radical 66, 攴+3, 7 strokes, cangjie input 尸山人大 (SUOK), four-corner 1874₀, composition ⿰己攵)

Derived characters

• 𠳚 𢚲 𢭮 𣒵 𦀻 𦰦

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 468, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 13114
• Dae Jaweon: page 816, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1450, character 1
• Unihan data for U+6539

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Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 改
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
改	*klɯːʔ
跽	*ɡrɯʔ
己	*kɯʔ
紀	*kɯʔ
妀	*kɯʔ
記	*kɯs
杞	*kʰɯʔ
屺	*kʰɯʔ
芑	*kʰɯʔ
邔	*kʰɯʔ, *ɡɯs
玘	*kʰɯʔ
忌	*ɡɯs
鵋	*ɡɯs
誋	*ɡɯs
梞	*ɡɯs

改 (gǎi) (in the form of 攺) from a Western-Han manuscript of the Yili in the clerical script.

In the oracle bone script, a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *klɯːʔ) : phonetic 巳 (OC *ljɯʔ, *lɯs) + semantic 攴.

Since the small seal script, the phonetic component has been changed to 己 (OC *kɯʔ).

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		改
alternative forms		攺

Related to 革 (OC *krɯːɡ, “to change”), 更 (OC *kraːŋ, “to change”) (Wang, 1982).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 改

1. to correct; to improve
2. to change; to transform; to alter; to modify
3. to mark; to correct; to grade (homework, an assignment, a test, etc.)
4. (Hokkien) to give up; to quit; to abstain from (a bad habit)

   • 聽講你菸酒攏改啊 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     听讲你烟酒拢改啊 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 2016, 詹雅雯, 酸酸

     Thiaⁿ-káng lí hun-chiú lóng kái--ah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     I heard you've quit smoking and drinking

5. a surname

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 戒 (“to give up; to quit”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		戒
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	戒
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	戒
Southwestern Mandarin	Guilin	戒
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	戒
Cantonese	Guangzhou	戒
	Hong Kong	戒
Gan	Nanchang	戒
Hakka	Meixian	戒
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	戒
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	戒
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	戒
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	戒
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	戒
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	改
Huizhou	Jixi	戒
Southern Min	Xiamen	改
	Quanzhou	改
	Zhangzhou	改
	Tainan	改

Etymology 2

simp. and trad.		改
alternative forms		介 屆／届

Probably from Japanese 回(かい) (kai).

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kái

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kái
    • Tâi-lô: kái
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kae
    • IPA (Taipei): /kai⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kai⁴¹/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 改

1. (Taiwanese Hokkien) Classifier for times, as in frequency.

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

改

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. reform
2. correct
3. change

Readings

• Go-on: かい (kai, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: かい (kai, Jōyō)
• Kun: あらためる (aratameru, 改める, Jōyō)、あらたまる (aratamaru, 改まる, Jōyō)
• Nanori: あら (ara)

Compounds

• 改悪
• 改易
• 改悔
• 改革
• 改旧
• 改玉
• 改元

• 改寤
• 改号
• 改刪
• 改宗
• 改修
• 改春
• 改心

• 改進
• 改正
• 改姓
• 改善
• 改装
• 改葬
• 改造

• 改定
• 改訂
• 改轍
• 改容
• 改暦

Etymology

Kanji in this term
改
かい Grade: 4
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 改 (MC kojX).

Affix

改(かい) • (kai) 

1. change; modify; reform

Suffix

改(かい) • (-kai) 

1. revision
2. revised, modified

   チヌ改(かい)

   chi-nu-kai

   Chi-Nu Kai

   装輪装甲車(そうりんそうこうしゃ)（改(かい)）

   sōrin-sōkō-sha (kai)

   Wheeled Armoured Vehicle (Improved)

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Korean

Hanja

改 (eumhun 고칠 개 (gochil gae))

1. hanja form^? of 개 (“reform; fix”)

Compounds

• 개혁 (改革, gaehyeok, “reform”)

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Vietnamese

Han character

改: Hán Nôm readings: cải, cãi, gởi, gửi

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