三

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See also: Ξ, ≡, ミ, 叁, 彡, and 丰
三 U+4E09, 三
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E09
← 丈
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 上 →
㈢ U+3222, ㈢
PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH THREE
← ㈡
 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㈣ →
㊂ U+3282, ㊂
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH THREE
← ㊁
 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㊃ →
Commons:Category
Commons:Category
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Translingual

Stroke order
3 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

三 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 一一一 (MMM), four-corner 10101, composition ⿱一二 or ⿱𠄟一)

  1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №4

Derived characters

Descendants

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 76, character 5
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12
  • Dae Jaweon: page 138, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 4, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+4E09

Further reading

Chinese Wikisource has digitized text of the Kangxi Dictionary entry for 三:
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Wikisource

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 三
alternative forms 叄／叁／參／参 financial
𠫰／𠬅／𠬄 less used
弎
𢦘
Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 三 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 三 (Cantonese)
  • 三 (Classical)

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 三
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Ancient script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
j00545
j00546
j00547
j00548
j00549
j00550
j00551
j00552
j00553
j00554
b00355
b00356
b00357
b00358
b00359
b00360
b00361
b00362
b00363
b00364
b00365
b00366
b00367
b00368
b00369
b00370
b00371
b00372
b00373
b00374
b00375
s00097
Transcribed ancient scripts
L12758
L12759
L12760
L12761
L12762
References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (三) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
三 *suːm, *suːms
弎 *suːm

Ideogram (指事) - three parallel strokes. Compare with 一, one stroke meaning “one”, 二, two strokes meaning “two”, and 亖, four strokes meaning “four”. Triplication of 一 (“one”).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-sum.

Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese should be *srim, but actually is *sam, with a non-retroflex initial consonant. This irregular development should be due by analogy with the initial of number four in EMC, *sijH.

Pronunciation 1

Note: sānr - (1) "the other woman; the other man", (2) "rfdef".
Note:
  • sor1/sorⁿ1 - vernacular;
  • sang1 - literary.
Note:
  • saⁿ - vernacular;
  • sam - literary.
Note:
  • san1 - vernacular;
  • sam1 - literary.
    • (Leizhou)
      • Leizhou Pinyin: sa1 / sam1
      • Sinological IPA: /sa³⁵/, /sam³⁵/
Note:
  • sa1 - vernacular;
  • sam1 - literary.
Note: 1sa (Chuansha, Songjiang) - alternative.
Rime
Character 三
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 談 (143)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 蘇甘切
Baxter sam
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sɑm/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sɑm/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɑm/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/sam/
Li
Rong 		/sɑm/
Wang
Li 		/sɑm/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/sɑm/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sān
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		saam1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 三
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sān
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sam ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.rum/ (*s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?)
English three

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * 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 三
Reading # 1/2
No. 10963
Phonetic
component 		三
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		三
Old
Chinese 		/*suːm/

Definitions

三

  1. three
  2. (Mainland China, slang, neologism) the other woman; the other man
  3. (Mainland China, slang, neologism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
  4. a surname
See also
Chinese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 106 108 1012
Normal
(小寫 / 小写) 		〇, 零, 空 一, 蜀 二, 兩 / 两 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬 / 万,
十千 (Malaysia, Singapore) 		百萬 / 百万,
桶(Philippines),
面桶 (Philippines) 		億 / 亿 兆 (Taiwan)
萬億 / 万亿 (Mainland China)
Financial
(大寫 / 大写) 		零 壹 貳 / 贰 參 / 叁 肆 伍 陸 / 陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟
Playing cards in Mandarin · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
尖兒 / 尖儿 (jiānr) 二 (èr) 三 (sān) 四 (sì) 五 (wǔ) 六 (liù) 七 (qī)
八 (bā) 九 (jiǔ) 十 (shí) 鉤兒 / 钩儿 (gōur) 圈兒 / 圈儿 (quānr), 皮蛋 (pídàn, regional) K 小王 (xiǎowáng, black), 大王 (red),
小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ, black), 大鬼 (dàguǐ, red)

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (三):
  • → Japanese: 三(さん) (san)
  • → Korean: 삼(三) (sam)
  • → Vietnamese: tam (三)

Others:

Pronunciation 2

Rime
Character 三
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 談 (143)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 蘇暫切
Baxter samH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sɑmH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sɑmH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɑmH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/samH/
Li
Rong 		/sɑmH/
Wang
Li 		/sɑmH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/sɑmH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sàn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		saam3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 三
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sān
Middle
Chinese 		‹ samH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.rm-s/ (*s.r- > *s-, infl. by 四 *s-?)
English three times

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * 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 三
Reading # 2/2
No. 10965
Phonetic
component 		三
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		三
Old
Chinese 		/*suːms/

Definitions

三 (obsolete)

  1. repeatedly; thrice
    三思  ―  sānsī  ―  to think carefully

Compounds

References

Japanese

Kanji

三

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. three

Readings

Compounds

Compounds

Alternative forms

  • (Financial/formal form): 参

Etymology 1

Japanese cardinal numbers
 <  2 3 4  > 
    Cardinal : 三
Kanji in this term
三
さん
Grade: 1
on'yomi

*/sam/ → /samu/ → /saɴ/

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sam|samH). Compare modern Mandarin 三 (sān).

In Old Japanese, this kanji was used phonetically to transcribe さむ (samu).

Pronunciation

Numeral

三(さん) • (san) 

  1. three, 3
    Synonym: スリー (surī)
  2. third
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
三
サン
Grade: 1
tōon

Borrowing from Mandarin 三 (sān), with the pitch accent different from etymology 1. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Numeral

三(サン) • (san) 

  1. three
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
三
み
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

⟨mi1⟩ → /mi/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *mi.

Likely an apophonic form of 六 (mu, “six”), compare 四 (yo, “four”) with 八 (ya, “eight”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Numeral

三(み) • (mi) 

  1. three
    一(ひ)、二(ふ)、三(み)、四(よ)、[…]
    hi, fu, mi, yo,
    one, two, three, four,
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
三
みい
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

/mi/ → /miː/

Shift from mi above.[1]

Pronunciation

Numeral

三(みい) • (mī) 

  1. (colloquial) three
    一(ひい)、二(ふう)、三(みい)、四(よお)、五(いつ)、六(むう)、七(なあ)、八(やあ)、九(こお)、十(とお)
    hī, fū, mī, yō, itsu, mū, nā, yā, kō, tō
    one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Coordinate terms
Japanese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Regular 零(れい) (rei)
零(ゼロ) (zero) 		一(いち) (ichi) 二(に) (ni) 三(さん) (san) 四(よん) (yon)
四(し) (shi) 		五(ご) (go) 六(ろく) (roku) 七(なな) (nana)
七(しち) (shichi) 		八(はち) (hachi) 九(きゅう) (kyū)
九(く) (ku) 		十(じゅう) (jū)
Formal 壱(いち) (ichi) 弐(に) (ni) 参(さん) (san) 拾(じゅう) (jū)
90 100 300 600 800 1,000 3,000 8,000 10,000 100,000,000
Regular 九(きゅう)十(じゅう) (kyūjū) 百(ひゃく) (hyaku)
一(いっ)百(ぴゃく) (ippyaku) 		三(さん)百(びゃく) (sanbyaku) 六(ろっ)百(ぴゃく) (roppyaku) 八(はっ)百(ぴゃく) (happyaku) 千(せん) (sen)
一(いっ)千(せん) (issen) 		三(さん)千(ぜん) (sanzen) 八(はっ)千(せん) (hassen) 一(いち)万(まん) (ichiman) 一(いち)億(おく) (ichioku)
Formal 一(いち)萬(まん) (ichiman)
1012 8×1012 1013 1016 6×1016 8×1016 1017 1018
一(いっ)兆(ちょう) (itchō) 八(はっ)兆(ちょう) (hatchō) 十(じゅっ)兆(ちょう) (jutchō) 一(いっ)京(けい) (ikkei) 六(ろっ)京(けい) (rokkei) 八(はっ)京(けい) (hakkei) 十(じゅっ)京(けい) (jukkei) 百(ひゃっ)京(けい) (hyakkei)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

Korean numbers (edit)
30
 ←  2 3 4  → 
    Native isol.: 셋 (set)
    Native attr.: 세 (se), (dated) 석 (seok), (archaic) 서 (seo)
    Sino-Korean: 삼 (sam)
    Hanja: 三
    Ordinal: 셋째 (setjjae)

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sam).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 삼 (Yale: sàm)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527 석〯 (Yale: sěk) 삼 (Yale: sàm)

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

三 (eumhun 셋 삼 (set sam))

  1. hanja form? of 삼 (“three”)

Compounds

Compounds

References

  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

三: Hán Việt readings: tam (蘇(tô)甘(cam)切(thiết))[1][2][3][4]
三: Nôm readings: tam[1][2][3][4][5][6], ba[1], tám[5]

  1. chữ Hán form of tam (“three”).

Compounds

Compounds

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bonet (1899).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Génibrel (1898).
  6. ^ Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
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