久

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See also: 乆 and 欠
久 U+4E45, 久
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E45
← 乄
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 乆 →

Translingual

Stroke order
3 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

久 (Kangxi radical 4, 丿+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 弓人 (NO) or 難弓人 (XNO), four-corner 27800, composition ⿸𠂊㇏)

Derived characters

Descendants

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 81, character 19
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 118
  • Dae Jaweon: page 165, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 33, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+4E45

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 久
alternative forms 乆
𫝄

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 久
Small seal script

s03941

Transcribed ancient scripts

L35395

L35396

L35397

L35398

L35399

L18239

L18240

L18241

L18242

L18243

L18244

L18245

L18246

L18247

L18248

L18249

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 (久) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
畂 *ɡʷ·rɯs
久 *kʷlɯʔ
灸 *kʷlɯʔ, *kʷlɯs
玖 *kʷlɯʔ
疚 *kʷlɯs
柩 *ɡʷlɯs
羑 *ɡʷ·lɯʔ

Pictogram (象形) - a man receiving moxibustion. The derivative 灸 (OC *kʷlɯʔ, *kʷlɯs) refers to the original word.

Etymology

Possibly Sino-Tibetan. Compare Bantawa (kʰokpa, “old man”) (Sagart, 2017d), which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kwak (“old”).

舊 (OC *N-kʷəʔ-s) may be a derivative (Baxter and Sagart, 2014). See there for more.

Pronunciation

Note:
  • gū - vernacular;
  • giēu - literary.
Note:
  • kú - vernacular;
  • kiú - literary.
Rime
Character 久
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 見 (28)
Final (韻) 尤 (136)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 舉有切
Baxter kjuwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/kɨuX/
Pan
Wuyun 		/kiuX/
Shao
Rongfen 		/kiəuX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/kuwX/
Li
Rong 		/kiuX/
Wang
Li 		/kĭəuX/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/ki̯ə̯uX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		jiǔ
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		gau2
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 久
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		jiǔ
Middle
Chinese 		‹ kjuwX ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ʷəʔ/
English a long time

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 久
Reading # 1/1
No. 6969
Phonetic
component 		久
Rime
group 		之
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		久
Old
Chinese 		/*kʷlɯʔ/

Definitions

久

  1. (of time) long
    你待了多久？  ―  Nǐ dāi le duōjiǔ?  ―  How long did you stay?
    我們走路走了很久。 [MSC, trad.]
    我们走路走了很久。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒmen zǒulù zǒu le hěn jiǔ.
    We walked for a long time.
  2. a surname

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 久 (“long (time)”)
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 久
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 久
Mandarin Taiwan 久
Malaysia 久
Singapore 久
Cantonese Guangzhou 耐
Hong Kong 耐
Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou) 耐
Hong Kong (Ting Kok) 久
Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau) 久
Zhongshan (Shiqi) 耐
Taishan 久
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 耐
Singapore (Guangfu) 耐
Gan Nanchang 久
Hakka Meixian 久
Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua) 久
Boluo (Bendihua) 久
Heyuan (Bendihua) 久
Longchuan (Tuocheng Bendihua) 久
Heping (Linzhai Bendihua) 久
Lianping (Longjie Bendihua) 久
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 久
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 久
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 久
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 久
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 久
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 久
Hong Kong 久
Senai (Huiyang) 久
Kuching (Hepo) 久
Eastern Min Fuzhou 𣆯
Changle 𣆯
Fuqing 𣆯
Yongtai 𣆯
Gutian 長久
Fu'an 𣆯
Ningde 𣆯
Shouning 長遠
Zhouning 長遠
Fuding 久
Singapore (Fuqing) 𣆯
Southern Min Xiamen 久
Quanzhou 久
Jinjiang 久
Dongshan 久
Taipei 久 GT
Penang (Hokkien) 久
Singapore (Hokkien) 久
Manila (Hokkien) 久
Chaozhou 久
Raoping 久
Shantou 久
Haifeng 久
Bangkok (Teochew) 久
Johor Bahru (Teochew) 久
Singapore (Teochew) 久
Wenchang 久
Qionghai 久
Singapore (Hainanese) 久
Zhongshan Min Shaxi (Longdu) 久長
Note GT - General Taiwanese (no particular region identified)

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

久

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. long time

Readings

Compounds

Proper noun

久(ひさし) • (Hisashi) 

  1. a male given name

Korean

Hanja

久 (eumhun 오랠 구 (orael gu))

  1. Hanja form? of 구 (“to be long”).

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

Han character

久: Hán Việt readings: cửu (舉(cử)有(hữu)切(thiết))
久: Nôm readings: cửu

  1. chữ Hán form of cửu (“for a long time”).

References

  1. ^ Bonet (1899).
  2. ^ Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
  3. ^ Trần (2004).
  4. ^ Génibrel (1898).

Zhuang

Noun

久

  1. Sawndip form of gyaeuj (“head; headhair”)
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