兜

Translingual

Han character

兜 (Kangxi radical 10, 儿+9, 11 strokes, cangjie input 竹女竹山 (HVHU), four-corner 7721₇).

Derived characters

• 㨮, 篼, 蔸, 𣘛, 𩮷

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 125, character 20
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1386
• Dae Jaweon: page 265, character 27
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 273, character 16
• Unihan data for U+515C

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 兜
Small seal script s06217 Transcribed ancient scripts L33694 L12173 L12174 L12175
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).

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 𠑹 (“cover”) + 皃 (“head”): a helmet.

Etymology 1

Baxter and Sagart (2014) suggests a connection to 頭 (OC *ˤo, “head”). See there for more.

Pronunciation

Definitions

兜

1. helmet; hood
2. helmet-shaped
3. armor
4. to wrap in a bag; to encase; to carry in a wrap
5. bag; pouch; plastic bag
6. pocket
7. to pocket; to keep; to retain; to acquire dishonestly
8. to reach
9. to move around; to move in a circle

   兜嚟兜去 [Cantonese]  ―  dau¹ lai⁴ dau¹ heoi³   ―  to pace around; to walk around here and there

10. to canvass; to solicit

    兜生意  ―  dōu shēngyi  ―  to solicit business

11. to take responsibility for
12. to relate in detail
13. to peddle; to hawk
14. (Hokkien) home

    • 恁兜的爸母誰來飼？ [Hokkien, trad.]
      恁兜的爸母谁来饲？ [Hokkien, simp.]

      From: 梁智強，李國煌, 少年英雄

      Lín tau ê pē-bú siâng lâi chhī? [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

      Who will provide for your parents at home?

15. (Hokkien) nearby
16. (Singapore Hokkien) place; side; location

    這兜／这兜 [Hokkien]  ―  chit-tau [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  this place; this side; this location

17. (Cantonese) flat or shallow container; flat or shallow bowl

    揸兜 [Cantonese]  ―  zaa¹ dau¹   ―  to beg on the streets (literally "to hold a shallow bowl")

    入啲餸落個兜 [Cantonese, trad.]
    入啲𩠌落个兜 [Cantonese, simp.]

    jap⁶ di¹ sung³ lok⁶ go³ dau¹

    put the food into the container

18. (Cantonese) to contain; to hold in a container; to hold with one's hand(s) in a horizontal positional

    快啲搵個嘢嚟兜住啲水，等佢唔好再滴落嚟！ [Cantonese, trad.]
    快啲揾个嘢嚟兜住啲水，等佢唔好再滴落嚟！ [Cantonese, simp.]

    faai³ di¹ wan² go³ je⁵ lai⁴ dau¹ zyu⁶ di¹ seoi², dang² keoi⁵ m⁴ hou² zoi³ dik⁶ lok⁶ lai⁴!

    Quickly find something that could hold the water, so that it won't drip ever again!

19. (Cantonese) to make a detour; to bypass; to deviate
20. (Cantonese, of routes or journeys) indirect; lengthy; with detours or deviations
21. (Cantonese) to explain one's way out of a bad situation

    你講到咁離譜，而家點兜都兜唔返。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    你讲到咁离谱，而家点兜都兜唔返。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    nei⁵ gong² dou³ gam³ lei⁴ pou², ji⁴ gaa¹ dim² dau¹ dou¹ dau¹ m⁴ faan¹.

    You've gone too far with what you said. There's no way to get it right.

22. (Cantonese) Classifier for things put in a flat or shallow container.

    兩兜冷飯／两兜冷饭 [Cantonese]  ―  loeng⁵ dau¹ laang⁵ faan⁶   ―  two containers of leftover rice

23. (Cantonese) to scoop with a flat or shallow container
24. (Cantonese) to hit with one's limbs, in a curved trajectory; to slap (someone); to kick

    兜巴星 [Cantonese]  ―  dau¹ baa¹ sing¹   ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• (pocket): 口袋 (kǒudai), 衣袋 (yīdài), 衣兜 (yīdōu)
• (bag): (Hokkien) 袋仔 (tē-á)
• (to move in a circle): 繞／绕 (rào)

Compounds

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Definitions

兜

1. (Hakka) some; a few; a little; a bit (an indefinite amount)
2. (Hakka) Plural marker for pronouns.

Synonyms

• (plural marker for pronouns): 們／们 (men); (Cantonese) 哋; (Hakka, Literal) 等; (Min Nan) 儂

Compounds

Further reading

• (Min Nan pronunciation audio) “Entry #6941”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

Readings

• Go-on: つ (tsu); と (to)
• Kan-on: とう (tō)
• Kun: かぶと (kabuto, 兜)

Etymology

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

兜

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Kabuto (traditional Japanese helmet)

Wikipedia

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Helmet (in general)

Wikipedia

From Old Japanese. Found in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE with the reading kaputo.

Derivation currently unknown.

• A surface analysis might suggest a derivation from 被る (kaburu, “to wear something on the head”). However, that reading derives from older form kagafuru and does not appear until 850, some time after the first appearance of kabuto.

• An alternative analysis might suggest a compound of 頭 (kabu, “head”, kun'yomi and native Japanese term) +‎ 兜 (to, “helmet”, on'yomi and borrowing from Chinese). However, the “head” sense with the kabu reading does not appear until near the end of the Muromachi period.

• Word-medial bilabial plosives usually underwent lenition, shifting along the lines of /p/ → /f/ → /w/, then vanishing altogether except where the following vowel was /a/. This lenition often did not happen at morpheme boundaries in compound words. The persistence of the /b/ in kabuto might thus suggest that this term was originally a compound of ka + puto. The ka element is uncertain, possibly the か (ka-) intensifying prefix added to adjectives; Old Japanese puto would be the stem and root of modern 太い (futoi, “thick; fat; stout”), possibly in reference to the protective strength provided by a helmet. This puto would then have undergone rendaku (連濁) to become buto.

Compare the phonology of adjective か細い (kabosoi, “very slender”), composed of this ka- prefix and adjective 細い (hosoi, ancient pososi) and demonstrating a similar retention of the bilabial plosive and rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) か​ぶと (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

兜(かぶと) • (kabuto) 

1. helmet

Derived terms

• 兜(かぶと)合(あ)わせ (kabutoawase, “frot”)

References

Korean

Hanja

兜 (eum 두 (du))

1. (투구 두, tugu-): helmet (especially, made of iron)

Synonyms

• 冑 (주, ju)

See also

• 甲 (갑, gap) armor

Vietnamese

Han character

兜: Hán Nôm readings: đâu

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