共

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

共 (Kangxi radical 12, 八+4, 6 strokes, cangjie input 廿金 (TC), four-corner 4480₁, composition ⿱龷八)

1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №64

Derived characters

• 供 㓋 哄 垬 娂 㤨 拱 洪 䧆 晎 栱 㬴 烘 珙 䀧 硔 粠 舼 鿁(䜤) 谼 輁(𰺄) 鉷(𫟹) 䱋(𲍎) 䢼 䳍(𮭥) 衖 閧 鬨 烡 異 粪 髸 龔(龚) 巽 恭 拲 㭟 㳟 蛬 輂(𰺅) 䢽 巷 蕻
• 𡶵 𤞒 𧋄 𧶯 𡱒 𢩉 𨜕 𨞠 𠔹 𡋍 𢙄 𢮪 𨂚 𦜞
• 𬮢

See also

• 暴 殿

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 127, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1458
• Dae Jaweon: page 283, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 243, character 2
• Unihan data for U+5171

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 共
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Bronze inscriptions b03459 b03460 b03461 b03462 b03463 b03464 b03465 b03466 b03467 b03468 b03469 b03470 b03471 Small seal script s01989 Transcribed ancient scripts L35581 L35582 L19017 L19018 L19019 L19020 L19021 L19022
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) : 廾 (“two hands”) + 口 (“an object”) – holding up an object with two hands. Eventually 口 (not “mouth”) came to be written 廿 (niàn) (not “twenty”), which later fused with 廾 to form the modern 共.

Possibly the original form of 供 (“to provide; to offer”).

Etymology 1

Possibly related to 廾 (OC *k(r)oŋʔ, “to fold the hands in front of the breast”), with the stativizing prefix *N- (Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Schuessler (2007) also relates this word to 供 (OC *kloŋ, *kloŋs, “to provide”) and suggests the possibility of also relating it to 恭 (OC *kloŋ, “to respect”) and 貢 (OC *koːŋs, “tribute”).

The kā reading in Hokkien is from the weakening of kāng (Wu, 2017; Chappell et al., 2011).

Pronunciation

Definitions

共

1. common

   共識／共识  ―  gòngshí  ―  common understanding; consensus

2. together

   共進晚餐／共进晚餐  ―  gòng jìn wǎncān  ―  to have dinner together

   • 1984, “天使報信 [Hark! the Herald Angels Sing]”, in 滕近輝 [Philip Teng], 何統雄 [Richard Ho], transl., 《生命聖詩》 [Hymns of Life]:

     興起！地上大小邦，響應諸天共頌揚 [MSC, trad.]
     兴起！地上大小邦，响应诸天共颂扬 [MSC, simp.]

     Xīngqǐ! Dìshang dà xiǎo bāng, Xiǎngyìng zhūtiān gòng sòngyáng

     Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies
     Rise up! nations of the earth, big and small, Sing praises together in response to the skies

3. to share
4. altogether

   我前後共買了五雙鞋。 [MSC, trad.]
   我前后共买了五双鞋。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ qiánhòu gòng mǎi le wǔ shuāng xié.

   From beginning to end, I altogether bought five pairs of shoes.

5. Short for 共產黨／共产党 (gòngchǎndǎng, “communist party”).

   反共  ―  fǎngòng  ―  anti-communist

   1. (specifically) the Communist Party of China

      國共／国共  ―  guógòng  ―  Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China

6. (literary or dialectal) and
   • 1828, Robert Morrison, Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect, volume III, section XII:

     蜆肉桶肚裡全係坭共水 [Cantonese, trad.]
     蚬肉桶肚里全系泥共水 [Cantonese, simp.]

     hin² juk⁶ tung² tou⁵ leoi⁵ cyun⁴ hai⁶ nai⁴ gung⁶ seoi²

     A muscle cask, a belly (or mind) full of nothing but mud and water.

   • 1841, Elijah Coleman Bridgman, Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect, page 181:

     唐人有𢬿牛乳共糖嚟攪茶有冇呢 [Cantonese, trad.]
     唐人有𢬿牛乳共糖嚟搅茶有冇呢 [Cantonese, simp.]

     tong⁴ jan⁴ jau⁵ kaai⁵ ngau⁴ jyu⁵ gung⁶ tong⁴ lai⁴ gaau² caa⁴ jau⁵ mou⁵ ne¹

     Do the Chinese use milk and sugar with their tea?

   • 1993, “海闊天空 [Boundless Ocean, Vast Skies]”, performed by Beyond:

     那會怕有一天只你共我 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     那会怕有一天只你共我 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     naa⁵ wui⁵ paa³ jau⁵ jat¹ tin¹ zi² nei⁵ gung⁶ ngo⁵

     not afraid that someday there's only you and me

7. (literary or Eastern Min, Hokkien) with; to

   我共你講。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   我共你讲。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Góa kā lí kóng. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   I tell you.

   • 1989, “千千闕歌”, 林振強 (lyrics), performed by 陳慧嫻:

     因你今晚共我唱 [Literary Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

     jan¹ nei⁵ gam¹ maan⁵ gung⁶ ngo⁵ coeng³

     because you are singing with me on this night

   • (Can we date this quote?), “全因為祢”, 西伯 (lyrics)‎performed by 鄧婉玲:

     死蔭幽谷中，祢伴我過渡，歡欣裡，風光裡祢共我同在 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     死荫幽谷中，祢伴我过渡，欢欣里，风光里祢共我同在 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     sei² jam³ jau¹ guk¹ zung¹, nei⁵ bun⁶ ngo⁵ gwo³ dou⁶, fun¹ jan¹ leoi⁵, fung¹ gwong¹ leoi⁵ nei⁵ gung⁶ ngo⁵ tung⁴ zoi⁶

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

8. (Eastern Min, Hokkien, dated in Cantonese) for

   共我開門。 [Hokkien, trad.]
   共我开门。 [Hokkien, simp.]

   Kā góa khui-mn̂g. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   Open the door for me.

   • 1828, Robert Morrison, Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect, volume III, section I:

     你共我呌個木匠黎 [Cantonese, trad.]
     你共我叫个木匠黎 [Cantonese, simp.]

     nei⁵ gung⁶ ngo⁵ giu³ go³ muk⁶ zoeng^6-2 lai⁴

     You for me call a carpenter.

9. (Hokkien) Used in imperative sentences for emphasis

   你共我會記咧！ [Hokkien, trad.]
   你共我会记咧！ [Hokkien, simp.]

   Lí kā góa ē kì leh! [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   Remember this!

10. (Eastern Min, Hokkien) Particle introducing the object of the verb

    共伊放袂記 [Hokkien, trad.]
    共伊放袂记 [Hokkien, simp.]

    kā i pàng bē-kì [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

    Forget about him.

11. (Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) same

    共款 [Hokkien]  ―  kāng-khoán [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  the same

    無共／无共 [Hokkien]  ―  bô-kāng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  not the same; different

Synonyms

• (and):

• (for):

• (used in imperative sentences for emphasis):

• (particle introducing the object of the verb):

Note

• For the prepositional usage in Hokkien, if it's succeed by 3rd singular personal pronoun 伊, the pronoun can be omitted. eg.:

  共放袂記 [Hokkien, trad.]
  共放袂记 [Hokkien, simp.]

  kā pàng bē-kì [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

  Forget about him.

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• → Vietnamese: cùng

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Definitions

共

1. a surname

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Definitions

共

1. (literary) Alternative form of 供 (“to provide”)
2. (literary) Alternative form of 恭 (gōng, “respectful”)
3. (literary) Alternative form of 宮／宫 (gōng, “castration (as punishment)”)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Definitions

共

1. (literary) Alternative form of 拱 (gǒng, “to fold the hands in front of the breast; to surround”)

References

• “共”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. together
2. both
3. all
4. with
5. co-

Readings

• Go-on: く (ku); くう (kū)
• Kan-on: きょう (kyō, Jōyō)^{←きよう (kyou, historical)}
• Kan’yō-on: ぐ (gu)
• Kun: とも (tomo, 共, Jōyō)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) とも (Heiban – )
• (Tokyo) と​も (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Compounds