原

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See also: 厡
原 U+539F, 原
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-539F
← 厞
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 厠 →

Translingual

Han character

Stroke order
10 strokes

原 (Kangxi radical 27, 厂+8, 10 strokes, cangjie input 一竹日火 (MHAF), four-corner 71296, composition ⿸厂⿱白小)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 162, character 3
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2973
  • Dae Jaweon: page 368, character 23
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 74, character 9
  • Unihan data for U+539F

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 原
2nd round simp. 𰆖
alternative forms 厡
邍 “plain”
𠫐

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 原
Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (原) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
羱 *ŋʷaːn, *ŋʷan
豲 *ɦŋʷaːn
謜 *sŋ̊ʰʷan, *ŋʷan
縓 *sŋ̊ʰʷan, *sŋ̊ʰʷans
原 *ŋʷan
源 *ŋʷan
厵 *ŋʷan
嫄 *ŋʷan
騵 *ŋʷan
榞 *ŋʷan
獂 *ŋʷan
蒝 *ŋʷan
願 *ŋʷans
傆 *ŋʷans
愿 *ŋʷans

Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) : 泉 (“spring”) + 厂 (“cliff”) – a spring bursting from a cliff-side – origin. A conservative variant is 厡, in which water is well visible at the bottom.

Etymology

The sense “source, origin; basic, primary” is perhaps related to 元 (OC *ŋon, “head; principal; first; great”) (Qiu, 1988). According to Schuessler (2007), in Shijing 原 meant "a plain" as well as "highland", thus perhaps also related to 元 (OC *ŋon) (see also Qiu, 2000).

元 and 原 had been used interchangeably in the sense "origin" until 原 became favoured in the early Ming dynasty to avoid the name of the Yuan dynasty. Confer 元由, 元來／元来 and 元配.[1]

Pronunciation

Note:
  • nguang5 - Shantou;
  • nguêng5 - Chaozhou.
Rime
Character 原
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 元 (66)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 愚袁切
Baxter ngjwon
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ŋʉɐn/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ŋʷiɐn/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ŋiuɐn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ŋuan/
Li
Rong 		/ŋiuɐn/
Wang
Li 		/ŋĭwɐn/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ŋi̯wɐn/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		yuán
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		jyun4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 原 原
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		yuán yuán
Middle
Chinese 		‹ ngjwon › ‹ ngjwon ›
Old
Chinese 		/*N-ɢʷar/ /*N-ɢʷar/
English spring, source; origin high plain (n.)

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 原
Reading # 1/1
No. 16186
Phonetic
component 		原
Rime
group 		元
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		元
Old
Chinese 		/*ŋʷan/
Notes 金文象泉源，爲源初文

Definitions

原

  1. meadow; field; plain; prairie; tundra; wilderness
  2. source; origin; beginning
  3. Original form of 源 (yuán, “fountainhead; source”).
  4. basic; fundamental
  5. original; primary
  6. originally; at the beginning
  7. to originate; to arise
  8. to trace the source; to probe into
  9. (literary, or in compounds) to forgive; to pardon
    原諒／原谅  ―  yuánliàng  ―  to forgive
    原宥  ―  yuányòu  ―  to forgive
    原情 [Hokkien]  ―  goân-chêng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  to forgive
  10. a surname: Yuan

Synonyms

  • (originally):
  • (to forgive):

Compounds

References

  1. ^ 清·郝懿行《晉宋書故·元由》：“今人爲書元俱作原字……葢起於前明初造事涉元朝文字簿書率皆易元爲原沿至今日”

Japanese

Kanji

原

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. hara: meadow [1]
  2. moto: original
  3. tazuneru: to inquire
  4. yurusu: to pardon a crime
  5. gen, as a clipping of 原(げん)子(し)力(りょく) (genshiryoku): nuclear power

Readings

Compounds

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
原
はら
Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, finished some time after 759 CE. Compare Korean 벌 (beol, “plain, field”).

Pronunciation

Noun

原(はら) • (hara) 

  1. meadow, plain, field
Usage notes

Specifically refers to a field that is not cultivated.

Proper noun

原(はら) • (Hara) 

  1. a surname

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
原
げん
Grade: 2
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 原 (MC ngjwon, “source; origin; beginning”).

Pronunciation

Noun

原(げん) • (gen) 

  1. the original thing

Prefix

原(げん) • (gen-) 

  1. the original
    原(げん)文(ぶん)、原(げん)材料(ざいりょう)
    genbun, gen-zairyō
    original document, original / raw materials

References

  1. ^ “原”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎ (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2024
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 原 (MC ngjwon).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 ᅌᅯᆫ (Yale: ngwèn)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527 두던〮 (Yale: twùtén) 원 (Yale: wèn)

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

原 (eumhun 언덕 원 (eondeok won))
原 (eumhun 근원 원 (geunwon won))

  1. hanja form? of 원 (“meadow”)
  2. hanja form? of 원 (“origin”)

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

原: Hán Nôm readings: nguyên, nguyễn

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