只

Stroke order

只 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 口金 (RC), four-corner 6080₀, composition ⿱口八)

1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №49

• 伿 呮 𡛰 帜 怾 抧 𣲵 𤝖 𬲬 枳 炽 𬋦 胑 𮁦 积 𧙋 𥿗(织) 䍉 𦐖 职 𧊄 䛊(识) 𧲻 𧵙 𨈪 軹(轵) 𠷓 鉙(𰽨) 𫖆 𩢢 𩨵 䳅(𱉙) 齞(𱌫)
• 𠙂 𨒅 𭣗 𣭓 咫 𧻍 㰨 𰍵 𫪉 𫪫 𩿦 𦭜 𩬫 㡶 疻 𰇨 𫪩 嘦 𠤴 𧧹 𣖌 䅩

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 172, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3239
• Dae Jaweon: page 383, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 570, character 3
• Unihan data for U+53EA

Historical forms of the character 只
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) : airflow coming out of a mouth (口) – a modal particle. Compare 四 and 曰.

Schuessler (2007) suggests that it is possibly Sino-Tibetan, relating it to Kamarupan ke, kʰe (“one”), which are perhaps related to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-kjaŋ (“single”), whence Tibetan རྐྱང (rkyang, “single”), Burmese ချင်း (hkyang:, “single”) and Burmese ချည်း (hkyany:, “alone,only, just”).

只

1. only; just; simply; merely

   我只去過一次。／我只去过一次。  ―  Wǒ zhǐ qù guò yī cì.  ―  I've only been there once.

   湯裡只放了一點兒胡椒粉。 [MSC, trad.]
   汤里只放了一点儿胡椒粉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tāng lǐ zhǐ fàng le yīdiǎnr hújiāofěn.

   There was just a hint of pepper in the soup.

   一日到夜只曉得吃、吃、吃，事體末一眼也勿會得做。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
   一日到夜只晓得吃、吃、吃，事体末一眼也勿会得做。 [Shanghainese, simp.]

   ⁷iq-gniq-tau-ya ⁷tseq ⁵shiau-teq ⁷chiq ⁷chiq ⁷chiq ⁶zy-thi-meq ⁷iq-nge ⁶gha ⁸veq-ue-teq ⁵tsu [Wugniu]

   The only thing do all day is eat, and yet you do nothing important.

2. ^† originally; at first

• (only):

只

1. (literary or Min) this

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

只

1. ^† A modal particle.

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

只

1. ^† to do

只

1. ^† Progressive particle, akin to 著／着 (zhe).

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

只

1. a surname

In traditional script, 只 (zhī) is a variant of 隻／只 (zhī) for a subset of its senses such as classifier for hands (highest affinity), one of a pair, etc, but most notably not for animals.

只

1. Classifier for hands and objects worn on/around hand.

   一只戒指  ―  yī zhī jièzhǐ  ―  one ring

   一只手錶／一只手表  ―  yī zhī shǒubiǎo  ―  one wristwatch

   一只皮箱  ―  yī zhī píxiāng  ―  one leather suitcase

2. Classifier for one of a pair.

   一只耳環／一只耳环  ―  yī zhī ěrhuán  ―  one earring

   兩只小眼睛／两只小眼睛  ―  liǎng zhī xiǎo yǎnjīng  ―  two little eyes

3. Classifier for boats and certain vessels.

   一只小船  ―  yī zhī xiǎochuán  ―  one little boat

   一只花瓶  ―  yī zhī huāpíng  ―  one flower vase

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. only
2. simply
3. just

• Go-on: し (shi)
• Kan-on: し (shi)
• Kun: ただ (tada, 只)

只 (eum 지 (ji))

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

Conventionally reconstructed as *-k, after the Middle Korean reflexes.

只 (*-k)

1. A consonantal phonogram denoting coda consonant *-k.

只 (*-k)

1. An emphatic particle attached to the connective form of verbs.

• Middle Korean: ㄱ (-k)

只 (*ki-)

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. It usually appears after other verbs, taking the honorific suffix 賜 (*-si), and appears to be some kind of auxiliary. It has no known Middle Korean reflex. Nam Pung-hyeon speculates whether it might be connected to or be a variant of 在 (*KYE-).

• 남풍현 [nampunghyeon] (2004) “시상의 조동사 '在/𠂇/겨'의 발달' [The development of the aspectual auxiliary kye-]”, in Gugeo gukmunhak, volume 138, pages 5—34
• 황선엽 (Hwang Seon-yeop) et al. (2009) 석독구결사전/釋讀口訣辭典 [Dictionary of interpretive gugyeol], Bakmunsa, →ISBN, pages 411—549

只: Hán Nôm readings: chỉ, chích

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