四

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See also: 西, 匹, and 㓁
四 U+56DB, 四
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-56DB
← 囚
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 囜 →
㈣ U+3223, ㈣
PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH FOUR
← ㈢
 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㈤ →
㊃ U+3283, ㊃
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH FOUR
← ㊂
 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㊄ →
Commons:Category
Commons:Category
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Translingual

Stroke order (Sans-serif)
Stroke order

Han character

四 (Kangxi radical 31, 囗+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 田金 (WC), four-corner 60210, composition ⿴囗⿰丿㇄(GHTV) or ⿴囗儿(JK))

  1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №503

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 216, character 22
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4682
  • Dae Jaweon: page 439, character 21
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 710, character 16
  • Unihan data for U+56DB

Chinese

Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 四 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 四 (Cantonese)

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 四
Shang Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming) Libian (compiled in Qing)
Bronze inscriptions Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Shizhoupian script Ancient script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts Clerical script
Characters in the same phonetic series (四) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
訵 *l̥ʰids
四 *hljids
泗 *hljids
駟 *hljids
柶 *hljids
牭 *hljids
呬 *hrids

The word "four" was written as 亖 (sì) before Western Zhou and 四 (sì) appeared in late Spring and Autumn period. This alternative form was used to prevent confusion of 亖 (sì) and 二 (“two”) or 三 (“three”) in vertical writing. It was standardized in Qin dynasty.

The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside 口 (kǒu); this later evolved into the combination used today of 口 (kǒu, “mouth”) and 八 (bā, “divide”) which meant a dispersal of breath. It could thus be said that four is a borrowed meaning for this character. The original sense is preserved in 呬 (OC *hrids), by adding an extra 口. Compare this character with 只 and 曰.

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.
 四
alternative forms
肆 financial
亖 ancient
皿
龱
𠁤
肆 financial
亖 ancient
皿
龱
𠁤
𠃢 ancient
𦉭
 

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ləj.

Pronunciation

Note:
Note:
  • sei3 - vernacular;
  • si3 - literary (rare) and in 四正.
Note:
  • sé - vernacular;
  • sé̤ṳ - literary.
Note:
  • si4 - vernacular;
  • so4 - literary.
Note:
  • Xiamen, Quanzhou, Nan'an, Hui'an, Zhangzhou, Changtai, Zhangpu, Longyan, Taiwan, Singapore, Penang:
    • sì - vernacular;
    • sù/sìr - literary.
  • Jinjiang, Philippines:
    • sì - vernacular and literary.
Note: 5syu (Ningbo) - only used in 四圍／四围,.
Rime
Character 四
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 脂 (15)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 息利切
Baxter sijH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/siɪH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/siH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sjɪH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/siH/
Li
Rong 		/siH/
Wang
Li 		/siH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/siH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		si3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 四
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sijH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.li-s/
English four

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 四
Reading # 1/1
No. 12022
Phonetic
component 		四
Rime
group 		至
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		四
Old
Chinese 		/*hljids/

Definitions

四

  1. four
  2. (literary) four directions; all directions
    Synonym: 四方 (sìfāng)
  3. (music) la (musical note)
  4. (printing) English; The size of type between 小四 (little 4) and 小三 (little 3), standardized as 14 point.

Usage notes

Wikipedia has an article on:

As superstition, 四 (MC siɪH) is avoided because it is similar to 死 (MC sˠiɪX, “death”) in sound.

See also

Chinese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 106 108 1012
Normal
(小寫／小写) 		〇, 零, 空 一, 蜀 二, 兩／两 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬／万,
十千 (Malaysia, Singapore) 		百萬／百万,
桶(Philippines),
面桶 (Philippines) 		億／亿 兆 (Taiwan)
萬億／万亿 (Mainland China)
Financial
(大寫／大写) 		零 壹 貳／贰 參／叁 肆 伍 陸／陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟
Playing cards in Mandarin · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
尖兒／尖儿 (jiānr) 二 (èr) 三 (sān) 四 (sì) 五 (wǔ) 六 (liù) 七 (qī)
八 (bā) 九 (jiǔ) 十 (shí) 鉤兒／钩儿 (gōur) 圈兒／圈儿 (quānr), 皮蛋 (pídàn, regional) K 小王 (xiǎowáng, black), 大王 (red),
小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ, black), 大鬼 (dàguǐ, red)

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (四):
  • → Japanese: 四(し) (shi)
  • → Korean: 사(四) (sa)
  • → Vietnamese: tứ (四)

Others:

Etymology 2

simp. and trad.
 四

Pronunciation

Definitions

四

  1. (music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note low la (6̣).
    Synonym: 士 (shì) (Cantonese opera)

Further reading

Japanese

Kanji

四

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
四
よ
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

⟨yo2⟩ → */jə/ → /jo/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *yə.

In modern Japanese, Japonic よ (yo) is more common than Sinitic し (shi, see Etymology 3) outside fixed compounds, which is similar to 七(なな) (nana) but different from other numerals. The reason may be a superstitious connection to 死(し) (shi, “death”), or simply avoiding confusion with similar sounding 一(いち) (ichi, “one”) and 七(しち) (shichi, “seven”).

Pronunciation

Numeral

四(よ) • (yo) 

Japanese cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : 四
  1. four, 4
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
四
よん
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Shift from yo above,[1][2] influenced by analogy by the final sound of preceding number 三 (san, “three”). The most common form as a stand-alone number.

Pronunciation

Numeral

四(よん) • (yon) 

  1. four, 4
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
四
し
Grade: 1
on'yomi

/si/ → /ɕi/

From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪH).

Compare modern Hakka 四 (si).

Alternative forms

  • (financial form) 肆

Pronunciation

Numeral

四(し) • (shi) 

  1. four, 4
Usage notes

Due to Chinese influence, 四 (shi) is sometimes avoided as it is homonymous to 死 (shi, “death”).

Derived terms
Derived terms

Noun

四(し) • (shi) 

  1. the fourth

Affix

四(し) • (shi) 

  1. four
  2. fourth
  3. quadruple
  4. here and there
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
四
すう
Grade: 1
irregular

From Mandarin 四 (sì).[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

Numeral

四(スー) • (sū) 

  1. (mahjong) four, 4
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Derived terms

See also

Japanese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Regular 零(れい) (rei)
零(ゼロ) (zero) 		一(いち) (ichi) 二(に) (ni) 三(さん) (san) 四(よん) (yon)
四(し) (shi) 		五(ご) (go) 六(ろく) (roku) 七(なな) (nana)
七(しち) (shichi) 		八(はち) (hachi) 九(きゅう) (kyū)
九(く) (ku) 		十(じゅう) (jū)
Formal 壱(いち) (ichi) 弐(に) (ni) 参(さん) (san) 拾(じゅう) (jū)
90 100 300 600 800 1,000 3,000 8,000 10,000 100,000,000
Regular 九(きゅう)十(じゅう) (kyūjū) 百(ひゃく) (hyaku)
一(いっ)百(ぴゃく) (ippyaku) 		三(さん)百(びゃく) (sanbyaku) 六(ろっ)百(ぴゃく) (roppyaku) 八(はっ)百(ぴゃく) (happyaku) 千(せん) (sen)
一(いっ)千(せん) (issen) 		三(さん)千(ぜん) (sanzen) 八(はっ)千(せん) (hassen) 一(いち)万(まん) (ichiman) 一(いち)億(おく) (ichioku)
Formal 一(いち)萬(まん) (ichiman)
1012 8×1012 1013 1016 6×1016 8×1016 1017 1018
一(いっ)兆(ちょう) (itchō) 八(はっ)兆(ちょう) (hatchō) 十(じゅっ)兆(ちょう) (jutchō) 一(いっ)京(けい) (ikkei) 六(ろっ)京(けい) (rokkei) 八(はっ)京(けい) (hakkei) 十(じゅっ)京(けい) (jukkei) 百(ひゃっ)京(けい) (hyakkei)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

Korean numbers (edit)
40
 ←  3 4 5  → 
    Native isol.: 넷 (net)
    Native attr.: 네 (ne), (dated) 넉 (neok), (archaic) 너 (neo)
    Sino-Korean: 사 (sa)
    Hanja: 四
    Ordinal: 넷째 (netjjae)

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪH).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key):
  • Phonetic hangul:
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

四 (eumhun 넉 사 (neok sa))

  1. hanja form? of 사 (“four”)

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.

Old Japanese

Etymology

From Proto-Japonic *yə.

Also used as 借訓 (shakkun) kana for ⟨yo2⟩.

Numeral

四 (yo2) (kana よ)

  1. four, 4

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Japanese: 四 (yo, yon)

Vietnamese

Han character

四: Hán Việt readings: tứ[1][2][3]
四: Nôm readings: tớ[1][2][4], tứ[2][3], tư[4]

  1. chữ Hán form of tứ (“four”).
  2. Nôm form of tư (“four; fourth”).

Derived terms

Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hồ (1976).
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