塊

Translingual

Han character

塊 (Kangxi radical 32, 土+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 土竹山戈 (GHUI), four-corner 4611₃, composition ⿰土鬼)

Derived characters

• 𤐡, 𤮟, 𭻻

Related characters

• 块 (Simplified Chinese)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 235, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5319
• Dae Jaweon: page 472, character 28
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 464, character 17
• Unihan data for U+584A

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kʰuːls, *kʰruːds) : semantic 土 (“earth; dust”) + phonetic 鬼 (OC *kulʔ) – clod of dirt.

Etymology 1

Unknown (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

塊

1. piece; chunk; lump; part

   把肉切成小塊。／把肉切成小块。  ―  Bǎ ròu qièchéng xiǎo kuài.  ―  Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.

   它被割成了三塊。 [MSC, trad.]
   它被割成了三块。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā bèi gē chéng le sān kuài.

   It was cut into three parts.

2. (colloquial) Classifier for money: yuan; dollar; buck

   你給三塊，就可以了。 [MSC, trad.]
   你给三块，就可以了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ gěi sān kuài, jiù kěyǐ le.

   If you give 3 yuan, it'll be enough.

   一塊錢／一块钱  ―  yī kuài qián  ―  a yuan; a dollar

   九塊一毛／九块一毛  ―  jiǔ kuài yī máo  ―  9.10 yuan

3. Classifier for piece of something (food, cloth, stone): piece; chunk; slab

   一塊蛋糕／一块蛋糕  ―  yī kuài dàngāo  ―  a slice of cake

   一塊木頭／一块木头  ―  yī kuài mùtóu  ―  a piece of wood

   呢塊木／呢块木 [Cantonese]  ―  nei¹ faai³ muk⁶   ―  this piece of wood

   呢塊肉／呢块肉 [Cantonese]  ―  nei¹ faai³ juk⁶   ―  this slab of meat

4. Classifier for areas of land: plot; tract; area

   呢塊地／呢块地 [Cantonese]  ―  nei¹ faai³ dei⁶   ―  this plot of land

5. (Teochew) place
   • 1883, Adele Marion Fielde, “無／无 (bô̤)”, in A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 16:

     無處好歇／无处好歇 [Teochew]  ―  bho⁵ go³ ho² hiah⁴ [Peng'im]  ―  nowhere to stop

     無處好放／无处好放 [Teochew]  ―  bho⁵ go³ ho² bang³ [Peng'im]  ―  no place to put it in

6. (Sichuanese, obsolete) tomb; grave

   • 蜀人呼老弱為波，墳塚為塊，其塊即趙畚相公墳也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     蜀人呼老弱为波，坟冢为块，其块即赵畚相公坟也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 何光遠, 《鑑誡錄·鬼傳》

     Shǔ rén hū lǎoruò wèi bō, fénzhǒng wèi kuài, qí kuài jí Zhào běn xiànggōng fén yě.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

7. (archaic) calm and indifferent

   alt. forms: 魁

   • 王世子，子也，塊然受諸侯之尊己，而立乎其位，是不子也。 [MSC, trad.]
     王世子，子也，块然受诸侯之尊己，而立乎其位，是不子也。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 《穀梁傳·僖公五年》 (Guliang Zhuan)

     Wáng shìzǐ, zǐ yě, kuài rán shòu zhūhóu zhī zūn jǐ, ér lì hū qí wèi, shì bù zǐ yě.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

8. (archaic) solitary; alone

   alt. forms: 魁

   • 塊獨守此曲隅兮，然欿切而永歎。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     块独守此曲隅兮，然欿切而永叹。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE

     Kuài dú shǒu cǐ qū yú xī, rán 欿 qiè ér yǒng tàn.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 彫琢復朴，塊然獨以其形立。紛而封哉，一以是終。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     雕琢复朴，块然独以其形立。纷而封哉，一以是终。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Diāo zhuó fù pǔ, kuài rán dú yǐ qí xíng lì. Fēn ér fēng zāi, yī yǐ shì zhōng.

     He put away the carving and sculpture about him, and returned to pure simplicity. Like a solitary clod of earth like that he stood there in his bodily presence. Amid all distractions he was (silent) and shut up in himself. And in this way he continued to the end of his life.

Synonyms

See also

• (Cantonese) 嚿 (gau6)

Compounds

Etymology 2

Jerry Norman reconstructs Common Min *tɔi⁵ based on the coastal Min forms; it is unclear how the Northern Min forms relate to the Coastal Min forms. Possibly from 段 (OC *doːns, “section; segment”); compare 短 (OC *toːnʔ, “short”) > Xiamen Hokkien té (Coblin, n.d.).

Pronunciation

Definitions

塊

1. (Eastern Min, Hokkien) piece; chunk; lump; part
2. (Northern Min, Eastern Min, Hokkien, Leizhou Min) Classifier for piece of something (food, cloth, stone): piece; chunk; slab
3. (Northern Min, Eastern Min, colloquial) Classifier for money: yuan; dollar; buck
4. (Hokkien) Classifier for songs.
5. (Eastern Min, Hokkien, Teochew) place

   alt. forms: 地, 帶／带 (dài), 處／处

   底塊／底块 [Eastern Min]  ―  diē-dó̤i / [Bàng-uâ-cê / IPA]  ―  where

   鎮塊／镇块 [Hokkien]  ―  tìn-tè [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  to take up space

6. (Taiwanese Hokkien) home

   alt. forms: 地

7. (Eastern Min, Hokkien) Classifier for places.

Synonyms

• (yuan): (see dialectal synonyms table above)

Compounds

Further reading

• “塊”, 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–
• “Entry #9382”, 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

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: け (ke)
• Kan-on: かい (kai, Jōyō)
• Kun: かたまり (katamari, 塊, Jōyō); つちくれ (tsuchikure, 塊)

Compounds

• 酸(ス)塊(グリ) (suguri)
• 松塊(マツホド) (matsuhodo)

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 塊 (MC khwojH).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Affix

塊(かい) • (kai) 

1. lump, mass, chunk, clod

Derived terms