姓

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

姓 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 女竹手一 (VHQM), four-corner 4541₀, composition ⿰女生)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 259, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6178
• Dae Jaweon: page 524, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1037, character 12
• Unihan data for U+59D3

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sleŋs) : semantic 女 (“woman; female”) + phonetic 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs).

Etymology

Specialised form of 性 (xìng): “human nature; what is inborn” > “surname; clan name”.

Pronunciation

Definitions

姓

1. surname; family name; clan name

   你的姓怎麼拼寫？ [MSC, trad.]
   你的姓怎么拼写？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ de xìng zěnme pīnxiě?

   How do you spell your last name?

   您貴姓？／您贵姓？  ―  Nín guìxìng?  ―  What is your surname?

   Coordinate term: 名 (míng)

2. to have the surname of

   我姓陳。／我姓陈。  ―  Wǒ xìng Chén.  ―  My surname is Chen.

   • 黃帝者，少典之子，姓公孫，名曰軒轅。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     黄帝者，少典之子，姓公孙，名曰轩辕。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE, translated based on Herbert J. Allen's version

     Huángdì zhě, Shàodiǎn zhī zǐ, xìng Gōngsūn, míng yuē Xuānyuán.

     The Yellow Emperor (Huangti) was the son of Shaotien; he surnamed Kungsun, and his prename (given name at birth) was Hsienyüan.

3. (figurative, often officialese) to belong to; to be classified as

   黨媒姓黨／党媒姓党  ―  dǎngméi xìng Dǎng  ―  the Party's media must follow the Party's will

   姓資姓社 [MSC, trad.]
   姓资姓社 [MSC, simp.]

   xìng zī xìng shè

   follow the capitalist way or follow the socialist way

   • 我們的研究並非要急著爭論它究竟姓「客」還是姓「粵」，我們更感興趣的是這種混合語究竟是如何形成的。 [MSC, trad.]
     我们的研究并非要急着争论它究竟姓「客」还是姓「粤」，我们更感兴趣的是这种混合语究竟是如何形成的。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2014, 周佳凡 (Zhou Jiafan), 《深圳坪山占米话研究》 (thesis), Xiamen: Xiamen University, page I

     Wǒmen de yánjiū bìngfēi yào jízhe zhēnglùn tā jiūjìng xìng “kè” háishì xìng “yuè”, wǒmen gèng gǎn xìngqù de shì zhè zhǒng hùnhéyǔ jiūjìng shì rúhé xíngchéng de.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 還有一點值得說的是，黃河「姓黃」，黃河畢竟流經黃土高原，沒有必要追求絕對的清澈。 [MSC, trad.]
     还有一点值得说的是，黄河「姓黄」，黄河毕竟流经黄土高原，没有必要追求绝对的清澈。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2020 November 28, 《以考古之光 照亮文明深处与细节——中国考古与历史主题新书访谈》, in 《光明日报》 , →ISSN, page 09

     Háiyǒu yī diǎn zhídé shuō de shì, Huáng Hé “xìng huáng”, Huáng Hé bìjìng liújīng Huángtǔ Gāoyuán, méiyǒu bìyào zhuīqiú juéduì de qīngchè.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

4. a surname

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• → Khmer: សែ (sae)
• → Thai: แซ่ (sɛ̂ɛ)

References

• “姓”, 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–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00909
• “Entry #3781”, 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)

1. clan
2. surname

Readings

• Go-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: せい (sei, Jōyō)
• Kun: かばね (kabane, 姓)

Compounds

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese.

Ultimate derivation unclear. Some theories derive this as a Japanese compound of 株 (kabu, “stock, root”) + 根 (ne, “root, origin”) or 名 (na, “name”). However, the required /u/ → /a/ sound shift would be unusual.

Another thought is that this might be a borrowing from, or somehow otherwise related to, Korean 골품 (golpum), a Sino-Korean term also spelled 骨品 (literally “bones + goods”), the name for a kind of kinship hierarchy that was prevalent in the Silla kingdom. This latter theory and its related “bone” sense might also account for the homophony with 屍 (kabane, “corpse, dead body”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かばね (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

姓(かばね) • (kabane) 

1. a clan

   Synonym: 氏 (uji)

2. (historical) a kind of hereditary title bestowed to clans in ancient Japan

Derived terms

• 姓(かばね)書(がき) (kabane-gaki): (historical) someone's full name, written out with the status of their clan appended
• 姓(かばね)名(な) (kabane na, “clan name”)
• 八色(やくさ)の姓(かばね) (Yakusa no Kabane), 八色(はっしき)の姓(かばね) (Hasshiki no Kabane): a specific set of eight kabane titles promulgated by Emperor Tenmu in 675 CE

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 姓 (MC sjengH). The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing. Compare modern Min Nan reading sèⁿ.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) せ​ー (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

姓(せい) • (sei) 

1. surname, family name
2. clan

Derived terms

• 八姓(はっせい) (hassei)

Idioms

• 姓(せい)を冒(おか)す (sei o okasu): to be adopted by a different clan; to take on a different surname

Etymology 3

/siau/ → /ɕjɔː/ → /ɕoː/

From Middle Chinese 姓 (MC sjengH). The goon, so likely the initial borrowing. Compare modern Hakka reading siang.

This reading is less common than sei above.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しょ​ー (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

姓(しょう) • (shō) ^{←しやう (syau)?}

1. (uncommon) surname, family name
2. (uncommon) clan

Derived terms

• 上姓(じょうしょう) (jōshō)
• 下姓(げしょう) (geshō)
• 小姓(こしょう) (koshō)

Etymology 4

A shift from shō above to use the 直音 (chokuon, “"straight" pronunciation”, dropping out any /j/ or /w/ glides).

This reading is not used in modern Japanese, and is only found in historical texts, such as the Utsubo Monogatari from the late 900s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

姓(そう) • (sō) 

1. (historical, obsolete) surname, family name
2. (historical, obsolete) clan

References

Further reading

• Etymology at Gogen-Allguide (in Japanese)

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 姓 (MC sjengH). Recorded as Middle Korean 셔ᇰ (syeng) (Yale: syeng) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

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:

姓

Wikisource

姓 (eumhun 성씨 성 (seongssi seong))

1. Hanja form^? of 성 (“clan; family name”).

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

姓: Hán Nôm readings: tính

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