巴

Translingual

Han character

巴 (Kangxi radical 49, 己+1, 4 strokes, cangjie input 日山 (AU), four-corner 7771₇, composition ⿴巳丨)

Derived characters

• 𠇕, 吧, 𪣀, 妑, 𡵟, 帊, 弝, 𢗌, 把, 𣲩, 肥, 杷, 𤆵, 爬, 㸭, 皅, 㿬, 𥑁, 粑, 紦, 羓, 耙, 舥, 蚆, 豝, 跁, 𨊹, 鈀(钯), 𠌊, 靶, 䰾(鲃), 䶕(𫜨)
• 𠛋, 𠄧, 𠀧, 𢽼, 𢻷, 𢁍, 𣀟, 𠠾, 色, 邑, 夿, 岜, 爸, 芭, 笆, 𠉲, 琶, 䯩, 䯲, 𠂬, 巵, 㞎, 𢨴, 疤, 𡇃, 𡉷, 岊, 巼, 𢁊, 𪩮, 𢁋, 𣎞, 𢁑

Further reading

Chinese Wikisource has digitized text of the Kangxi Dictionary entry for 巴:

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Wikisource

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 327, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8745
• Dae Jaweon: page 631, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 985, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5DF4

Bala

Etymology

From Proto-Tungusic *buga. Cognate with Manchu ᠪᠠ (ba).

Noun

巴 (ba)

1. place

Derived terms

• 乌巴 ((w)uba)

References

• “The Only Known Text from Bala, an Extinct Tungusic Language”, in Studia Orientalia Electronica‎, volume 9, number 1, 2021, pages 173–191

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Pictogram (象形) — a huge snake.

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Are all these senses related? Some have proposed that these are all derived from the snake sense.”)

"huge snake"

Unclear. Compare

• Lao ກະບາ (ka bā, “a kind of viper; Agkistrodon rhodostoma (modern)”), where ກະ (ka) is possibly an animal prefix (Schuessler, 2007);
• Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɓəs (“snake”) (cf. Schuessler, 2007);
• Japhug qapri (“snake”), Brag-dbar Situ (kha-prɐ̄j, “snake”), Cogtse Situ (kha-brē, “snake”) (Zhang, Jacques, and Lai, 2019), which have been related to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-b/m-ruːl (“snake”), whence Chinese 虺 (OC *hŋlulʔ, “viper”), Tibetan སྦྲུལ (sbrul, “snake”).

"bar"

Borrowed from English bar.

Pronunciation

Definitions

巴

1. (ancient Chinese mythology) a huge snake that could swallow an elephant
2. to greatly desire; to anxiously hope; to long for
3. Used as a suffix for objects that are located below or behind.

   尾巴  ―  wěiba  ―  tail

   下巴  ―  xiàba  ―  chin

4. Used as a suffix for objects that are clumped together due to dryness or stickiness.

   泥巴  ―  níba  ―  mud

5. to cling to; to stick to
6. (Jilu Mandarin, Sichuanese, dialectal Wu) to be close to; to be next to
7. (Beijing Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin) to open; to spread
8. (Sichuanese) to suit; to fit
9. (Sichuanese) to follow
10. (Sichuanese) to be intimate
11. (Sichuanese) to involve; to implicate
12. (Sichuanese) to kiss up; to curry favour
13. (Sichuanese) to subsidize
14. (Sichuanese) to infect; to contract
15. (dialectal Mandarin, including Beijing Mandarin, Shandong Mandarin, Xinjiang Mandarin) to sew; to stitch on
16. (Southwestern Mandarin; Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien) dried object
17. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese) Classifier for the number of slaps.

    打佢一巴 [Cantonese]  ―  daa² keoi⁵ jat¹ baa¹   ―  to give him a slap

18. (Jiaoliao Mandarin, Sichuanese) along
19. (historical) Ba (an ancient state in modern-day Sichuan)
20. eastern Sichuan and Chongqing
21. Short for 巴士 (bāshì, “bus”).

    小巴  ―  xiǎobā  ―  minibus

22. (physics) bar (unit of pressure)
23. (Cantonese) Used in transcription of bar.

    電巴／电巴 [Cantonese]  ―  din⁶ baa¹   ―  busbar

    閘巴／闸巴 [Cantonese]  ―  zaap⁶ baa¹   ―  boom barrier

24. Short for 巴勒斯坦 (Bālèsītǎn, “Palestine”).
25. Short for 巴基斯坦 (Bājīsītǎn, “Pakistan”).
    • 2009 April 8, “"美軍導彈"襲擊巴基斯坦西北”, in BBC中文網‎:

      就在4天前，一架疑是美軍無人駕駛飛機對巴西北部某目標發動空襲，至少打死13人。 [MSC, trad.]
      就在4天前，一架疑是美军无人驾驶飞机对巴西北部某目标发动空袭，至少打死13人。 [MSC, simp.]

      Jiù zài 4 tiān qián, yījià yíshì Měijūn wúrén jiàshǐ fēijī duì Bā xīběibù mǒu mùbiāo fādòng kōngxí, zhìshào dǎsǐ 13 rén.

      Four days ago, a suspected American unmanned aircraft launched an air raid against a target in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 13 people.

26. Short for 巴拿馬／巴拿马 (Bānámǎ, “Panama”).
27. Short for 巴哈馬／巴哈马 (Bāhāmǎ, “The Bahamas”).
28. Short for 巴拉圭 (Bālāguī, “Paraguay”).
29. a surname

Descendants

Compounds

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

References

• “巴”, 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–

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

Readings

• Go-on: へ (he)
• Kan-on: は (ha)
• Kun: ともえ (tomoe, 巴)^{←ともゑ (tomowe, 巴, historical)}

Compounds

Etymology 1

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

巴

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Tomoe

Wikipedia

First attested around the 12th century.

Originally a compound of 鞆 (tomo, “archer's left-wrist protector”) +‎ 絵 (e, “picture, drawing”).

The use of the 巴 kanji is possibly for its resemblance to a big snake.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ともえ (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

巴(ともえ) • (tomoe) ^{←ともゑ (tomowe)?}

1. a circular design resembling swirling water, a comma, or an archer's bow
2. (architecture) a piece of wood, usually a floorboard or an eave, with a tomoe pattern
3. an oxcart with the wickerwork in a tomoe pattern
4. a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with various tomoe designs
5. Short for 巴瓦 (tomoegawara): a tile with a tomoe design
6. turning (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
7. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Derived terms

Descendants

• English: tomoe

See also

• 渦(うず)巻(ま)き (uzumaki)

Proper noun

巴(ともえ) • (Tomoe) ^{←ともゑ (tomowe)?}

1. Short for 巴御前 (Tomoe Gozen): 12th-century female samurai
2. a 謡曲 (dōkyoku, “noh song”) based on a story from The Tale of the Heike
3. a surname
4. a unisex given name

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 巴 (MC pae). The 漢音 (kan'on) reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Proper noun

巴(は) • (Ha) 

1. (historical) Ba (an ancient state in eastern Sichuan)

Derived terms

• 巴(は)蜀(しょく) (Hashoku)
• 巴(は)人(じん) (hajin)

See also

• 蜀(しょく) (Shoku, “Shu”)

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 巴 (MC pae).

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

巴

Wikisource

巴 (eumhun 땅 이름 파 (ttang ireum pa))

1. Hanja form^? of 파 (“used in placenames”).

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

巴: Hán Việt readings: ba (邦(bang)加(gia)切(thiết)), bơ
巴: Nôm readings: bơ, ba, vã, va

1. chữ Hán form of Ba (“used in placenames”).
2. chữ Hán form of ba (“to adhere; to stick to”).
3. Nôm form of bơ (“used in compounds”).

Compounds

References