年

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See also: 秊, ヰ, and 𡕒
年 U+5E74, 年
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5E74
← 平
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 幵 →
年 U+F98E, 年
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F98E
← 轢
 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs 憐 →

Translingual

Stroke order
6 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

年 (Kangxi radical 51, 干+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 人手 (OQ), four-corner 80500, composition ⿱𠂉㐄 or ⿻午⿱一丨 or ⿻午丄)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 340, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9168
  • Dae Jaweon: page 648, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 37, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+5E74

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 年
alternative forms
 
秂
秊
䄹
𰨝
𠡦
秂
秊
䄹
𰨝
𠡦
𠦅
𠦚
䄭
𦼌
𠬋
𠫺

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 年
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 Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts Clerical script

In the oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions, it was originally 秂, an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *niːŋ) : semantic 禾 (“wheat; grain”) + phonetic 人 (OC *njin, “person”) – a person carrying wheat on his back – harvest.

In bronze inscriptions after the Western Zhou period, a stroke was often added to 人 to give 千 (OC *sn̥ʰiːn), which still acted as a phonetic component, and this form (秊) was inherited by later scripts. The current form is inherited from the clerical script, where libian (隸變) has occurred.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni(ː)ŋ ~ s-nik (“year”).

Pronunciation

Note:
  • nî - vernacular;
  • liân - literary.
Note: hin5 - Chaoyang (in some compounds).
    • (Leizhou)
      • Leizhou Pinyin: hi5 / nieng5
      • Sinological IPA: /hi²²/, /nieŋ²²/
Note:
  • hi5 - vernacular;
  • nieng5 - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 年
Mandarin Beijing /nian³⁵/
Harbin /nian²⁴/
Tianjin /nian⁴⁵/
Jinan /ȵiã⁴²/
Qingdao /niã⁴²/
Zhengzhou /nian⁴²/
Xi'an /niã²⁴/
Xining /ȵiã²⁴/
Yinchuan /nian⁵³/
Lanzhou /ȵiɛ̃n⁵³/
Ürümqi /ȵian⁵¹/
Wuhan /niɛn²¹³/
Chengdu /ȵian³¹/
Guiyang /nian²¹/
Kunming /niɛ̃³¹/
Nanjing /lien²⁴/
Hefei /liĩ⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /nie¹¹/
Pingyao /ȵie̞¹³/
Hohhot /nie³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ȵi²³/
Suzhou /ȵiɪ¹³/
Hangzhou /ȵiẽ̞²¹³/
Wenzhou /ȵi³¹/
Hui Shexian /ne⁴⁴/
Tunxi /ȵiɛ⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /ȵiẽ¹³/
Xiangtan /ȵiẽ¹²/
Gan Nanchang /ȵiɛn⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /ŋian¹¹/
Taoyuan /ŋien¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /nin²¹/
Nanning /nin²¹/
Hong Kong /nin²¹/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /lian³⁵/
/ni³⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /nieŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /niŋ³³/
Shantou (Teochew) /nĩ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /nin³¹/
/hi³¹/
Rime
Character 年
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 泥 (8)
Final (韻) 先 (85)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) IV
Fanqie 奴顚切
Baxter nen
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/nen/
Pan
Wuyun 		/nen/
Shao
Rongfen 		/nɛn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/nɛn/
Li
Rong 		/nen/
Wang
Li 		/nien/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/nien/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		nián
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		nin4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 年
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		nián
Middle
Chinese 		‹ nen ›
Old
Chinese 		/*C.nˁi/
English harvest; year

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 年
Reading # 1/1
No. 9482
Phonetic
component 		秊
Rime
group 		眞
Rime
subdivision 		2
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese 		/*niːŋ/
Notes 同秊

Definitions

年

  1. year (in generic contexts)
    明年  ―  míngnián  ―  next year
    2012年  ―  2012 nián  ―  the year of 2012
  2. harvest
    豐年／丰年  ―  fēngnián  ―  year with a good harvest
  3. annual
    年報／年报  ―  niánbào  ―  annual report
  4. age
    年滿二十／年满二十  ―  nián mǎn èrshí  ―  to reach twenty years of age
    延年益壽／延年益寿  ―  yánniányìshòu  ―  to prolong life
  5. period of life
    童年  ―  tóngnián  ―  childhood
  6. period (in history)
    清朝末年  ―  Qīngcháo mònián  ―  last years of the Qing dynasty
  7. Chinese New Year
    過年／过年  ―  guònián  ―  to spend the Chinese New Year
  8. things for the Chinese New Year
    年糕  ―  niángāo  ―  nian gao
    年貨／年货  ―  niánhuò  ―  New Year purchases
  9. Classifier for years.
    兩年前／两年前 [Cantonese]  ―  loeng5 nin4 cin4   ―  two years ago
  10. a surname
    年羹堯／年羹尧  ―  Nián Gēngyáo  ―  Nian Gengyao

Usage notes

  • Although 年 is the generic term for year, years of age are typically expressed in 歲／岁 (suì), a separate system based on the duodecennial orbital period of Jupiter. Ages in 歲／岁 (suì) are traditionally reckoned using the Chinese lunar calendar, beginning with 1 at the moment of birth and increasing not during birthdays but at the Chinese New Year.

See also

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (年):
  • → Japanese: 年(ねん) (nen)
  • → Korean: 년(年) (nyeon)
  • → Vietnamese: niên (年)

Others:

References

Japanese

Kanji

年

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
年
ねん
Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 年 (nen, “year”). Compare modern Mandarin reading nián, Hakka ngièn, Cantonese nin4.

Pronunciation

Counter

年(ねん) • (-nen) 

  1. years
Derived terms
Japanese number-counter combinations for 年(ねん) (nen)
1 2 3 4 5
一(いち)年(ねん) (ichinen) 二(に)年(ねん) (ninen) 三(さん)年(ねん) (sannen) 四(よ)年(ねん) (yonen) 五(ご)年(ねん) (gonen)
6 7 8 9 10
六(ろく)年(ねん) (rokunen) 七(なな)年(ねん) (nananen)
七(しち)年(ねん) (shichinen) 		八(はち)年(ねん) (hachinen) 九(きゅう)年(ねん) (kyūnen)
九(く)年(ねん) (kunen) 		十(じゅう)年(ねん) (jūnen)
100 1,000 10,000 How many?
What year?
百(ひゃく)年(ねん) (hyakunen) 千(せん)年(ねん) (sennen) 一(いち)万(まん)年(ねん) (ichimannen) 何(なん)年(ねん) (nannen)

Noun

年(ねん) • (nen) 

  1. a year
    年(ねん)に一(いち)度(ど)
    nen ni ichido
    once a year

Suffix

年(ねん) • (-nen) 

  1. a grade, a school year
    彼(かれ)は中(ちゅう)学(がく) ２(に)年(ねん)だ。
    Kare wa chūgaku ni-nen da.
    He's in the second year in junior high school.
    • 1984 February 15, Motoka Murakami, “１(いち)年(ねん)１(いち)組(くみ)の六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)と嵐(らん)子(こ)の巻(まき)”, in 六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)の剣(けん) (六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)の剣(けん)), volume 13 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, pages 142–144:
      な、なんだおまえら⁉
      Na, nan da o-maera⁉
      Wh-Who the hell are you!?
      １(いち)年(ねん) １(いち)組(くみ)っ‼ 夏(なつ)木(き)六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)ぃ‼
      Ichi-nen ichi-kumi'‼ Natsuki Musashī‼
      Class-1 freshman!! Musashi Natsuki!!
      同(おな)じく轟(とどろき)嵐(らん)子(こ)！
      Onajiku Todoroki Ranko!
      Same here, Ranko Todoroki!
  2. a year
    2008(にせんはち)年(ねん)に橋(はし)を建(けん)設(せつ)し始(はじ)めるようだ。
    Nisenhachi-nen ni hashi o kensetsu shi hajimeru yō da.
    It seems like they will start constructing the bridge in (the year) 2008.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
年
とし
Grade: 1
kun’yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 年 – see the following entry.
【とし】
(obsolete) grain, particularly rice
(obsolete) a grain harvest, a grain crop
a year
age
(specifically) used to describe the age of someone who should not do things inappropriate for their age
Alternative spelling
歳
(This term, 年, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
年
とせ
Grade: 1
kun’yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 年 – see the following entry.
【とせ】
(obsolete) used to count years
【とせトセ】
a unisex given name
(This term, 年, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 年 (MC nen).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

年 (eumhun 해 년 (hae nyeon), South Korea 해 연 (hae yeon))

  1. Hanja form? of 년/연 (“year”).

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.

Vietnamese

Han character

年: Hán Việt readings: niên
年: Nôm readings: năm, nên, niên, niền

  1. chữ Hán form of niên (“year”).
  2. Nôm form of năm (“year”).

Compounds

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hồ (1976).
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