文

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See also: 又, 𠬠, and 攵
文 U+6587, 文
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6587
← 斆
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 斈 →
⽂ U+2F42, ⽂
KANGXI RADICAL SCRIPT
← ⽁
 		Kangxi Radicals ⽃ →
㉆ U+3246, ㉆
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH SCHOOL
← ㉅
 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㉇ →

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

文 (Kangxi radical 67, 文+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 卜大 (YK), four-corner 00400, composition ⿱亠乂)

  1. Kangxi radical #67, ⽂.

Derived characters

Descendants

  • 𘱒 (Khitan Small Script)

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 477, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 13450
  • Dae Jaweon: page 831, character 39
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2169, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+6587

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 文
alternative forms 彣

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 文
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (文) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
旻 *mrɯn
旼 *mrɯn
汶 *mrɯn, *mɯn, *mɯns
忞 *mrɯn
盿 *mrɯn
枚 *mɯːl
玫 *mɯːl
玟 *mɯːl
文 *mɯn
紋 *mɯn
蚊 *mɯn
雯 *mɯn
彣 *mɯn
馼 *mɯn
鳼 *mɯn
鼤 *mɯn, *mɯns
抆 *mɯnʔ, *mɯns
紊 *mɯns

Ideogram (指事) : a man with a painted or tattooed chest – original form of 紋. In current form, tattoo has vanished, so simply an outline of a man (head, outstretched arms, legs, chest). Compare 大, which has no chest.

Etymology

Possibly a derivation, with -n nominal suffix, of 煤 (*mɯː) "soot (obs.), ink (obs.), coal" (Schuessler, 2007).

Semantic shift: "pattern, tattoo (made of soot)", "written glyph (made of ink)" > "literature" > "refined, cultured" (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation 1

Note:
  • man4-2 - “writing; (written) language”.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 文
Mandarin Beijing /uən³⁵/
Harbin /uən²⁴/
Tianjin /vən⁴⁵/
Jinan /uẽ⁴²/
Qingdao /və̃⁴²/
Zhengzhou /uən⁴²/
Xi'an /vẽ²⁴/
Xining /uə̃²⁴/
Yinchuan /vəŋ⁵³/
Lanzhou /və̃n⁵³/
Ürümqi /vɤŋ⁵¹/
Wuhan /uən²¹³/
Chengdu /uən³¹/
Guiyang /uen²¹/
Kunming /uə̃³¹/
Nanjing /un²⁴/
Hefei /uən⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /vəŋ¹¹/
Pingyao /uŋ¹³/
Hohhot /və̃ŋ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /vəŋ²³/
Suzhou /vən¹³/
Hangzhou /ven²¹³/
Wenzhou /vaŋ³¹/
Hui Shexian /uʌ̃⁴⁴/
Tunxi /uɛ⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /uən¹³/
Xiangtan /uən¹²/
Gan Nanchang /un⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /vun¹¹/
Taoyuan /vun¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /mɐn²¹/
Nanning /mɐn²¹/
Hong Kong /mɐn²¹/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /bun³⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /uŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /uɔŋ²¹/
Shantou (Teochew) /buŋ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /vun³¹/
/mui³¹/ ～昌
Rime
Character 文
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4)
Final (韻) 文 (59)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 無分切
Baxter mjun
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/mɨun/
Pan
Wuyun 		/miun/
Shao
Rongfen 		/miuən/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/mun/
Li
Rong 		/miuən/
Wang
Li 		/mĭuən/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/mi̯uən/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		wén
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		man4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 文
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		wén
Middle
Chinese 		‹ mjun ›
Old
Chinese 		/*mə/
English ornate

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 文
Reading # 1/1
No. 13015
Phonetic
component 		文
Rime
group 		文
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		文
Old
Chinese 		/*mɯn/

Definitions

文

  1. † Original form of 紋／纹 (wén, “mark, pattern, design, tattoo, decoration”).
    文如貍／文如狸 [Classical Chinese]  ―  wén rú lí   ―  having a pattern like that of a wild cat
  2. Original form of 紋／纹 (wén rú lí, “to tattoo”).
    文身  ―  wénshēn  ―  to tattoo
    文面  ―  wénmiàn  ―  face tattoo
  3. writing; literary composition; literature (Classifier: 篇 c)
    文章  ―  wénzhāng  ―  article, essay
    散文  ―  sǎnwén  ―  prose
    文不對題／文不对题  ―  wénbùduìtí  ―  (of writing or speech) to be beside the point; to be off-topic; to be irrelevant to the subject
    呢篇文寫得唔錯。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    呢篇文写得唔错。 [Cantonese, simp.]
    ni1 pin1 man4-2 se2 dak1 m4 co3.
    This essay is written quite well.
  4. official document
  5. literary language; Literary Chinese
    半文半白  ―  bànwénbànbái  ―  half literary, half vernacular
  6. Short for 文讀／文读 (wéndú, “literary reading”).
  7. script; written form
    甲骨文  ―  jiǎgǔwén  ―  oracle bone script
    書同文，車同軌。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
    书同文，车同轨。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
    Shū tóng wén, chē tóng guǐ.
    Same ruts for carriages, same script for writing. (i.e., universal standards)
    天城文  ―  tiānchéngwén  ―  Devanagari
  8. (written) language
    Antonym: 語／语
    中文  ―  zhōngwén  ―  Chinese
    英文  ―  yīngwén  ―  English
  9. culture
    文化  ―  wénhuà  ―  culture
    文明  ―  wénmíng  ―  civilization
  10. liberal arts; humanities
  11. natural or social phenomenon
    天文  ―  tiānwén  ―  astronomy
    人文  ―  rénwén  ―  humanities; letters
  12. ritual; etiquette
    繁文縟節／繁文缛节  ―  fánwénrùjié  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  13. of a government position, non-military: civil, civilian
    文職／文职  ―  wénzhí  ―  civilian post
    文官  ―  wénguān  ―  civil official
    文武  ―  wénwǔ  ―  civilian and military
  14. gentle; refined
    斯文  ―  sīwén  ―  refined, cultured
    文雅  ―  wényǎ  ―  elegant, refined
  15. 47th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "pattern, repetition" (𝌴)
  16. (archaic) Classifier for coins.
  17. (numismatics) mill (a tenth of a cent)
    一文  ―  yī wén  ―  one mill
  18. (～日) (telegraphy) the twelfth day of a month
    文夕大火  ―  Wénxī Dàhuǒ  ―  1938 Changsha fire
  19. a surname
    文天祥  ―  Wén Tiānxiáng  ―  Wen Tianxiang (Chinese politician and poet in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty)

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

文

  1. to cover
    文過／文过  ―  wénguò, wènguò  ―  to cover one's fault

Pronunciation 3

For pronunciation and definitions of 文 – see 蚊 (“(Cantonese) yuan; dollar; buck”).
(This character is a variant form of 蚊).

Compounds

References

Japanese

Kanji

文

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
文
もん
Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 文 (mjun, “ornate; a kind of coin; language, literature, a letter, a character”).

Pronunciation

Noun

文(もん) • (mon) 

  1. the mon, an old currency
  2. a unit of length for measuring the size of one's foot (from the way that the mon coins would be lined up and used as a kind of inch marker)
  3. a character, a letter
  4. writing, something written
  5. a magical spell
  6. (also spelled 紋) a design, a pattern
  7. (also spelled 紋) a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”)
Usage notes

The design and crest senses are more often spelled 紋.

Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
文
ぶん
Grade: 1
on’yomi

A later borrowing from Middle Chinese. Compare modern Min Nan reading bûn, Hakka vûn.

Pronunciation

Noun

文(ぶん) • (bun) 

  1. (grammar) a sentence
  2. writing, composition
  3. a design or pattern as decoration
  4. literature, learning, scholarship
  5. elegance, refinement (especially of writing or wording)
  6. a saying, an aphorism, a proverb
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
文
ふみ
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Possibly a shift from an older Middle Chinese-derived reading pun. Earlier Japanese writing was ambiguous regarding the final n sound spelled ん in modern Japanese, with this sound often spelled (and possibly pronounced) as む (mu) instead.

*/pumu/ → /pumi/ → /ɸumi/

This reading appears in the Heian period, in works such as The Tale of Genji.

Pronunciation

Noun

文(ふみ) • (fumi) 

  1. writing, something written
  2. a letter (written communication), an epistle
  3. (archaic) study, scholarship (especially of classical Chinese)
  4. a style of 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”)
Synonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
文
あや
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Uncertain. Appears in texts from the early Heian period. Compare Miyako あやぐ (ayagu), あーぐ (āgu).

Pronunciation

Noun

文(あや) • (aya) 

  1. (also spelled 紋, 綾)
    1. a pattern, a design, especially one with diagonally crossing lines
    2. a diagonal crossing
    3. a flowery expression or turn of phrase
    4. a plot, a scheme
    5. a refrain or recurring phrase in a piece of music
    6. a harder vein or grain in a leaf or piece of wood or bamboo
    7. a stain, a blemish
    8. a mediator, a go-between (apparently from the way that a go-between can make the relationship more indirect and indistinct)
    9. a small indistinct fluctuation in a trend line
  2. (also spelled 綾, 絢)
    1. a kind of woven silk textile with a diagonally crossing pattern
    2. short for 綾織 (ayaori): a twill weave; someone who weaves twill
    3. short for 綾竹 (ayadake): in a loom, a bamboo pole placed between the heddle and the back beam or platen, used to improve the handling
    4. short for 綾取り (ayatori): cat's cradle
Usage notes

For the second group of senses, the 綾 spelling is more common.

Derived terms
Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 文 (MC mjun). Recorded as Middle Korean 문 (mwun) (Yale: mwun) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

文 (eumhun 글월 문 (geurwol mun))

  1. Hanja form? of 문 (“writing”).

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

文: Hán Việt readings: văn
文: Nôm readings: văn, von, vằn

  1. chữ Hán form of văn (“literature; letters; culture; civilization”).
  2. chữ Hán form of Văn (“a surname”).
    文進勇 ― Văn Tiến Dũng
  3. chữ Hán form of Văn (“a male middle name”).
    阮文A ― Nguyễn Văn A ― John Doe

Compounds

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 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 Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
  5. ^ Hồ (1976).
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