時間

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See also: 时间

Chinese

o'clock; time; when
o'clock; time; when; hour; season; period
 
interstice; separate; between
interstice; separate; between; among; space; (measure word)
 
trad. (時間) 時 間
simp. (时间) 时 间

Etymology

For the modern sense of “time” (as opposed to “space”), reborrowed from Japanese 時間 (jikan, “time”).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 時 間 間
Reading # 1/1 1/2 2/2
Initial (聲) 常 (25) 見 (28) 見 (28)
Final (韻) 之 (19) 山 (73) 山 (73)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open Open
Division (等) III II II
Fanqie 市之切 古閑切 古莧切
Baxter dzyi kean keanH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/d͡ʑɨ/ /kˠɛn/ /kˠɛnH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/d͡ʑɨ/ /kᵚæn/ /kᵚænH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/d͡ʑie/ /kæn/ /kænH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/d͡ʑɨ/ /kəɨn/ /kəɨnH/
Li
Rong 		/ʑiə/ /kɛn/ /kɛnH/
Wang
Li 		/ʑĭə/ /kæn/ /kænH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ʑi/ /kăn/ /kănH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		chí jiān jiàn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		si4 gaan1 gaan3

Noun

時間

  1. (uncountable) time (the inevitable passing of events from future to present then past)
    愛惜時間／爱惜时间  ―  àixī shíjiān  ―  to treasure time
    浪費時間／浪费时间  ―  làngfèi shíjiān  ―  to waste time
    打發時間／打发时间  ―  dǎfa shíjiān  ―  to kill time
    合理支配時間／合理支配时间  ―  hélǐ zhīpèi shíjiān  ―  to manage time reasonably; reasonable time management
    時間不等人。／时间不等人。  ―  Shíjiān bù děngrén.  ―  Time waits for no one.
    時間催人老。／时间催人老。  ―  Shíjiān cuī rén lǎo.  ―  Time ages us.
    時間還來得及。／时间还来得及。  ―  Shíjiān hái láidejí.  ―  All in good time.
    抓緊時間！／抓紧时间！  ―  Zhuājǐn shíjiān!  ―  Get a move on!
  2. (countable) time (a measurement of a quantity of time; a numerical indication of a length of time) (Classifier: 段 m)
    辦公時間／办公时间  ―  bàngōng shíjiān  ―  office hours
    我們還有多少時間呢？ [MSC, trad.]
    我们还有多少时间呢？ [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒmen hái yǒu duōshao shíjiān ne?
    How much time do we have left?
    別在他身上浪費時間了。 [MSC, trad.]
    别在他身上浪费时间了。 [MSC, simp.]
    Bié zài tā shēnshàng làngfèi shíjiān le.
    Don't waste time on him.
    地球自轉一周的時間是23小時56分4秒。 [MSC, trad.]
    地球自转一周的时间是23小时56分4秒。 [MSC, simp.]
    Dìqiú zìzhuàn yī zhōu de shíjiān shì 23 xiǎoshí 56 fēn 4 miǎo.
    The time taken for the Earth to make one rotation is 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds.
  3. a point in time
    現在的時間是一點零五分。 [MSC, trad.]
    现在的时间是一点零五分。 [MSC, simp.]
    Xiànzài de shíjiān shì yīdiǎn líng wǔ fēn.
    The time now is five minutes past one.
  4. (uncountable) free time; leisure; spare time
    不知您是否有時間。 [MSC, trad.]
    不知您是否有时间。 [MSC, simp.]
    Bùzhī nín shìfǒu yǒu shíjiān.
    I wonder if you might have time.
    我想約你明天一起去吃飯，不知道你有沒有時間。 [MSC, trad.]
    我想约你明天一起去吃饭，不知道你有没有时间。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ xiǎng yuē nǐ míngtiān yīqǐ qù chīfàn, bù zhīdào nǐ yǒu méiyǒu shíjiān.
    I'd like to invite you out to have a meal tomorrow, if you have time.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 時候 (“time”)
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 時候
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 時候兒, 工夫兒
Taiwan 時候
Malaysia 時候
Singapore 時候
Jilu Mandarin Jinan 時候
Central Plains Mandarin Luoyang 時候兒
Wanrong 時候
Xi'an 時候, 時間
Xining 時候
Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan) 時候, 時候兒
Lanyin Mandarin Ürümqi 時節
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 時候
Wuhan 時辰, 時候
Jianghuai Mandarin Yangzhou 時候
Hefei 時候
Cantonese Guangzhou 時候
Hong Kong 時候
Yangjiang 時候
Singapore (Guangfu) 時候
Gan Nanchang 時間, 時候, 場中
Pingxiang 時會
Hakka Meixian 時候
Changting 時節
Liancheng 時節
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 時節
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 時節
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 時節
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 時節
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 時節
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 時務
Huizhou Jixi 時候
Jin Taiyuan 時候
Northern Min Jian'ou 時候
Eastern Min Fuzhou 辰候, 時候
Fuzhou (Changle) 辰候
Fuqing 時辰
Yongtai 辰候
Gutian 辰候
Fu'an 辰候
Ningde 流桓
Shouning 辰候
Zhouning 辰候
Fuding 辰候
Southern Min Xiamen 時陣, 時節
Xiamen (Tong'an) 時陣
Quanzhou 時陣
Jinjiang 時節, 時陣
Shishi 時陣
Anxi 時陣
Yongchun 時節, 時陣
Zhangzhou 時陣
Zhangzhou (Longhai) 時陣
Zhangzhou (Changtai) 時陣
Zhao'an 時陣
Taipei 時陣
New Taipei (Sanxia) 時陣
Kaohsiung 時陣
Yilan 時陣, 當時
Changhua (Lukang) 時陣
Taichung 時陣
Taichung (Wuqi) 時陣
Tainan 時陣
Taitung 時陣
Hsinchu 時陣
Kinmen 時陣
Penghu (Magong) 時陣
Singapore (Hokkien) 時陣
Manila (Hokkien) 時陣, 時間, 時節
Chaozhou 時陣, 時候
Shantou 時候
Shantou (Chaoyang) 時候
Jieyang 時陣
Singapore (Teochew) 時候
Wenchang 時候
Qionghai 時候
Singapore (Hainanese) 時候
Puxian Min Putian 時節, 時頭
Xianyou 時節
Wu Shanghai 辰光
Shanghai (Chongming) 辰光
Suzhou 辰光
Danyang 時候, 辰光
Hangzhou 辰光
Hangzhou (Yuhang) 辰光
Ningbo 辰光, 時節 rare, 時候 dated
Wenzhou 時節
Jinhua 時節
Xiang Changsha 時候
Loudi 時界, 時界唧, 時際
Shuangfeng 時候, 時基, 時家
  • (free time):

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Further reading

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
時 間
じ
Grade: 2 		かん
Grade: 2
goon kan'on
 時間 on Japanese Wikipedia

Probably originally borrowed from Middle Chinese compound 時間 (dzyi kɛn, literally “time interval”). Repurposed in the early Meiji period as a translation of the western term time in relation to philosophy in the 1881 publication of 哲学字彙 (Tetsugaku Jii, “Philosophy Dictionary”) compiled by Inoue Tetsujirō.[1][2] The meaning "hour" can be analyzed as a compound of 時(じ) (-ji, “o'clock”) + 間(かん) (-kan, time interval suffix). Compare other terms formed with the suffix 間(かん) (-kan) like 三(さん)分(ぷん)間(かん) (sanpunkan) and 三日(みっか)間(かん) (mikkakan).

The reading is a mix of the goon reading ji and the kan'on reading kan, suggesting either that the reading changed after borrowing (from the expected goon pronunciation of jiken or the expected kan'on pronunciation of shikan), or that this term was independently coined in Japanese after the constituent terms 時(じ) (ji) and 間(かん) (kan) were borrowed.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

時(じ)間(かん) • (jikan) 

  1. time
    時(じ)間(かん)はありますか？
    Jikan wa arimasu ka?
    Do you have any time?
    時(じ)間(かん)はいつでも大(だい)丈(じょう)夫(ぶ)です。
    Jikan wa itsu de mo daijōbu desu.
    Any time works for me.
    (literally, “As for time, whenever is fine.”)
    もうこんな時(じ)間(かん)！
    Mō konna jikan!
    My, will you look at the time!
    (literally, “ already this sort of time!”)
    時(じ)間(かん)にルーズ
    jikan ni rūzu
    never on time
    (literally, “lax about time”)
    時(じ)間(かん)と空(くう)間(かん)の関(かん)係(けい)
    jikan to kūkan no kankei
    the relationship between time and space
  2. hour
    1(いち)時(じ)間(かん)は 60(ろくじっ)分(ぷん)です。
    Ichi-jikan wa rokujippun desu.
    One hour is 60 minutes.
  3. the hours or time when something happens
    試(し)験(けん)時(じ)間(かん)に遅(おく)れた
    shiken jikan ni okureta
    was late for the exam
    (literally, “late to the time of the exam”)
    営(えい)業(ぎょう)時間(じかん)は月(げつ)火(か)水(すい)、午(ご)前(ぜん) ９(く)時(じ)から午(ご)後(ご) ２(に)時(じ)までです。
    Eigyō jikan wa getsu-ka-sui, gozen ku-ji kara gogo ni-ji made desu.
    Business hours are Monday to Wednesday, 9 AM to 2 PM.
    開(かい)館(かん)時(じ)間(かん)
    kaikan jikan
    hours of operation
    時(じ)間(かん)です！
    Jikan desu!
    Time's up!
    (literally, “It's time!”)
    閉(へい)園(えん)の時(じ)間(かん)です！
    Heien no jikan desu!
    We're closing now!
    (literally, “It's time for our closing!”)
    あまり時(じ)間(かん)がなくてすみません
    amari jikan ga nakute sumimasen
    sorry for not having the time
Usage notes

The more general word for time, as in "when something happens", is 時 (toki).

  • 海(うみ)辺(べ)に行(い)った時(とき)
    umibe ni itta toki
    the time I went to the beach, when I went to the beach
Derived terms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Chinese: 時間 / 时间 (shíjiān)
  • → Korean: 시간(時間) (sigan)
  • → Vietnamese: thời gian
See also

Counter

時(じ)間(かん) • (-jikan) 

  1. an hour-long period
    一(いち)時(じ)間(かん)、二(に)時(じ)間(かん)、五(ご)時(じ)間(かん)半(はん)
    ichi-jikan, ni-jikan, go-jikan han
    one hour, two hours, five and a half hours
    何(なん)時(じ)間(かん)もかかりそうです。
    Nan-jikan mo kakari sō desu.
    Apparently it will take many hours.
See also
Japanese number-counter combinations for 時(じ)間(かん) (jikan)
1 2 3 4 5
一(いち)時(じ)間(かん) (ichijikan) 二(に)時(じ)間(かん) (nijikan) 三(さん)時(じ)間(かん) (sanjikan) 四(よ)時(じ)間(かん) (yojikan) 五(ご)時(じ)間(かん) (gojikan)
6 7 8 9 10
六(ろく)時(じ)間(かん) (rokujikan) 七(しち)時(じ)間(かん) (shichijikan)
七(なな)時(じ)間(かん) (nanajikan) 		八(はち)時(じ)間(かん) (hachijikan) 九(く)時(じ)間(かん) (kujikan) 十(じゅう)時(じ)間(かん) (jūjikan)
100 1,000 10,000 How many?
百(ひゃく)時(じ)間(かん) (hyakujikan) 千(せん)時(じ)間(かん) (senjikan) 一(いち)万(まん)時(じ)間(かん) (ichimanjikan) 何(なん)時(じ)間(かん) (nanjikan)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
時 間
じ > ち
Grade: 2 		かん
Grade: 2
irregular kan'on

Pronunciation shift to a devoiced initial consonant in certain dialects.

/d͡ʑikaɴ/ → /t͡ɕikaɴ/

Pronunciation

Noun

時(ち)間(かん) • (chikan) 

  1. (Ibaraki) time
  2. (Ibaraki) hour
  3. (Ibaraki) the hours or time when something happens

Counter

時(ち)間(かん) • (-chikan) 

  1. (Ibaraki) an hour-long period

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ Inoue, Tetsujirō (1881) 哲学字彙 [Dictionary of Philosophy]‎, University of Tokyo, page 93
  • Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
時間

Noun

時間 • (sigan) (hangeul 시간)

  1. hanja form? of 시간 (“time, an hour or hours”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
時間

Noun

時間

  1. chữ Hán form of thời gian (“time”).
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