柔

Translingual

Han character

柔 (Kangxi radical 75, 木+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 弓竹木 (NHD), four-corner 1790₄, composition ⿱矛木)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 519, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14622
• Dae Jaweon: page 907, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1192, character 2
• Unihan data for U+67D4

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mlju) : phonetic 矛 (OC *mu) + semantic 木 (“tree”) – wood soft enough that it can easily be cut.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *now (“tender; soft”), which has also been compared to 軟 (OC *njonʔ, “soft”), 弱 (OC *njewɢ, “weak”), 肉 (OC *njuɡ, “meat”), 懦 (OC *noːls, *njo, “cowardly”), 荏 (OC *njɯmʔ, “weak”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007).

“ronto-”

Phono-semantic matching of English ronto-. Coined by the China National Committee for Terminology in Science and Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation on World Metrology Day in 2023 (20 May 2023).

Pronunciation

Definitions

柔

1. soft; supple
2. to soften
3. gentle; pliant
4. to make gentle
5. (～州) Short for 柔佛 (Róufó, “Johor”).
6. (Mainland China) ronto- (SI unit prefix)

   Synonym: 絨／绒 (róng) (Taiwan)

Descendants

Compounds

See also

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: にゅう (nyū, Jōyō)^{←にう (niu, historical)}
• Kan-on: じゅう (jū, Jōyō)^{←じう (ziu, historical)}
• Kun: やわらか (yawaraka, 柔らか, Jōyō)^{←やはらか (yafaraka, 柔らか, historical)}; やわらかい (yawarakai, 柔らかい, Jōyō)^{←やはらかい (yafarakai, 柔らかい, historical)}; やわらぐ (yawaragu, 柔らぐ)^{←やはらぐ (yafaragu, 柔らぐ, historical)}; やわらげる (yawarageru, 柔らげる)^{←やはらげる (yafarageru, 柔らげる, historical)}
• Nanori: とお (tō)^{←とほ (tofo, historical)}; なり (nari); やす (yasu); よし (yoshi)

Compounds

• 外(がい)柔(じゅう)内(ない)剛(ごう) (gaijūnaigō)
• 柔(やわ)柔(やわ) (yawayawa)

Etymology 1

/d͡ʑɨu/ → /d͡ʑuː/ → /ʑuː/

From Middle Chinese 柔 (MC nyuw).

The 漢音 (kan'on, literally “Han sound”) reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) じゅ​う (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Affix

柔(じゅう) • (jū) ^{←ぢう (diu)?}

1. gentle, soft, supple
2. calm, gentle, mild, peaceful
3. calm, relieve, soften
4. martial art involving gentleness, such as jujitsu or judo

Derived terms

Noun

柔(じゅう) • (jū) ^{←じう (ziu)?}

1. gentleness, softness, suppleness; also, such an object

Derived terms

Idioms

• 柔(じゅう)能(よ)く剛(ごう)を制(せい)す (jū yoku gō o seisu)
• 柔(じゅう)も亦(また)茹(くら)わず剛(ごう)も亦(また)吐(は)かず (jū mo mata kurawazu gō mo mata hakazu)

Etymology 2

/nɨu/ → /ɲuː/

From Middle Chinese 柔 (MC nyuw).

The 呉音 (goon, literally “Wu sound”) reading, so likely the earlier borrowing from Middle Chinese.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にゅう (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Affix

柔(にゅう) • (nyū) ^{←にう (niu)?}

1. gentle, supple, weak
2. kindhearted

Derived terms

• 柔(にゅう)弱(じゃく) (nyūjaku)
• 柔(にゅう)和(わ) (nyūwa)

Etymology 3

/jaɸa/ → /jawa/

Possibly a back-formation of 柔柔 (yawayawa, “soft, supple”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) や​わ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Adjective

柔(やわ) • (yawa) ^{←やは (yafa)?}-na (adnominal 柔(やわ)な (yawa na), adverbial 柔(やわ)に (yawa ni))

1. weak

Derived terms

• 柔(やわ)い (yawai)

Etymology 4

(The following entry is uncreated: 柔ら.)

References

Korean

Hanja

柔 • (yu) (hangeul 유, revised yu, McCune–Reischauer yu, Yale yu)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

柔: Hán Nôm readings: nhu

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.