梨

Translingual

Han character

梨 (Kangxi radical 75, 木+7, 11 strokes, cangjie input 竹弓木 (HND) or 難竹弓木 (XHND), four-corner 2290₄, composition ⿱利木)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 530, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14873
• Dae Jaweon: page 918, character 10
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1215, character 10
• Unihan data for U+68A8

• Unihan data for U+F9E2

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ril) : phonetic 利 (OC *rids) + semantic 木.

Etymology

Unknown. Also found in Proto-Hmong-Mien *rəj; folk etymology derives this from 利 (OC *rids, “sharp”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

梨

1. pear (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 c)
2. ^† Alternative form of 剺 (lí, “to cut”)

Synonyms

Compounds

Descendants

• → Malay: lai (“pear”)
• → Proto-Hmong-Mien: *rəj (“pear”)

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. pear

Readings

• Go-on: り (ri)
• Kan-on: り (ri)
• Kan’yō-on: りん (rin)
• Kun: なし (nashi, 梨, Jōyō)
• Nanori: か (ka)

Etymology 1

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

ナシ

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Pyrus pyrifolia

Wikipedia

From Old Japanese. Derivation unclear, with numerous theories. Two of the more common are given below.

• May be originally a compound of 中 (na, “middle, center”, hypothesized root of modern naka) +‎ 白 (shiro, “white”) in reference to the pale flesh of the fruit.

*/na ɕiro/ → /naɕi/

• Alternatively, may be originally a compound of 中 (na, “middle, center”, hypothesized root of modern naka) +‎ 酢 (su, “sour, acidic”) in reference to the way the flavor of the fruit becomes more astringent closer to the core.

*/na su/ → /naɕi/

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) なし​ (Odaka – )
• (Tokyo) なし (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

梨(なし) or 梨(ナシ) • (nashi) 

1. a pear tree
2. a pear (the fruit)
3. more specifically, a Japanese pear or Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)

Usage notes

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ナシ.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 梨 (MC lij). Compare modern Mandarin 梨 (lí).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Affix

梨(り) • (ri) 

1. a pear tree
2. a pear (the fruit)
3. more specifically, a Japanese pear or Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Alteration of ri reading.

/ri/ → /rin/

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Affix

梨(りん) • (rin) 

1. pear

Derived terms

References

Korean

Hanja

梨 (eumhun 배나무 리 (baenamu ri), South Korea 배나무 이 (baenamu i))

1. Hanja form^? of 리/이 (“pear tree”).

Vietnamese

Han character

梨: Hán Nôm readings: lê, lệ

1. chữ Hán form of lê (“pear”).
2. chữ Hán form of lệ (“pear”).