活

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See also: 话 and 㓉
活 U+6D3B, 活
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6D3B
← 洺
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 洼 →

Translingual

Stroke order
9 strokes

Han character

活 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 水竹十口 (EHJR), four-corner 32164, composition ⿰氵舌)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 622, character 18
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17423
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1018, character 16
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1609, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+6D3B

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 活
alternative forms
 
㓉
𣿛
𣴠
𦕾
𣸅
㓉
𣿛
𣴠
𦕾
𣸅
𣽅

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 活
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (桰) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
咶 *qʰroːds, *qʰroːds, *ɡroːd
話 *ɡroːds
刮 *kroːd
鴰 *kroːd, *koːd
趏 *kroːd, *kʰroːd
舌 *ɡroːd, *ɦbljed
姡 *ɡroːd, *ɡoːd
頢 *ɡroːd, *koːd
括 *koːd
活 *koːd, *ɡoːd
适 *koːd, *kʰoːd
栝 *koːd, *l̥ʰeːmʔ
佸 *koːd, *ɡoːd
髺 *koːd
聒 *koːd
銛 *koːd, *slem, *l̥ʰeːmʔ
葀 *koːd
懖 *koːd
筈 *koːd, *kʰoːd
萿 *koːd
蛞 *kʰoːd
闊 *kʰoːd
秳 *ɡoːd

Evolved from 𣴠: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːd, *ɡoːd) : semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 𠯑 (OC *ɡroːd).

Etymology 1

Schuessler (2007) proposes possible Austroasiatic etymology; compare Wa-Lawa-Bulang *gɑs "alive (of plants)" & Aslian *gɔs "to live"

Pronunciation

Note:
  • oa̍h - vernacular (“to live; lively; agile; alive; so; awful”), hoa̍t - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 活
Mandarin Beijing /xuo³⁵/
Harbin /xuo²⁴/
Tianjin /xuo⁴⁵/
Jinan /xuə⁴²/
Qingdao /xuə⁴²/
Zhengzhou /xuo⁴²/
Xi'an /xuo²⁴/
Xining /xu⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /xuə⁵³/ 幹～
/xuə¹³/ 死～
Lanzhou /xuə⁵³/
Ürümqi /xuɤ⁵¹/
Wuhan /xuo²¹³/
Chengdu /xo³¹/
Guiyang /xo²¹/
Kunming /xo³¹/
Nanjing /xoʔ⁵/
Hefei /xuɐʔ⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /xuaʔ⁵⁴/
Pingyao /xuʌʔ⁵³/
Hohhot /xuaʔ⁴³/
Wu Shanghai /ɦuəʔ¹/
Suzhou /ɦuəʔ³/
Hangzhou /ɦuoʔ²/
Wenzhou /ɦo²¹³/
Hui Shexian /xua²²/
/ua²²/
Tunxi /uːə¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /xo²⁴/
Xiangtan /ho²⁴/
Gan Nanchang /uɵʔ²/
Hakka Meixian /fat̚⁵/
Taoyuan /fɑt̚⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /wut̚²/
Nanning /wut̚²²/
Hong Kong /wut̚²/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /huat̚⁵/
/uaʔ⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /uaʔ⁵/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /xua²⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /uaʔ⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ua³³/
Rime
Character 活
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 匣 (33)
Final (韻) 桓 (64)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) I
Fanqie 戸括切
Baxter hwat
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ɦuɑt̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ɦʷɑt̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ɣuɑt̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ɦwat̚/
Li
Rong 		/ɣuɑt̚/
Wang
Li 		/ɣuɑt̚/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/ɣuɑt̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		huó
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		wut6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 活
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		huó
Middle
Chinese 		‹ hwat ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ʷˁat/
English to live

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 活
Reading # 2/2
No. 7585
Phonetic
component 		桰
Rime
group 		月
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		活
Old
Chinese 		/*ɡoːd/

Definitions

活

  1. to live; to exist
  2. life; existence
  3. to make live; to provide food for
  4. having life; live
  5. lively; vivid
  6. flexible; movable; moving; nimble; agile
  7. flexible; adaptable; fluid
  8. job; work
  9. product; produce
  10. simply; exactly
  11. alive; living; in a living state
    活捉  ―  huózhuō  ―  to capture alive
    活埋  ―  huómái  ―  to bury alive
  12. to save (a person's life)
  13. (informal) sexual intercourse
    器大活兒好／器大活儿好  ―  qì dà huór hǎo  ―  the "tool" (penis) is big, sex is good
  14. (Mainland China Hokkien, emphasis in exclamations) so; how; what
  15. (Mainland China Hokkien, in rhetorical questions) awful; unable to handle (used after either 會／会 or 𣍐／𫧃 to mean the same thing)
Synonyms
  • (having life):
Dialectal synonyms of 活 (“having life; live”)
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 有生
Mandarin Beijing 活
Taiwan 活
Jinan 活
Xi'an 活
Wuhan 活
Chengdu 活
Guilin 活
Yangzhou 活
Hefei 活
Singapore 活
Cantonese Guangzhou 生
Hong Kong 生
Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou) 生
Hong Kong (Ting Kok) 生
Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau) 生
Yangjiang 生
Singapore (Guangfu) 生
Gan Nanchang 活
Hakka Meixian 生
Hong Kong 生
Senai (Huiyang) 生
Jin Taiyuan 活
Northern Min Jian'ou 生
Eastern Min Fuzhou 活
Southern Min Xiamen 活
Singapore (Hokkien) 活
Chaozhou 活
Bangkok (Teochew) 活
Johor Bahru (Teochew) 活
Singapore (Teochew) 活
Wu Shanghai 活
Suzhou 活
Wenzhou 活, 健
Xiang Changsha 活
Shuangfeng 活
  • (product):
Dialectal synonyms of 多麼 (“how; what; so; such”)
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 何等, 何其, 一何, 何哉, 何等也, 何則
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多麼, 何等, 何其
Mandarin Beijing 多麼, 多
Taiwan 多麼, 多
Jinan 多麼, 多
Xi'an 多
Wuhan 幾, 幾樣, 好
Chengdu 好, 多
Guilin 好
Yangzhou 多
Hefei 好
Malaysia 多
Singapore 多麼, 多
Cantonese Guangzhou 幾, 幾咁
Hong Kong 幾, 幾咁
Yangjiang 幾
Gan Nanchang 幾
Hakka Meixian 幾
Jin Taiyuan 多麼, 多來
Northern Min Jian'ou 幾多
Eastern Min Fuzhou 若夥, 若
Southern Min Xiamen 偌, 偌爾仔, 活, 活欲
Quanzhou 偌, 活, 活欲
Zhangzhou 偌, 偌爾仔, 偌仔爾, 活, 活欲
Taipei 偌爾, 偌仔爾
Kaohsiung 偌爾, 偌仔爾
Penang (Hokkien) 偌
Singapore (Hokkien) 偌
Manila (Hokkien) 偌
Chaozhou 若
Singapore (Teochew) 若
Zhongshan Min Shaxi (Longdu) 幾
Wu Shanghai 多少, 幾化
Suzhou 幾化
Wenzhou 幾倈, 幾恁
Xiang Changsha 幾, 幾多, 好
Shuangfeng 幾, 好

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of “to live”): 死 (sǐ)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (活):
  • → Japanese: 活(かつ) (katsu)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 活
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 見 (28)
Final (韻) 桓 (64)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) I
Fanqie 古活切
Baxter kwat
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/kuɑt̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/kʷɑt̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/kuɑt̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/kwat̚/
Li
Rong 		/kuɑt̚/
Wang
Li 		/kuɑt̚/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/kuɑt̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		guo
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		gut3
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 活
Reading # 1/2
No. 7568
Phonetic
component 		桰
Rime
group 		月
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		括
Old
Chinese 		/*koːd/

Definitions

活

  1. † Only used in 活活 (guōguō).

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

活

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. alive
  2. lively
  3. (of a machine or device) on; active; in operation

Readings

Compounds

Etymology

Kanji in this term
活
かつ
Grade: 2
kan’on

From Middle Chinese 活 (hwat, “to live”).

Pronunciation

Noun

活(かつ) • (katsu) ←くわつ (kwatu)?

  1. life

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 活 (MC hwat).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 ᅘᅪᇙ〮 (Yale: hhwálq)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Sinjeung Yuhap, 1576 사ᄅᆞᆯ (Yale: salol) 활 (Yale: hwal)

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

活 (eumhun 살 활 (sal hwal))

  1. Hanja form? of 활 (“activity”).

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

活: Hán Nôm readings: hoạt, oặt, oạc

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