爲

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

爲 (Kangxi radical 87, 爪+8, 12 strokes, cangjie input 月竹弓火 (BHNF), four-corner 2022₇ or 2032₇, composition ⿱爫⿵⿰丿⿳㇇㇇𠃌灬)

Derived characters

• 僞 噅 嬀 撝 㬙 潙 㺔 䃣 蟡 譌 䞈 䧦 鄬 䦱 寪 䈧 蔿 噕 爳
• 𡐮 𭗛 𪩼 𢕷 𢠿 𪳵 𤎶 𤛨 𤾡 𥊪 𥢬 𦅂 𦠽 𬡮 𧲄 𧴑 𨅌 𨬞 𩍇 𩑁 𩻟 𫬑 𧹋 𧽶 𨖿 𩴞 𣄺 𫿒 𤏜 𫛔 𬋱 𢊯 𤺉 𫕯 𢅌 𢡺 𦢳 𢁍

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 689, character 13
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19686
• Dae Jaweon: page 1102, character 16
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2033, character 21
• Unihan data for U+7232

Chinese

Glyph origin

Originally an Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 又 (“hand”) + 象 (“elephant”). See 為 for the full etymology and historical forms.

Definitions

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 為)

1. do, perform, carry out, sake

Readings

• Go-on: い (i)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}
• Kan-on: い (i)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}
• Kun: ため (tame, 爲); する (suru, 爲る); なす (nasu, 爲す); なる (naru, 爲る)

Usage notes

Rarely used except for historical surnames such as 爲ケ谷 (ためがや), nowadays written 為谷.

Korean

Hanja

爲 (eumhun 할 위 (hal wi))

1. Hanja form^? of 위 (“to do; act”).

Compounds

Middle Korean

Verb

爲 (ho-)

1. Idu script spelling of ᄒᆞ (ho-, “to do”, also a light verb deriving verbs and adjectives)

Old Korean

Verb

爲 (*HO(Y)-)

1. to do

   Synonym: 爲只 (*SIk-)

2. a light verb attached to various non-verbs to derive verbs and adjectives.
3. (after a locative particle) to be at

   Synonyms: 有叱 (*Is-), 在 (*KYE-)

   • c. 1200, Interpretive gugyeol glosses to the Avatamsaka Sutra, vol. 14, pages 8:20—9:01:

     一切衆生^隱[於]生死^叱中^良中爲良

     *IL.CHYEY CWUNG.SOYNG-un CWUKSALI-s TYUNG-akuy HOY-a

     As all the sentient beings are in the midst of life and death

     (N.B. Gugyeol glyphs are given in non-abbreviated forms. Bracketed characters were ignored when read.)

   • c. 1250, Interpretive gugyeol glosses to the Humane King Sutra, page 11:22:

     [於]我^衣前^良中爲良

     NA-uy ALPH-akuy HOY-a

     As it is in front of me

     (N.B. Gugyeol glyphs are given in non-abbreviated forms. Bracketed characters were ignored when read.)

Reconstruction notes

Various inflected or derived verbal forms which were written phonetically, e.g. 乎 or 兮, testify beyond doubt that this word had initial */h-/ and is the ancestor of Middle Korean ᄒᆞ다〮 (Yale: hò-tá). It is usually transcribed as *HO- after the Middle Korean reflex, but the Middle Korean irregular infinitive ᄒᆞ〮야〮 (Yale: hóy-á) implies that the earlier form was actually *hoy- (Vovin 2010, p.27). Whether the attested Old Korean forms transcribed older *hoy- or later *ho- is unclear due to the phonological opaqueness of the orthography.

Descendants

• Middle Korean: ᄒᆞ다〮 (hò-tá, “to do; light verb”)
  • Jeju: ᄒᆞ다 (hawda, “to do; light verb”)
  • Korean: 하다 (hada, “to do; light verb”)

References

• 황선엽 (Hwang Seon-yeop) et al. (2009) 석독구결사전/釋讀口訣辭典 [Dictionary of interpretive gugyeol], Bakmunsa, →ISBN, pages 411—549

Vietnamese

Han character

爲: Hán Việt readings: vị, vì
爲: Nôm readings: vay, ví, vĩ, voi, vơ, vờ, vi

Etymology 1

Preposition

爲 • (vị)

1. chữ Hán form of vị (“for”).

Etymology 2

Conjunction

爲 • (vì)

1. chữ Hán form of vì (“because”).
   • 18th century, Đặng Trần Côn (鄧陳琨) (circa 1705–1745) (original Chinese), translated by Đoàn Thị Điểm (段氏點) (1705–1746/1748) (traditionally claimed), might actually be translated by Phan Huy Ích (潘輝益) (1751–1822), Chinh phụ ngâm khúc (征婦吟曲), line 4:

     爲(Vì)埃(ai)𨢟(gây)孕(dựng)朱(cho)𢧚(nên)餒(nỗi)尼(này)

     For whom was it made to be this way

Etymology 3

Verb

爲 • (vay)

1. Nôm form of vay (“to borrow”).

References