爾

Translingual

Stroke order (Sans-serif)

Han character

爾 (Kangxi radical 89, 爻+10, 14 strokes, cangjie input 一火月大 (MFBK), four-corner 1022₇, composition ⿱一⿱八⿻巾㸚)

Derived characters

• 儞, 邇, 𦢈, 𠧌, 彌, 𢣚, 𢣭, 禰, 穪, 襧, 䌤, 薾, 籋, 濔, 獮, 隬 檷, 𩰞, 嬭, 趰, 躎, 鑈, 𡁠, 镾, 擟, 覼, 鸍, 壐, 璽, 蠒, 𨤻, 䦵, 鿛, 鿜, 鿝, 鿞, 鿠, 鿡, 鿥, 鿧, 鿨, 鿩, 𪓿

Descendants

• 尔

Further reading

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 691, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19750
• Dae Jaweon: page 1104, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 27, character 1
• Unihan data for U+723E

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 爾
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script

Pictogram (象形) – cloth on a loom, with threads crossing – original form of 檷 (OC *niːlʔ, “loom”). Used phonetically.

Etymology 1

“you; your”

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *na-ŋ (“you”).

"that"

Cognate with 那 (nà, “that”), 若 (OC *njaɡ, “that”) (Schuessler, 2007). See 那 (nà) for more.

Pronunciation

Definitions

爾

1. (literary or dialectal) you; your

   爾等／尔等  ―  ěrděng  ―  you (plural)

   • 誰謂爾無羊，三百維群。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     谁谓尔无羊，三百维群。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Shéi wèi ěr wú yáng, sānbǎi wéi qún.

     Who can say that you have no sheep? There are three hundred in herd.

   • 我無爾詐，爾無我虞。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     我无尔诈，尔无我虞。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Wǒ wú ěr zhà, ěr wú wǒ yú.

     I do not deceive you; You do not deceive me.

2. (literary) so; this way
3. (literary or dialectal) this; that

   爾日／尔日  ―  ěrrì  ―  that day

   爾後／尔后  ―  ěrhòu  ―  thereafter

4. (obsolete, of flowers) exuberant

   • 彼爾維何，維常之華。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     彼尔维何，维常之华。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Bǐ ěr wéi hé, wéi cháng zhī huā.

     What is that so gorgeous? It is the flowers of the cherry tree.

5. (obsolete) a suffix or word-final particle indicating state, appearance, sound, or manner accompanying a verb

   Synonym: 然 (rán)

   • 子路率爾而對曰… [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子路率尔而对曰… [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐlù shuài'ěr ér duì yuē...

     Zilu hastily and lightly replied...

   • 鼓瑟希，鏗爾。舍瑟而作，對曰… [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     鼓瑟希，铿尔。舍瑟而作，对曰… [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Gǔ sè xī, kēng ěr. Shě sè ér zuò, duì yuē...

     (Zeng Dian), pausing as he was playing on his se, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and said...

6. (literary) a sentence final particle; merely; only
7. a surname

   爾冬陞／尔冬升 [Cantonese]  ―  ji⁵ dung¹ sing¹   ―  Derek Yee (Hong Kong film director and actor)

Synonyms

Compounds

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Definitions

爾

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

Compounds

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Contraction of 但定 (nā-tiāⁿ; only) ?”)

Pronunciation

Definitions

爾

1. (Hokkien) that's all; nothing more; is all

Compounds

Etymology 4

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Colliqual reading of 但 (but, only, literal reading: tān)?”)

Pronunciation

Definitions

爾

1. (Hokkien) only

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

Definitions

爾

1. Used in transcription.

Usage notes

It is often used to transcribe the /l/ and /r/ sounds in words of foreign languages not immediately followed by a vowel, e.g. 尼泊爾／尼泊尔 (Níbó'ěr, “Nepal”), 斯德哥爾摩／斯德哥尔摩 (Sīdégē'ěrmó, “Stockholm”), 克什米爾／克什米尔 (Kèshímǐ'ěr, “Kashmir”), 塞爾維亞／塞尔维亚 (Sài'ěrwéiyà, “Serbia”), etc.

Compounds