狗

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

狗 (Kangxi radical 94, 犬+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 大竹心口 (KHPR), four-corner 4722₀, composition ⿰犭句)

Derived characters

• 𭲉, 𬍉, 𬍌, 𮏛, 𤟳

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 709, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20345
• Dae Jaweon: page 1121, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1341, character 5
• Unihan data for U+72D7

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 狗
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *koːʔ) : semantic 犬 (“dog”) + phonetic 句 (OC *koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo).

Etymology

From some language ancestral to modern Hmong-Mien languages, from Proto-Hmong-Mien *qluwˣ (“dog”), perhaps from Proto-Austronesian *(u-)(ŋ)kuɣkuɣ (“dog”) (Norman, 1988; Benedict, 1996).

Alternatively, STEDT derives this from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-kʷəj-n (“dog”), whence also 犬 (OC *kʰʷeːnʔ).

Less likely, it may be related to 駒 (OC *ko, “foal”), 羔 (OC *kluː, “lamb”), 𤘽 (“calf”) (Wang, 1982).

Pronunciation

Definitions

狗

1. dog (Classifier: 隻／只 m c mn; 條／条 m)

   餵狗／喂狗  ―  wèi gǒu  ―  to feed a dog

   累成狗  ―  lèi chéng gǒu  ―  extremely tired

2. (derogatory) something or someone unpleasant

   • 你是條狗，是王八養的！ [MSC, trad.]
     你是条狗，是王八养的！ [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2001, Chiung Yao, 情深深雨濛濛, episode 39 (Mainland version)

     Nǐ shì tiáo gǒu, shì wángba yǎng de!

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   1. Used as an attributive.

      狗男女  ―  gǒu nánnǚ  ―  couple in an illicit love affair

      狗官  ―  gǒuguān  ―  government official

      看老娘錘爆你的狗頭！ [MSC, trad.]
      看老娘锤爆你的狗头！ [MSC, simp.]

      Kàn lǎoniáng chuí bào nǐ de gǒu tóu!

      See how I hammer you in your goddamn head!

   2. (self-deprecatory) a miserable person (used in compounds)

      單身狗／单身狗  ―  dānshēngǒu  ―  singleton

      IT狗  ―  IT gǒu  ―  a person working in the IT industry

   3. (Hong Kong, neologism, derogatory) police; pig; po-po

      • 完咗跟大隊去狗屋 [Cantonese, trad.]
        完咗跟大队去狗屋 [Cantonese, simp.]

        From: 2019,

        jyun⁴ zo² gan¹ daai⁶ deoi^6-2 heoi³ gau² uk¹

        follow us to the dog house (=police headquarters) afterwards

      • 撚狗行動 [Cantonese, trad.]
        撚狗行动 [Cantonese, simp.]

        From: 2019,

        lan² gau² hang⁴ dung⁶

        (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. (chiefly Beijing Mandarin) to flatter
4. (Cantonese) cunning
5. (obsolete) cub; young bear or tiger
6. a surname

Synonyms

• (dog):

• (Hong Kong: police): 警犬 (jǐngquǎn)

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• Wutunhua: gek

See also

• (Chinese zodiac signs) 鼠 (shǔ), 牛 (niú), 虎 (hǔ), 兔 (tù), 龍／龙 (lóng), 蛇 (shé), 馬／马 (mǎ), 羊 (yáng), 猴 (hóu), 雞／鸡 (jī), 狗 (gǒu), 豬／猪 (zhū) ^{(Category: zh:Chinese zodiac signs)}

References

• “Entry #4345”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.
• Peyraube, Alain. "Ancient Chinese." The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Ed. Roger D. Woodard. Cambridge UP, 2004. 1012.

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

1. puppy, dog
2. a sentinel
3. a snoop or spy
4. useless, wasteful

Readings

• Go-on: く (ku)
• Kan-on: こう (kō)
• Kun: いぬ (inu, 狗); えぬ (enu, 狗)^{←ゑぬ (wenu, 狗, historical)}

Compounds

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

First cited to the Wamyō Ruijushō of 934 CE.

Ultimate derivation uncertain. Theories include a fusion of わ (*wa-, diminutive prefix?) + 犬 (inu, “dog”), an ancient nativized borrowing from Old Chinese 犬 (OC *kʰʷeːnʔ, “dog”), in turn, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-kʷəj-n, or an unraised vowel extension of Proto-Japonic *enu (“dog”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

狗(えぬ) • (enu) ^{←ゑぬ (wenu)?}

1. (obsolete) a puppy or dog

Usage notes

Obsolete. Not listed in most dictionaries.

References

Korean

Hanja

狗 (eumhun 개 구 (gae gu))

1. Hanja form^? of 구 (“dog”).

Vietnamese

Han character

狗: Hán Việt readings: cẩu (舉(cử)后(hậu)切(thiết))
狗: Nôm readings: cẩu

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

Compounds

References