紙

Translingual

Han character

紙 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+4, 10 strokes, cangjie input 女火竹女心 (VFHVP), four-corner 2294₀, composition ⿰糹氏)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 918, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27293
• Dae Jaweon: page 1347, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3375, character 12
• Unihan data for U+7D19

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kjeʔ) : semantic 糸 (“silk”) + phonetic 氏 (OC *skeŋ, *kje, *ɡjeʔ).

Etymology

Unknown. It has been connected to Vietnamese giấy (< Proto-Vietic *k-cajʔ).

Pronunciation

Definitions

紙

1. (countable) paper (Classifier: 張／张)

   草稿紙／草稿纸  ―  cǎogǎozhǐ  ―  scratch paper

   她買了紙、筆等文具。 [MSC, trad.]
   她买了纸、笔等文具。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā mǎi le zhǐ, bǐ děng wénjù.

   She bought paper, pens, and other such stationery.

   他用棕色的紙把包裹包起來。 [MSC, trad.]
   他用棕色的纸把包裹包起来。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā yòng zōngsè de zhǐ bǎ bāoguǒ bāo qǐlái.

   He wrapped brown paper around the package.

   • 自古書契多編以竹簡，其用縑帛者謂之為紙。縑貴而簡重，並不便於人。倫乃造意，用樹膚、麻頭及敝布、魚網以為紙。元興元年奏上之，帝善其能，自是莫不從用焉，故天下咸稱「蔡侯紙」。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     自古书契多编以竹简，其用缣帛者谓之为纸。缣贵而简重，并不便于人。伦乃造意，用树肤、麻头及敝布、鱼网以为纸。元兴元年奏上之，帝善其能，自是莫不从用焉，故天下咸称「蔡侯纸」。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of the Later Han, circa 5^th century CE

     Zìgǔ shūqì duō biān yǐ zhújiǎn, qí yòng jiānbó zhě wèi zhī wéi zhǐ. Jiān guì ér jiǎn zhòng, bìng bù biàn yú rén. Lún nǎi zàoyì, yòng shùfū, mátóu jí bìbù, yúwǎng yǐ wéi zhǐ. Yuánxìng yuánnián zòu shàng zhī, dì shàn qí néng, zì shì mò bù cóng yòng yān, gù tiānxià xián chēng “Cài hóu zhǐ”.

     In ancient times writings and inscriptions were generally made on tablets of bamboo or on pieces of silk called zhi. But silk being costly and bamboos heavy they were not convenient to use. Cai Lun then initiated the idea of making paper from the bark of trees, remnants of hemp, rags of cloth and fishing nets. He submitted the process to the emperor in the first year of Yuanxing and received praise for his ability. From this time, paper has been in use everywhere and is universally called "the paper of Marquis Cai".

2. (chiefly Cantonese) currency

   港紙／港纸 [Cantonese]  ―  gong² zi²   ―  Hong Kong dollar

   加紙／加纸 [Cantonese]  ―  gaa¹ zi²   ―  Canadian dollar

3. (Cantonese, countable) banknote; bill (Classifier: 張／张 c)

   十蚊紙／十蚊纸 [Cantonese]  ―  sap⁶ man¹ zi²   ―  ten-dollar bill

4. Classifier for document and letters.
5. Short for 紙錢／纸钱 (zhǐqián, “paper made to resemble money and burnt as an offering to the dead”).
6. (Mandarin, neologism, slang) Pronunciation spelling of 子 (zǐ).

   妹紙／妹纸  ―  mèizhǐ  ―  girl

   胖紙／胖纸  ―  pàngzhǐ  ―  fatty

7. a surname

Synonyms

• (paper): (obsolete, Wu) 紙頭／纸头 (zhǐtóu)

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• → Lao: ເຈ້ຍ (chīa, “paper”)
• → Shan: ၸေႈ (tsēe, “paper”)
• → Zhuang: ceij (“paper”)

References

• “紙”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A03100

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. paper

Readings

• Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kun: かみ (kami, 紙, Jōyō)

Alternative forms

• 帋 (zokuji)

Compounds

• 折(おり)紙(がみ) (origami), 折(お)り紙(がみ) (origami, “origami”)
• 切(きり)紙(がみ) (kirigami), 切(き)り紙(がみ) (kirigami, “kirigami”)
• 絵(え)手(て)紙(がみ) (etegami, “etegami”)
• 紙(し)幣(へい) (shihei, “paper money, bill, note”)
• 手(て)紙(がみ) (tegami, “letter”)

Etymology 1

Cited to manuscript kana glosses in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.

Appears to be a shift in pronunciation from the Middle Chinese term 簡 (MC keanX), borrowed into Old Japanese with the pronunciation kan.

• /kaɴ/ → */kamu/ → /kami/

Earlier Japanese writing was ambiguous regarding the final n sound spelled ん in modern Japanese, with this sound often spelled (and possibly pronounced) as む (mu) instead. Compare the similar appearance of an excrescent final -i in the derivation of 文 (fumi) from borrowed bun or pun.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かみ​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

紙(かみ) • (kami) 

1. paper

Derived terms

• 紙(かみ)パック (kamipakku)

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 紙 (MC tsyeX).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Affix

紙(し) • (shi) ^{←し (si)?}

1. paper
2. newspaper

   大手紙(おおてし)

   ōteshi

   major newspaper

References

Korean

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

紙

Wikisource

紙 (eumhun 종이 지 (jong'i ji))

1. Hanja form^? of 지 (“paper”).

Old Japanese

Noun

紙 (*KAMI₁)

1. paper
   • Shōsōin document, text here

     卅巻未取犯、仍為一帙、〈加遲乃紙〉

     MI₁SO₁ MAKI₁ PA WOKASI WO TO₂RAZU, ITI-TITU wo SI YO₁RU (kadi-no₂ KAMI₁)

     Thirty folds are not taken as a crime; continue making one book case ( paper made from rudder)

Reconstruction notes

The reconstruction as *KAMI₁ and not **KAMI₂ is because Ainu would have loaned this word as *kambUy, not kambi. Note that Old Japanese "voiced stops" are recognized as pre-nasalized voiced stops, and this is supported by Ainu loans from Old Japanese.

Descendants

• Japanese: 紙 (kami)
• → Ainu: カムビ (kambi) (< *kabi₁, see also Proto-Ryukyuan *kabi)

Vietnamese

Chữ Hán

紙: Hán Nôm readings: chỉ, giấy

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