維

Translingual

Han character

維 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+8, 14 strokes, cangjie input 女火人土 (VFOG), four-corner 2091₄, composition ⿰糹隹)

Derived characters

• 羅, 濰

Related characters

• 维 (Simplified Chinese)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 927, character 15
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27568
• Dae Jaweon: page 1364, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3415, character 5
• Unihan data for U+7DAD

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢʷi) : semantic 糸 (“thread”) + abbreviated phonetic 唯 (OC *ɢʷi, *ɢʷiʔ).

The original pronunciation of 隹 (OC *ɢʷi) was lost after the classical period, but can still be seen in other characters of the phonetic series:

• 惟 (OC *ɢʷi, “to think”),
• 唯 (OC *ɢʷi, *ɢʷiʔ, “only”),
• 雖 (OC *sqʰʷi, “although”),
• 帷 (OC *ɢʷril, “curtain, screen”) and
• 淮 (OC *ɡʷriːl, “Huai River”).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

維

1. ^† to tie; to fasten; to tie up
2. ^† to link; to connect
3. to hold together; to maintain; to preserve; to safeguard

   維持／维持  ―  wéichí  ―  to maintain

4. ^† thick rope for tying objects; cord
5. ^† corner; nook; recess
6. ^† net; mesh; netting
7. (geometry) dimension
8. ^† order; law; outline
9. ^† long and thin object; fibre; string

   纖維／纤维  ―  xiānwéi  ―  fibre

10. ^† Alternative form of 惟 (wéi, “to think; to contemplate”)
11. ^† Alternative form of 唯 (“only”)
12. ^† (alt. form 惟, 唯) meaningless particle of interjection
13. Short for 維生素／维生素 (wéishēngsù, “vitamin”).
14. Short for 維吾爾／维吾尔 (Wéiwú'ěr, “Uyghur”).
15. a surname

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

維

1. ^† Only used in 盧維／卢维 (“ancient river in the Yan Province”).

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: ゆい (yui)^{←ゆい (yui, historical)←ゆゐ (ywi, ancient)}
• Kan-on: い (i, Jōyō)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}
• Kun: つなぐ (tsunagu, 維ぐ); これ (kore, 維)
• Nanori: しげ (shige); すみ (sumi); ただ (tada); たもつ (tamotsu); つな (tsuna); ゆき (yuki)

Usage notes

• Most dictionaries proscribe historical -uwi readings すゐ (suwi), ずゐ (zuwi), つゐ (tuwi), ゆゐ (yuwi), and るゐ (ruwi) as attested in many historical documents.

Compounds

Etymology 1

/wi/ → /i/

From Middle Chinese 維 (MC ywij).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Affix

維(い) • (i) ^{←ゐ (wi)?}

1. hold together; keep; maintain
2. what holds together; net, supportive

Etymology 2

Korean

Hanja

維 (eumhun 벼리 유 (byeori yu))

1. Hanja form^? of 유 (“the guide ropes at the edge of a fishing net; fishing net”).

Compounds

• 유지 (維持, yuji, “keep, maintain”)

Vietnamese

Han character

維: Hán Việt readings: duy
維: Nôm readings: duy

1. chữ Hán form of duy (“tie, maintain”).

References