背

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

背 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 中心月 (LPB), four-corner 1122₇, composition ⿱北月(GJK) or ⿱北⺼(HT))

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 977, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29363
• Dae Jaweon: page 1429, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2058, character 4
• Unihan data for U+80CC

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 背
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) : phonetic 北 (OC *pɯːɡ) + semantic 月 (“meat”). Originally written as 北, semantic 肉 was added to be distinguished from the derived meaning of 北 (“north”).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ba (“to carry (on back), shoulder”).

Two pronunciations were distinguished in Middle Chinese: puʌi^H (“back”), buʌi^H (“to turn one's back to; to betray”).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

背

1. (anatomy) back

   捶背  ―  chuíbèi  ―  to give a back massage

   馬背／马背  ―  mǎbèi  ―  horseback

   • 一個孩子突然跑過來，幾乎碰著他背上的劍尖，使他嚇出了一身汗。 [MSC, trad.]
     一个孩子突然跑过来，几乎碰着他背上的剑尖，使他吓出了一身汗。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1927, Lu Xun, 鑄劍

     Yī ge háizi tūrán pǎo guòlái, jīhū pèng zhe tā bèi shàng de jiàn jiān, shǐ tā xià chū le yī shēn hàn.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. back; backside; reverse side

   手背  ―  shǒubèi  ―  back of the hand

   紙背／纸背  ―  zhǐbèi  ―  back of a piece of paper

3. to leave; to abandon

   背井離鄉／背井离乡  ―  bèijǐnglíxiāng  ―  to leave one's native place and move elsewhere

4. to back onto

   背著太陽坐／背着太阳坐  ―  bèi zhe tàiyáng zuò  ―  to sit with one's back to the sun

   背山面海  ―  bèi shān miàn hǎi  ―  backing on to a mountain and facing the sea

5. to betray

   • 隨何往說九江王布，布果背楚。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     随何往说九江王布，布果背楚。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Suí Hé wǎng shuì Jiǔjiāng wáng Bù, Bù guǒ bèi Chǔ.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

6. to do something behind one's back; to hide something from someone

   男朋友背著我和其他女生聊天。 [MSC, trad.]
   男朋友背着我和其他女生聊天。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nánpéngyǒu bèi zhe wǒ hé qítā nǚshēng liáotiān.

   My boyfriend chats with other girls behind my back.

7. to deviate; to go contrary to; to violate

   背約／背约  ―  bèiyuē  ―  to break one’s promise

   背著良心說話／背着良心说话  ―  bèi zhe liángxīn shuōhuà  ―  to speak against one's conscience

8. to memorize; to recite

   這篇文章寫得多棒啊，背下來。 [MSC, trad.]
   这篇文章写得多棒啊，背下来。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè piān wénzhāng xiěde duō bàng a, bèi xiàlái.

   How excellently written is this article! Memorize it.

   你背唐詩背了多少首？ [MSC, trad.]
   你背唐诗背了多少首？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ bèi Tángshī bèi le duōshǎo shǒu?

   How many Tang poems have you memorized?

9. unlucky; out of luck
10. hard of hearing

    耳朵有點兒背／耳朵有点儿背  ―  ěrduo yǒudiǎnr bèi  ―  to be a bit hard of hearing

11. remote; out-of-the-way
12. (Cantonese) isolated; out of touch; out of the loop; ignorant of what is happening; uninformed of the latest news; not up to speed
    • 2003 February 17, 杜依翹, “D場天后張茵再戰歌壇”, in 《東方日報》 [Oriental Daily News]‎:

      諗極都諗唔通，於是走去問個喺D場做DJ嘅老友，佢竟然話：「乜你咁背㗎！嗰首咪係而家唱到行晒，由DJ Lorry同張茵合唱嘅《上一個不愛回家的人．下一個》囉！」 [Cantonese, trad.]
      谂极都谂唔通，于是走去问个喺D场做DJ嘅老友，佢竟然话：「乜你咁背㗎！嗰首咪系而家唱到行晒，由DJ Lorry同张茵合唱嘅《上一个不爱回家的人．下一个》啰！」 [Cantonese, simp.]

      nam² gik⁶ dou¹ nam² m⁴ tung¹, jyu¹ si⁶ zau² heoi³ man⁶ go³ hai² di¹ coeng⁴ zou⁶ di¹ zhei¹ ge³ lou⁵ jau⁵, keoi⁵ ging² jin⁴ waa⁶: “mat¹ nei⁵ gam³ bui⁶ gaa³! go² sau² mai⁶ hai⁶ ji⁴ gaa¹ coeng³ dou³ hang⁴ saai³, jau⁴ DJ Lorry tung⁴ zoeng¹ jan¹ hap⁶ coeng³ ge³ “soeng⁶ jat¹ go³ bat¹ oi³ wui⁴ gaa¹ dik¹ jan⁴. haa⁶ jat¹ go³” lo¹!”

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

13. (swimming) Short for 背泳 (bèiyǒng, “backstroke”).

Synonyms

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

背

1. to carry on the back
2. (figurative) to carry; to bear (blame); to shoulder (responsibility)

Synonyms

• (to carry on the back): 馱／驮 (tuó)

Compounds

References

• “背”, 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–

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. back, stature

Readings

• Go-on: へ (he); べ (be); はい (hai, Jōyō); ばい (bai)
• Kan-on: はい (hai, Jōyō)
• Kun: せ (se, 背, Jōyō); せい (sei, 背, Jōyō); そむく (somuku, 背く, Jōyō); そむける (somukeru, 背ける, Jōyō)

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

Noun

背(せい) • (sei) 

1. height

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 背 (MC bwojH|pwojH). Recorded as Middle Korean ᄇᆡ〯 (pǒy) (Yale: pǒy) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): ~
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

背

Wikisource

背 (eumhun 등 배 (deung bae))

1. Hanja form^? of 배 (“back”).
2. Hanja form^? of 배 (“betrayal”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

背: Hán Nôm readings: bối, bội, bổi, bồi

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