蓋

Translingual

Han character

蓋 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+10, 14 strokes in traditional Chinese and Korean, 13 strokes in mainland China and Japanese, cangjie input 廿土戈廿 (TGIT), four-corner 4410₇, composition ⿱艹盍)

Derived characters

• 壒, 㯼, 濭, 瓂, 礚(𥕤), 䡷, 鑉(𫠁), 饚, 𡀽, 𡣨, 𭗡, 𢅤, 𢣏(㦈), 𢷞, 𣋞, 𣩱, 𤐩, 𭿫, 𫇙, 𧞔, 𮜝, 𮡈, 𨽈, 𩍰, 𩡤, 𣰛, 𨞨, 𩕭, 𤻜, 𠤅, 𡈮

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1051, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 31652
• Dae Jaweon: page 1513, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3260, character 13
• Unihan data for U+84CB

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kaːbs, *kaːb, *ɡaːb) : semantic 艸 (“grass”) + phonetic 盍 (OC *ɡaːb) — a thatch.

盍 is the original character for the “cover” sense. However, because this original character was borrowed to mean “why not”, the scope of senses for 蓋 expanded to include the “cover” sense (and its extended meanings).

Etymology 1

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

蓋

1. to cover; to conceal

   蓋被／盖被 [Hokkien]  ―  kah-phōe [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  to put on a blanket

2. (figurative) to cover up; to conceal
3. (Southern Min) to put on; to apply
4. to stamp; to affix (a seal)
5. to overwhelm; to surpass
6. to build; to construct

   蓋房子／盖房子  ―  gài fángzi  ―  to build a house

7. to talk nonsense; to chatter; to brag; to boast; to bluff
8. cover; cap; lid
9. shell (of a turtle, crab, etc.)
10. ^† thatch; straw mat
11. ^† canopy
12. (dialectal) excellent; fantastic
13. (Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien, Southern Sixian Hakka) very

    • 該係蓋久蓋久个以前，𠊎還蓋細蓋細个時節，𠊎還蓋細蓋細个時節 [Sixian Hakka, trad.]
      该系盖久盖久个以前，𠊎还盖细盖细个时节，𠊎还盖细盖细个时节 [Sixian Hakka, simp.]

      From: 2006, 林姿君, 匍背 (Hunchback)

      Te he koi kiú koi kiú e yî-chhièn, ngài hàn koi se koi se e sṳ̀-chiet, ngài hàn koi se koi se e sṳ̀-chiet [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]

      That is a very, very long time ago, when I was still very, very small, when I was still very, very small.

    • 腔口趣味雖然不知講啥，勿擱實在蓋好聽。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
      腔口趣味虽然不知讲啥，勿搁实在盖好听。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

      From: 2016,陳隨意, 鹿港思帶路

      Khiuⁿ-kháu chhù-bī sui-liân m̄ chai kóng siáⁿ, m̄-koh si̍t-chāi kài hó-thiaⁿ. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

      The accent is interesting; though not understandable, it actually sounds really nice.

14. ^† probably; roughly
15. ^† for; because
16. a surname

Synonyms

Compounds

See also

• 捂 (wǔ)

Descendants

• → Japanese: 蓋し (kedashi) (calque)

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

蓋

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of 盍 (hé, “to cover; to join together; thatch”)
2. (obsolete) Alternative form of 闔／阖 (hé, “door leaf”)

Etymology 2

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 蓋姓

Pronunciation

Definitions

蓋

1. (～邑) (historical) Ge (a city in the ancient state of Qi in modern-day Yishui County, Shandong)
2. a surname

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Definitions

蓋

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of 盍 (hé, “how; why”)

   • 人生世上，勢位富貴，蓋可忽乎哉？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     人生世上，势位富贵，盖可忽乎哉？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

     Rénshēng shìshàng, shìwèi fùguì, hé kě hū hū zāi?

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (obsolete) Alternative form of 盍 (hé, “why not”)

   • 晉獻公將殺其世子申生，公子重耳謂之曰：「子蓋言子之志於公乎？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     晋献公将杀其世子申生，公子重耳谓之曰：「子盖言子之志于公乎？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Jìn Xiàn Gōng jiāng shā qí shì zǐ Shēnshēng, gōngzǐ Chóng'ěr wèi zhī yuē: “Zǐ hé yán zǐ zhī zhì yú gōng hū?”

     Duke Xian of Jin, intending to put to death his heir-son Shen-sheng, another son, Chong-er, said to the latter, "Why do you not tell what is in your mind to the duke?"

   • 子貢曰：「夫子之道至大也，故天下莫能容夫子。夫子蓋少貶焉？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子贡曰：「夫子之道至大也，故天下莫能容夫子。夫子盖少贬焉？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Zǐgòng yuē: “Fūzǐ zhī dào zhì dà yě, gù tiānxià mò néng róng fūzǐ. Fūzǐ hé shǎo biǎn yān?”

     Zigong said, "Master, your philosophy is the greatest, and thus no one in the world can accept you. Why do you, Master, not slightly lower your standards?"

Etymology 4

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 蓋

Pronunciation

Definitions

蓋

1. Alternative form of 匼 (“to cover”)

References

• “Entry #10820”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. cover
2. lid
3. flap

Readings

• Go-on: かい (kai); ごう (gō)
• Kan-on: かい (kai); こう (kō)
• Kan’yō-on: がい (gai, Jōyō)
• Kun: ふた (futa, 蓋, Jōyō); けだし (kedashi, 蓋し); おおう (ōu, 蓋う); かさ (kasa, 蓋)

Compounds

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Used in the Man'yōshū of circa 759 CE to phonetically spell Mount Futagami as 蓋上山. In turn, from Proto-Japonic *pota.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ふた (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

蓋(ふた) or 蓋(フタ) • (futa) 

1. lid; cap; cover; (malacology) operculum

   箱(はこ)のふた ― hako no futa ― box lid

   ビンの蓋(ふた) ― bin no futa ― cap of a bottle

References

Korean

Hanja

蓋 (eumhun 덮을 개 (deopeul gae))

1. Hanja form^? of 개 (“cover”).

Vietnamese

Han character

蓋: Hán Nôm readings: cái

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