通

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

通 (Kangxi radical 162, 辵+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 卜弓戈月 (YNIB), four-corner 3730₂, composition ⿺辶甬)

Derived characters

• 嗵 樋 熥 蓪 𡠙 𢄟 𢠆 𢳟 𣻢 𦄷 𦪏 𧐺 𫍌 𨫤 𩐹 𨙖 𨖕 𥲆 𫮢 𮃫 𭀶 𬩐

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1258, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 38892
• Dae Jaweon: page 1743, character 18
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3845, character 8
• Unihan data for U+901A

Chinese

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 通 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 通 (Cantonese)
• Thong (sèⁿ) (Southern Min)

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *l̥ʰoːŋ) : semantic 辶 + phonetic 甬 (OC *loŋʔ).

Pronunciation

Definitions

通

1. to pass through; to travel through; to go through; or, to allow passage

   通心粉  ―  tōngxīnfěn  ―  macaroni (lit. "pass-through heart pasta")

   講唔通／讲唔通 [Cantonese]  ―  gong² m⁴ tung¹   ―  unable to have someone understand what one is talking about (lit. "unable to talk through")

   • 仲夏行冬令，則雹凍傷穀，道路不通，暴兵來至。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     仲夏行冬令，则雹冻伤谷，道路不通，暴兵来至。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Zhòngxià xíng dōnglìng, zé báo dòng shāng gǔ, dàolù bù tōng, bàobīng lái zhì.

     If, in the second month of summer, the governmental proceedings of winter were observed, hail and cold would injure the grain; the roads would not be passable; and violent assaults of war would come.

   • 五方之民，言語不通，嗜欲不同。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     五方之民，言语不通，嗜欲不同。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Wǔ fāng zhī mín, yányǔ bù tōng, shìyù bù tóng.

     In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different.

2. through- (spanning across; going between)

   通道  ―  tōngdào  ―  passageway; thoroughfare

   通谷  ―  tōnggǔ  ―  through valley

3. pipe-shaped object

   鐵通／铁通 [Cantonese]  ―  tit³ tung¹   ―  iron pipe

4. (telephony) to get through

   我打咗幾次都打唔通。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我打咗几次都打唔通。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ daa² zo² gei² ci³ dou¹ daa² m⁴ tung¹.

   I tried to call several times but couldn't get through.

5. Classifier for phone calls, talks, criticisms, etc.
6. Classifier for actions.

   • 我這一介紹，嗬，他們這一通買。 [Beijing Mandarin, trad.]
     我这一介绍，嗬，他们这一通买。 [Beijing Mandarin, simp.]

     From: 2000, 梁左 and 梁歡, 《閒人馬大姐》, Episode 6

     Wǒ zhè yī jièshào, hē, tāmen zhè yī tòng mǎi.

     They went on a buying frenzy after just a bit of advertising from me.

7. to make sense; logical
8. expert

   中國通／中国通  ―  zhōngguótōng  ―  one who knows China very much

9. (of Chinese characters) to be etymologically related to and carry a similar meaning to

   ……通「國」／……通「国」  ―  ...... tōng “guó”  ―  … is the same as "國／国 (guó)"

10. (Southern Min) can; may

    alt. forms: 可, 倘

    這通食無？／这通食无？ [Hokkien]  ―  Che thang chia̍h--bô? [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  Can this be eaten?

11. (Cantonese) Short for 通心粉 (“macaroni”).

    腿通 [Cantonese]  ―  teoi² tung¹   ―  macaroni with ham

Synonyms

• (telephony: to get through): 入 (rù)
• (macaroni):

Compounds

Further reading

• “Entry #7925”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.
• “通”, 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

Shinjitai	通
Kyūjitai	通󠄁 通+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	通󠄃 通+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. pass through

Readings

• Go-on: つう (tsū, Jōyō)^{←つう (tuu, historical)}; つ (tsu, Jōyō ^†)^{←つ (tu, historical)}
• Kan-on: とう (tō)^{←とう (tou, historical)}
• Kun: とおる (tōru, 通る, Jōyō)^{←とほる (toforu, 通る, historical)}; かよう (kayou, 通う, Jōyō); とおす (tōsu, 通す, Jōyō)^{←とほす (tofosu, 通す, historical)}
• Nanori: とん (ton); どうし (dōshi); とお (tō); とおり (tōri); とおる (tōru); どおり (dōri); みち (michi); みつ (mitsu); ゆき (yuki); なお (nao); ひらく (hiraku)

Compounds

Counter

通(つう) • (-tsū) 

1. documents

   証(しょう)書(しょ)一(いっ)通(つう)

   shōsho ittsū

   one certificate

Noun

通(つう) • (tsū) 

1. authority, expert, connoisseur

   支(し)那(な)通(つう)

   shinatsū

   China hand

Proper noun

通(とおる) • (Tōru) 

1. a male given name

References

Korean

Hanja

通 (eumhun 통할 통 (tonghal tong))

1. Hanja form^? of 통 (“pass through”).

Vietnamese

Han character

通: Hán Việt readings: thông (他(tha)東(đông)切(thiết))
通: Nôm readings: thong, thông, thồng, thỗng

1. chữ Hán form of thông (“to go through; to pass through”).
2. chữ Hán form of thông (“to clear off; to unchoke; to unclog”).
3. chữ Hán form of thông (“to be familiar with; to master; to be fluent or conversant”).
4. Nôm form of thong (“clear; open; having a passage through”).
5. Nôm form of thong (“to communicate”).

Compounds

References