魂

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魂 U+9B42, 魂
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9B42
← 魁
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 魃 →

Translingual

Han character

魂 (Kangxi radical 194, 鬼+4, 14 strokes, cangjie input 一戈竹戈 (MIHI), four-corner 16713, composition ⿰云鬼)

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 1461, character 12
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 45787
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1994, character 20
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4428, character 9
  • Unihan data for U+9B42

Chinese

trad. 魂
simp. # 魂
alternative forms 䰟

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 魂
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (云) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
魂 *ɢuːn
沄 *ɢuːn, *ɢun
忶 *ɢuːn, *ɢuns
囩 *ɢun
夽 *ŋunʔ
雲 *ɢun
芸 *ɢun
耘 *ɢun
妘 *ɢun
紜 *ɢun
云 *ɢun
耺 *ɢun
蕓 *ɢun
澐 *ɢun
橒 *ɢun
抎 *ɢunʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɢuːn) : phonetic 云 (OC *ɢun) + semantic 鬼.

Etymology

Cognate with 雲 (OC *ɢun, “cloud”) (Carr, 1985).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 魂
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 匣 (33)
Final (韻) 魂 (55)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) I
Fanqie 戸昆切
Baxter hwon
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ɦuən/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ɦuon/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ɣuən/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ɦwən/
Li
Rong 		/ɣuən/
Wang
Li 		/ɣuən/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/ɣuən/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		hún
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		wan4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 魂
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		hún
Middle
Chinese 		‹ hwon ›
Old
Chinese 		/*qʷˁə/
English spiritual soul

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 魂
Reading # 1/1
No. 16353
Phonetic
component 		云
Rime
group 		文
Rime
subdivision 		2
Corresponding
MC rime 		䰟
Old
Chinese 		/*ɢuːn/

Definitions

魂

  1. (religion, folklore) the hun, the soul which goes to heaven, as opposed to the 魄 (pò), which goes down to the earth with the body at death.
  2. soul; spirit
  3. mood
  4. the lofty spirit of a nation or people

Synonyms

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (魂):
  • → Japanese: 魂(こん) (kon)
  • → Korean: 혼(魂) (hon)
  • → Vietnamese: hồn (魂)

Japanese

Kanji

魂

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

  1. soul, spirit
  2. vigour, willpower

Readings

Compounds

Compounds

Etymology 1

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
Kanji in this term
魂
たましい
Grade: S
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
魄

⟨tamasipi1⟩ → */tamasipʲi/ → /tamaɕifi/ → /tamaɕiwi/ → /tamaɕiː/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *tamasipi.

Compound of 魂 (tama, “soul, spirit”, see below) and an uncertain shii, possibly 強ひ (shihi → shii), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of classical verb 強ふ (shifu → shiu), modern 強いる (shiiru, “to force, compel”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Noun

魂(たましい) • (tamashī) ←たましひ (tamasifi)?

  1. (religion, folklore) a soul, spirit
    Synonyms: アニマ (anima), ゼーレ (zēre), ソウル (sōru), 霊魂 (reikon)
    • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 15, poem 3767:
      , text here
      多麻之比(たましひ)波(は)安之多由布敝尓(あしたゆふへに)多麻布礼杼(たまふれど)安我牟祢伊多之(あがむねいたし)古非能之氣吉尓(こひのしげきに) [Man'yōgana]
      魂(たましひ)は朝(あした)夕(ゆふべ)にたまふれど我(あ)が胸(むね)痛(いた)し恋(こひ)の繁(しげ)きに [Modern spelling]
      tamashī wa ashita-yūbe ni tamafuredo aga mune itashi koi no shigeki ni
      (please add an English translation of this example)
  2. mind, spirit, vigour, willpower
    Synonyms: ガイスト (gaisuto), 気力 (kiryoku), 心 (kokoro), 心魂 (kokorodama), 精神 (seishin)
  3. (figurative) spirit (manner or style of something, enthusiasm)
  4. (figurative, by extension) attitude, readiness
    Synonym: 気構え (kigamae)
  5. discretion, judgement, prudence
    Synonyms: 才略 (sairyaku), 思慮 (shiryo), 分別 (funbetsu)
  6. character, genius, talent, wisdom
    Synonyms: 素質 (soshitsu), 天分 (tenbun), 才気 (saiki)
  7. (from a warrior's "spirit") a katana (single-edged Japanese sword)
    Synonym: 刀 (katana)
Derived terms
Derived terms
Idioms
Idioms
Proverbs

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
魂
たま
Grade: S
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
魄
霊

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *tama.

Thought to be cognate with 玉 (tama, “jewel”).

Pronunciation

Noun

魂(たま) • (tama) ←たま (tama)?

  1. a soul, spirit
    • 905, Kokin Wakashū (book 10, poem 448)
      空蟬(うつせみ)のからは木(き)ごとにとどむれどたまのゆくへを見(み)ぬぞかなしき
      utsusemi no kara-wa-ki-goto ni todomuredo tama no yukue o minu zo kanashiki
      (please add an English translation of this example)
    Synonym: 霊魂 (reikon)
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
魂
こん
Grade: S
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 魂 (MC hwon).

Compare modern Mandarin 魂 (hún)

Pronunciation

Noun

魂(こん) • (kon) 

  1. mind, spirit, will
    Synonyms: 心 (kokoro), 精神 (seishin)
  2. a soul, spirit
    Synonym: 霊魂 (reikon)
  3. hun: yang energy or spirit
    Antonym: 魄 (haku)
    Hypernym: 魂魄 (konpaku)
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
魂
こころ
Grade: S
irregular

From 心 (kokoro, “heart, mind, spirit”).

Proper noun

魂(こころ) • (Kokoro) 

  1. a female given name

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 魂 (MC hwon).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

魂 (eumhun 넋 혼 (neok hon))

  1. Hanja form? of 혼 (“soul; spirit”).

Compounds

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.

Okinawan

Kanji

魂

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
魂
たまし
Grade: S
kun’yomi

Noun

魂(たまし) (tamashi) 

  1. soul, spirit, mind

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
魂
たましー
Grade: S
kun’yomi

Noun

魂(たましー) (tamashī) 

  1. (religion) soul of the dead
    Antonym: まぶい

References

  • “タマシ” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).
  • “タマシー” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).

Vietnamese

Han character

魂: Hán Nôm readings: hồn, hun, hùn

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

Yonaguni

Kanji

魂

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese 魂 (tamashī)

Noun

魂 (hiragana たまち, rōmaji tamachi)

  1. (religion) soul; spirit

References

  • “たまち【魂】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
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