但

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但 U+4F46, 但
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F46
← 佅
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 佇 →

Translingual

Stroke order
7 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

但 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 人日一 (OAM), four-corner 26210, composition ⿰亻旦)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 97, character 21
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 495
  • Dae Jaweon: page 206, character 10
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 132, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+4F46

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 但

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 但
s05883
Transcribed ancient scripts
L34714
L16006
L16007
References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (旦) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
皽 *tjaʀ, *tanʔ, *tjanʔ
担 *taːnʔ
胆 *daːn, *daːn
疸 *taːnʔ, *taːns
觛 *taːnʔ, *taːns, *daːnʔ
亶 *taːnʔ
嬗 *taːnʔ, *tʰaːn, *djans
笪 *taːnʔ, *taːns, *taːd
狚 *taːnʔ, *taːns, *taːd
旦 *taːns
鴠 *taːns
譠 *tʰaːn, *rteːn
坦 *tʰaːnʔ
但 *daːn, *daːnʔ, *daːns
檀 *daːn
壇 *daːn
儃 *daːn, *djan
驙 *daːn, *tan
袒 *daːnʔ, *rdeːns
襢 *daːnʔ, *tanʔ, *tans
繵 *daːnʔ
膻 *daːnʔ
澶 *daːns, *djan
邅 *tan, *danʔ, *dans
鱣 *tan
饘 *tjan, *tjanʔ
旜 *tjan
氈 *tjan
鸇 *tjan
顫 *tjans
蟺 *djanʔ
擅 *djans
羶 *hljan
呾 *taːd, *ʔraːd
怛 *taːd
妲 *taːd
靼 *taːd, *tjad
炟 *taːd

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *daːn, *daːnʔ, *daːns) : semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 旦 (OC *taːns).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(d/t)a(n/j) (“single; one; whole; only”). Cognate with 單 (OC *taːn, “single”).

Pronunciation

Note: thán - archaic.
Note:
  • tān - literary;
  • nā - vernacular (limited, e.g. 毋但).
Rime
Character 但 但 但
Reading # 1/3 2/3 3/3
Initial (聲) 定 (7) 定 (7) 定 (7)
Final (韻) 寒 (61) 寒 (61) 寒 (61)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Rising (X) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open Open
Division (等) I I I
Fanqie 徒干切 徒旱切 徒案切
Baxter dan danX danH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/dɑn/ /dɑnX/ /dɑnH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/dɑn/ /dɑnX/ /dɑnH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/dɑn/ /dɑnX/ /dɑnH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/dan/ /danX/ /danH/
Li
Rong 		/dɑn/ /dɑnX/ /dɑnH/
Wang
Li 		/dɑn/ /dɑnX/ /dɑnH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/dʱɑn/ /dʱɑnX/ /dʱɑnH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		tán dàn dàn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		taan4 daan6 daan6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 但
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		dàn
Middle
Chinese 		‹ danX ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ˁaʔ/
English only

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 但 但 但
Reading # 1/3 2/3 3/3
No. 2060 2067 2072
Phonetic
component 		旦 旦 旦
Rime
group 		元 元 元
Rime
subdivision 		1 1 1
Corresponding
MC rime 		壇 但 憚
Old
Chinese 		/*daːn/ /*daːnʔ/ /*daːns/
Notes 通作袒

Definitions

但

  1. only
    但求  ―  dàn qiú  ―  to only hope
  2. but; however; yet; still
    但是  ―  dànshì  ―  but
    這種情況很少見，但也不是不會發生。 [MSC, trad.]
    这种情况很少见，但也不是不会发生。 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng hěn shàojiàn, dàn yě bùshì bùhuì fāshēng.
    This type of situation is rare, but it may still happen.
  3. a surname
  4. (Protestantism) Dan

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 但是 (“but; however”)
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 而, 然, 但, 卻, 則
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 但是, 但, 可是, 不過, 然而
Northeastern Mandarin Taiwan 但是, 但, 可是, 不過
Malaysia 但
Singapore 但, 但是, 可是, 不過
Southwestern Mandarin Pematangsiantar tapi
Cantonese Guangzhou 但係, 不過, 之不過, 之但係
Hong Kong 但係, 不過, 之不過, 之但係, but
Taishan 但係
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 但係
Singapore (Guangfu) 但係, 不過, 之不過
Hakka Meixian 但係, 董係
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 但係, 毋過
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 但係, 毋過, 毋故
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 但係, 毋過
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 但係, 毋過
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 但係, 毋過
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 毋過
Senai (Huiyang) 但係
Kuching (Hepo) tapi
Eastern Min Fuzhou 但是
Matsu 但是
Southern Min Xiamen 但是, 毋過, 毋句, 不過, 不而過
Quanzhou 但是, 毋句, 不過, 不而過
Zhangzhou 但是, 毋過, 不過, 不而過
Taipei 但是, 毋過, 不而過
Penang (Hokkien) tapi, 但是
Singapore (Hokkien) tapi, 但是, 毋句, 毋過
Manila (Hokkien) 但是, 毋句, 毋過
Medan (Hokkien) tapi
Shantou 是呾
Shantou (Chenghai) 是呾
Jieyang 是呾, 比補
Bangkok (Teochew) 但是, แต่ว่า
Johor Bahru (Teochew) 但是, tapi
Singapore (Teochew) tapi, 不過, 但是
Wenchang 但是
Qionghai 但是
Wu Shanghai 但是, 必過, 不過, 但不過, 但必過
Wuxi 但必過
  • (Dan): (Catholicism) 丹 (dān)

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

但

(Jōyō kanji)

Readings

  • Go-on: だん (dan)
  • Kan-on: たん (tan)
  • Kun: ただし (tadashi, 但し, Jōyō)、ただ (tada, 但)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
但
ただ
Grade: S
kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 但 – see the following entry.
【ただ】
唯, 只, 但: merely, commonly, simply, only
唯, 只, 但: but, however, although, except that
Alternative spellings
唯, 只
(This term, 但, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
但
ただ(し)
Grade: S
kun'yomi

Proper noun

但(ただし) or 但(たゞし) • (Tadashi) 

  1. a male given name

Korean

Hanja

但 (eumhun 다만 단 (daman dan))

  1. hanja form? of 단 (“only”)
  2. hanja form? of 단 (“but, however, yet, still”)

Vietnamese

Han character

但: Hán Việt readings: đãn[1][2], đán
但: Nôm readings: giản[3], đản[3], đởn[4]

  1. (literary) only
  2. (literary) but, however

References

  1. ^ Trần (1999).
  2. ^ Bonet (1899).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hồ (1976).
  4. ^ Nguyễn et al. (2009).
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