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).
Note:
  • dan5 - vernacular;
  • dan4 - literary.
    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 Guilin 但是
    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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