哀

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哀 U+54C0, 哀
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-54C0
← 咿
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 品 →

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

哀 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 卜口竹女 (YRHV), four-corner 00732, composition ⿳亠口𧘇)

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 188, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3580
  • Dae Jaweon: page 407, character 11
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 620, character 10
  • Unihan data for U+54C0

Chinese

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (衣) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
哀 *qɯːl
依 *qɯl
衣 *qɯl, *qɯls
扆 *qɯlʔ
庡 *qɯlʔ
偯 *qɯlʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯːl) : phonetic 衣 (OC *qɯl, *qɯls) + semantic 口 (“mouth”).

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.
 哀

Probably sound-symbolic (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 哀
Mandarin Beijing /ai⁵⁵/
Harbin /ai⁴⁴/
Tianjin /nai²¹/
Jinan /ŋɛ²¹³/
Qingdao /ɣɛ²¹³/
Zhengzhou /ai²⁴/
Xi'an /ŋai²¹/
Xining /nɛ⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /ɛ⁴⁴/
Lanzhou /ɛ³¹/
Ürümqi /ai⁴⁴/
Wuhan /ŋai⁵⁵/
Chengdu /ŋai⁵⁵/
Guiyang /ŋai⁵⁵/
/ai⁵⁵/ 新
Kunming /æ⁴⁴/
Nanjing /ae³¹/
Hefei /ʐe̞²¹/
Jin Taiyuan /ɣai¹¹/
Pingyao /ŋæ¹³/
Hohhot /ŋɛ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /e⁵³/
Suzhou /e̞⁵⁵/
Hangzhou /ʔe̞³³/
Wenzhou /e³³/
Hui Shexian /ŋɛ³¹/
Tunxi
Xiang Changsha /ŋai³³/
Xiangtan /ŋai³³/
Gan Nanchang /ŋai⁴²/
Hakka Meixian /oi⁴⁴/
Taoyuan /oi²⁴/
Cantonese Guangzhou /ɔi⁵³/
Nanning /ɔi⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /ɔi⁵⁵/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /ai⁵⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /ai⁴⁴/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /uɛ⁵⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /ai³³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ai²³/
Rime
Character 哀
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 影 (34)
Final (韻) 咍 (41)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 烏開切
Baxter 'oj
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ʔʌi/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ʔəi/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ʔɒi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ʔəj/
Li
Rong 		/ʔᴀi/
Wang
Li 		/ɒi/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/ʔɑ̆i/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		āi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		oi1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 哀
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		āi
Middle
Chinese 		‹ ʔoj ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ʔˁəj/
English to pity; sad

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 哀
Reading # 1/1
No. 14835
Phonetic
component 		衣
Rime
group 		微
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		哀
Old
Chinese 		/*qɯːl/

Definitions

哀

  1. to pity; to sympathize
  2. to lament; to mourn
    哀悼  ―  āidào  ―  to lament; to mourn
    哀求  ―  āiqiú  ―  to beg; to implore
  3. sad; mournful; pitiful; sorrowful
    哀痛  ―  āitòng  ―  sad; grieved
  4. grief; sorrow
    節哀／节哀  ―  jié'āi  ―  to restrain one's grief
  5. orphaned of one's mother due to her passing
  6. a surname

Compounds

Etymology 2

simp. and trad.
 哀
alternative forms 𡟓

Coblin (2021) proposes that it is a contraction of Common Neo-Hakka compound 阿姆 (*a¹ moi¹), where *moi¹ may have come from earlier *moi⁴, perhaps related to 母 (OC *mɯʔ, “mother”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

哀

  1. (Hakka) mother
    爺哀／爷哀 [Sixian Hakka]  ―  yà-ôi [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  father and mother; parents

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

哀

(Jōyō kanji)

  1. pathetic
  2. grief
  3. sorrow

Readings

Etymology

Kanji in this term
哀
あい
Grade: S
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 哀 (MC 'oj).

Noun

哀(あい) • (ai) 

  1. grief; sorrow; sadness; lamentation
    哀(あい)を思(おも)う ― ai o omou ― to feel grief; to grieve; to mourn; lament
  2. pity; sympathy

Synonyms

Korean

Hanja

哀 • (ae) (hangeul 애, McCune–Reischauer ae)

  1. grief, sorrow
  2. sad

Vietnamese

Han character

哀: Hán Nôm readings: ai

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