巫

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巫 U+5DEB, 巫
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5DEB
← 巪
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 巬 →

Translingual

Han character

巫 (Kangxi radical 48, 工+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 一人人 (MOO), four-corner 10108, composition ⿻工从)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 325, character 19
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8728
  • Dae Jaweon: page 629, character 7
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 412, character 8
  • Unihan data for U+5DEB

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 巫
alternative forms 𢀣
𢍮
𠮎

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 巫
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Ancient script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (巫) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
巫 *ma
誣 *ma
莁 *ma
鵐 *ma

Pictogram (象形) – originally two pieces of jade crossed over each other as used in ancient shamanistic practices focused around sacrifices.

As an alternative, according to Zou Jingheng (鄒景蘅), they represent two 工 crossed over, hence two tools made of bamboo or yarrow stalks; the original meaning should be partly preserved in 筮.

Etymology

“shaman; witch”
This word initially referred to spirit medium/shaman of either sex, but eventually female when contrasted with 覡 (OC *ɡeːɡ, “male shaman”). Various hypotheses exist regarding its etymology (Schuessler, 2007):
  1. Cognate with Tibetan འབའ་པོ ('ba' po, “magician, sorcerer”), འབའ་མོ ('ba' mo, “sorceress”).
  2. Cognate with 誣 (OC *ma, “to deceive”).
  3. Cognate with 舞 (OC *maʔ, “to dance”).
  4. Cognate with 母 (OC *mɯʔ, “female”).
  5. Victor Mair (1990) and Jao Tsung-I (1990) proposed that this is a loanword from Old Persian 𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁 (maguš) (more at Wikipedia: Magus). (Mair, 1990; Mair, 2012).
Thai หมอ (mɔ̌ɔ, “doctor”) < Proto-Tai *ʰmo:ᴬ (“shaman”) is generally assumed to be a Sino-Tibetan loan (Pittayaporn, 2014). More at Wu (shaman), Magi#In Chinese sources, magus.
“Malay”
Clipping of 巫來由／巫来由 (wūláiyóu), a transcription of Malay Melayu.

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 巫
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4)
Final (韻) 虞 (24)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 武夫切
Baxter mju
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/mɨo/
Pan
Wuyun 		/mio/
Shao
Rongfen 		/mio/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/muə̆/
Li
Rong 		/mio/
Wang
Li 		/mĭu/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/mi̯u/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		wú
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		mou4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 巫
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		wū
Middle
Chinese 		‹ mju ›
Old
Chinese 		/*C.m(r)/
English magician

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 巫
Reading # 1/1
No. 13062
Phonetic
component 		巫
Rime
group 		魚
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		無
Old
Chinese 		/*ma/

Definitions

巫

  1. shaman; witch; sorcerer; wizard
  2. witch doctor
  3. (chiefly Malaysia, Singapore) Malay; Melayu; relating to ethnic Malays
    巫統／巫统  ―  wūtǒng  ―  United Malays National Organisation, UMNO
  4. a surname
    巫啟賢／巫启贤  ―  Wū Qǐxián  ―  Eric Moo (Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter)

Descendants

  • → English: wu

Compounds

References

Japanese

Kanji

巫

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

  1. shaman
  2. witch, sorcerer

Readings

  • Go-on: む (mu)
  • Kan-on: ぶ (bu)
  • Kan’yō-on: ふ (fu)
  • Kun: みこ (miko, 巫)、かんなぎ (kannagi, 巫)

Compounds

Compounds

Usage notes

This is the only kanji added to the jinmeiyō kanji list on 7 January 2015 by the Japanese government; previously classified as hyōgaiji.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
巫
かんなぎ
Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
覡

/kamunaɡi/ → /kaɴnaɡi/

From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of 神 (kamu, “god, spirit”) +‎ 和ぎ (nagi, “calming, calming down”), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 和ぐ (nagu, “to become calm, to become quiet”).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

巫(かんなぎ) • (kannagi) 

  1. (archaic) a medium or shaman, usually female, who acts as a medium between humans and the spirits or gods, helping to communicate between the two and to calm any supernatural or spiritual upset
    Synonyms: 巫女 (miko), 神子 (kanko)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
巫
こうなぎ
Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
覡

/kamunaɡi/ → /kaũnaɡi/ → /kaunaɡi/ → /kɔːnaɡi/ → /koːnaɡi/

Shift in pronunciation of the 神 (kamu) element, similar to the pattern seen in terms such as 神戸 (“Kōbe”).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

巫(こうなぎ) • (kōnagi) ←かうなぎ (kaunagi)?

  1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) a medium or shaman, usually female, who acts as a medium between humans and the spirits or gods, helping to communicate between the two and to calm any supernatural or spiritual upset

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
巫
みこ
Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 巫 – see the following entry.
【巫女みこ】
An unmarried woman who serves at a Shintō shrine, helping to receive visitors and performing 神楽 (kagura) dances at ceremonies, among other responsibilities. A shrine maid.
An unmarried woman who serves a deity as a medium to convey oracles.
Alternative spellings
神子, 神巫, 覡
(This term, 巫, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 巫 (MC mju). Recorded as Middle Korean 무 (mwu) (Yale: mwu) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

巫 (eumhun 무당 무 (mudang mu))

  1. hanja form? of 무 (“shaman; something related to shamanism”)

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.

Vietnamese

Han character

巫: Hán Việt readings: vu

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