常

Stroke order

常 (Kangxi radical 50, 巾+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 火月口中月 (FBRLB), four-corner 9022₇, composition ⿱𫩠巾 or ⿱龸吊)

• 𭂝, 𠼔, 嫦, 𫺺, 𣻸, 𣙟, 𣰎, 龦, 瑺, 𫀠, 𮈼, 蟐, 𮖫, 𭋠, 鏛, 𫙲, 𭀕, 𩀯, 𫷓, 𪄹, 𢊥, 𫉒, 𤹰, 㦂

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 333, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8955
• Dae Jaweon: page 639, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 744, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5E38

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 常姓 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 常姓 (Cantonese)
• 常姓 (Gan)
• Siông (kin-pêng) (Southern Min)
• Chang (surname) (English)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djaŋ) : phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 巾 (“cloth”).

The character originally referred to "lower garment", before being phonetically borrowed to mean "long-lasting; frequently". The original sense is now represented by the character 裳 (OC *djaŋ, “lower garment”).

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan; perhaps related to Tibetan ཡང (yang, “again, once more”) (Schuessler, 2007).

常

1. normal; general; common

   常人  ―  chángrén  ―  common people

   人之常情  ―  rénzhīchángqíng  ―  human nature

   非常  ―  fēicháng  ―  extraordinary

   習以為常／习以为常  ―  xíyǐwéicháng  ―  to be accustomed to (something)

2. constant; invariable

   常駐／常驻  ―  chángzhù  ―  to be stationed in

   • 疆埸之邑，一彼一此，何常之有？ [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Jiāngyì zhī yì, yī bǐ yī cǐ, hé cháng zhī yǒu?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 聖人無常心，以百姓心為心。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     圣人无常心，以百姓心为心。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Tao Te Ching, 4^th century BCE

     Shèngrén wú cháng xīn, yǐ bǎixìng xīn wéi xīn.

     The sage has no invariable mind of his own; he makes the mind of the people his mind.

3. often; frequently

   經常／经常  ―  jīngcháng  ―  often

   • 世有伯樂，然後有千里馬。千里馬常有，而伯樂不常有。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     世有伯乐，然后有千里马。千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 8th–9th century, Han Yu, 雜說四

     Shì yǒu Bólè, ránhòu yǒu qiānlǐmǎ. Qiānlǐmǎ cháng yǒu, ér Bólè bù cháng yǒu.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 鳳姐兒聽了，不覺的眼圈兒又紅了，道：「我得了閒兒，必常來看你。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     凤姐儿听了，不觉的眼圈儿又红了，道：「我得了闲儿，必常来看你。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Fèng Jiěr tīng le, bùjiào de yǎnquānr yòu hóng le, dào: “Wǒ dé le xiánr, bì cháng lái kàn nǐ.”

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (literary) law and order

   三綱五常／三纲五常  ―  sāngāngwǔcháng  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

5. (literary) law; rule; regular pattern

   • 天行有常，不為堯存，不為桀亡。應之以治則吉，應之以亂則凶。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     天行有常，不为尧存，不为桀亡。应之以治则吉，应之以乱则凶。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

     Tiān xíng yǒu cháng, bù wèi Yáo cún, bù wèi Jié wáng. Yìng zhī yǐ zhì zé jí, yìng zhī yǐ luàn zé xiōng.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

6. an ancient unit of length equivalent to two xuns (尋／寻)
7. 51st tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "constancy" (𝌸)
8. a surname

   常遇春  ―  Cháng Yùchūn  ―  Chang Yuchun (Ming dynasty general)

常

1. (Southern Min) Only used in 常在.

常

1. (Southern Min) indolent; sloppy

• “常”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A01175
• “Query for 常”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Hokkien and Mandarin), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. eternal, unchanging
2. ordinary, usual
3. continuation
4. Hitachi Province

• Go-on: じょう (jō, Jōyō)^{←じやう (zyau, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kun: きだ (kida, 常)、つね (tsune, 常, Jōyō)、とこ (toko, 常, Jōyō)、とことわ (tokotowa, 常)、とわ (towa, 常)
• Nanori: つら (tsura)、とき (toki)、ときわ (tokiwa)^{←ときは (tokifa, historical)}、のぶ (nobu)、ひ (hi)、ひさ (hisa)、ひさし (hisashi)、ひた (hita)

• 常陸(ひたち) (Hitachi)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

常

Wikipedia ^ja

/d͡ʑau/ → /d͡ʑɔː/ → /d͡ʑoː/

From Middle Chinese 常 (MC dzyang).

• (Tokyo) じょー (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

常(じょう) • (jō) ^{←じやう (zyau)?}

1. (obsolete) always, constantly, consistently

常(じょう) • (jō) ^{←じやう (zyau)?}

1. a traditional Japanese unit of length, equal to one 丈 (jō, roughly three meters) and three 尺 (shaku, roughly one foot or thirty centimeters)

*⟨ki₁da⟩ → */kʲida/ → /kida/

First attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Cognate with root kiza in 刻む (kizamu, “to mince; to slice; to cut a thing into pieces; to groove, to nick, to notch”).^[1]

Also sometimes read as kita.

• 段

• IPA^(key):

常(きだ) or 常(きた) • (kida or kita) 

1. (obsolete) a traditional Japanese unit of measure for the length of cut cloth, equal to one 丈 (jō, roughly three meters) and three 尺 (shaku, roughly one foot or thirty centimeters)
2. (obsolete) a traditional Japanese unit of measure for the area of an agricultural field or paddy, equal to either 360 歩 (bu, around 1190 square meters), later reduced to 300 歩 (bu)/坪 (tsubo, almost 992 square meters)

   Synonym: 段 (tan)

常(きだ) • (-kida) 

1. counter for cuts or strips of something

/tune/ → /t͡sune/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū, compiled around 759 CE.^[1] May be cognate with 綱 (tsuna, “thick rope; binding”), with underlying ideas of "connection, continuance".

• 恒

• (Tokyo) つね (Atamadaka – )^[2][3]
• IPA^(key):

常(つね) • (tsune) -na (adnominal 常(つね)な (tsune na), adverbial 常(つね)に (tsune ni))

1. (obsolete) eternal, permanent, consistent
2. (obsolete) normal, everyday, regular, usual, ordinary

   Synonyms: 普段 (fudan), 普通 (futsū), 平素 (heiso)

This appears as an adjective in older texts with the classical attributive form tsune naru. When used attributively in modern Japanese, this term is used with the particle の (no) instead:

• 常(つね)の人(ひと)

  tsune no hito

  everyday people, regular people

Modern Japanese does still use this term as an adverb, with particle に (ni):

• このカメラは常(つね)にオンになっている。

  Kono kamera wa tsune ni on ni natte iru.

  This camera is always on.

• あの会社(かいしゃ)はサービスが常(つね)に悪(わる)い。

  Ano kaisha wa sābisu ga tsune ni warui.

  That company has consistently bad service.

• 常体(つねたい) (tsunetai)
• 常々(つねづね) (tsunezune), 常常(つねづね) (tsunezune)
• 経常(けいつね) (keitsune)

常(つね) • (tsune) 

1. constancy, continuance
2. the ordinary, the everyday

⟨to₂ko₂⟩ → */təkə/ → /toko/

From Old Japanese. Possibly cognate with 時 (toki, “time”).

The way the term is used in the historical record suggests that this was originally a noun. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) By the time of written Japanese, however, this term only appears in compounds, never on its own, and its usage is more as an adjective to modify other nouns.

• IPA^(key):

常(とこ) • (toko-) 

1. eternal, forever, unchanging, everlasting

Only used in compounds. Attaches to nouns and other nominals, often (but not always) with the now-obsolete possessive particle つ (tsu).

• 常(とこ)つ御(み)門(かど)、常(とこ)夏(なつ)、常(とこ)とわ

  toko tsu mikado, tokonatsu, tokotowa

  the eternal palace, eternal summer, eternal permanence

/tokotoba/ → /tokotowa/

From Old Japanese. Read as tokotoba until the Heian period.^[1][2]

Appears to be originally a compound of 常 (toko, “eternal”, see above) +‎ とわ (towa, “permanence, unchangingness”, from earlier とば toba).

This latter element is of unclear derivation. Some sources^[1] indicate that towa as an independent term arose as a contraction of earlier tokotoba, suggesting the possibility that toba was initially a compound of particles と (to, adverbial particle) + は (wa, formerly ba, even earlier pa; topic particle). However, other sources^[4] describe tokotowa as an intensified or emphatic form of towa.

• 常とわ, 恒とわ, (rare) 永久

• (Tokyo) とことわ (Heiban – )^[4]
• (Tokyo) とことわ (Nakadaka – )^[4]
• IPA^(key):

常(とことわ) • (tokotowa) ^{←とことは (tokotofa)?}-na (adnominal 常(とことわ)な (tokotowa na), adverbial 常(とことわ)に (tokotowa ni))

1. (archaic, rare) permanent, eternal

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

2. (archaic, rare) usual, ordinary

   Synonym: 常 (tsune)

Listed in dictionaries^[1][2][5] as a 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjective”). However, actual usage suggests that this was only used with particle に (ni) as an adverb, and never with particle な (na) or classical なる (naru) as an adjective. When this appears attributively, it is followed by particle の (no),^[4] the usual construction when using a noun to modify another noun.

常(とことわ) • (tokotowa) ^{←とことは (tokotofa)?}

1. (archaic, rare) permanence, eternity

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)