弱

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弱 U+5F31, 弱
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5F31
← 弰
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 弲 →

Translingual

Stroke order
10 strokes

Han character

弱 (Kangxi radical 57, 弓+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 弓一弓戈一 (NMNIM), four-corner 17127, composition ⿰⿹弓冫⿹弓冫(GHTJ) or ⿰⿹弓⿱丿丿⿹弓⿱丿丿(KV))

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 358, character 24
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9791
  • Dae Jaweon: page 675, character 17
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 996, character 16
  • Unihan data for U+5F31

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 弱
2nd round simp. ⿹弓冫
alternative forms 𢐅
𭋘

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 弱
Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Qin slip script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (弱) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
嫋 *neːwʔ
弱 *njewɢ
溺 *njewɢ, *neːwɢ
蒻 *njewɢ
搦 *rneːwɢ, *rnaːwɢ
愵 *neːwɢ

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 弓 (“bow”) + 彡 (“hair, meaning "decoration" in this case”) - a decorative bow that is functionally inferior. Or it might be indicating that the bow is shaking, which implies a worn-out bow.

An alternate etymology is 𢎥 + 𢎥, 𢎥 being a variant of 卷.

Etymology

Probably cognate with 柔 (OC *mlju, “soft”), see there for more (STEDT).

Pronunciation

Note:
  • jio̍h/lio̍h - vernacular;
  • jio̍k/lio̍k/jia̍k - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 弱
Mandarin Beijing /ʐuo⁵¹/
Harbin /iau⁵³/
/ʐuo⁵³/
Tianjin /ʐɑu⁵³/
/ʐɤ⁵³/
Jinan /luə²¹/
Qingdao /yə⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ʐuo²⁴/
Xi'an /vo²⁴/
Xining /u⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /ʐuə¹³/
Lanzhou /və³¹/
Ürümqi /ʐuɤ²¹³/
Wuhan /io²¹³/
Chengdu /zo³¹/
Guiyang /zo²¹/
Kunming /ʐo³¹/
Nanjing /ioʔ⁵/
Hefei /ʐuɐʔ⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /zaʔ²/
Pingyao /ʐʌʔ⁵³/
Hohhot /ʐuaʔ⁴³/
Wu Shanghai /zaʔ¹/
Suzhou /zɑʔ³/
Hangzhou /zɑʔ²/
Wenzhou /ja²¹³/
Hui Shexian /niɔ²²/
Tunxi /ȵio¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /ȵio²⁴/
Xiangtan /ȵio²⁴/
Gan Nanchang /ȵiɔʔ⁵/
/lɔʔ⁵/
Hakka Meixian /ŋiok̚⁵/
Taoyuan /ŋiok̚⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /jœk̚²/
Nanning /jœk̚²²/
Hong Kong /jœk̚²/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /liɔk̚⁵/
/lioʔ⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /yoʔ⁵/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /ŋiɔ²⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /ziak̚⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /niɔk̚³/
Rime
Character 弱
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 日 (38)
Final (韻) 藥 (107)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 而灼切
Baxter nyak
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ȵɨɐk̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ȵiɐk̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ȵʑiɑk̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ȵɨak̚/
Li
Rong 		/ȵiak̚/
Wang
Li 		/ȵʑĭak̚/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ȵʑi̯ak̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		ruò
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		joek6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 弱
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		ruò
Middle
Chinese 		‹ nyak ›
Old
Chinese 		/*newk/
English weak

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 弱
Reading # 1/1
No. 10947
Phonetic
component 		弱
Rime
group 		藥
Rime
subdivision 		2
Corresponding
MC rime 		若
Old
Chinese 		/*njewɢ/

Definitions

弱

  1. weak; feeble
    軟弱／软弱  ―  ruǎnruò  ―  weak, feeble
  2. fragile; delicate

Synonyms

  • (weak):

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of “weak”): 強／强 (qiáng)

Compounds

References

Japanese

Shinjitai 弱
Kyūjitai
[1][2][3][4]
弱󠄁
弱+&#xE0101;?
(Adobe-Japan1)
弱󠄃
弱+&#xE0103;?
(Hanyo-Denshi)
(Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment.
See here for details.

Kanji

弱

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. weak
    Antonym: 強
  2. weakness
  3. slightly less than

Readings

Compounds

Etymology

Kanji in this term
弱
じゃく
Grade: 2
kan'on

Pronunciation

(as a noun)

Noun

弱(じゃく) • (jaku) 

  1. weakness

Suffix

弱(じゃく) • (-jaku) 

  1. (lengths of time) slightly less than
    １(いち)時(じ)間(かん)弱(じゃく)
    ichi-jikan-jaku
    a little bit less than an hour
  2. (proscribed) slightly more than[6]

Antonyms

References

  1. ^ “弱”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎ (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2024
  2. ^ 白川静 (Shirakawa Shizuka) (2014) “弱”, in 字通 (Jitsū)‎ (in Japanese), popular edition, Tōkyō: Heibonsha, →ISBN
  3. ^ Haga, Gōtarō (1914) 漢和大辞書 [The Great Kanji-Japanese Dictionary] (in Japanese), Fourth edition, Tōkyō: Kōbunsha, →DOI, page 809 (paper), page 454 (digital)
  4. ^ Shōundō Henshūjo, editor (1927), 新漢和辞典 [The New Kanji-Japanese Dictionary] (in Japanese), Ōsaka: Shōundō, →DOI, page 512 (paper), page 269 (digital)
  5. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  6. ^ 塩田雄大 (2017 October 1) “「1時間弱」は、1時間よりも長い？短い？”, in NHK放送文化研究所‎

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 弱 (MC nyak).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

弱 (eumhun 약할 약 (yakhal yak))

  1. hanja form? of 약 (“weak”)
    Antonym: 強 (강 (gang))

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

弱: Hán Nôm readings: nhược, ních

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