或

Stroke order

Stroke order

或 (Kangxi radical 62, 戈+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 戈口一 (IRM), four-corner 5310₀, composition ⿹戈⿱口㇀)

• 㖪, 域, 惐, 掝, 淢, 䧕, 棫, 𤊨, 琙, 㽣, 䂸, 稢, 緎, 聝, 𠒬, 戫, 蜮, 䬎(𬱿), 馘, 䤋, 䮙, 魊, 䱛(𮬟), 𠜻, 㰲, 㚜, 罭, 窢, 䈅, 䍞, 閾(阈), 惑, 㳼, 𤦂, 𢨋, 䰥, 彧, 𤷇, 國(国)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 412, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 11563
• Dae Jaweon: page 754, character 17
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1402, character 8
• Unihan data for U+6216

Historical forms of the character 或
Shang	Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States		Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Guwen Sishengyun (compiled in Song)	Jizhuan Guwen Yunhai (compiled in Song)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts	Transcribed ancient scripts	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 戈 (“dagger-axe (used to defend the territory)”) + 囗 (“city wall”) + 一, “territory”. The most ancient version is 戓, then modified into 或; the stroke was added perhaps when the pronounciation of the character evolved.

Borrowed for abstract meanings. The derivative 國 (OC *kʷɯːɡ), 域 (OC *ɢʷrɯɡ), and perhaps 淢 refer to the original word. The last character can be seen in the ancient name of the Han river, 㵄.

或 (OC *ɡʷɯːɡ, “someone; some”) is the result of the distributive suffix *-k being added to 有 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “there is”).

Cognate with 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “again”) (Schuessler, 2007).

或

1. or; either ... or ... (used to list alternatives)

   中國或日本／中国或日本  ―  Zhōngguó huò Rìběn  ―  China or Japan

   或多或少  ―  huòduōhuòshǎo  ―  more or less, some amount

   可以說兩種或兩種以上的語言 [MSC, trad.]
   可以说两种或两种以上的语言 [MSC, simp.]

   kěyǐ shuō liǎng zhǒng huò liǎng zhǒng yǐshàng de yǔyán

   able to speak two or more languages

2. (literary, including in news headlines) perhaps; maybe
   • 1046 October 17, 范仲淹, 岳陽樓記:

     嗟夫！予嘗求古仁人之心，或異二者之為。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     嗟夫！予尝求古仁人之心，或异二者之为。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     Jiēfū! Yǔ cháng qiú gǔ rénrén zhī xīn, huò yì èr zhě zhī wèi.

     Alas! I once investigated the thoughts of the ancient sages, they were perhaps different from the behaviour of the two.

   代表團已出發，明天上午或可到達。 [MSC, trad.]
   代表团已出发，明天上午或可到达。 [MSC, simp.]

   Dàibiǎotuán yǐ chūfā, míngtiān shàngwǔ huò kě dàodá.

   The delegation has set out, and will probably arrive tomorrow morning.

3. occasionally; sometimes
4. if; assuming; should ...
5. (logic, computing) OR; inclusive or
6. particle used in negative sentences to reinforce the negative tone
7. (literary) some; someone; something

   • 齊人伐燕，勝之。宣王問曰：「或謂寡人勿取，或謂寡人取之。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     齐人伐燕，胜之。宣王问曰：「或谓寡人勿取，或谓寡人取之。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Qí rén fá yàn, shèng zhī. Xuān wáng wèn yuē: “Huò wèi guǎrén wù qǔ, huò wèi guǎrén qǔ zhī.”

     Qi attacked Yan, conquering it. King Xuan said: "Some people tell me not to take it for myself; some tell me to take it".

8. Ancient form of 惑 (huò, “doubt”).

或

1. Original form of 域 (yù, “range; territory”).
2. Original form of 國／国 (guó, “country”).

• Jing-Schmidt, Zhuo, Peng, Xinjia (2016 February 1) “The emergence of disjunction: A history of constructionalization in Chinese”, in Cognitive Linguistics‎, volume 27, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 101–136.

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. a certain ...; some ...​

• Go-on: わく (waku)
• Kan-on: こく (koku)
• Kun: ある (aru, 或る)、あるいは (arui wa, 或るいは)

或 • (hok) (hangeul 혹, revised hok, McCune–Reischauer hok, Yale hok)

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

或: Hán Nôm readings: hoặc, hoắc

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