法

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See also: 灋
法 U+6CD5, 法
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6CD5
← 泔
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 泖 →

Translingual

Stroke order
8 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

法 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 水土戈 (EGI), four-corner 34131, composition ⿰氵去)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 616, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17290
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1010, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1579, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+6CD5

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 法
alternative forms 㳒
灋
𢌇
佱
𣳴

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 法
Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Bronze inscriptions Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (法) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
法 *pqab
灋 *pqab

Simplified from earlier 灋, which was originally used to represent 廢 (OC *pads, “to cast aside; to abrogate”).

Etymology 1

Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan བབས (babs, “shape, form, appearance”), དབྱིབས (dbyibs, “shape, form, figure”), Burmese ပုံ (pum, “shape, form”). Possibly cognate with 凡 (OC *bom, “all, general, every; pattern, general rule”); see there for more.

Pronunciation

Note:
Note:
  • huab4 - Chaozhou, Chaoyang, Jieyang, Raoping, Pontianak;
  • huag4 - Shantou, Chenghai.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 法
Mandarin Beijing /fa²¹⁴/
/fa⁵¹/
Harbin /fa²¹³/
Tianjin /fɑ⁴⁵/ ～子
/fɑ¹³/ 方～,～國
Jinan /fa²¹³/
Qingdao /fa⁵⁵/
Zhengzhou /fa²⁴/
Xi'an /fa²¹/
Xining /fa⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /fa¹³/
Lanzhou /fa¹³/
Ürümqi /fa⁵¹/
Wuhan /fa²¹³/
Chengdu /fa³¹/
Guiyang /fa²¹/
Kunming /fa̠³¹/
Nanjing /fɑʔ⁵/
Hefei /fɐʔ⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /faʔ²/
Pingyao /xuʌʔ¹³/
Hohhot /faʔ⁴³/
Wu Shanghai /faʔ⁵/
Suzhou /faʔ⁵/
Hangzhou /fɑʔ⁵/
Wenzhou /ho²¹³/
Hui Shexian /faʔ²¹/
Tunxi /fuːə⁵/
Xiang Changsha /fa²⁴/
Xiangtan /ɸɒ²⁴/
Gan Nanchang /faʔ⁵/
Hakka Meixian /fap̚¹/
Taoyuan /fɑp̚²²/
Cantonese Guangzhou /fat̚³/
Nanning /fat̚³³/
Hong Kong /fat̚³/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /huat̚³²/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /huɑʔ²³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /xua²⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /huak̚²/
Haikou (Hainanese) /fak̚⁵/
Rime
Character 法
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 幫 (1)
Final (韻) 乏 (148)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed
Division (等) III
Fanqie 方乏切
Baxter pjop
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/pɨɐp̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/piɐp̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/piɐp̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/puap̚/
Li
Rong 		/piɐp̚/
Wang
Li 		/pĭwɐp̚/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/pi̯wɐp̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		fa
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		faat3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 法
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		fǎ
Middle
Chinese 		‹ pjop ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ap/
English model, law

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 法
Reading # 1/1
No. 2867
Phonetic
component 		法
Rime
group 		盍
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		法
Old
Chinese 		/*pqab/
Notes 說文灋省文

Definitions

法

  1. law; rule; regulation; statute
    法院  ―  fǎyuàn  ―  court of law
    立法  ―  lìfǎ  ―  to legislate
    犯法  ―  fànfǎ  ―  to break the law
    普通法  ―  pǔtōngfǎ  ―  common law
    著作權法／著作权法  ―  zhùzuòquánfǎ  ―  copyright law
  2. norm; standard; model; example
    法書／法书  ―  fǎshū  ―  model calligraphy
    語法／语法  ―  yǔfǎ  ―  grammar
  3. to imitate; to emulate
    效法  ―  xiàofǎ  ―  to imitate
    師法／师法  ―  shīfǎ  ―  to imitate
  4. method; way; solution
    歸納法／归纳法  ―  guīnàfǎ  ―  inductive reasoning
    有法 [Hokkien]  ―  ū hoat [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  to be able to; can; to have a way to do something
    哪能讀法？ [Shanghainese, trad.]
    哪能读法？ [Shanghainese, simp.]
    6na-nen6 8doq-faq7 [Wugniu]
    How do you read this?
  5. (Buddhism) dharma; principle of the universe; teachings of Buddha
    法輪／法轮  ―  fǎlún  ―  dharmachakra
    末法時期／末法时期  ―  mò fǎ shíqī  ―  Dharma-ending age
  6. magic; magic arts; sorcery; witchcraft
    施法  ―  shīfǎ  ―  to cast a spell
  7. 40th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "law" (𝌭)
  8. (Cantonese) such a way
    而家噉搞法我都唔知點算好。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    而家噉搞法我都唔知点算好。 [Cantonese, simp.]
    ji4 gaa1 gam2 gaau2 faat3 ngo5 dou1 m4 zi1 dim2 syun3 hou2.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  9. (Shanghainese) very
    哪能好法 [Shanghainese]  ―  6na-nen6 5hau-faq7 [Wugniu]  ―  incredibly good
  10. a surname
Usage notes

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (法):
  • → Japanese: 法(ほう) (hō)
  • → Korean: 법(法) (beop)
  • → Vietnamese: pháp (法)

Others:

  • → Proto-Tai
    • Lao: ແບບ (bǣp, “form; model, standard, example; method; style, manner; brand, type”)
    • Thai: แบบ (bɛ̀ɛp, “kind; design, pattern; style; type; model”)
    • → Khmer: បែប (baep, “kind, sort, model, type; style, form, shape; aspect; method, way, situation, condition”)
  • → Vietnamese: phép (“rule, custom, usage, method; permission, authorisation; magical power”)
  • → Manchu: ᡶᠠᡶᡠᠨ (fafun, “law; rule; punishment”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Note:
  • huab4 - Chaozhou;
  • huag4 - Shantou.

    Definitions

    法

    1. Short for 法蘭西／法兰西 (Fǎlánxī, “France”).
      法語／法语  ―  fǎyǔ  ―  French language
      法棍  ―  fǎgùn  ―  French stick
    Usage notes
    Synonyms

    Compounds

    Etymology 3

    Pronunciation

    Definitions

    法

    1. Short for 法拉 (fǎlā, “farad”).

    Compounds

    References

    • “法”, 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–
    • 莆田市荔城区档案馆 , editor (2022), “法”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 61.

    Japanese

    Kanji

    法

    (Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

    1. method
    2. law, rule
    3. principle
    4. model
    5. system

    Readings

    Compounds

    Etymology 1

    Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia ja
    Kanji in this term
    法
    ほう
    Grade: 4
    on'yomi

    From Middle Chinese 法 (MC pjop). Originally, the kan'on was はふ (fafu), and the goon was ほふ (fofu), although both became ほう (hō) in modern Japanese. It is suggested that the kan'on was used in the general senses, while the goon was used in Buddhist contexts.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    法(ほう) • (hō) ←はふ (fafu)?

    1. principle
    2. law
    3. code of law
    4. method
    5. etiquette
    6. (Buddhism) dharma
    7. (grammar) mood
    8. (mathematics) divisor
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2

    Kanji in this term
    法
    のり
    Grade: 4
    kun'yomi
    For pronunciation and definitions of 法 – see the following entry.
    【のり】
    rule, regulation, law
    norm, standard
    measure, scale, ruler (measuring device)
    measure, scale, size
    Alternative spellings
    規, 則, 矩
    (This term, 法, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

    Etymology 3

    Kanji in this term
    法
    ふらん
    Grade: 4
    irregular

    From French franc.[1][3]

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    法(フラン) • (furan) 

    1. Alternative spelling of フラン

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
    3. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
    • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

    Korean

    Hanja

    法 (eumhun 법 법 (beop beop))

    1. hanja form? of 법 (“law”)

    Vietnamese

    Han character

    法: Hán Việt readings: pháp[1][2][3][4][5][6]
    法: Nôm readings: pháp[1][2][3], phép[1][2][3], phấp[1][2][3], phăm[3], phắp[3], bắp[1], mép[1]

    1. chữ Hán form of pháp (“law, method, standard”).
    2. chữ Hán form of Pháp (“France, French”).
    3. Nôm form of phép (“custom, permission”).

    Derived terms

    Derived terms

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Nguyễn (2014).
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Trần (2004).
    4. ^ Trần (1999).
    5. ^ Nguyễn (1974).
    6. ^ Thiều Chửu (1942).
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