爭

爭 (Kangxi radical 87, 爪+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 月尸木 (BSD), four-corner 2050₇, composition ⿱爫⿻コ𬺰)

• 凈, 𠲜, 埩, 婙, 崢, 𢏰, 𢛵, 掙, 淨, 猙, 𫐭, 𪰭, 棦, 𪸾, 琤, 㬹, 𡴣, 𪟐, 睜, 碀, 竫, 𰁔, 𠬉, 𥺲, 䋫, 䍵, 𦓺, 𠎈, 諍, 𧶄, 踭, 𨌢, 𨲌, 𪬭, 錚, 靜, 𦽰, 𩗲, 𰏎, 𪢛, 𤔷, 𨘱, 䱢
• 𬋨, 𨛰, 𪺓, 𪺗, 𩓞, 𪺘, 𡸵, 𦱊, 箏, 鬇, 䦛

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 688, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19663
• Dae Jaweon: page 1101, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2031, character 3
• Unihan data for U+722D

Historical forms of the character 爭
Shang	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) – two hands on a plowshare. The two hands are still visibile on top of the character (爪 and 彐), while the plowshare looks like a vertical hook in modern writing.

"to dispute; to fight; to contend; to strive"

Cognate with Tibetan འཛིང་བ ('dzing ba, “to quarrel; to contend; to fight”), Burmese စစ် (cac, “war”) (Schuessler, 2007).

"to lack; to owe"

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

爭

1. to dispute; to fight

   冇咩好爭。／冇咩好争。 [Cantonese]  ―  mou⁵ me¹ hou² zaang¹.   ―  It is nothing to fight over.

   兩個人爭了半天，其實說的是一回事。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, trad.]
   两个人争了半天，其实说的是一回事。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Those two have been arguing for all day, but actually they're the same point.

   都講得冒得鬧，不要爭唎！ [Gan, trad.]
   都讲得冒得闹，不要争唎！ [Gan, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   He's not wrong in the first place, stop disputing!

   伊兩隻大爭。 [Eastern Min, trad.]
   伊两只大争。 [Eastern Min, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Those two had a big fight.

   開開玩笑，兩家頭就爭起來了。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
   开开玩笑，两家头就争起来了。 [Shanghainese, simp.]

   ¹khe-khe ⁶woe-shiau ⁶lian-ka-deu ⁶zhieu ¹tsan ⁵chi-le ⁸leq [Wugniu]

   After some bantering, those two started fighting.

2. to contend

   明個飯後我們跟他們爭冠軍。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, trad.]
   明个饭后我们跟他们争冠军。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Tomorrow, after lunch, we'll be contending for the first place against them.

   大家爭倒發言。 [Sichuanese, trad.]
   大家争倒发言。 [Sichuanese, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   da⁴ jia¹ zen¹ dao fa² yan² [Sichuanese Pinyin]

   Everyone is fighting for a chance to speak.

3. to strive

   爭氣／争气  ―  zhēngqì  ―  to strive to excel

4. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Jin, dialectal Min, Southern Wu) to lack; to be missing; still have; remaining

   佢哋間屋仲爭個廁所未裝。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢哋间屋仲争个厕所未装。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ dei⁶ gaan¹ uk¹ zung⁶ zaang¹ go³ ci³ so² mei⁶ zong¹.

   Their house still hasn't had the bathroom installed yet.

   到機場仲爭幾分鐘。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   到机场仲争几分钟。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   dou³ gei¹ coeng⁴ zung⁶ zaang¹ gei² fan¹ zung¹.

   There are still a couple minutes until we reach the airport.

   好似爭減啲嘢 [Cantonese, trad.]
   好似争减啲嘢 [Cantonese, simp.]

   hou² ci⁵ zaang¹ gam² di¹ je⁵

   seems to be missing something

5. (Cantonese) to have a difference (expressed in conjunction with terms of physical distance)

   同X爭好遠／同X争好远 [Cantonese]  ―  tung⁴ X zaang¹ hou² jyun⁵   ―  to be greatly different from X

   同X爭十萬八千里 [Cantonese, trad.]
   同X争十万八千里 [Cantonese, simp.]

   tung⁴ X zaang¹ sap⁶ maan⁶ baat³ cin¹ lei⁵

   to be radically different from X ("be different by 108,000 li")

6. (Ürümqi Mandarin) argumentative

   他那個人太爭咧，和誰都處不好。 [Lanyin Mandarin, trad.]
   他那个人太争咧，和谁都处不好。 [Lanyin Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Tā nàge rén tài zhēng liē, hé shéi dōu chù bùhǎo.

   He's way too argumentative, he can't hang out with anyone.

7. (Ürümqi Mandarin) to open up

   把口袋爭開，好往裡裝。 [Lanyin Mandarin, trad.]
   把口袋争开，好往里装。 [Lanyin Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Bǎ kǒudài zhēng kāi, hǎo wǎng lǐ zhuāng.

   Open up your pocket, let's put it in there.

8. (dialectal) to owe

   我還爭你三角錢，明天給你。 [Sichuanese, trad.]
   我还争你三角钱，明天给你。 [Sichuanese, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   ngo³ huan² zen¹ nyi³ san¹ go² qian² min² tian¹ ge¹ nyi³ [Sichuanese Pinyin]

   I still owe you thirty cents, I'll give it to you tomorrow.

9. (Wanrong Mandarin) because; due to; so that

   他倆爭一句話吵起啦。 [Central Plains Mandarin, trad.]
   他俩争一句话吵起啦。 [Central Plains Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Tā liǎ zhēng yī jù huà chǎo qǐ la.

   They started fighting because of a small line.

10. (Wanrong Mandarin) capable

    Synonym: 能幹／能干 (nénggàn) (Standard)

    你可爭哩，做活能頂幾外人。 [Central Plains Mandarin, trad.]
    你可争哩，做活能顶几外人。 [Central Plains Mandarin, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    Nǐ kě zhēng li, zuò huó néng dǐng jǐ wài rén.

    You're rather capable aren't you, what you do is comparable to multiple others.

11. (Suzhounese, Dongguan Cantonese) to argue for the sake of arguing

    Synonym: 抬槓／抬杠 (táigàng) (Standard)

    吾勿搭倷爭，到辰光看到底啥人對。 [Suzhounese, trad.]
    吾勿搭倷争，到辰光看到底啥人对。 [Suzhounese, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    I can't be bothered to bicker with you, we'll see who's right eventually.

12. (Wenzhounese) different

    讀大專伉讀本科是有爭個。 [Wenzhounese, trad.]
    读大专伉读本科是有争个。 [Wenzhounese, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    Going to community college and going to university for an undergrad are different though.

13. (Jinhua Wu) to have reservations

    渠力氣弗爭箇。 [Wu, trad.]
    渠力气弗争个。 [Wu, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    He doesn't have much energy left.

14. 25th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "contention" (𝌞)
15. why, how

• (to lack): 欠 (qiàn)
• (to owe):

• → Vietnamese: giành

爭

1. ^† Original form of 諍／诤 (zhèng, “to admonish”).

• “爭”, 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–

(Jinmeiyō kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 争)

1. Kyūjitai form of 争

• Go-on: しょう (shō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kan-on: そう (sō)^{←さう (sau, historical)}

爭 (eumhun 다툴 쟁 (datul jaeng))

1. hanja form^? of 쟁 (“dispute; fight”)

• 전쟁 (戰爭, jeonjaeng, “war”)
• 경쟁 (競爭, gyeongjaeng, “competition”)
• 논쟁 (論爭, nonjaeng, “dispute, controversy, contention”)
• 분쟁 (紛爭, bunjaeng, “dispute, conflict”)
• 투쟁 (鬪爭, tujaeng, “fight, struggle”)

爭: Hán Nôm readings: tranh, tránh, giành

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