義

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See also: 义, 羲, and 羛
義 U+7FA9, 義
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7FA9
← 羨
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 羪 →

Translingual

Stroke order (Japan)
13 strokes

Han character

義 (Kangxi radical 123, 羊+7, 13 strokes, cangjie input 廿土竹手戈 (TGHQI), four-corner 80553, composition ⿱𦍌我)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 952, character 32
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 28504
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1397, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3133, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+7FA9

Chinese

trad. 義
simp. 义*
alternative forms 羛

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 義
Shang Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (我) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
莪 *ŋaːl
哦 *ŋaːl
娥 *ŋaːl
峨 *ŋaːl
峩 *ŋaːl
鵝 *ŋaːl
俄 *ŋaːl
蛾 *ŋaːl, *ŋralʔ
睋 *ŋaːl
涐 *ŋaːl
誐 *ŋaːl
硪 *ŋaːl, *ŋaːlʔ
我 *ŋaːlʔ
騀 *ŋaːlʔ
餓 *ŋaːls
義 *ŋrals
儀 *ŋral
轙 *ŋral, *ŋralʔ
檥 *ŋral, *ŋralʔ
蟻 *ŋralʔ
艤 *ŋralʔ
礒 *ŋralʔ
羛 *ŋralʔ, *hŋral
議 *ŋrals
犧 *hŋral
曦 *hŋral
羲 *hŋral

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ŋrals) : phonetic 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ) + semantic 羊. The component 羊 here signifies "good; beautiful; auspicious" and not "sheep". See 祥, 善 and 幸.

Etymology

Cognate with 儀 (OC *ŋral, “ceremony; appearance”). See there for more.

Pronunciation

  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 義
Mandarin Beijing /i⁵¹/
Harbin /i⁵³/
Tianjin /i⁵³/
Jinan /i²¹/
Qingdao /i⁴²/
Zhengzhou /i³¹²/
Xi'an /i⁴⁴/
Xining /ji²¹³/
Yinchuan /i¹³/
Lanzhou /i¹³/
Ürümqi /i²¹³/
Wuhan /i³⁵/
Chengdu /ȵi¹³/
Guiyang /ni²¹³/ 老
/i²¹³/ 新
Kunming /i²¹²/
Nanjing /i⁴⁴/
Hefei /zz̩⁵³/
Jin Taiyuan /i⁴⁵/
Pingyao /ȵi³⁵/
Hohhot /i⁵⁵/
Wu Shanghai /ȵi²³/
Suzhou /ɦi³¹/
Hangzhou /ȵi¹³/
Wenzhou /ȵi²²/
Hui Shexian /ni²²/
Tunxi /ȵi¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /ȵi⁵⁵/
Xiangtan /ȵi⁵⁵/
Gan Nanchang /ȵi²¹/
Hakka Meixian /ŋi⁵³/
Taoyuan /ŋi⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /ji²²/
Nanning /ji²²/
Hong Kong /ji²²/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /gi²²/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /ŋiɛ²⁴²/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /ŋi⁴⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /ŋĩ³⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ŋi³⁵/
/ŋi³³/
Rime
Character 義
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 支 (13)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 宜寄切
Baxter ngjeH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ŋˠiᴇH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ŋᵚiɛH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ŋiɛH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ŋjiə̆H/
Li
Rong 		/ŋjeH/
Wang
Li 		/ŋǐeH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ŋie̯H/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		yì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		ji6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 義
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		yì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ ngjeH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ŋ(r)aj-s/
English duty; justice

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 義
Reading # 1/1
No. 13045
Phonetic
component 		我
Rime
group 		歌
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		議
Old
Chinese 		/*ŋrals/

Definitions

義

  1. right conduct; righteousness; justice; morality
    正義／正义  ―  zhèngyì  ―  justice
    大義滅親／大义灭亲  ―  dàyìmièqīn  ―  to place righteousness before family
  2. ties between people; relationship
    忘恩負義／忘恩负义  ―  wàng'ēnfùyì  ―  to be devoid of gratefulness; to forget someone’s kindness and turn one’s back on him
    有情有義／有情有义  ―  yǒuqíngyǒuyì  ―  having affection and faith
  3. meaning; implication
    歧義／歧义  ―  qíyì  ―  ambiguity (in language or wording)
    同義詞／同义词  ―  tóngyìcí  ―  synonym
  4. righteous or for the public good
    義師／义师  ―  yìshī  ―  army fighting a just war
    義舉／义举  ―  yìjǔ  ―  magnanimous act undertaken for the public good
  5. (in compounds) adoptive or formally acknowledged as a relative but not related by blood
    義父／义父  ―  yìfù  ―  person formally acknowledged as one's father
    義兄／义兄  ―  yìxiōng  ―  sworn elder brother
  6. (in compounds) artificial
    義肢／义肢  ―  yìzhī  ―  prosthetic leg
  7. (Taiwan) Short for 義大利／义大利 (Yìdàlì, “Italy”).
  8. a surname

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (義):
  • → Japanese: 義(ぎ) (gi)
  • → Korean: 의(義) (ui)
  • → Vietnamese: nghĩa (義)

Japanese

Kanji

義

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Noun

義(ぎ) • (gi) 

  1. justice; a situation which has a right and proper reason
  2. a meaning
  3. a relative who has no blood relation
  4. an object which can be used properly instead of a right one

Korean

Hanja

義 (eumhun 옳을 의 (oreul ui))

  1. hanja form? of 의 (“right conduct; righteousness; justice; morality”)

Compounds

Vietnamese

Han character

義: Hán Nôm readings: nghĩa, nghì, ngửi, ngãi

Noun

義 • (nghĩa)

  1. chữ Hán form of nghĩa.
    1. meaning
    2. morality; righteousness; justice; rightfulness
    3. duty; obligation
    4. rules and regulations; the law
    5. use; utility
    6. Clipping of 義大利 (“Italy”).
    7. a surname

Adjective

義 • (nghĩa)

  1. chữ Hán form of nghĩa.
    1. (archaic) adoptive

Compounds

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