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See also:
U+611B, 愛
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-611B

[U+611A]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+611C]

Translingual

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Stroke order
13 strokes

Han character

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(Kangxi radical 61, +9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 月月心水 (BBPE), four-corner 20247, composition 𢖻)

Derived characters

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Descendants

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 395, character 13
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10947
  • Dae Jaweon: page 732, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2323, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+611B

Chinese

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trad.
simp.
alternative forms
Wikipedia has articles on:
  • (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • (Cantonese)
  • (Classical)
  • (Gan)
  • Oi (Hakka)
  • Ái (Eastern Min)
  • Ài (Southern Min)
  • (Wu)

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character
Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Bronze inscriptions Small seal script

Originally (), a phono-semantic compound (形聲形声, OC *qɯːds) : phonetic (OC *kɯds) + semantic (heart). However, the phonetic component indicates somebody kneeling with an open mouth perhaps while panting.

As early as the Qin dynasty, a meaningless component (suī, foot) was added to the bottom of the character, as with some other characters depicting people. Compare (yōu) (from ). Hence, the character changed into 𢙴.

Further corruption of the top component of 𢙴 turned the original phonetic () into ⿱爫冖.

Etymology

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Based on Baxter's (1992) Old Chinese reconstruction /*ʔɨts/, STEDT suggests that it is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋ-(w)aːj (to copulate; to love; to be gentle). Compare Proto-Karen *ʔai (to love), whence Pa'o Karen [script needed] (ʔái, to love), S'gaw Karen အဲၣ် (ʼeh̀, to love); Southern Bai e⁴⁴ (love); Mizo hma-ngaih (to love, to like); Jingpho nwai (to respect, to love), ngwi (to be gentle); Burmese ငွေ့ (ngwe., to be gentle, moderate). The Chinese word is related to a Tibeto-Burman allofam without initial *ŋ-. STEDT states that an Old Chinese reconstruction of /*ʔɨjs/ for is also possible because Old Chinese rhyming does not provide direct evidence of contacts with *-t.

However, Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstructs /*[q]ˁə[p]-s/, which ends in *-p-s instead. The Old Chinese contrast between *-p-s and *-t-s was lost at a late stage of Old Chinese. The final *-p is not reflected in the Tibeto-Burman comparandum provided by STEDT, making the likelihood that the Chinese form is related to the rest very low (Sagart, 2019). Behr (2016) suggests a derivation from a verbal root meaning "to draw in; to inhale; to suck in", relating it to (OC *qʰ(r)əp, “to inhale”), (OC *qʰˁ[ə]p, “o sip”), (OC *qʰəp-s, “to sigh with regret”), (OC *qˁəp-s, “to pant”), (OC *C.qʰəp-s, “vapour; breath”).

Pronunciation

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Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.
Note:
  • ái - literary;
  • ó̤i - vernacular.
Note: written as () for some senses.

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (34)
Final () (41)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Baxter 'ojH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ʔʌiH/
Pan
Wuyun
/ʔəiH/
Shao
Rongfen
/ʔɒiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ʔəjH/
Li
Rong
/ʔᴀiH/
Wang
Li
/ɒiH/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/ʔɑ̆iH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
ài
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
oi3
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
ài
Middle
Chinese
‹ ʔojH ›
Old
Chinese
/*[q]ˁə[p]-s/
English to love; to grudge (< ‘draw close to oneself’?)

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] 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
Reading # 1/1
No. 1
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*qɯːds/
Notes

Definitions

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  1. to love
      ―  àiguó  ―  to love one's country; to be patriotic
      ―  ài nǐ.  ―  I love you.
  2. to treasure; to value
    面子面子  ―  ài miànzi  ―  to be sensitive about one's reputation
  3. to like; to be fond of; to be keen on
    說話说话  ―  ài shuōhuà.  ―  He likes to talk.
    豬肉猪肉  ―  Wǒ bù ài chī zhūròu.  ―  I don't like to eat pork.
  4. to begrudge; to be reluctant
  5. to be prone; to be easy to
    發脾氣发脾气  ―  ài fāpíqì  ―  to be short-tempered
    生鏽生锈  ―  Tiě ài shēngxiù.  ―  Iron rusts easily.
  6. love; affection
  7. love; benevolence
    人間人间  ―  yí'àirénjiān  ―  to leave love behind
  8. something one loves; someone whom one loves
      ―  gē'ài  ―  to sacrifice something one loves to someone else
  9. Honorific for someone else's daughter; variant of (ài).
      ―  lìng'ài  ―  your precious daughter
  10. beloved
      ―  ài  ―  beloved wife
      ―  àijiàng  ―  beloved general
  11. (Cantonese, Hakka, Wu, Hokkien, Teochew) to want (an object)
    咁多 [Cantonese, trad.]
    咁多 [Cantonese, simp.]
    ngo5 m4 oi3 gam3 do1. [Jyutping]
    I don't want that much.
  12. (Hakka, Min, dated in Cantonese) to want (to do)
  13. (Hakka, Min) to need to; must
    注意 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
    注意 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
    Ū chi̍t tiám ài chù-ì--ê. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    There's one thing you must bear in mind.
  14. (archaic) Alternative form of 𫉁 (ài, ài)
  15. a surname

Usage notes

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  • When used for people, usually refers to romantic love. When used like this, older Mandarin speakers often describe the use of this term as overly 肉麻 (ròumá, “overly romantic; corny; cheesy”). For this reason, the word 喜歡喜欢 (xǐhuan, “to like”) might be used instead. Using the word 喜歡喜欢 (xǐhuan) literally means like, but when used in a romantic context (especially boyfriend/girlfriend), it actually means love. Compare Japanese 好き (suki). However, younger Mandarin speakers, especially those who have been in love for some time, seem to have been influenced somewhat by Western culture, and are now using the verb much more often than was socially acceptable in the past.

Synonyms

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  • (to love): (literary, or in compounds) (liàn)
  • (to like):
  • (love):
  • (to want an object):
  • (to want to do something):

Compounds

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic ():
  • Japanese: (あい) (ai)
  • Korean: 애(愛) (ae)
  • Vietnamese: ái ()

Others:

  • ? Proto-Hlai: *ʔəːp (to love)

Further reading

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Japanese

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Kanji

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(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

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Compounds

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Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
あい
Grade: 4
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese (MC 'ojH).

Compare modern Mandarin (ài).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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(あい) (ai

  1. love
    (あい)(つよ)い。
    Ai wa tsuyoi.
    The love is strong.
    (あい)()つ。
    Ai wa katsu.
    The love wins.
  2. affection
    Synonym: 愛情 (aijō)
  3. tenderness
  4. fondness, liking
    Synonym: 愛想 (aiso)
  5. (Buddhism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
  6. (Christianity) agape
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Proper noun

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(あい) (Ai

  1. a female given name
  2. a surname

Affix

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(あい) (ai

  1. love
  2. (US) Short for 愛州 (Idaho (a state of the United States)).

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
まな
Grade: 4
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling

Originally a compound of (ma, true, genuine) +‎ (na), an Old Japanese version of modern Japanese (no, possessive particle).[3]

The use of here is an example of ateji (当て字).

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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(まな) (mana-

  1. before a common noun, expresses a sense of admiration or value: good, genuine; compare English the real deal
  2. before a noun describing a person, expresses praise or fondness: dear, beloved
Derived terms
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Noun

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(まな) (mana

  1. (archaic, derived from prefix sense) something dear or loved

Proper noun

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(まな) (Mana

  1. a female given name

Etymology 3

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Used as nanori in various names. is a very common element in many names.

Proper noun

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(あづみ) or (ああい) or (あゝい) or (あいか) or (あいす) or (あき) or (あこ) or (あみか) or (あおい) or (ありさ) or (あや) or (あゆ) or (ちぎり) or (ちか) or (ちかし) or (えりな) or (はあと) or (ひかり) or (いと) or (いとし) or (いつみ) or (いずみ) or (かな) or (かなえ) or (かなさ) or (きずな) or (こころ) or (こゝろ) or (このむ) or (まどか) or (まなぶ) or (まなみ) or (めづる) or (めご) or (めぐ) or (めぐみ) or (めぐむ) or (めい) or (なる) or (なるこ) or (のぞみ) or (らぶ) or (るい) or (さら) or (さらん) or (つぐみ) or (つくみ) or (うい) or (よし) or (よしき) or (よしみ) (Azumi or Āi or Aika or Aisu or Aki or Ako or Amika or Aoi or Arisa or Aya or Ayu or Chigiri or Chika or Chikashi or Erina or Hāto or Hikari or Ito or Itoshi or Itsumi or Izumi or Kana or Kanae or Kanasa or Kizuna or Kokoro or Konomu or Madoka or Manabu or Manami or Mezuru or Mego or Megu or Megumi or Megumu or Mei or Naru or Naruko or Nozomi or Rabu or Rui or Sara or Saran or Tsugumi or Tsukumi or Ui or Yoshi or Yoshiki or Yoshimi

  1. a female given name

References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ 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

Korean

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Etymology

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From Middle Chinese (MC 'ojH).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 ᅙᆡᆼ〮 (Yale: qóy)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[1] ᄃᆞᅀᆞᆯ〮 (Yale: dòzól) ᄋᆡ〯 (Yale: ǒy)

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ɛ(ː)] ~ [e̞(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [(ː)/(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

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Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

(eumhun 사랑 (sarang ae))

  1. hanja form? of (love)

Compounds

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References

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  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전/電子字典. [2]

Okinawan

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Kanji

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(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

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Old Japanese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Originally a compound of (ma, true, genuine) +‎ (na, apophonic form of possessive particle (no2)).

Noun

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(mana) (kana まな)

  1. something dear or loved

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Japanese: (mana-)

Tày

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Verb

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(ái)

  1. Nôm form of ái (to love).
    𦙦𫢱㐌㐌於
    Slim là đạ ái đạ ưa
    In my heart, I've already loved and favored
    門亲故許都
    Mòn thân ái cổ hẩư đo
    Whatever the parents crave, [the son] fully caters
  2. Nôm form of ái (to want).
    晝𫢍賢勤占𲁂𪦸
    Ái rụ cần hiền cần chiêm slửa lục
    [If one] wants to know whether the mother's good-natured, [one] needs to gaze at their child's shirts

References

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  • Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎[3] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

Vietnamese

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Han character

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: Hán Việt readings: ái[1][2][3][4][5], áy[4]
: Nôm readings: ái[1][2][3][4][5][6], áy[1][2][3][4][5][6], ải[1]

  1. chữ Hán form of ái (love).
  2. Nôm form of áy (troubled; anxious).

Compounds

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References

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