哀 - Wiktionary, the free dictionary


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哀 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 卜口竹女 (YRHV), four-corner 00732, composition ⿳亠口𧘇)

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 188, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3580
  • Dae Jaweon: page 407, character 11
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 620, character 10
  • Unihan data for U+54C0
Old Chinese
哀 *qɯːl
依 *qɯl
衣 *qɯl, *qɯls
扆 *qɯlʔ
庡 *qɯlʔ
偯 *qɯlʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *qɯːl) : phonetic 衣 (OC *qɯl, *qɯls) + semantic 口 (“mouth”).

simp. and trad.
 哀

Probably sound-symbolic (Schuessler, 2007).

Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

  • Dialectal data
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 哀
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		āi
Middle
Chinese 		‹ ʔoj ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ʔˁəj/
English to pity; sad

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 哀
Reading # 1/1
No. 14835
Phonetic
component 		衣
Rime
group 		微
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		哀
Old
Chinese 		/*qɯːl/

哀

  1. to pity; to sympathize
  2. to lament; to mourn
    哀悼  ―  āidào  ―  to lament; to mourn
    哀求  ―  āiqiú  ―  to beg; to implore
  3. sad; mournful; pitiful; sorrowful
    哀痛  ―  āitòng  ―  sad; grieved
  4. grief; sorrow
    節哀／节哀  ―  jié'āi  ―  to restrain one's grief
  5. orphaned of one's mother due to her passing
  6. a surname
simp. and trad.
 哀
alternative forms 𡟓

Coblin (2021) proposes that it is a contraction of Common Neo-Hakka compound 阿姆 (*a¹ moi¹), where *moi¹ may have come from earlier *moi⁴, perhaps related to 母 (OC *mɯʔ, “mother”).

哀

  1. (Hakka) mother
    爺哀／爷哀 [Sixian Hakka]  ―  yà-ôi [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  father and mother; parents

哀

(Jōyō kanji)

  1. pathetic
  2. grief
  3. sorrow
Kanji in this term
哀
あい
Grade: S
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 哀 (MC 'oj).

哀(あい) • (ai) 

  1. grief; sorrow; sadness; lamentation
    哀(あい)を思(おも)う ― ai o omou ― to feel grief; to grieve; to mourn; lament
  2. pity; sympathy

哀 • (ae) (hangeul 애, McCune–Reischauer ae)

  1. grief, sorrow
  2. sad

哀: Hán Nôm readings: ai

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