U+543E, 吾
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-543E

[U+543D]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+543F]

Translingual

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Stroke order
 
Stroke order (Sans-serif)
 

Han character

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(Kangxi radical 30, +4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 一一口 (MMR), four-corner 10601, composition )

Derived characters

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 180, character 3
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3379
  • Dae Jaweon: page 398, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 585, character 13
  • Unihan data for U+543E

Chinese

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Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
         

Phono-semantic compound (形聲形声, OC *ŋraː, *ŋaː) : phonetic (OC *ŋaːʔ) + semantic (mouth).

Etymology 1

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trad.
simp. #

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋa-j ~ ka (I). Cognate with Burmese ငါ (nga, I), (OC *ŋaːlʔ, “I”), Hakka 𠊎 (ngài, I).

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • wú - standard;
  • wǔ - common variant.
Note:

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2
Initial () (31)
Final () (23)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Baxter ngu
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ŋuo/
Pan
Wuyun
/ŋuo/
Shao
Rongfen
/ŋo/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ŋɔ/
Li
Rong
/ŋo/
Wang
Li
/ŋu/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ŋuo/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
ng4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
Middle
Chinese
‹ ngu ›
Old
Chinese
/*ŋˁa/
English I, my

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 # 2/2
No. 13146
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ŋaː/

Definitions

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  1. (literary or dialectal) I
  2. (literary) my
    [Classical Chinese]  ―  huáng [Pinyin]  ―  my emperor
  3. a surname. Wu
Synonyms
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Usage notes

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Before the Three Kingdoms period, ("I") was mostly only used as a subject, a pronoun object of a negated sentence or an interrogative pronoun object (the latter two cases are where the pronoun object is placed before the verb), meaning seldom occurred as the pronoun object that is placed after a verb.

Compounds

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Etymology 2

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trad.
simp. #

Pronunciation

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Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2
Initial () (31)
Final () (23)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () I
Fanqie
Baxter ngu
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ŋuo/
Pan
Wuyun
/ŋuo/
Shao
Rongfen
/ŋo/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ŋɔ/
Li
Rong
/ŋo/
Wang
Li
/ŋu/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ŋuo/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
ng4

Definitions

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  1. Used for onomatopoeia.

Compounds

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Etymology 3

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trad.
simp. #

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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  1. Used in transcription.

Compounds

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Etymology 4

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trad.
simp. #
alternative forms 𠊎

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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  1. (Hakka) my
    [Sixian Hakka]  ―  ngâ [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  my mom
    • (Can we date this quote?), “佬妹阿花”, 张少林 (lyrics)‎[1]performed by 张少林:
      佬妹喊做阿花 [Malaysian Huiyang Hakka, trad. and simp.]
      My sister is called Ah Fa

Etymology 4

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trad.
simp. #

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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  1. (obsolete) a kind of baton

Compounds

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Etymology 5

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trad.
simp. #

Pronunciation

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Rime
Character
Reading # 2/2
Initial () (31)
Final () (98)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () II
Fanqie
Baxter ngae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ŋˠa/
Pan
Wuyun
/ŋᵚa/
Shao
Rongfen
/ŋa/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ŋaɨ/
Li
Rong
/ŋa/
Wang
Li
/ŋa/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ŋa/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
ngaa4
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/2
No. 13135
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*ŋraː/
Notes

Definitions

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  1. Only used in 允吾 (Yányá; Qiānyá). A county established during the Western Han, disestablished during the Northern Wei, and briefly reestablished during the Sui dynasty

Etymology 6

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trad.
simp. #

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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  1. Only used in 吾吾.

References

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Japanese

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Kanji

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(Jinmeiyō kanji)

  1. I, me

Readings

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  • Go-on: (gu)
  • Kan-on: (go)
  • Kun: われ (ware, )わが (waga, 吾が) (a, )あが (aga, )

Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
われ
Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi
Kanji in this term

Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entry.
われ6
[pronoun] first person singular pronoun: I, me, oneself
[pronoun] (usually vulgar) second person singular pronoun: you
6
[pronoun] (obsolete or dialect) first-person personal pronoun: I, me
(This term, , is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
あれ
Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entry.
あれ
[pronoun] (obsolete) first-person personal pronoun: I, me
Alternative spelling
(This term, , is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 3

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Kanji in this term

Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entry.
[pronoun] (obsolete) first-person personal pronoun: I, me
Alternative spelling
(This term, , is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Korean

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Hanja

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(o) (hangeul , revised o, McCune–Reischauer o)

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

Old Japanese

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Pronoun

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(wa) (kana )

  1. I, oneself

Descendants

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Vietnamese

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Han character

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: Hán Nôm readings: ngô, ngo

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

References

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  • Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
  • Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
  • Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm, NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999