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北

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: 业, 比, 非, and 兆
北 U+5317, 北
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5317
← 化
[U+5316] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 匘 →
[U+5318]
北 U+F963, 北
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F963
← 異
[U+F962] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs 磻 →
[U+F964]
Thumb
北 U+2F82B, 北
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F82B
← 匆
[U+2F82A] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 卉 →
[U+2F82C]
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北
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Translingual

More information Stroke order (Japan) ...

Han character

北 (Kangxi radical 21, 匕+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 中一心 (LMP), four-corner 11110, composition ⿲⿱一㇀丨匕(GJKV) or ⿰⿱⿰一丨㇀匕(HT))

Derived characters

Additional Derived Characters
  • 𫩡, 𰉟, 𢫣, 𰛗, 𨸾, 𰞃, 𨀈, 𬊴, 𬱹, 𰅣, 𠛙, 𰅋, 𪜜, 𩿻, 𱾦, 𣌫, 𬔶, 𠤣, 𫕡, 𠤫, 𱱍, 𮤱
  • 𰄣, 𭇑, 𠤖, 𰞆, 𠦞, 𢘠, 𭥣, 𤘿, 𤤘, 𪟪, 𢂖, 𠤢, 𡋭, 𰮔, 𧉥, 𥦚, 𠤥, 𩚾, 𧶙, 𥀅, 𠭼, 𠤦, 𣬏, 𧎕, 𡕶, 𥧐, 𪊠, 冀, 𥨏, 𧫯, 𮮨
  • 𭔑, 𭚀, 𭚊, 𱧾, 𭲯, 𱪃, 𱩷, 𱪂, 𱪒, 𱳉, 𱳏, 𤮤, 𦨆, 𤹢, 𨓖
  • 𠅭, 𧚹, 𱍥, 𣋅, 𨬪, 𱏫, 𠙯, 𡕸, 𦿵, 𠙩, 𠙨, 𤾐, 𦎶, 𩼍, 𪨽, 𢀇, 𢀈, 𢀉, 𱾲, 𢯀, 𣓽, 𩸼, 𨁓, 𦮃

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 152, character 25
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2574
  • Dae Jaweon: page 342, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 262, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+5317

Further reading

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Chinese

More information trad., simp. # ...
Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 北 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 北 (Cantonese)
  • 北 (Wu)

Glyph origin

More information Historical forms of the character 北, Shang ...
Characters in the same phonetic series (北) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
More information Old Chinese ...

Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) – two men back to back. Originally meaning “back”; the character 背 (OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) refers to the original word.

Compare 化, 比, 卬, and 尼.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bə(q) (“to carry (on back), shoulder”).

The sense of “north” is derived from “back (of body)”: “back” → “to turn the back to; to retreat” → “north”.

The ancient Chinese value the southern direction and houses are traditionally oriented along a north–south axis, as evident in the fengshui theory and in the orientation of buildings in Chinese Neolithic sites. North is the direction the back is oriented to when the person is facing south.

Compare the graphical origin of 南 (OC *nuːm, “south”) (Sagart, 1988).

Pronunciation 1

Note: bor5 - only used in place names.
Note:
  • pak - vernacular ("north");
  • pok - literary ("defeat").
  • Dialectal data
More information Variety, Location ...
More information Rime, Character ...
More information Character, Reading # ...
More information Zhengzhang system (2003), Character ...

Definitions

北

  1. north; northern
    北移  ―  běi yí  ―  to move north
    北京  ―  Běijīng  ―  Beijing (literally, “northern capital”)
  2. to be defeated; to fail
    敗北／败北  ―  bàiběi  ―  to suffer defeat

Coordinate terms

compass points: 方位 (fāngwèi):  [edit]

西北 (xīběi) 北 東北 / 东北 (dōngběi)
西 (xī) Thumb 東 / 东 (dōng)
西南 (xīnán) 南 東南 / 东南 (dōngnán)

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (北):
  • → Korean: 북(北) (buk)
  • → Vietnamese: bắc (北)

Others:

  • → Japanese: 北(ペー) (pē, “north wind (mahjong tile)”)

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

北

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) Original form of 背 (bèi, “back; to betray”).

References

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Japanese

Korean

Okinawan

Old Japanese

Southern Amami Ōshima

Tày

Vietnamese

Zhuang

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