柬

See also: 東

柬 U+67EC, 柬 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-67EC ← 柫 [U+67EB] CJK Unified Ideographs 柭 → [U+67ED]

Translingual

Han character

柬 (Kangxi radical 75, 木+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 木田火 (DWF), four-corner 5090₆, composition ⿻束丷)

Derived characters

• 堜, 媡, 徚, 揀, 湅, 楝, 煉, 暕, 㱫, 瑓, 朄, 練 (𱺧), 諫 (谏), 鍊 (𫔀), 鰊 (𬶠), 㪝, 㼑, 鶫, 萰, 闌 (阑)
• 練 (Exception: All regions except Japan which contains 東 instead)

Additional Derived Characters

• 𠋖, 𠷬, 𢃿, 𢛔, 𱞫, 𤗛, 𮌥, 𰢯, 𥈵, 𥻂, 𧍴, 𧹯, 𨃀, 𨐤
• 𠒵, 𢒞, 𣍃, 𧡴 (𫌫), 𣞰, 𣱨, 𬮔, 𪧶

Further reading

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 520, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14655
• Dae Jaweon: page 908, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1179, character 4
• Unihan data for U+67EC

Chinese

simp. and trad.		柬
2nd round simp.		𫠣

Glyph origin

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

Characters in the same phonetic series (柬) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
蘭	*ɡ·raːn
攔	*ɡ·raːn
欄	*ɡ·raːn
瀾	*ɡ·raːn, *ɡ·raːns
讕	*ɡ·raːn, *ɡ·raːnʔ, *ɡ·raːns
闌	*ɡ·raːn
韊	*ɡ·raːn
幱	*ɡ·raːn
籣	*ɡ·raːn
躝	*ɡ·raːn
爛	*ɡ·raːns
爤	*ɡ·raːns
鑭	*ɡ·raːns
糷	*ɡ·raːns
斕	*ɡ·reːn
揀	*kreːnʔ, *ɡ·reːns
柬	*kreːnʔ
暕	*kreːnʔ
諫	*kraːns
練	*ɡ·reːns
鍊	*ɡ·reːns
煉	*ɡ·reːns
楝	*ɡ·reːns
萰	*ɡ·reːns
堜	*ɡ·reːns
湅	*ɡ·reːns

Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 束 (“tie”) + 八 (“division, individually”). Its original meaning is "to pick, to select, to choose", later written as 揀 / 拣. Perhaps, the two points/marks inside the pictogram of the tied bag (later stylized as 八) mark and emphasize the content of a bag and/or the extraction of its content. See also 東, 熏, and 鹵.

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiǎn (jian³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gaan²
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): kián

  (Hailu, HRS): gien^ˊ

• Eastern Min (BUC): gāng
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): gang³
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): kán

  (Teochew, Peng'im): gang²

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵ci

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jiǎn
    • Wade–Giles: chien³
    • Yale: jyǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jean
    • Palladius: цзянь (czjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gaan²
    • Yale: gáan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gaan²
    • Guangdong Romanization: gan²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaːn³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kián
    • Hakka Romanization System: gian^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gian³
    • Sinological IPA: /ki̯an³¹/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: gien^ˊ
    • Sinological IPA: /kien²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gāng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ³³/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gang³
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: gâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ⁴⁵³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gang³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ³³²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kán
    • Tâi-lô: kán
    • Phofsit Daibuun: karn
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kan⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kan⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kan⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kan⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kan⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: gang²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: káng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ⁵²/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵ci
    • MiniDict: ci^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²ji
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡ɕi³⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: keanX

Rime
Character	柬
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	山 (73)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	古限切
Baxter	keanX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kˠɛnX/
Pan Wuyun	/kᵚænX/
Shao Rongfen	/kænX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kəɨnX/
Li Rong	/kɛnX/
Wang Li	/kænX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/kănX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiǎn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gaan2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kˤr[a]nʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kreːnʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	柬
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jiǎn
Middle Chinese	‹ kɛnX ›
Old Chinese	/*kˁr[a]nʔ/
English	select, distinguish
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	柬
Reading #	1/1
No.	6138
Phonetic component	柬
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	簡
Old Chinese	/*kreːnʔ/
Notes	揀初文

Definitions

柬

1. (obsolete) alternative form of 揀 / 拣 (jiǎn, “to pick; to select”)
2. (obsolete) alternative form of 簡 / 简 (jiǎn)
3. letter; note; invitation
4. short for 柬埔寨 (Jiǎnpǔzhài, “Cambodia”)

Compounds

• 侑柬
• 函柬
• 名柬
• 寄柬
• 慎柬
• 手柬
• 折柬
• 料柬
• 書柬圖章 / 书柬图章
• 柬國 / 柬国 (Jiǎnguó)
• 柬埔寨 (Jiǎnpǔzhài)
• 柬寄
• 柬帖 (jiǎntiě)
• 柬房
• 柬拔
• 柬擇 / 柬择
• 柬擢
• 柬汰
• 柬語 / 柬语 (Jiǎnyǔ)
• 肅柬 / 肃柬
• 請柬 / 请柬 (qǐngjiǎn)
• 謝柬 / 谢柬
• 走柬
• 遴柬

References

• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “柬”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 104.