段

See also: 假 and 殷

段 U+6BB5, 段 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6BB5 ← 殴 [U+6BB4] CJK Unified Ideographs 殶 → [U+6BB6]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

段 (Kangxi radical 79, 殳+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 竹十竹弓水 (HJHNE), four-corner 7744₇, composition ⿰⿰丨亖殳)

Derived characters

• 𠩻, 𨺣, 𪝒, 塅, 缎, 𢀤, 𢝪, 𢯫, 𣹂, 𪦋, 㱭, 椴, 煅, 瑖, 腶, 𪰴, 碫, 锻 緞, 葮, 𧎚, 毈, 𧷃, 𧹮, 𨉨, 𫏗, 鍛, 𩋦, 𩏇, 𩤣, 𩹨

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 584, character 22
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 16619
• Dae Jaweon: page 977, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2155, character 10
• Unihan data for U+6BB5

Chinese

simp. and trad.		段

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 段
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
鍛	*toːns
腶	*toːns
碫	*toːns
瑖	*toːns
緞	*doːnʔ, *doːns
段	*doːns
椴	*doːns
毈	*doːns

In the bronze script it is a phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *doːns) and ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): phonetic 厂 (OC *hŋaːnʔ, *hŋaːns) + semantic 殳, showing a hammer in hand breaking a stone with fragments coming off (Li Xueqin, 2012); 殳 was the pictogram of a hammer and later was borrowed to indicate a bamboo halberd. Most of the character is identical to 叚.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): duàn (duan⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄢˋ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): duan⁴

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): dyun⁶

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): on⁵

• Gan (Wiktionary): ton⁵
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): thon

  (Hailu, HRS): ton^˖

  (Meixian, Guangdong): ton⁴

• Jin (Wiktionary): duan³
• Eastern Min (BUC): dâung / duâng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): tōaⁿ / toān

  (Teochew, Peng'im): deng⁷ / duêng⁶ / duang⁶

  (Leizhou, Leizhou Pinyin): duang⁶

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶doe
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): donn⁶ / donn⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: duàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: duàn
    • Wade–Giles: tuan⁴
    • Yale: dwàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: duann
    • Palladius: дуань (duanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu̯än⁵¹/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: duan⁴
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: duan
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tuan²¹³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: dyun⁶
    • Yale: dyuhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dyn⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: dün⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tyːn²²/
  • (Taishanese, Taicheng)
    • Wiktionary: on⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ᵘɔn³²/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: ton⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰɵn¹¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thon
    • Hakka Romanization System: ton
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ton⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /tʰon⁵⁵/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: ton^˖
    • Sinological IPA: /tʰon³³/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: ton⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /tʰɔn⁵³/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: duan³
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /tuæ̃⁴⁵/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: dâung / duâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɑuŋ²⁴²/, /tuɑŋ²⁴²/

Note: duâng - surname.

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tōaⁿ / toān
    • Tâi-lô: tuānn / tuān
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dvoa, doan
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tuã²²/, /tuan²²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tuã⁴¹/, /tuan⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tuã²²/, /tuan²²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /tuã³³/, /tuan³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tuã³³/, /tuan³³/

Note:

• tōaⁿ - vernacular;
• toān - literary (incl. surname).

• • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: deng⁷ / duêng⁶ / duang⁶
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tṳ̄ng / tuĕng / tuăng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɯŋ¹¹/, /tueŋ³⁵/, /tuaŋ³⁵/
Note:
• deng7 - vernacular;
• duêng6/duang6 - literary (incl. surname).
• • (Leizhou)
    • Leizhou Pinyin: duang⁶
    • Sinological IPA: /tuaŋ³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶doe
    • MiniDict: doe^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³doe
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /dø²³/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: donn⁶ / donn⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tõ²⁴/, /tõ²¹/
Note:
• donn6 - vernacular;
• donn5 - literary.

---

• Middle Chinese: dwanH

Rime
Character	段
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	桓 (62)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	徒玩切
Baxter	dwanH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/duɑnH/
Pan Wuyun	/dʷɑnH/
Shao Rongfen	/duɑnH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/dwanH/
Li Rong	/duɑnH/
Wang Li	/duɑnH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/dʱuɑnH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	duàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	dyun6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*tˤo[n]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*doːns/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	段
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	duàn
Middle Chinese	‹ twanH ›
Old Chinese	/*tˁo[n]-s/
English	hammer
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	段
Reading #	1/1
No.	2534
Phonetic component	段
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	段
Old Chinese	/*doːns/

Definitions

段

1. section; piece; division
2. administrative unit; department (especially in railways)

   機務段／机务段  ―  jīwùduàn  ―  locomotive shed (literally "locomotive maintenance unit")

3. (sports) grade; level (in chess, martial arts, etc.)
4. Classifier for a segment or section of something that is long: piece; segment
5. Classifier for a distance or a period of time.
6. Classifier for writing, speech, etc.
7. a surname

   段祺瑞  ―  Duàn Qíruì  ―  Duan Qirui (Chinese warlord and politician)

Usage notes

The component on the left-hand side of the character can be referred to as 段字旁 (duànzìpáng).

Synonyms

• (classifier for a segment or section): (Cantonese, Min) 橛 (gyut⁶)

Compounds

• 一刀兩段 / 一刀两段
• 一段
• 三段論 / 三段论 (sānduànlùn)
• 不擇手段 / 不择手段 (bùzéshǒuduàn)
• 中波波段
• 八段錦 / 八段锦 (bāduànjǐn)
• 分段 (fēnduàn)
• 劈屍萬段 / 劈尸万段
• 區段 / 区段 (qūduàn)
• 區段徵收 / 区段征收
• 卑劣手段
• 告一段落 (gào yī duànluò)
• 唱段 (chàngduàn)
• 圍棋段位 / 围棋段位
• 地段 (dìduàn)
• 大手段
• 局段
• 工段 (gōngduàn)
• 平臺階段 / 平台阶段
• 廣播段 / 广播段
• 強硬手段 / 强硬手段
• 後段班 / 后段班
• 手段 (shǒuduàn)
• 拴搐豔段 / 拴搐艳段
• 放下身段
• 時段 / 时段 (shíduàn)
• 款段
• 段子 (duànzi)
• 段字旁 (duànzìpáng)
• 段家 (Duànjiā)
• 段店 (Duàndiàn)
• 段數 / 段数
• 段考 (duànkǎo)
• 段落 (duànluò)
• 段頭 / 段头
• 波段 (bōduàn)
• 焰段
• 片段 (piànduàn)
• 現階段 / 现阶段
• 益古演段
• 碎屍萬段 / 碎尸万段 (suìshīwànduàn)
• 禮數款段 / 礼数款段
• 科段
• 線段 / 线段 (xiànduàn)
• 豔段 / 艳段
• 路段 (lùduàn)
• 身段 (shēnduàn)
• 階段 / 阶段 (jiēduàn)
• 頓段 / 顿段
• 體段 / 体段
• 高壓手段 / 高压手段
• 高段
• 黃金時段 / 黄金时段 (huángjīn shíduàn)

Descendants

• → Thai: ตอน (dtɔɔn)

Further reading

• “段”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• (Min Nan pronunciation audio) “段”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.