游

See also: 遊 and 逰

游 U+6E38, 游 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6E38 ← 渷 [U+6E37] CJK Unified Ideographs 渹 → [U+6E39]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

游 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 水卜尸木 (EYSD), four-corner 3814₇, composition ⿰氵斿)

Derived characters

• 𣛦, 𪆎

Related characters

• 遊 (Variant form of 游 in mainland China)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 635, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17792
• Dae Jaweon: page 1042, character 10
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1684, character 8
• Unihan data for U+6E38

Chinese

simp. and trad.		游
2nd round simp.		沋

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 游
Spring and Autumn	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script

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

	Old Chinese
游	*lu
遊	*lu
蝣	*lu
斿	*lu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *lu): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 斿 (OC *lu). However, the phonetic component has a reference to travelling, hence it adds part of the meaning.

Etymology 1

From Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan རྒྱུ་བ (rgyu ba, “to walk; to wander”), Lepcha ᰚᰪᰌᰦ (yŭ-da, “to flow”), Rawang yø (“to flow”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Same word as 遊 (OC *lu, “to roam; to travel”). Cognate with 流 (OC *ru, “to flow”), 泅 (OC *lju). Probably unrelated to 油 (OC *lɯw, “abundant”), 滺 (“flowing”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): yóu (you²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄡˊ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): you²

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): jau⁴

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): yiu³

• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): yù

  (Meixian, Guangdong): yu²

• Jin (Wiktionary): iou¹
• Northern Min (KCR): iǔ
• Eastern Min (BUC): iù
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): iu²
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): iû

  (Teochew, Peng'im): iu⁵

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶yeu
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): iou²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yóu
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄡˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yóu
    • Wade–Giles: yu²
    • Yale: yóu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: you
    • Palladius: ю (ju)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯³⁵/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: you²
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: iu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iəu²¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: jau⁴
    • Yale: yàuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jau⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yeo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯²¹/
  • (Taishanese, Taicheng)
    • Wiktionary: yiu³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiu²²/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yù
    • Hakka Romanization System: iu^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yiu²
    • Sinological IPA: /i̯u¹¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yù
    • Hakka Romanization System: (r)iu^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yiu²
    • Sinological IPA: /(j)i̯u¹¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: yu²
    • Sinological IPA: /iu¹¹/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: iou¹
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /iəu¹¹/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: iǔ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu²¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: iù
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ieu⁵³/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: iu²
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: iú
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu¹³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: iu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu²⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Nan'an, Jinjiang, Zhangpu, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iû
    • Tâi-lô: iû
    • Phofsit Daibuun: iuu
    • IPA (Zhangpu): /iu²¹³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /iu²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /iu¹³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Nan'an, Jinjiang, Taipei): /iu²⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: iu⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: iû
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶yeu
    • MiniDict: yeu^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³hhieu
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɦiɤ²³/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: iou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i̯əu̯¹³/

---

• Middle Chinese: yuw

Rime
Character	游
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	以周切
Baxter	yuw
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jɨu/
Pan Wuyun	/jiu/
Shao Rongfen	/iəu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/juw/
Li Rong	/iu/
Wang Li	/jĭəu/
Bernhard Karlgren	/i̯ə̯u/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yóu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jau4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[N-]ru/

  (Zhengzhang): /*lu/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	游	游
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yóu	yóu
Middle Chinese	‹ yuw ›	‹ yuw ›
Old Chinese	/*[N-]ru/	/*[N-]ru/
English	float, swim	float, swim
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	游
Reading #	1/1
No.	15545
Phonetic component	斿
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	猷
Old Chinese	/*lu/

Definitions

游

1. to swim

   他游得最遠。／他游得最远。  ―  Tā yóu dé zuì yuǎn.  ―  He swam the furthest.

   他們一起游向那艘船。 [MSC, trad.]
   他们一起游向那艘船。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tāmen yīqǐ yóu xiàng nà sōu chuán. [Pinyin]

   Together they swam to the ship.

2. reach; part of a river

   上游  ―  shàngyóu  ―  upper reach, upstream

   下游  ―  xiàyóu  ―  lower reach, downstream

3. a surname

Compounds

• 游伴
• 游標 / 游标 (yóubiāo)
• 游標卡尺 / 游标卡尺 (yóubiāo kǎchǐ)
• 游水 (yóushuǐ)
• 游泳 (yóuyǒng)
• 游泳帽
• 游泳池 (yóuyǒngchí)
• 游泳衣 (yóuyǒngyī)
• 游泳褲 / 游泳裤 (yóuyǒngkù)
• 游程
• 游繩 / 游绳
• 游舫
• 游船 (yóuchuán)
• 游艇 (yóutǐng)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 游 – see 遊 (“to travel; to tour; to wander; to roam; etc.”). (This character is the simplified form of 遊).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

References

• “游”, 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–
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “游”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 289.

Japanese

Kanji

See also:

Category:Japanese terms spelled with 游

游

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. to float
2. to swim

Readings

• On (unclassified): ゆう (yū)、りゅう (ryū)
• Kun: およぐ (oyogu)、あそぶ (asobu)、あそび (asobi)
• equivalent: 遊

Korean

Hanja

游 • (yu) (hangeul 유)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

游: Hán Nôm readings: du

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