盍

See also: 盇

盍 U+76CD, 盍 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-76CD ← 盌 [U+76CC] CJK Unified Ideographs 盎 → [U+76CE]

Translingual

Han character

盍 (Kangxi radical 108, 皿+5, 10 strokes, cangjie input 土戈月廿 (GIBT), four-corner 4010₇, composition ⿱去皿)

1. what? why not?

Derived characters

• 嗑, 㥺, 搕, 溘, 榼, 熆, 䐦, 瞌, 磕, 䗘, 醘, 鎑(𰾩), 饁(馌), 鰪, 豔(𧰟)
• 䫦, 蓋, 篕, 㔩, 㕎, 廅, 闔(阖), 圔

Additional Derived Characters

• 𪝙, 𡏖, 𡻊, 𢄍, 𤠡, 𣩄, 𥛐, 𧛾, 𦔏, 𧪞(𬤒), 𫎽, 𨍰(𫐔), 𩇠, 𱌻, 𮫥, 𩌍, 𥃕
• 𨜴, 𢾩, 𣣹, 𥂇, 𫇤, 𱝐, 𭾖, 𬾾, 𩮨, 𪔮, 𢩘, 𤸱, 𠥕, 𣝒

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 794, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 22980
• Dae Jaweon: page 1209, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2559, character 4
• Unihan data for U+76CD

Chinese

simp. and trad.		盍
alternative forms		盇

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 盍
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

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

	Old Chinese
蓋	*kaːbs, *kaːb, *ɡaːb
盖	*kaːbs
溘	*kʰaːbs, *kʰoːb, *kʰaːb
搕	*qoːb
嗑	*kaːb, *ɡaːb
榼	*kʰaːb
磕	*kʰaːb, *kʰaːd
瞌	*kʰaːb
盍	*ɡaːb
闔	*ɡaːb
篕	*ɡaːb
熆	*ɡaːb
鰪	*qaːb
廅	*qaːb
圔	*qroːb
饁	*ɢrab

Original form of 蓋. Pictogram (象形), a container and its lid.

Etymology

From the fusion of 何不 (OC *ɡaːl pɯ, “why not”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hé (he²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄜˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hap⁶
• Eastern Min (BUC): hăk
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): khah / a̍p

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hé
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hé
    • Wade–Giles: ho²
    • Yale: hé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: her
    • Palladius: хэ (xɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: hap⁶
    • Yale: hahp
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hap⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: heb⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐp̚²/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: hăk
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /haʔ⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khah / a̍p
    • Tâi-lô: khah / a̍p
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qaq, ap
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kʰaʔ³²/, /ap̚⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰaʔ⁵/, /ap̚²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰaʔ³²/, /ap̚¹²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kʰaʔ³²/, /ap̚⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰaʔ³²/, /ap̚⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: hap

Rime
Character	盍
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	盍 (144)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	胡臘切
Baxter	hap
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦɑp̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦɑp̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣɑp̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦap̚/
Li Rong	/ɣɑp̚/
Wang Li	/ɣɑp̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɣɑp̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	hé
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hap6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*m-[k]ˤap/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡaːb/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	盍
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	hé
Middle Chinese	‹ hap ›
Old Chinese	/*m-[k]ˁap/
English	thatch, cover (v.)
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	盍
Reading #	1/1
No.	5080
Phonetic component	盍
Rime group	盍
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	盍
Old Chinese	/*ɡaːb/

Definitions

盍

1. (Classical) why; how
2. (Classical) why not

   • 子曰：「盍各言爾志？」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     子曰：「盍各言尔志？」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐ yuē: “Hé gè yán ěr zhì?” [Pinyin]

     The Master said, "Why don't each of you talk about your aspirations?"

   • 有游於子墨子之門者，子墨子曰：「盍學乎？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     有游于子墨子之门者，子墨子曰：「盍学乎？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mozi, c. 4^th century BCE

     Yǒu yóu yú Zǐ Mòzǐ zhī mén zhě, Zǐ Mòzǐ yuē: “Hé xué hū?” [Pinyin]

     A man visited Mozi's school. Mozi said: Why not come and study?

3. used in 盍簪
4. used in 盍旦
5. Original form of 蓋／盖 (gài, “to cover”).
6. a surname

Compounds

• 昌盍
• 盍各
• 盍旦 (hédàn)
• 盍簪