肘

See also: 䏔

肘 U+8098, 肘 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8098 ← 肗 [U+8097] CJK Unified Ideographs 肙 → [U+8099]

Translingual

Han character

肘 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+3, 7 strokes, cangjie input 月木戈 (BDI), four-corner 7420₀, composition ⿰月寸(GJK) or ⿰⺼寸(HT))

Derived characters

• 𤶡

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 974, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29268
• Dae Jaweon: page 1425, character 26
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2044, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8098

Chinese

trad.		肘
simp. #		肘

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 肘
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

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

	Old Chinese
肘	*tkuʔ
疛	*tuʔ, *dus
紂	*duʔ
葤	*duʔ
酎	*l'us

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *tkuʔ): semantic 肉 + phonetic 寸 (OC *tkuʔ). Originally written as 寸, an ideogram of a hand (又) with a stroke outlining the elbow. This character was distinct from 寸; however, their shapes were too similar, so a 肉 was added to distinguish it.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-g(r)u (“elbow, cubit”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): zhǒu (zhou³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄡˇ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): zou³

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zau² / zaau²
• Jin (Wiktionary): zou²
• Eastern Min (BUC): diū
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): diu³
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): tiú

  (Teochew, Peng'im): iu² / diu²

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tseu
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): zhou³

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǒu
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄡˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǒu
    • Wade–Giles: chou³
    • Yale: jǒu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: joou
    • Palladius: чжоу (čžou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: zou³
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: zou
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡səu⁵³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: zau² / zaau²
    • Yale: jáu / jáau
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzau² / dzaau²
    • Guangdong Romanization: zeo² / zao²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɐu̯³⁵/, /t͡saːu̯³⁵/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: zou²
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /t͡səu⁵³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: diū
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tieu³³/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: diu³
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: diû
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tiu⁴⁵³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: diu³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tiu³³²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tiú
    • Tâi-lô: tiú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: diuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tiu⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tiu⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tiu⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /tiu⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tiu⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: iu² / diu²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: iú / tiú
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu⁵²/, /tiu⁵²/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵tseu
    • MiniDict: tseu^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tseu
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sɤ³⁴/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: zhou³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (old-style): /ʈ͡ʂəu̯⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (new-style): /t͡səu̯⁴¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: trjuwX

Rime
Character	肘
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	知 (9)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	陟柳切
Baxter	trjuwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʈɨuX/
Pan Wuyun	/ʈiuX/
Shao Rongfen	/ȶiəuX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʈuwX/
Li Rong	/ȶiuX/
Wang Li	/ȶĭəuX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ȶi̯ə̯uX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhǒu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zau2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*t-[k]<r>uʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*tkuʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	肘
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zhǒu
Middle Chinese	‹ trjuwX ›
Old Chinese	/*t-[k]<r>uʔ/
English	elbow
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	肘
Reading #	1/1
No.	17544
Phonetic component	肘
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	肘
Old Chinese	/*tkuʔ/
Notes	甲金文象手臂下加指示符， 後再加形旁轉註

Definitions

肘

1. (anatomy) elbow
2. upper part of a leg of pork (as food)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 胳膊肘 (“elbow”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		肘
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		胳膊肘
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	胳膊肘兒, 胳臂肘兒
	Taiwan	手肘
	Harbin	胳膊肘子, 胳膊肘兒
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	胳膊肘, 胳膊肘兒, 胳膊肘子
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	胳膊肘兒, 拐肘, 胳膊彎兒
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	胳膊肘兒
	Wanrong	胳肘子
	Xi'an	胳肘子
	Xining	胳杵子
	Xuzhou	胳膊肘兒, 胳膊肘子
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	胳肘子
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	胳肘子
	Lanzhou	胳肘子
	Ürümqi	胳肘子
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	倒拐子, 手倒拐
	Wuhan	倒拐, 倒拐頭, 拐子
	Guiyang	手道拐
	Kunming	手拐子
	Liuzhou	手拐, 手膝蓋
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	胳膀垂兒, 胳膀肘兒
	Yangzhou	膀節彎子, 膀彎子, 胳膊肘子
	Nantong	手彎子, 手拐子
	Hefei	胳膊肘
Cantonese	Guangzhou	手㬹
	Hong Kong	手㬹
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	手㬹
	Taishan	手鑿
	Dongguan	手㬹
	Yangjiang	手鑿
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	手㬹
Gan	Nanchang	斗㬹
	Lichuan	斗㬹公
	Pingxiang	掌肘
Hakka	Meixian	手㬹
	Xingning	手㬹
	Huidong (Daling)	手㬹
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	手㬹
	Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang)	手㬹
	Changting	手㬹
	Wuping	手㬹角頭
	Wuping (Pingyu)	手㬹
	Liancheng	手㬹
	Ninghua	手㬹
	Yudu	手㬹
	Ruijin	手㬹
	Shicheng	手㬹
	Shangyou (Shexi)	手㬹
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	手㬹
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	手㬹
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	手㬹
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	手㬹
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	手㬹
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	手㬹
	Hong Kong	手㬹
	Senai (Huiyang)	手㬹角
Huizhou	Jixi	手肘尖
	Shexian	肘腮頭
Jin	Taiyuan	胳扭子, 胳肘子, 胳肘, 胳膊肘
	Xinzhou	胳扭
Northern Min	Jian'ou	手角䟓
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	手𩨑
	Fuqing	手臂𩨑
Southern Min	Xiamen	手後臼, 手後蹬, 手後曲, 手曲
	Quanzhou	手後捅
	Jinjiang	手後捅
	Zhangzhou	手後曲, 手曲, 手後臼
	Taipei	手後曲
	Kaohsiung	手後蹬
	Yilan	手後彎
	Changhua (Lukang)	手後曲
	Taichung	手後曲
	Taichung (Wuqi)	手後曲
	Tainan	手曲
	Taitung	手後曲
	Hsinchu	手後曲
	Penghu (Magong)	手後曲
	Singapore (Hokkien)	手後蹬
	Chaozhou	手後捅
	Shantou	手後捅
	Leizhou	手趺
	Haikou	手趺
Puxian Min	Putian	手彎
	Xianyou	手彎
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	米臂尖
Wu	Shanghai	臂撐子
	Shanghai (Chongming)	臂杖子
	Suzhou	臂膊撐子, 臂膊撐骨
	Danyang	手臂彎彎
	Hangzhou	手拄撐頭
	Ningbo	手㬹子頭
	Wenzhou	手㬹頭, 手㬹根頭
	Jinhua	手臂囊頭
Xiang	Changsha	倒肘, 手拐子, 倒拐子, 倒拐
	Shuangfeng	手杵子
	Hengyang	手後跟

Compounds

• 事生肘腋
• 懸肘 / 悬肘
• 手肘 (shǒuzhǒu)
• 拐肘 (guǎizhǒu)
• 捉襟肘見 / 捉襟肘见
• 捉襟見肘 / 捉襟见肘
• 掣肘 (chèzhǒu)
• 掣襟肘見 / 掣襟肘见
• 掣襟露肘
• 禍生肘腋 / 祸生肘腋 (huòshēngzhǒuyè)
• 網球肘 / 网球肘 (wǎngqiúzhǒu)
• 肘子 (zhǒuzi)
• 肘後方 / 肘后方
• 肘手鍊足 / 肘手炼足
• 肘窩 / 肘窝 (zhǒuwō)
• 肘腋
• 肘腋之患
• 肘腋之憂 / 肘腋之忧
• 肘關節 / 肘关节
• 胳膊肘 (gēbozhǒu)
• 胳膊肘子 (gēbozhǒuzi)
• 膝行肘步
• 臂有四肘
• 變生肘腋 / 变生肘腋 (biànshēngzhǒuyè)
• 踵決肘見 / 踵决肘见
• 醬肘子 / 酱肘子
• 頭肘子 / 头肘子

References

• “肘”, 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), “肘”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 312.