薇

薇 U+8587, 薇 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8587 ← 薆 [U+8586] CJK Unified Ideographs 薈 → [U+8588]

Translingual

Han character

薇 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸+13, 19 strokes, cangjie input 廿竹人大 (THOK), four-corner 4424₈, composition ⿱艹微)

Derived characters

• 𫲛, 𧢤

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1060, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32092
• Dae Jaweon: page 1524, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3303, character 12
• Unihan data for U+8587

Chinese

trad.		薇
simp. #		薇
alternative forms		𦵨

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
矀	*mrɯl, *mɯl
覹	*mrɯl
黴	*mrɯl, *mɯːls
薇	*mrɯl, *mɯl
媺	*mrɯlʔ
微	*mɯl
溦	*mɯl
癓	*mɯl
徽	*hmɯl
幑	*hmɯl

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *mrɯl, *mɯl): semantic 艸 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 微 (OC *mɯl).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wēi, wéi

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄟ, ㄨㄟˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bî

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wēi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wei
    • Wade–Giles: wei¹
    • Yale: wēi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uei
    • Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wéi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wéi
    • Wade–Giles: wei²
    • Yale: wéi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wei
    • Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: mei⁴
    • Yale: mèih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: méi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bî
    • Tâi-lô: bî
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bii
    • IPA (Xiamen): /bi²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bi²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bi¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bi²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi²³/

---

• Middle Chinese: mij, mj+j

Rime
Character	薇	薇
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	脂 (17)	微 (21)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	武悲切	無非切
Baxter	mij	mj+j
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mˠiɪ/	/mʉi/
Pan Wuyun	/mᵚi/	/mʷɨi/
Shao Rongfen	/miɪ/	/miuəi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mji/	/muj/
Li Rong	/mji/	/miuəi/
Wang Li	/mi/	/mĭwəi/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mi/	/mwe̯i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	mí	wéi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mei4	mei4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*mrɯl/, /*mɯl/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	薇	薇
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	12798	12803
Phonetic component	微	微
Rime group	微	微
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	眉	微
Old Chinese	/*mrɯl/	/*mɯl/

Definitions

薇

1. Osmunda regalis, a species of fern (also known as royal fern or flowering fern)

   • 陟彼南山、言采其薇。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zhì bǐ nánshān, yán cǎi qí wēi. [Pinyin]

     I ascended that hill in the south, and gathered the royal ferns.

2. used in 薔薇／蔷薇 (qiángwēi, “multiflora rose”)

See also

• 蕨 (jué, “bracken, eagle fern”)

Compounds

• 採薇 / 采薇 (cǎiwéi)
• 白薇 (báiwēi)
• 紫薇 (zǐwēi)
• 菲薇
• 薇蕨
• 薔薇 / 蔷薇 (qiángwēi)
• 薔薇戰爭 / 蔷薇战争
• 薔薇硝 / 蔷薇硝
• 薔薇科 / 蔷薇科
• 薔薇露 / 蔷薇露
• 采薇 (cǎiwéi)
• 野薔薇 / 野蔷薇