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還

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: 还
還 U+9084, 還
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9084
← 邃
[U+9083] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 邅 →
[U+9085]

Translingual

Han character

還 (Kangxi radical 162, 辵+13, 17 strokes in traditional Chinese and Korean, 16 strokes in mainland China and Japanese, cangjie input 卜田中女 (YWLV), four-corner 36303, composition ⿺辶睘)

Derived characters

  • 𫤇, 𡄤, 𭣌, 㶎, 𣟳, 𤫐, 𧮅, 𨰄

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 1266, character 23
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 39174
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1764, character 12
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3888, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+9084
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Chinese

More information trad., simp. ...

Glyph origin

More information Historical forms of the character 還, Western Zhou ...
Characters in the same phonetic series (睘) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
More information Old Chinese ...

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɡʷraːn, *sɢʷan): semantic 辵 (“walk”) + phonetic 睘 (OC *ɡʷeŋ) – to go back; to return.

Etymology

“to return”
From Austroasiatic; compare Khmer រង្វាន់ (rŭəngvŏən, “reward; award; bonus”) (Schuessler, 2007). Probably related to 環 (OC *ɡʷraːn, “ring; to encircle”) (ibid.).
"still; also"
The Mandarin reading hái is perhaps from huán (huán → hán → hái), ultimately from the verb sense "to return" (Zhao, 2018).
This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Is the Mandarin reading of hai2 the result of repurposing an existing character? It doesn't seem to be related to non-Mandarin readings and the Old/Middle Chinese data.”

Pronunciation 1

Note:
  • uan4 - “to return (an object)”;
  • fan4 - used in compounds, e.g. 還原／还原.
  • Dialectal data
More information Variety, Location ...
More information Rime, Character ...
More information Character, Reading # ...
More information Zhengzhang system (2003), Character ...

Definitions

還

  1. to return to a place; to go back to a place
    還家／还家  ―  huánjiā  ―  to return home
    還鄉／还乡  ―  huánxiāng  ―  to return to one's hometown
    還原／还原  ―  huányuán  ―  to return to the original state, [chemistry] to reduce
    還俗／还俗  ―  huánsú  ―  to resume secular life
  2. to return an object; to give back
    償還／偿还  ―  chánghuán  ―  to reimburse
    還書／还书  ―  huánshū  ―  to return the books (to the library)
    欠錢不還／欠钱不还  ―  qiàn qián bù huán  ―  to owe money (without the intention of paying back)
    把我的手機還給我。 [MSC, trad.]
    把我的手机还给我。 [MSC, simp.]
    Bǎ wǒ de shǒujī huán gěi wǒ. [Pinyin]
    Give my mobile back to me.
  3. to do or give something in return
    還嘴／还嘴  ―  huánzuǐ  ―  to retort
    還手／还手  ―  huánshǒu  ―  to hit back
    還禮／还礼  ―  huánlǐ  ―  to present a gift in return
    還擊／还击  ―  huánjī  ―  to fight back
    還價／还价  ―  huánjià  ―  to make a counter-offer buying price
    以眼還眼，以牙還牙 [MSC, trad.]
    以眼还眼，以牙还牙 [MSC, simp.]
    yǐ yǎn huán yǎn, yǐ yá huán yá [Pinyin]
    (literally) an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; tit for tat
  4. (Cantonese, Pingxiang Gan, Hakka, Hokkien, Liuzhou Mandarin, Nanning Pinghua) to treat separately
  5. (Malaysian Hokkien, Singapore Hokkien, obsolete in Philippine Hokkien) to pay
  6. a surname
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 還 (“to return; to give back”) [map]
More information Variety, Location ...
Dialectal synonyms of 歸 (“to be regardless of; to treat separately”) [map]
More information Variety, Location ...
Dialectal synonyms of 付 (“to pay”) [map]
More information Variety, Location ...

Compounds

Descendants

  • → Thai: หวน (hǔuan)

Pronunciation 2

Note:
  • huan1/huan5/han5 - vernacular;
  • huang5/huêng5 - literary.
  • Dialectal data
More information Variety, Location ...

Definitions

還

  1. still; yet; indicates that the phenomenon or observation still exists or the action is still ongoing
    他還沒來。／他还没来。  ―  Tā hái méi lái.  ―  He hasn't come yet.
    還未得住。／还未得住。 [Taishanese]  ―  van3 mei5 ak2 zi5. [Wiktionary]  ―  It's still not OK.
    你怎麼還沒到？／你怎么还没到？  ―  Nǐ zěnme hái méi dào?  ―  Why are you still not here?
    這裡還是老樣子。 [MSC, trad.]
    这里还是老样子。 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhèlǐ hái shì lǎo yàngzi. [Pinyin]
    Here's still the same as before.
    十點了，他還在工作。 [MSC, trad.]
    十点了，他还在工作。 [MSC, simp.]
    Shí diǎn le, tā hái zài gōngzuò. [Pinyin]
    It's ten o'clock already and he is still working.
    幾年不見，她還那麼漂亮。 [MSC, trad.]
    几年不见，她还那么漂亮。 [MSC, simp.]
    Jǐ nián bù jiàn, tā hái nàme piàoliàng. [Pinyin]
    She is still very beautiful after all these years.
    考試完還要上課。 [MSC, trad.]
    考试完还要上课。 [MSC, simp.]
    Kǎoshì wán hái yào shàngkè. [Pinyin]
    (I) still have classes after the exams.
  2. also; as well
    她會說英語，還會說西班牙語。 [MSC, trad.]
    她会说英语，还会说西班牙语。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā huì shuō yīngyǔ, hái huì shuō xībānyáyǔ. [Pinyin]
    She can speak English and can also speak Spanish.
    他賠了一大筆錢，還丟了工作。 [MSC, trad.]
    他赔了一大笔钱，还丢了工作。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā péi le yī dà bǐ qián, hái diū le gōngzuò. [Pinyin]
    He lost a lot of money and even his job.
  3. even more; indicates an increase from a certain level or a supplement
    今年比去年還冷。 [MSC, trad.]
    今年比去年还冷。 [MSC, simp.]
    Jīnnián bǐ qùnián hái lěng. [Pinyin]
    This year is even colder than last year.
  4. (before adjectives, mostly positive) passably; (surprisingly) quite
    我的成績還可以。 [MSC, trad.]
    我的成绩还可以。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ de chéngjì hái kěyǐ. [Pinyin]
    I have a passable grade.
    屋子不大，收拾得倒還乾淨。 [MSC, trad.]
    屋子不大，收拾得倒还干净。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wūzi bù dà, shōushi dé dǎo hái qiánjìng. [Pinyin]
    It's quite clean for such a small room.
    孩子不大，還挺懂事的。 [MSC, trad.]
    孩子不大，还挺懂事的。 [MSC, simp.]
    Háizi bù dà, hái tǐng dǒngshì de. [Pinyin]
    The small kid is surprisingly quite sensible.
    這蛋糕還挺好吃的。 [MSC, trad.]
    这蛋糕还挺好吃的。 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhè dàngāo hái tǐng hǎochī de. [Pinyin]
    That was a pretty tasty cake.
  5. (often in rhetorical questions) indicates condition and contrast, interchangeable with 都 (dōu); even
    你還搬不動，何況我呢？ [MSC, trad.]
    你还搬不动，何况我呢？ [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ hái bān bù dòng, hékuàng wǒ ne? [Pinyin]
    Even you can't move it, let alone me.
  6. indicates unexpectedness; really
    他還真有辦法。／他还真有办法。  ―  Tā hái zhēn yǒu bànfǎ.  ―  Surprisingly he has a way to do this.
    還真的是。／还真的是。  ―  Hái zhēnde shì.  ―  It really is so[; would you look at that.]
  7. indicates past events; emphasising earliness
    還在幾年以前，我們就研究過這個方案。 [MSC, trad.]
    还在几年以前，我们就研究过这个方案。 [MSC, simp.]
    Hái zài jǐ nián yǐqián, wǒmen jiù yánjiū guò zhège fāng'àn. [Pinyin]
    The proposal has been studied by us a couple of years ago (and now you made the suggestion to study it).
  8. (Hakka, usually in exclamation) very
    還大雨噢！／还大雨噢！ [Meixian Hakka]  ―  han2 tai4 yi3 o3! [Hakka Transliteration Scheme]  ―  It's raining heavily!
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 還 (“still; yet”) [map]
More information Variety, Location ...
Dialectal synonyms of 很 (“very”) [map]
More information Variety, Location ...

Compounds

Pronunciation 3

More information Rime, Character ...
More information Character, Reading # ...
More information Zhengzhang system (2003), Character ...

Definitions

還

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 旋 (“to rotate; to turn around”)
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) nimble; agile
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) immediately

References

  • 莆田市政协文化文史和学习委员会 [Culture, History and Learning Committee of Putian CPPCC], editor (2021), “还”, in 莆仙方言大词典 [Comprehensive Dictionary of Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, pages 260, 291.
  • 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “还”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 270.
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