低

低 U+4F4E, 低
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F4E
← 位
[U+4F4D]
CJK Unified Ideographs 住 →
[U+4F4F]

Translingual

Stroke order
7 strokes

Han character

低 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 人竹心一 (OHPM) or 人竹女戈 (OHVI), four-corner 22240, composition ⿰亻氐)

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 98, character 8
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 504
  • Dae Jaweon: page 207, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 137, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+4F4E

Chinese

trad. 低
simp. # 低

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 低


References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Phono-semantic compound (形聲/形声, OC *tiːl) : semantic 亻 (“man, person”) + phonetic 氐 (OC *tiːl, *til) – a person lowering themselves, bowing.

Etymology 1

Cognate with 底 (OC *tiːlʔ, “bottom”), 柢 (OC *tiːl, *tiːlʔ, *tiːls, “root of a tree; base”), Tibetan མཐིལ (mthil, “bottom; floor”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation



Rime
Character 低
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 端 (5)
Final (韻) 齊 (39)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) IV
Fanqie 都奚切
Baxter tej
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/tei/
Pan
Wuyun
/tei/
Shao
Rongfen
/tɛi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/tɛj/
Li
Rong
/tei/
Wang
Li
/tiei/
Bernard
Karlgren
/tiei/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
dī
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
dai1
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 低
Reading # 1/1
No. 2234
Phonetic
component
氐
Rime
group
脂
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
低
Old
Chinese
/*tiːl/

Definitions

低

  1. low (of height)
  2. low (of quantity); behind average
    他們抱怨工資過低。 [MSC, trad.]
    他们抱怨工资过低。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tāmen bàoyuàn gōngzī guò dī. [Pinyin]
    They complained that the wages were too low.
    低糖的高纖豆漿/低糖的高纤豆浆  ―  dī táng de gāo xiān dòujiāng  ―  Low Sugar, High Fiber Soy Milk
  3. low (of voice); quiet; soft
  4. (Cantonese) down (adverb)
    寫低/写低 [Cantonese]  ―  se2 dai1 [Jyutping]  ―  to write down
  5. (dialectal Mandarin, Jin) short (in stature)
  6. to lower; to hang (one's head); to bend; to bow
Synonyms

Compounds

See also

Pronunciation


Definitions

低

  1. (Southern Min) Alternative form of 下 (“low”)

Japanese

Kanji

低

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. low
  2. short
  3. humble

Readings

Korean

Hanja

低 (eumhun 낮을 저 (najeul jeo))

  1. Hanja form? of 저 (“low”).
  2. Hanja form? of 저 (“cheap”).

Compounds

Tày

Adjective

低 (đây)

  1. Nôm form of đây (“good, beautiful”).

Vietnamese

Han character

低: Hán Nôm readings: đây, đay, đê

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

References

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