姓

姓 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 女竹手一 (VHQM), four-corner 4541₀, composition ⿰女生)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 259, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6178
• Dae Jaweon: page 524, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1037, character 12
• Unihan data for U+59D3

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sleŋs) : semantic 女 (“woman; female”) + phonetic 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs).

Specialised form of 性 (xìng): “human nature; what is inborn” > “surname; clan name”.

姓

1. surname; family name; clan name

   你的姓怎麼拼寫？ [MSC, trad.]
   你的姓怎么拼写？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ de xìng zěnme pīnxiě? [Pinyin]

   How do you spell your last name?

   您貴姓？／您贵姓？  ―  Nín guìxìng?  ―  What is your surname? [honorific]

   Coordinate term: 名 (míng)

2. to have the surname of

   我姓陳。／我姓陈。  ―  Wǒ xìng Chén.  ―  My surname is Chen.

   • 黃帝者，少典之子，姓公孫，名曰軒轅。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     黄帝者，少典之子，姓公孙，名曰轩辕。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE, translated based on Herbert J. Allen's version

     Huángdì zhě, Shàodiǎn zhī zǐ, xìng Gōngsūn, míng yuē Xuānyuán. [Pinyin]

     The Yellow Emperor (Huangti) was the son of Shaotien; he [was originally] surnamed Kungsun, and his prename (given name at birth) was Hsienyüan.

3. (figurative, often officialese) to belong to; to be classified as

   黨媒姓黨／党媒姓党  ―  dǎngméi xìng Dǎng  ―  the Party's media must follow the Party's will

   姓資姓社 [MSC, trad.]
   姓资姓社 [MSC, simp.]

   xìng zī xìng shè [Pinyin]

   follow the capitalist way or follow the socialist way

   • 我們的研究並非要急著爭論它究竟姓「客」還是姓「粵」，我們更感興趣的是這種混合語究竟是如何形成的。 [MSC, trad.]
     我们的研究并非要急着争论它究竟姓「客」还是姓「粤」，我们更感兴趣的是这种混合语究竟是如何形成的。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2014, 周佳凡 (Zhou Jiafan), 《深圳坪山占米话研究》 (thesis), Xiamen: Xiamen University, page I

     Wǒmen de yánjiū bìngfēi yào jízhe zhēnglùn tā jiūjìng xìng “kè” háishì xìng “yuè”, wǒmen gèng gǎn xìngqù de shì zhè zhǒng hùnhéyǔ jiūjìng shì rúhé xíngchéng de. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 還有一點值得說的是，黃河「姓黃」，黃河畢竟流經黃土高原，沒有必要追求絕對的清澈。 [MSC, trad.]
     还有一点值得说的是，黄河「姓黄」，黄河毕竟流经黄土高原，没有必要追求绝对的清澈。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2020 November 28, 《以考古之光 照亮文明深处与细节——中国考古与历史主题新书访谈》, in 《光明日报》 [Guangming Daily], →ISSN, page 09

     Háiyǒu yī diǎn zhídé shuō de shì, Huáng Hé “xìng huáng”, Huáng Hé bìjìng liújīng Huángtǔ Gāoyuán, méiyǒu bìyào zhuīqiú juéduì de qīngchè. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

4. a surname

Others:

• → Khmer: សែ (sae)
• → Thai: แซ่ (sɛ̂ɛ)

• “姓”, 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–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00909
• “Entry #3781”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. clan
2. surname

• Go-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: せい (sei, Jōyō)
• Kun: かばね (kabane, 姓)

From Old Japanese.[1][2]

Ultimate derivation unclear. Some theories derive this as a Japanese compound of 株 (kabu, “stock, root”) + 根 (ne, “root, origin”) or 名 (na, “name”). However, the required /u/ → /a/ sound shift would be unusual.

Another thought is that this might be a borrowing from, or somehow otherwise related to, Korean 골품 (golpum), a Sino-Korean term also spelled 骨品 (literally “bones + goods”), the name for a kind of kinship hierarchy that was prevalent in the Silla kingdom. This latter theory and its related “bone” sense might also account for the homophony with 屍 (kabane, “corpse, dead body”).

• (Tokyo) かばね [kàbáné] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ba̠ne̞]

姓(かばね) • (kabane) 

1. a clan

   Synonym: 氏 (uji)

2. (historical) a kind of hereditary title bestowed to clans in ancient Japan

• 姓(かばね)書(がき) (kabane-gaki): (historical) someone's full name, written out with the status of their clan appended
• 姓(かばね)名(な) (kabane na, “clan name”)
• 八色(やくさ)の姓(かばね) (Yakusa no Kabane), 八色(はっしき)の姓(かばね) (Hasshiki no Kabane): a specific set of eight kabane titles promulgated by Emperor Tenmu in 675 CE

From Middle Chinese 姓 (MC sjengH). The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing. Compare modern Min Nan reading sèⁿ.

• (Tokyo) せ​ー [séꜜè] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
• IPA^(key): [se̞ː]

姓(せい) • (sei) 

1. surname, family name
2. clan

• 八姓(はっせい) (hassei)

• 姓(せい)を冒(おか)す (sei o okasu): to be adopted by a different clan; to take on a different surname

/siau/ → /ɕjɔː/ → /ɕoː/

From Middle Chinese 姓 (MC sjengH). The goon, so likely the initial borrowing. Compare modern Hakka reading siang.

This reading is less common than sei above.

• (Tokyo) しょ​ー [shóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ː]

姓(しょう) • (shō) ^{←しやう (syau)?}

1. (uncommon) surname, family name
2. (uncommon) clan

• 上姓(じょうしょう) (jōshō)
• 下姓(げしょう) (geshō)
• 小姓(こしょう) (koshō)

A shift from shō above to use the 直音 (chokuon, “"straight" pronunciation”, dropping out any /j/ or /w/ glides).[1]

This reading is not used in modern Japanese, and is only found in historical texts, such as the Utsubo Monogatari from the late 900s.

• IPA^(key): [so̞ː]

姓(そう) • (sō) 

1. (historical, obsolete) surname, family name
2. (historical, obsolete) clan

• Etymology at Gogen-Allguide (in Japanese)

From Middle Chinese 姓 (MC sjengH). Recorded as Middle Korean 셔ᇰ (syeng) (Yale: syeng) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰɘ(ː)ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [성(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Wikisource 姓 (eumhun 성씨 성 (seongssi seong))

1. Hanja form^? of 성 (“clan; family name”).

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

姓: Hán Nôm readings: tính

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