爾

爾 (Kangxi radical 89, 爻+10, 14 strokes, cangjie input 一火月大 (MFBK), four-corner 1022₇, composition ⿱一⿱八⿻巾㸚)

• 儞, 邇, 𦢈, 𠧌, 彌, 𢣚, 𢣭, 禰, 穪, 襧, 䌤, 薾, 籋, 濔, 獮, 隬 檷, 𩰞, 嬭, 趰, 躎, 鑈, 𡁠, 镾, 擟, 覼, 鸍, 壐, 璽, 蠒, 𨤻, 䦵, 鿛, 鿜, 鿝, 鿞, 鿠, 鿡, 鿥, 鿧, 鿨, 鿩, 𪓿

• 尔

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 691, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19750
• Dae Jaweon: page 1104, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 27, character 1
• Unihan data for U+723E

Historical forms of the character 爾
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script

Pictogram (象形) – cloth on a loom, with threads crossing – original form of 檷 (OC *niːlʔ, “loom”). Used phonetically.

“you; your”

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *na-ŋ (“you”).

"that"

Cognate with 那 (nà, “that”), 若 (OC *njaɡ, “that”) (Schuessler, 2007). See 那 (nà) for more.

爾

1. (literary or dialectal) you; your

   爾等／尔等  ―  ěrděng  ―  you (plural)

   • 誰謂爾無羊，三百維群。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     谁谓尔无羊，三百维群。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Shéi wèi ěr wú yáng, sānbǎi wéi qún. [Pinyin]

     Who can say that you have no sheep? There are three hundred in [each] herd.

   • 我無爾詐，爾無我虞。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     我无尔诈，尔无我虞。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Wǒ wú ěr zhà, ěr wú wǒ yú. [Pinyin]

     I do not deceive you; You do not deceive me.

2. (literary) so; this way
3. (literary or dialectal) this; that

   爾日／尔日  ―  ěrrì  ―  that day

   爾後／尔后  ―  ěrhòu  ―  thereafter

4. (obsolete, of flowers) exuberant

   • 彼爾維何，維常之華。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     彼尔维何，维常之华。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Bǐ ěr wéi hé, wéi cháng zhī huā. [Pinyin]

     What is that so gorgeous? It is the flowers of the cherry tree.

5. (obsolete) a suffix or word-final particle indicating state, appearance, sound, or manner accompanying a verb

   Synonym: 然 (rán)

   • 子路率爾而對曰… [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子路率尔而对曰… [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐlù shuài'ěr ér duì yuē... [Pinyin]

     Zilu hastily and lightly replied...

   • 鼓瑟希，鏗爾。舍瑟而作，對曰… [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     鼓瑟希，铿尔。舍瑟而作，对曰… [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Gǔ sè xī, kēng ěr. Shě sè ér zuò, duì yuē... [Pinyin]

     (Zeng Dian), pausing as he was playing on his se, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and said...

6. (literary) a sentence final particle; merely; only
7. a surname

   爾冬陞／尔冬升 [Cantonese]  ―  ji⁵ dung¹ sing¹ [Jyutping]  ―  Derek Yee (Hong Kong film director and actor)

爾

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

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Contraction of 但定 (nā-tiāⁿ; only) ?”)

爾

1. (Hokkien) that's all; nothing more; is all

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Colliqual reading of 但 (but, only, literal reading: tān)?”)

爾

1. (Hokkien) only

爾

1. Used in transcription.

It is often used to transcribe the /l/ and /r/ sounds in words of foreign languages not immediately followed by a vowel, e.g. 尼泊爾／尼泊尔 (Níbó'ěr, “Nepal”), 斯德哥爾摩／斯德哥尔摩 (Sīdégē'ěrmó, “Stockholm”), 克什米爾／克什米尔 (Kèshímǐ'ěr, “Kashmir”), 塞爾維亞／塞尔维亚 (Sài'ěrwéiyà, “Serbia”), etc.