北

See also: 业, 比, 非, and 兆
北 U+5317, 北
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5317
← 化
[U+5316] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 匘 →
[U+5318]
北 U+2F82B, 北
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F82B
← 匆
[U+2F82A] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 卉 →
[U+2F82C]

Translingual

Japanese stroke order

Han character

北 (radical 21, 匕+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 中一心 (LMP), four-corner 11110, composition ⿰丬匕)

References

  • KangXi: page 152, character 25
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2574
  • Dae Jaweon: page 342, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 262, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+5317

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 北

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 北
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu Slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (北) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
背 *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs
鄁 *bɯːɡs
偝 *bɯːɡs
邶 *bɯːɡs
苝 *bɯːɡs
北 *pɯːɡ

Ideogrammic compound (會意) – two men back to back. Originally meaning “back”; the character 背 (OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) refers to the original word.

Etymology

The sense of “north” is derived from “back (of body)”: “back” → “to turn the back to; to retreat” → “north”.

The ancient Chinese value the southern direction and houses are traditionally oriented along a north-south axis, as evident in the fengshui theory and orientation of buildings in Chinese Neolithic sites. North is the direction the back is oriented to when the person is facing south.

Compare the graphical origin of 南 (OC *nuːm, “south”) (Sagart, 1988).

Pronunciation

Note:
  • pak - vernacular;
  • pok - literary.
  • Dialectal data▼
Variety Location 北
Mandarin Beijing /pei²¹⁴/
Harbin /pei²¹³/
Tianjin /pei¹³/
Jinan /pei²¹³/
Qingdao /pe⁵⁵/
Zhengzhou /pei²⁴/
Xi'an /pei²¹/
Xining /pɨ⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /pia¹³/
/pɛ¹³/
Lanzhou /pə¹³/
Ürümqi /pei²¹³/
Wuhan /pɤ²¹³/
Chengdu /pe³¹/
Guiyang /pɛ²¹/
Kunming /pə³¹/
Nanjing /pəʔ⁵/
Hefei /pɐʔ⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /pei⁵³/
Pingyao /pʌʔ¹³/ ～城
/piʌʔ¹³/ ～面面
Hohhot /piəʔ⁴³/
Wu Shanghai /poʔ⁵/
Suzhou /poʔ⁵/
Hangzhou /poʔ⁵/
Wenzhou /pai²¹³/
Hui Shexian /peʔ²¹/
Tunxi /pi⁵/
Xiang Changsha /pə²⁴/
Xiangtan /pæ²⁴/
Gan Nanchang /pɛʔ⁵/
Hakka Meixian /pet̚¹/
Taoyuan /pet̚²²/
Cantonese Guangzhou /pɐk̚⁵/
Nanning /pɐk̚⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /pɐk̚⁵/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /pɔk̚³²/
/pak̚³²/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /pɔyʔ²³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /pɛ²⁴/
Shantou (Min Nan) /pak̚²/
Haikou (Min Nan) /ʔbak̚⁵/
Rime
Character 北
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 幫 (1)
Final (韻) 德 (131)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 博墨切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /pək̚/
Pan
Wuyun		 /pək̚/
Shao
Rongfen		 /pək̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /pək̚/
Li
Rong		 /pək̚/
Wang
Li		 /pək̚/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /pək̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 bo
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 北
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 běi
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ pok ›
Old
Chinese		 /*pˤək/
English north

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 北
Reading # 1/1
No. 414
Phonetic
component		 北
Rime
group		 職
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 北
Old
Chinese		 /*pɯːɡ/

Definitions

北

  1. north; northern
  2. to be defeated; to fail

Coordinate terms

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

北

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. north
  2. escape, run away

Readings

Compounds

Etymology

Kanji in this term
北
きた
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese.

Ultimate derivation unknown.

Pronunciation

Noun

北 (hiragana きた, rōmaji kita)

  1. north (compass direction)
    Antonym: 南 (minami)
  2. the North (northern part of a region)
  3. the north wind
    Synonym: 北風 (kitakaze, hokufū)
  4. a developed country
Derived terms

Proper noun

北 (hiragana きた, katakana キタ, rōmaji Kita)

  1. a place name
  2. a surname

References

  1. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1 2 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja

北 • (buk, bae)

  1. north, northern

Okinawan

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 西 (nishi, “west”).

Kanji

北

Noun

北 (hiragana にし, romaji nishi)

  1. north

Derived terms

Southern Amami-Oshima

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 西 (nishi, “west”).

Kanji

北 (hiragana にし, romaji nishi)

Noun

北 (hiragana にし, romaji nishi)

  1. north

Vietnamese

Han character

北 (bắc, bác, bấc, bậc, bước)

  1. north
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