四

See also: 西, 匹, and 㓁
四 U+56DB, 四
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-56DB
← 囚
[U+56DA] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 囜 →
[U+56DC]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

四 (radical 31, 囗+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 田金 (WC), four-corner 60210, composition ⿴囗儿)

References

  • KangXi: page 216, character 22
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4682
  • Dae Jaweon: page 439, character 21
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 710, character 16
  • Unihan data for U+56DB

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 四
alt. forms
 
肆 financial
亖
皿
龱
𠁤
𠃢
𦉭

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 四
Shang Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu Slip and silk script Qin slip script Ancient script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (四) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
訵 *l̥ʰids
四 *hljids
泗 *hljids
駟 *hljids
柶 *hljids
牭 *hljids
呬 *hrids

The original shell and bone character was 一 written four times, 亖 (compare 二 and 三). The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside 口; this later evolved into the combination used today of 口 (“mouth”) and 八 (“divide”) which meant a dispersal of breath. It could thus be said that four is a borrowed meaning for this character. The original sense is preserved in 呬 (OC *hrids), by adding an extra 口.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ləj.

As superstition, 四 (MC siɪH) is avoided because it is similar to 死 (MC sˠiɪX, “death”) in sound.

Pronunciation

Note: si3 - rare.
Note:
  • sé - vernacular;
  • sé̤ṳ - literary.
Note:
  • Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Taiwan, Singapore, Penang:
    • sì - vernacular;
    • sù/sìr - literary.
  • Jinjiang, Philippines:
    • sì - vernacular and literary.
Rime
Character 四
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 脂 (15)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 息利切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /siɪH/
Pan
Wuyun		 /siH/
Shao
Rongfen		 /sjɪH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /siH/
Li
Rong		 /siH/
Wang
Li		 /siH/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /siH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 sì
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 四
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 sì
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ sijH ›
Old
Chinese		 /*s.li[j]-s/
English four

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 四
Reading # 1/1
No. 12022
Phonetic
component		 四
Rime
group		 至
Rime
subdivision		 1
Corresponding
MC rime		 四
Old
Chinese		 /*hljids/

Definitions

四

  1. four
  2. (music) la (musical note)
  3. (printing) English; The size of type between 小四 (little 4) and 小三 (little 3), standardized as 14 point.

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (四):
  • Japanese: 四 (し) (shi)
  • Korean: 사 (四, sa)
  • Vietnamese: tứ (四)

Others:

  • Proto-Tai: *siːᴮ (“four”)
  • Vietnamese: tư (“four”)

See also

Chinese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 108 1012
Normal
(小寫／小写)		 〇 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬／万 億／亿 兆 (Taiwan)
萬億／万亿 (Mainland China)
Financial
(大寫／大写)		 零 壹 貳／贰 參／叁 肆 伍 陸／陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟
Playing cards in Chinese · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
A 二 三 四 五 六 七
八 九 十 J Q K 小王 (black), 大王 (red)

Japanese

Japanese cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : 四

Glyph origin

From 亖 (“four”). The parallel lines have since evolved into an approximation of what a fist looks like when viewed palm side down.

Kanji

四

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings
Compounds
Derived terms

Etymology 1

/yo2/ *[jə] > /yo/ [jo].

Pronunciation

Noun

四 (hiragana よ, rōmaji yo)

  1. four

Etymology 2

Native 四 (yo, “four”) + n, influenced by analogy by the final sound in Chinese 三 (san, “three”).

Pronunciation

Noun

四 (hiragana よん, rōmaji yon)

  1. four

Etymology 3

Sino-Japanese reading.

Pronunciation

Noun

四 (hiragana し, rōmaji shi)

  1. four
  2. fourth

References

Korean

Hanja

四 • (sa)

  1. four

Compounds

Mulam

Numeral

四 (ti5)

  1. four

Vietnamese

Han character

四 (tứ, tớ, tư)

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