對

Han character

對 (radical 41, 寸+11, 14 strokes, cangjie input 廿土木戈 (TGDI), four-corner 3410₀, composition ⿰⿱业𦍌寸)

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 對
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script

In the oracle bone and bronze scripts, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意) : 丵 (“tool for digging”) + 土 (“earth”) + 又 (“hand”). The original meaning of the character is unclear, but it may be “to develop (land)”. It was later borrowed for “to reply”. Compare 封, 邦.

In the seal script, 又 has become the related 寸. Shuowen has two seal script forms for this character: 𡭊 (main form) and 對 (alternative form). The main form, which has a 口 (“mouth”), was probably created to specialize the character to signify “to reply”, but this form was not inherited in later scripts. Shuowen interprets the latter form (shown above) as a form that Emperor Wen of Han created by replacing 口 with 士 (“soldier; warrior”) because many of the replies were untruthful (just lip service), but it is more likely that 士 is a corruption of 土.

Pronunciation

Definitions

對

1. correct; true; right
   • 你說對了。 / 你说对了。  ―  Nǐ shuō duì le.  ―  You're right.
   • 噉就對啦。 / 噉就对啦。 [Cantonese]  ―  Gam² zau⁶ deoi³ laa¹. [Jyutping]  ―  That's right.
2. towards; to
   • 對身體好 / 对身体好  ―  duì shēntǐ hǎo  ―  good for the body

   • 你對任何藥物過敏嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
     你对任何药物过敏吗？ [MSC, simp.]

     Nǐ duì rènhé yàowù guòmǐn ma? [Pinyin]

     Are you allergic to any medications?

   • 難忘妳對我那種體貼入微　時時刻刻腦海中都緊記 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     难忘你对我那种体贴入微　时时刻刻脑海中都紧记 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 許冠傑, 難忘你

     naan⁴ mong⁴ nei⁵ deoi³ ngo⁵ naa⁵ zung² tai² tip³ jap⁶ mei⁴; si⁴ si⁴ hak¹ hak¹ nou⁵ hoi² zung¹ dou¹ gan² gei³ [Jyutping]

     I can't forget that attention you gave me; it's still stuck fast in my mind all the time

   • 佢對噉嘅嘢冇咩興趣嘅。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     佢对噉嘅嘢冇咩兴趣嘅。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     Keoi⁵ deoi³ gam² ge³ je⁵ mou⁵ me¹ hing¹ ceoi³ ge³. [Jyutping]

     He doesn't have interest in that sort of thing.

3. to treat

   • 你為什麼對他那麼好？ [MSC, trad.]
     你为什么对他那么好？ [MSC, simp.]

     Nǐ wèishénme duì tā nàme hǎo? [Pinyin]

     Why do you treat him so well?

4. paired; contrasting
   • 對照 / 对照  ―  duìzhào  ―  a comparison; to contrast
   • 中日對譯 / 中日对译  ―  zhōngrì duìyì  ―  Chinese-Japanese bilingual text
5. to match
   • 對不上 / 对不上  ―  duì bùshàng  ―  does not match
6. to respond; to answer
7. to check; to verify
   • 對賬 / 对账  ―  duìzhàng  ―  to check bills
8. Classifier for pairs of objects: pair
   • 兩對鞋 / 两对鞋 [Cantonese]  ―  loeng⁵ deoi³ haai⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  two pairs of shoes
9. according to
   • 對她來說 / 对她来说  ―  duì tā láishuō  ―  according to her
   • 對我嚟講 / 对我嚟讲 [Cantonese]  ―  deoi³ ngo⁵ lai⁴ gong² [Jyutping]  ―  according to me
10. versus; vs.

Compounds

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 対)

1. correct, right
2. facing, opposed

Hanja

對 • (dae)

• Eumhun:
  • Sound (hangeul): 대 (revised: dae)
  • Name (hangeul): 대할 대 (revised: daehal dae)

1. 對 face, oppose; opposite( 대할 )
2. 對立 be facing, antagonistic 대립
3. 對策 means or measure to counter a recognized problem 대책
4. 對象者 object (as of a policy), subject (as of an investigation) 대상자
5. 絶對 absolute 절대 (절대존재 the Absolute being 絶對存在)

Han character

對 (đỗi, dối, đôi, đối, nhói, tối, tụi)

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