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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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Chinese

水

shuǐ
water (Classifier: 瓶 m; 樽 c; 滴 m c; 池 m c; 盆 m c; 杯 m c)
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 水
  • 4 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • meaning component
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Origin

The character 水 is a pictogram of flowing water. It appears in various forms, such as the variant 氺 and the radical 氵, which is a compressed and stylized version used next to other characters. The Shuowen Jiezi describes it as representing many waters flowing together, with a slight trace of yang energy in the middle.

Several reconstructions exist for its origin. One proposal reconstructs the Proto-Sino-Tibetan root as *lwi(j) ("flow; stream"), which is considered cognate with Mizo *lui* ("stream; brook; river"), Tedim Chin *luːi³* ("stream; river"), and Jingpho *lawi* ("to flow"). Under this view, Old Chinese *lhuiʔ* is an endoactive derivation meaning "that which is flowing."

Other scholars suggest different roots. One reconstruction of Old Chinese, *s.turʔ, is based on the Proto-Min form *turʔ and is compared to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *twəj* ("to flow; to suppurate"). Sagart tentatively derives the character from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-turʔ, comparing it to Bodo *dwi*, Mizo *tui*, and Proto-Karen *thejᴬ*. Alternatively, Gong reconstructs Old Chinese as *hljədx*, comparing it to Tibetan *chu* ("water").

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「水」是一個象形字，描繪水流的樣子。在《說文解字》中，它被解釋為「凖也。北方之行」，象徵眾水並行，其中包含微小的陽氣。當「水」作為字的一部分時，常會被壓縮並風格化為「氵」（與「冫」無關），或以變體「氺」的形式出現，例如在「泰」、「錄」及「黎」等字中。

關於其起源，學界有不同的重建與比較觀點。部分學者將其溯源至原始漢藏語 *lwi(j)（意為「流；溪流」），並認為其上古漢語重建形式 *lhuiʔ 可能是該詞根加上後綴 *-ʔ 的內動詞衍生，意指「正在流動之物」。此外，也有研究將其上古漢語重建為 *s.turʔ，並與原始藏緬語 *twəj（意為「流；化膿」）聯繫起來。另一派觀點則將其上古漢語重建為 *hljədx，並與藏語 ཆུ (chu) 進行比較。

在語言比較上，「水」被認為與 Mizo 語的 lui（溪流、河流）、Jingpho 語的 lawi（水流）以及 Mizo 語的 tui 有關。此外，也有研究指出它可能與原始南亞語 *loːjʔ（涉水；游泳）及原始傣語 *loːjᴬ（游泳）具有同源關係。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • partChinese乛
  • partChinese亅 “a backward hook”
  • partChinese丶 “An ancient punctuation mark.”
  • partChinese乀 “a stroke that falls downwards towards the right”

Related: Mizo lui, Jingpho lawi, Old Chinese 水, Proto-Austroasiatic *loːjʔ, Proto-Tai *loːjᴬ, Tibetan ཆུ, Proto-Tibeto-Burman *tsju, Proto-Tibeto-Burman *twəj, Bodo (India) दै, Mizo tui, Proto-Karen *thejᴬ, Proto-Tibeto-Burman *s-turʔ

Words built on it: 沒, 酒, 水果, 洗, 河, 海, 水平, 流, 滿, 湖, 湯

Wiktionary etymology text

Pictogram (象形) of water flowing; sometimes written as the variant 氺 (e.g., 泰, 录, and 黎). Next to a character, it is compressed and stylized into 氵 (which is unrelated to 冫).

Compare 川 (OC *kʰjon) and its variant 巛. Compare also 永 and its cognate 𠂢. See also the bottom part of 原 in its original version (厡).

Here are some proposals:

* Proto-Sino-Tibetan *lwi(j) (“flow; stream”) (Benedict, 1974; Coblin, 1986; Handel, 1998; Schuessler, 2007; STEDT). Cognate with Mizo lui (“stream; brook; river”), Tedim Chin [script needed] (luːi³, “stream; river”), Jingpho lawi (“to flow (as water)”).

**Old Chinese 水 (*lhuiʔ), as reconstructed by Schuessler, is Sino-Tibetan root's endoactive derivation with suffix *-ʔ, meaning "that which is flowing"; its voiceless initial suggests the presence of a nominalizing prefix *k- or *s-. Another derivative from the Sino-Tibetan root is possibly 泫 (winʔ, “to flow”) (minimally reconstructed).

**Compare also areal etyma Proto-Austroasiatic *loːjʔ (“to wade; to swim”) and Proto-Tai *loːjᴬ (“to swim”).

*Gong (1995) reconstructs Old Chinese *hljədx and compares it to Tibetan ཆུ (chu, “water”), which STEDT derives from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *tsju (“water; liquid; bodily fluid”).

*Baxter and Sagart (2014), employing evidence from the Proto-Min form of the Min colloquial variant 沝, reconstructs the latter *turʔ and thereby reconstructs Old Chinese *s.turʔ, and compares it to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *twəj (“to flow; to suppurate”), which is likely related to what STEDT notates as Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m-t(w)əy-n ~ m-ti-s (“water; fluid; to soak; to be wet”) (STEDT). *s.turʔ was then followed by an Eastern dialectal variant, *s.tujʔ, which leads to Early Middle Chinese *sywijX.

*Like Gong (1995), Sagart (2017) compares 水 to Tibetan ཆུ (chu), but he also compares it to Bodo (India) दै (dwi), Mizo tui, Proto-Karen *thejᴬ, for which he tentatively derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-turʔ.

** Meanwhile STEDT derives said non-Sinitic items from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m-t(w)əy-n ~ m-ti-s.

* Handel thinks 水 is unlikely to be related to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *tsju and Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m-t(w)əj-n ~ m-ti-s because of phonological issues (STEDT).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. water (Classifier: 瓶 m; 樽 c; 滴 m c; 池 m c; 盆 m c; 杯 m c)
  2. liquid; potion; juice
  3. molten metal
  4. synonym of 飲料 /饮料 (yǐnliào, “beverage”)
  5. river
  6. body of water

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

水：凖也。北方之行。象眾水並流，中有微陽之气也。凡水之屬皆从水。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 一種無色無味的液體。由氫氣與氧氣化合而成。 例：冰水、熱水、白開水
  2. 汁、液。 例：墨水、藥水、檸檬水
  3. 海、河、江、湖的泛稱。 例：漢水
  4. 五行之一。
  5. 量詞。計算衣物刷洗次數的單位。 例：這件衣服洗兩水就走樣了。
  6. 姓。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 水 was written 字形演變

  1. 水 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 水 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 水 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 水 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 水 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 水 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 水