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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.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

而

ér
and (used to connect two clauses or adjectives)
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 4
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 而
  • 6 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
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Origin

Etymology 1

Pictogram (象形) – a beard. Original form of 耏 (OC *nɯːs, *njɯ) or 髵 (OC *njɯ). See also 冄.

Unstressed form of 乃 (OC *nɯːʔ) (Pulleyblank, 1995, p. 45).

Etymology 2

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *na-ŋ (“you”). Cognate with 爾 (OC *njelʔ) and is considered a variant form thereof.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese一 “one”
  • partChinese丶 “An ancient punctuation mark.”
  • partChinese冂 “city outskirts; suburbs”
  • partChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*na-ŋ “you”

Words built on it: 而且, 然而, 反而, 而是, 因而

Meanings

character
  1. and (used to connect two clauses or adjectives)
  2. then (connecting two verbs or verb-phrases); and
  3. and yet; but; nevertheless (conjunction indicating concession or contrast)
  4. to (often used with 自)
  5. particle between adverbial element and verb to indicate cause, purpose, or manner
  6. particle between two verbs or verb phrases indicating that the first is used adverbially

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

而：頰毛也。象毛之形。《周禮》曰：“作其鱗之而。”凡而之屬皆从而。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 介詞。表示偏正關係。 例：自南而北、從今而後
  2. 連詞

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

How 而 was written 字形演變

  1. 而 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  2. 而 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  3. 而 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  4. 而 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 而 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

  • 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: 而