史

See also: 吏 and 更

Translingual

Han character

史 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 中大 (LK), four-corner 5000₆, composition ⿻口乂)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 173, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3249
• Dae Jaweon: page 384, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 571, character 2
• Unihan data for U+53F2

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		史
alternative forms		㕜

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 史
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (史) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
吏	*rɯs
倳	*ʔsrɯs
剚	*ʔsrɯs
事	*ʔsrɯs, *zrɯs
史	*srɯʔ
使	*srɯʔ, *srɯs
駛	*srɯʔ, *srɯs

Pictogram (象形) – 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “hand”) holding a fountain pen resembling 中 (OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs)

Etymology

"to send, to employ, to cause"

Causative derivation of 理 (OC rəʔ) "envoy (Zuo)" , "jail-official" (Guanzi), "marriage go-between", which is perhaps the same word as 理 (OC rəʔ) "to administer" (Schuessler 2007); the sense "scribe, historian" is derived from this.

"scribe, historian"

Possibly from Austroasiatic; Schuessler (2007) compared 理 (lǐ), 吏 (lì, “official”), 史 (shǐ, “scribe, historian”), and 使 (shǐ, “ambassador”) to & its derivatives , in turn related to ; with Sino-Tibetan causative *s- corresponding to Khmer causative *p-.

Alternatively, Unger (1990) and Starostin & Peiros (1996) derived *史 (OC *srɯʔ) "scribe, secretary" from 理 (OC *rɯʔ) "to mark, to draw lines", which is cognate with Tibetan འབྲི ('bri, “to write, to draw”) yet apparently never meant "to write, to record".

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shǐ (shi³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕˇ

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): si²

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): lhu²

• Northern Min (KCR): sǔ
• Eastern Min (BUC): sṳ̄
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): sú / sír / sí / sái

  (Teochew, Peng'im): se² / su²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄕˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shǐh
    • Wade–Giles: shih³
    • Yale: shř
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyy
    • Palladius: ши (ši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: si²
    • Yale: sí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si²
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː³⁵/
  • (Taishanese, Taicheng)
    • Wiktionary: lhu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬu⁵⁵/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: sǔ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /su²¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: sṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sy³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sú
    • Tâi-lô: sú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: suo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /su⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /su⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sír
    • Tâi-lô: sír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sí
    • Tâi-lô: sí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sie
    • IPA (Philippines): /si⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sái
    • Tâi-lô: sái
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sae
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /sai⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sai⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sai⁴¹/

Note:

• sír/sú/sí - literary;
• sái - vernacular.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: se² / su²
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sṳ́ / sú
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɯ⁵²/, /su⁵²/

Note: su2 - Chaoyang, Puning, Huilai.

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• Middle Chinese: sriX

Rime
Character	史
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)
Final (韻)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	踈士切
Baxter	sriX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂɨX/
Li Rong	/ʃiəX/
Wang Li	/ʃĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ʂiX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s-rəʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*srɯʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	史
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ sriX ›
Old Chinese	/*s-rəʔ/
English	scribe
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	史
Reading #	1/1
No.	11487
Phonetic component	史
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	史
Old Chinese	/*srɯʔ/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 史

1. history
2. a surname

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Japanese

Kanji

史

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. record, recording
2. history

Readings

• Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• On: じ (ji)
• Kun: ふひと (fuhito, 史)、ふびと (fubito, 史)、ふみ (fumi, 史)、さかん (sakan)

Proper noun

史(ひろし) • (Hiroshi) 

1. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) a male given name

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Korean

Hanja

史 • (sa) (hangeul 사, revised sa, McCune–Reischauer sa, Yale sa)

1. (deprecated template usage) (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 史 (sử)

1. (deprecated template usage) (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.