兄

兄 U+5144, 兄 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5144 ← 元 [U+5143] CJK Unified Ideographs 充 → [U+5145]

Stroke order

兄 (Kangxi radical 10, 儿+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 口竹山 (RHU), four-corner 6021₀, composition ⿱口儿)

• 兌, 兑, 況(况), 祝, 呪, 柷, 貺(贶), 㚾, 眖, 𤔓, 𪺎, 怳, 㫛, 𰃋, 𣅷, 𣍦, 炾, 𦬺, 岲, 𡶢, 𠩣, 𪾍, 軦, 𭀢, 𬞁, 𮞈

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 123, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1343
• Dae Jaweon: page 259, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 266, character 4
• Unihan data for U+5144

simp. and trad.		兄
alternative forms		㑆 𬆁

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 口 + 儿 to convey the idea of giving orders. The original meaning of "elder brother" refers to the fact that the elder brother gives order to the younger brothers and his sisters. Compare 令, in which an open mouth on top of the character conveys the same idea of giving orders. Similar to 欠, in which there is a kneeling man with an open mouth.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *maŋ (“big; old; elder (brother, uncle)”) (Sagart, 1999; STEDT). Related to 孟 (OC *mraːŋs, “great; eldest brother; first”); see there for more.

Schuessler (2007), instead, connects it to Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔwyik (“elder sibling”), which is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔik (“elder brother”).

Alternatively, Benedict (1972) relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bʷaŋ ~ *pʷaŋ (“(paternal) uncle; elder brother”), which is possibly also related to 伯 (OC *praːɡ, “paternal uncle; eldest brother”).

兄

1. elder brother
2. elder male cousin

   堂兄  ―  tángxiōng  ―  father’s brother’s son older than oneself

3. brother (male friend of the same generation)
4. (Hokkien, familiar) respectful honorific used after a name for an elder brother or any male senior: Mister; Brother

• (elder brother):

• → Lao: ເຮຍ (hīa)
• → Thai: เฮีย (hiia)

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. elder/older brother
2. honorific referencing an older brother figure

• Go-on: きょう (kyō, Jōyō ^†)^{←きやう (kyau, historical)←くゐやう (kwiyau, ancient)}
• Kan-on: けい (kei, Jōyō)^{←けい (kei, historical)←くゑい (kwei, ancient)}
• Tō-on: ひん (hin)
• Kun: あに (ani, 兄, Jōyō)、にい (nī, 兄)、にいさん (nīsan, 兄さん)、え (e, 兄)^{←え (e, 兄, historical)←𛀁 (ye, 兄, ancient)}、せ (se, 兄)
• Nanori: えだ (eda)^{←えだ (eda, historical)←𛀁だ (yeda, ancient)}、これ (kore)、さき (saki)、しげ (shige)、ただ (tada)、ね (ne)、よし (yoshi)

Kanji in this term
兄
あに Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese of unclear derivation:

• Probably originally a compound of 吾 (a, Eastern Old Japanese first-person pronoun) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 兄 (ye → e, “eldest sibling”, see below):^[1]

  ⟨a no₂ ye⟩ → */anʉʲɨe/ → /ani/

• Alternatively, an apophonic form of 姉 (ane, “elder sister”), itself possibly from the same derivation above.^[2]
• Several other theories have also been suggested.^[1]

• (Tokyo) あに [áꜜnì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3][4]
• IPA^(key): [a̠ɲ̟i]

兄(あに) • (ani) 

1. elder brother
2. elder brother-in-law

   Synonym: 義兄 (gikei)

3. Short for 花の兄 (hana no ani): alternative name for the 梅 (ume), the Japanese plum (Prunus mume)

• (elder brother): This term conveys neither positive nor negative connotations and is often used in objective narrations. However, using it to describe someone the speaker knows personally is often considered lacking respect, where more polite forms like お兄(にい)さん (onīsan) are preferred.

• 姉(あね) (ane, “elder sister”)
• 弟(おとうと) (otōto, “younger brother”)
• 妹(いもうと) (imōto, “younger sister”)

Kanji in this term
兄
けい Grade: 2
kan'on

*/kwæi/ → /kʷæi/ → /keː/

From Middle Chinese 兄 (MC xjwaeng).

• (Tokyo) けー [kéꜜè] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [ke̞ː]

• Pitch accent for suffix unknown.

兄(けい) • (kei) 

1. (rare) an elder brother

   Coordinate term: 弟 (tei)

• 兄(けい)たり難(がた)く弟(てい)たり難(がた)し (kei tarigataku tei tarigatashi)

兄(けい) • (kei) 

1. pronoun referencing an older brother figure: you, he

兄(けい) • (-kei) 

1. attaches to a name referencing an older brother figure: Mister, Mr.

Kanji in this term
兄
え Grade: 2
kun'yomi

/je/ → /e/

From Old Japanese.

兄(え) • (e) 

1. (archaic) the eldest sibling

   Antonym: 弟 (oto)

   • 711–712, Kojiki, poem 16:
     , text here

     加都賀都母(かつがつも)伊夜佐岐陀弖流(いやさきだてる)延(𛀁)袁斯麻加牟(をしまかむ) [Man'yōgana]

     かつがつもいや先(さき)立(だ)てる兄(え)をし枕(ま)かむ [Modern spelling]

     katsugatsu mo iya sakidateru e o shi makamu

     If I have to choose, the one standing there in front―the eldest one I'll wed.^[5]

Kanji in this term
兄
せ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese.

• 夫, 背

兄(せ) • (se) 

1. (archaic) a woman's brother (regardless of age difference)
2. (archaic) a woman's lover or husband
3. (archaic) a familiar man

• 妹(いも) (imo)

Kanji in this term
兄
このかみ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese.

Originally a compound of 子 (ko, “child”) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 上 (kami, “upper”).^[3][6]

• 首, 氏上

兄(このかみ) • (konokami) 

1. (archaic) eldest son

   Synonyms: 長兄 (chōkei), 長男 (chōnan)

2. (archaic) a senior

   Synonym: 年長者 (nenchōsha)

3. (archaic) (by extension) an elder sibling
4. (archaic) the head of a clan
5. (archaic) a skilled craftsman

   Synonym: 頭 (kashira)

• 兄(このかみ)心(ごころ) (konokami-gokoro)
• 兄(このこう)部(べ) (konokōbe)

From Middle Chinese 兄 (MC xjwaeng).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448	ᄒᆑᇰ (Yale: hyyèng)
Middle Korean
Text	Eumhun
	Gloss (hun)	Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[2]	ᄆᆞᆮ (Yale: mòt)	혀ᇰ (Yale: hyèng)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [çʌ̹ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [형]

Wikisource

兄 (eumhun 형 형 (hyeong hyeong))

1. hanja form^? of 형 (“older brother of a male”) [noun]

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

兄: Hán Nôm readings: huynh

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