夏

夏 U+590F, 夏 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-590F ← 夎 [U+590E] CJK Unified Ideographs 夐 → [U+5910]

Stroke order

Stroke order

夏 (Kangxi radical 35, 夊+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 一山竹水 (MUHE), four-corner 1024₇, composition ⿱𦣻夂(GJK) or ⿱𦣻夊(HT))

• 𠌘, 嗄, 𡏘, 𡟺, 𡺷, 𭡲, 𭱣, 榎, 𤌤, 𤧶, 𥔹, 𦥍, 𧏡, 𥜂, 𮢩, 𧈄, 𩡘, 𮬆, 𥫏, 𢥭, 𣣺, 𡕵, 𥻴, 𪄂, 𭐲, 𡙣, 𭔆, 𦷜, 𥧜, 厦, 𭕥, 廈, 𤹉, 𢟜, 𡖃

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 245, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5720
• Dae Jaweon: page 485, character 29
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 869, character 10
• Unihan data for U+590F

trad.		夏
simp. #		夏
2nd round simp.		⿳丆冂夂
alternative forms		昰 夓 𠀼 𠌘 𠍺 昰 夓 𠀼 𠌘 𠍺 𡔰 𡕭 𡕻 𡕾 𡖃 𣋗 𤴞 𧈄 𩖳

In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 日 (“sun”) + 頁 (“head; man”) – man under the scorching sun; summer.

Various variants were seen in the bronze inscriptions from the Spring and Autumn period. 止 (“foot”) was often added to the bottom of the man. Additionally, in the form shown above, the 日 was removed and 𦥑 (“two hands”) was added. The seal script inherits its form from this form, with 止 replaced with the related 夊.

Various forms were also seen from the Warring States period. The bamboo and silk script above shows a common form: 日 + 止 + 頁. The “ancient script” (古文) from Shuowen (labelled as the large seal script) has deviated significantly, with 止 becoming the related 足. The top part may be a corruption of 頁.

The current form is simplified from the seal script, with the removal of 𦥑 and the legs from 頁. Unrelated to 复.

“great; Xia Dynasty; China; Chinese”

Possibly related to 假 (OC *kraːʔ, *kraːs, “great”), 嘏 (OC *kraːʔ, “great”) and 廈 (OC *sraːs, *ɡraːʔ, “big house”) (Wang, 1980). Shi (2000) and Mair (2013) relate this word to Tibetan རྒྱ (rgya, “great; wide; width; size; expanse; China”).

“magnificent colours; variegated”

The sense “variegated” may be of a different origin. Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *Krā(H) (“variegated”) (Starostin), whence Tibetan བཀྲ (bkra, “variegated; bright; radiant; splendid”), Tibetan ཁྲ (khra, “many-coloured; variegated; mottled; striped”) and Burmese ကျား (kya:, “variegated; striped; chequered”). Possibly related to 騢 (OC *ɡraː, “horse with mixed red and white colour”).

夏

1. (～朝) (historical) the Xia dynasty (2070 BCE – 1600 BCE)
2. ^† (by extension) China; Chinese
3. ^† great; grand; magnificent
4. ^† magnificent colours; resplendent colours; variegated

   • 羽畎夏翟 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Book of Documents, circa 7^th – 4^th centuries BCE

     yǔquǎn xiàdí [Pinyin]

     variegated long-tailed pheasants from the ravines of Feather Mountain

5. ^† Alternative form of 廈／厦 (“big house”)
6. a surname

   夏志清  ―  Xià Zhìqīng  ―  Hsia Chih-tsing (Chinese literary critic)

• (the Xia dynasty):

• → English: Hsia, Xia

Dynasties (朝代) in Chinese history
Name	Time period	Divisions
Xia 夏 (～朝, ～代)	2070 – 1600 BCE
Shang 商 (～朝, ～代) 殷 (～朝, ～代)	1600 – 1046 BCE
Zhou 周 (～朝, ～代)	1046 – 256 BCE	Western Zhou 西周
		Eastern Zhou 東周／东周	Spring and Autumn period 春秋
			Warring States period 戰國／战国
Qin 秦 (～朝, ～代)	221 – 206 BCE
Han 漢／汉 (～朝, ～代)	206 BCE – 220 C.E.	Western Han 西漢／西汉
		Xin 新 (～朝)
		Eastern Han 東漢／东汉
Three Kingdoms 三國／三国	220 – 280 C.E.	Wei 魏
		Shu Han 蜀漢／蜀汉
		Wu 吳／吴
Jin 晉／晋 (～朝, ～代)	265 – 420 C.E.	Western Jin 西晉／西晋
		Eastern Jin 東晉／东晋
Southern and Northern dynasties 南北朝	420 – 589 C.E.	Northern dynasties 北朝	Northern Wei 北魏
			Western Wei 西魏
			Eastern Wei 東魏／东魏
			Northern Zhou 北周
			Northern Qi 北齊／北齐
		Southern dynasties 南朝	Liu Song 劉宋／刘宋
			Southern Qi 南齊／南齐
			Liang 梁 (～朝, ～代)
			Chen 陳／陈 (～朝, ～代)
Sui 隋 (～朝, ～代)	581 – 618 C.E.
Tang 唐 (～朝, ～代)	618 – 907 C.E.
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 五代十國／五代十国	907 – 960 C.E.
Liao 遼／辽 (～朝, ～代)	907 – 1125 C.E.
Song 宋 (～朝, ～代)	960 – 1279 C.E.	Northern Song 北宋
		Southern Song 南宋
Western Xia 西夏	1038 – 1227 C.E.
Jin 金 (～朝, ～代)	1115 – 1234 C.E.
Western Liao 西遼／西辽	1124 – 1218 C.E.
Yuan 元 (～朝, ～代)	1271 – 1368 C.E.
Ming 明 (～朝, ～代)	1368 – 1644 C.E.
Qing 清 (～朝, ～代)	1636 – 1912 C.E.

Sagart (2023b) relates it to 暇 (OC *[g]ˤra-s, “leisure”) and Burmese အား (a:, “to be free (not in use; without obligations)”), the latter of which STEDT derives from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-ra (“strength; to win; classifier for people”) but does not compare to 夏. See 暇 for more.

夏

1. summer (season)

Seasons in Mandarin · 四季 (sìjì, “four seasons”) (layout · text) · category
春 (chūn, “spring”)	夏 (xià, “summer”)	秋 (qiū, “fall; autumn”)	冬 (dōng, “winter”)

夏

1. ^† Alternative form of 檟／槚 (jiǎ)
2. Used in 陽夏／阳夏.

• “夏”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00837

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. summer
2. Xia dynasty
3. China

• Go-on: げ (ge, Jōyō ^†)
• Kan-on: か (ka, Jōyō)
• Kun: なつ (natsu, 夏, Jōyō)

Kanji in this term
夏
なつ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

/natu/ → /nat͡su/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *natu.

• (Tokyo) なつ [nàtsúꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [na̠t͡sɨ]

• Audio:

  (file)

夏(なつ) • (natsu) 

1. summer (season)

   Synonym: 夏季, 夏期 (kaki)

   Hyponyms: 初夏, 真夏

• 夏(なつ)歌(うた)う者(もの)は冬(ふゆ)泣(な)く (natsu utau mono wa fuyu naku)
• 夏(なつ)の小(こ)袖(そで) (natsu no kosode)
• 夏(なつ)も小(こ)袖(そで) (natsu mo kosode)

Seasons in Japanese · 四(し)季(き) (shiki, “four seasons”) (layout · text) · category
春(はる) (haru, “spring”) 春(しゅん)季(き) (shunki, “spring”) 春(しゅん)期(き) (shunki, “spring period”)	夏(なつ) (natsu, “summer”) 夏(か)季(き) (kaki, “summer”) 夏(か)期(き) (kaki, “summer period”)	秋(あき) (aki, “fall; autumn”) 秋(しゅう)季(き) (shūki, “fall; autumn”) 秋(しゅう)期(き) (shūki, “fall period”)	冬(ふゆ) (fuyu, “winter”) 冬(とう)季(き) (tōki, “winter”) 冬(とう)期(き) (tōki, “winter period”)

夏(なつ) • (Natsu) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

Kanji in this term
夏
げ Grade: 2
goon

From Middle Chinese 夏 (MC haeH). The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

Also used in the Man'yōshū (759 CE) as 借音 (shakuon) kana for ⟨ge₁⟩.

• (Tokyo) げ [géꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɡe̞]

夏(げ) • (ge) 

1. (Buddhism) summer according to the lunisolar calendar; the ninety days starting from the sixteenth day of the fourth month until the fifteenth day of the seventh month

• 夏(げ)解(あき), 夏(げ)明(あ)き (geaki)
• 夏(げ)安(あん)居(ご) (geango)

• 安(あん)居(ご) (ango)

Kanji in this term
夏
か Grade: 2
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 夏 (MC haeX).

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

夏(か) • (Ka) 

1. the Xia dynasty (first dynasty of China)
2. Short for 大夏 (Daika): Xia, one of the Sixteen Kingdoms
3. Short for 西夏 (Seika): Western Xia, an empire during the Song dynasty
4. a surname
5. a male or female given name

From Middle Chinese 夏 (MC haeH).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ha̠(ː)]
• Phonetic hangul: [하(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Wikisource

夏 (eumhun 여름 하 (yeoreum ha))

1. hanja form^? of 하 (“summer”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

夏: Hán Việt readings: hạ
夏: Nôm readings: hè

1. chữ Hán form of hạ (“summer”).
2. Nôm form of hè (“summer”).