Stroke order

兩 (Kangxi radical 11,入+6, 8 strokes,cangjie input一中月人 (MLBO),four-corner1022₇,composition⿻帀𠓜)

• 倆, 啢, 掚, 脼, 裲, 緉, 蜽, 䠃, 輛, 䩫, 魎, 㔝, 䓣

• Kangxi Dictionary:page 126, character 13
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1436
• Dae Jaweon: page 272, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 24, character 2
• Unihan data for U+5169

• Unihan data for U+F978

Historical forms of the character兩
Bronze inscriptions b11978 b11979 b11980 b11981 b11982 b11983 b11984 b11985 b11986 b11987 b11988 b11989 b11990 b11991 b11992 Small seal script s05489 Transcribed ancient scripts L35075 L35076
References: Mostly from Richard Sears'Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

According toShuowen Jiezi an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 一 + 㒳.

Baxter (1992) observes that, in historical forms, the character istwo丙 (OC *praŋʔ) joined together; this would make 丙 the phonetic component in a sort of phono-ideogrammic compound (see alsoBaxter & Sagart (2014)).

The character could be linked to the original form of更, which represents two chariots and a whip.

Unknown.Schuessler (2007) proposes two possible etymologies:

• Borrowing fromKra-Dai; compareProto-Tai*rawᴬ(“we”) >Thaiเรา(rao,“we”),Zhuangraeuz(“we (inclusive)”);Proto-Kam-Sui*hra¹(“two”) >Southern Kamyac(“two”),Suixgaz(“two”).
• Cognate withTibetanསྲང(srang,“balance; scale; weight; unit of weight”).

Derivative:輛 (OC*raŋs, “chariot”) (literally “that which is paired”, i.e. “a set of wheels”).

兩

1. two

   兩隻熱氣球／两只热气球  ― liǎng zhī rèqìqiú  ― two hot air balloons

   呢兩塊扒都太生。[Cantonese,trad.]
   呢两块扒都太生。[Cantonese,simp.]

   ni¹loeng⁵ faai³ paa¹ dou¹ taai³ saang¹.[Jyutping]

   Thesetwo steaks are both too rare.

   一兩三／一两三[Shanghainese]  ― ⁷iq⁶lian¹se[Wugniu]  ―  One,two, three

2. two(used in radio communications in aviation and by the military)
3. some;few

   你們這兩天真夠辛苦的。[MSC,trad.]
   你们这两天真够辛苦的。[MSC,simp.]

   Nǐmen zhèliǎng tiān zhēn gòu xīnkǔ de.[Pinyin]

   You've really been working hard the pastfew days.

4. different;distinct

   兩樣／两样  ― liǎngyàng  ―  difference

   我們說的是兩回事。[MSC,trad.]
   我们说的是两回事。[MSC,simp.]

   Wǒmen shuō de shìliǎng huí shì.[Pinyin]

   We are talking aboutdifferent things.

5. asurname

• In many lects, including Standard Mandarin,兩／两 (liǎng) is used when counting things with a measure word,二 (èr) is used in numbers.
  • Examples with兩／两 (liǎng)

    兩個人／两个人  ― liǎng ge rén  ― two people

    兩年／两年  ― liǎng nián  ― two years

    兩百／两百  ― liǎng bǎi  ― two hundred

    兩千／两千  ― liǎng qiān  ― two thousand

  • Examples with二 (èr)

    二十  ― èrshí  ―  twenty (literally, “two tens”)

    二百  ― èr bǎi  ― two hundred

    第二  ― dì'èr  ―  second

    But not*二個人

• Rules may vary from variety to variety.

Use case	Mandarin	Cantonese	Shanghainese
兩個人	+	+	+
兩百	+	-	+
三十兩	-	-	+

• 二 (èr, “two”)

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 兩 /两(Chinese)
• 銀兩 /银两(Chinese)
• 両(Cantonese)
• 銀兩 /银两(Cantonese)

兩

1. tael(atraditionalunit ofweight)
   1. (Mainland China)short for市兩／市两 (shìliǎng, “market tael, equal to 1/10 of acatty or 50grams”)
   2. (Hong Kong) equal to 1/16 of a catty or 37.7994 grams
   3. (Taiwan)short for臺兩／台两 (“Taiwanese tael, equal to 1/16 of a catty or 37.5 grams”)
   4. (historical)metalcurrency unit used inChina andJapan
2. short for公兩／公两 (gōngliǎng, “hectogram”)

• In older literature, using両 for "tael" and兩／两 for "two" can be seen.
• The variant form𭃂 is commonly found in shop signs displaying prices.

兩

1. Original form of輛／辆 (liàng).

   • 之子于歸，百兩御之。[Pre-Classical Chinese,trad.]
     之子于归，百两御之。[Pre-Classical Chinese,simp.]

     From: TheClassic of Poetry,c. 11^th – 7^th centuriesBCE, translated based onJames Legge's version

     Zhīzǐ yúguī, bǎiliàng yù zhī.[Pinyin]

     This young lady is going to her future home;
     A hundredcarriages are meeting her.

Others:

• ⇒ Wutunhua:liangge(“two”),-liangge(“with”)
• → Vietnamese:lạng(兩,“tael;hectogram”)

• “兩”, in漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1],香港中文大學 (theChinese University of Hong Kong),2014–

Southern Min

• “兩”, in教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien),Ministry of Education, R.O.C.,2026.

(Hyōgai kanji, kyūjitai kanji,shinjitai form両)

1. both

• Go-on:りょう(ryō)^{←りやう(ryau,historical)}
• Kan-on:りょう(ryō)^{←りやう(ryau,historical)}
• Tō-on:りゃん(ryan)
• Kun:ころ(koro,兩)、ふたつ(futatsu,兩つ)、もろ(moro,兩)

• 两(also kyūjitai)

兩 (eumhun두량(du ryang),word-initial (South Korea)두양(du yang))

1. hanja form^? of량(“both”)

• 양반 (兩班,yangban, “(historical)yangbanclass inKorea”)
• 양성 (兩性,yangseong, “bothsexes”)
• 양서류 (兩棲類,yangseoryu, “amphibian”)

兩 (eumhun냥냥(nyang nyang),word-initial (South Korea)냥양(nyang yang))

1. hanja form^? of냥(“(archaic)(units of measure) aliang ortael, aunit ofweightequivalent toabout 40 g”)
2. hanja form^? of냥(“(archaic)(units of coinage) a nyang”)

兩:Hán Nôm readings:lưỡng^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]},lượng^{[1][2][4][5][6]},lạng^{[1][2][3][5][6][7]}

兩

1. chữ Nôm form oflạng
   1. tael (unit of weight equal to 37.8 grams)
   2. hectogram (100 grams)
2. chữ Hán form oflượng(“(chiefly of gold and silver)alternative form oflạng (tael)”)

兩

1. chữ Hán form oflưỡng(“two,both”)

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• vi:Units of measure

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