Stroke order

• In Koreanhanja, the upper component of the character is written in the form ofハ.

半 (Kangxi radical 24,十+3, 5 strokes,cangjie input火手 (FQ),four-corner9050₀,composition⿻丷𰀁(GHTJ) or⿻八𰀁(K))

1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №18

• 伴,坢,拌,泮,怑,姅,絆, (绊),柈,胖,眫,畔,秚,袢,衅,跘,詊, (𫟟),鉡,靽,
• 判,叛

• Kangxi Dictionary:page 156, character 7
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2707
• Dae Jaweon: page 354, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 46, character 1
• Unihan data for U+534A

Historical forms of the character半
Western Zhou
Bronze inscriptions

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 八(“to divide”) + 牛(“cow”) – to cut a cow into two halves.

FromProto-Sino-Tibetan*par. Related to畔 (OC*baːns, “bank between fields”), which is an endopassive of半 (OC*paːns, “half”),lit. "be separated from".

半

1. half

   全國人口的一半／全国人口的一半  ― quánguó rénkǒu de yībàn  ―  half of the national population

   一磅半[Cantonese]  ― jat¹ bong⁶bun³[Jyutping]  ―  1½ pounds

   十點半／十点半[Cantonese]  ― sap⁶ dim²bun³[Jyutping]  ―  10:30

2. verylittle
3. halfway,partially,semi-

   半醉半醒  ― bàn zuìbàn xǐng  ―  partially in a stupor, partially awake

4. (Hong Kong, informal, neologism)half past

   九半[Cantonese]  ― gau²bun³[Jyutping]  ―  half past nine

半 (bàn) + classifier + noun indicate half of something, while number + classifier +半 (bàn) + noun means "and a half".

半塊麵包／半块面包  ― bàn kuài miànbāo  ― half a loaf of bread

兩塊半麵包／两块半面包  ― liǎng kuàibàn miànbāo  ―  twoand a half loaves of bread

• “半”, 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.,2025.

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

半

1. (Teochew)half

   一半[Teochew]  ― zêg⁸uê⁵[Peng'im]  ― half

• Fielde, Adele Marion (1883) “ûe”, inA Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press,page607

Shinjitai	半
Kyūjitai [1]	半󠄁 半+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	半󠄃 半+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. Seehere for details.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. half

• Go-on:はん(han,Jōyō)
• Kan-on:はん(han,Jōyō)
• Kun:なかば(nakaba,半ば,Jōyō)、わかつ(wakatsu,半つ)
• Nanori:なか(naka)、なかば(nakaba)、なから(nakara)

• (Tokyo)はん[háꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [hã̠ɴ]

半(はん)• (han) 

1. odd (especially ofdice)

   Antonyms:丁(ちょう)(chō,“even”)

半(はん)• (han-) 

1. half,semi-

   半(はん)年(とし)

   hantoshi

   semiannual

   半(はん)世(せい)紀(き)

   hanseiki

   semicentennial

Antonyms

• 複(ふく)(fuku,“double”)
• 全(ぜん)(zen,“entire”)

半(はん)• (-han) 

1. and ahalf

   四(よん)倍(ばい)半(はん)

   yon-baihan

   fourand a half times

   二(に)十(じゅう)二(に)年(ねん)半(はん)

   nijūni-nenhan

   twenty-twoand a half years

FromMiddle Chinese半 (MC panH). Recorded asMiddle Korean반(pan) (Yale:pan) inSinjeung Yuhap(新增類合 / 신증유합), 1576.

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

KoreanWikisource has texts containing thehanja:

半

Wikisource

半 (eumhun반반(ban ban))

1. hanja form^? of반(“half”)

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

半:Hán Việt readings:bán (博(bác)漫(mạn)切(thiết))^{[1][2][3][4][5]}
半:Nôm readings:bán^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]},bớn^[3][4][5][6],bướng^[3][7],vắn^[1],búng^[2],bận^[3],ban^[3],bướn^[5]

1. chữ Hán form ofbán(“half”).
2. chữ Nôm form ofvắn(“short,brief”).
3. chữ Nôm form ofbán(“tosell”).
4. chữ Nôm form ofbớn.

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