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秀 (Kangxi radical 115,禾+2, 7 strokes,cangjie input竹木弓竹尸 (HDNHS),four-corner20227,composition⿱禾乃)
| trad. | 秀 | |
|---|---|---|
| simp.# | 秀 | |
| alternative forms | 𥝙 𥝠 | |
| Historical forms of the character秀 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled inHan) | Liushutong (compiled inMing) | |
| Chu slip and silk script | Qin slip script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
 |  |  |  |
From an earlier form𥝙, attested in the stone drum inscriptions (石鼓文 (shígǔwén)) from theWarring States period.
According toChi (2010), the character is an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 禾(“rice plant”) + 引(“todraw out flowers”) — blooming of a rice plant. TheShuihudi Qin bamboo texts (睡簡) recorded this character as⿱禾引. The bottom component弓 found in the stone drum inscriptions is likely a reduction of引.
Xu Kai (徐鍇), the author of《說文解字繫傳》 (10th century AD) gave the following explanation: Pictogram (象形): 禾(“plant”) + 乃, resembling a fruit/an ear hanging off a plant.
Shuowen states that this character wastabooed at that time (2nd century AD) and so did not elaborate on its origin, due to it being the birth name ofEmperor Guangwu of Han.
Schuessler (2007) implicitly connectsProto-Tibeto-Burman*h(r)u(“to blow, breathe; life”), via comparison withChepangस्यु(syu-,“to prosper, flourish”). If so, compareBurmeseရှူ(hru,“to breathe, inhale”).
Alternatively, perhaps a causative of褎 (OC*lɯws, “growth of seedlings”). CompareProto-Vietic*m-loh(“to blossom”) (whenceVietnamesetrổ(“to burst, to open, to display”),lổ(“naked”)), andKhmerលាស់(lŏəh,“to grow, to blossom, to prosper”). Schuessler prefers the Sino-Tibetan theory above to this theory, however.
| Rime | |
|---|---|
| Character | 秀 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 心 (16) |
| Final (韻) | 尤 (136) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | III |
| Fanqie | 息救切 |
| Baxter | sjuwH |
| Reconstructions | |
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /sɨuH/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /siuH/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /siəuH/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /suwH/ |
| Li Rong | /siuH/ |
| Wang Li | /sĭəuH/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /si̯ə̯uH/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | xiù |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | sau3 |
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 秀 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | xiù |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ sjuwH › |
| Old Chinese | /*[s-l]u(ʔ)-s/ |
| English | to flower |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 秀 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 13934 |
| Phonetic component | 秀 |
| Rime group | 幽 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 秀 |
| Old Chinese | /*slus/ |
秀
Phono-semantic matching ofEnglishshow.Doublet of騷 /骚(sāo)
秀
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 秀 |
| しゅう Grade: S |
| kan'on |
FromMiddle Chinese秀 (MC sjuwH).
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 秀 |
| ほ Grade: S |
| kun'yomi |
FromOld Japanese, fromProto-Japonic*po. Related to穂(ho,“ear ofgrain,tip of abrush”).
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