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草 (Kangxi radical 140,艸+6, 10 strokesin traditional Chinese and Korean, 9 strokesin simplified Chinese and Japanese,cangjie input廿日十 (TAJ),four-corner44406,composition⿱艹早)
| trad. | 草 | |
|---|---|---|
| simp.# | 草 | |
| alternative forms | ||
| Historical forms of the character草 | |
|---|---|
| Shuowen Jiezi (compiled inHan) | Liushutong (compiled inMing) |
| Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
 |  |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声,OC*sʰuːʔ): semantic 艹(“grass; plant”) + phonetic 早(OC*ʔsuːʔ). Originally referred to皂, and later borrowed for the “grass” sense, replacing艸.
FromProto-Sino-Tibetan*r-tswa-n(“grass”); cognate withTibetanརྩྭ(rtswa,“grass”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).
Alternatively, it may be related to芻 (OC*sʰro, “hay”), fromAustroasiatic; compareMonချဲ(“grass; weeds; hay”) (Schuessler, 2007).
| Variety | Location | 草 |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | Beijing | /t͡sʰɑu²¹⁴/ |
| Harbin | /t͡sʰau²¹³/ | |
| Tianjin | /t͡sʰɑu¹³/ | |
| Jinan | /t͡sʰɔ⁵⁵/ | |
| Qingdao | /t͡sʰɔ⁵⁵/ | |
| Zhengzhou | /t͡sʰau⁵³/ | |
| Xi'an | /t͡sʰau⁵³/ | |
| Xining | /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/ | |
| Yinchuan | /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/ | |
| Lanzhou | /t͡sʰɔ⁴⁴²/ | |
| Ürümqi | /t͡sʰɔ⁵¹/ | |
| Wuhan | /t͡sʰau⁴²/ | |
| Chengdu | /t͡sʰau⁵³/ | |
| Guiyang | /t͡sʰao⁴²/ | |
| Kunming | /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/ | |
| Nanjing | /t͡sʰɔo²¹²/ | |
| Hefei | /t͡sʰɔ²⁴/ | |
| Jin | Taiyuan | /t͡sʰau⁵³/ |
| Pingyao | /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/ | |
| Hohhot | /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/ | |
| Wu | Shanghai | /t͡sʰɔ³⁵/ |
| Suzhou | /t͡sʰæ⁵¹/ | |
| Hangzhou | /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/ | |
| Wenzhou | /t͡sʰɜ³⁵/ | |
| Hui | Shexian | /t͡sʰɔ³⁵/ |
| Tunxi | /t͡sʰə³¹/ | |
| Xiang | Changsha | /t͡sʰau⁴¹/ |
| Xiangtan | /t͡sʰaɯ⁴²/ | |
| Gan | Nanchang | /t͡sʰɑu²¹³/ |
| Hakka | Meixian | /t͡sʰau³¹/ |
| Taoyuan | /t͡sʰo³¹/ | |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | /t͡sʰou³⁵/ |
| Nanning | /t͡sʰu³⁵/ | |
| Hong Kong | /t͡sʰou³⁵/ | |
| Min | Xiamen (Hokkien) | /t͡sʰo⁵³/ /t͡sʰau⁵³/ |
| Fuzhou (Eastern Min) | /t͡sʰau³²/ | |
| Jian'ou (Northern Min) | /t͡sʰau²¹/ | |
| Shantou (Teochew) | /t͡sʰau⁵³/ /t͡sʰo⁵³/ | |
| Haikou (Hainanese) | /sau²¹³/ |
| Rime | |
|---|---|
| Character | 草 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 清 (14) |
| Final (韻) | 豪 (89) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | I |
| Fanqie | 采老切 |
| Baxter | tshawX |
| Reconstructions | |
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /t͡sʰɑuX/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /t͡sʰɑuX/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /t͡sʰɑuX/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /t͡sʰawX/ |
| Li Rong | /t͡sʰɑuX/ |
| Wang Li | /t͡sʰɑuX/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /t͡sʰɑuX/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | cǎo |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | cou2 |
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 草 | 草 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | cǎo | cǎo |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ tshawX › | ‹ tshawX › |
| Old Chinese | /*[tsʰ]ˁuʔ/ | /*[tsʰ]ˁuʔ/ |
| English | grass, plants | rough, coarse |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | ||
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 草 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 16547 |
| Phonetic component | 早 |
| Rime group | 幽 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 草 |
| Old Chinese | /*sʰuːʔ/ |
| Notes | 說文作艸 |
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草
Others:
| For pronunciation and definitions of草 – see皂 (“black;acorn; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of皂). |
草
Orthographic borrowing fromJapanese草(kusa,“LOL”). See the Japanese entry for more information.
As an interjection, this term is easily confused with the native “fuck” sense above. To distinguish between the two senses,中國語／中国语 (Zhōngguóyǔ, “Chinese”) and日本語／日本语 (Rìběnyǔ, “Japanese”) are usually put in parentheses following the term to specify which sense is intended.
草
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 草 |
| くさ Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi |
| Alternative spelling |
|---|
| 艸(uncommon) |
FromOld Japanese, ultimately fromProto-Japonic*kusa. Found in theMan'yōshū, completed some time after 759CE.[1] Possibly cognate withKorean꽃(kkot,“flower”).
The development of thefake,amateur senses is unclear, but probably from an earlier meaninggreen, referring to the color of the grass.
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 草 |
| そう Grade: 1 |
| on'yomi |
/sau/ →/sɔː/ →/soː/
FromMiddle Chinese草 (MC tshawX).
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 草 |
| くさ Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi |
From the resemblance of multiple repetitions ofw(w,“LOL”) to grass:wwwwwwwww.
Possibly influenced by the termくすくす(kusukusu), anadverb indicatingstifledlaughter.(Canthis(+) etymology besourced?)
(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)
草:Hán Nôm readings:thảo,tháu,xáo