Stroke order (Japan)

誰 (Kangxi radical 149,言+8, 15 strokes,cangjie input卜口人土 (YROG),four-corner0061₄,composition⿰訁隹)

• 𩀕,𩽀,𧀣,䜃,𪇻

• Kangxi Dictionary:page 1165, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 35686
• Dae Jaweon: page 1630, character 27
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3987, character 10
• Unihan data for U+8AB0

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声,OC*djul): semantic 言(“speak”) + phonetic 隹(OC*tjul).

From[Term?] +[Term?](“suffix in independent pronouns”); cognate with疇 (OC*du, “who”),孰 (OC*djɯwɢ, “which one; who”) (Schuessler, 2007). In otherSino-Tibetan languages, compareMizotû(“who; which”),Chepangदोह्(“what”),Proto-Kuki-Chin*tuu(“who; which (relativizer)”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

誰

1. who;whom

   他是誰？／他是谁？  ― Tā shìshéi?  ― Who is he?

   我們的老師是誰？[MSC,trad.]
   我们的老师是谁？[MSC,simp.]

   Wǒmen de lǎoshī shìshéi?[Pinyin]

   Who is our teacher?

   誰來了？／谁来了？  ― Shéi lái le?  ― Who has come?

   我們遲到是誰的過失？[MSC,trad.]
   我们迟到是谁的过失？[MSC,simp.]

   Wǒmen chídào shìshéi de guòshī?[Pinyin]

   Whose fault is it that we are late?

   他們邀請誰了？／他们邀请谁了？  ― Tāmen yāoqǐngshéi le?  ― Whom did they invite?

2. someone;anyone

   誰能幫我解開安全帶？[MSC,trad.]
   谁能帮我解开安全带？[MSC,simp.]

   Shéi néng bāng wǒ jiěkāi ānquándài?[Pinyin]

   Cansomeone help me to undo my seat belt?

   有誰願意跟我一起去嗎？[MSC,trad.]
   有谁愿意跟我一起去吗？[MSC,simp.]

   Yǒushéi yuànyì gēn wǒ yīqǐ qù ma?[Pinyin]

   Doesanyone want to go with me?

3. anyone;whoever

   誰想學英文，我就教他。[MSC,trad.]
   谁想学英文，我就教他。[MSC,simp.]

   Shéi xiǎng xué yīngwén, wǒ jiù jiāo tā.[Pinyin]

   I'll teach English towhoever wants to learn it.

4. asurname

Contraction of啥人 (siáⁿ-lâng).

誰

1. (Southern Min)who;whom

Contraction of底人 (tī-lâng).

誰

1. (Hokkien, including Xiamen, Kinmenese, Magong and Singapore Hokkien; Teochew; Hainanese)who;whom

Contraction of是誰／是谁 (chī-chūi).

誰

1. (Hokkien, chiefly Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien)who;whom

From shortening of是誰／是谁 (chī-choa̍h), from是誰仔／是谁仔 (chī-chūi-á).

誰

1. (Hokkien, including Zhangzhou and Taichung Hokkien)who;whom

Question words

• 嗎／吗 (ma, “yes/no question particle”)
• 什麼／什么 (shénme, “what”)
• 怎麼／怎么 (zěnme, “how”)
• 什麼時候／什么时候 (shénme shíhou, “when”)
• 哪 (nǎ, “what, which”)
• 哪裡／哪里 (nǎlǐ),哪兒／哪儿 (nǎr) (where)
• 呢 (ne, “reciprocal questions particle”)

• “誰”, 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–
• “誰”, 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.
• “誰”, 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.
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆[Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “谁”, in莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page208.

(Jōyō kanji)

• Go-on:ずい(zui)
• Kan-on:すい(sui)
• Kun:だれ(dare,誰,Jōyō)、た(ta,誰)、たれ(tare,誰)

• 誰(すい)何(か)(suika)

/tare/ →/dare/

From earliertare.^[1][2][3][4]

Thedare form appears from around theEdo period.^[3] The voicing of the initial/t-/ to/d-/ is likely by analogy with other interrogative demonstratives何れ(dore,“whichone”),何処(doko,“where”). See etymology 2

Now the primary form, replacing earliertare.

• (Tokyo)だれ[dáꜜrè] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3][4]
• IPA^(key): [da̠ɾe̞]

• Audio:

  (file)

誰(だれ)• (dare) 

1. interrogativepersonal pronoun:who,whom

   誰(だれ)が誰(だれ)を作(つく)ったのか

   dare gadare o tsukutta no ka

   Who madewho?

   • 2016,Makoto Shinkai, director,君の名は。 [your name.], spoken by Taki Tachibana (Ryūnosuke Kamiki),Toho:

     お前は…誰だ？俺は　どうしてここに来た？あいつに…あいつに会うために来た。助けるために来た。生きていてほしかった。誰だ？誰？誰に会いに来た？大事な人、忘れたくない人、忘れちゃダメな人！誰だ？誰だ？誰だ…誰だ⁉名前は⁉

     O-mae wa…dare da? Ore wa dōshite koko ni kita? Aitsu ni… Aitsu ni au tame ni kita. Tasukeru tame ni kita. Ikite ite hoshikatta.Dare da?Dare da?Dare ni ai ni kita? Daiji na hito, wasuretakunai hito, wasurecha dame na hito!Dare da?Dare da?Dare da…Dare da⁉ Namae wa⁉

     Who… are you? Why did I come here? To see her… I came to see her. I came to save her. I wanted her to live. Who was it? Who? Who did I come to see? Someone dear to me, someone I don't wanna forget, someone I must not forget! Who was it? Who was it? Who was it… Who⁉ What's your name⁉

   • 2016,Makoto Shinkai, director,君の名は。 [your name.], spoken by Mitsuha Miyamizu (Mone Kamishiraishi),Toho:

     誰？誰？あの人は誰？大事な人、忘れちゃダメな人、忘れたくなかった人！誰？誰？君は誰？君の名前は⁉

     Dare?Dare? Ano hito wadare? Daiji na hito, wasurecha dame na hito, wasuretakunakatta hito!Dare?Dare? Kimi wadare? Kimi no namae wa⁉

     Who was it? Who? Who was he? Someone I hold dear, someone I must not forget, someone I did not want to forget! Who was he? Who? Who are you? What is your name⁉

2. (informal, clipping of誰か)someone,anyone(Can weverify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

• 誰言(だれい)うとなく(dare iu to naku)
• 誰(だれ)とはなしに(dare to hanashi ni)
• 誰(だれ)の目(め)にも(dare no me ni mo)

FromOld Japanese, first attested in theKojiki (712CE) alongside its older formta (see below).

Derived from older誰(ta,“who”) +れ(re,“thing”,demonstrative nominalizer ending). Compare the formation ofこれ(kore,“this”) from此(ko,“this”) +れ(re),彼(kare,“thatone, thatperson”) from彼(ka,“that”) +れ(re), etc.

Superseded bydare above starting from around theEdo period.^[2][3] Thetare form does not appear to be used anymore outside of poetry or intentionally archaic text.

• (Tokyo)たれ[táꜜrè] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [ta̠ɾe̞]

誰(たれ)• (tare) 

1. (archaic)interrogativepersonal pronoun:who,whom
2. (informal, clipping of誰か)someone,anyone(Can weverify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

For quotations using this term, seeCitations:誰.

• 誰(たれ)かある(tare ka aru)

• 誰(たれ)か烏(からす)の雌(し)雄(ゆう)を知(し)らん(tare ka karasu no shiyū o shiran)

FromOld Japanese, first attested in theKojiki, completed roughly 712CE.^[1]

Appears to be the oldest form.

• IPA^(key): [ta̠]

誰(た)• (ta) 

1. (obsolete, persists in some fossilized expressions)interrogativepersonal pronoun:who,whom

For quotations using this term, seeCitations:誰.

• 何方(どなた)(donata,“who”,honorific)
• 何(ど)れ(dore),何(いず)れ(izure,“which”)

• “誰”, in漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese),The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation,2015–2025

誰• (su) (hangeul수)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out andadd a translation, then remove the text{{rfdef}}.

誰:Hán Nôm readings:thùy/thuỳ

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out andadd a translation, then remove the text{{rfdef}}.

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