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| Stroke order | |||
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| Traditional | 龍 |
|---|---|
| Shinjitai | 竜 |
| Simplified | 龙 |
龍 (Kangxi radical 212,龍+0, 16 strokes,cangjie input卜月卜尸心 (YBYSP),four-corner01211,composition⿰𦚏)
Kangxi Dictionary:龍部/龍部 on the Chinese Wikisource.Coblin, reconstructing the Bailang pronunciation as*gljung, suggests that it derives fromProto-Sino-Tibetan *kl(j)u(ŋ/k) (“river, gorge”) and retains its consonant cluster, which was lost inProto-Lolo-Burmese. CompareTibetanལྗོངས(ljongs),Chinese谷 (OC*kloːɡ).
龍 (*gljung)
| trad. | 龍 | |
|---|---|---|
| simp. | 龙 | |
| alternative forms | ||
| Historical forms of the character龍 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shang | Western Zhou | Spring and Autumn | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled inHan) | Liushutong (compiled inMing) | ||
| Bronze inscriptions | Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Qin slip script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| 驡 | *ʔslaːŋʔ, *roŋ |
| 龐 | *broːŋ |
| 瀧 | *rroːŋ, *sroːŋ, *roːŋ |
| 籠 | *roːŋ, *roːŋʔ, *roŋ |
| 豅 | *roːŋ |
| 朧 | *roːŋ, *roŋs |
| 龓 | *roːŋ, *roːŋʔ |
| 聾 | *roːŋ |
| 礱 | *roːŋ, *roːŋs |
| 嚨 | *roːŋ |
| 蘢 | *roːŋ, *roŋ |
| 櫳 | *roːŋ |
| 襱 | *roːŋ, *roːŋʔ, *r'oŋʔ |
| 瓏 | *roːŋ |
| 曨 | *roːŋ, *roːŋʔ |
| 鸗 | *roːŋ, *roŋ |
| 蠪 | *roːŋ |
| 巃 | *roːŋʔ |
| 竉 | *roːŋʔ |
| 攏 | *roːŋʔ |
| 儱 | *roːŋʔ, *roŋs |
| 龍 | *b·roŋ, *mroːŋ |
| 躘 | *roŋ, *roŋs |
| 隴 | *roŋʔ |
| 壠 | *roŋʔ |
| 壟 | *roŋʔ |
| 寵 | *r̥ʰoŋʔ |
| 龏 | *kloŋ, *kloŋs, *qroːɡ |
Pictogram (象形) – originally a serpent with prominent whiskered mouth and eyes.
Current form developed in large seal script, with serpent’s body on right (tail at upper right, legs on right), whiskered/fanged mouth at lower left, and eyes/crown at upper left. Left side was subsequently simplified and abstracted, with some influence of立 and⺼/月. Note that竜 existed as a traditional variant dating back to large seal script, and figures a dragon seen face-on, rather than curled around.
Compare𦝠 (luó), which represents a particular kind of dragon.
FromProto-Sino-Tibetan*m-bru(ŋ/k)(“dragon; thunder”). Cognate withTibetanའབྲུག('brug,“dragon; thunder”). The STEDT database also lists隆 (OC*ɡ·ruːŋ, “thunder; sound of thunder”) and雹 (OC*bruːɡ, “hail”) as cognates. Also compare靐 (OC*brɯŋs, “sound of thunder”) and霹靂 (OC*pʰeːɡ reːɡ, “thunder”).
This word is found in many languages of the region. CompareProto-Hmong-Mien *-roŋ (“dragon”) (White Hmong zaj),Proto-Vietic *-roːŋ (“dragon”) (Vietnameserồng),Vietnamese thuồngluồng (“serpent-like monster”),Khmerរោង(roong,“year of the dragon”),Thaiมะโรง(má-roong,“dragon; year of the dragon”),Laoມະໂລງ(ma lōng,“year of the dragon”), perhaps alsoOld Turkic [script needed] (*-lan, suffix denoting a wild, predatory animal) (Turkish aslan (“lion”),kaplan (“tiger”),yılan (“snake”)).
| Variety | Location | 龍 |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | Beijing | /luŋ³⁵/ |
| Harbin | /luŋ²⁴/ | |
| Tianjin | /luŋ⁴⁵/ | |
| Jinan | /luŋ⁴²/ | |
| Qingdao | /ləŋ⁴²/ | |
| Zhengzhou | /luŋ⁴²/ /lyuŋ⁴²/ | |
| Xi'an | /luŋ²⁴/ | |
| Xining | /luə̃²⁴/ | |
| Yinchuan | /luŋ⁵³/ | |
| Lanzhou | /lũn⁵³/ | |
| Ürümqi | /luŋ⁵¹/ | |
| Wuhan | /noŋ²¹³/ | |
| Chengdu | /noŋ³¹/ | |
| Guiyang | /noŋ²¹/ | |
| Kunming | /loŋ³¹/ | |
| Nanjing | /loŋ²⁴/ | |
| Hefei | /ləŋ⁵⁵/ | |
| Jin | Taiyuan | /luəŋ¹¹/ |
| Pingyao | /luŋ¹³/ | |
| Hohhot | /lũŋ³¹/ | |
| Wu | Shanghai | /loŋ²³/ |
| Suzhou | /loŋ¹³/ | |
| Hangzhou | /loŋ²¹³/ | |
| Wenzhou | /liɛ³¹/ | |
| Hui | Shexian | /lʌ̃⁴⁴/ |
| Tunxi | /lin⁴⁴/ | |
| Xiang | Changsha | /loŋ¹³/ |
| Xiangtan | /nən¹²/ | |
| Gan | Nanchang | /luŋ⁴⁵/ |
| Hakka | Meixian | /liuŋ¹¹/ |
| Taoyuan | /lioŋ¹¹/ | |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | /loŋ²¹/ |
| Nanning | /luŋ²¹/ | |
| Hong Kong | /luŋ²¹/ | |
| Min | Xiamen (Hokkien) | /liɔŋ³⁵/ /liŋ³⁵/ |
| Fuzhou (Eastern Min) | /lyŋ⁵³/ | |
| Jian'ou (Northern Min) | /lœyŋ³³/ | |
| Shantou (Teochew) | /loŋ⁵⁵/ /leŋ⁵⁵/ | |
| Haikou (Hainanese) | /loŋ³¹/ /liaŋ³¹/ |
| Rime | |
|---|---|
| Character | 龍 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 來 (37) |
| Final (韻) | 鍾 (7) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | III |
| Fanqie | 力鍾切 |
| Baxter | ljowng |
| Reconstructions | |
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /lɨoŋ/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /lioŋ/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /lioŋ/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /luawŋ/ |
| Li Rong | /lioŋ/ |
| Wang Li | /lĭwoŋ/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /li̯woŋ/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | lóng |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | lung4 |
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 龍 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | lóng |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ ljowng › |
| Old Chinese | /*[mə]-roŋ/ |
| English | dragon |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 龍 |
| Reading # | 1/2 |
| No. | 8436 |
| Phonetic component | 龍 |
| Rime group | 東 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 龍 |
| Old Chinese | /*b·roŋ/ |
龍
Others:
| 竜 | |
| 龍 |
(Jinmeiyō kanji, kyūjitai kanji,shinjitai form竜)
FromMiddle Chinese龍 (MC ljowng). Recorded asMiddle Korean료ᇰ(lywong) (Yale:lyong) inHunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.
龍 (eumhun미르룡(mireu ryong),word-initial (South Korea)미르용(mireu yong))
Possibly from the verb立つ(tatu,“torise,stand”).
龍 (tatu) (kanaたつ)
Also used once phonetically as a借訓(shakkun) for⟨tatu⟩.
龍:Hán Việt readings:long (
龍:Nôm readings:long[2][3][1][6],lung[2][3][7],lỏng[7][5][6],lúng[7][1],luông[3],luồng[7]
龍
龍
