唯

Translingual

Han character

唯 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 口人土 (ROG), four-corner 6001₄, composition ⿰口隹)

Derived characters

• 𣼲, 𪄼, 嶉, 蓶, 𬟢, 𧐌, 鷕, 雖

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 193, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3761
• Dae Jaweon: page 413, character 17
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 642, character 5
• Unihan data for U+552F

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		唯

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 唯
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (唯) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
匯	*ɢʷrɯːlʔ, *kʰʷriːl
擓	*kʰʷriːl
淮	*ɡʷriːl
睢	*qʰʷel, *sqʰʷil, *qʰʷi, *qʰʷils
嶉	*sqʷi
趡	*skʰʷilʔ
踓	*skʰʷilʔ, *ɢʷilʔ
雖	*sqʰʷi
濉	*sqʰʷi
倠	*qʰʷi
婎	*qʰʷil, *qʰʷils
蓶	*ɢʷi, *ɢʷiʔ
維	*ɢʷi
惟	*ɢʷi
唯	*ɢʷi, *ɢʷiʔ
濰	*ɢʷi
琟	*ɢʷil
鷕	*ɢʷiʔ, *ɢʷiʔ
帷	*ɢʷril
鵻	*sɢʷinʔ, *tjul

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɢʷi, *ɢʷiʔ) : semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 隹.

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wéi (wei²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄟˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wai⁴
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): vì

  (Meixian, Guangdong): vi²

• Eastern Min (BUC): mì
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): ûi / bî

  (Teochew, Peng'im): rui⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wéi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wéi
    • Wade–Giles: wei²
    • Yale: wéi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wei
    • Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: wai⁴
    • Yale: wàih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wai⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: wei⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɐi̯²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: vì
    • Hakka Romanization System: vi^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: vi²
    • Sinological IPA: /vi¹¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: vi²
    • Sinological IPA: /ʋi¹¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: mì
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ûi
    • Tâi-lô: uî
    • Phofsit Daibuun: uii
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ui¹³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ui²³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei): /ui²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bî
    • Tâi-lô: bî
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bii
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bi¹³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi²³/
    • IPA (Taipei, Xiamen): /bi²⁴/

Note:

• ûi - literary;
• bî - vernacular.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: rui⁶
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: jŭi
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /d͡zui³⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: ywij

Rime
Character	唯
Reading #	1/2
Initial (聲)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	脂 (16)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	以追切
Baxter	ywij
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jiuɪ/
Pan Wuyun	/jʷi/
Shao Rongfen	/juɪ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jwi/
Li Rong	/ui/
Wang Li	/jwi/
Bernhard Karlgren	/wi/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wéi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	wai4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ɢʷij/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɢʷi/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	唯
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wéi
Middle Chinese	‹ ywij ›
Old Chinese	/*ɢʷij/ (< *ɢʷuj?)
English	only
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	唯
Reading #	1/2
No.	12854
Phonetic component	唯
Rime group	脂
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	惟
Old Chinese	/*ɢʷi/
Notes	本象隹鳴，鷕即其轉註異構， 非隹聲

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 唯

1. only; alone
2. because
3. although
4. to be
5. Particle for expressing one's wish.
6. Meaningless sentence-initial particle.

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wéi, wěi

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄟˊ, ㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wai² / wai⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wéi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wéi
    • Wade–Giles: wei²
    • Yale: wéi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wei
    • Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯³⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; variant in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wěi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wěi
    • Wade–Giles: wei³
    • Yale: wěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: woei
    • Palladius: вэй (vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: wai² / wai⁵
    • Yale: wái / wáih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wai² / wai⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: wei² / wei⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɐi̯³⁵/, /wɐi̯¹³/

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• Middle Chinese: ywijX

Rime
Character	唯
Reading #	2/2
Initial (聲)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	脂 (16)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	以水切
Baxter	ywijX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jiuɪX/
Pan Wuyun	/jʷiX/
Shao Rongfen	/juɪX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jwiX/
Li Rong	/uiX/
Wang Li	/jwiX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/wiX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wěi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	wai5

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɢʷiʔ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	唯
Reading #	2/2
No.	12858
Phonetic component	唯
Rime group	脂
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	唯
Old Chinese	/*ɢʷiʔ/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 唯

1. ^† A polite particle used to respond to elders: yes

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (唯):

• → Japanese: 唯(い) (i)

References

• “唯”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

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Japanese

Kanji

唯

(Jōyō kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: ゆい (yui, Jōyō)^{←ゆい (yui, historical)←ゆゐ (yuwi, ancient)}
• Kan-on: い (i, Jōyō ^†)^{←ゐ (wi, historical)}
• Kun: ただ (tada, 唯)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
唯
ゆい Grade: S
goon

/juwi/ → /jui/

From Middle Chinese 唯 (MC ywij).

Affix

唯(ゆい) • (yui) 

1. only, solely

Usage notes

• Most dictionaries proscribe historical -uwi readings すゐ (suwi), ずゐ (zuwi), つゐ (tuwi), ゆゐ (yuwi), and るゐ (ruwi).

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 唯(ゆい)一(いち) (yuīchi)
• 唯(ゆい)一(いつ) (yuītsu)
• 唯(ゆい)我(が)論(ろん) (yuigaron)
• 唯(ゆい)我(が)独(どく)尊(そん) (yuigadokuson)
• 唯(ゆい)識(しき) (yuishiki)
• 唯心(ゆいしん) (yuishin)
• 唯(ゆい)美(び) (yuibi)
• 唯物(ゆいぶつ) (yuibutsu)

Proper noun

唯(ゆい) or 唯(proper) • (yui or proper) [[Category:Japanese
|ゆい]]

1. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
唯
い Grade: S
kan'on

/wi/ → /i/

From Middle Chinese 唯 (MC ywijX).

Interjection

唯(い) • (i) ^{←ゐ (wi)?}

1. polite particle used to respond to elders: yes

   Synonym: はい (hai)

Derived terms

• 唯唯(いい), 唯々(いい) (ii)
  • 唯唯(いい)諾諾(だくだく), 唯々(いい)諾々(だくだく) (iidakudaku)

Affix

唯(い) • (i) ^{←ゐ (wi)?}

1. polite particle used to respond to elders: yes

Derived terms

• 諾(だく)唯(い) (dakui)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
唯
ただ Grade: S
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 唯 – see the following entry.

【ただ】 [adverb] 唯, 只, 但: merely, commonly, simply, only [conjunction] 唯, 只, 但: but, however, although, except that Alternative spellings 只, 但

(This term, 唯, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
唯
たった Grade: S
irregular

For pronunciation and definitions of 唯 – see the following entry.

【たった】 [adverb] (usually with numbers) only [suffix] (Internet slang, humorous) Verb suffix for past actions.

(This term, 唯, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
唯
たんだ Grade: S
irregular

For pronunciation and definitions of 唯 – see the following entry: たんだ

(The following entry is uncreated: たんだ.)

Etymology 6

Kanji in this term
唯
ない Grade: S
irregular

For pronunciation and definitions of 唯 – see the following entry: ない

(The following entry is uncreated: ない.)

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Korean

Hanja

唯 • (yu) (hangeul 유, revised yu, McCune–Reischauer yu)

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

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 唯 (dõi, dói, dúi, duỗi, duy, giói, giọi, gioè, dạ, dọi, duối)

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

References

• Nom Foundation