描

See also: 猫

描 U+63CF, 描 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-63CF ← 揎 [U+63CE] CJK Unified Ideographs 提 → [U+63D0]

Translingual

Han character

描 (Kangxi radical 64, 手+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 手廿田 (QTW), four-corner 5406₀, composition ⿰扌苗)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 441, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12339
• Dae Jaweon: page 792, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1892, character 3
• Unihan data for U+63CF

Chinese

trad.		描
simp. #		描

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
貓	*mreːw, *mrew
描	*mreːw, *mrew
媌	*mreːw, *mreːwʔ
緢	*mreːwʔ, *mreːws, *mrew
苗	*mrew
猫	*mrew
庿	*mrews

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *mreːw, *mrew) : semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 苗 (OC *mrew).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): miáo (miao²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄠˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): miu⁴
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): bieo²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): biâu / biô

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: miáo
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄠˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: miáo
    • Wade–Giles: miao²
    • Yale: myáu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: miau
    • Palladius: мяо (mjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: miu⁴
    • Yale: mìuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: miu⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: miu⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miːu̯²¹/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian, Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: bieo²
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: bá̤u
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pieu¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: biâu / biô
    • Tâi-lô: biâu / biô
    • Phofsit Daibuun: biaau, biooi
    • IPA (Xiamen): /biau²⁴/, /bio²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /biau²⁴/, /bio²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /biau¹³/, /bio¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /biau²⁴/, /bio²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /biau²³/, /biɤ²³/

Note:

• biâu - literary;
• biô - vernacular.

---

• Middle Chinese: mjew, maew

Rime
Character	描	描
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	宵 (92)	肴 (90)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II
Fanqie	武瀌切	莫交切
Baxter	mjew	maew
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mˠiᴇu/	/mˠau/
Pan Wuyun	/mᵚiɛu/	/mᵚau/
Shao Rongfen	/miæu/	/mau/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/miaw/	/maɨw/
Li Rong	/mjɛu/	/mau/
Wang Li	/mĭɛu/	/mau/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mi̯ɛu/	/mau/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	miáo	máo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	miu4	maau4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*mreːw/, /*mrew/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	描	描
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	9102	9107
Phonetic component	苗	苗
Rime group	宵	宵
Rime subdivision	2	2
Corresponding MC rime	茅	苗
Old Chinese	/*mreːw/	/*mrew/

Definitions

描

1. to copy; to trace; to sketch
2. to depict; to describe

Compounds

• 平面描跡 / 平面描迹
• 掃描 / 扫描 (sǎomiáo)
• 掃描器 / 扫描器 (sǎomiáoqì)
• 描圖 / 描图 (miáotú)
• 描寫 / 描写 (miáoxiě)
• 描寫句 / 描写句
• 描摩
• 描摸
• 描摹 (miáomó)
• 描樣兒 / 描样儿
• 描眉畫眼 / 描眉画眼
• 描紅 / 描红 (miáohóng)
• 描繪 / 描绘 (miáohuì)
• 描補 / 描补
• 描賠 / 描赔
• 描述 (miáoshù)
• 描金
• 描鸞刺鳳 / 描鸾刺凤
• 描黛
• 斷層掃描 / 断层扫描 (duàncéng sǎomiáo)
• 柳葉描 / 柳叶描
• 白描 (báimiáo)
• 筆描 / 笔描
• 素描 (sùmiáo)
• 線描法 / 线描法
• 花描
• 蘭葉描 / 兰叶描
• 輕描淡寫 / 轻描淡写 (qīngmiáodànxiě)
• 間條掃描 / 间条扫描
• 點描畫法 / 点描画法

 

References

• “描”, 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–
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “描”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 157.

Japanese

Kanji

描

(Jōyō kanji)

1. picture, sketch, drawing, painting

Readings

• Go-on: みょう (myō)
• Kan-on: びょう (byō, Jōyō)^{←べう (beu, historical)}
• Kun: えがく (egaku, 描く, Jōyō)、かく (kaku, 描く, Jōyō)、かき (kaki)

Korean

Hanja

描 (eumhun 그릴 묘 (geuril myo))

1. hanja form^? of 묘 (“copy”)

Compounds

• 묘사 (描寫, myosa, “description; depiction; portrayal”)

Vietnamese

Han character

描: Hán Nôm readings: miêu, miều

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