半

半 U+534A, 半 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-534A ← 卉 [U+5349] CJK Unified Ideographs 卋 → [U+534B]

Stroke order

• In Korean hanja, the upper component of the character is written in the form of ハ.

半 (Kangxi radical 24, 十+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 火手 (FQ), four-corner 9050₀, composition ⿻丷𰀁(GHTJV) or ⿻八𰀁(K))

1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №18

• 伴, 坢, 拌, 泮, 怑, 姅, 絆, (绊), 柈, 胖, 眫, 畔, 秚, 袢, 衅, 跘, 詊, (𫟟), 鉡, 靽,
• 判, 叛

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 156, character 7
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2707
• Dae Jaweon: page 354, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 46, character 1
• Unihan data for U+534A

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 八 (“to divide”) + 牛 (“cow”) – to cut a cow into two halves.

simp. and trad.		半

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *par. Related to 畔 (OC *baːns, “bank between fields”), which is an endopassive of 半 (OC *paːns, “half”), lit. "be separated from".

半

1. half

   全國人口的一半／全国人口的一半  ―  quánguó rénkǒu de yībàn  ―  half of the national population

   一磅半 [Cantonese]  ―  jat¹ bong⁶ bun³ [Jyutping]  ―  1½ pounds

   十點半／十点半 [Cantonese]  ―  sap⁶ dim² bun³ [Jyutping]  ―  10:30

2. very little
3. halfway, partially, semi-

   半醉半醒  ―  bàn zuì bàn xǐng  ―  partially in a stupor, partially awake

4. (Hong Kong, informal, neologism) half past

   九半 [Cantonese]  ―  gau² bun³ [Jyutping]  ―  half past nine

半 (bàn) + classifier + noun indicate half of something, while number + classifier + 半 (bàn) + noun means "and a half".

半塊麵包／半块面包  ―  bàn kuài miànbāo  ―  half a loaf of bread

兩塊半麵包／两块半面包  ―  liǎng kuài bàn miànbāo  ―  two and a half loaves of bread

• “Entry #1397”, 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., 2024.

simp. and trad.		半
alternative forms		畫／画

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

半

1. (Teochew) half

   一半 [Teochew]  ―  zêg⁸ uê⁵ [Peng'im]  ―  half

• Fielde, Adele Marion (1883) “ûe”, in A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 607

Shinjitai	半
Kyūjitai [1]	半󠄁 半+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	半󠄃 半+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. half

• Go-on: はん (han, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: はん (han, Jōyō)
• Kun: なかば (nakaba, 半ば, Jōyō)、わかつ (wakatsu, 半つ)
• Nanori: なか (naka)、なかば (nakaba)、なから (nakara)

半(はん) • (han) 

1. odd (especially of dice)

   Antonyms: 丁(ちょう) (chō, “even”)

半(はん) • (han-) 

1. half, semi-

   半(はん)年(とし)

   hantoshi

   semiannual

   半(はん)世(せい)紀(き)

   hanseiki

   semicentennial

Antonyms

• 複(ふく) (fuku, “double”)
• 全(ぜん) (zen, “entire”)

半(はん) • (-han) 

1. and a half

   四(よん)倍(ばい)半(はん)

   yon-bai han

   four and a half times

   二(に)十(じゅう)二(に)年(ねん)半(はん)

   nijūni-nen han

   twenty-two and a half years

From Middle Chinese 半 (MC panH). Recorded as Middle Korean 반 (pan) (Yale: pan) in Sinjeung Yuhap (新增類合 / 신증유합), 1576.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pa̠(ː)n]
• Phonetic hangul: [반(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Wikisource

半 (eumhun 반 반 (ban ban))

1. hanja form^? of 반 (“half”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

半: Hán Việt readings: bán (博(bác)漫(mạn)切(thiết))^{[1][2][3][4][5]}
半: Nôm readings: bán^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}, bớn^[3][4][5][6], bướng^[3][7], vắn^[1], búng^[2], bận^[3], ban^[3], bướn^[5]

1. chữ Hán form of bán (“half”).
2. Nôm form of vắn (“short, brief”).
3. Nôm form of bán (“to sell”).
4. Nôm form of bớn.