文字

Chinese

		language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle	letter; symbol; character letter; symbol; character; word
simp. and trad. (文字)		文	字

Wikipedia has articles on:

文字 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
文字 (Cantonese)
文字 (Classical)
bûn-jī (Southern Min)
文字 (Wu)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): wénzì

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): вынзы (vɨnzɨ, I-III)
Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ zi⁶
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): vùn-sṳ
Eastern Min (BUC): ùng-cê
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): mong² zo⁵ / muong² zo⁵
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): bûn-lī / bûn-jī

(Teochew, Peng'im): bhung⁵ ri⁷

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wénzì
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wúnzìh
  - Wade–Giles: wên²-tzŭ⁴
  - Yale: wén-dz̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wentzyh
  - Palladius: вэньцзы (vɛnʹczy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən³⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: вынзы (vɨnzɨ, I-III)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /vəŋ²⁴ t͡sz̩⁴⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: man⁴ zi⁶
  - Yale: màhn jih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ dzi⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ ji⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ t͡siː²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: vùn-sṳ
  - Hakka Romanization System: vun^ˇ sii
  - Hagfa Pinyim: vun² si⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /vun¹¹ sɨ⁵⁵/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: ùng-cê
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /uŋ⁵³⁻²¹ ^(t͡s-)ʒɛi²⁴²/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: mong² zo⁵ [Phonetic: mong⁴ zo⁵]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔŋ¹³⁻⁴² t͡so²¹/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: muong² zo⁵ [Phonetic: muong⁴ zo⁵]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /muoŋ¹³⁻⁴² t͡sɵ²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-lī
  - Tâi-lô: bûn-lī
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bunli
  - IPA (Taipei): /bun²⁴⁻¹¹ li³³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bun²⁴⁻²² li⁴¹/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ li³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bun²⁴⁻²² li²²/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-jī
  - Tâi-lô: bûn-jī
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bunji
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ zi³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bun¹³⁻²² d͡zi²²/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: bhung⁵ ri⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bûng jī
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /buŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ d͡zi¹¹/

Middle Chinese: mjun dziH

Rime
Character	文	字
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	從 (15)
Final (韻)	文 (59)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	無分切	疾置切
Baxter	mjun	dziH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mɨun/	/d͡zɨ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/miun/	/d͡zɨ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/miuən/	/d͡zie^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mun/	/d͡zɨ^H/
Li Rong	/miuən/	/d͡ziə^H/
Wang Li	/mĭuən/	/d͡zĭə^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mi̯uən/	/d͡zʱi^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wén	zì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	man⁴	zi⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*mə[n] mə-dzə(ʔ)-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*mɯn zlɯs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	文	字
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wén	zì
Middle Chinese	‹ mjun ›	‹ dzi^H ›
Old Chinese	/*mə[n]/	/*mə-dzə(ʔ)-s/
English	ornate	breed, love (v.); character
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	文	字
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	13015	17864
Phonetic component	文	子
Rime group	文	之
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	文	字
Old Chinese	/*mɯn/	/*zlɯs/
Notes		子分化字

Noun

文字

written symbols; writing; script; text; characters (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)
writing style wording; language (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)

Synonyms

(writing): 筆墨／笔墨 (bǐmò)

Derived terms

古文字 (gǔwénzì)
拉丁化新文字 (Lādīnghuà Xīn Wénzì)
拼音文字 (pīnyīn wénzì)
文字學／文字学 (wénzìxué)
文字改革 (wénzì gǎigé)
文字獄／文字狱 (wénzìyù)
文字處理／文字处理
文字處理機／文字处理机 (wénzì chǔlǐjī)
新文字 (Xīn Wénzì)
甲骨文字 (jiǎgǔ wénzì)
線形文字／线形文字 (xiànxíng wénzì)
繪文字／绘文字 (huìwénzì)
表意文字 (biǎoyì wénzì)
表音文字 (biǎoyīn wénzì)
象形文字 (xiàngxíng wénzì)
頭文字／头文字 (tóuwénzì)

Related terms

書寫系統／书写系统 (shūxiě xìtǒng)
文學／文学 (wénxué)
語文／语文 (yǔwén)
語言／语言 (yǔyán)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (文字):

→ Japanese: 文(もん)字(じ) (monji)
→ Korean: 문자(文字) (munja)
→ Vietnamese: văn tự (文字)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
文	字
もん Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
goon

From Middle Chinese 文字 (MC mjun dziH, literally “writing + character”). Compare modern Cantonese reading man⁴ zi⁶.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) もんじ [móꜜǹjì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [mõ̞ɲ̟d͡ʑi]

Noun

文(もん)字(じ) • (monji)

a letter, a character (symbol for a sound or a word)
(linguistics) script, writing system
(specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
writing in general, written words
(by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
(by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
(by extension from the “writing” sense) studies

Usage notes

This reading is less common than moji, below.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
文	字
もん > も Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
irregular	goon

/mond͡ʑi/ → /mod͡ʑi/

Sound shift from monji above.^[3]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) もじ [móꜜjì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]^[1]^[4]
IPA^(key): [mo̞ʑi]

Noun

文(も)字(じ) • (moji)

a letter or character (symbol for a sound or a word)
(linguistics) script, writing system
(specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
writing in general, written words
(by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
(by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
(by extension from the “writing” sense) studies
(chiefly Kansai) the tails side of a coin, the side with writing on it
(chiefly Kansai, by extension) a coin, money

Usage notes

This reading is more common than monji above.

The tails and coin, money senses are specific to this moji reading.^[3]

Derived terms

顔(かお)文(も)字(じ) (kaomoji): smiley
絵(え)文(も)字(じ) (emoji): emoji (not to be confused with emoticon)
大(おお)文(も)字(じ) (ōmoji): uppercase letter
小(こ)文(も)字(じ) (komoji): lowercase letter
キリル文(も)字(じ) (kiriru moji): Cyrillic letter
文(も)字(じ)通(どお)り (mojidōri): literal, literally
文(も)字(じ)化(ば)け (mojibake): corrupt characters or letters, especially from display or transfer through an inappropriate character set or encoding, e.g., •¶Žš‰»‚¯, which is a corruption of 文字化け

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
文	字

Noun

文字 • (munja) (hangeul 문자)

hanja form^? of 문자 (“letter”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
文	字

Noun

文字

chữ Hán form of văn tự (“writing system, script”).

[NHK-1] 1.0 ^1.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[SMK5-4] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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[2]

[3]

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