U+60A8, 您
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-60A8

[U+60A7]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+60A9]

Translingual

Stroke order
11 strokes

Han character

(Kangxi radical 61, +7, 11 strokes, cangjie input 人火心 (OFP), four-corner 27339, composition )

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 388, character 34
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10712
  • Dae Jaweon: page 721, character 23
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2301, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+60A8

Chinese

trad.
simp. #
alternative forms
honorific

Glyph origin

Ideogrammic compound (會意会意) : (you) + (heart). (MC sim) may also phonetically signify the original -m ending (Yuan et al., 1996).

Etymology

This character was not listed in Sui/Tang rhyme books. First attested in Jin/Yuan-era literature, when it was also written as and probably pronounced as *nim at the time (Lü, 1940; Norman, 1988). The pronoun was used both in the singular and the plural.

The pronoun used in Jin/Yuan-era literature is generally thought to be a fusion of 你們你们 (nǐmen, “you (plural)”) or 你每 (nǐměi, “you (plural)”) (Lü, 1940; Norman, 1988). Compare (tān, “he, she (polite)”) ( < 他們他们 (tāmen, “they”)).

The honorific usage may simply be a development of the plural usage (Norman, 1988); compare English you, French vous. However, others have argued for a different etymology for the honorific pronoun. Wang (1984) and Lü (1985) argue that it is a contraction of 你老 (“you (honorific for seniors)”): /ni lau//nil//nin/. Alternatively, Zhang (2001) suggests that it comes from (MC nyin), an honorific used in Buddhist texts from the Han dynasty.

In Cantonese and Hakka, this character is simply read as ; in Teochew, it is read as .

Pronunciation


Definitions

  1. (polite, honorific, sometimes sarcastic) you (usually singular, may be plural)
  2. (archaic or dialectal) you (plural)
  3. (archaic) thou; you (singular)

Usage notes

  • (honorific you): Some speakers consider 您們您们 (nínmen) to be ungrammatical and use (nín) in both singular and plural contexts.

Synonyms

Compounds

See also

Standard Mandarin Chinese personal pronouns
Person Singular Plural
1st () 我們我们 (wǒmen)
inclusive 咱們咱们 (zánmen)
2nd male/indefinite () 你們你们 (nǐmen)
female () 妳們你们 (nǐmen)
deity () 祢們祢们 (nǐmen)
polite (nín) 你們你们 (nǐmen)
您們您们 (nínmen)
3rd male/indefinite () 他們他们 (tāmen)
female () 她們她们 (tāmen)
deity () 祂們祂们 (tāmen)
animal () 牠們它们 (tāmen)
inanimate () 它們它们 (tāmen)

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

  1. You

Readings

Vietnamese

Han character

: Hán Nôm readings: nâm

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