參
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Translingual
    
| Traditional | 參 | 
|---|---|
| Shinjitai | 参 | 
| Simplified | 参/叁 | 
Han character
    
參 (Kangxi radical 28, 厶+9, 11 strokes, cangjie input 戈戈戈竹 (IIIH), four-corner 23202, composition ⿱厽㐱)
Derived characters
    
Descendants
    
- 参 (Japanese shinjitai and simplified Chinese)
References
    
- KangXi: page 164, character 28
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3098
- Dae Jaweon: page 372, character 28
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 387, character 23
- Unihan data for U+53C3
- Unihan data for U+F96B
Chinese
    
    Glyph origin
    
| Historical forms of the character 參 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Western Zhou | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) | Liushutong (compiled in Ming) | 
| Bronze inscriptions | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts | 
|  |  |  | 
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| 篸 | *ʔsluːm, *ʔsluːms | 
| 參 | *sʰluːm, *sʰluːms, *sloːm, *sʰrum, *srum | 
| 驂 | *sʰluːm | 
| 傪 | *sʰluːm, *sʰluːmʔ | 
| 慘 | *sʰluːmʔ | 
| 黲 | *sʰluːmʔ, *sʰloːmʔ | 
| 謲 | *sʰluːms | 
| 毿 | *sluːm | 
| 蔘 | *sluːm, *srum | 
| 犙 | *sluːm, *sru, *srɯu | 
| 糝 | *sluːmʔ | 
| 槮 | *sluːmʔ, *sʰrum, *srum, *srumʔ | 
| 鬖 | *sloːm | 
| 摻 | *sruːm, *sruːmʔ | 
| 醦 | *sruːmʔ, *sʰrumʔ | 
| 縿 | *sroːm | 
| 穇 | *sroːm | 
| 嵾 | *sʰrum | 
| 磣 | *sʰrumʔ | 
| 墋 | *sʰrumʔ | 
| 曑 | *srum | 
| 瘮 | *srumʔ | 
| 滲 | *srums | 
Simplified from 曑 (晶 (jīng) → 厽 (lēi)).
The bronze script form is an ideogrammic compound (會意) : 晶 (“stars”) + 光 (“light; brightness”) + 彡 (“light rays”) – Three Stars mansion. 彡 (OC *sroːm, *slom) also acts as a phonetic component. Ignoring the lines connecting the three stars, 光 may be interpreted as 卩 (“kneeling person”), representing someone looking at the shining stars above him.
Alternatively, it may be the original character of 簪 (OC *ʔsɯːm, *ʔsrɯm, “hairpin”), since the bronze script forms resemble a person wearing a hat with three stars.
Based on the seal script form, Shuowen interprets the character as a phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *sʰluːm, *sʰluːms, *sloːm, *sʰrum, *srum) : semantic 晶 (“stars”) + phonetic 㐱 ().
Etymology 1
    
| trad. | 參 | |
|---|---|---|
| simp. | 参 | |
| alternative forms | 曑 叄 㕘 叅 | |
From 三 (OC *suːm, *suːms, “three”) + other element (Schuessler, 2007).
Pronunciation
    
Definitions
    
參
- (~宿) (Chinese astronomy) Three Stars mansion (one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions)
- a surname
Compounds
    
| 
 | 
 | 
 | 
Etymology 2
    
| trad. | 參/蔘* | |
|---|---|---|
| simp. | 参 | |
| alternative forms | ||
Jacques (2015b) suggests that this word is related to Japhug tɤzrɤm (“root”) and Yakkha साम (“root”).
Pronunciation
    
Synonyms
    
- (ginseng):
| Variety | Location | Words | 
|---|---|---|
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 人參 | |
| Mandarin | Taiwan | 人參 | 
| Luoyang | 人參 | |
| Wanrong | 人參 | |
| Xi'an | 人參 | |
| Yangzhou | 參 | |
| Singapore | 人參 | |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 參 | 
| Hong Kong | 人參, 參 | |
| Gan | Nanchang | 人參 | 
| Lichuan | 人參 | |
| Pingxiang | 人參, 參 | |
| Min Dong | Fuzhou | 參 | 
| Min Nan | Xiamen | 人參 | 
| Quanzhou | 人參 | |
| Zhangzhou | 人參 | |
| Tainan | 參仔 | |
| Leizhou | 參 | |
| Southern Pinghua | Nanning (Tingzi) | 人參 | 
| Wu | Suzhou | 人參 | 
Compounds
    
Etymology 3
    
| trad. | 參 | |
|---|---|---|
| simp. | 参 | |
| alternative forms | 叄 㕘 叅 | |
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “derived from 三? related to 審?”)
Pronunciation
    
Definitions
    
參
- † three objects in a group
- † to pair up
- † to equate
- (Min Nan) to mix
- † to be spread out; to be displayed
- to join
- to study; to discuss; to understand
- † to inspect and verify
- † to face
- † to greet
- to refer; to consult
- to visit; to pay one's respect to
- to impeach
- † high
- † a unit of weight
- † Alternative form of 驂/骖 (cān).
Compounds
    
| 
 | 
 | 
Pronunciation
    
Definitions
    
參
See also
    
| Chinese numbers | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 108 | 1012 | |
| Normal (小寫/小写) | 〇, 零 | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | 十 | 百 | 千 | 萬/万 十千 (Malaysia, Singapore) | 億/亿 | 兆 (Taiwan) 萬億/万亿 (Mainland China) | 
| Financial (大寫/大写) | 零 | 壹 | 貳/贰 | 參/叁 | 肆 | 伍 | 陸/陆 | 柒 | 捌 | 玖 | 拾 | 佰 | 仟 | |||
Etymology 5
    
| trad. | 參 | |
|---|---|---|
| simp. | 参 | |
| alternative forms | 叄 㕘 叅 | |
Related to 巉 (OC *zraːm, *zraːmʔ, “craggy”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Pronunciation
    
Pronunciation
    
Synonyms
    
	Japanese
    
| 参 | |
| 參 | 
Korean
    
    Etymology 1
    
From Middle Chinese 參 (MC t͡sʰʌm, “add; influence; join”).
| Historical Readings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dongguk Jeongun Reading | ||
| Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 | 참 (Yale: chàm) | |
| Middle Korean | ||
| Text | Eumhun | |
| Gloss (hun) | Reading | |
| Sinjeung Yuhap, 1576 | 참예 (Yale: chamyey) | 참 (Yale: cham) | 
| Early Modern Korean | ||
| Text | Final (韻) | Reading | 
| Samun Seonghwi, 1751 | 覃 | 참 (cham) | 
Pronunciation
    
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [t͡ɕʰa̠m]
- Phonetic hangul: [참]
Hanja
    
Wikisource 參 (eumhun 참여할 참 (chamyeohal cham))
- Hanja form? of 참 (“to join; to participate”). [affix]
Compounds
    
Etymology 2
    
From Middle Chinese 參 (MC t͡ʃʰˠiɪm, “jagged; uneven”).
| Historical Readings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dongguk Jeongun Reading | ||
| Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 | ᄎᆞᆷ (Yale: chòm) | |
| Early Modern Korean | ||
| Text | Final (韻) | Reading | 
| Samun Seonghwi, 1751 | 侵 | ᄎᆞᆷ (cham) | 
Pronunciation
    
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [t͡ɕʰa̠m]
- Phonetic hangul: [참]
Etymology 3
    
From Middle Chinese 參 (MC ʃˠiɪm, “Three Stars mansion”).
| Historical Readings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dongguk Jeongun Reading | ||
| Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 | ᄉᆞᆷ (Yale: sòm) | |
| Early Modern Korean | ||
| Text | Final (韻) | Reading | 
| Samun Seonghwi, 1751 | 侵 | ᄉᆞᆷ (sam) | 
Pronunciation
    
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰa̠m]
- Phonetic hangul: [삼]
Hanja
    
參 (eumhun 별 이름 삼 (byeol ireum sam))
- Hanja form? of 삼 (“(Chinese astronomy) Three Stars mansion (one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions)”).
Etymology 4
    
From Middle Chinese 參 (MC sɑm, “three”).