寧

寧 (Kangxi radical 40, 宀+11, 14 strokes, cangjie input 十心月弓 (JPBN), four-corner 3020₁, composition ⿱寍丁)

• KangXi: page 291, character 8
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7296
• Dae Jaweon: page 577, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 949, character 5
• Unihan data for U+5BE7
• Unihan data for U+F95F
• Unihan data for U+F9AA
• Unihan data for U+2F86F

Historical forms of the character 寧
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Oracle bone script: Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 宀 (“house”) + 皿 (“food or wine vessel”) + 丂 (“table (?)”) – contentment. The 心 (“heart”) component was added in bronze inscriptions to yield 寧, and the 丂 component was sometimes omitted to yield 寍.

Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *neːŋ) : phonetic 寍 (OC *neːŋ) + semantic 丂 (“speech (?)”).

Note that the simplified form 宁 (zhù) is also a traditional character on its own.

Either related to Burmese ညင်း (nyang:, “soft, gentle, quiet”) or connected to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/k-niŋ (“heart, mind, brain”) (Schuessler, 2007)

寧

1. peaceful; tranquil; serene; at peace

   心緒不寧／心绪不宁  ―  xīnxù bù níng  ―  restless; uneasy

   • 首出庶物，萬國咸寧。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     首出庶物，万国咸宁。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE

     Shǒu chū shùwù, wànguó xiánníng. [Pinyin]

     (The sage) appears aloft, high above all things, and the myriad states all enjoy repose.

2. (literary) to stabilise; to pacify

   息事寧人／息事宁人  ―  xīshìníngrén  ―  to end a dispute or conflict and calm the people down

3. (obsolete) to mourn for one's deceased parent
4. (literary, especially of married women) to visit one's parents
5. Alternative name for 江寧／江宁 (Jiāngníng, “old name for Nanjing”).

   寧漢分裂／宁汉分裂  ―  Níng Hàn fēnliè  ―  (please add an English translation of this example)

6. Alternative name for 寧夏／宁夏 (Níngxià, “Ningxia”).

寧

1. rather; would rather

   • 旣而悽愴曰：「寧我負人，毋人負我！」遂行。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     既而凄怆曰：“宁我负人，毋人负我！”遂行。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 4th century CE, Sun Sheng,《雜記》Miscellaneous Records; quoted in 5th century CE, Pei Songzhi, Annotations to 3rd century CE, Records of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou

     Jì ér qīchuàng yuē: “Níng wǒ fù rén, wú rén fù wǒ!” Suì xíng. [Pinyin]

     Later, [Cao Cao] sorrowfully said: "I would rather betray others than let others betray me!" Then left.

2. ^† could there be
3. ^† such; like this; so
4. ^† unexpectedly; in spite of everything
5. ^† modal particle

寧

1. a surname

• Not to be confused with the surname 甯 (Nìng), which was previously also simplified to 宁.

Used due to Standard Mandarin pronunciation matching that of regional language.

寧

1. (Northern Wu, especially Shanghainese Wu) Alternative form of 人.

   上海寧／上海宁 [Shanghainese]  ―  [z̥ɑ̃²² he̞⁵⁵ n̠ʲɪɲ²¹] [IPA]  ―  Shanghainese person

   • 隔壁寧家屋裡頭，交交關關小居頭，阿杜阿膩阿三頭，一直排到阿八頭。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
     隔壁宁家屋里头，交交关关小居头，阿杜阿腻阿三头，一直排到阿八头。 [Shanghainese, simp.]

     From:

     [ka̱ʔ³³ pi̯ɪʔ⁴⁴ n̠ʲɪɲ²² ka̱⁴⁴ ʊʔ³³ li⁵⁵ d̥ɜ²¹ t͡ɕiɔ⁵⁵ t͡ɕiɔ³³ kɯe̞³³ kɯe̞²¹ ɕiɔ³³ t͡ɕy⁵⁵ d̥ɜ²¹ a̱ʔ⁴⁴  d̥v̩ʷ²³ a̱ʔ⁴⁴  n̠ʲi²³ a̱ʔ³³ se̞⁵⁵ d̥ɜ²¹ i̯ɪʔ³³ t͡ɕi̯ɪʔ⁴⁴ b̥a̱²² d̥ɜ⁴⁴ a̱ʔ³³ pa̱ʔ⁵⁵ d̥ɜ²¹] [IPA]

     In my neighbor’s place, there are many children; the eldest, the second, the third, all the way to the eighth.

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 寧)

1. rather
2. peaceful

• Go-on: にょう (nyō)^{←にやう (nyau, historical)}
• Kan-on: ねい (nei, Jōyō)
• Kun: いずくんぞ (izukunzo, 寧くんぞ)^{←いづくんぞ (idukunzo, 寧, historical)}; なんぞ (nanzo, 寧ぞ); むしろ (mushiro, 寧ろ); やすい (yasui, 寧い); やすらか (yasuraka, 寧らか); やすんずる (yasunzuru, 寧んずる)^{←やすんず (yasunzu, 寧んず, historical)}
• Nanori: あき (aki); さだ (sada); しず (shizu); やす (yasu); やすし (yasushi); よし (yoshi)

• 安寧(あんねい) (annei)
• 丁寧(ていねい) (teinei)

寧 (eumhun 편안할 녕 (pyeonanhal nyeong), South Korea 편안할 영 (pyeonanhal yeong))

1. Hanja form^? of 녕/영 (“repose, serenity peace”).
2. Hanja form^? of 녕/영 (“peaceful”).

• 安寧 (안녕, annyeong)

寧: Hán Nôm readings: ninh

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

• 安寧 (an ninh)