爭

爭 (Kangxi radical 87, 爪+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 月尸木 (BSD), four-corner 2050₇, composition ⿱爫⿻コ𬺰)

• 凈, 𠲜, 埩, 婙, 崢, 𢏰, 𢛵, 掙, 淨, 猙, 𫐭, 𪰭, 棦, 𪸾, 琤, 㬹, 𡴣, 𪟐, 睜, 碀, 竫, 𰁔, 𠬉, 𥺲, 䋫, 䍵, 𦓺, 𠎈, 諍, 𧶄, 踭, 𨌢, 𨲌, 𪬭, 錚, 靜, 𦽰, 𩗲, 𰏎, 𪢛, 𤔷, 𨘱, 䱢
• 𬋨, 𨛰, 𪺓, 𪺗, 𩓞, 𪺘, 𡸵, 𦱊, 箏, 鬇, 䦛

• KangXi: page 688, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19663
• Dae Jaweon: page 1101, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2031, character 3
• Unihan data for U+722D

Historical forms of the character 爭
Shang	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) – two hands on a plowshare.

"to dispute; to fight; to contend; to strive"

Cognate with Tibetan འཛིང་བ ('dzing ba, “to quarrel; to contend; to fight”), Burmese စစ် (cac, “war”) (Schuessler, 2007).

"to lack; to owe"

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

爭

1. to dispute; to fight

   冇咩好爭。／冇咩好争。 [Cantonese]  ―  mou⁵ me¹ hou² zaang¹. [Jyutping]  ―  It is nothing to fight over.

   兩個人爭了半天，其實說的是一回事。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, trad.]
   两个人争了半天，其实说的是一回事。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Those two have been arguing for all day, but actually they're the same point.

   都講得冒得鬧，不要爭唎！ [Gan, trad.]
   都讲得冒得闹，不要争唎！ [Gan, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   He's not wrong in the first place, stop disputing!

   伊兩隻大爭。 [Min Dong, trad.]
   伊两只大争。 [Min Dong, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Those two had a big fight.

   開開玩笑，兩家頭就爭起來了。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
   开开玩笑，两家头就争起来了。 [Shanghainese, simp.]

   [kʰe̞⁵⁵ kʰe̞³³  ɦv̩ʷø²² ɕiɔ⁴⁴ liã²² ka̱⁵⁵ d̥ɜ²¹ ʑ̥iɜ²³ t͡sã⁴⁴  t͡ɕʰi³³ le̞⁴⁴ ləʔ¹²] [IPA]

   After some bantering, those two started fighting.

2. to contend

   明個飯後我們跟他們爭冠軍。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, trad.]
   明个饭后我们跟他们争冠军。 [Yangzhou Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Tomorrow, after lunch, we'll be contending for the first place against them.

   大家爭倒發言。 [Sichuanese, trad.]
   大家争倒发言。 [Sichuanese, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   da⁴ jia¹ zen¹ dao fa² yan² [Sichuanese Pinyin]

   Everyone is fighting for a chance to speak.

3. to strive

   爭氣／争气  ―  zhēngqì  ―  to strive to excel

4. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Jin, dialectal Min, Southern Wu) to lack; to be missing; still have; remaining

   佢哋間屋仲爭個廁所未裝。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢哋间屋仲争个厕所未装。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ dei⁶ gaan¹ uk¹ zung⁶ zaang¹ go³ ci³ so² mei⁶ zong¹. [Jyutping]

   Their house still hasn't had the bathroom installed yet.

   到機場仲爭幾分鐘。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   到机场仲争几分钟。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   dou³ gei¹ coeng⁴ zung⁶ zaang¹ gei² fan¹ zung¹. [Jyutping]

   There are still a couple minutes until we reach the airport.

5. (Cantonese) to have a difference (expressed in conjunction with terms of physical distance)

   同X爭好遠／同X争好远 [Cantonese]  ―  tung⁴ X zaang¹ hou² jyun⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  to be greatly different from X

   同X爭十萬八千里 [Cantonese, trad.]
   同X争十万八千里 [Cantonese, simp.]

   tung⁴ X zaang¹ sap⁶ maan⁶ baat³ cin¹ lei⁵ [Jyutping]

   to be radically different from X ("be different by 108,000 li")

6. (Ürümqi Mandarin) argumentative

   他那個人太爭咧，和誰都處不好。 [Lanyin Mandarin, trad.]
   他那个人太争咧，和谁都处不好。 [Lanyin Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Tā nàge rén tài zhēng liē, hé shéi dōu chù bùhǎo. [Pinyin]

   He's way too argumentative, he can't hang out with anyone.

7. (Ürümqi Mandarin) to open up

   把口袋爭開，好往裡裝。 [Lanyin Mandarin, trad.]
   把口袋争开，好往里装。 [Lanyin Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Bǎ kǒudài zhēng kāi, hǎo wǎng lǐ zhuāng. [Pinyin]

   Open up your pocket, let's put it in there.

8. (dialectal) to owe

   我還爭你三角錢，明天給你。 [Sichuanese, trad.]
   我还争你三角钱，明天给你。 [Sichuanese, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   ngo³ huan² zen¹ nyi³ san¹ go² qian² min² tian¹ ge¹ nyi³ [Sichuanese Pinyin]

   I still owe you thirty cents, I'll give it to you tomorrow.

9. (Wanrong Mandarin) because; due to; so that

   他倆爭一句話吵起啦。 [Central Plains Mandarin, trad.]
   他俩争一句话吵起啦。 [Central Plains Mandarin, simp.]

   From: 现代汉语方言大词典

   Tā liǎ zhēng yī jù huà chǎo qǐ la. [Pinyin]

   They started fighting because of a small line.

10. (Wanrong Mandarin) capable

    Synonym: 能幹／能干 (nénggàn) (Standard)

    你可爭哩，做活能頂幾外人。 [Central Plains Mandarin, trad.]
    你可争哩，做活能顶几外人。 [Central Plains Mandarin, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    Nǐ kě zhēng li, zuò huó néng dǐng jǐ wài rén. [Pinyin]

    You're rather capable aren't you, what you do is comparable to multiple others.

11. (Suzhou Wu, Dongguan Cantonese) to argue for the sake of arguing

    Synonym: 抬槓／抬杠 (táigàng) (Standard)

    吾勿搭倷爭，到辰光看到底啥人對。 [Suzhounese, trad.]
    吾勿搭倷争，到辰光看到底啥人对。 [Suzhounese, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    I can't be bothered to bicker with you, we'll see who's right eventually.

12. (Wenzhou Wu) different

    讀大專伉讀本科是有爭個。 [Wenzhounese, trad.]
    读大专伉读本科是有争个。 [Wenzhounese, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    Going to community college and going to university for an undergrad are different though.

13. (Jinhua Wu) to have reservations

    渠力氣弗爭箇。 [Wu, trad.]
    渠力气弗争个。 [Wu, simp.]

    From: 现代汉语方言大词典

    He doesn't have much energy left.

14. 25th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "contention" (𝌞)
15. why, how

• (to lack): 欠 (qiàn)
• (to owe):

爭

1. ^† Original form of 諍／诤 (zhèng, “to admonish”).

• “爭”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 争)

1. Kyūjitai form of 争

• Go-on: しょう (shō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kan-on: そう (sō)^{←さう (sau, historical)}

爭 (eumhun 다툴 쟁 (datul jaeng))

1. Hanja form^? of 쟁 (“dispute; fight”).

• 전쟁 (戰爭, jeonjaeng, “war”)
• 경쟁 (競爭, gyeongjaeng, “competition”)
• 논쟁 (論爭, nonjaeng, “dispute, controversy, contention”)
• 분쟁 (紛爭, bunjaeng, “dispute, conflict”)
• 투쟁 (鬪爭, tujaeng, “fight, struggle”)

爭: Hán Nôm readings: tranh, tránh, giành

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