后

See also: 後
后 U+540E, 后
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-540E
← 名
[U+540D] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 吏 →
[U+540F]

Translingual
Stroke order

Han character

后 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 竹一口 (HMR), four-corner 72261, composition ⿸𠂋口)

Derived characters

References
  • KangXi: page 176, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3298
  • Dae Jaweon: page 393, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 580, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+540E

Chinese

Glyph origin
Historical forms of the character 后
Shang Spring and Autumn Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (后) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
垢 *koːʔ
詬 *koːʔ, *kʰoːs, *qʰoːs
茩 *koːʔ
姤 *koːs
銗 *ɡoː
骺 *ɡoː
后 *ɡoːʔ, *ɡoːs
垕 *ɡoːʔ
郈 *ɡoːʔ
逅 *ɡoːs
鲘
缿 *ɡoːs, *ɡroːŋʔ

Lateral inversion of 后 generates 司 (OC *slɯ).

Etymology 1
simp. and trad.
 后

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-gaw (“head”). Cognate with Tibetan གོ (go, “head; headman”), མགོ (mgo, “head, top, beginning”).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 后 后
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Initial (聲) 匣 (33) 匣 (33)
Final (韻) 侯 (137) 侯 (137)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) I I
Fanqie 胡口切 胡遘切
Baxter huwX huwH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ɦəuX/ /ɦəuH/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ɦəuX/ /ɦəuH/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ɣəuX/ /ɣəuH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ɦəwX/ /ɦəwH/
Li
Rong		 /ɣuX/ /ɣuH/
Wang
Li		 /ɣəuX/ /ɣəuH/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ɣə̯uX/ /ɣə̯uH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 hòu hòu
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex		 hau6 hau6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 后
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 hòu
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ huwX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*ɢˁ(r)oʔ/
English sovereign; queen

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 后 后
Reading # 1/2 2/2
No. 5168 5172
Phonetic
component		 后 后
Rime
group		 侯 侯
Rime
subdivision		 0 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 厚 𠋫
Old
Chinese		 /*ɡoːʔ/ /*ɡoːs/

Definitions

后

  1. † king; ruler; emperor
    后稷  ―  Hòujì  ―  Hou Ji, (literally, “Lord of Millet”) - legendary Chinese cultural hero and progenitor of the Zhou dynasty
  2. ⁜ queen; empress
    王后  ―  wánghòu  ―  queen
  3. (chess) queen
  4. a surname
Usage notes
  • The surname 后 (hòu) is not to be confused with the surname 後／后 (hòu).

See also
Chess pieces in Chinese · 國際象棋棋子 (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
王 (wáng),
國王／国王 (guówáng)		 后 (hòu),
皇后 (huánghòu)		 車／车 (jū),
城堡 (chéngbǎo)		 象 (xiàng),
主教 (zhǔjiào)		 馬／马 (mǎ),
騎士／骑士 (qíshì)		 兵 (bīng)

Compounds
  • 皇太后 (huángtàihòu)
  • 群后
  • 西后
  • 西太后
  • 大天后宮／大天后宫
  • 稱王封后／称王封后
  • 竇太后／窦太后
  • 蕭太后／萧太后
  • 賀后罵殿／贺后骂殿
  • 賈后／贾后
  • 韋后／韦后
  • 風后／风后
  • 馬后練服／马后练服
  • 齊后破環／齐后破环

Etymology 2
For pronunciation and definitions of 后 – see 後 (“behind; rear; back; later; after; afterwards; etc.”).
(This character, 后, is the simplified and variant traditional form of 後.)
Notes:

Usage notes

In the traditional-Chinese literate context, the use of 后 (hòu) as a variant of 後 is mostly confined to the occurrences in a few well-known historical texts such as the Great Learning (《大學》).

Japanese

Kanji
后

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
后
こう
Grade: 6
kan’on

From Middle Chinese 后 (MC ɦəuX, ɦəuH).

Affix

后(こう) • (kō) 

  1. monarch, ruler, sovereign
  2. empress, queen, or other female monarch
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
后
きさき
Grade: 6
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
妃

Derivation unknown.

Possibly originally a contraction of 君幸 (kimi saki, literally “lordly good fortune”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Noun

后(きさき) • (kisaki) 

  1. an empress
    Synonym: 皇后 (kōgō)
  2. any other wife of a male aristocrat, such as a queen
Derived terms
Derived terms
  • 后(きさき)がね (kisakigane)
  • 后(きさき)の宮(みや) (kisaki no miya)
  • 后(きさき)腹(ばら) (kisakibara)
  • 大(おお)后(きさき) (ōkisaki)
  • 母(はは)后(きさき) (hahakisaki)

Etymology 3
Kanji in this term
后
きさい
Grade: 6
irregular
Alternative spelling
皇后

/kisaki/ → /kisaĩ/ → /kisai/

Sound shift from kisaki above.

Appears to be less common in isolation than the kisaki reading above.[2][1]

Noun

后(きさい) • (kisai) 

  1. (uncommon, archaic) Same as きさき (kisaki) above
    • c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari (Agemaki)
      「もし、世(よ)の中(なか)移(うつ)りて、帝(みかど)・后(きさい)の、思(おぼ)しおきつるままにも、おはしまさば...」
      “Moshi, yononaka utsurite, mikado, kisai no, oboshi-okitsuru mama ni mo, owashimasaba...”
      (please add an English translation of this example)
Derived terms
  • 后(きさい)の宮(みや) (kisai no miya)
  • 后(きさい)腹(ばら) (kisaibara)
  • 大(おお)后(きさい) (ōkisai)

Etymology 4
Kanji in this term
后
ご
Grade: 6
kan’yōon
For pronunciation and definitions of 后 – see the following entry.
【後ご】2
[noun] later, afterwards, some time after the present
[suffix] after
(This term, 后, is an alternative spelling of the above Sino-Japanese term.)

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 后 (MC ɦəuH).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

Hanja

Wikisource 后 (eumhun 임금 후 (imgeum hu))

  1. Hanja form? of 후 (“ruler; monarch”).
  2. (suffix) Hanja form? of 후 (“queen; empress”).

Compounds
Compounds

References
  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

后: Hán Nôm readings: hậu

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