歸

歸 (Kangxi radical 77, 止+14, 18 strokes, cangjie input 竹一尸一月 (HMSMB), four-corner 2712₇, composition ⿰⿱𠂤止帚)

• 巋 蘬

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 578, character 7
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 16349
• Dae Jaweon: page 968, character 18
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1446, character 15
• Unihan data for U+6B78

Historical forms of the character 歸
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 𠂤 (“ancient form of 師 (“troops”)”) + 帚 (“broom; sweep”) – to eradicate the enemy and return.

Some analyse the 帚 component in the oracle bone script as a ligature of 止 (“to stop, to cease”) and 方 (“peripheral tribes”), i.e. “(of tribes in the periphery) to cease enmity and submit”.

A 止 (“foot”) or 辵 (“walking”) component was further added in the bronze inscriptions.

Shuowen deems 𠂤 to be the phonetic component of this character.

Starostin and Schuessler (2007) consider this a possible derivative of 回 (OC *ɡuːl, “to revolve; to return”). Compared with Tibetan འཁོར ('khor, “circle; turn; to turn round; to return”) by Xue (2001) and Wang (2007).

歸

1. to return (to a place); to come back to
2. to return to (a person, a status); to revert to
3. to submit to; to seek patronage
4. to tend towards; to converge

   三三歸九／三三归九 [Cantonese]  ―  saam¹ saam¹ gwai¹ gau² [Jyutping]  ―  three time three equals nine (rhyme)

5. to belong to
6. (between identical verbs) despite; notwithstanding

   吵架歸吵架／吵架归吵架  ―  chǎojià guī chǎojià  ―  despite the quarreling

Usually written as 皈 in Buddhist terms (皈依 (guīyī), 三皈 (sānguī), 皈正, etc.).

(Hyōgai kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 帰)

1. to return; to come back to

• Go-on: き (ki)
• Kan-on: き (ki)
• Kun: かえる (kaeru, 歸る)、かえす (kaesu, 歸す)、とつぐ (totsugu, 歸ぐ)、おくる (okuru, 歸る)

歸 (eumhun 돌아갈 귀 (doragal gwi))

1. hanja form^? of 귀 (“to return, to go back”)

歸: Hán Nôm readings: qui, quy

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