游

See also: 遊 and 逰

游	U+6E38, 游 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6E38

← 渷
[U+6E37]

CJK Unified Ideographs

渹 →
[U+6E39]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

游 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 水卜尸木 (EYSD), four-corner 3814₇, composition ⿰氵斿)

Derived characters

𣛦, 𪆎

Related characters

遊 (Variant form of 游 in mainland China)

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 635, character 14
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17792
Dae Jaweon: page 1042, character 10
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1684, character 8
Unihan data for U+6E38

Chinese

simp. and trad.		游
2nd round simp.		沋

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (斿) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
游	*lu
遊	*lu
蝣	*lu
斿	*lu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *lu) : semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 斿 (OC *lu).

Etymology 1

From Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan རྒྱུ་བ (rgyu ba, “to walk; to wander”), Lepcha ᰚᰪᰌᰦ (yŭ-da, “to flow”), Rawang yø (“to flow”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Same word as 遊 (OC *lu, “to roam; to travel”). Cognate with 流 (OC *ru, “to flow”), 泅 (OC *lju). Probably unrelated to 油 (OC *lɯw, “abundant”), 滺 (“flowing”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): yóu (you²)

(Zhuyin): ㄧㄡˊ

(Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): you²
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): jau⁴

(Taishan, Wiktionary): yiu³
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): yù

(Meixian, Guangdong): yu²
Jin (Wiktionary): iou¹
Northern Min (KCR): iǔ
Eastern Min (BUC): iù
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): iu²
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): iû

(Teochew, Peng'im): iu⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶yeu
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): iou²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yóu
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄡˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yóu
  - Wade–Giles: yu²
  - Yale: yóu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: you
  - Palladius: ю (ju)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯³⁵/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: you²
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: iu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /iəu²¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: jau⁴
  - Yale: yàuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jau⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: yeo⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯²¹/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: yiu³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiu²²/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yù
  - Hakka Romanization System: iu^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: yiu²
  - Sinological IPA: /i̯u¹¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yù
  - Hakka Romanization System: (r)iu^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: yiu²
  - Sinological IPA: /(j)i̯u¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: yu²
  - Sinological IPA: /iu¹¹/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: iou¹
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /iəu¹¹/
Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: iǔ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu²¹/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: iù
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ieu⁵³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian, Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: iu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu¹³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Nan'an, Jinjiang, Zhangpu, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iû
  - Tâi-lô: iû
  - Phofsit Daibuun: iuu
  - IPA (Zhangpu): /iu²¹³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /iu²³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /iu¹³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Nan'an, Jinjiang, Taipei): /iu²⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: iu⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: iû
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /iu⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶yeu
  - MiniDict: yeu^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³hhieu
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɦiɤ²³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: iou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /i̯əu̯¹³/

Middle Chinese: yuw

Rime
Character	游
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	以周切
Baxter	yuw
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jɨu/
Pan Wuyun	/jiu/
Shao Rongfen	/iəu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/juw/
Li Rong	/iu/
Wang Li	/jĭəu/
Bernhard Karlgren	/i̯ə̯u/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yóu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jau⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[N-]ru/

(Zhengzhang): /*lu/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	游	游
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yóu	yóu
Middle Chinese	‹ yuw ›	‹ yuw ›
Old Chinese	/*[N-]ru/	/*[N-]ru/
English	float, swim	float, swim
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	游
Reading #	1/1
No.	15545
Phonetic component	斿
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	猷
Old Chinese	/*lu/

Definitions

游

to swim
他游得最遠。／他游得最远。 ― Tā yóu dé zuì yuǎn. ― He swam the furthest.

他們一起游向那艘船。 [MSC, trad.]
他们一起游向那艘船。 [MSC, simp.]
Tāmen yīqǐ yóu xiàng nà sōu chuán. [Pinyin]
Together they swam to the ship.
reach; part of a river
上游 ― shàngyóu ― upper reach, upstream

下游 ― xiàyóu ― lower reach, downstream
a surname

Compounds

游伴
游標／游标 (yóubiāo)
游標卡尺／游标卡尺 (yóubiāo kǎchǐ)
游水 (yóushuǐ)
游泳 (yóuyǒng)
游泳帽
游泳池 (yóuyǒngchí)
游泳衣 (yóuyǒngyī)
游泳褲／游泳裤 (yóuyǒngkù)
游程
游繩／游绳
游舫
游船 (yóuchuán)
游艇 (yóutǐng)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 游 – see 遊 (“to travel; to tour; to wander; to roam; etc.”). (This character is the simplified form of 遊).
Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

References

“游”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “游”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 289.

Japanese

Kanji

游

(Hyōgai kanji)

to float
to swim

Readings

On (unclassified): ゆう (yū)、りゅう (ryū)
Kun: およぐ (oyogu)、あそぶ (asobu)、あそび (asobi)
equivalent: 遊

Korean

Hanja

游 • (yu) (hangeul 유)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

游: Hán Nôm readings: du

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