司

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

司 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 尸一口 (SMR), four-corner 1762₀, composition ⿹𠃌𠮛)

Derived characters

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 174, character 3
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3257
Dae Jaweon: page 385, character 8
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 572, character 8
Unihan data for U+53F8

Chinese

simp. and trad.		司
alternative forms		𤔲

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 司
Shang	Western Zhou	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 (司) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
司	*slɯ
伺	slɯ, slɯs
覗	slɯ, slɯs
笥	slɯ, slɯs
詞	*ljɯ
祠	*ljɯ
柌	*ljɯ
嗣	*ljɯs
孠	*ljɯs
飼	*ljɯs
呞	*hljɯ

Inconclusive.

Jì Xùshēng: a mouth 口 giving orders and a scepter 刁 of authority.
Liú Xìnglóng interprets 刁 to be a hand instead.
Táng Lán: Originally the same character as 后, which later diverged.
Shuowen: 后 flipped.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *zə; cognate with Proto-Kukish *ca, Mru caŋ (“to do; to make”), and Tibetan མཛད (mdzad, “to do; to act”), མཛོད (mdzod), possibly also related to བཟོ (bzo, “work, labour”) (Schuessler, 2007). Schuessler disputes Löffler's (1966) proposed connection of these cognates to 作 (OC *ʔsaːɡs, *ʔsaːɡs, *ʔsaːɡ, “to do, work, make”) due to phonological difficulties.

Unger (1984) posits a possible relationship with Tibetan རྫི་པོ (rdzi po, “herdsman”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sī (si¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄙ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): si¹

(Taishan, Wiktionary): lhu¹
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): sṳ̂

(Meixian, Guangdong): si¹
Jin (Wiktionary): si¹
Northern Min (KCR): sí / sú
Eastern Min (BUC): sṳ̆ / sĭ
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): sir / su / si / sai

(Teochew, Peng'im): si¹

(Leizhou, Leizhou Pinyin): su¹
Wu (Northern, Wugniu): ¹sy

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sī
  - Zhuyin: ㄙ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sih
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ¹
  - Yale: sz̄
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sy
  - Palladius: сы (sy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: si¹
  - Yale: sī
  - Cantonese Pinyin: si¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: xi¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː⁵⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: lhu¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬu³³/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳ̂
  - Hakka Romanization System: sii^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: si¹
  - Sinological IPA: /sɨ²⁴/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: si¹
  - Sinological IPA: /sz̩⁴⁴/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: si¹
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /sz̩¹¹/
Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: sí / sú
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /si⁵⁴/, /su⁵⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: sṳ̆ / sĭ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sy⁵⁵/, /si⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sir
  - Tâi-lô: sir
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ³³/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: su
  - Tâi-lô: su
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sw
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /su⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Jinjiang, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: si
  - Tâi-lô: si
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sy
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /si⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Philippines): /si³³/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sai
  - Tâi-lô: sai
  - Phofsit Daibuun: say
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /sai⁴⁴/

Note:

sir/su/si (Jinjiang, Philippines) - literary;
si/sai - vernacular.

(Teochew)
- Peng'im: si¹
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: si
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /si³³/
(Leizhou)
- Leizhou Pinyin: su¹
- Sinological IPA: /su³⁵/

Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou)
  - Wugniu: ¹sy
  - MiniDict: sy^平
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹sr
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /sz̩⁵³/
  - Sinological IPA (Suzhou): /sz̩⁴⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Hangzhou): /sz̩³³⁴/

Middle Chinese: si

Rime
Character	司
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	息兹切
Baxter	si
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɨ/
Pan Wuyun	/sɨ/
Shao Rongfen	/sie/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sɨ/
Li Rong	/siə/
Wang Li	/sĭə/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*s-lə/

(Zhengzhang): /*slɯ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	司
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	sī
Middle Chinese	‹ si ›
Old Chinese	/*s-lə/
English	superintend
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	司
Reading #	1/1
No.	11951
Phonetic component	司
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	思
Old Chinese	/*slɯ/

Definitions

司

to take charge of; to control; to manage
officer; official
(chiefly Shanghainese) Used in transcription.
起司 ― qǐsī ― cheese

違司／违司 [Shanghainese] ― ⁶we-sy₁ [Wugniu] ― rag (from waste)

阿司匹林 ― āsīpǐlín ― aspirin

盎司 ― àngsī ― ounce
a surname

Compounds

References

“司”, 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–

Japanese

Kanji

司

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

an official, a director, a boss

Readings

Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
Tō-on: す (su)
Kun: つかさ (tsukasa, 司)、つかさどる (tsukasadoru, 司る)、みこともち (mikotomochi, 司)

Compounds

司(し)会(かい) (shikai, “leading a meeting; chairman”)
司(し)書(しょ) (shisho, “librarian”)
司(し)法(ほう) (shihō, “administration of justice”)
司(し)令(れい) (shirei, “command, control; commander”)
行(ぎょう)司(じ) (gyōji, “(sumo) referee”)
寿司(すし) (sushi, “sushi”)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
司
つかさ Grade: 4
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 司 – see the following entry.

【つかさ】

[noun] 阜, 司: a small hill

Alternative spelling
阜

(This term, 司, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
司
まもる Grade: 4
nanori

Proper noun

司(まもる) • (Mamoru)

a male given name

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
司
みこともち Grade: 4
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 司 – see the following entry.

【みこともち】

[noun] (archaic, possibly obsolete, historical) in ancient Japan prior to the Taika Reform, a governor appointed by the emperor to carry out imperial policies in the provinces

Alternative spelling
宰

(This term, 司, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Korean

Hanja

司 (eum 사 (sa))

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

Vietnamese

Han character

司: Hán Nôm readings: ti, tư, tơ

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