彼

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

彼 (Kangxi radical 60, 彳+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 竹人木竹水 (HODHE), four-corner 2424₇, composition ⿰彳皮)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 365, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 10066
• Dae Jaweon: page 685, character 18
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 817, character 10
• Unihan data for U+5F7C

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Chinese

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
陂	*pral, *prals
詖	*pral, *prals
彼	*pralʔ
柀	*pralʔ
佊	*pralʔ, *prals
貱	*prals
跛	*prals, *paːlʔ
披	*pʰral, *pʰralʔ
鈹	*pʰral
帔	*pʰral, *pʰrals
鮍	*pʰral
耚	*pʰral
狓	*pʰral
翍	*pʰral
旇	*pʰral, *brals
秛	*pʰral, *pʰrals
紴	*pʰralʔ, *paːl
皮	*bral
疲	*bral
被	*bralʔ, *brals
髲	*brals
鞁	*brals
骳	*mbralʔ
波	*paːl
碆	*paːl, *baːl
菠	*paːl
簸	*paːlʔ, *paːls
駊	*paːlʔ, *pʰaːlʔ
頗	*pʰaːl, *pʰaːlʔ, *pʰaːls
坡	*pʰaːl
玻	*pʰaːl
破	*pʰaːls
婆	*baːl
蔢	*baːl

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pralʔ) : semantic 彳 + phonetic 皮 (OC *bral).

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		彼

Related to 夫 (OC *pa, *ba, “that”) (Schuessler, 2007).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 彼

1. that; those
2. other

Etymology 2

Related to 許／许 (hí, hír, “that”); see there for more.

Pronunciation 2 is a fusion word of 許／许 (hí, hír, “that”) + 一 (it, “one”); compare Mandarin 那 (nèi), from 那 (nà, “that”) + 一 (yī, “one”) (Mei and Yang, 1995).

Pronunciation 1

simp. and trad.		彼
alternative forms		許／许 赫

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hé / he

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hé
    • Tâi-lô: hé
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hea
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /he⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: he
    • Tâi-lô: he
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hef
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /he⁴⁴/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 彼

1. (Zhangzhou Hokkien, Taiwanese Hokkien) that (demonstrative pronoun)

   這是阮老母，彼是阮老爸。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
   这是阮老母，彼是阮老爸。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

   Che sī goán lāu-bó, he sī goán lāu-pē. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   This is my mother, and that is my father.

Pronunciation 2

simp. and trad.		彼
alternative forms		許／许 迄

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hit

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hit
    • Tâi-lô: hit
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hid
    • IPA (Xiamen): /hit̚³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hit̚⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /hit̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /hit̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hit̚³²/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 彼

1. (Southern Min) that (demonstrative determiner)

   彼本冊／彼本册 [Taiwanese Hokkien]  ―  hit pún chheh [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  that book

Further reading

• “Entry #3891”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

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Japanese

Kanji

彼

(Jōyō kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: ひ (hi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: ひ (hi, Jōyō)
• Kun: あ (a, 彼); あの (ano, 彼の); あれ (are, 彼); あれ (are, 彼れ); か (ka, 彼); かれ (kare, 彼, Jōyō); かの (kano, 彼, Jōyō ^†)
• Nanori: その (sono)

Compounds

Compounds

• 彼処(あそこ) (asoko, “that place over there, that organization over there”)
• 彼方(あちら, かなた) (achira, kanata, “that way, that over there; far away”)
• 彼女(かのじょ) (kanojo, “she, girlfriend”)
• 彼我(ひが) (higa, “friend and foe”)
• 彼岸(ひがん) (higan)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
彼
か Grade: S
kun'yomi

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese.

Pronoun

彼(か) • (ka) 

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 彼(かの) (kano), 彼(か)の (kano, “his; that”)
• 彼(かれ) (kare, “he”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
彼
かれ Grade: S
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. Compound of 彼 (ka, “that, yon”) +‎ れ (-re, nominalizing suffix for demonstratives). Found in the Man'yōshū compiled around 759.

The sense development seems to have proceeded from "that thing over there" to "that person over there [of indeterminate gender]". The specifically male sense of "he" only arose later during the late Edo period and early Meiji period, influenced by translations of texts from European languages.

Pronoun

彼(かれ) • (kare) 

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 18, poem 4045:

     於伎敝欲里 美知久流之保能 伊也麻之尓 安我毛布支見我 弥不根可母加礼

2. third person pronoun: he, she
   1. particularly, male personal third person pronoun: he
   2. by extension from he: boyfriend

Synonyms

• (boyfriend): 彼氏(かれし) (kareshi)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 彼氏(かれし) (kareshi, “boyfriend”)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
彼
か(の) Grade: S
kun'yomi

Compound of 彼 (ka, “that, yon”) +‎ の (no, possessive particle).

Alternative forms

• 彼の (much more common)

Pronoun

彼(かの) • (kano) 

1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon
2. third person pronoun: he, she, it

Usage notes

The term kano has been mostly replaced by あの (ano) in modern Japanese. Kano is still in use, but is viewed as more formal and archaic.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 彼女(かのじょ) (kanojo, “she; girlfriend”)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
彼
あ Grade: S
kun'yomi

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

【あ】 [pronoun] distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon

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

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
彼
あれ Grade: S
kun'yomi

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

【あれ】 [pronoun] distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon [pronoun] (deictically) that one over there (far from the speaker and the addressee) [pronoun] (anaphorically) that one we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know) [pronoun] (chiefly derogatory) third-person personal pronoun: he, she, that person [pronoun] you-know-what; a thing whose name the speaker does not want to mention [pronoun] sex [pronoun] cockroach [pronoun] (archaic) second-person pronoun: you [interjection] huh? (expression of surprise and confusion when talking to yourself) Alternative spelling 彼れ

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

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Korean

Hanja

彼 • (pi)

• Eumhun:
  • Sound (hangeul): 피
  • Name (hangeul): 저, 그, 저쪽
    

1. (deprecated template usage) (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 彼 (bỉ, bể, bở)

1. (deprecated template usage) (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.