牠

See also: 它

牠 U+7260, 牠 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7260 ← 牟 [U+725F] CJK Unified Ideographs 牡 → [U+7261]

Translingual

Han character

牠 (Kangxi radical 93, 牛+3, 7 strokes, cangjie input 竹手心木 (HQPD), four-corner 2451₂, composition ⿰牜也)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 697, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 19931
• Dae Jaweon: page 1109, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1803, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7260

Chinese

trad.		牠/它*
simp.		它*

Etymology

it (all non-human objects)

In Qian Xuantong's discussion on the creation of new vernacular pronouns, advocates for this form intended to evoke the left radical of 物 (wù, “thing”) rather than having the semantic implications of 牛 (niú, “bovine”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tā (ta¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): taa¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thaⁿ / tha / tho
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ta

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tā
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ta
    • Wade–Giles: tʻa¹
    • Yale: tā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ta
    • Palladius: та (ta)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰä⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: taa¹
    • Yale: tā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: taa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ta¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thaⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: thann
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tvaf
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰã³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /tʰã⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tha
    • Tâi-lô: tha
    • Phofsit Daibuun: taf
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tʰa⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tho
    • Tâi-lô: tho
    • Phofsit Daibuun: toy
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰɤ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰo³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /tʰo⁴⁴/

Note:

• thaⁿ/tha - vernacular;
• tho - literary.

• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹ta
    • MiniDict: ta^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ta
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ta⁵³/

Definitions

牠

1. (animal) it

   狗餓了，所以我們餵牠吃東西。 [MSC, trad.]
   狗饿了，所以我们喂它吃东西。 [MSC, simp.]

   Gǒu è le, suǒyǐ wǒmen wèi tā chī dōngxī. [Pinyin]

   The dog was hungry, so we fed it.

2. (obsolete) Synonym of 它

   懂得世界勢力最大的語言⸺中國的國語⸺的人們！你應該怎樣培養牠，發揚牠？ [MSC, trad.]
   懂得世界势力最大的语言⸺中国的国语⸺的人们！你应该怎样培养它，发扬它？ [MSC, simp.]

   From: 樂嗣炳 著：“世界勢力最大的語言”

   Dǒngdé shìjiè shìlì zuìdà de yǔyán ⸺ Zhōngguó de Guóyǔ ⸺ de rénmen! Nǐ yìnggāi zěnyàng péiyǎng tā, fāyáng tā? [Pinyin]

   Those who understand the most influential language in the world (that is, the national language of China)! How should you develop and promote it?

Usage notes

• In simplified Chinese, 它 (tā) is used instead for all non-human objects.

Compounds

• 牠們／它们

 

See also

Standard Mandarin Chinese personal pronouns
Person		Singular	Plural
1st	—	我 (wǒ)	我們／我们 (wǒmen)
	inclusive		咱們／咱们 (zánmen)
2nd	male/indefinite	你 (nǐ)	你們／你们 (nǐmen)
	female	妳／你 (nǐ)	妳們／你们 (nǐmen)
	deity	祢 (nǐ)	祢們／祢们 (nǐmen)
	polite	您 (nín)	你們／你们 (nǐmen) 您們／您们 (nínmen)
3rd	male/indefinite	他 (tā)	他們／他们 (tāmen)
	female	她 (tā)	她們／她们 (tāmen)
	deity	祂 (tā)	祂們／祂们 (tāmen)
	animal	牠／它 (tā)	牠們／它们 (tāmen)
	inanimate	它 (tā)	它們／它们 (tāmen)

References

• “牠”, 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

牠

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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

Readings

• Go-on: た (ta)
• Kan-on: た (ta)

Vietnamese

Han character

牠: Hán Nôm readings: tha

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