Wiktionary

三

See also: Ξ, ≡, ミ, 叁, 彡, and 丰
三 U+4E09, 三
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E09
← 丈
[U+4E08] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 上 →
[U+4E0A]
㈢ U+3222, ㈢
PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH THREE
← ㈡
[U+3221] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㈣ →
[U+3223]
㊂ U+3282, ㊂
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH THREE
← ㊁
[U+3281] 		Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㊃ →
[U+3283]
Commons:Category
Commons:Category
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Translingual

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Stroke order
 
Stroke order
 

Han character

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三 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 一一一 (MMM), four-corner 10101, composition ⿱一二 or ⿱𠄟一)

  1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №4

Derived characters

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Descendants

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 76, character 5
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12
  • Dae Jaweon: page 138, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 4, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+4E09

Further reading

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Chinese Wikisource has digitized text of the Kangxi Dictionary entry for 三:
[[wikisource:zh:康熙字典/一部/二畫#三|一部/二畫]]

Wikisource

Chinese

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simp. and trad.
 三
alternative forms 叄／叁／參／参 financial
𠫰／𠬅／𠬄 less used
弎
𢦘
 
Wikipedia has articles on:
  • 三 (Written Standard Chinese?)
  • 三 (Cantonese)
  • 三 (Classical)

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 三
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Ancient script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
               
 
j00545
 
j00546
 
j00547
 
j00548
 
j00549
 
j00550
 
j00551
 
j00552
 
j00553
 
j00554
 
b00355
 
b00356
 
b00357
 
b00358
 
b00359
 
b00360
 
b00361
 
b00362
 
b00363
 
b00364
 
b00365
 
b00366
 
b00367
 
b00368
 
b00369
 
b00370
 
b00371
 
b00372
 
b00373
 
b00374
 
b00375
 
s00097
Transcribed ancient scripts
 
L12758
 
L12759
 
L12760
 
L12761
 
L12762
References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (三) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
三 *suːm, *suːms
弎 *suːm

Ideogram (指事) - three parallel strokes. Compare with 一, one stroke meaning “one”, 二, two strokes meaning “two”, and 亖, four strokes meaning “four”. Triplication of 一 (“one”).

Etymology

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From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-sum.

Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese should be *srim, but actually is *sam, with a non-retroflex initial consonant. This irregular development should be due by analogy with the initial of number four in EMC, *sijH.

Pronunciation 1

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Note: sānr - (1) "the other woman; the other man", (2) "rfdef".
Note:
  • sor1/sorⁿ1 - vernacular;
  • sang1 - literary.
Note:
  • saⁿ - vernacular;
  • sam - literary.
Note:
  • san1 - vernacular;
  • sam1 - literary.
Note: 1sa (Chuansha, Songjiang) - alternative.
Rime
Character 三
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 談 (143)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 蘇甘切
Baxter sam
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sɑm/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sɑm/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɑm/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/sam/
Li
Rong 		/sɑm/
Wang
Li 		/sɑm/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/sɑm/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sān
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		saam1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 三
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sān
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sam ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.rum/ (*s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?)
English three

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 三
Reading # 1/2
No. 10963
Phonetic
component 		三
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		三
Old
Chinese 		/*suːm/

Definitions

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三

  1. three
  2. (Mainland China, slang, neologism) the other woman; the other man
  3. (Mainland China, slang, neologism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
  4. a surname
See also
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Chinese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 102 103 104 106 108 1012
Normal
(小寫／小写) 		〇, 零, 空 一, 蜀 二, 兩／两 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 萬／万,
十千 (Malaysia, Singapore) 		百萬／百万,
桶(Philippines),
面桶 (Philippines) 		億／亿 兆 (Taiwan)
萬億／万亿 (Mainland China)
Financial
(大寫／大写) 		零 壹 貳／贰 參／叁 肆 伍 陸／陆 柒 捌 玖 拾 佰 仟
Playing cards in Mandarin · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
             
尖兒／尖儿 (jiānr) 二 (èr) 三 (sān) 四 (sì) 五 (wǔ) 六 (liù) 七 (qī)
             
八 (bā) 九 (jiǔ) 十 (shí) 鉤兒／钩儿 (gōur) 圈兒／圈儿 (quānr), 皮蛋 (pídàn, regional) K 小王 (xiǎowáng, black), 大王 (red),
小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ, black), 大鬼 (dàguǐ, red)

Compounds

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (三):
  • → Japanese: 三(さん) (san)
  • → Korean: 삼(三) (sam)
  • → Vietnamese: tam (三)

Others:

Pronunciation 2

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Rime
Character 三
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 談 (143)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 蘇暫切
Baxter samH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sɑmH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sɑmH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɑmH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/samH/
Li
Rong 		/sɑmH/
Wang
Li 		/sɑmH/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/sɑmH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sàn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		saam3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 三
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sān
Middle
Chinese 		‹ samH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*s.r[u]m-s/ (*s.r- > *s-, infl. by 四 *s-?)
English three times

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 三
Reading # 2/2
No. 10965
Phonetic
component 		三
Rime
group 		侵
Rime
subdivision 		3
Corresponding
MC rime 		三
Old
Chinese 		/*suːms/

Definitions

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三 (obsolete)

  1. repeatedly; thrice
    三思  ―  sānsī  ―  to think carefully

Compounds

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References

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Japanese

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Kanji

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三

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. three

Readings

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Compounds

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Compounds

Alternative forms

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  • (Financial/formal form): 参

Etymology 1

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Japanese cardinal numbers
 <  2 3 4  > 
    Cardinal : 三
Kanji in this term
三
さん
Grade: 1
on'yomi

*/sam/ → /samu/ → /saɴ/

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sam|samH). Compare modern Mandarin 三 (sān).

In Old Japanese, this kanji was used phonetically to transcribe さむ (samu).

Pronunciation

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  • (Tokyo) さん [sàń] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • IPA(key): [sã̠ɴ]
  • Audio:(file)

Numeral

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三(さん) • (san) 

  1. three, 3
    Synonym: スリー (surī)
  2. third
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
三
サン
Grade: 1
tōon

Borrowing from Mandarin 三 (sān), with the pitch accent different from etymology 1. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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三(サン) • (san) 

  1. three
Coordinate terms
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Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 3

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Kanji in this term
三
み
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

⟨mi1⟩ → /mi/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *mi.

Likely an apophonic form of 六 (mu, “six”), compare 四 (yo, “four”) with 八 (ya, “eight”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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三(み) • (mi) 

  1. three
    一(ひ)、二(ふ)、三(み)、四(よ)、[…]
    hi, fu, mi, yo,[…]
    one, two, three, four, […]
Derived terms
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Derived terms

Etymology 4

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Kanji in this term
三
みい
Grade: 1
kun'yomi

/mi/ → /miː/

Shift from mi above.[1]

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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三(みい) • (mī) 

  1. (colloquial) three
    一(ひい)、二(ふう)、三(みい)、四(よお)、五(いつ)、六(むう)、七(なあ)、八(やあ)、九(こお)、十(とお)
    hī, fū, mī, yō, itsu, mū, nā, yā, kō, tō
    one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Coordinate terms
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Japanese numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Regular 零(れい) (rei)
零(ゼロ) (zero) 		一(いち) (ichi) 二(に) (ni) 三(さん) (san) 四(よん) (yon)
四(し) (shi) 		五(ご) (go) 六(ろく) (roku) 七(なな) (nana)
七(しち) (shichi) 		八(はち) (hachi) 九(きゅう) (kyū)
九(く) (ku) 		十(じゅう) (jū)
Formal 壱(いち) (ichi) 弐(に) (ni) 参(さん) (san) 拾(じゅう) (jū)
90 100 300 600 800 1,000 3,000 8,000 10,000 100,000,000
Regular 九(きゅう)十(じゅう) (kyūjū) 百(ひゃく) (hyaku)
一(いっ)百(ぴゃく) (ippyaku) 		三(さん)百(びゃく) (sanbyaku) 六(ろっ)百(ぴゃく) (roppyaku) 八(はっ)百(ぴゃく) (happyaku) 千(せん) (sen)
一(いっ)千(せん) (issen) 		三(さん)千(ぜん) (sanzen) 八(はっ)千(せん) (hassen) 一(いち)万(まん) (ichiman) 一(いち)億(おく) (ichioku)
Formal 一(いち)萬(まん) (ichiman)
1012 8×1012 1013 1016 6×1016 8×1016 1017 1018
一(いっ)兆(ちょう) (itchō) 八(はっ)兆(ちょう) (hatchō) 十(じゅっ)兆(ちょう) (jutchō) 一(いっ)京(けい) (ikkei) 六(ろっ)京(けい) (rokkei) 八(はっ)京(けい) (hakkei) 十(じゅっ)京(けい) (jukkei) 百(ひゃっ)京(けい) (hyakkei)

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

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Etymology

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Korean numbers (edit)
30
 ←  2 3 4  → 
    Native isol.: 셋 (set)
    Native attr.: 세 (se), (dated) 석 (seok), (archaic) 서 (seo)
    Sino-Korean: 삼 (sam)
    Hanja: 三
    Ordinal: 셋째 (setjjae)

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sam).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 삼 (Yale: sàm)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[1] 석〯 (Yale: sěk) 삼 (Yale: sàm)

Pronunciation

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Hanja

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Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

三 (eumhun 셋 삼 (set sam))

  1. hanja form? of 삼 (“three”)

Compounds

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Compounds

References

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  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

Vietnamese

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Han character

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三: Hán Việt readings: tam (蘇(tô)甘(cam)切(thiết))[1][2][3][4]
三: Nôm readings: tam[1][2][3][4][5][6], ba[1], tám[5]

  1. chữ Hán form of tam (“three”).

Compounds

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Compounds

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bonet (1899).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Génibrel (1898).
  6. ^ Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
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