公

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公 U+516C, 公
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-516C
← 八
[U+516B] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 六 →
[U+516D]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
4 strokes
Stroke order

Han character[edit]

公 (Kangxi radical 12, 八+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 金戈 (CI), four-corner 80732, composition ⿱八厶)

Derived characters[edit]

References[edit]

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 126, character 28
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1452
  • Dae Jaweon: page 277, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 242, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+516C

Chinese[edit]

trad. 公
simp. # 公
alternative forms 㕣
㒶
𧆷

Glyph origin[edit]

Historical forms of the character 公
Shang Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Qin slip script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script

j01453

j01454

j01455

j01456

j01457

j01458

j01459

j01460

j01461

Bronze inscriptions

b01003

b01004

b01005

b01006

b01007

b01008

b01009

b01010

b01011

b01012

b01013

b01014

b01015

b01016

b01017

b01018

b01019

b01020

b01021

b01022

b01023

b01024

b01025

b01026

b01027

b01028

b01029

b01030

b01031

b01032

b01033

b01034

b01035

b01036

b01037

b01038

b01039

b01040

b01041

b01042

b01043

b01044

b01045

b01046

b01047

b01048

b01049

b01050

b01051

b01052

b01053

b01054

b01055

b01056

b01057

b01058

b01059

b01060

b01061

b01062

b01063

b01064

b01065

b01066

b01067

b01068

b01069

Small seal script

s00797

Transcribed ancient scripts

L00339

L00340

L00341

L00342

L00343

L00344

L00345

L00346

L00347

L00348

L00349

L00350

L00351

L00352

L00353

L00354

L00355

L00356

L00357

L00358

L00359

L00360

L00361

L00362

L00363

L00364

L00365

L00366

L00367

L00368

L00369

L00370

L00371

L00372

L00373

L29774

L29775

L29776

L29777

L29778

L29779

L29780

L29781

L29782

L29783

L29784

L29785

L29786

L29787

L29788

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 (公) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
慃 *qroːŋʔ
袞 *kluːnʔ
蔉 *kluːnʔ
滾 *kluːnʔ
忩 *sʰloːŋ
鬆 *sqʰloːŋs, *sqʰluːŋ, *skʰloŋ, *sqʰloŋ
凇 *sqʰloːŋs, *sqʰloŋ, *sɢloŋ
公 *kloːŋ
蚣 *kloːŋ, *kljoŋ
翁 *qloːŋ
螉 *qloːŋ
蓊 *qloːŋ, *qloːŋʔ
嗡 *qloːŋ
滃 *qloːŋʔ
暡 *qloːŋʔ
勜 *qloːŋʔ
塕 *qloːŋʔ
瓮 *qloːŋs
崧 *sqʰluŋ
菘 *sqʰluŋ
硹 *sqʰluŋ
淞 *sqʰloŋ, *sɢloŋ
蜙 *sqʰloŋ
倯 *sqʰloŋ
松 *sɢloŋ
訟 *sɢloŋ, *sɢloŋs
頌 *sɢloŋs, *loŋ
忪 *kljoŋ
彸 *kljoŋ
衳 *kljoŋ
伀 *kljoŋ
妐 *kljoŋ
炂 *kljoŋ
鈆 *kljoŋ, *lon
A 瓮 from the Longshan culture (also called Black Pottery Culture) [3000 – 1900 BC].

The traditional interpretation as given by Han Feizi is that 公 is a compound of 八 (= 背 (“to deviate; opposite”)) and 厶 (original form of 私 (“individual; private”)), i.e. the opposite of “private” — “public”. This theory is supported by Sun Yirang and Qiang Kaiyun, despite the somewhat different shape of the bottom component from 厶.

This is disputed in modern times by Gao Hongjin, who thinks that the 八 on top stands for 分 (“to divide; to distribute”) and the bottom round component 口 symbolises a generic object. 公 thus represents “equally dividing resources so that they are communal”.

Another theory put forth by Zhu Fangpu is that 公 is a pictogram (象形) , being the original form of 瓮 (OC *qloːŋs, “a wide-mouthed round-bottomed jar”), and later borrowed for the meanings of “public” and “male of older generation or higher rank”.

Etymology[edit]

"fair; impartial; public"
From Sino-Tibetan; cognate with Tibetan གུང (gung), དགུང (dgung, “middle”), considering that "middle" may be semantically associated with "balance" (Schuessler, 2007).
"male of older generation or higher rank; duke; male (of animals)"
This word has been connected to 翁 (OC *qloːŋ) (Wang, 1982; Unger, 1999; Baxter and Sagart, 2017). Baxter and Sagart (2017) also includes 妐 (OC *t-qoŋ, “husband's father”) in this word family.
STEDT provisionally sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kaŋ (“father; grandfather; honorific”), also comparing it to 翁; compare Drung kangkang (“grandpa”), vkang (“(my/our) grandfather”), Burmese ခင် (hkang), as in မိခင် (mi.hkang, “mother”), ဖခင် (hpa.hkang, “father”). Alternatively, STEDT also compares it with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gaŋ (“penis; male”), whence 雄 (OC *ɡʷɯŋ, “male”), but considers it less probable.
Schuessler (2007) suggests a Mon-Khmer origin; compare Khmer ឡូញ (louñ, “title of an unidentified rank or function”) and Old Khmer khloñ (“head, chief”) (whence ខ្លោង (khlaong)). Compare also Thai ลุง (lung), from Proto-Tai *luŋᴬ (“parent's older brother”), which may also be from Mon-Khmer. Tibetan ཁོང (khong) ~ གོང (gong, “final syllable in dignitaries' name”) may be borrowed from Chinese.

Pronunciation[edit]

Note:
  • é̤ng - vernacular;
  • gó̤ng - literary.
Note:
  • gĕ̤ng - vernacular;
  • gŭng - literary.
Note:
  • kang - vernacular;
  • kong - literary.
Note:
  • gang1 - vernacular;
  • gong1 - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 公
Mandarin Beijing /kuŋ⁵⁵/
Harbin /kuŋ⁴⁴/
Tianjin /kuŋ²¹/
Jinan /kuŋ²¹³/
Qingdao /kəŋ²¹³/
Zhengzhou /kuŋ²⁴/
Xi'an /kuŋ²¹/
Xining /kuə̃⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /kuŋ⁴⁴/
Lanzhou /kũn³¹/
Ürümqi /kuŋ⁴⁴/
Wuhan /koŋ⁵⁵/
Chengdu /koŋ⁵⁵/
Guiyang /koŋ⁵⁵/
Kunming /koŋ⁴⁴/
Nanjing /koŋ³¹/
Hefei /kəŋ²¹/
Jin Taiyuan /kuəŋ¹¹/
Pingyao /kuŋ¹³/
Hohhot /kũŋ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /koŋ⁵³/
Suzhou /koŋ⁵⁵/
Hangzhou /koŋ³³/
Wenzhou /koŋ³³/
Hui Shexian /kuʌ̃³¹/
Tunxi /kan¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /koŋ³³/
Xiangtan /kən³³/
Gan Nanchang /kuŋ⁴²/
Hakka Meixian /kuŋ⁴⁴/
Taoyuan /kuŋ²⁴/
Cantonese Guangzhou /koŋ⁵³/
Nanning /kuŋ⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /kuŋ⁵⁵/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /kiɔŋ⁵⁵/
/kaŋ⁵⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /kuŋ⁴⁴/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /kɔŋ⁵⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /koŋ³³/
/kaŋ³³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /koŋ²³/
/kaŋ²³/
Rime
Character 公
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 見 (28)
Final (韻) 東 (1)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 古紅切
Baxter kuwng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/kuŋ/
Pan
Wuyun 		/kuŋ/
Shao
Rongfen 		/kuŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/kəwŋ/
Li
Rong 		/kuŋ/
Wang
Li 		/kuŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/kuŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		gōng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		gung1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 公 公
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		gōng gōng
Middle
Chinese 		‹ kuwng › ‹ kuwng ›
Old
Chinese 		/*C.qˁoŋ/ /*C.qˁoŋ/
English impartial, just; public father; prince

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 公
Reading # 1/1
No. 4092
Phonetic
component 		公
Rime
group 		東
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		公
Old
Chinese 		/*kloːŋ/

Definitions[edit]

公

  1. public; communal
    Antonym: 私 (sī)
  2. fair; equitable
  3. to make public; to announce
  4. international; universal
    公海  ―  gōnghǎi  ―  international waters
    公里  ―  gōnglǐ  ―  kilometer
    公尺  ―  gōngchǐ  ―  meter
  5. duke
  6. (of animals) male
    Antonyms: 母 (mǔ), (Cantonese) 乸 (nǎ)
    公雞／公鸡  ―  gōngjī  ―  rooster
  7. (figuratively, of instruments, tools, or connectors) male
    Antonyms: 母 (mǔ), (Cantonese) 乸 (nǎ)
  8. (honorific) old man or a man of high status
    陳公大文之墓 [MSC, trad.]
    陈公大文之墓 [MSC, simp.]
    Chén gōng Dàwén zhī mù [Pinyin]
    Tomb of Mr. Chen Dawen (written on a tombstone)
    蔣公／蒋公  ―  Jiǎng gōng  ―  Chiang Kai-shek (honorific form)
  9. grandfather
  10. father-in-law (husband's father)
    公婆  ―  gōngpó  ―  parents-in-law (husband's parents)
  11. (Cantonese) heads (side of a coin)
  12. (Hakka) A noun suffix
    鼻公 [Sixian Hakka]  ―  phi-kûng [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  nose
    貓公／猫公 [Meixian Hakka]  ―  miau4 gung1 [Hakka Transliteration Scheme]  ―  cat
  13. a surname

Synonyms[edit]

Dialectal synonyms of 鏝 (“side of a coin without written characters”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Mandarin Beijing 鏝兒
Luoyang 鏝兒
Wanrong 鏝兒
Xi'an 鏝兒
Xining 鏝兒
Wuhan 鏝
Xuzhou 鏝兒
Yangzhou 幕
Cantonese Hong Kong 公
Gan Nanchang 鏝
Lichuan 鏝兒
Pingxiang 鏝子, 番子
Jin Taiyuan 幕兒, 鏝兒
Pingyao 眼兒
Shenmu 鏝兒
Eastern Min Fuzhou 覆
Southern Min Xiamen 合
Leizhou 背
Wu Ningbo 烏
Wenzhou 鏝
Xiang Changsha 杠子

Compounds[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Sino-Xenic (公):
  • → Japanese: 公(こう) (kō, “duke”)
  • → Korean: 공(公) (gong, “duke”)
  • → Vietnamese: công (公, “duke”)

Others:

  • → Mongolian: гүн (gün)
  • → Manchu: ᡤᡠᠩ (gung)
  • → Thai: กง (gong, “grandfather”) (said by Chinese race)

Japanese[edit]

Shinjitai

公

Kyūjitai

公

Kanji[edit]

公

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings[edit]

Compounds[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Kanji in this term
公
おおやけ
Grade: 2
kun’yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 公 – see the following entry.
【おおやけ】
[noun] public
[noun] official, governmental
(This term, 公, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 2[edit]

Kanji in this term
公
こう
Grade: 2
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 公 (MC kuwng).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

公(こう) • (kō) 

  1. (honorific) a European sovereign prince
    モナコ公(こう)
    Monako Kō
    the Prince of Monaco
    ウェールズ公(こう)チャールズ
    Wēruzu Kō Chāruzu
    Charles, Prince of Wales
  2. (honorific) a duke; in China and Vietnam, an alternative to 王 (ō, “prince”), used by certain dynasties for princes
    Holonym: 五爵
    Coordinate terms: 侯, 公爵, 子, 男, 伯
    周(しゅう)公(こう)旦(たん)
    Shūkō Tan
    Dan, Duke of Zhou
    鄧(とう)九(きゅう)公(こう)
    Tō Kyūkō
    the Ninth Deng Duke; the Ninth Duke of the Dengs/Deng family
    公(こう)子(し)
    kōshi
    a duke's son
    公(こう)女(じょ)
    kōjo
    a duke's daughter
    公(こう)孫(そん)
    kōson
    a duke's grandchild
    エディンバラ公(こう)フィリップ王(おう)配(はい)
    Edinbara Kō Firippu Ōhai
    Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
  3. (familiar) used as suffix to denote familiarity with or disdain for someone or an animal
    • 1997 September 1 [1996 October 10], Fujiko F. Fujio, “どこかでだれかが　の巻(まき)”, in エスパー魔美 [Esper Mami], 4th edition, volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 245:
      マミ公(こう)‼どこへいったんだ。しようがないなあ‼モデルという重(じゅう)要(よう)なしごとを、こづかいかせぎぐらいにしか、かんがえていないんだから。
      Mami-kō‼ Doko e itta n da. Shiyō ga nai nā‼ Moderu to iu jūyō na shigoto o, kozukai kasegigurai ni shika, kangaete inai n da kara.
      Mami!! Where the hell’d she go? This is unacceptable!! She treats serious modeling as nothing but a way to get pocket money.

Etymology 3[edit]

Kanji in this term
公
きみ
Grade: 2
kun’yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 公 – see the following entry.
【君きみ】3
[noun] a ruler of a country
[noun] an emperor
[noun] a lord
[noun] a master
[noun] a nobleman or other person of high(er) rank
[noun] (historical, archaic) a prostitute
[noun] (historical) one of the hereditary titles bestowed to local chiefs in ancient Japan
[pronoun] (informal, chiefly men's speech) second-person personal pronoun: you
[pronoun] (after a が (ga) or の (no) particle) term of respect to another person
Alternative spelling
キミ
【君ぎみ】3
[suffix] indicates respect
(This term, 公, is an alternative spelling (uncommon) of the above term.)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Chinese 公 (MC kuwng). Recorded as Middle Korean 고ᇰ (kwong) (Yale: kwong) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja[edit]

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

公 (eumhun 공평할 공 (gongpyeonghal gong))

  1. Hanja form? of 공 (“fair; official”).

Compounds[edit]

Compounds

References[edit]

  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [1]

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

公: Hán Nôm readings: công

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