多

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See also: 夛, 𭐴, and 𛁠
多 U+591A, 多
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-591A
← 夙
[U+5919] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 夛 →
[U+591B]

多 U+2F85D, 多
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F85D
← 夆
[U+2F85C] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 夢 →
[U+2F85E]

Translingual

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Stroke order
6 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

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多 (Kangxi radical 36, 夕+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 弓戈弓戈 (NINI), four-corner 27207, composition ⿱夕夕)

Derived characters

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Descendants

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 246, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5756
  • Dae Jaweon: page 489, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 862, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+591A

Chinese

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Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 多
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 (多) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
多 *ʔl'aːl
哆 *ʔl'aːlʔ, *ʔl'aːls, *ʔr'aːls, *hr'aːl, *l̥ʰjaːlʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *l̥ʰjɯs
跢 *ʔl'aːls, *ʔl'aːds
痑 *ʔl'aːls, *l̥ʰaːl, *l̥ʰaːn
爹 *daːʔ, *tjaː
陊 *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ
橠 *naːlʔ
袲 *naːlʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *lal
奓 *ʔr'aːl, *ʔr'aːls
栘 *ɦljeːl, *lal
黟 *ʔleːl, *ʔlil
趍 *sʰlo, *l'al
誃 *l'al, *l̥ʰjalʔ
簃 *l'al, *lal
眵 *ʔljjal, *l̥ʰjal
恀 *ʔljalʔ, *l̥ʰjalʔ, *ɦljalʔ
侈 *l̥ʰjalʔ
姼 *l̥ʰjalʔ, *ɦljal, *ɦljalʔ
鉹 *l̥ʰjalʔ, *lal
垑 *l̥ʰjalʔ
袳 *l̥ʰjalʔ
卶 *l̥ʰjals, *hljals
宜 *ŋral
誼 *ŋrals
竩 *ŋrals
移 *lal
迻 *lal
扅 *lal
拸 *lal, *lalʔ
熪 *lal
謻 *lal
蛥 *ɢljad

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) – two pieces of meat (肉). In the bronze script, 肉 was corrupted into 夕 due to visual similarity, making 多 into a duplication of 夕. The form with 夕 was inherited in later scripts.

Chi (2010) suggests that meat is scarce in ancient times, so two pieces of meat is a lot, citing a passage from Mencius:

七十者可以食肉矣。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Qīshí zhě kěyǐ shí ròu yǐ. [Pinyin]
Persons of seventy years may eat meat.

Chang Ping-chuan suggests that it is the duplicative nature of the character that gives the meaning of "many", just like in 林 (“forest”), from 木 (“tree; wood”).

Etymology 1

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trad. 多
simp. # 多
alternative forms 𡖈
𢑑
夛
dur (doe1) Cantonese nonstandard

Etymology unclear. Schuessler (2007) suggests that it is in the same word family as 諸 (OC *tjaː, *tja, “many; all”) and 庶 (OC *hljaɡs, “many”).

Hill (2014, 2019) compares it to Tibetan ཆེ (che, “big”), མཐེ་བོ (mthe bo, “thumb”), Burmese တယ် (tai, “very”). STEDT derives the latter two from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ta-j (“big”), whose Chinese comparandum is 大 (OC *daːds, “large”) instead; Baxter (1992) has also compared it to this etymon.

Baxter and Sagart (1998) propose that there may be a prefix *t- in this word that gives a mass noun reading, which may nullify the connection to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ta-j (“big”). However, Baxter and Sagart (2014) may have withdrawn from this theory since they no longer indicate the *t as a prefix.

Also compare Proto-Tai *ʰlaːjᴬ (“many, much”), whence Thai หลาย (lǎai, “many”) and Zhuang lai (“many”), and Proto-Hlai *hləːy (“many”) (Gong Qunhu, 2002; Schuessler, 2007; Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Schuessler (2007) considers the Chinese word to be from Kra-Dai, but others suggest that the direction of borrowing may have been the other way (Li, 1977; Baxter and Sagart, 1998; Norquest, 2007).

Pronunciation

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Note: duó - colloquial variant (“so, how, what”).
Note: doe1 - colloquial variant (“few”).
Note:
  • duói - vernacular;
  • dó - literary;
  • do̿ - limited (e.g. 多謝).
Note:
  • (Suzhounese) 1tou - literary;
  • (Suzhounese) 1ta - vernacular.
Rime
Character 多
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 端 (5)
Final (韻) 歌 (94)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 得何切
Baxter ta
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/tɑ/
Pan
Wuyun 		/tɑ/
Shao
Rongfen 		/tɑ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ta/
Li
Rong 		/tɑ/
Wang
Li 		/tɑ/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/tɑ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		duō
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		do1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 多
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		duō
Middle
Chinese 		‹ ta ›
Old
Chinese 		/*[t.l]ˁaj/
English many

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 多
Reading # 1/1
No. 2637
Phonetic
component 		多
Rime
group 		歌
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		多
Old
Chinese 		/*ʔl'aːl/
Notes 甲金文從二肉非二夕

Definitions

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多

  1. many; much; a lot of; numerous
    街上有很多人。  ―  Jiēshàng yǒu hěn duō rén.  ―  There is a lot of people in the street
    Antonym: 少
  2. (after an amount) over; and more; more than
    兩年多／两年多  ―  liǎng nián duō  ―  more than two years
  3. (after an amount but before the classifier) as much as
    100多MB  ―  100 duō MB  ―  as much as 100 MB
    十幾多年／十几多年 [Cantonese]  ―  sap6 gei2 do1 nin4 [Jyutping]  ―  so many decades
  4. (before a classifier) multiple
    Antonym: 單／单
    多個方面／多个方面  ―  duō ge fāngmiàn  ―  multiple facets
  5. (used in comparison structure 得多, 多了) much more; a lot more; far more
    他比我高得多。  ―  Tā bǐ wǒ gāo de duō.  ―  He is a lot taller than I am.
    病人今天好多了。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
    Bìngrén jīntiān hǎo duō le. [Pinyin]
    The patient is much better today.
  6. more
    我應該多運動。 [MSC, trad.]
    我应该多运动。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ yīnggāi duō yùndòng. [Pinyin]
    I should exercise more.
    冚多張被／冚多张被 [Cantonese]  ―  kam2 do1 zoeng1 pei5 [Jyutping]  ―  put on one more blanket
    今天比昨天冷，得多穿一件外套。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
    Jīntiān bǐ zuótiān lěng, děi duō chuān yī jiàn wàitào. [Pinyin]
    Today is colder than yesterday, so you have to put on one more jacket.
  7. extra; in excess
    佢真係好易醉，飲多兩杯啤酒就冧咗喇。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    佢真系好易醉，饮多两杯啤酒就冧咗喇。 [Cantonese, simp.]
    keoi5 zan1 hai6 hou2 ji6 zeoi3, jam2 do1 loeng5 bui1 be1 zau2 zau6 lam3 zo2 laa3. [Jyutping]
    He gets drunk really easily. He passed out after drinking a few extra glasses of beer.
  8. (used in question) how; how much; what
    你到學校要走多遠的距離？ [MSC, trad.]
    你到学校要走多远的距离？ [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ dào xuéxiào yào zǒu duō yuǎn de jùlí? [Pinyin]
    How far do you have to walk to get to school?
    你多高？  ―  Nǐ duō gāo?  ―  How tall are you?
  9. (emphasis in exclamations) so; how; what
    看她多漂亮啊！  ―  Kàn tā duō piàoliàng a!  ―  Look how pretty she is!
    她戴的帽子多可愛呀！ [MSC, trad.]
    她戴的帽子多可爱呀！ [MSC, simp.]
    Tā dài de màozǐ duō kě'ài ya! [Pinyin]
    What an adorable hat she is wearing! / The hat she is wearing is so adorable!
  10. to have a lot
    多事之秋  ―  duōshì zhī qiū  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    花發多風雨，人生足別離。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
    花发多风雨，人生足别离。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
    Huā fā duō fēngyǔ, rénshēng zú biélí. [Pinyin]
    (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  11. to have more; to have too much; to have too many
    他買了四張票，多了一張。 [MSC, trad.]
    他买了四张票，多了一张。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā mǎi le sì zhāng piào, duō le yī zhāng. [Pinyin]
    He bought four tickets, which was one too many.
    屋企多咗一個人。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    屋企多咗一个人。 [Cantonese, simp.]
    uk1 kei2 do1 zo2 jat1 go3 jan4. [Jyutping]
    The household has a new member.
  12. (Cantonese) few; little
    咁多多 [Cantonese]  ―  gam3 doe1 doe1 [Jyutping]  ―  just this much (meaning “just very few”)
Usage notes
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  • (over, more than): When the number is smaller or equal to 10, 多 can be put after the measure word. If it is bigger than ten, 多 has to be put before the measure word.
  • (more): In Mandarin, 多 is usually placed before the verb, but in Cantonese, it is usually placed after the verb.
Synonyms
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Dialectal synonyms of 多 (“many; much”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 多, 夥
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 多
Taiwan 多
Harbin 多
Malaysia 多
Singapore 多
Jilu Mandarin Jinan 多
Jiaoliao Mandarin Yantai (Muping) 多
Central Plains Mandarin Luoyang 多
Wanrong 多
Xi'an 多
Xining 多
Lanyin Mandarin Yinchuan 多
Lanzhou 多
Ürümqi 多, 托洛
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 多
Wuhan 多
Guiyang 多
Liuzhou 多
Jianghuai Mandarin Nanjing 多, 歹
Yangzhou 多
Hefei 多
Cantonese Guangzhou 多
Hong Kong 多
Taishan 多
Dongguan 多
Yangjiang 多
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 多
Singapore (Guangfu) 多
Gan Nanchang 多
Lichuan 多
Pingxiang 多
Hakka Meixian 多
Changting 多
Wuping 多
Liancheng 多
Ninghua 多
Yudu 多
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 多
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 多
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 多
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 多
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 多
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 多
Singapore (Dabu) 多
Huizhou Jixi 多
Jin Taiyuan 多
Xinzhou 多
Northern Min Jian'ou 濟
Jian'ou (Dikou) 濟
Songxi 濟
Zhenghe 濟
Zhenghe (Zhenqian) 濟
Jianyang 濟
Jianyang (Huangkeng) 夥
Wuyishan 濟
Pucheng (Shibei) 濟
Eastern Min Fuzhou 濟
Fuzhou (Changle) 濟
Fuqing 濟
Pingtan 濟
Yongtai 濟
Minqing 濟
Gutian 濟
Pingnan 濟
Luoyuan 濟
Fu'an 濟
Ningde 濟
Xiapu 濟
Zherong 濟
Shouning 濟
Zhouning 濟
Fuding 濟
Matsu 濟
Singapore (Fuqing) 濟
Southern Min Xiamen 濟, 加
Xiamen (Tong'an) 濟
Quanzhou 濟
Jinjiang 濟
Nan'an 濟
Shishi 濟
Hui'an 濟
Anxi 濟
Yongchun 濟
Dehua 濟
Zhangzhou 濟
Zhangzhou (Longhai) 濟
Zhangzhou (Changtai) 濟
Hua'an 濟
Nanjing 濟
Pinghe 濟
Zhangpu 濟
Yunxiao 濟
Zhao'an 濟
Dongshan 濟
Taipei 濟
New Taipei (Sanxia) 濟
Kaohsiung 濟
Yilan 濟
Changhua (Lukang) 濟
Taichung 濟
Tainan 濟
Hsinchu 濟
Kinmen 濟
Penghu (Magong) 濟
Penang (Hokkien) 濟
Singapore (Hokkien) 濟
Manila (Hokkien) 濟
Longyan 濟
Zhangping 濟
Datian 濟
Chaozhou 濟, 加
Shantou 濟
Shantou (Chenghai) 濟
Shantou (Chaoyang) 濟
Jieyang 濟
Haifeng 濟
Singapore (Teochew) 濟
Pontianak (Teochew) 濟
Leizhou 濟
Wenchang 濟
Haikou 濟
Qionghai 濟
Singapore (Hainanese) 濟
Puxian Min Putian 濟
Xianyou 濟
Central Min Yong'an 濟
Sanming (Sanyuan) 濟
Sanming (Shaxian) 濟
Zhongshan Min Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi) 濟
Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 多
Wu Shanghai 多
Shanghai (Chongming) 多
Suzhou 多
Danyang 多
Hangzhou 多
Ningbo 多
Wenzhou 多
Jinhua 多
Xiang Changsha 多
Loudi 多
Shuangfeng 多
  • (after an amount): 幾／几 (jǐ); (Hokkien, Teochew) 外
Dialectal synonyms of 多 (“how (to what degree)”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多
Northeastern Mandarin Taiwan 多
Malaysia 多
Jilu Mandarin Jinan 多, 多麼
Jiaoliao Mandarin Yantai (Muping) 多
Central Plains Mandarin Wanrong 多
Xi'an 多
Xining 多
Xuzhou 多
Lanyin Mandarin Yinchuan 多
Lanzhou 多
Ürümqi 多
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 好
Wuhan 幾, 幾樣, 好
Guiyang 好
Liuzhou 幾
Jianghuai Mandarin Nanjing 多
Yangzhou 多
Cantonese Guangzhou 幾
Hong Kong 幾
Dongguan 幾
Gan Nanchang 幾
Lichuan 幾
Pingxiang 幾
Hakka Meixian 幾
Yudu 幾
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 幾
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 幾
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 幾
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 幾
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 幾
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 幾
Huizhou Jixi 多少
Jin Taiyuan 多來
Xinzhou 多麼, 多啦
Northern Min Jian'ou 幾多
Eastern Min Fuzhou 若夥
Southern Min Xiamen 偌
Quanzhou 偌
Zhangzhou 偌
Penang (Hokkien) 偌
Singapore (Hokkien) 偌
Jieyang 若
Singapore (Teochew) 若
Leizhou 偌
Haikou 偌
Zhongshan Min Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi) 幾
Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 幾
Wu Shanghai 多少, 幾化
Shanghai (Chongming) 多下
Suzhou 幾化
Danyang 多
Hangzhou 多少
Wenzhou 幾倈
Jinhua 幾很
Xiang Changsha 好
Loudi 好
Dialectal synonyms of 多麼 (“how; what; so; such”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 何等, 何其, 一何, 何哉, 何等也, 何則
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多麼, 何等, 何其
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 多麼, 多
Taiwan 多麼, 多
Malaysia 多
Singapore 多麼, 多
Jilu Mandarin Jinan 多麼, 多
Central Plains Mandarin Xi'an 多
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 好, 多
Wuhan 幾, 幾樣, 好
Guilin 好
Jianghuai Mandarin Yangzhou 多
Hefei 好
Cantonese Guangzhou 幾, 幾咁
Hong Kong 幾, 幾咁
Yangjiang 幾
Gan Nanchang 幾
Hakka Meixian 幾
Jin Taiyuan 多麼, 多來
Northern Min Jian'ou 幾多
Eastern Min Fuzhou 若夥, 若
Southern Min Xiamen 偌, 偌爾仔, 活, 活欲
Quanzhou 偌, 活, 活欲
Zhangzhou 偌, 偌爾仔, 偌仔爾, 活, 活欲
Taipei 偌爾, 偌仔爾
Kaohsiung 偌爾, 偌仔爾
Penang (Hokkien) 偌
Singapore (Hokkien) 偌
Manila (Hokkien) 偌
Chaozhou 若
Singapore (Teochew) 若
Zhongshan Min Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi) 幾
Wu Shanghai 多少, 幾化
Suzhou 幾化
Wenzhou 幾倈, 幾恁
Xiang Changsha 幾, 幾多, 好
Shuangfeng 幾, 好

Compounds

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (多):
  • → Japanese: 多(た) (ta)
  • → Korean: 다(多) (da)
  • → Vietnamese: đa (多)

Others:

Etymology 2

[edit]
trad. 多
simp. # 多

Pronunciation

[edit]

Definitions

[edit]

多

  1. (Southern Min) Alternative form of 濟／济 (“many”)

Etymology 3

[edit]
trad. 多
simp. # 多

Pronunciation

[edit]

Definitions

[edit]

多

  1. (Cantonese) Short for 多士 (“toast”).
    奶油多 [Cantonese]  ―  naai5 jau4 do1 [Jyutping]  ―  toast with condensed milk and butter

Japanese

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Kanji

[edit]
多

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. many, much

Readings

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Compounds

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Prefix

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多(た) • (ta-) 

  1. multi-
    多(た)言(げん)語(ご)辞(じ)書(しょ)
    tagengojisho
    multilingual dictionary

Korean

[edit]

Hanja

[edit]

多 (eumhun 많을 다 (maneul da))

  1. hanja form? of 다 (“many, a lot of”)

Compounds

[edit]

Okinawan

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Kanji

[edit]
多

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

[edit]

Vietnamese

[edit]

Han character

[edit]

多: Hán Nôm readings: đa, nhật

  1. chữ Hán form of đa (“multi-, poly-”).
  2. Nôm form of đi (“to go, to walk”).
  3. Nôm form of đa (“banyan”).
  4. Nôm form of da (“banyan”).
  5. Nôm form of da (“skin”).
  6. Nôm form of đưa (“to hand, to give”).
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