文字

Chinese

		language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle	letter; symbol; character letter; symbol; character; word
simp. and trad. (文字)		文	字

Wikipedia has articles on:

文字 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
文字 (Cantonese)
文字 (Classical)
bûn-jī (Southern Min)
文字 (Wu)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): wénzì

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): вынзы (vɨnzɨ, I-III)
Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ zi⁶
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): vùn-sṳ
Eastern Min (BUC): ùng-cê
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): mong² zo⁵ / muong² zo⁵
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): bûn-lī / bûn-jī

(Teochew, Peng'im): bhung⁵ ri⁷

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wénzì
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˊ ㄗˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wúnzìh
  - Wade–Giles: wên²-tzŭ⁴
  - Yale: wén-dz̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wentzyh
  - Palladius: вэньцзы (vɛnʹczy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən³⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: вынзы (vɨnzɨ, I-III)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /vəŋ²⁴ t͡sz̩⁴⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: man⁴ zi⁶
  - Yale: màhn jih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ dzi⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ ji⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ t͡siː²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: vùn-sṳ
  - Hakka Romanization System: vun^ˇ sii
  - Hagfa Pinyim: vun² si⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /vun¹¹ sɨ⁵⁵/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: ùng-cê
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /uŋ⁵³⁻²¹ ^(t͡s-)ʒɛi²⁴²/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: mong² zo⁵ [Phonetic: mong⁴ zo⁵]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔŋ¹³⁻⁴² t͡so²¹/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: muong² zo⁵ [Phonetic: muong⁴ zo⁵]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /muoŋ¹³⁻⁴² t͡sɵ²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-lī
  - Tâi-lô: bûn-lī
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bunli
  - IPA (Taipei): /bun²⁴⁻¹¹ li³³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bun²⁴⁻²² li⁴¹/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ li³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bun²⁴⁻²² li²²/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-jī
  - Tâi-lô: bûn-jī
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bunji
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ zi³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bun¹³⁻²² d͡zi²²/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: bhung⁵ ri⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bûng jī
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /buŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ d͡zi¹¹/

Middle Chinese: mjun dziH

Rime
Character	文	字
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	從 (15)
Final (韻)	文 (59)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	無分切	疾置切
Baxter	mjun	dziH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mɨun/	/d͡zɨ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/miun/	/d͡zɨ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/miuən/	/d͡zie^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mun/	/d͡zɨ^H/
Li Rong	/miuən/	/d͡ziə^H/
Wang Li	/mĭuən/	/d͡zĭə^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mi̯uən/	/d͡zʱi^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wén	zì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	man⁴	zi⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*mə[n] mə-dzə(ʔ)-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*mɯn zlɯs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	文	字
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wén	zì
Middle Chinese	‹ mjun ›	‹ dzi^H ›
Old Chinese	/*mə[n]/	/*mə-dzə(ʔ)-s/
English	ornate	breed, love (v.); character
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	文	字
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	13015	17864
Phonetic component	文	子
Rime group	文	之
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	文	字
Old Chinese	/*mɯn/	/*zlɯs/
Notes		子分化字

Noun

文字

written symbols; writing; script; text; characters (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)
writing style wording; language (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)

Synonyms

(writing): 筆墨／笔墨 (bǐmò)

Derived terms

古文字 (gǔwénzì)
拉丁化新文字 (Lādīnghuà Xīn Wénzì)
拼音文字 (pīnyīn wénzì)
文字學 / 文字学 (wénzìxué)
文字改革 (wénzì gǎigé)
文字獄 / 文字狱 (wénzìyù)
文字處理 / 文字处理
文字處理機 / 文字处理机 (wénzì chǔlǐjī)
新文字 (Xīn Wénzì)
甲骨文字 (jiǎgǔ wénzì)
線形文字 / 线形文字 (xiànxíng wénzì)
繪文字 / 绘文字 (huìwénzì)
表意文字 (biǎoyì wénzì)
表音文字 (biǎoyīn wénzì)
象形文字 (xiàngxíng wénzì)
頭文字 / 头文字 (tóuwénzì)

Related terms

書寫系統／书写系统 (shūxiě xìtǒng)
文學／文学 (wénxué)
語文／语文 (yǔwén)
語言／语言 (yǔyán)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (文字):

→ Japanese: 文(もん)字(じ) (monji)
→ Korean: 문자(文字) (munja)
→ Vietnamese: văn tự (文字)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
文	字
もん Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
goon

From Middle Chinese 文字 (MC mjun dziH, literally “writing + character”). Compare modern Cantonese reading man⁴ zi⁶.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) もんじ [móꜜǹjì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [mõ̞ɲ̟d͡ʑi]

Noun

文(もん)字(じ) • (monji)

a letter, a character (symbol for a sound or a word)
(linguistics) script, writing system
(specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
writing in general, written words
(by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
(by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
(by extension from the “writing” sense) studies

Usage notes

This reading is less common than moji, below.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
文	字
もん > も Grade: 1	じ Grade: 1
irregular	goon

/mond͡ʑi/ → /mod͡ʑi/

Sound shift from monji above.^[3]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) もじ [móꜜjì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]^[1]^[4]
IPA^(key): [mo̞ʑi]

Noun

文(も)字(じ) • (moji)

a letter or character (symbol for a sound or a word)
(linguistics) script, writing system
(specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
writing in general, written words
(by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
(by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
(by extension from the “writing” sense) studies
(chiefly Kansai) the tails side of a coin, the side with writing on it
(chiefly Kansai, by extension) a coin, money

Usage notes

This reading is more common than monji above.

The tails and coin, money senses are specific to this moji reading.^[3]

Derived terms

顔(かお)文(も)字(じ) (kaomoji): smiley
絵(え)文(も)字(じ) (emoji): emoji (not to be confused with emoticon)
大(おお)文(も)字(じ) (ōmoji): uppercase letter
小(こ)文(も)字(じ) (komoji): lowercase letter
キリル文(も)字(じ) (kiriru moji): Cyrillic letter
文(も)字(じ)通(どお)り (mojidōri): literal, literally
文(も)字(じ)化(ば)け (mojibake): corrupt characters or letters, especially from display or transfer through an inappropriate character set or encoding, e.g., •¶Žš‰»‚¯, which is a corruption of 文字化け

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
文	字

Noun

文字 • (munja) (hangeul 문자)

hanja form^? of 문자 (“letter”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
文	字

Noun

文字

chữ Hán form of văn tự (“writing system, script”).

[NHK-1] 1.0 ^1.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[SMK5-4] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]

[3]

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