智

Translingual

Han character

智 (Kangxi radical 72, 日+8, 12 strokes, Cangjie input 人口日 (ORA), four-corner 8660₀, composition ⿱知日)

Derived characters

𫣠, 𡐻, 𡡧, 潪, 𨼓, 𮟎, 𪳲, 𥋒, 𧒊, 䠦, 𭧝, 𰖨, 䚐, 𭨔, 𫋰, 𣉻

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 497, character 15
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14010
Dae Jaweon: page 863, character 23
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1518, character 15
Unihan data for U+667A

Chinese

simp. and trad.		智
alternative forms		知𣉻𥏼

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 智
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 (矢) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
彘	*l'eds
璏	l'eds, ɢʷleds, *ɢʷled
薙	l̥ʰiːs, ljiʔ, *l'iʔ
知	*ʔl'e
蜘	*te
智	*ʔl'es
鼅	*te
潪	teɡs, deɡ
踟	*de
雉	*l'iʔ
矢	*hliʔ
痴	*l̥ʰɯ

Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 大 (“adult”) + 口 (“mouth”) + 子 (“child”) – to transmit knowledge. In western Zhou bronze inscriptions, 甘 started being added. As time went by, 子 corrupted into 于, 大 into 矢, and 甘 into 白, giving rise to the form seen in the Shuowen Jiezi (𥏼). The component 于 was dropped around the Western Han, arriving at the modern form.

Etymology

Exopassive of 知 (OC *ʔl'e, “to know”), literally “what is known > knowledge”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): zhì (zhi⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄓˋ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): zi³

(Taishan, Wiktionary): zi¹
Gan (Wiktionary): zi⁴
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): chṳ

(Hailu, HRS): zhi^ˇ

(Meixian, Guangdong): zi⁴
Jin (Wiktionary): zi³
Eastern Min (BUC): dé
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): di⁴
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): tì

(Teochew, Peng'im): di³
Wu (Wugniu)
- (Northern): ⁵tsy / ¹tsy / ⁵tsyu / ¹tsyu
- (Jinhua): ⁵tsy
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): zhr⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zhì
  - Zhuyin: ㄓˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jhìh
  - Wade–Giles: chih⁴
  - Yale: jr̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyh
  - Palladius: чжи (čži)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: zi³
  - Yale: ji
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzi³
  - Guangdong Romanization: ji³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³³/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: zi¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡si³³/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: zi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chṳ
  - Hakka Romanization System: zii
  - Hagfa Pinyim: zi⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sɨ⁵⁵/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: zhi^ˇ
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡ʃi¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: zi⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sz̩⁵³/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: zi³
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /t͡sz̩⁴⁵/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: dé
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɛi²¹³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian, Jiangkou, Nanri, Donghai, Xianyou, Youyang, Fengting)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: di⁴
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: di̍
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ti⁴²/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tì
  - Tâi-lô: tì
  - Phofsit Daibuun: dix
  - Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /ti²¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /ti⁴¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /ti²¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /ti¹¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /ti²¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: di³
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tì
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ti²¹³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai, Jiading, Songjiang, Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Fuyang, Shaoxing)
  - Wugniu: ⁵tsy
  - MiniDict: tsy^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tsr
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sz̩³⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Jiading): /t͡sz̩³⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Songjiang): /t͡sz̩³⁵/
  - Sinological IPA (Jiaxing): /t͡sz̩³³⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Hangzhou): /t͡sz̩⁴⁵/
  - Sinological IPA (Fuyang): /t͡sz̩³³⁵/
  - Sinological IPA (Shaoxing): /t͡sz̩³³/
- (Northern: Shanghai, Chongming, Changzhou, Shaoxing)
  - Wugniu: ¹tsy
  - MiniDict: tsy^平
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹tsr
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sz̩⁵³/
  - Sinological IPA (Chongming): /t͡sz̩⁵⁵/
  - Sinological IPA (Changzhou): /t͡sz̩⁵⁵/
  - Sinological IPA (Shaoxing): /t͡sz̩⁵²/
- (Northern: Suzhou, Zhoushan)
  - Wugniu: ⁵tsyu
  - MiniDict: tsyu^去
  - Sinological IPA (Suzhou): /t͡sz̩ʷ⁵²³/
  - Sinological IPA (Zhoushan): /t͡sz̩ʷ⁴⁴/
- (Northern: Ningbo)
  - Wugniu: ¹tsyu
  - MiniDict: tsyu^平
  - Sinological IPA (Ningbo): /t͡sz̩ʷ⁵²/
- (Jinhua)
  - Wugniu: ⁵tsy
  - Sinological IPA (Jinhua): /t͡sz̩⁵⁵/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: zhr⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key) (old-style): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁴⁵/
  - Sinological IPA ^(key) (new-style): /t͡sz̩⁴⁵/

Middle Chinese: trjeH

Rime
Character	智
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	知 (9)
Final (韻)	支 (13)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	知義切
Baxter	trjeH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʈˠiᴇ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/ʈᵚiɛ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/ȶiɛ^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʈjiə̆^H/
Li Rong	/ȶje^H/
Wang Li	/ȶǐe^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ȶie̯^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*tre-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*ʔl'es/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	智
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zhì
Middle Chinese	‹ trje^H ›
Old Chinese	/*tre-s/
English	knowledge
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	智
Reading #	1/1
No.	11497
Phonetic component	矢
Rime group	支
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	智
Old Chinese	/*ʔl'es/

Definitions

智

wisdom; knowledge; intelligence
智慧 ― zhìhuì ― wisdom

智力 ― zhìlì ― intelligence
wise; informed; intelligent; astute
a surname

Compounds

References

“智”, 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–
李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), “智”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 159.