界

See also: 畍

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Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

界 (Kangxi radical 102, 田+4, 9 strokes, cangjie input 田人中中 (WOLL), four-corner 4612₈, composition ⿱田介)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 760, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 21775
• Dae Jaweon: page 1170, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2534, character 2
• Unihan data for U+754C

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		界
alternative forms		畍

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 界
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (介) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
妎	*ɡaːds, *ɡeːds
芥	*kreːds
尬	*kreːds
界	*kreːds
介	*kreːds
疥	*kreːds
玠	*kreːds
砎	*kreːds, *kreːd, *ɡraːd
魪	*kreːds
价	*kreːds
衸	*kreːds, *ɡreːds
齘	*ɡreːds
骱	*ɡaːd, *kreːd
扴	*kreːd
圿	*kreːd
忦	*kreːd

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kreːds) : semantic 田 (“field”) + phonetic 介 (OC *kreːds).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiè (jie⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gaai³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kie / kiai
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kài / kè / kòe

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiè
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jiè
    • Wade–Giles: chieh⁴
    • Yale: jyè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jieh
    • Palladius: цзе (cze)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gaai³
    • Yale: gaai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gaai³
    • Guangdong Romanization: gai³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaːi̯³³/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kie
    • Hakka Romanization System: gie
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gie⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /ki̯e⁵⁵/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kiai
    • Hakka Romanization System: giai
    • Hagfa Pinyim: giai⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /ki̯ai̯⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kài
    • Tâi-lô: kài
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kaix
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung): /kai²¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kai⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kai¹¹/
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kè
    • Tâi-lô: kè
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kex
    • IPA (Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou): /ke²¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Taipei, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kòe
    • Tâi-lô: kuè
    • Phofsit Daibuun: koex
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kue⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kue²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kue¹¹/

Note:

• kài - literary;
• kè/kòe - vernacular.

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• Middle Chinese: keajH

Rime
Character	界
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	皆 (33)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Öffnen Sie
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	古拜切
Baxter	keajH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kˠɛiH/
Pan Wuyun	/kᵚæiH/
Shao Rongfen	/kɐiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kəɨjH/
Li Rong	/kɛiH/
Wang Li	/kɐiH/
Bernard Karlgren	/kăiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiè
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gaai3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kˤr[e][t]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kreːds/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	界
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jiè
Middle Chinese	‹ kɛjH ›
Old Chinese	/*kˁr[e][t]-s/
Englisch	boundary
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	界
Reading #	1/1
No.	6524
Phonetic component	介
Rime group	祭
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	誡
Old Chinese	/*kreːds/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 界

1. boundary

   境界  ―  jìngjiè  ―  boundary; state

2. domain; realm; zone; area
3. circle; world; industry

   音樂界／音乐界  ―  yīnyuèjiè  ―  the music world; music circles

4. (taxonomy) kingdom

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Japanese

Kanji

界

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

1. world
2. border

Readings

• Go-on: け (ke)
• Kan-on: かい (kai, Jōyō)
• Kun: さかい (sakai, 界)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
界
かい Grade: 3
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 界 (MC keajH, “boundary”).

In Buddhist contexts, derived from the Middle Chinese term used as a translation of Sanskrit धातु (dhātu, “layer, stratum”).

Nomen

界(かい) • (kai) 

1. boundary
2. a bounded area or region
3. a bounded group of people, a society, a world as a social grouping

   Used both as a standalone noun, and in compounds. Use in compounds is more common in this sense.

   自然(しぜん)の界(かい)、自然(しぜん)界(かい)

   shizen no kai, shizenkai

   the natural world

   美術界(びじゅつかい)

   bijutsukai

   the art world

4. the border edge of a thing
5. (Buddhism) the category of a thing
6. (Buddhism) the world or realm of a thing
7. lines drawn between the lines of a text, as on lined writing paper
8. lines drawn to lay out a draft of a piece of artwork: a sketch
9. (biology, taxonomy) a kingdom
10. (geology) a stratum corresponding to a geologic age

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 世界(せかい) (sekai): world; land, realm
• 結界(けっかい) (kekkai): a cordoned off area; a barrier
• 境界(きょうかい) (kyōkai): a boundary, a border, a limit
• 物質界(ぶっしつかい) (busshitsukai): the material world
• 精神界(せいしんかい) (seishinkai): the spiritual world

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
界
さかい Grade: 3
kun'yomi

/sakapi/ → /sakaɸi/ → /sakahi/ → /sakai/

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of obsolete verb 境う (sakau, “to divide, to form a boundary between things”).

Some sources further derive the verb as Old Japanese element 境 (saka, “division, border, boundary”) + auxiliary verb ふ (fu) indicating repetition or ongoing state. However, given the semantics, this could also be analyzed as the repetitive or ongoing aspect of Old Japanese-derived verb saku with an underlying meaning of “to split apart, to separate, to put distance between”, spelled variously as 割く, 裂く, 離く, or 放く, and cognate with 咲く (saku, “to bloom”, from the idea of the blooms splitting open), 栄える (sakaeru, “to prosper”, extended from the bloom sense), 盛ん (sakan, “prospering, fluorishing”).

Alternative forms

• 境

Nomen

界(さかい) • (sakai) 

1. border, boundary, limits

Usage notes

More commonly spelled 境. Derived terms primarily use that spelling, so see that entry for more details.

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Korean

Hanja

界 • (gye) (hangeul 계, revised gye, McCune–Reischauer kye, Yale kyey)

1. (deprecated template usage) (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 界 (giới)

1. (deprecated template usage) (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.