善

See also: 譱
善 U+5584, 善
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5584
← 喃
[U+5583] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 喅 →
[U+5585]

善 U+2F845, 善
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F845
← 啣
[U+2F844] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 善 →
[U+2F846]

善 U+2F846, 善
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F846
← 善
[U+2F845] 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement 喙 →
[U+2F847]

Translingual

Han character

善 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 廿土廿口 (TGTR) or 廿廿口 (TTR), four-corner 80605, composition ⿻羊⿱䒑口 or ⿳𦍌䒑口)

Derived characters

References

Chinese
trad. 善
simp. # 善
alternative forms
 
譱
𠲘
𠵊
𠾄
𦎍
譱
𠲘
𠵊
𠾄
𦎍
𦏟
𦏯
𧨅
𧬆
𧮟

Glyph origin
Historical forms of the character 善
Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (善) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
橏 *tjenʔ
嫸 *tjenʔ
善 *ɡjenʔ
譱 *ɡjenʔ
蟮 *djanʔ
鱔 *djanʔ
僐 *djenʔ, *djens
鄯 *djenʔ, *djens
墡 *djenʔ
磰 *djenʔ
繕 *ɡjens
膳 *djens
饍 *djens

Originally written 譱 in bronze inscriptions, consisting of two 言 (OC *ŋan) and one 羊. The 言 (OC *ŋan) might have served as the phonetic component, while 羊 represented the sense "good; beautiful". The small seal script of 善 was simplified from the bronze inscription form, consisting of one 言 below one 羊.

According to Shuowen, the form 譱 is an ideogrammic compound (會意) : 誩 (“to wrangle”) + 羊 (“sheep”) – good; virtuous. This interpretation may be difficult to comprehend.

Etymology

Probably related to 繕 (OC *ɡjens, “to mend; to repair”).

Pronunciation

Note: sen5-4 - “to die”.
Note: siêng6 - Chaozhou.
Rime
Character 善
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 常 (25)
Final (韻) 仙 (77)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 常演切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /d͡ʑiᴇnX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /d͡ʑiɛnX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /d͡ʑjænX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /d͡ʑianX/
Li
Rong		 /ʑiɛnX/
Wang
Li		 /ʑĭɛnX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ʑi̯ɛnX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 shàn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex		 sin6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 善
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 shàn
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ dzyenX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[ɡ]e[n]ʔ/
English good

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 善
Reading # 1/1
No. 11084
Phonetic
component		 善
Rime
group		 元
Rime
subdivision		 2
Corresponding
MC rime		 善
Old
Chinese		 /*ɡjenʔ/

Definitions

善

  1. good, virtuous, charitable, kind
    Antonym: 惡／恶 (è)
    人之初，性本善。 [Literary Chinese, trad. and simp.]
    From: Three Character Classic, circa 13th century CE
    Rén zhī chū, xìng běn shàn. [Pinyin]
    Men at their birth, are naturally good.
  2. (Taishanese, euphemistic) to die
    去善 [Taishanese]  ―  hui1 sen5-4 [Wiktionary]  ―  go to hell

Compounds
Derived terms from 善

Japanese

Kanji
善

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. virtue
  2. goodness

Readings

Etymology
Kanji in this term
善
ぜん
Grade: 6
goon

From Middle Chinese 善 (MC d͡ʑiᴇnX).

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) ぜ​ん [zéꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
  • IPA(key): [d͡zẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

善(ぜん) • (zen) 

  1. good, good deed
    Antonym: 悪 (aku)
    • 1946, 三木清, 親鸞‎, 青空文庫:
      外(そと)においてどれほど善(ぜん)を行(おこ)なおうとしても、悪心(あくしん)は絶(た)えず裏(うら)から潜(ひそ)んでくる。
      Soto ni oite dore hodo zen o okonaō to shite mo, akushin wa taezu ura kara hisonde kuru.
      No matter how much good one tries to do outside, evil thoughts will always come lurking from behind it.

Derived terms
  • 善(ぜん)に従(したが)うこと流(なが)るるが如(ごと)し (zen ni shitagau koto nagaruru ga gotoshi)
  • 善(ぜん)に強(つよ)い者(もの)は悪(あく)にも強(つよ)い (zen ni tsuyoi mono wa aku ni mo tsuyoi)
  • 善(ぜん)の裏(うら)は悪(あく) (zen no ura wa aku)
  • 善(ぜん)の綱(つな) (zen no tsuna)
  • 善(ぜん)は急(いそ)げ (zen wa isoge)
  • 善(ぜん)を責(せ)むるは朋友(ほうゆう)の道(みち)なり (zen o semuru wa hōyū no michi nari)

Korean

Hanja

善 (eumhun 착할 선 (chakhal seon))

  1. Hanja form? of 선 (“good, nice”).

Vietnamese

Han character

善: Hán Nôm readings: thiện

  1. chữ Hán form of thiện (“kind, virtue, good”).
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