三

See also: Ξ, ≡, ミ, 叁, 彡, and 丰

三	U+4E09, 三 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E09

← 丈
[U+4E08]

CJK Unified Ideographs

上 →
[U+4E0A]

㈢	U+3222, ㈢ PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH THREE

← ㈡
[U+3221]

Enclosed CJK Letters and Months

㈣ →
[U+3223]

㊂	U+3282, ㊂ CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH THREE

← ㊁
[U+3281]

Enclosed CJK Letters and Months

㊃ →
[U+3283]

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

三 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 一一一 (MMM), four-corner 1010₁, composition ⿱一二 or ⿱𠄟一)

Shuowen Jiezi radical №4

Derived characters

仨, 𭆻, 𭖁, 𢁚, 㭅, 𠀧, 𮇅, 𧈵, 弎, 𤆜, 叁, 叄, 𠫽, 閆(闫), 𡭚, 𨳔

Descendants

ミ (Katakana character derived from man'yōgana)

References

KangXi: page 76, character 5
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12
Dae Jaweon: page 138, character 1
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 4, character 3
Unihan data for U+4E09

Chinese

simp. and trad.		三
alternative forms		叄／叁／參／参 financial 𠫰／𠬅／𠬄 less used 弎𢦘

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 三

Shang

Western Zhou

Warring States

Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)

Liushutong (compiled in Ming)

Oracle bone script

Bronze inscriptions

Chu slip and silk script

Qin slip script

Ancient script

Small seal script

Transcribed ancient scripts

**Oracle bone script**
j00545	j00546	j00547	j00548	j00549	j00550	j00551	j00552
j00553	j00554

**Bronze inscriptions**
b00355	b00356	b00357	b00358	b00359	b00360	b00361	b00362
b00363	b00364	b00365	b00366	b00367	b00368	b00369	b00370
b00371	b00372	b00373	b00374	b00375

**Small seal script**
s00097

**Transcribed ancient scripts**
L12758	L12759	L12760	L12761	L12762

References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Characters in the same phonetic series (三) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
三	suːm, suːms
弎	*suːm

Ideogram (指事) - three parallel strokes. Compare with 一, one stroke meaning “one”, 二, two strokes meaning “two”, and 亖, four strokes meaning “four”.Triplication of 一 (“one”).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-sum.

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): sān (san¹)
(Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ
(Chengdu, SP): san¹
(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): сан (san, I)
Cantonese
(Guangzhou, Jyutping): saam¹
(Taishan, Wiktionary): lham¹
Gan (Wiktionary): san¹
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): sâm
(Meixian, Guangdong): sam¹
Jin (Wiktionary): san¹
Min Bei (KCR): sáng
Min Dong (BUC): săng
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): saⁿ / sam
(Teochew, Peng'im): san¹ / sam¹
Wu (Wiktionary): se (T1)
Xiang (Wiktionary): san¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sān
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: san
  - Wade–Giles: san¹
  - Yale: sān
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: san
  - Palladius: сань (sanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sānr
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sanr
  - Wade–Giles: sanrh¹
  - Yale: sānr
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sal
  - Palladius: саnр (sanr)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɑɻ⁵⁵/

Note: sānr - (1) "the other woman; the other man", (2) "rfdef".

- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: san¹
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: san
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /san⁵⁵/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: сан (san, I)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sæ̃²⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: saam¹
  - Yale: sāam
  - Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: sam¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: lham¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬam³³/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: san¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /san⁴²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm
  - Hakka Romanization System: sam´
  - Hagfa Pinyim: sam¹
  - Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: sam¹
  - Sinological IPA: /sam⁴⁴/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: san¹
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /sæ̃¹¹/
Min Bei
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: sáng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saŋ⁵⁴/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: săng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saŋ⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, Changtai, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: saⁿ
  - Tâi-lô: sann
  - Phofsit Daibuun: svaf
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Changtai, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /sã⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang): /sã³³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, Changtai, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sam
  - Tâi-lô: sam
  - Phofsit Daibuun: safm
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Changtai, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /sam⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang): /sam³³/

Note:

saⁿ - vernacular;
sam - literary.

- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: san¹ / sam¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: saⁿ / sam
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sã³³/, /sam³³/

Note:

san1 - vernacular;
sam1 - literary.

Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: se (T1)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /se̞⁵³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: san¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /san³³/

Middle Chinese: /sɑm/

Rime
Character	三
Reading #	1/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	蘇甘切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɑm/
Pan Wuyun	/sɑm/
Shao Rongfen	/sɑm/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sam/
Li Rong	/sɑm/
Wang Li	/sɑm/
Bernard Karlgren	/sɑm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sān
Expected Cantonese Reflex	saam¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*s.rum/
(Zhengzhang): /*suːm/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	三
Reading #	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	sān
Middle Chinese	‹ sam ›
Old Chinese	/s.rum/ (s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?)
English	three
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	三
Reading #	1/2
No.	10963
Phonetic component	三
Rime group	侵
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	三
Old Chinese	/*suːm/

Definitions

三

three
(Mainland China, slang, neologism) the other woman; the other man
(Mainland China, slang, neologism) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
a surname

Compounds

See 三/derived terms § Chinese pronunciation 1.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (三):

→ Japanese: 三(さん) (san)
→ Korean: 삼(三) (sam)
→ Vietnamese: tam (三)

Others:

→ Proto-Tai: *saːmᴬ (“three”)
- Lao: ສາມ (sām)
- Thai: สาม (sǎam)
- Zhuang: sam

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sān, sàn (san¹, san⁴)
(Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ, ㄙㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): saam³, saam¹
Min Nan (POJ): sàm

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sān
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: san
  - Wade–Giles: san¹
  - Yale: sān
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: san
  - Palladius: сань (sanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, literary variant)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sàn
  - Wade–Giles: san⁴
  - Yale: sàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sann
  - Palladius: сань (sanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: saam³, saam¹
  - Yale: saam, sāam
  - Cantonese Pinyin: saam³, saam¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: sam³, sam¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm³³/, /saːm⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sàm
  - Tâi-lô: sàm
  - Phofsit Daibuun: saxm
  - IPA (Xiamen): /sam²¹/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sam⁴¹/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /sam²¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /sam¹¹/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /sam²¹/

Middle Chinese: /sɑm^H/

Rime
Character	三
Reading #	2/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	蘇暫切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɑm^H/
Pan Wuyun	/sɑm^H/
Shao Rongfen	/sɑm^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sam^H/
Li Rong	/sɑm^H/
Wang Li	/sɑm^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/sɑm^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	saam³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*s.r[u]m-s/
(Zhengzhang): /*suːms/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	三
Reading #	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	sān
Middle Chinese	‹ sam^H ›
Old Chinese	/s.r[u]m-s/ (s.r- > s-, infl. by 四 s-?)
English	three times
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	三
Reading #	2/2
No.	10965
Phonetic component	三
Rime group	侵
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	三
Old Chinese	/*suːms/

Definitions

三 (obsolete)

repeatedly; thrice
三思 ― sānsī ― to think carefully

Compounds

See 三/derived terms § Chinese pronunciation 2.

References

“Entry #170”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

Japanese

Kanji

三

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

three

Readings

Go-on: さん (san, Jōyō)^{←さん (san, historical)}^{←さむ (samu, ancient)}
Kan-on: さん (san, Jōyō)^{←さん (san, historical)}^{←さむ (samu, ancient)}
Kun: み (mi, 三, Jōyō); みつ (mitsu, 三つ, Jōyō); みっつ (mittsu, 三つ, Jōyō)
Nanori: か (ka); かず (kazu); さ (sa); さい (sai); さえ (sae); さぶ (sabu); さむ (samu); ざ (za); ざえ (zae); ざぶ (zabu); そ (so); そう (sō); ぞ (zo); ぞう (zō); ただ (tada); みつ (mitsu); みん (min); も (mo); や (ya)

Compounds

See 三/derived terms § Japanese kanji.

Alternative forms

(Financial/formal form): 参

Etymology 1

**Japanese cardinal numbers**
< 2	3	4 >
Cardinal : 三

Kanji in this term
三
さん Grade: 1
on’yomi

*/sam/ → /samu/ → /saɴ/

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sɑm, sɑm^H). Compare modern Mandarin 三 (sān).

In Old Japanese, this kanji was used phonetically to transcribe さむ (samu).

Pronunciation

On’yomi

(Tokyo) さん [sàń] (Heiban – [0])[1]
IPA^(key): [sã̠ɴ]
Audio (file)

Numeral

三(さん) • (san)

three, 3
Synonym: スリー (surī)
third

Derived terms

See 三/derived terms § Japanese etymology 1.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
三
さん Grade: 1
on’yomi

Borrowing from Chinese 三 (sān), with the pitch accent different from etymology 1. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

On’yomi

(Tokyo) サン [sáꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
IPA^(key): [sã̠ɴ]

Numeral

三(サン) • (san)

three

Derived terms

See 三/derived terms § Japanese etymology 2.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
三
み Grade: 1
kun’yomi

⟨mi₁⟩ → /mi/

From Old Japanese.

Likely an apophonic form of 六 (mu, “six”), compare 四 (yo, “four”) with 八 (ya, “eight”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Kun’yomi

(Tokyo) み [míꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
IPA^(key): [mʲi]

Numeral

三(み) • (mi)

three
一(ひ)、二(ふ)、三(み)、四(よ)、[…]
hi, fu, mi, yo, […]
one, two, three, four, […]

Derived terms

See 三/derived terms § Japanese etymology 3.

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
三
みい Grade: 1
irregular

/mi/ → /miː/

Shift from mi above.[1]

Pronunciation

(Irregular reading)

(Tokyo) みい [míꜜì] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
IPA^(key): [mʲiː]

Numeral

三(みい) • (mī)

(colloquial) three
一(ひい)、二(ふう)、三(みい)、四(よお)、五(いつ)、六(むう)、七(なあ)、八(やあ)、九(こお)、十(とお)
hī, fū, mī, yō, itsu, mū, nā, yā, kō, tō
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Coordinate terms

Japanese numbers
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Regular	零(れい) (rei) 零(ゼロ) (zero)	一(いち) (ichi)	二(に) (ni)	三(さん) (san)	四(よん) (yon) 四(し) (shi)	五(ご) (go)	六(ろく) (roku)	七(なな) (nana) 七(しち) (shichi)	八(はち) (hachi)	九(きゅう) (kyū) 九(く) (ku)	十(じゅう) (jū)
Formal	零(れい) (rei) 零(ゼロ) (zero)	壱(いち) (ichi)	弐(に) (ni)	参(さん) (san)	四(よん) (yon) 四(し) (shi)	五(ご) (go)	六(ろく) (roku)	七(なな) (nana) 七(しち) (shichi)	八(はち) (hachi)	九(きゅう) (kyū) 九(く) (ku)	拾(じゅう) (jū)
	90	100	300	600	800	1,000	3,000	8,000	10,000	100,000,000
Regular	九(きゅう)十(じゅう) (kyūjū)	百(ひゃく) (hyaku) 一(いっ)百(ぴゃく) (ippyaku)	三(さん)百(びゃく) (sanbyaku)	六(ろっ)百(ぴゃく) (roppyaku)	八(はっ)百(ぴゃく) (happyaku)	千(せん) (sen) 一(いっ)千(せん) (issen)	三(さん)千(ぜん) (sanzen)	八(はっ)千(せん) (hassen)	一(いち)万(まん) (ichiman)	一(いち)億(おく) (ichioku)
Formal	九(きゅう)十(じゅう) (kyūjū)	百(ひゃく) (hyaku) 一(いっ)百(ぴゃく) (ippyaku)	三(さん)百(びゃく) (sanbyaku)	六(ろっ)百(ぴゃく) (roppyaku)	八(はっ)百(ぴゃく) (happyaku)	千(せん) (sen) 一(いっ)千(せん) (issen)	三(さん)千(ぜん) (sanzen)	八(はっ)千(せん) (hassen)	一(いち)萬(まん) (ichiman)	一(いち)億(おく) (ichioku)
	10¹²	8×10¹²	10¹³	10¹⁶	6×10¹⁶	8×10¹⁶	10¹⁷	10¹⁸
	一(いっ)兆(ちょう) (itchō)	八(はっ)兆(ちょう) (hatchō)	十(じゅっ)兆(ちょう) (jutchō)	一(いっ)京(けい) (ikkei)	六(ろっ)京(けい) (rokkei)	八(はっ)京(けい) (hakkei)	十(じゅっ)京(けい) (jukkei)	百(ひゃっ)京(けい) (hyakkei)

References

2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

**Korean numbers ^(edit)**
	30
← 2	3	4 →
Native isol.: 셋 (set) Native attr.: 세 (se), (dated) 석 (seok), (archaic) 서 (seo) Sino-Korean: 삼 (sam) Hanja: 三 Ordinal: 셋째 (setjjae)

From Middle Chinese 三 (MC sɑm).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448	삼 (Yale: sàm)
Middle Korean
Text	Eumhun
Text	*Gloss (hun)*	Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527	석〯 (Yale: sěk)	삼 (Yale: sàm)

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰa̠m]
Phonetic hangul: [삼]

Hanja

Wikisource三 (eumhun 셋 삼 (set sam))

Hanja form^? of 삼 (“three”).

Compounds

See 三/derived terms § Korean.

References

국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

三: Hán Việt readings: tam (蘇(tô)甘(cam)切(thiết))[1][2][3][4]
三: Nôm readings: tam[1][2][3][4][5][6], ba[1], tám[5]

chữ Hán form of tam (“three”).

Compounds

See 三/derived terms § Vietnamese.

References

Nguyễn (2014).
Nguyễn et al. (2009).
Trần (2004).
Bonet (1899).
Génibrel (1898).
Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).

[DJR-1] 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[tdcndg-2] Nguyễn (2014).

[tdcntd-3] Nguyễn et al. (2009).

[gdhn-4] Trần (2004).

[bonet-5] Bonet (1899).

[genibrel-6] Génibrel (1898).

[taberd-7] Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).

三

Translingual

Han character

Derived characters

Descendants

References

Further reading

Chinese

Glyph origin

Etymology

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

See also

Compounds

Descendants

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

Compounds

References

Japanese

Kanji

Readings

Compounds

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Numeral

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Numeral

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Numeral

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Numeral

Coordinate terms

References

Korean

Etymology

Pronunciation

Hanja

Compounds

References

Vietnamese

Han character

Compounds

References