任

See also: 仟 and 件

任	U+4EFB, 任 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4EFB

← 仺
[U+4EFA]

CJK Unified Ideographs

仼 →
[U+4EFC]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

任 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+4, 6 strokes, cangjie input 人竹土 (OHG), four-corner 2221₄, composition ⿰亻壬)

Derived characters

𠲏, 姙, 𢂧, 㤛, 拰, 㳝, 𤞘, 栣, 𭴞, 𭹆, 𥆂, 𥙛, 秹, 袵, 絍(𫟃), 𦣨, 䛘(𬣯), 𫏊, 𨠲, 銋, 餁
𨿂, 𪀼, 𠲉, 荏, 䇮, 𫕤, 𤶄, 凭, 𡜟, 𫶭, 恁, 栠, 𤇲, 㶵, 𠄶, 𬓧, 䋕, 𦚮, 𧙨, 賃(赁), 𨉃, 䣸, 𨿃, 𩷀, 鵀(𬸊)

References

KangXi: page 94, character 24
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 416
Dae Jaweon: page 200, character 15
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 122, character 6
Unihan data for U+4EFB

Chinese

trad.		任
simp. ^#		任

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 任

Shang

Western Zhou

Warring States

Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)

Liushutong (compiled in Ming)

Oracle bone script

Bronze inscriptions

Chu slip and silk script

Small seal script

Transcribed ancient scripts

**Bronze inscriptions**
b12353	b12354

**Small seal script**
s05801

**Transcribed ancient scripts**
L33730	L33731	L12273	L12274	L12275	L12276	L12277	L12278
L12279

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 (壬) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
紝	nɯm, njɯm, *njɯms
鵀	nɯm, njɯm, *njɯms
拰	*nɯmʔ
賃	*nɯms
任	njɯm, njɯms
壬	l̥ʰeːŋʔ, njɯm
恁	njɯm, njɯmʔ
銋	njɯm, njɯmʔ
荏	*njɯmʔ
餁	*njɯmʔ
栠	*njɯmʔ
袵	*njɯmʔ
飪	*njɯmʔ
妊	*njɯms
衽	*njɯms

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *njɯm, *njɯms) : semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 壬 (OC *l̥ʰeːŋʔ, *njɯm) – to carry on a shoulder pole.

Note that its phonetic part 壬 (OC *njɯm) may be the graphical representation of 任, depicting a shoulder pole rotated by 90 degrees.

Etymology

Cognate with 妊 (OC *njɯms, “pregnant”) and Tibetan སྣོམ་པ (snom pa, “to take; seize; hold”). May also be cognate with Proto-Kam-Sui *ȵam¹ (“to hold”) and Old Khmer nāṃ (“to carry”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): rèn (ren⁴)
(Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˋ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou, Jyutping): jam⁶
(Taishan, Wiktionary): ngim⁵
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): yim / ngim
(Meixian, Guangdong): yim⁴
Min Dong (BUC): êng
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): līm / jīm
(Teochew, Peng'im): rim⁶ / rim⁷
Wu (Wiktionary): zen (T3)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: rèn
  - Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: rèn
  - Wade–Giles: jên⁴
  - Yale: rèn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: renn
  - Palladius: жэнь (žɛnʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐən⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jam⁶
  - Yale: yahm
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jam⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: yem⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐm²²/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: ngim⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ᵑɡim³²/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yim / ngim
  - Hakka Romanization System: im / ngim
  - Hagfa Pinyim: yim⁴ / ngim⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /im⁵⁵/, /ɲim⁵⁵/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yim / ngim
  - Hakka Romanization System: (r)im / ngim
  - Hagfa Pinyim: yim⁴ / ngim⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /(j)im⁵⁵/, /ɲim⁵⁵/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: yim⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /im⁵³/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: êng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛiŋ²⁴²/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Taipei, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: līm
  - Tâi-lô: līm
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lim
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /lim⁴¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /lim²²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /lim³³/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jīm
  - Tâi-lô: jīm
  - Phofsit Daibuun: jim
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡ʑim²²/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ʑim³³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: rim⁶ / rim⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: jĭm / jīm
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /d͡zim³⁵/, /d͡zim¹¹/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: zen (T3)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /z̥əɲ²³/

Note: literary.

Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 任 (責任)
Mandarin	Beijing	/ʐən⁵¹/
	Harbin	/ʐən⁵³/
	Tianjin	/in⁵³/ /ʐən⁵³/
	Jinan	/ʐẽ²¹/
	Qingdao	/iə̃⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/ʐən³¹²/
	Xi'an	/ʐẽ⁴⁴/
	Xining	/ʐə̃²¹³/
	Yinchuan	/ʐəŋ¹³/
	Lanzhou	/ʐə̃n¹³/
	Ürümqi	/ʐɤŋ²¹³/
	Wuhan	/nən³⁵/
	Chengdu	/zən¹³/
	Guiyang	/zen²¹³/
	Kunming	/ʐə̃²¹²/
	Nanjing	/ʐən⁴⁴/
	Hefei	/ʐən⁵³/
Jin	Taiyuan	/zəŋ⁴⁵/
	Pingyao	/ʐəŋ³⁵/
	Hohhot	/ʐə̃ŋ⁵⁵/
Wu	Shanghai	/zəŋ²³/
	Suzhou	/zən³¹/
	Hangzhou	/zen¹³/
	Wenzhou	/zaŋ²²/
Hui	Shexian	/iʌ̃²²/
Hui	Tunxi	/ian¹¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/ʐən⁵⁵/
Xiang	Xiangtan	/in⁵⁵/
Gan	Nanchang	/lɨn²¹/
Hakka	Meixian	/im⁵³/
Hakka	Taoyuan	/im⁵⁵/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/jɐm²²/
	Nanning	/jɐm²²/
	Hong Kong	/jɐm²²/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/lim²²/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/ɛiŋ²⁴²/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/iŋ⁴⁴/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/zim³⁵/ /zim³¹/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/zim³³/

Middle Chinese: /ȵiɪm^H/

Rime
Character	任
Reading #	2/2
Initial (聲)	日 (38)
Final (韻)	侵 (139)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	汝鴆切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵiɪm^H/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵim^H/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑjem^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵim^H/
Li Rong	/ȵiəm^H/
Wang Li	/ȵʑĭĕm^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȵʑi̯əm^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	rèn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jam⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*n[ə]m-s/
(Zhengzhang): /*njɯms/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	任
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	rèn
Middle Chinese	‹ nyim^H ›
Old Chinese	/*n[ə]m-s/
English	burden; charge (n.)
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	任
Reading #	2/2
No.	10823
Phonetic component	壬
Rime group	侵
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	妊
Old Chinese	/*njɯms/

Definitions

任

to carry on a shoulder pole; to carry
to bear; to endure; to put up with
to take charge of; to assume the post of; to be in charge of
to trust to; to rely on; to believe; to guarantee
to appoint; to assign someone to a post
to indulge; to be self-indulgent; to allow
- 放任 ― fàngrèn ― to indulge
load; burden; luggage; baggage
duty; responsibility; obligation
- 任務／任务 ― rènwù ― task; mission
tenure; term of office; incumbency
- 現任／现任 ― xiànrèn ― to be currently serving as; incumbent
- 前任 ― qiánrèn ― predecessor
- 繼任／继任 ― jìrèn ― successor
office; post; position
officeholder; postholder
even if; even though
no matter how; regardless of
Classifier for terms of office.

Compounds

Derived terms from 任

一任 (yīrèn)
一身二任
上任 (shàngrèn)
不任 (bùrèn)
不信任案
主任 (zhǔrèn)
任人 (rènrén)
任意 (rènyì)
信任 (xìnrèn)
信任投票 (xìnrèn tóupiào)
充任 (chōngrèn)
兼任 (jiānrèn)
出任 (chūrèn)
到任 (dàorèn)
前任 (qiánrèn)
力微任重
卸任 (xièrèn)
原任
叨任
可任
器任
在任 (zàirèn)
大任
委任 (wěirèn)
委任立法
就任 (jiùrèn)
常任 (chángrèn)
承任
接任 (jiērèn)
撤任
放任 (fàngrèn)
放任自流
新任 (xīnrèn)
柄任
治任
派任 (pàirèn)
燮和之任
特任
留任 (liúrèn)
矜己任智
知人善任 (zhīrénshànrèn)
科任 (kērèn)
聘任 (pìnrèn)
聘任制

膺任
自由放任 (zìyóufàngrèn)
解任 (jiěrèn)
赴任 (fùrèn)
重任 (zhòngrèn)
高下任心
升任 (shēngrèn)
荐任
主任委員／主任委员
信任狀／信任状
刑事責任／刑事责任 (xíngshì zérèn)
力不勝任／力不胜任
勝任／胜任 (shèngrèn)
勝任愉快／胜任愉快
勢任／势任
國際責任／国际责任
委任狀／委任状
委任直選／委任直选
委任統治／委任统治
寵任／宠任
專任／专任 (zhuānrèn)
後任／后任 (hòurèn)
得權重任／得权重任 (dé quán zhòngrèn)
復任／复任
推賢任人／推贤任人
擔任／担任 (dānrèn)
放任行為／放任行为
放蕩任氣／放荡任气
政治責任／政治责任
教務主任／教务主任
會任之家／会任之家
棟梁之任／栋梁之任
歷任／历任 (lìrèn)
民事責任／民事责任 (mínshì zérèn)
無任／无任 (wúrèn)
無任之祿／无任之禄
猥當大任／猥当大任
現任／现任 (xiànrèn)
用賢任能／用贤任能
眾怒難任／众怒难任
科任老師／科任老师
簡任／简任
級任／级任 (jírèn)
級任制／级任制

級任導師／级任导师
級任老師／级任老师
繼任／继任 (jìrèn)
續任／续任 (xùrèn)
職任／职任
聽之任之／听之任之 (tīngzhīrènzhī)
聽任／听任 (tīngrèn)
聽天任命／听天任命 (tīngtiānrènmìng)
致遠任重／致远任重
舉賢任能／举贤任能
蒞任／莅任 (lìrèn)
薦任／荐任
薦賢任能／荐贤任能
親任／亲任
調任／调任 (diàorèn)
負才任氣／负才任气
責任／责任 (zérèn)
責任事故／责任事故
責任保險／责任保险 (zérèn bǎoxiǎn)
責任內閣／责任内阁
責任制／责任制 (zérènzhì)
責任感／责任感 (zérèngǎn)
走馬上任／走马上任
走馬之任／走马之任
走馬到任／走马到任
走馬赴任／走马赴任
輕財任俠／轻财任侠
轉任／转任
連任／连任 (liánrèn)
連帶責任／连带责任
連階累任／连阶累任
進賢任能／进贤任能
道義責任／道义责任
道遠任重／道远任重
適任／适任 (shìrèn)
選任／选任
選賢任能／选贤任能
重責大任／重责大任
離任／离任 (lírèn)
難任／难任
難當重任／难当重任
非異人任／非异人任
革職留任／革职留任

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): rén (ren²)
(Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jam⁴, jam⁶
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): lîm / jîm
(Teochew, Peng'im): rim⁶
Wu (Wiktionary): nyin (T3)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: rén
  - Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: rén
  - Wade–Giles: jên²
  - Yale: rén
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ren
  - Palladius: жэнь (žɛnʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐən³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jam⁴, jam⁶
  - Yale: yàhm, yahm
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jam⁴, jam⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: yem⁴, yem⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐm²¹/, /jɐm²²/

Note:

jam4 - prescribed;
jam6 - variant.

Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lîm
  - Tâi-lô: lîm
  - Phofsit Daibuun: liim
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Xiamen): /lim²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jîm
  - Tâi-lô: jîm
  - Phofsit Daibuun: jiim
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡ʑim¹³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: rim⁶
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: jĭm
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /d͡zim³⁵/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: nyin (T3)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /n̠ʲɪɲ²³/

Note: vernacular (“surname”).

Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 任 (姓任)
Mandarin	Beijing	/ʐən³⁵/
	Harbin	/ʐən²⁴/
	Tianjin	/in⁴⁵/ /ʐən⁴⁵/
	Jinan	/ʐẽ⁴²/
	Qingdao	/iə̃⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/ʐən⁴²/
	Xi'an	/ʐẽ²⁴/
	Xining	/ʐə̃²⁴/
	Yinchuan	/ʐəŋ⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/ʐə̃n⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/ʐɤŋ⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/nən²¹³/
	Chengdu	/zən³¹/
	Guiyang	/zen²¹/
	Kunming	/ʐə̃³¹/
	Nanjing	/ʐən²⁴/
	Hefei	/ʐən⁵⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/zəŋ¹¹/
	Pingyao	/ʐəŋ¹³/
	Hohhot	/ʐə̃ŋ³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/ȵiŋ²³/ /zəŋ²³/
	Suzhou	/ȵin¹³/
	Hangzhou	/zen²¹³/
	Wenzhou	/ȵaŋ³¹/
Hui	Shexian	/iʌ̃²²/
Hui	Tunxi	/ian¹¹/
Xiang	Changsha	/ʐən¹³/
Xiang	Xiangtan	/in⁵⁵/
Gan	Nanchang
Hakka	Meixian	/im⁵³/
Hakka	Taoyuan
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/jɐm²¹/
	Nanning	/jɐm²²/
	Hong Kong	/jɐm²¹/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/lim³⁵/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/iŋ⁵³/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/iŋ²¹/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/zim³⁵/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/zim³⁵/

Middle Chinese: /ȵiɪm/

Rime
Character	任
Reading #	1/2
Initial (聲)	日 (38)
Final (韻)	侵 (139)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	如林切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵiɪm/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵim/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑjem/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵim/
Li Rong	/ȵiəm/
Wang Li	/ȵʑĭĕm/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȵʑi̯əm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	rén
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jam⁴

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*njɯm/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	任
Reading #	1/2
No.	10808
Phonetic component	壬
Rime group	侵
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	任
Old Chinese	/*njɯm/

Definitions

任

(historical) an ancient woman's rank of nobility
(historical) an ancient music of the southern indigenous people
^† Alternative form of 壬 (rén, “artful; fawning”).
a surname
任弼時／任弼时 ― Rén Bìshí ― Ren Bishi (military and political leader in the early Chinese Communist Party)

Compounds

任丘 (Rénqiū)
任人 (rénrén)

任澤／任泽 (Rénzé)
任縣／任县 (Rén Xiàn)

任莊／任庄 (Rénzhuāng)

Japanese

Kanji

任

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

responsibility
duty
term
entrust to
appoint

Readings

Go-on: にん (nin, Jōyō)^{←にん (nin, historical)}^{←にむ (nimu, ancient)}
Kan-on: じん (jin)^{←じん (zin, historical)}^{←じむ (zimu, ancient)}
Kun: まかす (makasu, 任す, Jōyō); まかせる (makaseru, 任せる, Jōyō); になう (ninau, 任う); たえる (taeru, 任える)
Nanori: さ (sa); とう (tō); ひで (hide)

Compounds

責(せき)任(にん) (sekinin)
委(い)任(にん) (inin)
解(かい)任(にん) (kainin)
無(む)責(せき)任(にん) (musekinin)
専(せん)任(にん) (sennin)
信(しん)任(にん) (shinnin)
任(にん)天(てん)堂(どう) (nintendō)
任(にん)命(めい) (ninmei)
任(にん)務(む) (ninmu)

Noun

任(にん) • (nin)

duty, responsibility, obligation

Korean

Hanja

任 (eumhun 맡길 임 (matgil im))

Hanja form^? of 임 (“duty; responsibility”).

Compounds

상임 (常任, sang'im)
책임 (責任, chaegim)

Vietnamese

Han character

任: Hán Việt readings: nhậm[1][2][3], nhiệm[1][3], nhâm[3]
任: Nôm readings: nhậm[1][2][3], nhằm[1][2][3], nhiệm[1][4], nhầm[2][4], nhẩm[3][4], nhăm[3], nhặm[3], vững[3]

This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

Nguyễn (2014).
Nguyễn et al. (2009).
Trần (2004).
Hồ (1976).

[tdcndg-1] Nguyễn (2014).

[tdcntd-2] Nguyễn et al. (2009).

[gdhn-3] Trần (2004).

[btcn-4] Hồ (1976).