伺

See also: 何 and 同

伺	U+4F3A, 伺 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F3A

← 伹
[U+4F39]

CJK Unified Ideographs

伻 →
[U+4F3B]

Translingual

Han character

伺 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 人尸一口 (OSMR), four-corner 2722₀, composition ⿰亻司)

serve, wait upon, attend
examine

References

KangXi: page 97, character 8

Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 483

Dae Jaweon: page 205, character 14

Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 139, character 5

Unihan data for U+4F3A

Chinese

simp. and trad.		伺

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 伺

**Small seal script**
s05924

**Transcribed ancient scripts**
L19232	L19233	L19234

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 (司) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
司	*slɯ
伺	slɯ, slɯs
覗	slɯ, slɯs
笥	slɯ, slɯs
詞	*ljɯ
祠	*ljɯ
柌	*ljɯ
嗣	*ljɯs
孠	*ljɯs
飼	*ljɯs
呞	*hljɯ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *slɯ, *slɯs) : semantic 人 (“person, man”) + phonetic 司 (OC *slɯ) – a person stands beside (attends), looks in.

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sì (si⁴)
(Zhuyin): ㄙˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zi⁶, si⁶
Min Nan (POJ): sù / sìr / sì

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sì
  - Zhuyin: ㄙˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sìh
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ⁴
  - Yale: sz̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syh
  - Palladius: сы (sy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: zi⁶, si⁶
  - Yale: jih, sih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzi⁶, si⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ji⁶, xi⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː²²/, /siː²²/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sù
  - Tâi-lô: sù
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sux
  - IPA (Taipei): /su¹¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung): /su²¹/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sìr
  - Tâi-lô: sìr
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sì
  - Tâi-lô: sì
  - Phofsit Daibuun: six
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /ɕi²¹/

Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 伺
Mandarin	Beijing	/t͡sʰz̩⁵¹/
	Harbin	/t͡sʰz̩⁵³/ ～候 /sz̩⁵³/ ～機
	Tianjin	/t͡sʰz̩⁵³/
	Jinan	/t͡sʰz̩²¹/
	Qingdao	/t͡sʰz̩⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/t͡sʰz̩³¹²/
	Xi'an	/t͡sʰz̩⁴⁴/
	Xining	/sz̩⁴⁴/ /t͡sʰz̩²¹³/ ～新
	Yinchuan	/t͡sʰz̩¹³/
	Lanzhou	/t͡sʰz̩¹³/ ～候 /sz̩¹³/ 窺視
	Ürümqi	/t͡sʰz̩²¹³/
	Wuhan	/t͡sʰz̩³⁵/
	Chengdu	/sz̩¹³/ /t͡sʰz̩¹³/
	Guiyang	/sz̩²¹³/ /t͡sʰz̩²¹³/
	Kunming	/t͡sʰz̩²¹²/ ～候 /sz̩²¹²/ ～機
	Nanjing	/t͡sʰz̩⁴⁴/
	Hefei	/t͡sʰz̩⁵³/
Jin	Taiyuan	/t͡sʰz̩⁴⁵/
	Pingyao	/t͡sʰz̩³⁵/
	Hohhot	/t͡sʰz̩⁵⁵/
Wu	Shanghai	/zz̩²³/
	Suzhou	/zz̩³¹/
	Hangzhou	/sz̩⁴⁴⁵/
	Wenzhou	/zz̩²²/
Hui	Shexian	/t͡sʰz̩³²⁴/ /sz̩²²/
Hui	Tunxi	/t͡sʰz̩⁴²/
Xiang	Changsha	/t͡sʰz̩⁵⁵/ ～候 /sz̩⁵⁵/ ～機
Xiang	Xiangtan	/sz̩⁵⁵/
Gan	Nanchang
Hakka	Meixian	/sz̩⁵³/
Hakka	Taoyuan	/sï⁵⁵/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/t͡si²²/
	Nanning	/t͡sʰz̩³³/
	Hong Kong	/t͡si²²/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/su²¹/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/søy²¹²/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/su³³/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/sɯ³⁵/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/si²³/

Middle Chinese: /sɨ^H/, /sɨ/

Rime
Character	伺	伺
Reading #	2/2	1/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	之 (19)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	相吏切	息兹切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɨ^H/	/sɨ/
Pan Wuyun	/sɨ^H/	/sɨ/
Shao Rongfen	/sie^H/	/sie/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sɨ^H/	/sɨ/
Li Rong	/siə^H/	/siə/
Wang Li	/sĭə^H/	/sĭə/
Bernard Karlgren	/si^H/	/si/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sì	sī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si³	si¹

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*slɯs/, /*slɯ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	伺	伺
Reading #	2/2	1/2
No.	11955	11952
Phonetic component	司	司
Rime group	之	之
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	笥	思
Old Chinese	/*slɯs/	/*slɯ/

Definitions

伺

to spy; to examine
to wait

Compounds

伏伺
伺便 (sìbiàn)
伺察
伺探
伺隙
守株伺兔

狙伺
鬼伺
伺晨鳥／伺晨鸟
伺機／伺机 (sìjī)
伺機而動／伺机而动
偵伺／侦伺 (zhēnsì)

強敵環伺／强敌环伺
環伺／环伺 (huánsì)
窺伺／窥伺 (kuīsì)
觀釁伺隙／观衅伺隙
詗伺／诇伺
黃雀伺蟬／黄雀伺蝉

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): cì (ci⁴)
(Zhuyin): ㄘˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zi⁶, si⁶
Min Nan (POJ): sù / sìr / sū

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: cì
  - Zhuyin: ㄘˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cìh
  - Wade–Giles: tzʻŭ⁴
  - Yale: tsz̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsyh
  - Palladius: цы (cy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰz̩⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: zi⁶, si⁶
  - Yale: jih, sih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzi⁶, si⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ji⁶, xi⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː²²/, /siː²²/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sù
  - Tâi-lô: sù
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sux
  - IPA (Taipei): /su¹¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung): /su²¹/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sìr
  - Tâi-lô: sìr
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sū
  - Tâi-lô: sū
  - Phofsit Daibuun: su
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /su³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /su²²/

Note:

Xiamen, Zhangzhou:
- sù - literary;
- sū - vernacular.

Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 伺
Mandarin	Beijing	/t͡sʰz̩⁵¹/
	Harbin	/t͡sʰz̩⁵³/ ～候 /sz̩⁵³/ ～機
	Tianjin	/t͡sʰz̩⁵³/
	Jinan	/t͡sʰz̩²¹/
	Qingdao	/t͡sʰz̩⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/t͡sʰz̩³¹²/
	Xi'an	/t͡sʰz̩⁴⁴/
	Xining	/sz̩⁴⁴/ /t͡sʰz̩²¹³/ ～新
	Yinchuan	/t͡sʰz̩¹³/
	Lanzhou	/t͡sʰz̩¹³/ ～候 /sz̩¹³/ 窺視
	Ürümqi	/t͡sʰz̩²¹³/
	Wuhan	/t͡sʰz̩³⁵/
	Chengdu	/sz̩¹³/ /t͡sʰz̩¹³/
	Guiyang	/sz̩²¹³/ /t͡sʰz̩²¹³/
	Kunming	/t͡sʰz̩²¹²/ ～候 /sz̩²¹²/ ～機
	Nanjing	/t͡sʰz̩⁴⁴/
	Hefei	/t͡sʰz̩⁵³/
Jin	Taiyuan	/t͡sʰz̩⁴⁵/
	Pingyao	/t͡sʰz̩³⁵/
	Hohhot	/t͡sʰz̩⁵⁵/
Wu	Shanghai	/zz̩²³/
	Suzhou	/zz̩³¹/
	Hangzhou	/sz̩⁴⁴⁵/
	Wenzhou	/zz̩²²/
Hui	Shexian	/t͡sʰz̩³²⁴/ /sz̩²²/
Hui	Tunxi	/t͡sʰz̩⁴²/
Xiang	Changsha	/t͡sʰz̩⁵⁵/ ～候 /sz̩⁵⁵/ ～機
Xiang	Xiangtan	/sz̩⁵⁵/
Gan	Nanchang
Hakka	Meixian	/sz̩⁵³/
Hakka	Taoyuan	/sï⁵⁵/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/t͡si²²/
	Nanning	/t͡sʰz̩³³/
	Hong Kong	/t͡si²²/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/su²¹/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/søy²¹²/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/su³³/
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/sɯ³⁵/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/si²³/

Middle Chinese: /sɨ^H/

Rime
Character	伺
Reading #	2/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	相吏切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɨ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/sɨ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/sie^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sɨ^H/
Li Rong	/siə^H/
Wang Li	/sĭə^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/si^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si³

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*slɯs/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	伺
Reading #	2/2
No.	11955
Phonetic component	司
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	笥
Old Chinese	/*slɯs/

Definitions

伺

Only used in 伺候 (cìhou).

Japanese

Kanji

伺

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Inquire [ask] after[1]
Inquire about/ask[1]

0053 Kanji. Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary: Revised and Expanded, Hepburn, Jack. 2013.

Readings

Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
Kun: うかがう (ukagau, 伺う, Jōyō); うかがい (ukagai, 伺い)

Compounds

伺(うかが)う (ukagau)

Korean

Hanja

伺 • (sa) (hangeul 사, revised sa, McCune–Reischauer sa)

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

[:0-1] 0053 Kanji. Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary: Revised and Expanded, Hepburn, Jack. 2013.