妙

See also: 玅

妙	U+5999, 妙 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5999

← 妘
[U+5998]

CJK Unified Ideographs

妚 →
[U+599A]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

妙 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 女火竹 (VFH), four-corner 4942₀, composition ⿰女少)

Derived characters

𠴕, 𭚵, 𢭼, 𪶋, 𨁭, 𪴽, 𪝹, 𦯷, 𫁐, 𥭝

References

KangXi: page 256, character 24
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6090
Dae Jaweon: page 521, character 4
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1030, character 10
Unihan data for U+5999

Chinese

trad.		妙
simp. ^#		妙
alternative forms		玅眇

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
觘	sm̥ʰreːw, sm̥ʰreːws
抄	sm̥ʰreːw, sm̥ʰreːws
鈔	sm̥ʰreːw, sm̥ʰreːws
訬	sm̥ʰreːw, mewʔ
炒	*sʰroːʔ
吵	sm̥ʰreːwʔ, mewʔ
耖	*sm̥ʰreːws
仯	*sm̥ʰreːws
眇	*mewʔ
渺	*mewʔ
杪	*mewʔ
秒	*mewʔ
篎	mewʔ, mews
妙	*mews
玅	*mews
釥	*sm̥ʰewʔ
小	*smewʔ
少	hmjewʔ, hmjews
麨	*m̥ʰjewʔ
尠	senʔ, smos

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *mews) : semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 少 (OC *hmjewʔ, *hmjews)

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): miào (miao⁴)
(Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄠˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): miu⁶
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): méu / meu
(Meixian, Guangdong): miau⁴
Min Dong (BUC): miêu
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): biāu / miāu
(Teochew, Peng'im): miao⁶ / miou⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: miào
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄠˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: miào
  - Wade–Giles: miao⁴
  - Yale: myàu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: miaw
  - Palladius: мяо (mjao)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mjɑʊ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: miu⁶
  - Yale: miuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: miu⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: miu⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /miːu̯²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: méu / meu
  - Hakka Romanization System: meu` / meu
  - Hagfa Pinyim: meu³ / meu⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /meu̯³¹/, /meu̯⁵⁵/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: miau⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /miau⁵³/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: miêu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /miɛu²⁴²/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: biāu
  - Tâi-lô: biāu
  - Phofsit Daibuun: biau
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /biau²²/
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /biau³³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang): /biau⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: miāu
  - Tâi-lô: miāu
  - Phofsit Daibuun: miau
  - IPA (Singapore): /miau²²/
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /miãu³³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: miao⁶ / miou⁶
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: miău / miŏu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /miau³⁵/, /miou³⁵/

Note:

miao6 - Shantou;
miou6 - Chaozhou.

Middle Chinese: /miᴇu^H/

Rime
Character	妙
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	宵 (91)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	彌笑切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/miᴇu^H/
Pan Wuyun	/miɛu^H/
Shao Rongfen	/mjæu^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/miaw^H/
Li Rong	/miɛu^H/
Wang Li	/mĭɛu^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/mi̯ɛu^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	miào
Expected Cantonese Reflex	miu⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[m]ew(ʔ)-s/
(Zhengzhang): /*mews/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	妙
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	miào
Middle Chinese	‹ mjiew^H ›
Old Chinese	/*[m]ew(ʔ)-s/
English	marvelous
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	妙
Reading #	1/1
No.	13702
Phonetic component	小
Rime group	宵
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	妙
Old Chinese	/*mews/

Definitions

妙

subtle; mysterious; profound
fine; glorious; marvelous; wonderful; exquisite
ingenious; clever
young
a surname: Miao

Synonyms

(ingenious):

edit

奇妙 (qímiào)
奇巧 (qíqiǎo)

巧妙 (qiǎomiào)
神奇 (shénqí)

神妙 (shénmiào)
神秘 (shénmì)

(fine):

edit

亹亹 (wěiwěi) (literary)
佼好 (jiǎohǎo) (literary)
妙善 (miàoshàn) (literary)
美善 (měishàn) (literary)

美好 (měihǎo)
美妙 (měimiào)
圓滿／圆满 (yuánmǎn)

完滿／完满 (wánmǎn)
美滿／美满 (měimǎn)
錦繡／锦绣 (jǐnxiù) (figurative)

Compounds

Derived terms from 妙

不妙 (bùmiào)
丹青妙手
二妙
唯妙唯肖
墨妙
大事不妙
大妙 (dàmiào)
奇妙 (qímiào)
妙不可言
妙事
妙人
妙品
妙善 (miàoshàn)
妙善公主
妙喻
妙喻取譬
妙土
妙年
妙悟 (miàowù)
妙想
妙手 (miàoshǒu)
妙手丹青
妙手回春 (miàoshǒuhuíchūn)
妙手空空
妙才
妙招 (miàozhāo)
妙方 (miàofāng)
妙曲
妙果
妙法 (miàofǎ)
妙物
妙理
妙用 (miàoyòng)
妙策 (miàocè)
妙算 (miàosuàn)
妙舞 (miàowǔ)
妙舞清歌
妙言要道
妙趣 (miàoqù)
妙道

妙音 (miàoyīn)
宛妙
巧妙 (qiǎomiào)
幼妙
微妙 (wēimiào)
拍案叫妙
曼妙
深妙
清歌妙舞
玄妙 (xuánmiào)
玄妙入神
神妙 (shénmiào)
神工妙力
精妙 (jīngmiào)
精妙入神
美妙 (měimiào)
至妙
莫名其妙 (mòmíngqímiào)
莫明其妙
要妙
要言妙道
造微入妙
高妙
奧妙／奥妙 (àomiào)
妙用無窮／妙用无穷
妙畫通靈／妙画通灵
妙發靈機／妙发灵机
妙筆／妙笔 (miàobǐ)
妙筆生花／妙笔生花
妙簡／妙简
妙絕一時／妙绝一时
妙絕時人／妙绝时人
妙聞／妙闻
妙聲／妙声
妙藥／妙药 (miàoyào)
妙處／妙处 (miàochù)
妙處不傳／妙处不传
妙計／妙计 (miàojì)
妙訣／妙诀
妙語／妙语 (miàoyǔ)

妙語如珠／妙语如珠
妙語橫生／妙语横生
妙語解頤／妙语解颐
妙語連珠／妙语连珠 (miàoyǔliánzhū)
妙論／妙论
妙趣橫生／妙趣横生 (miàoqùhéngshēng)
妙選／妙选
妙齡／妙龄
妙齡女郎／妙龄女郎
搜奇選妙／搜奇选妙
曲盡其妙／曲尽其妙
殊形妙狀／殊形妙状
玄妙無窮／玄妙无穷
玄妙莫測／玄妙莫测
玄機妙算／玄机妙算
玄關妙理／玄关妙理
生花妙筆／生花妙笔
神機妙用／神机妙用
神機妙策／神机妙策
神機妙算／神机妙算 (shénjīmiàosuàn)
神機妙術／神机妙术
神算妙計／神算妙计
神術妙法／神术妙法
神術妙策／神术妙策
神術妙計／神术妙计
神謀妙策／神谋妙策
稱奇道妙／称奇道妙
窮妙極巧／穷妙极巧
窮極其妙／穷极其妙
窮極要妙／穷极要妙
窮靈盡妙／穷灵尽妙
精妙絕倫／精妙绝伦
絕妙／绝妙 (juémiào)
絕妙好辭／绝妙好辞
維妙維肖／维妙维肖 (wéimiàowéixiào)
語妙絕倫／语妙绝伦
錦囊妙計／锦囊妙计 (jǐnnángmiàojì)
閨中妙質／闺中妙质
靈丹妙藥／灵丹妙药 (língdānmiàoyào)
餘妙繞梁／余妙绕梁

Pronunciation 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 妙 – see 眇 (“tiny; minute; minuscule”). (This character, 妙, is a variant form of 眇.)

Japanese

Kanji

妙

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

mysterious
strange, bizarre

Readings

Go-on: みょう (myō, Jōyō)^{←めう (meu, historical)}
Kan-on: びょう (byō)^{←べう (beu, historical)}
Kun: わかい (wakai, 妙い); たえ (tae, 妙)^{←たへ (tafe, historical)}

Kanji in this term
妙
みょう Grade: S
on’yomi

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) みょー [myóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
IPA^(key): [mʲo̞ː]
Audio (file)

Adjective

妙(みょう) • (myō) ^{←めう (meu)^?} -na (adnominal 妙(みょう)な (myō na), adverbial 妙(みょう)に (myō ni))

strange
- 1906, Natsume Sōseki, Botchan‎:
  妙(みょう)に女(おんな)のような優(やさ)しい声(こえ)を出(だ)す人(ひと)だった。
  Myō ni onna no yō na yasashii koe o dasu hito datta.
  He talked in a strangely effeminate voice like a woman.
excellent

Inflection

Inflection of 妙

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	妙だろ	みょうだろ	myō daro
Continuative (連用形)	妙で	みょうで	myō de
Terminal (終止形)	妙だ	みょうだ	myō da
Attributive (連体形)	妙な	みょうな	myō na
Hypothetical (仮定形)	妙なら	みょうなら	myō nara
Imperative (命令形)	妙であれ	みょうであれ	myō de are
Key constructions
Informal negative	妙ではない妙じゃない	みょうではないみょうじゃない	myō de wa nai myō ja nai
Informal past	妙だった	みょうだった	myō datta
Informal negative past	妙ではなかった妙じゃなかった	みょうではなかったみょうじゃなかった	myō de wa nakatta myō ja nakatta
Formal	妙です	みょうです	myō desu
Formal negative	妙ではありません妙じゃありません	みょうではありませんみょうじゃありません	myō de wa arimasen myō ja arimasen
Formal past	妙でした	みょうでした	myō deshita
Formal negative past	妙ではありませんでした妙じゃありませんでした	みょうではありませんでしたみょうじゃありませんでした	myō de wa arimasen deshita myō ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive	妙で	みょうで	myō de
Conditional	妙なら（ば）	みょうなら（ば）	myō nara (ba)
Provisional	妙だったら	みょうだったら	myō dattara
Volitional	妙だろう	みょうだろう	myō darō
Adverbial	妙に	みょうに	myō ni
Degree	妙さ	みょうさ	myōsa

Noun

妙(みょう) • (myō)

excellence

References

1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja

妙 (eumhun 묘할 묘 (myohal myo))

Hanja form^? of 묘 (“mysterious, subtle”).
Hanja form^? of 묘 (“exquisite”).

Vietnamese

Han character

妙: Hán Nôm readings: diệu

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

[NHK-1] 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN