曷

曷

曷 U+66F7, 曷 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-66F7 ← 曶 [U+66F6] CJK Unified Ideographs 書 → [U+66F8]

Translingual

Han character

曷 (Kangxi radical 73, 曰+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 日心女人 (APVO), four-corner 6072₇, composition ⿱曰匃)

Derived characters

• 偈 喝 堨 嵑 幆 㡫 愒 揭 渴 猲 遏 暍 楬 㷎 㹇 㿣 碣 䅥 竭 朅 褐 䋵 羯 蝎 謁(谒) 輵 鍻 鞨 餲 馤 騔 𩩲 齃 𥃞
• 㓭 㔠 歇 毼 𣍊 䫘 鶡 鹖 葛 䈓 䨠 𤸎 䦪 㬞

References

• KangXi: page 502, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14290
• Dae Jaweon: page 874, character 15
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1502, character 10
• Unihan data for U+66F7

---

Chinese

trad.		曷
simp. #		曷

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 曷
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
愒	*kʰaːds, *kʰrads, *kʰrad
馤	*qaːds
靄	*qaːds, *qaːd
餲	*qraːds, *qrads, *ɡaːd, *qaːd
喝	*qraːds, *qʰoːb, *qʰaːd
揭	*kʰrads, *ked, *kʰrad, *ɡrad, *kad, *ɡad
偈	*ɡrads, *ɡrad
猲	*kʰob, *qʰaːd, *qʰad
葛	*kaːd
輵	*kaːd
獦	*klaːd, *rab
渴	*kʰaːd, *ɡrad
嵑	*kʰaːd
暍	*qʰaːd, *qad
曷	*ɡaːd
褐	*ɡaːd
鶡	*ɡaːd
毼	*ɡaːd
蝎	*ɡaːd
鞨	*ɡaːd, *ɢljad
遏	*qaːd
齃	*qaːd
堨	*qaːd
擖	*kʰreːd, *kraːd, *r'aːb
楬	*kʰraːd, *ɡrad, *ɡad
朅	*kʰrad
藒	*kʰrad
竭	*ɡrad, *ɡad
碣	*ɡrad, *ɡad
羯	*kad
鍻	*kad
歇	*qʰad
蠍	*qʰad
謁	*qad

Etymology

Cognate with 何 (OC *ɡaːl, “what; where; why; how”). See there for more.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hé (he²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄜˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hot³, hot⁶
• Min Nan (POJ): hat

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hé
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hé
    • Wade–Giles: ho²
    • Yale: hé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: her
    • Palladius: хэ (xɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: hot³, hot⁶
    • Yale: hot, hoht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hot⁸, hot⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: hod³, hod⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔːt̚³/, /hɔːt̚²/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hat
    • Tâi-lô: hat
    • Phofsit Daibuun: had
    • IPA (Xiamen): /hat̚³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hat̚⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /hat̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /hat̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hat̚³²/

---

• Middle Chinese: /ɦɑt̚/

Rime
Character	曷
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	寒 (63)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	胡葛切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦɑt̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦɑt̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣɑt̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦat̚/
Li Rong	/ɣɑt̚/
Wang Li	/ɣɑt̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/ɣɑt̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	hé
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hot6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɡ]ˤat/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡaːd/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	曷
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	hé
Middle Chinese	‹ hat ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɡ]ˁat/
English	what
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	曷
Reading #	1/1
No.	5030
Phonetic component	曷
Rime group	月
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	曷
Old Chinese	/*ɡaːd/

Definitions

曷

1. ^† why; what; where; how; when

   時日曷喪，予及汝皆亡。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   时日曷丧，予及汝皆亡。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: The Book of Documents, circa 4^th – 3^rd century BCE

   Shí rì hé sàng, yǔ jí rǔ jiē wáng. [Pinyin]

   When [will] this sun die? I [shall] die with you.

   汝曷弗告朕，而胥動以浮言，恐沈于眾？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   汝曷弗告朕，而胥动以浮言，恐沈于众？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: The Book of Documents, circa 4^th – 3^rd century BCE

   Rǔ hé fú gào zhèn, ér xū dòng yǐ fúyán, kǒng shěn yú zhòng? [Pinyin]

   Why do you not report (their words) to me, but go about to excite one another by empty speeches, frightening and involving the multitudes in misery?

   苟不學，曷為人。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   苟不学，曷为人。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: Three Character Classic, circa 13^th century CE

   Gǒu bù xué, hé wéi rén. [Pinyin]

   If [foolishly] you do not study, how can you become men?

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 為什麼 (“why”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		何為, 何以, 何, 何故, 緣何, 胡, 奚, 曷, 胡為
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		為什麼, 為何, 因何, 何以
Mandarin	Beijing	為什麼, 幹嗎, 幹什麼
	Taiwan	為什麼
	Tianjin	為嘛
	Harbin	為啥
	Yantai (Muping)	為麼, 為麼個
	Jinan	為麼兒, 為麼, 幹麼兒, 為什麼
	Xi'an	為啥, 因啥
	Yinchuan	為啥
	Lanzhou	為啥
	Xining	為啥
	Ürümqi	為啥
	Wuhan	做麼事, 為麼事
	Chengdu	為啥子, 做啥子
	Guiyang	為哪樣, 為些哪樣
	Guilin	為什麼
	Liuzhou	為什麼
	Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine)	為什麼
	Xuzhou	為啥, 擁啥, 擁什麼
	Yangzhou	甚們事, 做事, 做啥, 為甚們 formal
	Nanjing	為什麼
	Hefei	怎搞, 怎搞的
	Malaysia	為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼
	Singapore	為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼
Cantonese	Guangzhou	點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 為乜, 為乜為物, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩
	Hong Kong	點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 做咩, 為乜, 為咩, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	做乜嘢
	Macau	為乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	點解
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	整乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	做乜嘢
	Foshan	點解
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	點解
	Foshan (Shunde)	為乜嘢
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	因乜嘢, 點解
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	為乜嘢
	Zhuhai (Qianshan)	為乜嘢
	Zhuhai (Doumen, Shangheng Tanka)	點解
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	點解
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	點解
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	幾解
	Taishan	幾何, 幾解, 做乜, 為乜, 乜頭路
	Kaiping (Chikan)	幾解
	Enping (Niujiang)	做乜, 幾解
	Heshan (Yayao)	幾解
	Dongguan	點解, 做乜嘢, 做乜, 為乜嘢
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	點解
	Yangjiang	為乜, 為乜事, 做乜, 做乜事, 做乜嘢
	Hepu (Lianzhou)	為物底
	Qinzhou	為乜嘢, 為乜
	Qinzhou (Xiniujiao)	為乜底
	Beihai	為乜嘢
	Beihai (Nankang)	做乜嘢
	Beihai (Yingpan)	為乜底
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	做乜嘢, 為乜
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	做乜嘢
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	做乜嘢, 為乜
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	點解
	Singapore (Guangfu)	點解
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	做乜嘢
	Móng Cái	點解, 為乜
	Yangon (Taishan)	幾解
Gan	Nanchang	為什哩
	Pingxiang	為咋個, 為咋哩, 做咋個, 做咋哩, 何解
Hakka	Meixian	做麼個
	Zhongshan (Wuguishan)	做乜計, 做乜嘢, 仰解
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	做麼個
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	做麼個
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	做麼個
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	做麼個
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	做麼個
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	做麼個
Jin	Taiyuan	為甚, 因為甚, 幹什
	Xinzhou	𠰻們
Min Bei	Jian'ou	為孰事, 做孰事
Min Dong	Fuzhou	蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 做什名, 幹乜勢, 傒勢
	Changle	傒勢
	Fuqing	介計
	Yongtai	蔣其
	Gutian	做什乇
	Fu'an	做乜乇
	Ningde	做乇
	Shouning	做呢乇
	Zhouning	做乜乇
	Fuding	做哪乇
	Matsu	為什乇, 蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 傒勢
Min Nan	Xiamen	為甚物, 按怎, 物代, 敢咧, 創甚物
	Quanzhou	按怎, 物代
	Jinjiang	為啥物
	Zhangzhou	按怎
	Zhao'an	為甚物
	Dongshan	為甚物
	Taipei	為啥物, 是按怎
	Penang (Hokkien)	何物事, 做物事, 做物
	Singapore (Hokkien)	按怎
	Manila (Hokkien)	敢哪, 敢哪誌
	Chaozhou	做呢
	Shantou	做呢
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	做呢
	Singapore (Teochew)	做呢
	Leizhou	做乜, 因乜
	Wenchang	作乜, 因乜, 怎作
	Haikou	作乜, 作個乜, 作乜物, 因乜, 因個乜
	Singapore (Hainanese)	作乜
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	做門, 做哪門, 為哪門
Waxiang	Guzhang (Gaofeng)	為什個
Wu	Shanghai	啥體, 為啥, 啥講究, 啥個講究, 啥個路道, 啥個緣故
	Shanghai (Chongming)	為何, 做何
	Suzhou	為啥, 為點啥, 做啥, 啥體, 為啥體
	Danyang	為點高, 做點高
	Hangzhou	為啥
	Wenzhou	妝乜, 為何呢, 為乜事幹
	Jinhua	為淡事幹, 為待西
Xiang	Changsha	為麼子, 何解
	Loudi	嗎介
	Shuangfeng	為麼子, 做麼子

Dialectal synonyms of 什麼時候 (“when”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		曷, 何時, 幾時
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		何時, 幾時, 什麼時候
Mandarin	Beijing	多咱兒, 多會兒, 多咱, 多早, 多早晚兒, 多咱晚兒, 多晚兒, 幾兒, 幾兒個
	Taiwan	什麼時候
	Tianjin	多咱, 多晚兒
	Tangshan	啥時候, 多前兒
	Cangzhou	多咱兒
	Baoding	多會兒, 多怎
	Shijiazhuang	多會兒
	Chifeng	啥時候, 多會兒, 多前兒
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	啥時候兒
	Harbin	什麼時候, 啥時候, 多會兒, 多咱, 多晚, 多晚兒
	Shenyang	什麼時候, 啥時候, 多會兒, 多咱
	Yantai (Muping)	多亥兒, 多時晚兒
	Qingdao	多咱, 多會兒
	Jinan	多咱, 什麼時候, 麼時候
	Luoyang	多咱晚兒, 啥時候兒
	Wanrong	多乎
	Wanrong (Ronghe)	幾當番
	Zhengzhou	啥時候兒, 多早兒
	Xi'an	什麼時候, 啥時候, 幾時
	Yinchuan	幾時, 多會, 多會兒, 啥時候
	Lanzhou	什麼時節
	Xining	多乎兒, 啥時候, 阿個時候, 阿會兒, 阿空兒, 多咱
	Ürümqi	啥時節, 啥時候, 多會兒
	Wuhan	麼咱, 幾時, 幾咱, 幾麼咱, 哪咱, 哪麼咱, 什麼時候
	Chengdu	哪陣, 哪陣子, 啥子時候, 啥子時候兒, 啥時候兒, 哪個時候, 好久
	Guiyang	好久, 哪崗, 哪下, 哪陣, 哪樣時候
	Kunming	什麼時候, 多陣, 哪陣
	Guilin	什麼時候
	Liuzhou	幾時, 哪時, 什麼時候
	Xuzhou	早晚, 多咱, 多會兒, 啥時候, 什麼時候
	Yangzhou	什麼時候, 多晚子, 多晚
	Nanjing	什麼時候, 幾時, 多咱, 多咱子
	Hefei	哄晌子
	Nantong	什麼時候, 多早晚
	Malaysia	幾時, 什麼時候
	Singapore	幾時, 什麼時候
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	啥時候兒, 幾時, 多會兒
	Masanchin (Shaanxi Dungan)	啥時候, 幾時
Cantonese	Guangzhou	幾時
	Hong Kong	幾時
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	幾時
	Macau	幾時, 乜嘢時候
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	幾時, 邊時
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	幾時
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	幾時
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	乜時候
	Foshan	幾時
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	乜嘢時候
	Foshan (Shunde)	幾時
	Foshan (Sanshui)	幾時
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	幾時
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	幾時
	Zhuhai (Qianshan)	幾時
	Zhuhai (Doumen, Shangheng Tanka)	幾時
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	幾時
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	幾時
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	幾時
	Taishan	幾時
	Kaiping (Chikan)	幾時
	Enping (Niujiang)	幾時
	Heshan (Yayao)	幾時
	Dongguan	幾時, 乜嘢時候
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	幾時
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	幾時
	Singapore (Guangfu)	幾時
Gan	Nanchang	幾場中, 幾時間
	Lichuan	什仔時分
	Pingxiang	咋個時會, 咋個時仔, 幾時, 幾時仔
Hakka	Meixian	幾時, 麼個時候
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	一惹時候
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	幾時
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	幾時
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	耐幾時
	Conghua (Lütian)	麼個時候
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	幾時, 哪久, 哪下, 哪央時, 麼個央時, 麼個時節
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	幾時, 哪久, 哪下, 哪下仔, 哪時, 哪時節, 麼個時節
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	幾時, 哪久, 哪下, 哪當時, 哪量時, 麼個時節
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	幾時, 哪久, 哪下, 哪時, 哪央時, 麼個時節
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	幾時, 哪久, 哪下, 哪央時, 哪量時, 麼個央時, 麼個時節
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	幾時, 哪時, 麼個時, 麼個時務
	Senai (Huiyang)	幾時
	Kuching (Hepo)	幾時
Huizhou	Jixi	麼老時候, 何時, 哪一歇
	Shexian	麼唉時候, 哪扎
	Tunxi	底物時候, 底物時間
	Xiuning	底物時候
	Yixian	什麼時候
	Wuyuan	底物時候
Jin	Taiyuan	什時候, 多會兒
	Xinzhou	什會兒, 多會兒, 哪會兒, 什麼時候, 什時候
	Linhe	什時候, 多咱會兒
	Jining	多會兒
	Hohhot	什時候
	Zhangjiakou	什麼時候, 多會兒
	Handan	啥時候
Min Bei	Jian'ou	孰時候, 孰麼時候
Min Dong	Fuzhou	什乇辰候, 乜乇時間
	Matsu	什乇時候
Min Nan	Xiamen	底時
	Quanzhou	底時
	Jinjiang	底時
	Zhangzhou	底時
	Tainan	當時, 底時, 底當時
	Penang (Hokkien)	底時, 幾時
	Singapore (Hokkien)	底時, 𫢗時
	Manila (Hokkien)	底時, 幾時
	Shantou	乜時候, 𫢗時
	Shantou (Chenghai)	𫢗時, 底𫢗時
	Jieyang	底𫢗時, 𫢗時
	Haifeng	底時, 𫢗時
	Bangkok (Teochew)	底𫢗時
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	底𫢗時
	Singapore (Teochew)	𫢗時, 底時
	Leizhou	乜候
	Haikou	底時候, 乜時候, 底時, 底個時候, 乜物時候, 乜個時候, 個乜時候
Zhongshan Min	Shaxi (Longdu)	幾時
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	幾時, 哪時
Wu	Shanghai	啥辰光
	Shanghai (Chongming)	何辰光, 幾場浪
	Suzhou	啥辰光
	Danyang	哪歇候, 哪娘收, 哪早晚, 點高時候
	Hangzhou	啥格辰光
	Ningbo	啥辰光, 咋辰光, 幾時
	Wenzhou	何時節, 幾恁界
	Jinhua	幾時, 淡時節, 哪樣時節, 哪樣節, 哪時節, 待時節, 哪孑, 哪孑時節
Xiang	Changsha	麼子時候
	Loudi	麼子時際, 麼子時界, 麼子時界唧

Compounds

曷若 曷鼻

曷嘗／曷尝

曷爲／曷为

References

• “曷”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “Query for 曷”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan], Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

---

Japanese

Kanji

曷

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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

Readings

• On (unclassified): かつ (katsu)
• Kun: なに (nani); なんぞ (nanzo); いずくんぞ (izukunzo)

---

Korean

Hanja

曷 • (gal) (hangeul 갈, revised gal, McCune–Reischauer kal, Yale kal)

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

---

Vietnamese

Han character

曷: Hán Nôm readings: hạt, hột

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