淡

See also: 澹

淡	U+6DE1, 淡 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6DE1

← 淠
[U+6DE0]

CJK Unified Ideographs

淢 →
[U+6DE2]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

淡 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 水火火 (EFF), four-corner 3918₉, composition ⿰氵炎)

References

KangXi: page 630, character 18

Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17660

Dae Jaweon: page 1032, character 17

Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1660, character 8

Unihan data for U+6DE1

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
倓	l'oːmʔ, l'aːm, *l'aːms
緂	l̥ʰaːm, l̥ʰaːmʔ, *l̥ʰjam
毯	*l̥ʰaːmʔ
菼	*l̥ʰaːmʔ
裧	l̥ʰaːmʔ, l̥ʰjam, *l̥ʰjams
賧	*l̥ʰaːms
睒	l̥ʰaːms, hljamʔ
舕	*l̥ʰaːms
談	*l'aːm
郯	*l'aːm
惔	l'aːm, l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms
錟	*l'aːm
淡	l'aːm, l'aːmʔ, l'aːms, lamʔ
痰	*l'aːm
餤	*l'aːm
啖	l'aːmʔ, l'aːms
腅	*l'aːms
剡	ɦljamʔ, lamʔ
覢	*hljamʔ
掞	*hljams
炎	*ɦlam
琰	*lamʔ
棪	*lamʔ
扊	*lamʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *l'aːm, *l'aːmʔ, *l'aːms, *lamʔ) : semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 炎 (OC *ɦlam)

Etymology 1

trad.		淡
simp. ^#		淡

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): dàn (dan⁴)
(Zhuyin): ㄉㄢˋ
(Chengdu, SP): dan⁴
Cantonese
(Guangzhou, Jyutping): taam⁵, daam⁶
(Taishan, Wiktionary): am⁴, ham¹
Gan (Wiktionary): tan⁵
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): thâm / tham
(Meixian, Guangdong): tam¹ / tam⁴
Jin (Wiktionary): dan³
Min Dong (BUC): dâng
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): tāⁿ / tām
(Teochew, Peng'im): dan⁶ / dam⁶
Wu (Wiktionary): de (T3)
Xiang (Wiktionary): dan⁵ / dan⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: dàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: dàn
  - Wade–Giles: tan⁴
  - Yale: dàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dann
  - Palladius: дань (danʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tän⁵¹/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: dan⁴
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: dan
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tan²¹³/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: taam⁵, daam⁶
  - Yale: táahm, daahm
  - Cantonese Pinyin: taam⁵, daam⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: tam⁵, dam⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaːm¹³/, /taːm²²/

Note:

taam5 - vernacular;
daam6 - literary.

- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: am⁴, ham¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /am²¹/, /ham³³/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: tan⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰan¹¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thâm / tham
  - Hakka Romanization System: tam´ / tam
  - Hagfa Pinyim: tam¹ / tam⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /tʰam²⁴/, /tʰam⁵⁵/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: tam¹ / tam⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /tʰam⁴⁴/, /tʰam⁵³/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: dan³
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /tæ̃⁴⁵/
Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: dâng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɑŋ²⁴²/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāⁿ / tām
  - Tâi-lô: tānn / tām
  - Phofsit Daibuun: dva, dam
  - IPA (Xiamen): /tã²²/, /tam²²/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /tã⁴¹/, /tam⁴¹/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /tã²²/, /tam²²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /tã³³/, /tam³³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /tã³³/, /tam³³/

Note:

tāⁿ - vernacular;
tām - literary.

- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: dan⁶ / dam⁶
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tăⁿ / tăm
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tã³⁵/, /tam³⁵/

Note:

dan6 - vernacular;
dam6 - literary.

Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: de (T3)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /d̥e̞²³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: dan⁵ / dan⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tan²¹/, /tan⁴⁵/

Note:

dan5 - vernacular;
dan4 - literary.

Middle Chinese: /dɑm^X/, /dɑm^H/

Rime
Character	淡	淡
Reading #	2/4	4/4
Initial (聲)	定 (7)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	談 (143)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	徒敢切	徒濫切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/dɑm^X/	/dɑm^H/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑm^X/	/dɑm^H/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑm^X/	/dɑm^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/dam^X/	/dam^H/
Li Rong	/dɑm^X/	/dɑm^H/
Wang Li	/dɑm^X/	/dɑm^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/dʱɑm^X/	/dʱɑm^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	dàn	dàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	daam⁶	daam⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[l]ˤamʔ/
(Zhengzhang): /*l'aːmʔ/, /*l'aːms/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	淡
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	dàn
Middle Chinese	‹ dam^X ›
Old Chinese	/*[l]ˁamʔ/
English	insipid
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	淡	淡
Reading #	2/4	3/4
No.	14300	14305
Phonetic component	炎	炎
Rime group	談	談
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	噉	憺
Old Chinese	/*l'aːmʔ/	/*l'aːms/

Definitions

淡

(of food) bland; tasteless
啲湯好淡／啲汤好淡 [Cantonese] ― di¹ tong¹ hou² taam⁵ [Jyutping] ― the soup is very bland
(of color) light; pale
Synonym: 淺／浅 (qiǎn)
Antonyms: 濃／浓 (nóng), 深 (shēn)
(of liquid or gas) thin; low in density
indifferent; cold
slack; dull
淡季 ― dànjì ― slack season; off-season
meaningless; trivial

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 淡 (“bland; tasteless; not salty”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		淡
Mandarin	Beijing	淡, 口輕
	Taiwan	淡
	Harbin	淡
	Yantai (Muping)	善
	Jinan	淡, 甜, 口輕
	Luoyang	甜
	Wanrong	甜
	Xi'an	甜, 淡
	Xining	甜, 淡
	Ürümqi	淡
	Wuhan	淡
	Chengdu	淡
	Guiyang	淡
	Guilin	淡
	Liuzhou	淡
	Xuzhou	淡
	Yangzhou	淡
	Nanjing	淡
	Hefei	淡
	Singapore	淡
Cantonese	Guangzhou	淡
	Hong Kong	淡
	Dongguan	淡
	Yangjiang	淡
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	淡
Gan	Nanchang	淡
	Lichuan	淡
	Pingxiang	淡
Hakka	Meixian	淡
	Yudu	淡
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	淡
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	淡
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	淡
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	淡
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	淡
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	淡
	Senai (Huiyang)	淡
Jin	Taiyuan	淡, 甜
Jin	Xinzhou	甜
Min Bei	Jian'ou	䭕
	Jian'ou (Dikou)	䭕
	Zhenghe (Zhenqian)	䭕
	Jianyang	䭕
	Wuyishan	䭕
	Pucheng (Shibei)	䭕
Min Dong	Fuzhou	䭕
	Changle	䭕
	Fuqing	䭕
	Yongtai	䭕
	Gutian	䭕
	Fu'an	䭕
	Ningde	䭕
	Shouning	䭕
	Zhouning	䭕
	Fuding	䭕
Min Nan	Xiamen	䭕
	Quanzhou	䭕
	Yongchun	䭕
	Zhangzhou	䭕
	Zhangzhou (Longhai)	䭕
	Zhangzhou (Changtai)	䭕
	Zhangpu	䭕
	Zhao'an	䭕
	Penang (Hokkien)	䭕
	Singapore (Hokkien)	䭕
	Chaozhou	䭕
	Shantou	䭕
	Shantou (Chenghai)	䭕
	Jieyang	䭕
	Haifeng	䭕
	Bangkok (Teochew)	䭕
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	䭕
	Leizhou	䭕
	Haikou	䭕
Puxian Min	Putian	䭕
Min Zhong	Yong'an	䭕
Min Zhong	Shaxian	䭕
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	淡
Wu	Shanghai	淡
	Shanghai (Chongming)	淡
	Suzhou	淡
	Danyang	淡
	Hangzhou	淡
	Ningbo	淡
	Wenzhou	淡
	Jinhua	淡
Xiang	Changsha	淡
	Loudi	淡
	Shuangfeng	淡

Compounds

Derived terms from 淡

下淡水溪
冷淡 (lěngdàn)
平和恬淡
平淡 (píngdàn)
恬淡 (tiándàn)
恬淡寡欲
扯淡 (chědàn)
攻苦食淡
暗淡 (àndàn)
民患淡食
泔淡
海水淡化 (hǎishuǐ dànhuà)
淡不剌
淡不淡
淡交
淡入
淡出 (dànchū)
淡化 (dànhuà)
淡奶 (dànnǎi)
淡季 (dànjì)
淡巴菰 (dànbāgū)
淡彩
淡忘 (dànwàng)
淡抹
淡月
淡水 (dànshuǐ)
淡水河 (Dànshuǐ Hé)
淡水湖 (dànshuǐhú)
淡江 (Dànjiāng)
淡沱
淡沲
淡泊 (dànbó)

淡泊名利 (dànbómínglì)
淡淡 (dàndàn)
淡漠 (dànmò)
淡然 (dànrán)
淡竹 (dànzhú)
淡色
淡薄 (dànbó)
淡雅 (dànyǎ)
淡青
清淡 (qīngdàn)
澹淡
熬枯受淡
熬清守淡
素淡 (sùdàn)
雅淡
鬼扯淡
黯淡
喫淡酒／吃淡酒
平淡無奇／平淡无奇
恬淡無欲／恬淡无欲
恬淡無為／恬淡无为
慘淡／惨淡 (cǎndàn)
暗淡無光／暗淡无光 (àndànwúguāng)
沖淡／冲淡 (chōngdàn)
淡冷處／淡冷处
淡妝／淡妆 (dànzhuāng)
淡妝濃抹／淡妆浓抹
淡妝素服／淡妆素服
淡廝／淡厮
淡掃蛾眉／淡扫蛾眉
淡於名利／淡于名利
淡水漁業／淡水渔业

淡水養殖／淡水养殖
淡水魚／淡水鱼 (dànshuǐyú)
淡江大學／淡江大学
淡濛濛／淡蒙蒙
淡然無味／淡然无味
淡然處之／淡然处之
淡而無味／淡而无味
淡薄無味／淡薄无味
淡話／淡话 (dànhuà)
淡飯／淡饭
淡飯清茶／淡饭清茶
淺淡／浅淡 (qiǎndàn)
清茶淡話／清茶淡话
清茶淡飯／清茶淡饭
澹淡經營／澹淡经营
濃妝淡抹／浓妆淡抹
濃抹淡妝／浓抹淡妆
濃淡／浓淡 (nóngdàn)
發淡科／发淡科
看淡後市／看淡后市
粉淡香殘／粉淡香残
粗茶淡飯／粗茶淡饭 (cūchádànfàn)
粗衣淡飯／粗衣淡饭
說淡話／说淡话
輕描淡寫／轻描淡写 (qīngmiáodànxiě)
閒扯淡／闲扯淡
雲淡風輕／云淡风轻 (yúndànfēngqīng)
顄淡／𱂰淡 (hàndàn)
風輕雲淡／风轻云淡 (fēngqīngyúndàn)
鹹嘴淡舌／咸嘴淡舌
黯淡無光／黯淡无光
黲淡／黪淡 (cǎndàn)

Etymology 2

trad.		淡
simp. ^#		淡

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yǎn, yàn (yan³, yan⁴)
(Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˇ, ㄧㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jim⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yǎn
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yǎn
  - Wade–Giles: yen³
  - Yale: yǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yean
  - Palladius: янь (janʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn²¹⁴/
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yàn
  - Wade–Giles: yen⁴
  - Yale: yàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yann
  - Palladius: янь (janʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jim⁵
  - Yale: yíhm
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jim⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: yim⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːm¹³/

Middle Chinese: /jiᴇm^X/

Rime
Character	淡
Reading #	3/4
Initial (聲)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	鹽 (153)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	以冉切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jiᴇm^X/
Pan Wuyun	/jiɛm^X/
Shao Rongfen	/jæm^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jiam^X/
Li Rong	/iɛm^X/
Wang Li	/jĭɛm^X/
Bernard Karlgren	/i̯ɛm^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yǎn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jim⁵

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*lamʔ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	淡
Reading #	4/4
No.	14319
Phonetic component	炎
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	琰
Old Chinese	/*lamʔ/
Notes	見宋玉賦

Definitions

淡

Only used in 淡淡 (yǎnyǎn, yànyàn).
^‡ appearance of water

Compounds

流水淡淡

Etymology 3

trad.		淡
simp. ^#		淡

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tán (tan²)
(Zhuyin): ㄊㄢˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): taam⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tán
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄢˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tán
  - Wade–Giles: tʻan²
  - Yale: tán
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tarn
  - Palladius: тань (tanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰän³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: taam⁴
  - Yale: tàahm
  - Cantonese Pinyin: taam⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: tam⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaːm²¹/

Middle Chinese: /dɑm/

Rime
Character	淡
Reading #	1/4
Initial (聲)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	談 (143)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	徒甘切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/dɑm/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑm/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑm/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/dam/
Li Rong	/dɑm/
Wang Li	/dɑm/
Bernard Karlgren	/dʱɑm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tán
Expected Cantonese Reflex	taam⁴

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*l'aːm/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	淡
Reading #	1/4
No.	14296
Phonetic component	炎
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	談
Old Chinese	/*l'aːm/

Definitions

淡

^† Alternative form of 痰 (tán).
^‡ appearance of water
See also: 澹

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of 淡 – see 䭕 (“(Min) tasteless; insipid”). (This character, 淡, is a variant form of 䭕.)

References

“淡”, 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–

Japanese

Kanji

淡

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

diluted
pale

Readings

Go-on: だん (dan)^{←だん (dan, historical)}^{←だむ (damu, ancient)}
Kan-on: たん (tan, Jōyō)^{←たん (tan, historical)}^{←たむ (tamu, ancient)}
Kun: あわい (awai, 淡い, Jōyō); うすい (usui, 淡い)

Compounds

淡(たん)白(ぱく) (tanpaku)
冷(れい)淡(たん) (reitan)
淡(たん)々(たん) (tantan)

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 淡 (MC dɑm^X, dɑm^H). Recorded as Middle Korean 담〯 (tǎm) (Yale: tam) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Wikisource淡 (eumhun 맑을 담 (malgeul dam))

Hanja form^? of 담 (“clean; clear; pure”).

Compounds

담수 (淡水, damsu, “fresh water”)
냉담 (冷淡, naengdam, “cold; indifferent”)
농담 (濃淡, nongdam)
담백 (淡白, dambaek)
아담 (雅淡, adam)
담담 (淡淡, damdam)

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

淡: Hán Nôm readings: đạm, đượm, vạm, đặm

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