冥

冥 U+51A5, 冥 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-51A5 ← 冤 [U+51A4] CJK Unified Ideographs 冦 → [U+51A6]

Translingual

Han character

冥 (Kangxi radical 14, 冖+8, 10 strokes, cangjie input 月日卜金 (BAYC), four-corner 3780₀, composition ⿱冖昗 or ⿱𠕾六)

Derived characters

• 凕 塓 嫇 㟰 幎 慏 㨠 溟 猽 暝 榠 熐 䄙 瞑 䏃 螟 鄍 䒌 覭 䫤 鼆 蓂

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 130, character 28
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1588
• Dae Jaweon: page 293, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 304, character 10
• Unihan data for U+51A5

Chinese

simp. and trad.		冥
alternative forms		𡨕 𠖇 㝠 暝

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
瞑	*meːn, *meːns, *meːŋ
嫇	*mreːŋ, *meːŋ, *meːŋʔ
慏	*meŋʔ
冥	*meːŋ
榠	*meːŋ
鄍	*meːŋ
溟	*meːŋ, *meːŋʔ
螟	*meːŋ
猽	*meːŋ
蓂	*meːŋ, *meːɡ
覭	*meːŋ, *meːɡ
暝	*meːŋ, *meːŋs
幎	*meːɡ
幂	*meːɡ
塓	*meːɡ

Originally ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) : 冖 (“cloth cover”) + 日 (“sun”) + 廾 (“two hands”); hence, the upper part of the character is 𠕾. The 廾 was later corrupted to 六.

May also be a phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *meːŋ) : phonetic 冖 (OC *meːɡ) + semantic 日 + semantic 廾 (Shuowen Jiezi).

Etymology

An area word for "night"; Compare Proto-Hmong-Mien *ʰməŋH (“night”), Proto-Bahnaric *maŋ (“night”), Burmese မည်း (many:, “dark; black”) (Schuessler, 2007).

STEDT compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *muːŋ ~ r/s-muːk (“foggy; dark; sullen; menacing; thunder”).

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): míng (ming²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ming⁴ / ming⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mèn
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): ming²
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): bêng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): mêng⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: míng
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: míng
    • Wade–Giles: ming²
    • Yale: míng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ming
    • Palladius: мин (min)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: ming⁴ / ming⁵
    • Yale: mìhng / míhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ming⁴ / ming⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: ming⁴ / ming⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɪŋ²¹/, /mɪŋ¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mèn
    • Hakka Romanization System: men^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: men²
    • Sinological IPA: /men¹¹/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian, Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: ming²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bêng
    • Tâi-lô: bîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: beeng
    • IPA (Xiamen): /biɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /biɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /biɪŋ¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /biɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /biɪŋ²³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: mêng⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: mêng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meŋ⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: meng

Rime
Character	冥
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	青 (125)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	莫經切
Baxter	meng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/meŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/meŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/mɛŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mɛjŋ/
Li Rong	/meŋ/
Wang Li	/mieŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mieŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	míng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ming4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*mˤeŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*meːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	冥
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	míng
Middle Chinese	‹ meng ›
Old Chinese	/*mˁeŋ/
English	dark
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	冥
Reading #	1/1
No.	9197
Phonetic component	冥
Rime group	耕
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	冥
Old Chinese	/*meːŋ/

Definitions

冥

1. (literary) dark; dim; gloomy; faint
2. (literary) ignorant; muddled

   冥頑不靈／冥顽不灵  ―  míngwánbùlíng  ―  obstinate and ignorant

3. deep; profound

   苦思冥想  ―  kǔsīmíngxiǎng  ―  to think long and hard

4. the underworld

   冥府  ―  míngfǔ  ―  the nether world

5. (obsolete) night
6. a surname

Compounds

• 冥佑
• 冥具
• 冥冥 (míngmíng)
• 冥冥中
• 冥冥之中
• 冥加
• 冥司
• 冥器 (míngqì)
• 冥土
• 冥報 / 冥报
• 冥壽 / 冥寿
• 冥契
• 冥奧 / 冥奥
• 冥婚 (mínghūn)
• 冥子裡 / 冥子里
• 冥寂
• 冥寞
• 冥寶 / 冥宝
• 冥府 (míngfǔ)
• 冥思 (míngsī)
• 冥思苦想 (míngsīkǔxiǎng)
• 冥思苦索 (míngsīkǔsuǒ)
• 冥想 (míngxiǎng)
• 冥搜
• 冥數 / 冥数
• 冥昧
• 冥會 / 冥会
• 冥河
• 冥漠
• 冥漠君
• 冥濛 / 冥蒙
• 冥王 (míngwáng)
• 冥王星 (Míngwángxīng)
• 冥界
• 冥福
• 冥童
• 冥籍
• 冥紙 / 冥纸
• 冥茫
• 冥蒙
• 冥行
• 冥行擿埴
• 冥衣 (míngyī)
• 冥誕 / 冥诞 (míngdàn)
• 冥資 / 冥资
• 冥途 (míngtú)
• 冥鈔 / 冥钞 (míngchāo)
• 冥錢 / 冥钱
• 冥鏹 / 冥镪
• 冥靈 / 冥灵
• 冥頑 / 冥顽 (míngwán)
• 冥頑不靈 / 冥顽不灵 (míngwánbùlíng)
• 冥鴻 / 冥鸿
• 冥默
• 北冥
• 幽冥 (yōumíng)
• 幽冥地府
• 幽冥戒 (Yōumíng jiè)
• 悄冥冥
• 悄悄冥冥
• 晦冥 (huìmíng)
• 杳冥
• 沉冥
• 混冥
• 渺渺冥冥
• 玄冥
• 穹冥
• 窅冥
• 窈冥
• 窈窈冥冥
• 西冥
• 邈冥冥
• 青冥
• 風雨晦冥 / 风雨晦冥
• 鴻飛冥冥 / 鸿飞冥冥

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mián (mian²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄢˊ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mián
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mián
    • Wade–Giles: mien²
    • Yale: myán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mian
    • Palladius: мянь (mjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi̯ɛn³⁵/

Definitions

冥

1. Only used in 顛冥／颠冥.

Pronunciation 3

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): miàn (mian⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄢˋ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: miàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: miàn
    • Wade–Giles: mien⁴
    • Yale: myàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: miann
    • Palladius: мянь (mjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi̯ɛn⁵¹/

Definitions

冥

1. Only used in 冥眴.

References

• “冥”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “冥”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 159.

Japanese

Kanji

冥

(Jōyō kanji)

1. dark

   Synonym: 溟

2. underworld; the world of dead people

Readings

• Go-on: みょう (myō, Jōyō)^{←みやう (myau, historical)}
• Kan-on: めい (mei, Jōyō)^{←めい (mei, historical)}
• Kun: くらい (kurai, 冥い)

Compounds

dark

• 冥(みょう)冥(みょう) (myōmyō) (溟(みょう)溟(みょう))
• 冥(めい)暗(あん), 冥(めい)闇(あん) (meian)
• 冥(めい)海(かい) (meikai) (溟(めい)海(かい))
• 冥(めい)晦(かい) (meikai)
• 冥(めい)頑(がん) (meigan)
• 冥(めい)愚(ぐ) (meigu)
• 冥(めい)契(けい) (meikei)
• 冥(めい)鴻(こう) (meikō)
• 冥(めい)合(ごう) (meigō)
• 冥(めい)色(しょく) (meishoku) (瞑(めい)色(しょく))
• 冥(めい)棲(せい) (meisei)
• 冥(めい)想(そう) (meisō) (瞑(めい)想(そう))
• 冥(めい)捜(そう) (meisō) (瞑(めい)捜(そう))
• 冥(めい)漠(ばく), 冥(めい)邈(ばく) (meibaku)
• 冥(めい)茫(ぼう), 冥(めい)芒(ぼう) (meibō)
• 冥(めい)昧(まい) (meimai)
• 冥(めい)冥(めい) (meimei) (溟(めい)溟(めい))
• 冥(めい)蒙(もう), 冥(めい)濛(もう) (meimō)
• 冥(めい)黙(もく) (meimoku)
• 暗(あん)冥(めい) (anmei)
• 晦(かい)冥(めい) (kaimei) (晦(かい)暝(めい))
• 空(くう)冥(めい) (kūmei)
• 玄(げん)冥(めい) (genmei)
• 高(こう)冥(めい) (kōmei)
• 混(こん)冥(めい) (konmei) (混(こん)溟(めい))
• 紫(し)冥(めい) (shimei)
• 邃(すい)冥(めい) (suimei)
• 西(せい)冥(めい) (seimei) (西(せい)溟(めい))
• 宕(とう)冥(めい) (tōmei)
• 南(なん)冥(めい) (nanmei) (南(なん)溟(めい))
• 北(ほく)冥(めい) (hokumei) (北(ほく)溟(めい))
• 幽(ゆう)冥(めい) (yūmei)
• 杳(よう)冥(めい) (yōmei)
• 窅(よう)冥(めい) (yōmei)
• 窈(よう)冥(めい) (yōmei)

world of dead people

• 冥(みょう)界(かい) (myōkai)
• 冥(みょう)官(かん) (myōkan)
• 冥(みょう)鬼(き) (myōki)
• 冥(みょう)顕(げん) (myōgen)
• 冥(みょう)衆(しゅ) (myōshu)
• 冥(みょう)道(どう) (myōdō)
• 冥(みょう)罰(ばつ) (myōbatsu)
• 冥(みょう)福(ふく) (myōfuku)
• 冥(めい)王(おう) (meiō)
• 冥(めい)王(おう)星(せい) (meiōsei)
• 冥(めい)界(かい) (meikai)
• 冥(めい)鬼(き) (meiki)
• 冥(めい)器(き) (meiki)
• 冥(めい)境(きょう) (meikyō)
• 冥(めい)土(ど), 冥(めい)途(ど) (meido)
• 冥(めい)罰(ばつ) (meibatsu)
• 冥(めい)府(ふ) (meifu)
• 冥(めい)福(ふく) (meifuku)
• 冥(めい)報(ほう) (meihō)
• 冥(めい)霊(れい) (meirei)
• 冥(めい)路(ろ) (meiro)
• 沈(ちん)冥(みょう) (chinmyō)

other meaning

• 冥(みょう)応(おう) (myōō)
• 冥(みょう)恩(おん) (myōon)
• 冥(みょう)加(が) (myōga)
• 冥(みょう)感(かん) (myōkan)
• 冥(みょう)鑑(かん) (myōkan)
• 冥(みょう)譴(かん) (myōkan)
• 冥(みょう)護(ご) (myōgo)
• 冥(みょう)助(じょ) (myōjo)
• 冥(みょう)利(り) (myōri)
• 冥(みょう)慮(りょ) (myōryo)
• 冥(めい)応(おう) (meiō)
• 冥(めい)感(かん) (meikan)
• 冥(めい)佑(ゆう), 冥(めい)祐(ゆう) (meiyū)
• 冥(めい)慮(りょ) (meiryo)
• 青(せい)冥(めい) (seimei)
• 蒼(そう)冥(めい) (sōmei)
• 沈(ちん)冥(めい) (chinmei)

Korean

Hanja

冥 (eumhun 어두울 명 (eoduul myeong))

1. hanja form^? of 명 (“dark, gloomy, night”)
2. hanja form^? of 명 (“deep”)

Vietnamese

Han character

冥: Hán Nôm readings: minh, mênh, mưng

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