Chinese

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can; may; able to
can; may; able to; certain(ly); to suit; (particle used for emphasis)
 
ability; can; may
ability; can; may; capable; energy; able
 
trad. (可能)
simp. #(可能)

Etymology

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Attested in Old Chinese; original meanings were “to be able to, competent”, “can be achieved, possible”.

Pronunciation

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Note: ko2 lêng5 - Chaozhou.

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 2/4
Initial () (29) (8)
Final () (94) (129)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () I I
Fanqie
Baxter khaX nong
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Pan
Wuyun
/kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Shao
Rongfen
/kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/kʰaX/ /nəŋ/
Li
Rong
/kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Wang
Li
/kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/kʰɑX/ /nəŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
néng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
ho2 nang4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1 3/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
néng
Middle
Chinese
‹ khaX › ‹ nong ›
Old
Chinese
/*[k]ʰˁa[j]ʔ/ /*nˁə(ʔ)/ (~ *nˁəŋ)
English may; acceptable able; ability

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
Reading # 1/1 3/4
No. 7446 9415
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1 0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*kʰaːlʔ/ /*nɯːŋ/

Adjective

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可能

  1. possible; probable; likely

Usage notes

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Chinese does not have different words for possible and probable in the way that English does. To express the sense that something is probable—i.e., likely to happen as opposed to just being a possibility among others—consider adding (hěn) before 可能 or 有可能 (yǒukěnéng).

Synonyms

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Adverb

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可能

  1. maybe; perhaps; probably; might; may
    可能可能  ―  Kěnéng wǒ huì qù.  ―  Perhaps I will go.
    可能開除 [MSC, trad.]
    可能开除 [MSC, simp.]
    kěnéng bèi kāichú le. [Pinyin]
    He may have been fired.

Synonyms

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Noun

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可能

  1. possibility; probability; likelihood (Classifier: )
    無限可能无限可能  ―  wúxiàn kěnéng  ―  infinite possibilities
    什麼發生可能 [MSC, trad.]
    什么发生可能 [MSC, simp.]
    Shénme shì dōu yǒu fāshēng de kěnéng. [Pinyin]
    Anything has a possibility of happening.

Synonyms

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Verb

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可能

  1. (literary) to be competent to; to have the ability to
  2. (literary) can be achieved; to be possible

Phrase

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可能

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see (a question-forming particle), ("can; be able to").
    驚弦來歸可能滄海故人 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
    惊弦来归可能沧海故人 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
    Rǔ yì jīng xián zhě, láiguī guò wǒ lú. Kě néng cānghǎi wài, dài jì gù rén shū? [Pinyin]
    (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (可能):

Japanese

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Kanji in this term

Grade: 5
のう
Grade: 5
on'yomi

Etymology

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From Middle Chinese compound 可能 (khaX nong, literally may, can + able, ability).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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()(のう) (kanō-na (adnominal ()(のう) (kanō na), adverbial ()(のう) (kanō ni))

  1. possible
  2. feasible

Inflection

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Synonyms

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Antonyms

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(antonym(s) of possible):

Derived terms

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Noun

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()(のう) (kanō

  1. possibility, good chance
    可能(かのう)
    kanō no
    possible
  2. feasibility

Antonyms

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References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Korean

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Hanja in this term

Noun

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可能 (ganeung) (hangeul 가능)

  1. hanja form? of 가능 (possibility)

Vietnamese

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chữ Hán Nôm in this term

Noun

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可能

  1. chữ Hán form of khả năng (ability; capability; competence).
  NODES
Note 5