沌

沌 U+6C8C, 沌 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-6C8C ← 沋 [U+6C8B] CJK Unified Ideographs 沍 → [U+6C8D]

Translingual

Han character

沌 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 水心山 (EPU), four-corner 3511₇, composition ⿰氵屯)

Further reading

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 610, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17193
• Dae Jaweon: page 1003, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1561, character 9
• Unihan data for U+6C8C

Chinese

simp. and trad.		沌
alternative forms		坉 ancient

Glyph origin

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

	Old Chinese
躉	*tuːnʔ
窀	*rduːn, *duːn, *tun
沌	*donʔ, *duːn, *duːnʔ
盹	*tuːnʔ, *tjuns
頓	*tuːns
扽	*tuːns
黗	*tʰuːn, *tʰuːnʔ
吨	*tʰuːnʔ
屯	*duːn, *tun
飩	*duːn
豘	*duːn
軘	*duːn
坉	*duːn
邨	*duːn, *stʰuːn
忳	*duːn
芚	*duːn
庉	*duːn, *duːnʔ
囤	*duːnʔ
迍	*tun
杶	*tʰun
瑃	*tʰun
椿	*tʰun
偆	*tʰunʔ, *tʰjunʔ
肫	*tjun
訰	*tjun, *tjuns
純	*tjunʔ, *djun
春	*tʰjun
蠢	*tʰjunʔ
踳	*tʰjunʔ
惷	*tʰjunʔ
蒓	*djun
賰	*hljunʔ
鬊	*hljuns

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *donʔ, *duːn, *duːnʔ) : semantic 氵 + phonetic 屯 (OC *duːn, *tun).

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dùn (dun⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄣˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): deon⁶
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): dong⁵ / duong⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tūn
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶den

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dùn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄣˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dùn
    • Wade–Giles: tun⁴
    • Yale: dwùn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: duenn
    • Palladius: дунь (dunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu̯ən⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: deon⁶
    • Yale: deuhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: doen⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: dên⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɵn²²/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: dong⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɔŋ²¹/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: duong⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tuoŋ²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tūn
    • Tâi-lô: tūn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dun
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tun²²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tun⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tun²²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /tun³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tun³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶den
    • MiniDict: den^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³den
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /dən²³/

---

• Middle Chinese: dwonX

Rime
Character	沌
Reading #	2/3
Initial (聲)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	魂 (55)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	徒損切
Baxter	dwonX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/duənX/
Pan Wuyun	/duonX/
Shao Rongfen	/duənX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/dwənX/
Li Rong	/duənX/
Wang Li	/duənX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/dʱuənX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	dùn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	deon6

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*duːnʔ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	沌
Reading #	3/3
No.	12558
Phonetic component	屯
Rime group	文
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	囤
Old Chinese	/*duːnʔ/

Definitions

沌

1. benighted; ignorant
2. disorderly; chaotic

Compounds

• 悶沌沌 / 闷沌沌
• 沌沌 (dùndùn)
• 混沌 (hùndùn)
• 混沌世界
• 混混沌沌
• 渾沌 / 浑沌 (hùndùn)
• 鑿渾沌 / 凿浑沌

 

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhuàn (zhuan⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄨㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cyun⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhuàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄨㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhuàn
    • Wade–Giles: chuan⁴
    • Yale: jwàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: juann
    • Palladius: чжуань (čžuanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂu̯än⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: cyun⁵
    • Yale: chyúhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsyn⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: qun⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰyːn¹³/

---

• Middle Chinese: drjwenX

Rime
Character	沌
Reading #	3/3
Initial (聲)	澄 (11)
Final (韻)	仙 (80)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	持兖切
Baxter	drjwenX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɖˠiuᴇnX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɖʷᵚiɛnX/
Shao Rongfen	/ȡiuænX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɖwianX/
Li Rong	/ȡjuɛnX/
Wang Li	/ȡĭwɛnX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ȡʱi̯wɛnX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhuàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zyun6

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*donʔ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	沌
Reading #	1/3
No.	12539
Phonetic component	屯
Rime group	元
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	篆
Old Chinese	/*donʔ/

Definitions

沌

1. (～河) Zhuan River (a river in Hubei)
2. Used in 沌口 (“name of an ancient county”).

Pronunciation 3

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tún (tun²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄨㄣˊ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tún
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄨㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tún
    • Wade–Giles: tʻun²
    • Yale: twún
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: twen
    • Palladius: тунь (tunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰu̯ən³⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: dwon

Rime
Character	沌
Reading #	1/3
Initial (聲)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	魂 (55)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	徒渾切
Baxter	dwon
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/duən/
Pan Wuyun	/duon/
Shao Rongfen	/duən/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/dwən/
Li Rong	/duən/
Wang Li	/duən/
Bernhard Karlgren	/dʱuən/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tún
Expected Cantonese Reflex	teon4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*duːn/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	沌
Reading #	2/3
No.	12552
Phonetic component	屯
Rime group	文
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	屯
Old Chinese	/*duːn/

Definitions

沌

1. (of waves) billowing

Compounds

• 沌沌 (túntún)

 

References

• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “沌”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 57.

Japanese

Kanji

沌

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. primeval chaos

Readings

• Go-on: どん (don)
• Kan-on: とん (ton)
• Kun: ふさがる (fusagaru, 沌がる)、くらい (kurai, 沌い)、おろか (oroka, 沌か)

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 沌 (MC dwonX). Recorded as Middle Korean 돈〯 (twǒn) (Yale: twon) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Wikisource

沌 (eumhun 엉길 돈 (eonggil don))

1. hanja form^? of 돈 (“disorderly; chaotic”)

Compounds

Compounds

• 혼돈 (混沌/渾沌, hondon, “chaos; confusion”)
• 혼돈씨 (混沌氏, hondonssi)

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [1]

Vietnamese

Han character

沌: Hán Nôm readings: xộn

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