象

• In traditional Chinese, Japanese kanji and Korean hanja, the middle component of 象 is written 𫩏 followed by 𧰨.
• In simplified Chinese and Vietnamese Nôm, the middle component of 象 is written 口 overlapped by a downward ㇓ slash and is one stroke less compared to the traditional form.

象 (radical 152, 豕+5 in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 豕+4 in simplified Chinese, 12 strokes in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 11 strokes in simplified Chinese, cangjie input 弓日心人 (NAPO), four-corner 2723₂, composition ⿱⺈⿻口𧰨(GV) or ⿳⺈𫩏𧰨(HT) or ⿸⿳⺈𫩏⿹⿱丿㇁⿱丿丿⿺乀丿(JK))

• KangXi: page 1195, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36372
• Dae Jaweon: page 1658, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 3611, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8C61

Historical forms of the character 象
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) - pictographic representation of an elephant. ⺈ represents the trunk, 𫩏 represents the head, and 𧰨 represents the body.

This character is used to represent two semantic fields ‘elephant; tusk’ and ‘to outline; to depict; to delineate; to represent; to resemble; to map’. Both fields are found from the earliest layers of the edited literature onwards, whereas only the first meaning is amply attested in oracle bone inscriptions.

Traditionally, the two senses are treated as related, with the sense of ‘to depict; to resemble’ considered a derivative of the sense of ‘elephant’. The derivation from the ‘elephant’ meaning to the ‘likeness’ meaning is explained in Han Feizi [ca. 221 BCE]: “Men rarely see living elephants. As they come by the skeleton of a dead elephant, they imagine its living form according to its features. Therefore it comes to pass that whatever people use for imagining the real is called 象.”

Modern etymology studies on Old Chinese have challenged this opinion.

As for the ‘elephant; tusk’ sense, this is a widely used area word in East and Southeast Asia. Literature opinions differ on the origin and immediate relationship of this Chinese word; some (e.g. Schuessler, 2007) believe the Chinese form is a loanword from a Southern language, since “it is hard to believe that people all over SE Asia and as far away as the Himalayan foothills would borrow a word for an indigenous animal from Northern China”. Others believe the direction of borrowing is reversed (i.e. Tai-Kadai borrowing from Chinese), and that Chinese 象 should be compared with Tibetan གླང (glang), གླང་ཆེན (glang chen, “elephant”) arising from a common Proto-Sino-Tibetan *glaŋ (“ox, bull; elephant”), which may ultimately have an Austroasiatic origin. The second viewpoint is supported by the early attestation of this character and the archaeological findings of the historical ranges of elephants. However, Schuessler disputes that second viewpoint and links ST *glaŋ to Mandarin 犅 (gāng) "ox, bull".

See below for a tentative borrowing history of the various forms of this general area word.

象 (1)

(Chinese Chess) 象 (3)

象

1. elephant (Classifier: 頭／头 m)
2. ivory; tusk
   • Synonyms: 象牙 (xiàngyá)
   • 象床  ―  xiàngchuáng  ―  ivory-decorated bed
3. (Chinese chess) elephant (on the black side)
   • Synonyms: 相 (xiāng)
4. symbol; emblem
   • 象徵 / 象征  ―  xiàngzhēng  ―  symbol
5. shape; figure
6. appearance; phenomenon
   • 現象 / 现象  ―  xiànxiàng  ―  phenomenon
   • 景象  ―  jǐngxiàng  ―  scene
7. (traditional Chinese medicine) complexion
   • 病象  ―  bìngxiàng  ―  disease signs and symptoms
8. image; picture; portrait
   • ⇒ 像
9. sign; indication
10. imagination
11. law; legislation
12. principle
13. calendar
14. to imitate; to follow the example of
15. to trace; to outline; to depict
16. to resemble
    • ⇒ 像
    • 象形字  ―  xiàngxíngzì  ―  pictographic character
17. like; similar to
    • ⇒ 像
18. A surname​.
19. (historical) an alternate name used for the Nanman tribes during the Ming Dynasty

• (elephant):

• (like):

• (Chinese chess pieces) 帥/將, 仕/士, 相/象, 俥/車, 傌/馬, 炮/砲, 兵/卒

Others:

• → Kalmyk: зан (zan)
• → Mongolian: заан (zaan)
• → Tai: *ɟaːŋᶜ (“elephant”)
  • Lao: ຊ້າງ (sāng)
  • Lü: ᦋᦱᧂᧉ (tsaang²)
  • Northern Thai: ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ (cang)
  • Saek: ซาง
  • Shan: ၸၢင်ႉ (tsaang)
  • Tai Dam: ꪋ꫁ꪱꪉ
  • Tai Nüa: ᥓᥣᥒᥳ (tsaang⁵)
  • Thai: ช้าง (cháang)
  • → Proto-Lolo-Burmese: *tsaŋ ("elephant")
    • Burmese: ဆင် (hcang)
    • → Proto-Monic: *ciiŋ ("elephant")
      • Mon: စိၚ် (coiŋ)
• → Vietic: *ʔa-ɟaːŋ (“elephant”)

• 象 was the official simplified form of 像 only until 1986.

• “Entry #9059”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

• Go-on: ぞう (zō, Jōyō)^{←ざう (zau, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kun: かたち (katachi, 象); かたどる (katadoru, 象る); のり (nori, 象)
• Nanori: かた (kata); きさ (kisa); たか (taka)

象 (zō, kisa): an Asian elephant.

/zau/ → /zɔː/ → /zoː/

From Middle Chinese 象 (zjang^X, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Cantonese reading zoeng⁶.

The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

• On’yomi: Goon
  • (Tokyo) ぞ​ー [zóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1][2]
  • IPA^(key): [d͡zo̞ː]

象 (counter 頭, hiragana ぞう, katakana ゾウ, rōmaji zō, historical hiragana ざう)

1. elephant

/sjau/ → /sjɔː/ → /ɕɔː/ → /ɕoː/

From Middle Chinese 象 (zjang^X, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Min Nan reading siōng or Mandarin xiàng.

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

• On’yomi: Kan’on
  • (Tokyo) しょ​ー [shóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ː]

象 (hiragana しょう, rōmaji shō, historical hiragana しやう)

1. likeness, appearance

From Old Japanese. Cognate with 橒 (kisa, “wood grain”), from the way that ivory also has a grain.[3]

• (Irregular reading)
  • IPA^(key): [kʲisa̠]

象 (hiragana きさ, rōmaji kisa)

1. (obsolete) elephant
   • 931–938, Wamyō Ruijushō, book 7, page 52:

     象 [...] 岐佐 [...] 獣名、似水牛、大耳、長鼻、眼細、牙長者也

   • 970-999, Utsubo Monogatari (Toshikage)

     それより西を行ケば、虎狼ひと山さワぐ所有り。キサ出デてその山をこしつ。

• Kōno, Tama (c. 970–999) Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 10: Utsubo Monogatari 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1959, →ISBN.
• Minamoto, Shitagō; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, published 1968, →ISBN.

象 (eum 상 (sang))

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象: Hán Nôm readings: tượng

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