# 鯤

| 鯤 | U+9BE4, &#39908; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9BE4 |
| ← 鯣 [U+9BE3] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 鯥 → [U+9BE5] |

## Translingual
### Han character

鯤 (Kangxi radical 195, 魚+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 弓火日心心 (NFAPP), four-corner 2631$_1$, composition ⿰魚昆)

#### See also

* 鲲

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 1473, character 2
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 46247
* Dae Jaweon: page 2005, character 1
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4696, character 1
* Unihan data for U+9BE4

## Chinese

* 鯤

### Glyph origin

| | Old Chinese |
| 昆 | *kuːn |
| 琨 | *kuːn |
| 鯤 | *kuːn |
| 菎 | *kuːn |
| 崐 | *kuːn |
| 蜫 | *kuːn |
| 惃 | *kuːn, *kuːnʔ |
| 錕 | *kuːn, *kuːnʔ |
| 猑 | *kuːn |
| 騉 | *kuːn |
| 緄 | *kuːnʔ |
| 輥 | *kuːnʔ |
| 棍 | *kuːns, *ɡuːnʔ |
| 餛 | *ɡuːn |
| 混 | *ɡuːnʔ |
| 焜 | *ɡuːnʔ |
| 倱 | *ɡuːnʔ |
| 掍 | *ɡuːnʔ |
| 箟 | *kʰrun |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kuːn) : semantic 魚 (“fish”) + phonetic 昆 (OC *kuːn).

### Etymology
#### “fish roe”

    Related to 昆 (OC *kuːn, “descendants”) (Ye, 2014). See there for more.

#### “kun (sea monster)”

    Perhaps related to 鵾 (“large bird”) (Liu, 1999).

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): kūn (kun$^1$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄣ
* Cantonese
    (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): kwan$^1$ / gwan$^1$
    (Taishan, Wiktionary): kun$^1$
* Hakka
    (Sixian, PFS): khûn
    (Meixian, Guangdong): kun$^1$
* Eastern Min (BUC): kŏng
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): khun
    (Teochew, Peng'im): kung$^1$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^1$kuen
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: kūn
*** Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄣ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: kun
*** Wade–Giles: kʻun$^1$
*** Yale: kwūn
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuen
*** Palladius: кунь (kunʹ)
*** Sinological IPA : /kʰu̯ən⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: kwan$^1$ / gwan$^1$
*** Yale: kwān / gwān
*** Cantonese Pinyin: kwan$^1$ / gwan$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: kuen$^1$ / guen$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /kʷʰɐn⁵⁵/, /kʷɐn⁵⁵/
** (Taishanese, Taicheng)
*** Wiktionary: kun$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /kʰun³³/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: khûn
*** Hakka Romanization System: kun$^ˊ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: kun$^1$
*** Sinological IPA: /kʰun²⁴/
** (Meixian)
*** Guangdong: kun$^1$
*** Sinological IPA: /kʰun⁴⁴/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: kŏng
*** Sinological IPA : /kʰouŋ⁵⁵/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khun
*** Tâi-lô: khun
*** Phofsit Daibuun: qwn
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰun³³/
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kʰun⁴⁴/
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: kung$^1$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khung
*** Sinological IPA : /kʰuŋ³³/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^1$kuen
*** MiniDict: kuen$^平$
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^1$kun
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /kuən⁵³/
* Middle Chinese: kwon
Rime :
| Character | 鯤 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 見 (28) |
| Final (韻) | 魂 (55) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Closed |
| Division (等) | I |
| Fanqie | 古渾切 |
| Baxter | kwon |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /kuən/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /kuon/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /kuən/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /kwən/ |
| Li Rong | /kuən/ |
| Wang Li | /kuən/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /kuən/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | gūn |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | gwan$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Zhengzhang): /*kuːn/
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 鯤 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 7521 |
| Phonetic component | 昆 |
| Rime group | 文 |
| Rime subdivision | 2 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 昆 |
| Old Chinese | /*kuːn/ |

### Definitions

鯤
* (literary) fish roe; fry; spawn
    Alternative form: 卵
    From: Guoyu, circa 4th century BCE
    Qiěfú shān bù chá bò, zé bù fá yāo, yú jìn kūn ér [Pinyin]
    Moreover, the mountains do not fell the cork trees; the marshes do not cut down the young shoots; the fish protect their roe and fry
* (Chinese mythology) kun, a large fish that transforms into a roc (鵬／鹏 (péng))
    From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE
    Kūn zhī dà, bùzhī qí jǐ qiān lǐ yě. [Pinyin]
    The size of the kun, I do not know how many thousand li it is.

### Compounds

* 脩鯤／脩鲲
* 靈鯤／灵鲲
* 青鯤／青鲲
* 鮞鯤／鲕鲲
* 鯤化／鲲化
* 鯤壑／鲲壑
* 鯤子／鲲子
* 鯤島／鲲岛 (Kūndǎo)
* 鯤弦／鲲弦
* 鯤池／鲲池
* 鯤洋／鲲洋
* 鯤海／鲲海
* 鯤絃／鲲弦
* 鯨跳鯤擲／鲸跳鲲掷
* 鯤身／鲲身
* 鯤雞／鲲鸡
* 鯤魚／鲲鱼
* 鯤鮑／鲲鲍
* 鯤鮞／鲲鲕
* 鯤鯓／鲲鯓
* 鯤鯁／鲲鲠
* 鯤鯨／鲲鲸
* 鯨鯤／鲸鲲
* 鯤鱗／鲲鳞
* 鯤鳳／鲲凤
* 鯤鵬／鲲鹏 (kūnpéng)
* 鯤鵬展翅／鲲鹏展翅
* 鯤鵬得志／鲲鹏得志
* 鯤龍／鲲龙
* 鵬鯤／鹏鲲

### Descendants

* → Japanese: 鯤(こん) (kon)
* → Korean: 곤(鯤) (gon)
* → Vietnamese: côn (鯤)

### References

* “鯤”, 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–
* Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), B05981

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji)
* large mythical fish
* roe

#### Readings

* Go-on: こん (kon)
* Kan-on: こん (kon)

### Etymology

* Kanji in this term
* 鯤
* こん Hyōgai
* on'yomi
From Middle Chinese 鯤 (MC kwon).

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) こん [kóꜜǹ] (Atamadaka –)
* IPA: [kõ̞ɴ]

### Noun

鯤(こん) • (kon)
* (Chinese mythology) a mythological giant fish that is several thousand 里 (ri, “leagues”) long and that lives in the northern seas

### References

* ↑ 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

## Korean
### Hanja

鯤 • (gon) (hangeul 곤, revised gon, McCune–Reischauer kon, Yale kon)
* (곤이 곤, gon-i-): roe; very young fish
* (곤어 곤, gon-eo-): mythical fish of an unaccountable length