# 馘

| 馘 | U+9998, &#39320; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9998 |
| ← 馗 [U+9997] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 香 → [U+9999] |

## Translingual
### Han character

馘 (Kangxi radical 185, 首+8, 17 strokes, cangjie input 廿山戈口一 (TUIRM), four-corner 8365$_0$, composition ⿰首或)
* cut off left ear
* tally dead enemy

#### Derived characters

* 𢹖, 𩉕

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 1428, character 13
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 44507
* Dae Jaweon: page 1954, character 17
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4501, character 21
* Unihan data for U+9998

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

| | Old Chinese |
| 幗 | *kʷɯːɡs, *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 慖 | *kʷɯːɡs, *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 簂 | *kʷɯːɡs |
| 蔮 | *kʷɯːɡs |
| 國 | *kʷɯːɡ |
| 或 | *ɡʷɯːɡ |
| 惑 | *ɡʷɯːɡ |
| 蜮 | *ɡʷɯːɡ, *ɢʷrɯɡ |
| 閾 | *qʰʷrɯɡ |
| 緎 | *qʰʷrɯɡ, *ɡʷrɯɡ |
| 淢 | *qʰʷrɯɡ, *ɡʷrɯɡ |
| 域 | *ɢʷrɯɡ |
| 罭 | *ɢʷrɯɡ |
| 棫 | *ɡʷrɯɡ |
| 琙 | *ɡʷrɯɡ |
| 魊 | *ɡʷrɯɡ |
| 馘 | *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 聝 | *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 膕 | *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 摑 | *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 漍 | *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 嘓 | *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 蟈 | *kʷrɯːɡ |
| 掝 | *qʰʷrɯːɡ |
| 彧 | *qʷrɯɡ |
| 稶 | *qʷɯɡ |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *kʷrɯːɡ) : semantic 首 (“head”) + phonetic 或 (OC *ɡʷɯːɡ). This character largely displaced 聝 (OC *kʷrɯːɡ) in the received corpus of ancient classics. See also 𢦞.

### Etymology

* This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Against traditional glossings (e.g. Shuowen Jiezi's), Cheng Hao (程顥) & Cheng Yi (程頤) propose that 馘 (MC kweak) < (OC kʷrɯːɡ) originally meant "to behead captives" (「馘, 斬獲也」); their proposal is supported by Milburn (2018).”

### Pronunciation 1

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): guó (guo$^2$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄛˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): gwik$^1$ / gwok$^3$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: guó
*** Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄛˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: guó
*** Wade–Giles: kuo$^2$
*** Yale: gwó
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gwo
*** Palladius: го (go)
*** Sinological IPA : /ku̯ɔ³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: gwik$^1$ / gwok$^3$
*** Yale: gwīk / gwok
*** Cantonese Pinyin: gwik$^7$ / gwok$^8$
*** Guangdong Romanization: guig$^1$ / guog$^3$
*** Sinological IPA : /kʷɪk̚⁵/, /kʷɔːk̚³/
* Middle Chinese: kweak
Rime :
| Character | 馘 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 見 (28) |
| Final (韻) | 麥 (120) |
| Tone (調) | Checked (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Closed |
| Division (等) | II |
| Fanqie | 古獲切 |
| Baxter | kweak |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /kˠwɛk̚/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /kʷᵚæk̚/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /kuɐk̚/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /kwəɨjk̚/ |
| Li Rong | /kuɛk̚/ |
| Wang Li | /kwæk̚/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /kwæk̚/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | guo |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | gwak$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*C.qʷˤ<r>ək/
    (Zhengzhang): /*kʷrɯːɡ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 馘 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | guó |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ kwɛk › |
| Old Chinese | /*C.qʷˁ<r>ək/ |
| English | severed left ears |
| 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 | 馘 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 5562 |
| Phonetic component | 或 |
| Rime group | 職 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 蟈 |
| Old Chinese | /*kʷrɯːɡ/ |

#### Definitions

馘
* (historical) severed left ear of a slain enemy (as trophy and tally for military merit)
    From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11th – 7th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
    Jiǎojiǎo hǔchén, zài Pàn xiàn guó. [Pinyin]
    His martial-looking, tiger leaders, Will here (at the Pan Gong) present the left ears [of their foes].
* (historical) to cut off the left ear of an enemy
* (by extension) killed enemy; dead enemy
* (by extension, rare) to kill
    From: 1902, December 14, Liang Qichao (梁啟超), Explaining 革 (gé, “to reform or to wage a revolution”) （《釋革》）
    Yòu jiàn hū qiānqībǎibāshíjiǔ nián Fǎguó zhī dà biàngé, cháng guó qí wáng, yì qí guìzú, liúxuè biàn guónèi yě, yì yǐwéi suǒwèi Revo zhě bì dāng rúshì. [Pinyin]
    Witnessing the French Revolution as of 1789, during which Louis XVI was executed and the aristocracy was uprooted, bloodshed all over the country, a growing belief emerged that this is what so-called revolution has to be like.

#### Compounds

* 俘馘
* 搴旗斬馘 / 搴旗斩馘
* 斬馘 / 斩馘
* 獻馘 / 献馘

### Pronunciation 2

The pronunciation was uncertain due to the sparsity of attestation, namely one sentence in the Zhuangzi, which might have been affected by textual error. The following was based on those of 𤷇, whose reading in the 切韻 system would have been homophonic to that of 洫 (MC xwik) > Mandarin 洫 (xù).
* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): xù (xu$^4$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄒㄩˋ
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: xù
*** Zhuyin: ㄒㄩˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: syù
*** Wade–Giles: hsü$^4$
*** Yale: syù
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiuh
*** Palladius: сюй (sjuj)
*** Sinological IPA : /ɕy⁵¹/

#### Definitions

馘
* The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
** cheek; face
    From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
    Fú chù qiónglǘ èxiàng, kùnjiǒng zhī jù, gǎoxiànghuángxù zhě, Shāng zhī suǒduǎn yě; yī wù wànchéng zhī zhǔ, ér cóngchē bǎichéng zhě, Shāng zhī suǒcháng yě. [Pinyin]
    Living in a narrow lane of a poor mean hamlet, weaving sandals amid distress of poverty, with a weazen neck and yellow face - that is what I [Cao Shang] should find it difficult to do. But as soon as I come to an understanding with the Lord of a myriad carriages, to find myself with a retinue of a hundred carriages - that is wherein I excel.
** Alternative form of 𤷇 (xù, “headache; aching head”)

#### Compounds

* 槁項黃馘 / 槁项黄馘
* 黃馘 / 黄馘

### References

* ↑ Milburn, O. (2018). "Headhunting in ancient China: The history of violence and denial of knowledge." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 81(1), p. 103-120. doi:10.1017/S0041977X17001446
* ↑ 郭慶藩 (1895) 莊子集釋 (in Chinese), volume 10, page 34
* “馘”, 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–

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji)
* To cut off (the left) ear as proof of defeating an enemy.
* To cut off the head.
* To Fire.

#### Readings

* Go-on: かく (kaku)
* Kan-on: きゃく (kyaku)
* Kun: みみきる (mimikiru, 馘る)、くびきる (kubikiru, 馘る)、くび (kubi)

##### Compounds

* 馘(くび)になる (kubi ni naru)

## Korean
### Hanja

馘 (eum 괵 (goek))
* This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.