# 階

| 階 | U+968E, &#38542; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-968E |
| ← 隍 [U+968D] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 随 → [U+968F] |

## Translingual
### Han character

階 (Kangxi radical 170, 阜+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 弓中心心日 (NLPPA), four-corner 7126$_1$, composition ⿰阝皆)

#### Derived characters

* 𣾂

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 1357, character 9
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 41755
* Dae Jaweon: page 1861, character 9
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4143, character 4
* Unihan data for U+968E

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 階 :
| Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) | Liushutong (compiled in Ming) |
| Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
| | Old Chinese |
| 皆 | *kriːl |
| 偕 | *kriːl |
| 階 | *kriːl |
| 喈 | *kriːl |
| 稭 | *kriːl, *kriːd |
| 堦 | *kriːl |
| 楷 | *kriːl, *kʰriːlʔ |
| 鶛 | *kriːl |
| 湝 | *kriːl, *ɡriːl |
| 蝔 | *kriːl, *ɡriːl |
| 鍇 | *kriːl, *kʰriːlʔ |
| 揩 | *kʰriːl |
| 諧 | *ɡriːl |
| 瑎 | *ɡriːl |
| 龤 | *ɡriːl |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *kriːl) : semantic 阝 + phonetic 皆 (OC *kriːl).

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): jiē (jie$^1$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄝ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): gaai$^1$
* Eastern Min (BUC): gā̤ / găi
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): kai
    (Teochew, Peng'im): gai$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: jiē
*** Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄝ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: jie
*** Wade–Giles: chieh$^1$
*** Yale: jyē
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jie
*** Palladius: цзе (cze)
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: gaai$^1$
*** Yale: gāai
*** Cantonese Pinyin: gaai$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: gai$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /kaːi̯⁵⁵/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: gā̤ / găi
*** Sinological IPA : /kɛ³³/, /kai⁵⁵/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kai
*** Tâi-lô: kai
*** Phofsit Daibuun: kay
*** IPA (Xiamen): /kai⁴⁴/
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /kai³³/
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /kai⁴⁴/
*** IPA (Taipei): /kai⁴⁴/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /kai⁴⁴/
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: gai$^1$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kai
*** Sinological IPA : /kai³³/
* Middle Chinese: keaj
Rime :
| Character | 階 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 見 (28) |
| Final (韻) | 皆 (33) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | II |
| Fanqie | 古諧切 |
| Baxter | keaj |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /kˠɛi/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /kᵚæi/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /kɐi/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /kəɨj/ |
| Li Rong | /kɛi/ |
| Wang Li | /kɐi/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /kăi/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | jiē |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | gaai$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*kˤrij/
    (Zhengzhang): /*kriːl/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 階 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | jiē |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ kɛj › |
| Old Chinese | /*kˁrij/ |
| English | steps, stairs |
| 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 | 階 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 6417 |
| Phonetic component | 皆 |
| Rime group | 脂 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 皆 |
| Old Chinese | /*kriːl/ |

### Definitions

階
* stair; step
    階梯／阶梯 ― jiētī ― staircase
    From: Guoyu, circa 4th century BCE
    Fú bùwéi, nǎi wéi yě. Fú bùwéi, wáng zhī jiē yě. [Pinyin]
    They never go against you, which is indeed their way of betraying you. Their unconditional compliance is the stepstone to you ruin.
* (figurative) rank; degree; level; seniority; order of precedence
    官階／官阶 ― guānjiē ― rank of an official
    進階中文課／进阶中文课 ― jìnjiē zhōngwén kè ― advanced(-level) course in Chinese
* (figurative) phase; stage (serially-ordered division of time, level of completion, etc.)
    階段／阶段 ― jiēduàn ― stage
* (music) scale
    五聲音階／五声音阶 ― wǔshēngyīnjiē ― pentatonic scale
* (mathematics) order; degree (quantity signifying various concepts in mathematics, chiefly integer-valued)
    二階微分方程／二阶微分方程 ― èrjiē wēifēnfāngchéng ― second-order differential equation
** (graph theory) the number of vertices in a graph
    From: 2012, Xiong Bin and Zheng Zhongyi, Graph Theory, page 18
    Xiǎnrán rènhé n jiē tú shì yīge n bù tú. [Pinyin]
    Evidently, every n-vertex graph is an n-partite graph.
* a surname

### Compounds

* 一階半級 / 一阶半级
* 一階半職 / 一阶半职
* 下層階級 / 下层阶级
* 下臺階 / 下台阶 (xià táijiē)
* 三階 / 三阶
* 三階佛法 / 三阶佛法
* 三階教 / 三阶教
* 中產階級 / 中产阶级 (zhōngchǎn jiējí)
* 亂階 / 乱阶
* 低階 / 低阶 (dījiē)
* 位階 / 位阶
* 初階 / 初阶
* 半音階 / 半音阶 (bànyīnjiē)
* 厲階 / 厉阶
* 土階茅屋 / 土阶茅屋
* 土階茅茨 / 土阶茅茨
* 堯階蓂莢 / 尧阶蓂荚
* 大音階 / 大音阶 (dàyīnjiē)
* 太階 / 太阶
* 官階 / 官阶 (guānjiē)
* 小音階 / 小音阶 (xiǎoyīnjiē)
* 工商階級 / 工商阶级
* 巧不可階 / 巧不可阶
* 平臺階段 / 平台阶段
* 循階 / 循阶
* 找臺階 / 找台阶
* 找臺階下 / 找台阶下
* 日轉千階 / 日转千阶
* 晉階 / 晋阶
* 月地雲階 / 月地云阶
* 有產階級 / 有产阶级 (yǒuchǎn jiējí)
* 木階 / 木阶
* 東階 / 东阶
* 泰階 / 泰阶
* 河階 / 河阶
* 泰階平 / 泰阶平
* 沿階草 / 沿阶草
* 海平階 / 海平阶
* 無產階級 / 无产阶级 (wúchǎn jiējí)
* 玉階 / 玉阶
* 玉階怨 / 玉阶怨
* 現階段 / 现阶段
* 瑤階 / 瑶阶
* 白領階級 / 白领阶级
* 知識階級 / 知识阶级
* 石階 / 石阶 (shíjiē)
* 社會階級 / 社会阶级 (shèhuì jiējí)
* 禍作福階 / 祸作福阶
* 臺階 / 台阶 (táijiē)
* 茅室土階 / 茅室土阶
* 茅茨土階 / 茅茨土阶
* 藍領階級 / 蓝领阶级
* 螺階 / 螺阶
* 西階 / 西阶
* 資產階級 / 资产阶级 (zīchǎn jiējí)
* 超階越次 / 超阶越次
* 躇階 / 躇阶
* 軍階 / 军阶 (jūnjiē)
* 連階累任 / 连阶累任
* 進身之階 / 进身之阶
* 進階 / 进阶 (jìnjiē)
* 阼階 / 阼阶
* 降階 / 降阶
* 階下 / 阶下 (jiēxià)
* 階下囚 / 阶下囚 (jiēxiàqiú)
* 階乘 / 阶乘 (jiēchéng)
* 階層 / 阶层 (jiēcéng)
* 階州 / 阶州 (Jiēzhōu)
* 階心 / 阶心
* 階梯 / 阶梯 (jiētī)
* 階段 / 阶段 (jiēduàn)
* 階砌 / 阶砌
* 階級 / 阶级 (jiējí)
* 階級意識 / 阶级意识
* 階級敵人 / 阶级敌人
* 階級矛盾 / 阶级矛盾
* 階級鬥爭 / 阶级斗争 (jiējí dòuzhēng)
* 階緣 / 阶缘
* 階進 / 阶进
* 階陛 / 阶陛
* 階除 / 阶除
* 雲階月地 / 云阶月地
* 音階 / 音阶 (yīnjiē)
* 高階 / 高阶 (gāojiē)
* 高階層 / 高阶层
* 高階語言 / 高阶语言 (gāojiē yǔyán)

### Descendants

* → Japanese: 階(かい) (kai)

### References

* “階”, 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

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)
* storey; story; floor​

#### Readings

* Go-on: け (ke)
* Kan-on: かい (kai, Jōyō)
* Kun: きざはし (kizahashi, 階)、はしご (hashigo, 階)、しな (shina, 階)

### Etymology

* Kanji in this term
* 階
* かい Grade: 3
* on'yomi
From Middle Chinese 階 (MC keaj).

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) かい [kàí] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [ka̠i]

### Affix

階(かい) • (kai)
* step; stair; storey
* class; rank; level

### Counter

階(かい) • (-kai)
* floors, storeys (of a building)
    （私(わたし)の）オフィスは五(ご)階(かい)にあります。
       (Watashi no) ofisu wa go-kai ni arimasu.
       (My) office is on the fifth floor.

#### See also

Japanese number-counter combinations for 階(かい) (kai) :
| 0階 | 1階 | 2階 | 3階 | 4階 |
| ゼロ階(かい) (zerokai) 零(れい)階(かい) (reikai) | 一(いっ)階(かい) (ikkai) | 二(に)階(かい) (nikai) | 三(さん)階(かい) (sankai) | 四(よん)階(かい) (yonkai) |
| 5階 | 6階 | 7階 | 8階 | 9階 |
| 五(ご)階(かい) (gokai) | 六(ろっ)階(かい) (rokkai) | 七(なな)階(かい) (nanakai) 七(しち)階(かい) (shichikai) | 八(はっ)階(かい) (hakkai) 八(はち)階(かい) (hachikai) | 九(きゅう)階(かい) (kyūkai) |
| 10階 | 11階 | 12階 | 20階 | 21階 |
| 十(じっ)階(かい) (jikkai) 十(じゅっ)階(かい) (jukkai) | 十(じゅう)一(いっ)階(かい) (jūikkai) | 十(じゅう)二(に)階(かい) (jūnikai) | 二(に)十(じっ)階(かい) (nijikkai) 二(に)十(じゅっ)階(かい) (nijukkai) | 二(に)十(じゅう)一(いっ)階(かい) (nijūikkai) |
| 100階 | 1000階 | 10000階 | 100000000階 | How many? |
| 百(ひゃっ)階(かい) (hyakkai) | 千(せん)階(かい) (senkai) | 一(いち)万(まん)階(かい) (ichimankai) | 一(いち)億(おく)階(かい) (ichiokukai) | 何(なん)階(かい) (nankai) |

## Korean
### Hanja

階 (eumhun 섬돌 계 (seomdol gye))
* hanja form of 계 (“steps, stairs”)
* hanja form of 계 (“rank, degree”)

## Vietnamese
### Han character

階: Hán Nôm readings: giai
* This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.