# 奚

| 奚 | U+595A, &#22874; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-595A |
| ← 奙 [U+5959] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 奛 → [U+595B] |

## Translingual

| Japanese | ⿱爫夫 |
| Simplified | 奚 |
| Traditional | 奚 |

### Han character

奚 (Kangxi radical 37, 大+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 月女戈大 (BVIK), four-corner 2043$_0$, composition ⿱爫𡗞)

#### Derived characters

* 傒, 嗘, 嵠, 徯, 溪, 慀, 榽, 膎, 磎, 螇, 縘, 豯, 蹊, 豀, 貕, 謑, 鞵, 騱, 鼷, 谿, 雞, 鷄, 鶏, 蒵, 䙎

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 252, character 10
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5930
* Dae Jaweon: page 514, character 5
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 541, character 11
* Unihan data for U+595A

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

* Historical forms of the character 奚
* Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
* Small seal script
| | Old Chinese |
| 謑 | *qʰraːs, *qʰreːs, *ɡeːʔ |
| 膎 | *ɡreː |
| 鞵 | *ɡreː |
| 榽 | *ɡreː, *ɡeː |
| 鷄 | *keː |
| 雞 | *keː |
| 谿 | *kʰeː |
| 嵠 | *kʰeː |
| 溪 | *kʰeː |
| 磎 | *kʰeː |
| 螇 | *kʰeː, *ɡeː |
| 鸂 | *kʰeː |
| 奚 | *ɡeː |
| 豯 | *ɡeː |
| 徯 | *ɡeː, *ɡeːʔ |
| 蹊 | *ɡeː |
| 騱 | *ɡeː |
| 傒 | *ɡeː |
| 鼷 | *ɡeː |
| 蒵 | *ɡeː, *ɡeːs |
| 貕 | *ɡeː |
| 慀 | *ɡeːs |
Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): a hand 爪 grabbing a criminal slave 大 by their braids 幺. In Warring States texts the bottom of the character was often simplified, making the character interchangeable with 系.

### Etymology

Cognate with 何 (OC *ɡaːl, “what; where; why; how”). See there for more.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): xī (xi$^1$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): hai$^4$
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): hê
    (Teochew, Peng'im): hi$^1$ / hi$^5$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: xī
*** Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: si
*** Wade–Giles: hsi$^1$
*** Yale: syī
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shi
*** Palladius: си (si)
*** Sinological IPA : /ɕi⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: hai$^4$
*** Yale: hàih
*** Cantonese Pinyin: hai$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: hei$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /hɐi̯²¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hê
*** Tâi-lô: hê
*** Phofsit Daibuun: hee
*** IPA (Xiamen): /he²⁴/
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /he²⁴/
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /he¹³/
*** IPA (Taipei): /he²⁴/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /he²³/
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: hi$^1$ / hi$^5$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hi / hî
*** Sinological IPA : /hi³³/, /hi⁵⁵/
* Dialectal data
| Variety | Location | edit奚 |
| Mandarin | Beijing | /ɕi⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Harbin | /ɕi⁴⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Tianjin | /ɕi²¹/ |
| Mandarin | Jinan | /ɕi²¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Qingdao | /ɕi²¹³/ |
| Mandarin | Zhengzhou | /ɕi²⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Xi'an | /ɕi²¹/ |
| Mandarin | Xining | /ɕi⁴⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Yinchuan | /ɕi⁴⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Lanzhou | /ɕi⁵³/ |
| Mandarin | Ürümqi | /ɕi⁴⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Wuhan | /ɕi⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Chengdu | /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Guiyang | /ɕi⁵⁵/ |
| Mandarin | Kunming | /ɕi⁴⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Nanjing | /ɕi²⁴/ |
| Mandarin | Hefei | /sz̩²¹/ |
| Jin | Taiyuan | /ɕi¹¹/ |
| Jin | Pingyao | |
| Jin | Hohhot | /ɕi³¹/ |
| Wu | Shanghai | /ɕi⁵³/ /ɦi²³/ |
| Wu | Suzhou | /ɦi¹³/ |
| Wu | Hangzhou | /ɦi²¹³/ |
| Wu | Wenzhou | /ji³¹/ |
| Hui | Shexian | /t͡ɕʰi³¹/ |
| Hui | Tunxi | |
| Xiang | Changsha | /ɕi³³/ |
| Xiang | Xiangtan | /ɕi³³/ |
| Gan | Nanchang | |
| Hakka | Meixian | /hi⁴⁴/ |
| Hakka | Taoyuan | |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | /hɐi²¹/ |
| Cantonese | Nanning | /hɐi²¹/ |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | /hɐi²¹/ |
| Min | Xiamen (Hokkien) | /he³⁵/ |
| Min | Fuzhou (Eastern Min) | /hie⁵³/ |
| Min | Jian'ou (Northern Min) | /xi⁵⁴/ |
| Min | Shantou (Teochew) | /hi⁵⁵/ |
| Min | Haikou (Hainanese) | /hi²³/ |
* Middle Chinese: hej
Rime :
| Character | 奚 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 匣 (33) |
| Final (韻) | 齊 (39) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | IV |
| Fanqie | 胡雞切 |
| Baxter | hej |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ɦei/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ɦei/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ɣɛi/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ɦɛj/ |
| Li Rong | /ɣei/ |
| Wang Li | /ɣiei/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /ɣiei/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | xí |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | hai$^4$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɡ]ˤe/, /*[ɡ]ˤe/
    (Zhengzhang): /*ɡeː/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 奚 | 奚 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | xī | xī |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ hej › | ‹ hej › |
| Old Chinese | /*[ɡ]ˁe/ (dial. for 何 *[ɡ]ˁaj?) | /*[ɡ]ˁe/ |
| English | why, what | slave, servant |
| 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 | 奚 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 13364 |
| Phonetic component | 奚 |
| Rime group | 支 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 奚 |
| Old Chinese | /*ɡeː/ |
| Notes | 說文作籀文系省聲， 甲金文象抓索辮人爲奴 |

### Definitions

奚
* (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) where? what? how? why?
       From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
       Zǐlù yuē: “Wèi jūn dài zǐ ér wèizhèng, zǐ jiāng xī xiān?” [Pinyin]
       Zi Lu said, "The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?"
       From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
       Huò wèi kǒngzǐ yuē: “Zǐ xī bù wèizhèng?” [Pinyin]
       Some one addressed Confucius, saying, "Sir, why are you not engaged in the government?"
       From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE
       Bǐ qiě xī shì yě? [Pinyin]
       Where is it going to?
* (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) servant
* the Xi (Kumo Xi) people

#### Synonyms

| Variety | Location | Words |
| Classical Chinese | Classical Chinese | 何為, 何以, 何, 何故, 緣何, 胡, 奚, 曷, 胡為 |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 為什麼, 為何, 因何, 何以 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 為什麼, 幹嗎, 幹什麼 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 為什麼 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Harbin | 為啥 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Malaysia | 為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Singapore | 為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Tianjin | 為嘛 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Jinan | 為麼兒, 為麼, 幹麼兒, 為什麼 |
| Jiaoliao Mandarin | Yantai (Muping) | 為麼, 為麼個 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xi'an | 為啥, 因啥 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xining | 為啥 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xuzhou | 為啥, 擁啥, 擁什麼 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Yinchuan | 為啥 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Lanzhou | 為啥 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Ürümqi | 為啥 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Chengdu | 為啥子, 做啥子 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Wuhan | 做麼事, 為麼事 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Guiyang | 為哪樣, 為些哪樣 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Guilin | 為什麼 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Liuzhou | 為什麼 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine) | 為什麼 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Nanjing | 為什麼 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Yangzhou | 甚們事, 做事, 做啥, 為甚們 formal |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Hefei | 怎搞, 怎搞的 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 為乜, 為乜為物, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 做咩, 為乜, 為咩, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因咩解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou) | 做乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Macau | 為乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou (Panyu) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu) | 整乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou (Zengcheng) | 做乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Foshan | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Foshan (Shunde) | 為乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming) | 因乜嘢, 點解 |
| Cantonese | Zhongshan (Shiqi) | 為乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou) | 為乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Zhuhai (Doumen) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Jiangmen (Baisha) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Taishan | 幾何, 幾解, 做乜, 為乜, 乜頭路 |
| Cantonese | Kaiping (Chikan) | 幾解 |
| Cantonese | Enping (Niujiang) | 做乜 |
| Cantonese | Dongguan | 點解, 做乜嘢, 做乜, 為乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Shenzhen (Dapeng) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Yangjiang | 為乜, 為乜事, 做乜, 做乜事, 做乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Hepu (Lianzhou) | 為物底 |
| Cantonese | Qinzhou | 為乜嘢, 為乜 |
| Cantonese | Qinzhou (Xiniujiao) | 為乜底 |
| Cantonese | Beihai | 為乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Beihai (Nankang) | 做乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Beihai (Yingpan) | 為乜底 |
| Cantonese | Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô) | 做乜嘢, 為乜 |
| Cantonese | Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà) | 做乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Fangchenggang (Fangcheng) | 做乜嘢, 為乜 |
| Cantonese | Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Singapore (Guangfu) | 點解 |
| Cantonese | Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu) | 做乜嘢 |
| Cantonese | Móng Cái | 點解, 為乜 |
| Cantonese | Yangon (Taishan) | 幾解 |
| Gan | Nanchang | 為什哩 |
| Gan | Pingxiang | 為咋個, 為咋哩, 做咋個, 做咋哩, 何解 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua) | 做乜嘢, 做嘢 |
| Hakka | Dongguan (Qingxi) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Shenzhen (Shatoujiao) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Zhongshan (Wuguishan) | 仰解, 做乜嘢 |
| Hakka | Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui) | 為乜嘢 |
| Hakka | Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua) | 為麼個 |
| Hakka | Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Hong Kong | 做麼個 |
| Hakka | Kuching (Hepo) | 做乜個 |
| Jin | Taiyuan | 為甚, 因為甚, 幹什 |
| Jin | Xinzhou | 𠰻們 |
| Northern Min | Jian'ou | 為孰事, 做孰事 |
| Eastern Min | Fuzhou | 蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 做什名, 幹乜勢, 傒勢 |
| Eastern Min | Fuzhou (Changle) | 傒勢 |
| Eastern Min | Fuqing | 介計 |
| Eastern Min | Yongtai | 蔣其 |
| Eastern Min | Gutian | 做什乇 |
| Eastern Min | Fu'an | 做乜乇 |
| Eastern Min | Ningde | 做乇 |
| Eastern Min | Shouning | 做呢乇 |
| Eastern Min | Zhouning | 做乜乇 |
| Eastern Min | Fuding | 做哪乇 |
| Eastern Min | Matsu | 為什乇, 蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 傒勢 |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 為什物, 按怎, 物代, 敢咧, 創什物 |
| Southern Min | Quanzhou | 按怎, 物代 |
| Southern Min | Jinjiang | 為啥物 |
| Southern Min | Zhangzhou | 按怎 |
| Southern Min | Zhao'an | 為甚物 |
| Southern Min | Dongshan | 為甚物 |
| Southern Min | Taipei | 為啥物, 是按怎 |
| Southern Min | Penang (Hokkien) | 何物事, 做物事, 做物 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Hokkien) | 按怎 |
| Southern Min | Manila (Hokkien) | 敢哪, 敢哪誌 |
| Southern Min | Chaozhou | 做呢 |
| Southern Min | Shantou | 做呢 |
| Southern Min | Shantou (Chaoyang) | 做呢 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Teochew) | 做呢 |
| Southern Min | Leizhou | 作乜, 因乜 |
| Southern Min | Wenchang | 作乜, 因乜, 怎作 |
| Southern Min | Haikou | 作乜, 作個乜, 作乜物, 因乜, 因個乜 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Hainanese) | 作乜 |
| Zhongshan Min | Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi) | 為乜嘢 |
| Southern Pinghua | Nanning (Tingzi) | 做門, 做哪門, 為哪門 |
| Waxiang | Guzhang (Gaofeng) | 為什個 |
| Wu | Shanghai | 啥體, 為啥, 做啥, 啥講究, 為啥體, 啥個講究, 啥道理, 為啥道理, 啥個路道, 啥個緣故 |
| Wu | Shanghai (Chongming) | 為何, 做何 |
| Wu | Suzhou | 為啥, 為點啥, 做啥, 啥體, 為啥體 |
| Wu | Danyang | 為點高, 做點高 |
| Wu | Hangzhou | 為啥 |
| Wu | Wenzhou | 妝乜, 為何呢, 為乜事幹 |
| Wu | Jinhua | 為淡事幹, 為待西 |
| Xiang | Changsha | 為麼子, 何解 |
| Xiang | Xiangtan | 奚解 |
| Xiang | Loudi | 嗎介 |
| Xiang | Shuangfeng | 為麼子, 做麼子 |

#### Compounds

* 奚兒 / 奚儿
* 奚凌
* 奚奴
* 奚琴 (xīqín)
* 奚由
* 奚自
* 奚若
* 奚落 (xīluò)
* 奚隸 / 奚隶
* 小奚奴
* 庫莫奚 / 库莫奚
* 祁奚之舉 / 祁奚之举
* 祁奚舉午 / 祁奚举午
* 祁奚薦仇 / 祁奚荐仇
* 迷奚

## Japanese

| Shinjitai (extended) | ⿱爫夫 |
| Kyūjitai | 奚 |

### Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form ⿱爫夫)
* servant
* what
* why

#### Readings

* On (unclassified): けい (kei)
* Kun: なんぞ (nanzo, 奚ぞ)、なに (nani, 奚)、しもべ (shimobe, 奚)

### References

* ↑ “奚”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎ (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

## Korean
### Hanja

奚 • (hae) (hangeul 해, revised hae, McCune–Reischauer hae)
* This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

## Vietnamese
### Han character

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