# 曹

| 曹 | U+66F9, &#26361; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-66F9 |
| ← 書 [U+66F8] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 曺 → [U+66FA] |

## Translingual
### Han character

曹 (Kangxi radical 73, 曰+7, 11 strokes, cangjie input 廿田日 (TWA), four-corner 5560$_6$, composition ⿱⿻一曲曰)

#### Derived characters

* 傮 嘈 㜖 嶆 㡟 慒 槽 漕 㷮 𥕢 䄚 糟 䏆 䐬 艚 螬 褿 䜊 蹧 醩 鏪 鰽(𫚧) 遭 蓸 𡐋 𢲵 𣉿 𣩒 𤗰 𤡐 𥀛 𭿕 𦄧(𬘿) 𨎝 𩞄(𩠎) 𮮁 𪙡 𩆦 𬟠 𩘳 𪯓 𡮦 𣍖 𥲍 𦋿 𧕐

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 502, character 13
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14297
* Dae Jaweon: page 876, character 3
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1511, character 6
* Unihan data for U+66F9

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 曹 :
| Shang | Western Zhou | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) | Liushutong (compiled in Ming) |
| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
| | Old Chinese |
| 遭 | *ʔsluː |
| 糟 | *ʔsluː |
| 醩 | *ʔsluːu |
| 傮 | *ʔsluː |
| 槽 | *ʔsluː, *zluː |
| 曹 | *zluː |
| 螬 | *zluː |
| 漕 | *zluː, *zluːs |
| 嘈 | *zluː |
| 艚 | *zluː |
| 褿 | *zluː |
| 蓸 | *zluː |
| 慒 | *lju, *zluːŋ |
Originally 㯥 (cáo), an ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): two bundles 東 on top. The original meaning is "pair; peer, same kind". Later, 囗 was added as a distinguishing mark, which corrupted into 甘 in bronze inscriptions and 曰 in Seal Script, thus getting the intermediate and semi-archaic version 𣍘. The top two 東 have merged and now resemble 曲 with an extra stroke.
Unrelated to 曲 and 典.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): cáo (cao$^2$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄘㄠˊ
* Cantonese
    (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): cou$^4$
    (Taishan, Wiktionary): tau$^3$
* Hakka
    (Sixian, PFS): chhò
    (Meixian, Guangdong): cau$^2$
* Northern Min (KCR): cǎu
* Eastern Min (BUC): cò̤
* Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): zor$^2$
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): chô / chô͘
    (Teochew, Peng'im): cao$^5$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^6$zau
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: cáo
*** Zhuyin: ㄘㄠˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: cáo
*** Wade–Giles: tsʻao$^2$
*** Yale: tsáu
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsaur
*** Palladius: цао (cao)
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡sʰɑʊ̯³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: cou$^4$
*** Yale: chòuh
*** Cantonese Pinyin: tsou$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: cou$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡sʰou̯²¹/
** (Taishanese, Taicheng)
*** Wiktionary: tau$^3$
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰau²²/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhò
*** Hakka Romanization System: co$^ˇ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: co$^2$
*** Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰo¹¹/
** (Meixian)
*** Guangdong: cau$^2$
*** Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰau¹¹/
* Northern Min
** (Jian'ou)
*** Kienning Colloquial Romanized: cǎu
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡sau²¹/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: cò̤
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡so⁵³/
* Puxian Min
** (Putian, Xianyou)
*** Pouseng Ping'ing: zor$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡sɒ¹³/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chô
*** Tâi-lô: tsô
*** Phofsit Daibuun: zooi
*** IPA (Taipei, Xiamen): /t͡so²⁴/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sɤ²³/
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡so¹³/
** (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chô͘
*** Tâi-lô: tsôo
*** Phofsit Daibuun: zoo
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sɔ²⁴/
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: cao$^5$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tshâu
*** Sinological IPA : /t͡sʰau⁵⁵/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^6$zau
*** MiniDict: zau$^去$
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^3$zau
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /zɔ²³/
* Middle Chinese: dzaw
Rime :
| Character | 曹 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 從 (15) |
| Final (韻) | 豪 (89) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | I |
| Fanqie | 昨勞切 |
| Baxter | dzaw |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /d͡zɑu/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /d͡zɑu/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /d͡zɑu/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /d͡zaw/ |
| Li Rong | /d͡zɑu/ |
| Wang Li | /d͡zɑu/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /d͡zʱɑu/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | cáo |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | cou$^4$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*N-tsˤu/
    (Zhengzhang): /*zluː/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 曹 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | cáo |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ dzaw › |
| Old Chinese | /*N-tsˁu/ |
| English | come together; pair |
| 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 | 曹 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 1154 |
| Phonetic component | 曹 |
| Rime group | 幽 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 曹 |
| Old Chinese | /*zluː/ |
| Notes | 金文下非曰字， 上從二東，象列置衆種子之器， 乃槽初文 |

### Definitions

曹
* (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) plaintiff and defendant
* (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) division department of the central government in ancient times
* (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) official
* (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) group
* (literary) people of the same kind
    爾曹／尔曹 ― ěrcáo ― you all
* (historical) Cao, a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–221 BCE), covering roughly the area of modern-day Dingtao County in Heze, southwestern Shandong province
* a surname
    曹操 ― Cáo Cāo ― Cao Cao

#### Compounds

* 三曹對案 / 三曹对案
* 仙曹
* 倒曹
* 儀曹 / 仪曹
* 兒曹 / 儿曹
* 分曹
* 功曹 (gōngcáo)
* 印曹
* 坐曹
* 天曹
* 市曹 (shìcáo)
* 徐母罵曹 / 徐母骂曹
* 我曹 (wǒcáo)
* 才當曹斗
* 捉放曹
* 擊鼓罵曹 / 击鼓骂曹
* 敖曹
* 曹丘
* 曹全碑
* 曹劌論戰 / 曹刿论战
* 曹國舅 / 曹国舅
* 曹娥江 (Cáo'éjiāng)
* 曹娥碑
* 曹市 (Cáoshì)
* 曹族
* 曹柯之盟
* 曹楊 / 曹杨 (Cáoyáng)
* 曹洞宗
* 曹社之謀 / 曹社之谋
* 曹門 / 曹门
* 曹魏 (Cáo Wèi)
* 法曹
* 清曹峻府
* 爾曹 / 尔曹 (ěrcáo)
* 綁赴市曹 / 绑赴市曹 (bǎngfùshìcáo)
* 蕭曹 / 萧曹
* 蕭規曹隨 / 萧规曹随 (xiāoguīcáosuí)
* 賊曹 / 贼曹
* 部曹
* 陰曹 / 阴曹
* 陰曹地府 / 阴曹地府
* 馬曹廟 / 马曹庙 (Mǎcáomiào)

#### References

* (Min Nan) “曹”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Jōyō kanji)
* cadet
* friend

#### Readings

* Go-on: ぞう (zō)
* Kan-on: そう (sō, Jōyō)
* Kun: つかさ (tsukasa, 曹)、ともがら (tomogara, 曹)、へや (heya, 曹)

#### Compounds

* 軍(ぐん)曹(そう) (gunsō)
* 曹(そう)長(ちょう) (sōchō)
* 御(おん)曹(ぞう)司(し) (onzōshi)
* 重(じゅう)曹(そう) (jūsō)
* 曹(そう)洞(とう)宗(しゅう) (sōtōshū)

## Korean
### Hanja

曹 (eum 조 (jo))
* Alternative form of 曺

#### Compounds

* 조계종 (曹溪宗, jogyejong)
* 육조 (六曹, yukjo)

## Vietnamese
### Han character

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