乙

See also: 己, 之, Z, and ㇠

乙 U+4E59, 乙 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E59 ← 乘 [U+4E58] CJK Unified Ideographs 乚 → [U+4E5A]

⼄ U+2F04, ⼄ KANGXI RADICAL SECOND ← ⼃ [U+2F03] Kangxi Radicals ⼅ → [U+2F05]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

Stroke order

See images of
Radical 5 乙

乙 (Kangxi radical 5, 乙+0, 1 stroke, cangjie input 弓山 (NU), four-corner 1771₀)

1. Kangxi radical #5, ⼄.

Derived characters

• Appendix:Chinese radical/乙
• 亿, 𫤾, 𠮙, 𫭖, 𫰆, 𡴭, 𢒼, 忆, 𢩧, 㲸, 𣄻, 𣎷, 𪵖, 肊, 𤓱, 𥘆, 𥝎, 𬖋, 䎲, 𦨇, 𧈝, 𮚲, 𮛁, 𬨖, 釔(钇), 鳦, 𪐘
• 𠫕, 𠮞, 𣄽, 氹, 𢖮, 𧰦, 𫚮, 𪸍, 𠀂, 𠧒, 𡴯, 艺, 𢩥, 朰, 戹, 穵, 𩁶, 𫘸, 𤴥, 𬸺, 𡆠

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 83, character 15
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 161
• Dae Jaweon: page 167, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 47, character 4
• Unihan data for U+4E59

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 乙
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script j29982 j29983 j29984 j29985 j29986 j29987 j29988 j29989 j29990 j29991 j29992 j29993 j29994 j29995 j29996 j29997 j29998 j29999 j30000 j30001 j30002 j30003 j30004 j30005 j30006 j30007 j30008 j30009 j30010 j30011 j30012 j30013 j30014 j30015 j30016 j30017 j30018 j30019 j30020 j30021 j30022 j30023 j30024 j30025 j30026 j30027 j30028 j30029 j30030 j30031 j30032 j30033 j30034 j30035 j30036 j30037 j30038 j30039 j30040 j30041 j30042 j30043 j30044 j30045 j30046 j30047 j30048 j30049 j30050 j30051 j30052 j30053 j30054 j30055 j30056 j30057 j30058 j30059 j30060 j30061 j30062 j30063 j30064 j30065 j30066 j30067 j30068 j30069 j30070 j30071 j30072 Bronze inscriptions b20226 b20227 b20228 b20229 b20230 b20231 b20232 b20233 b20234 b20235 b20236 b20237 b20238 b20239 b20240 b20241 b20242 b20243 b20244 b20245 b20246 b20247 b20248 b20249 b20250 b20251 b20252 b20253 b20254 b20255 b20256 b20257 b20258 b20259 b20260 b20261 b20262 b20263 Small seal script s10940 Transcribed ancient scripts L26039 L26040 L26041 L26042 L26043 L26044 L26045 L26046 L26047 L26048 L26049
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

	Old Chinese
劜	*qreːd
札	*sqriːd
扎	*sqriːd
蚻	*ʔsriːd
紮	*ʔsriːd
軋	*qriːd
圠	*qriːd
穵	*qriːd, *qʷriːd
挖	*qʷriːd
鳦	*qriːd, *qrid
耴	*ŋrid, *teb
乙	*qriɡ
肊	*qrɯɡ

Characters in the same phonetic series (乙) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

Unknown. Different ancient texts propose different origins.

• Pictogram (象形) – a developing plant (Shuowen).
• Pictogram (象形) – the intestine of a fish (Erya).
• Pictogram (象形) – the gill bone of a fish (Liji Zhengyi (《禮記正義》)

The character should not be confused with 𠃉 > 鳦.

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		乙

Pronunciation

Rime
Character	乙
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	影 (34)
Final (韻)	質 (49)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	於筆切
Baxter	'it
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔˠiɪt̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔᵚit̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔiet̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔjit̚/
Li Rong	/ʔjĕt̚/
Wang Li	/ĭĕt̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʔi̯ĕt̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jat1

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	乙
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ ʔit ›
Old Chinese	/*qrət/
English	2nd heavenly stem
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	乙
Reading #	1/1
No.	14921
Phonetic component	乙
Rime group	質
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	乙
Old Chinese	/*qriɡ/
Notes	甲乙字收ɡ尾與燕乙字收d尾小分部有異

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): yǐ (yi³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): yi³

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyut³ / jyut⁶

• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): yet / yat

  (Meixian, Guangdong): yad⁵

• Northern Min (KCR): ĭ
• Eastern Min (BUC): ék
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): it

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ig⁴

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁷iq

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǐ
    • Wade–Giles: i³
    • Yale: yǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yii
    • Palladius: и (i)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹⁴/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: yi³
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: i
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: jyut³ / jyut⁶
    • Yale: yut / yuht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyt⁸ / jyt⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yud³ / yud⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːt̚³/, /jyːt̚²/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yet
    • Hakka Romanization System: ied^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yad⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /i̯et̚²/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yat
    • Hakka Romanization System: (r)iad^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yad⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /(j)i̯at̚²/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: yad⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /iat̚¹/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: ĭ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ék
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛiʔ²⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: it
    • Tâi-lô: it
    • Phofsit Daibuun: id
    • IPA (Xiamen): /it̚³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /it̚⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /it̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /it̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /it̚³²/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ig⁴
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ik
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ik̚²/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁷iq
    • MiniDict: ih^入
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁴iq
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /iɪʔ⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: 'it

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*qrət/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qriɡ/

Definitions

乙

1. The second of the ten heavenly stems (天干 (tiāngān))
2. second; 2; B; II; beta (used for unnamed people or objects, to enumerate headings in a list, for grades, etc.)

   路人甲和路人乙  ―  lùrén jiǎ hé lùrén yǐ  ―  passerby A and passerby B

   他法語成績得了乙。 [MSC, trad.]
   他法语成绩得了乙。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā fǎyǔ chéngjì dé le yǐ. [Pinyin]

   He got a B in French.

   乙肝  ―  yǐgān  ―  hepatitis B

3. (chemistry) eth-; ethyl

   乙烷  ―  yǐwán  ―  ethane

4. (literary, formal) one

   （公文）……加乙份。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   (gōngwén)...... Jiā yǐ fèn. [Pinyin]

   (In official letters) …added one copy.

5. a surname
6. (Cantonese) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}. (Classifier: 隻／只 c)
   • 2023, 5m30s from the start, in 笑满岭南七十载：专访第三届广东文艺终身成就奖获得者黄俊英‎:

     噉我52年入去珠江粵劇團嘅時候，一隻乙噉㗎咋喎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     噉我52年入去珠江粤剧团嘅时候，一只乙噉㗎咋㖞。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     gam² ngo⁵ ng⁵ ji⁶ nin⁴ jap⁶ heoi³ zyu¹ gong¹ jyut⁶ kek⁶ tyun⁴ ge³ si⁴ hau⁶, jat¹ zek³ jyut³ gam² gaa³ zaa³ wo³. [Jyutping]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Coordinate terms

• (Chinese heavenly stems) 天干 (tiāngān); 甲 (jiǎ), 乙 (yǐ), 丙 (bǐng), 丁 (dīng), 戊 (wù), 己 (jǐ), 庚 (gēng), 辛 (xīn), 壬 (rén), 癸 (guǐ) ^{(Category: zh:Chinese heavenly stems)}

Compounds

• 三氯乙烷
• 三氯乙烯 (sānlǜyǐxī)
• 丹鉛甲乙／丹铅甲乙
• 丹黃甲乙／丹黄甲乙
• 乙乙
• 乙力
• 乙士
• 乙夜 (yǐyè)
• 乙字庫／乙字库
• 乙帳／乙帐
• 乙干
• 乙弗
• 乙旃
• 乙更
• 乙榜
• 乙正
• 乙炔 (yǐquē)
• 乙烯 (yǐxī)
• 乙烷 (yǐwán)
• 乙科
• 乙第
• 乙等特考
• 乙腦／乙脑 (yǐnǎo)
• 乙覽／乙览
• 乙速孤
• 乙選／乙选
• 乙部
• 乙酸 (yǐsuān)
• 乙醇 (yǐchún)
• 乙醛 (yǐquán)
• 乙醚 (yǐmí)
• 乙鳥／乙鸟
• 令乙
• 勾乙
• 厶乙
• 圖乙／图乙
• 塗乙／涂乙
• 天乙
• 太乙
• 太乙壇／太乙坛
• 太乙宮／太乙宫
• 太乙數／太乙数
• 太乙爐／太乙炉
• 太乙神針／太乙神针
• 太乙舟
• 孔乙己
• 小乙
• 左乙
• 張甲李乙／张甲李乙
• 某乙
• 氯乙烯 (lǜyǐxī)
• 泰乙
• 獨乙／独乙
• 玄乙
• 甲乙
• 甲乙問／甲乙问
• 甲乙帳／甲乙帐
• 甲乙科
• 甲乙膏
• 白乙
• 聚乙烯 (jùyǐxī)
• 聚苯乙烯 (jùběnyǐxī)
• 苯乙烯 (běnyǐxī)
• 越鳧楚乙／越凫楚乙 (yuèfúchǔyǐ)
• 面乙
• 飛乙／飞乙
• 魚乙／鱼乙
• 鳧乙／凫乙
• 鴻乙滿紙／鸿乙满纸

 

Descendants

• → Zhuang: iet

Etymology 2

simp. and trad.		乙

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 乙(おつ) (otsu).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǐ (yi³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǐ
    • Wade–Giles: i³
    • Yale: yǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yii
    • Palladius: и (i)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹⁴/

Definitions

乙

1. (ACG, sometimes sarcastic) thank you for the hard work in (doing something)

   自演乙  ―  zìyǎn yǐ  ―  (sarcastically) thank you for your hard work in staging this "drama"

Etymology 3

simp. and trad.		乙

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǐ (yi³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji¹ / ji⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǐ
    • Wade–Giles: i³
    • Yale: yǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yii
    • Palladius: и (i)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: ji¹ / ji⁶
    • Yale: yī / yih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji¹ / ji⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi¹ / yi⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː⁵⁵/, /jiː²²/

Definitions

乙

1. (music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note ti (7).

   Synonym: 𢒼 (yǐ) (Cantonese opera)

2. (music) Cantonese opera gongche notation for the note low ti (7̣).

   Synonym: 一 (Kunqu)

Derived terms

• 亿 (yǐ)
• 𢒼 (yǐ)

 

Etymology 4

From 笏.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fat¹ / wat¹

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: fat¹ / wat¹
    • Yale: fāt / wāt
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fat⁷ / wat⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: fed¹ / wed¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɐt̚⁵/, /wɐt̚⁵/

Definitions

乙

1. (Cantonese) Only used in 山雞乙／山鸡乙. (a place in Hong Kong)

Japanese

Kanji

See also:

Category:Japanese terms spelled with 乙

乙

(Jōyō kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: おつ (otsu, Jōyō)、おち (ochi)
• Kan-on: いつ (itsu)
• Kun: きのと (kinoto, 乙)、おと (oto, 乙)、かなでる (kanaderu, 乙でる)、めり (meri)

Compounds

Compounds

• 乙(おと)子(ご) (otogo)
• 乙(おつ)種(しゅ) (otsushu)
• 乙(おつ)巡(じゅん) (otsujun)
• 乙(おと)女(め) (otome)
• 乙(おと)姫(ひめ) (otohime)
• 乙(いつ)夜(や) (itsuya), 乙(おつ)夜(や) (otsuya)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
乙
おつ Grade: S
goon

Originally from Middle Chinese 乙 (MC 'it), arising from the proper noun sense. Appears in texts from at least 833 CE.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おつ [óꜜtsù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [o̞t͡sɨ]

Proper noun

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

乙

Wikipedia ^ja

乙(おつ) • (Otsu) 

1. the second of the ten Celestial Stems

   Hypernyms: 天干 (tenkan), 十干 (jikkan)

   Coordinate terms: 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸

Noun

乙(おつ) • (otsu) 

1. something B
   1. the second item of any ordered list
   2. (music) one tone lower than the note indicated by 甲 (kō, “something A”)
   3. (by extension from the musical sense) a lower, sonorous and moving sound or tone
   4. (noh theater) in noh musical accompaniment, a specific kind of muffled drum beat played by striking the head of the taiko drum and keeping the mallet pressed against the head
2. (Kansai dialect, slang) a stupid person, someone who is slow on the uptake
3. (rare, possibly archaic) the state or circumstances of a thing
4. (rare, possibly archaic) dressing up in an odd fashion

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
乙
おつ Grade: S
goon

By extension from the moving tone noun sense. Appears in texts from the late Edo period, in the early 1800s.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おつ [òtsú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [o̞t͡sɨ]

Adjective

乙(おつ) • (otsu) -na (adnominal 乙(おつ)な (otsu na), adverbial 乙(おつ)に (otsu ni))

1. out of the ordinary, strange or unusual in an interesting or stylish way
2. strange, odd, weird
   • :ja:東海道中膝栗毛 (Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige, “Footing It along the Tokaido Road”, or “Shank's Mare”), serial published 1802-1814:

     ヲヤ弥(や)次(じ)さん、おつな手(て)つきをしておめへ何(なに)をする

     Oya Yaji-san, otsu na tetsuki o shite omē nani o suru

     Oy, Yaji, what do you think you're doing with your weird way of using your hands?

Inflection

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	乙だろ	おつだろ	otsu daro
Continuative (連用形)	乙で	おつで	otsu de
Terminal (終止形)	乙だ	おつだ	otsu da
Attributive (連体形)	乙な	おつな	otsu na
Hypothetical (仮定形)	乙なら	おつなら	otsu nara
Imperative (命令形)	乙であれ	おつであれ	otsu de are
Key constructions
Informal negative	乙ではない 乙じゃない	おつではない おつじゃない	otsu de wa nai otsu ja nai
Informal past	乙だった	おつだった	otsu datta
Informal negative past	乙ではなかった 乙じゃなかった	おつではなかった おつじゃなかった	otsu de wa nakatta otsu ja nakatta
Formal	乙です	おつです	otsu desu
Formal negative	乙ではありません 乙じゃありません	おつではありません おつじゃありません	otsu de wa arimasen otsu ja arimasen
Formal past	乙でした	おつでした	otsu deshita
Formal negative past	乙ではありませんでした 乙じゃありませんでした	おつではありませんでした おつじゃありませんでした	otsu de wa arimasen deshita otsu ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive	乙で	おつで	otsu de
Conditional	乙なら（ば）	おつなら（ば）	otsu nara (ba)
Provisional	乙だったら	おつだったら	otsu dattara
Volitional	乙だろう	おつだろう	otsu darō
Adverbial	乙に	おつに	otsu ni
Degree	乙さ	おつさ	otsusa

Inflection of 乙

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
乙
おつ Grade: S
goon

Alternative spelling
o2

Derived as aggressive clipping of お疲れ様です (otsukaresama desu, used as a kind of greeting at work, literally “that's honorable exhaustion (from hard work)”). The use of 乙 for the spelling is an example of phonetic ateji (当て字).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [o̞t͡sɨ]

Interjection

乙(おつ) • (otsu) 

1. (Internet slang) Clipping of お疲れ様です (otsukaresama desu).

   自演(じえん)乙(おつ)

   Jienotsu

   I appreciate your acting (a satire of someone who sock puppeting to praise himself)

Derived terms

• うp乙(おつ) (upotsu), うぽつ (upotsu)

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
乙
きのと Grade: S
kun'yomi

Compound of 木 (Ki, “Wood”, one of the Five Elements) +‎ の (no, attributive marker) +‎ 弟 (oto, “younger brother”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) きのと [kìnóꜜtò] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [kʲino̞to̞]

Proper noun

乙(きのと) • (Kinoto) 

1. the second of the ten heavenly stems

   Hypernyms: 天干 (tenkan), 十干 (jikkan)

   Coordinate terms: 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
乙
おと Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
弟

乙 (oto): the traditional Noh mask for the stock character of a plump, clumsy, but earnest young woman.

Cognate with the initial oto- in 劣る (otoru, “to be less than; to be younger than”), 落とす (otosu, “to drop something”).^[3][1] Also the first element in 弟 (otōto, “younger brother”).

First attested in the Kojiki of 712.^[4]

This is distinct from the initial oto- in 乙女(おとめ) (otome), which can instead be traced to an earlier woto- root, cognate with 復(を)つ (wotu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [o̞to̞]

Noun

乙(おと) • (oto) 

1. [from 712] (archaic) a younger sibling

   Antonym: (older sibling, archaic) 兄 (e)

   Hyponyms: 弟 (otōto, “younger brother”), 妹 (imōto, “younger sister”)

2. [from late 1500s] (archaic) the youngest sibling

   Synonym: 乙子 (otogo)

3. [from late 1500s] (archaic) clipping of 乙娘 (oto musume) a young woman
4. [from late 1500s] (archaic, Noh theater) clipping of 乙御前 (oto goze): a stock character in 狂言 (kyōgen) comic interludes, played as a plump and clumsy but earnest young woman

   Synonyms: おたふく (otafuku), おかめ (okame)

Prefix

乙(おと) • (oto-) 

1. applied to a noun denoting a person, or to a person's name:
   1. next, younger, youngest
   2. beautiful, beloved, cute, dear

References

1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
4. “弟・乙”, in 日本国語大辞典‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

Korean

Hanja

乙 (eumhun 새 을 (sae eul))

1. bird

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Middle Korean

Particle

乙 (-ol)

1. idu form^? of ᄋᆞᆯ (accusative case marker)
   • 1395, 高士褧 (Go Sa-gyeong), 金祗 (Kim Ji), 大明律直解 (Daemyeongnyul Jikhae):

     本國乙背叛

     PWON.KWUK-ul POY.PAN

     Betray his native country

Old Korean

Etymology 1

From a Late Middle Chinese pronunciation of 乙 (MC 'it), which lenited coda /-t/ to /-r/.^[1]

Phonogram

乙 (*-r)

1. A consonantal phonogram denoting coda consonant *-r

Usage notes

Generally believed to have been pronounced as *-r, based both on internal evidence and the Chinese etymon. Old Korean 尸 (*-l) and 乙 (*-r) both merged unconditionally into *-l in Middle Korean, but the two phonograms were consistently distinguished in Old Korean until the late thirteenth century. Because Old Korean reconstructions are conventionally romanized using their Middle Korean reflex, the phonologically erroneous reconstruction *-l is often used as a shorthand.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• 肹 (*-(u)r, *-hur)

Particle

乙 (*-(u)r)

1. Accusative case marker
   • 1120, King Yejong of Goryeo, “悼二將歌 (Doijang-ga)”, in 平山申氏系譜 (Pyeongsan Sin-ssi Gyebo):

     主乙完乎白乎心聞

     *NIRIM-ur WOPOL-wo-SOLP-wo(n) MOSOm-on

     as for the heart that admired his lord

Usage notes

In Middle and Modern Korean, the allomorph taken by the accusative marker after a vowel may be 를 (-reul) instead of ㄹ (-l), especially in formal speech. This is the result of reduplication of the particle and is unlikely to have been present in Old Korean, although the phonologically opaque nature of the orthography makes it difficult to tell for sure.

In "Middle Old Korean", the late first-millennium stage of Korean represented by about a dozen mostly eighth-century poems, the accusative particle was consistently written with the phonogram 肹. 乙 has become dominant by the twelve poems of the tenth-century monk Gyunyeo, however, and 肹 is virtually not attested at all by the second millennium. There seems to be no semantic difference involved. Whether this represents a phonetic shift or simply a change in orthographic practice is unknown, although 肹 and 乙 had differing Middle Chinese initials.^[2][3]

Descendants

• Middle Korean: ᄋᆞᆯ/을 (-(o/u)l, accusative marker)
  • Korean: 을 (-eul, accusative case marker)

References

1. Alexander Vovin, Old Korean and Proto-Korean *r and *l revisited
2. 이승재 (Yi Seung-jae) (2000) “차자표기 자료의 격조사 연구”, in Gugeo gungmunhak, volume 127, pages 107—132
3. 황선엽 (Hwang Seon-yeop) (2008) “삼국유사와 균여전의 향찰 표기자 비교”, in Gugeohak, volume 51, pages 279—311

Vietnamese

Han character

乙: Hán Nôm readings: ất, át, ắc, ắt, hắt, ặc, lớt

1. chữ Hán form of Ất (“second of the ten heavenly stems”).

   Hypernyms: 天干, 十干

   Coordinate terms: 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬, 癸

Compounds

• 乙丑 (Ất Sửu)
• 乙亥 (Ất Hợi)
• 乙卯 (Ất Mão)
• 乙巳 (Ất Tỵ)
• 乙未 (Ất Mùi)
• 乙酉 (Ất Dậu)

 

References

• Nom Foundation