書簡

See also: 书简

Chinese

	book; letter	simple
trad. (書簡)	書	簡
simp. (书简)	书	简
alternative forms	書柬／书柬

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shūjiǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄨㄐㄧㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): syu¹ gaan²
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): su-kán / chir-kán / si-kán

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shūjiǎn
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄐㄧㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shujiǎn
  - Wade–Giles: shu¹-chien³
  - Yale: shū-jyǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shujean
  - Palladius: шуцзянь (šuczjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂu⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: syu¹ gaan²
  - Yale: syū gáan
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sy¹ gaan²
  - Guangdong Romanization: xu¹ gan²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /syː⁵⁵ kaːn³⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: su-kán
  - Tâi-lô: su-kán
  - Phofsit Daibuun: su'karn
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /su⁴⁴⁻³³ kan⁴¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /su⁴⁴⁻²² kan⁵³/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /su⁴⁴⁻³³ kan⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chir-kán
  - Tâi-lô: tsir-kán
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sɯ³³ kan⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: si-kán
  - Tâi-lô: si-kán
  - Phofsit Daibuun: si'karn
  - Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /si⁴⁴⁻²² kan⁵³/

Middle Chinese: syo keanX

Rime
Character	書	簡
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	書 (26)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	魚 (22)	山 (73)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II
Fanqie	傷魚切	古限切
Baxter	syo	keanX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕɨʌ/	/kˠɛn^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕiɔ/	/kᵚæn^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕiɔ/	/kæn^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕɨə̆/	/kəɨn^X/
Li Rong	/ɕiɔ/	/kɛn^X/
Wang Li	/ɕĭo/	/kæn^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɕi̯wo/	/kăn^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shū	jiǎn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	syu¹	gaan²

Noun

書簡

(literary) letter (written or typed communication)

Synonyms

edit

信
信件 (xìnjiàn)
信函 (xìnhán)
信札 (xìnzhá)
八行 (bāháng) (literary)
八行書 / 八行书 (bāhángshū) (literary)
函件 (hánjiàn)
尺牘 / 尺牍 (chǐdú) (literary)
尺素 (chǐsù) (literary, figurative)
手書 / 手书 (shǒushū) (literary)
手簡 / 手简 (shǒujiǎn) (literary)
書 / 书 (shū) (literary, or in compounds)
書信 / 书信 (shūxìn) (formal)
書函 / 书函 (shūhán)
書札 / 书札 (shūzhá) (literary)
書牘 / 书牍 (shūdú) (literary)
筆札 / 笔札 (bǐzhá) (literary, figurative)
簡 / 简 (jiǎn) (literary, or in compounds)
簡札 / 简札 (jiǎnzhá) (literary)
鴻 / 鸿 (hóng) (literary, figurative)

Dialectal synonyms of 信 (“letter”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		書, 函, 書札, 書函, 便紙 Korea
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		信, 函, 書信, 信件, 信函, 信札, 函件, 書函, 書簡, 書牘, 書札
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	信
	Taiwan	信
	Malaysia	信
	Singapore	信
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	信
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	信
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	信
	Wanrong	信
	Xi'an	信
	Xining	信
	Xuzhou	信
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	信
	Lanzhou	信
	Ürümqi	信
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	信
	Wuhan	信
	Guiyang	信
	Guilin	信
	Liuzhou	信
	Dagudi (Maliba)	信
	Reshuitang (Longling)	信
	Mae Salong (Lancang)	信
	Mae Sai (Tengchong)	信
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	信
	Yangzhou	信
	Hefei	信
Cantonese	Guangzhou	信
	Hong Kong	信
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	信
	Macau	信
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	信
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	信
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	信
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	信
	Foshan	信
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	信
	Foshan (Shunde)	信
	Foshan (Sanshui)	信
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	信
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	信
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	信
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	信
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	信
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	信
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	信
	Taishan	信
	Kaiping (Chikan)	信
	Enping (Niujiang)	信
	Heshan (Yayao)	信
	Dongguan	信
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	信
	Shaoguan	信
	Yunfu	信
	Yangjiang	信
	Xinyi	信
	Lianjiang	信
	Beihai	信
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	信
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	信
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	信
	Singapore (Guangfu)	信
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	信
	Móng Cái	信
Gan	Nanchang	信
	Lichuan	信
	Pingxiang	信
Hakka	Meixian	信
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	信
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	信
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	信
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	信
	Wuhua (Shuizhai)	信
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	信
	Wuhua (Changbu)	信
	Wuhua (Mianyang)	信
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	信
	Luhe	信仔
	Yudu	信
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	信仔
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	信仔
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	信仔
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	信
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	信仔, 信
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	批, 信
	Hong Kong	信
Huizhou	Jixi	信
Jin	Taiyuan	信
Jin	Xinzhou	信
Northern Min	Jian'ou	信
	Songxi	信
	Jianyang	信
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	批
	Gutian	批
	Pingnan	批, 信
	Ningde	批
	Zhouning	批
	Fuding	信
	Matsu	批
	Singapore (Fuqing)	批
Southern Min	Xiamen	批, 批信
	Quanzhou	批, 批信
	Yongchun	批
	Zhangzhou	批, 批信
	Zhao'an	批
	Taipei	批
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	批
	Kaohsiung	批
	Yilan	批
	Changhua (Lukang)	批
	Taichung	批
	Taichung (Wuqi)	批
	Tainan	批, 批信
	Taitung	批
	Hsinchu	批
	Kinmen	批
	Penghu (Magong)	批
	Penang (Hokkien)	批
	Singapore (Hokkien)	批, 批信
	Manila (Hokkien)	批
	Longyan	信
	Datian	信
	Chaozhou	信, 批 international incoming letters
	Bangkok (Teochew)	信, 家批 dated
	Singapore (Teochew)	信, 批
	Batam (Teochew)	信
	Leizhou	信
	Wenchang	信 domestic, 批 international
	Haikou	信
	Singapore (Hainanese)	信, 批
Puxian Min	Putian	批
	Xianyou	批
	Fuding (Aoyao)	批
Central Min	Yong'an	信
Central Min	Sanming (Shaxian)	信
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	信
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	信
Wu	Shanghai	信
	Shanghai (Chongming)	信
	Suzhou	信
	Danyang	信
	Ningbo	信
	Wenzhou	信
	Jinhua	信
Xiang	Changsha	信
	Loudi	信
	Shuangfeng	信

Japanese

Kanji in this term
書	簡
しょ Grade: 2	かん Grade: 6
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
書翰

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) しょかん [shòkáń] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [ɕo̞kã̠ɴ]

Noun

書(しょ)簡(かん) • (shokan)

a letter
Synonyms: 手(て)紙(がみ) (tegami); see also Thesaurus:手紙
- 1914, 夏目漱石 [Natsume Sōseki], chapter 21, in こゝろ [Kokoro], 下先生と遺書 [Sensei's Testament]:
  Ｋ(ケイ)はまたそれと前(ぜん)後(ご)して実(じっ)家(か)から受(う)け取(と)った書(しょ)翰(かん)も見(み)せました。
  Kei wa mata sore to zengo shite jikka kara uketotta shokan mo misemashita.
  K also showed me a letter he received around the same time from his birth family.

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (2016), NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2020), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Eighth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

“書簡”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

[DJR-1] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK16-2] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (2016), NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK8-3] Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2020), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Eighth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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