半

半 · bàn

half

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

half

Mandarin
bàn
Cantonese
bun3

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 半 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

ハン

Kun’yomi · hiragana

なかばなかばする

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

ハン なかば なかばする

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

반

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
반
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

반:0E

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

bán

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

bán

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+534A
Radical
十 · 24
Strokes
5 · Unihan
Residual
3

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

5 strokes
半
Strokes
5
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

5 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿻丷𰀁(GHTJV)
⿻八𰀁(KP)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 半

Character connections

11 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Follow this component

Reverse links to attributed component analyses. Open each character for its role, source and words. Shared components do not establish word ancestry.

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
panH · 博慢? 反切 · #2660

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 14833 · panH = 山合一去桓幫

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
bàn
kCantonese
bun3
kDefinition
half
kTotalStrokes
5
kRSUnicode
24.3
kGradeLevel
1
kTGH
2013:307

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
bàn,pàn 10046.010
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 半 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
257dictionary records using 半12forms using this shape5attributed sound links
⿻ Overlaid

Shape description
丷 overlaps 𰀁 · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam
Source notation ^⿻丷𰀁$(GHTJV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 257 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿻丷𰀁$(GHTJV)

^⿻八𰀁$(KP)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.