rì
sun; day; date
Meanings & readings
Meanings & dictionary uses
2 senses · 6 wordsThe sun or its light. In ordinary conversation the sun itself is usually 太陽 / 太阳; 日 appears especially in compounds.
A day, a calendar date, or daily occurrence. 日 after a number is common in written dates; everyday spoken dates also use 號 / 号.
Languages & readings
Choose a recorded reading. Explore other varieties through their reference sources below.
Mandarin
Sense-linked readingsReadings & meanings
Usage scope
Regional and word-specific qualifications remain attached to the sense and vocabulary records.
Cantonese
Selected character readingSource & reading limitations
Jyutping · Unihan 17.0.0
This property supplies a customary character reading for collation and transliteration. It does not list every reading or identify the reading for each word and sense. It also does not encode a separate regional label for each value.
Other Chinese languages & varieties
Reference guides · character readings not yet imported.
Taiwanese Hokkien 臺灣台語Reference sources only
The Ministry of Education dictionary is the reference for Taiwanese vocabulary and readings. Its Tâi-lô guide distinguishes citation tones from changes in connected speech. Other Hokkien varieties require their own sources.
- Reference variety
- Taiwanese Hokkien, with the regional distinctions recorded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education
- Notation
- Tâi-lô (臺羅), as used by the linked MOE dictionary
Hakka 客語Reference sources only
Taiwan's Ministry of Education documents six Hakka varieties separately. Choose the variety before comparing readings; a single undifferentiated Hakka pronunciation would hide meaningful differences.
- Reference variety
- Taiwan: Sixian, Hailu, Dapu, Raoping, Zhao'an and Southern Sixian
- Notation
- Taiwan Hakka Romanization System (臺灣客語拼音方案)
Teochew 潮州話／潮汕話Reference sources only
Explore CUHK's published Chaozhou lexicon and its separate Shantou sound table. These reference locations remain explicit: readings from one locality should not stand in for every Teochew variety.
- Reference variety
- Chaozhou lexicon; separate Shantou syllable-table resource
- Notation
- Source phonetic transcription; no shared local romanization imported
Wu 吳語・上海話Reference sources only
The linked university resource documents Shanghai. Wu also includes other local varieties; Shanghai readings should retain that location label when compared with Mandarin or Cantonese.
- Reference variety
- Shanghai
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Eastern Min 閩東語・福州話Reference sources only
Fuzhou is an Eastern Min reference variety. Its dedicated CUHK sound table offers a starting point; other Eastern Min localities need distinct records and source attribution.
- Reference variety
- Fuzhou
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Gan 贛語・南昌話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Nanchang sound table. The broader Gan group contains local differences, so future readings should identify Nanchang or another documented locality explicitly.
- Reference variety
- Nanchang
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Xiang 湘語・長沙話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Changsha sound table. Keep Changsha separate from other Xiang localities when adding readings; the group name does not denote one uniform pronunciation.
- Reference variety
- Changsha
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Readings recorded for 日 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
Kun’yomi · hiragana
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.
Go deeperJisho ↗Wiktionary ↗
Korean 한국어
Hanja readings · Hangul
Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.
Go deeperNaver Hanja ↗Wiktionary ↗
Reading sources explained
- 일
- KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Character readings · Quốc ngữ
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.
Go deeperHán Việt (Thi Viện) ↗Wiktionary ↗
Form & structure
Structure & components
0 direct parts- Layout
- single
- Index radical
- 日 · 72 · 0 residual strokes
Treat 日 as a whole component here. Its modern form has an outer rectangle with one horizontal line inside. Recognizing those strokes helps distinguish it from 目, with two inner horizontal lines. Breaking 日 into a box and a line is a description of the present shape; it does not establish two independent historical components.
Follow the recorded parts
recorded boundaryA boundary means no finer analysis is published here; it does not assert an indivisible unit. Radical classification and component structure are separate.
Inspect the component network ↗Writing
4 strokesModern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. [47]
Words & connections
Examples
2 sentences今天是十月十二日。
Today is October 12.
我們每天早上看日出。
我们每天早上看日出。
We watch the sunrise every morning.
Original editorial sentences. Pinyin uses dictionary tones; connected speech may differ.
Connections
0 phonetic neighboursThis pilot does not link this character to a sound (phonetic) family. Explore the other recorded relationships below.
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
Etymology & evidence
2 accountsA solar graph
CUHK identifies the early graph as a depiction of the sun and discusses both rounded and angular forms. Its cited oracle-bone examples already include uses for the sun, daytime, and a day as a unit of time. This source therefore supports an early range of uses, rather than a claim that all time-related senses were invented only after the modern rectangular form appeared.
Reading a traditional explanation
The CUHK entry also quotes the Shuowen and distinguishes its sound-based explanation using 實 from the graph’s original pictorial interpretation. zimai reports that distinction as the database’s analysis; it does not treat a Han-period dictionary explanation as an eyewitness account of invention.
Reading this character · explanatory note
日 connects the light in the sky with the way days are counted. In 日光 it refers to sunlight; in 生日 it helps name a birthday; after a month and number it marks a calendar date. The familiar rectangle is the modern written shape, not a literal drawing lesson. CUHK interprets the early graph as a depiction of the sun. For reading today, the useful distinction is between the celestial body, daylight, and a unit of time. Learn the whole word around 日: that context tells you which meaning is active.
Historical specimens remain at their sources. No dated attestation sequence or licensed specimen image is claimed.
Inspect CUHK’s forms and discussion ↗Forms & distinctions
日 is used in both standard simplified and traditional writing. This identity belongs to this character; neighboring characters in a word can still change. Thus 日曆 / 日历 has two word spellings even though 日 itself stays the same. The present portrait covers the ordinary Mandarin reading rì.
曰 is a separate character, commonly read yuē in literary quotation. It is generally wider and flatter; do not identify either graph only by a font’s proportions.
目 mù means eye and has two internal horizontal strokes. 日 has one. Similar outlines do not make them interchangeable.
Historical readings
- Middle Chinese
- nyit · 人質 反切 · #3284
Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.
Source row & reading categories
CSV line 16909 · nyit = 臻開三入眞日
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
Sources & research
4 sourcesLocator & rights
形義通解, 略說 and 詳解; character entry · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Release 2026-10-12T08:13:53Z. Exact word-reading locators are retained with each WordRecord. · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
17.0.0 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
bddc96d41bef78427ed0e034e9f7e31d71fd1b92 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Open research · 1 items
- Historical specimen images and their item-level dating have not been licensed or independently checked; follow the source link to inspect its evidence.
Cited claims compared with the consulted entries; no independent expert review recorded.
Readings across dictionaries
- Hanyu Da Zidian
- rì 21482.010
- Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
- rì 0966.030
- Tongyong Guifan · 2013
- rì 315.030
- Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
- rì(1276)
- Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
- rì粵jat6