九

九 (radical 5, 乙+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 大弓 (KN), four-corner 4001₇, composition ⿻丿㇈)

• 仇, 㕤, 扏, 氿, 肍, 朹, 犰, 䊵(𮉠), 訅, 䜪, 軌(轨), 㐜, 釚(𫟲), 骩, 鼽, 旭, 訄, 䧱, 虓, 頄(𬱓), 馗, 㐡, 㐤, 鳩(鸠), 勼, 宄, 尻, 旯, 㶢, 艽, 究, 㭝, 㐇, 卆, 厹, 叴, 旮, 䲥, 㔲

• 𛀭

• KangXi: page 83, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 167
• Dae Jaweon: page 168, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 48, character 5
• Unihan data for U+4E5D

Historical forms of the character 九
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 j29822 j29823 j29824 j29825 j29826 j29827 j29828 j29829 j29830 j29831 j29832 j29833 j29834 j29835 j29836 j29837 j29838 j29839 j29840 j29841 j29842 j29843 j29844 j29845 j29846 j29847 j29848 j29849 j29850 j29851 Bronze inscriptions b19923 b19924 b19925 b19926 b19927 b19928 b19929 b19930 b19931 b19932 b19933 b19934 b19935 b19936 b19937 b19938 b19939 b19940 b19941 b19942 b19943 b19944 b19945 b19946 b19947 b19948 b19949 b19950 b19951 b19952 b19953 b19954 b19955 b19956 b19957 Small seal script s10923 Transcribed ancient scripts L35389 L35390 L35391 L35392 L35393 L18222 L18223 L18224 L18225 L18226 L18227 L18228 L18229 L18230 L18231 L18232
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).

Pictogram (象形) – a stylized hand, with bent wrist/forearm (hence the hook stroke at lower right). Earlier forms resemble 手, 寸. The original meaning of the glyph was “elbow”, which is now written 肘 (OC *tkuʔ).

After the meaning “elbow” was forgotten, 九 was taken to symbolize a fist tightening to bump up against something; thus, there is a metaphorical bumping up of nine against ten, which is the last number when counting on one's fingers.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d/s-kəw. Compare Tibetan དགུ (dgu).

九

1. nine

   • 九九八十一。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     From: “The Mnemonic of Multiplication”

     Jiǔ jiǔ bāshíyī. [Pinyin]

     Nine times nine is eighty-one.

2. (figuratively) many

   • 九曲黃河萬里沙，浪淘風簸自天涯。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     九曲黄河万里沙，浪淘风簸自天涯。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 822?, Liu Yuxi, “Ripples Sifting Sand”

     Jiǔ qū huánghé wàn lǐ shā, làng táo fēng bò zì tiānyá. [Pinyin]

     The Yellow River with its many twists and turns flows thousands of miles full of sand / Carried by its waves stirred up by the wind coming from a faraway land.

3. (weather) each of the nine nine-day periods from the winter solstice

   • 一九二九不出手，三九四九冰上走。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     From: “The Nine Nine-Day Periods Song”, a folk song

     Yī jiǔ èr jiǔ bù chū shǒu, sān jiǔ sì jiǔ bīng shàng zǒu. [Pinyin]

     In the first and the second nine-day period, one should not take out one's hand; / In the third and the fourth nine-day period, the ice is thick enough to stand.

4. (Cantonese, euphemistic) Synonym of 㞗 (gau1, “penis”).

Others:

• → Tai: *kɤwᶜ (“nine”)
  • Northern Tai:
    • Saek: กู̂
    • Zhuang: gouj
  • Wenma-Southwestern Tai:
    • Sapa-Southwestern Tai:
      • Southwestern Tai:
        • Ahom: 𑜀𑜧 (kaw)
        • Lao: ເກົ້າ (kao)
        • Lü: ᦂᧁᧉ (k̇aw²)
        • Northern Thai: ᨠᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ
        • Tai Dam: ꪹꪀ꫁ꪱ (cảu)
        • Shan: ၵဝ်ႈ (kāw)
        • Thai: เก้า (gâao)

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. nine

• Go-on: く (ku, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: きゅう (kyū, Jōyō)^{←きう (kiu, historical)}
• Kun: ここの (kokono, 九, Jōyō); ここのつ (kokonotsu, 九つ, Jōyō)
• Nanori: いちじく (ichijiku); いちのく (ichinoku); この (kono); ひさし (hisashi)

From Early Middle Chinese. Goon, the initial reading when first borrowed into Japanese.

• On’yomi: Goon
  • IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝ]

• 玖

九 (hiragana く, rōmaji ku)

1. nine
2. ninth

九 (hiragana く, rōmaji ku)

1. nine
2. the ninth

From Middle Chinese. Kan'on, a later reading. Borrowed after palatalisation occurred in Middle Chinese.

• On’yomi: Kan’on
  • IPA^(key): [kʲɨᵝː]

• Audio

  (file)

九 (hiragana きゅう, rōmaji kyū, historical hiragana きう)

1. nine

九 (hiragana きゅう, rōmaji kyū, historical hiragana きう)

1. nine
2. an indeterminate large number, a myriad, a great many
3. (divination) the number of yang, in opposition to 六 (roku, “six”) as the number of yin

• (large number): 究

From Old Japanese [Term?], from Proto-Japonic *kəkənə.

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [ko̞ko̞no̞]

九 (hiragana ここの, rōmaji kokono)

1. nine

/kokono/ → /kono/

Abbreviation of Old Japanese kokono (“nine”).

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [ko̞no̞]

九 (hiragana この, rōmaji kono)

1. nine

   ひい、ふう、みい、…なな、やあ、この、とお

   hī, fū, mī, …nana, yā, kono, tō

   one, two, three, ... seven, eight, nine, ten

• この

Generally only used when counting out loud, as in the example above. In writing, usually found spelled out in hiragana as この to make the reading unambiguous.

• The Japan Times (March 17, 2010). You can count on the tales behind number-kanji. Accessed March 23, 2010.

From Middle Chinese 九 (MC kɨu^X). Attested in 훈몽자회／訓蒙字會 as Middle Korean 구 (kwu).

Wikisource

九 (eumhun 아홉 구 (ahop gu))

1. Hanja form^? of 구 (“nine”).

九 (eumhun 모을 구 (mo-eul gu))

1. (archaic) Hanja form^? of 규 (“to gather; to collect”).

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

九: Hán Việt readings: cửu[1][2]
九: Nôm readings: cửu[1][3][4]

1. Hán tự form of cửu (“nine”).