常

常 (radical 50, 巾+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 火月口中月 (FBRLB), four-corner 9022₇, composition ⿱尚巾 or ⿱龸吊)

• KangXi: page 333, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 8955
• Dae Jaweon: page 639, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 744, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5E38

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *djaŋ) : phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 巾 (“cloth”).

The character originally referred to "lower garment", before being phonetically borrowed to mean "long-lasting; frequently". The original sense is now represented by the character 裳 (OC *djaŋ, “lower garment”).

常

1. normal; general; common
2. constant; invariable
3. often; frequently
4. 51st tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "constancy" (𝌸)
5. A surname​.

• “Query for 常”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan], Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. eternal, unchanging
2. ordinary, usual
3. continuation
4. Hitachi Province

• Go-on: じょう (jō, Jōyō)^{←じやう (zyau, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kun: きだ (kida, 常); つね (tsune, 常, Jōyō); とこ (toko, 常, Jōyō); とことわ (tokotowa, 常); とわ (towa, 常)
• Nanori: つら (tsura); とき (toki); ときわ (tokiwa)^{←ときは (tokifa, historical)}; のぶ (nobu); ひ (hi); ひさ (hisa); ひさし (hisashi); ひた (hita)

/d͡ʑau/ → /d͡ʑɔː/ → /d͡ʑoː/

From Middle Chinese 常 (MC d͡ʑɨɐŋ).

• On’yomi: Goon
  • (Tokyo) じょ​ー [jóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])
  • IPA^(key): [d͡ʑo̞ː]

常 (hiragana じょう, rōmaji jō, historical hiragana じやう)

1. (obsolete) always, constantly, consistently

常 (hiragana じょう, rōmaji jō, historical hiragana じやう)

1. a traditional Japanese unit of length, equal to one 丈 (jō, roughly three meters) and three 尺 (shaku, roughly one foot or thirty centimeters)

*⟨ki₁da⟩ → */kʲida/ → /kida/

First attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Cognate with root kiza in 刻む (kizamu, “to mince; to slice; to cut a thing into pieces; to groove, to nick, to notch”).[1]

Also sometimes read as kita.

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [kʲida̠]

• 段

常 (hiragana きだ, rōmaji kida, alternative reading きた, rōmaji kita)

1. (obsolete) a traditional Japanese unit of measure for the length of cut cloth, equal to one 丈 (jō, roughly three meters) and three 尺 (shaku, roughly one foot or thirty centimeters)
2. (obsolete) a traditional Japanese unit of measure for the area of an agricultural field or paddy, equal to either 360 歩 (bu, around 1190 square meters), later reduced to 300 歩 (bu)/坪 (tsubo, almost 992 square meters)

   Synonym: 段 (tan)

常 (hiragana きだ, rōmaji -kida)

1. counter for cuts or strips of something

/tune/ → /t͡sune/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū, compiled around 759 CE.[1] May be cognate with 綱 (tsuna, “thick rope; binding”), with underlying ideas of "connection, continuance".

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) つ​ね [tsúꜜnè] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [t͡sɨᵝne̞]

• 恒

常 (-na inflection, hiragana つね, rōmaji tsune)

1. (obsolete) eternal, permanent, consistent
2. (obsolete) normal, everyday, regular, usual, ordinary

   Synonyms: 普段 (fudan), 普通 (futsū), 平素 (heiso)

This appears as an adjective in older texts with the classical attributive form tsune naru. When used attributively in modern Japanese, this term is used with the particle の (no) instead:

• 常 (つね)の人 (ひと)

  tsune no hito

  everyday people, regular people

Modern Japanese does still use this term as an adverb, with particle に (ni):

• このカメラは常 (つね)にオンになっている。

  Kono kamera wa tsune ni on ni natte iru.

  This camera is always on.

• あの会社 (かいしゃ)はサービスが常 (つね)に悪 (わる)い。

  Ano kaisha wa sābisu ga tsune ni warui.

  That company has consistently bad service.

• 常体 (つねたい) (tsunetai)
• 経常 (けいつね) (keitsune)

常 (hiragana つね, rōmaji tsune)

1. constancy, continuance
2. the ordinary, the everyday

⟨to₂ko₂⟩ → */təkə/ → /toko/

From Old Japanese. Possibly cognate with 時 (toki, “time”).

The way the term is used in the historical record suggests that this was originally a noun. By the time of written Japanese, however, this term only appears in compounds, never on its own, and its usage is more as an adjective to modify other nouns.

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [to̞ko̞]

常 (hiragana とこ, rōmaji toko-)

1. eternal, forever, unchanging, everlasting

Only used in compounds. Attaches to nouns and other nominals, often (but not always) with the now-obsolete possessive particle つ (tsu).

• 常 (とこ)つ御 (み)門 (かど)、常 (とこ)夏 (なつ)、常 (とこ)とわ

  toko tsu mikado, tokonatsu, tokotowa

  the eternal palace, eternal summer, eternal permanence [→ eternity]

/tokotoba/ → /tokotowa/

From Old Japanese. Read as tokotoba until the Heian period.[1][2]

Appears to be originally a compound of 常 (toko, “eternal”, see above) +‎ とわ (towa, “permanence, unchangingness”, from earlier とば toba).

This latter element is of unclear derivation. Some sources[1] indicate that towa as an independent term arose as a contraction of earlier tokotoba, suggesting the possibility that toba was initially a compound of particles と (to, adverbial particle) + は (wa, formerly ba, even earlier pa; topic particle). However, other sources[4] describe tokotowa as an intensified or emphatic form of towa.

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) とことわ [tòkótówá] (Heiban – [0])[4]
  • (Tokyo) とこと​わ [tòkótóꜜwà] (Nakadaka – [3])[4]
  • IPA^(key): [to̞ko̞to̞ɰᵝa̠]

• 常とわ, 恒とわ, (rare) 永久

常 (-na inflection, hiragana とことわ, rōmaji tokotowa, historical hiragana とことは)

1. (archaic, rare) permanent, eternal

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

2. (archaic, rare) usual, ordinary

   Synonym: 常 (tsune)

Listed in dictionaries[1][2][5] as a 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjective”). However, actual usage suggests that this was only used with particle に (ni) as an adverb, and never with particle な (na) or classical なる (naru) as an adjective. When this appears attributively, it is followed by particle の (no),[4] the usual construction when using a noun to modify another noun.

常 (hiragana とことわ, rōmaji tokotowa, historical hiragana とことは)

1. (archaic, rare) permanence, eternity

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

/toba/ → /towa/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Tales of Ise, likely dating to the early 900s CE. Pronounced as toba until the later Heian period.[1]

Ultimate derivation unknown. May be a contraction of earlier tokotoba (see above),[1] or may have been an independent term used to form tokotoba as a compound.[4]

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) と​わ [tóꜜwà] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3][4]
  • IPA^(key): [to̞ɰᵝa̠]

• (rare) 永久

常 (-na inflection, hiragana とわ, rōmaji towa, historical hiragana とは)

1. constant, permanent, everlasting

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

Listed in some dictionaries[1][2][5] as a 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjective”); other sources[4] only list this as a 副詞 (fukushi, “adverb”). Historical usage suggests that this was only used with particle に (ni) as an adverb, and not with particle な (na) or classical なる (naru) as an adjective. When this appears attributively, it is followed by particle の (no),[2][5][4] the usual construction when using a noun to modify another noun.

常 (hiragana とわ, rōmaji towa, historical hiragana とは)

1. constancy, permanence, everlastingness

   Synonym: 常しえ (tokoshie)

常 • (sang) (hangeul 상, revised sang, McCune–Reischauer sang)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

常 (thường, sàn)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.