草

See also: 艸
草 U+8349, 草
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8349
← 荈
[U+8348] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 荊 →
[U+834A]

Translingual
Stroke order

Han character

草 (radical 140, 艸+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 廿日十 (TAJ), four-corner 44406, composition ⿱艹早)

Derived characters
  • 𠹊, 愺, 𭡶, 𣺞, 𦞻, 𬃸, 𬊳, 𨕡, 騲(𮪤), 𮏱, 𢾳, 𬞁, 𮑅, 𠌓, 䓥, 𭆍, 𤌸

References
  • KangXi: page 1030, character 17
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30945
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1489, character 14
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 5, page 3203, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+8349

Chinese
trad. 草
simp. # 草

Glyph origin
Historical forms of the character 草
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (早) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
早 *ʔsuːʔ
草 *sʰuːʔ
愺 *sʰuːʔ
騲 *sʰuːʔ
皁 *zuːʔ
皂 *zuːʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *sʰuːʔ) : semantic 艸 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 早 (OC *ʔsuːʔ). Originally referred to 皂, and later borrowed for the “grass” sense, replacing 艸.

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-tswa-n (“grass”); cognate with Tibetan རྩྭ (rtswa, “grass”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

Alternatively, it may be related to 芻 (OC *sʰro, “hay”), from Austroasiatic; compare Mon ချဲ (“grass; weeds; hay”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation
Note:
  • chháu - vernacular;
  • chhó/chhó͘ - literary.
Note:
  • co2 - vernacular;
  • cao2 - literary.
  • Dialectal data▼
Variety Location 草
Mandarin Beijing /t͡sʰɑu²¹⁴/
Harbin /t͡sʰau²¹³/
Tianjin /t͡sʰɑu¹³/
Jinan /t͡sʰɔ⁵⁵/
Qingdao /t͡sʰɔ⁵⁵/
Zhengzhou /t͡sʰau⁵³/
Xi'an /t͡sʰau⁵³/
Xining /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
Yinchuan /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
Lanzhou /t͡sʰɔ⁴⁴²/
Ürümqi /t͡sʰɔ⁵¹/
Wuhan /t͡sʰau⁴²/
Chengdu /t͡sʰau⁵³/
Guiyang /t͡sʰao⁴²/
Kunming /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
Nanjing /t͡sʰɔo²¹²/
Hefei /t͡sʰɔ²⁴/
Jin Taiyuan /t͡sʰau⁵³/
Pingyao /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
Hohhot /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
Wu Shanghai /t͡sʰɔ³⁵/
Suzhou /t͡sʰæ⁵¹/
Hangzhou /t͡sʰɔ⁵³/
Wenzhou /t͡sʰɜ³⁵/
Hui Shexian /t͡sʰɔ³⁵/
Tunxi /t͡sʰə³¹/
Xiang Changsha /t͡sʰau⁴¹/
Xiangtan /t͡sʰaɯ⁴²/
Gan Nanchang /t͡sʰɑu²¹³/
Hakka Meixian /t͡sʰau³¹/
Taoyuan /t͡sʰo³¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /t͡sʰou³⁵/
Nanning /t͡sʰu³⁵/
Hong Kong /t͡sʰou³⁵/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /t͡sʰo⁵³/
/t͡sʰau⁵³/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /t͡sʰau³²/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /t͡sʰau²¹/
Shantou (Min Nan) /t͡sʰau⁵³/
/t͡sʰo⁵³/
Haikou (Min Nan) /sau²¹³/
Rime
Character 草
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 清 (14)
Final (韻) 豪 (89)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 采老切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /t͡sʰɑuX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /t͡sʰɑuX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /t͡sʰɑuX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /t͡sʰawX/
Li
Rong		 /t͡sʰɑuX/
Wang
Li		 /t͡sʰɑuX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /t͡sʰɑuX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 cǎo
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 草 草
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 cǎo cǎo
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ tshawX › ‹ tshawX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[tsʰ]ˁuʔ/ /*[tsʰ]ˁuʔ/
English grass, plants rough, coarse

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 草
Reading # 1/1
No. 16547
Phonetic
component		 早
Rime
group		 幽
Rime
subdivision		 1
Corresponding
MC rime		 草
Old
Chinese		 /*sʰuːʔ/
Notes 說文作艸

Definitions

草

  1. grass; straw; thatch
  2. herbal grasses; herbs
  3. (by extension) any such green, leafy plant without any bark (plants, not trees)
  4. draft; sketch
  5. sloppy; hasty
  6. (calligraphy) Short for 草書／草书 (cǎoshū, “cursive script (grass script)”).
    1. cursive
  7. (chemistry) oxalic
  8. (slang, euphemistic, Internet slang) Alternative form of 肏 (cào, “fuck”).

Compounds
Derived terms from 草

Etymology 2
For pronunciation and definitions of 草 – see 皂 (“black; acorn; etc.”).
(This character, 草, is a variant form of 皂.)

Etymology 3

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 草

Definitions

草

  1. (neologism, Internet slang) LOL
    草（中日雙語） / 草（中日双语）  ―  cǎo (zhōngrì shuāngyǔ)  ―  fuck lmao

Japanese

Kanji
草

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds
Compounds

References
  • New Nelson: 5032
  • Halpern: 2263
  • Halpern Learners: 1450
  • Heisig: 224
  • Tuttle Kanji Dictionary: 3k6.13
  1. Source: EDICT and KANJIDIC files licensed by the Electronic Dictionaries Research Group.

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
草
くさ
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kusa. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

The development of the fake, amateur senses is unclear.

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

草 (hiragana くさ, rōmaji kusa)

  1. grass
    草 (くさ)を刈 (か)る
    kusa o karu
    to cut grass
    Synonym: 芝生 (shibafu) (in reference to a lawn)
  2. a weed
  3. a herb
    Synonyms: ハーブ (hābu), 薬草 (yakusō) (medicinal), 香草 (kōsō) (cooking)
  4. a scout, a spy (from the way one would hide in the grass to observe enemy troops)
  5. (figuratively, slang, rare) pubic hair

Prefix

草 (hiragana くさ, rōmaji kusa-)

  1. a fake, a mimic, not the real thing
    草 (くさ)蜉蝣 (かげろう)
    kusakagerō
    a lacewing fly (literally, “fake or mimic dragonfly”, from the visual resemblance)
  2. amateur, small-time
    草 (くさ)野 (や)球 (きゅう)、草 (くさ)競 (けい)馬 (ば)
    kusayakyū, kusakeiba
    amateur or pick-up baseball, small-time horse-racing

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
草
そう
Grade: 1
on’yomi

/sau/ → /sɔː/ → /soː/

From Middle Chinese 草 (MC t͡sʰɑuX).

Pronunciation

Noun

草 (hiragana そう, rōmaji sō, historical hiragana さう)

  1. grass
  2. a draft, a rough copy
  3. cursive, calligraphy in a running hand
  4. something unofficial, an informal abbreviation or knock-off
Synonyms

Etymology 3
Kanji in this term
草
くさ
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From the resemblance of multiple repetitions of w (“LOL”) to grass: wwwwwwwww.

Possibly influenced by the term くすくす (kusukusu), an adverb indicating stifled laughter. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Noun

草 (hiragana くさ, rōmaji kusa)

  1. (Internet slang) "grass", in reference to the expression w (“LOL”); LOLs

Phrase

草 (hiragana くさ, rōmaji kusa)

  1. Short for 草生える (kusa haeru): (Internet slang) …it's hilarious
    鯖 (さば)落 (お)ちて草 (くさ)
    saba ochite kusa
    lol the server's down
    下 (へ)手 (た)すぎて草 (くさ)
    heta-sugite kusa
    hilariously shitty
    4日 (よっか)しかないのは草 (くさ)
    yokka shika nai no wa kusa
    I've got only 4 days left lol
Derived terms
  • 大草原 (だいそうげん) (daisōgen, literally “great fields of grass”)
  • 草 (くさ)生 (は)える (kusahaeru, literally “grass grows”)
  • 草 (くさ)不 (ふ)可 (か)避 (ひ) (kusafukahi, literally “grass unavoidable”)
  • 草 (くさ)に草 (くさ)生 (は)やすな (kusa ni kusa hayasu-na, literally “don't grow grass near grass”)

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

Korean

Hanja

草 (eumhun 풀 초 (pul cho))

  1. grass

Vietnamese

Han character

草 (thảo, tháu, xáo)

  1. grass
  2. straw
  3. thatch
  4. herbs

References
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