柳 U+67F3, 柳 ← 柲[U+67F2] CJK Unified Ideographs 柴 →[U+67F4] 柳 U+F9C9, 柳 ← 杻[U+F9C8] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 流 →[U+F9CA]

(Kangxi radical 75, 木+5, 9 strokes, Cangjie input 木竹竹中 (DHHL), four-corner 47920, composition ⿰木卯)

  • 𩋶, 𦵂
  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 521, character 2
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14662
  • Dae Jaweon: page 909, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1187, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+67F3
  • Unihan data for U+F9C9

simp. and trad. alternative forms

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *m·ruʔ): semantic + phonetic (OC *mruːʔ) in oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions.

Later 桺 (semantic + phonetic (OC *luʔ)) in small seal script.

The glyph finally turned back to 木 (mù) + 卯 (mǎo) in the current form.

Smith (2011) reconstructs *[m-]ruʔ, with volitional or agentic prefix *m- (see Sagart, 1999) and root verb 流 (OC r(j)u) “to flow”, resulting in *m-ruu “(cause to flow >) pour out, empty”. If unprefixed, 柳 means “the flowing one”; if prefixed, “the pouring one”. Recall English weeping willow.

  1. willow, a member of the genus Salix
  2. (in compounds) fillet 雞/鸡liǔ ― chicken filletniúliǔ ― beef tenderloin/猪zhūliǔ ― pork filletxièliǔ ― crab stick
  3. (~宿) (Chinese astronomy) Willow mansion (one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions)
  4. a surname 宗元 ― Liǔ ZōngyuánLiu Zongyuan (Tang dynasty writer)
  • Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A01909
  • “柳”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎[3], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014-

(Jōyō kanji)

  • Go-on: (ru)
  • Kan-on: りゅう (ryū, Jōyō)←りう (riu, historical)
  • Kun: やなぎ (yanagi, , Jōyō)、やぎ (yagi, )
  • Nanori: なぎ (nagi)、 (ya)、やい (yai)、やな (yana)、やない (yanai)
  • 御柳(ギョリュウ) (gyoryū)
  • 川柳(せんりゅう) (senryū)
  • 柳葉魚(シシャモ) (shishamo)

Kanji in this term 柳 やなぎGrade: S kun’yomi Alternative spellings 楊楊柳

From Old Japanese. Cognate with Kunigami (yanāji), Miyako (yanagzï), Okinawan (yanaji) (likely all early borrowings from Middle Japanese).

The ultimate derivation is uncertain, with several theories presented in reference works. Some of the main theories:

  • Appears to be derived from a compound, possibly (ya, “arrow”) +‎ (na, Old Japanese apophonic form of possessive particle の (no)) +‎ (ki, “tree”).[1] The ki changes to gi as an instance of rendaku (連(れん)濁(だく)).
  • Alternatively, the ya might be from the 字音 (jion, “character reading”) of Middle Chinese 楊 (MC yang, “willow”) + Japanese (ki, “tree”).[1]

Considering the existence of synonymous form やぎ (yagi) that appears in certain compounds, the medial na element is likely the particle.

First cited to roughly 759 CE, in the Man’yōshū collection of poetry with the phonetic Man’yōgana spelling 也奈宜.[1]

  • (Tokyo) やなぎ [yànágí] (Heiban – [0])[2] – for the noun
  • (Tokyo) やなぎ [yáꜜnàgì] (Atamadaka – [1]) – for the surname
  • IPA(key): [ja̠na̠ɡʲi]

柳(やなぎ) or 柳(ヤナギ) • (yanagi)

  1. , 楊, 楊柳: [circa 759] a willow tree
  2. , 楊柳: [999] a style of 襲の色目 (kasane no irome, “color combination by layering of garments”), with white on the front and greenish-blue (or yellowish-green) on the back
  3. , 楊柳: short for 柳色 (yanagi-iro): a dark yellow-green color, as from a willow leaf
  4. (hanafuda) the willow or rain suit in a hanafuda deck, representing the month of November and the number eleven in most of Japan (June and six in 虫花 (mushibana) decks, February and two in games from the Nagoya region, and December and twelve in Korea) Synonym: 雨 (ame, “rain”)
  • As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ヤナギ (yanagi). As a hanafuda term, it is typically written in kanji, as 柳.
  • In some compounds, yanagi becomes yagi. See that entry for fuller details: やぎ.
  • 柳(やなぎ)は緑(みどり)花(はな)は紅(くれない) (yanagi wa midori hana wa kurenai, “willows are green, flowers are red”)

Hanafuda suits in Japanese · 花札のスート (hanafuda no sūto) (layout · text) 1月 (ichigatsu) 2月 (nigatsu) 3月 (sangatsu) 4月 (shigatsu) 5月 (gogatsu) 6月 (rokugatsu) 松 (matsu) 梅 (ume) 桜 (sakura) 藤 (fuji)黒豆 (kuromame) 菖蒲 (ayame, shōbu)杜若 (kakitsubata) 牡丹 (botan) 7月 (shichigatsu) 8月 (hachigatsu) 9月 (kugatsu) 10月 (jūgatsu) 11月 (jūichigatsu) 12月 (jūnigatsu) 萩 (hagi)赤豆 (akamame) 芒 (susuki)坊主 (bōzu) 菊 (kiku) 紅葉 (momiji) 柳 (yanagi)雨 (ame) 桐 (kiri)

柳(やなぎ) • (Yanagi)

  1. a surname

Kanji in this term 柳 やぎGrade: S kun’yomi For pronunciation and definitions of 柳 – see the following entry. 【やぎ】 [noun] [from 759] willow tree (This term, , is an alternative spelling of the above term.) Kanji in this term 柳 りゅうGrade: S kan’on

/riu/ → /rjuː/

Ultimately from Middle Chinese 柳 (MC ljuwX). While the affix is cited in the 700s with this reading, the proper noun is first cited to a text from the mid-1400s.[3]

  • IPA(key): [ɾʲɨː]

柳(りゅう) • (ryū) ←りう (riu)?

  1. [from 700s] willow, especially weeping willow
  2. [from 700s] thin as a willow leaf

柳(りゅう) • (Ryū) ←りう (Riu)?

  1. [from mid-1400s] (Chinese astronomy) the Willow as one of the twenty-eight mansions Synonym: 柳宿 (Ryūshuku)
  2. a female given name
  3. a surname
  • “柳”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎[4] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015-2026

(eumhun 버들 류 (beodeul ryu), word-initial (South Korea) 버들 유 (beodeul yu))

  1. hanja form? of 류/유 (“willow tree”)

柳: Hán Nôm readings: liễu, lẫu, lãu

  1. chữ Hán form of Liễu (“a surname from Chinese”)

  1. Sawndip form of gyaeuj (“head; headhair”)