年

年 U+5E74, 年 ← 平[U+5E73] CJK Unified Ideographs 幵 →[U+5E75] 年 U+F98E, 年 ← 轢[U+F98D] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 憐 →[U+F98F] Stroke order Stroke order

年 (Kangxi radical 51, 干+3, 6 strokes, Cangjie input 人手 (OQ), four-corner 80500, composition ⿱𠂉㐄 or ⿻午⿱一丨 or ⿻午丄)

• 哖, 姩, 脌, 鵇

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 340, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9168
• Dae Jaweon: page 648, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 37, character 6
• Unihan data for U+5E74

• Unihan data for U+F98E

simp. and trad. 年 alternative forms

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *niːŋ): semantic 禾 (“wheat; grain”) + phonetic 人 (OC *njin). Originally meaning “harvest”, it later came to mean “year”. In the oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions, it was originally written like 秂.

In bronze inscriptions after the Western Zhou period, a stroke was often added to 人 to give 千 (OC *sn̥ʰiːn), which still acted as a phonetic component, thus getting (秊). The current form is inherited from the clerical script, where libian (隸變) has occurred.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni(ŋ~k) (“year”).

年

1. year (in generic contexts) 明年 ― míngnián ― next year 2012年 ― 2012 nián ― the year of 2012
2. harvest 豐年／丰年 ― fēngnián ― year with a good harvest
3. annual 年報／年报 ― niánbào ― annual report
4. age 年滿二十／年满二十 ― nián mǎn èrshí ― to reach twenty years of age 延年益壽／延年益寿 ― yánniányìshòu ― to prolong life
5. period of life 童年 ― tóngnián ― childhood
6. period (in history) 清朝末年 ― Qīngcháo mònián ― last years of the Qing dynasty
7. Chinese New Year 過年／过年 ― guònián ― to spend the Chinese New Year
8. things for the Chinese New Year 年糕 ― niángāo ― nian gao 年貨／年货 ― niánhuò ― New Year purchases
9. Classifier for years. 兩年前／两年前 [Cantonese] ― loeng5 nin4 cin4 [Jyutping] ― two years ago
10. a surname 年羹堯／年羹尧 ― Nián Gēngyáo ― Nian Gengyao

• Although 年 is the generic term for year, years of age are typically expressed in 歲／岁 (suì), a separate system based on the duodecennial orbital period of Jupiter. Ages in 歲／岁 (suì) are traditionally reckoned using the Chinese lunar calendar, beginning with 1 at the moment of birth and increasing not during birthdays but at the Chinese New Year.

• 歲／岁 (suì)
• 秋 (qiū)

Others:

• Wutunhua: nian
• → Zhuang: nienz

• “年”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014-
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A01194
• “年”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2026.
• “年”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2026.

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: ねん (nen, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: でん (den)
• Kun: とし (toshi, 年, Jōyō)、とせ (tose, 年)、よわい (yowai, 年)←よはひ (yofafi, 年, historical)、みのり (minori, 年)
• Nanori: ね (ne)

Kanji in this term 年 ねんGrade: 1 on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 年 (nen, “year”). Compare modern Mandarin reading nián, Hakka ngièn, Cantonese nin4.

• (Tokyo) ねん [néꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
• IPA(key): [nẽ̞ɴ]

年(ねん) • (-nen)

1. years

年(ねん) • (nen)

1. a year 年(ねん)に一(いち)度(ど)nen ni ichidoonce a year

年(ねん) • (-nen)

1. a grade, a school year 彼(かれ)は中(ちゅう)学(がく) ２(に)年(ねん)だ。Kare wa chūgaku ni-nen da.He’s in the second year in junior high school.
   • な、なんだおまえら⁉Na, nan da o-maera⁉Wh-Who the hell are you!?１(いち)年(ねん) １(いち)組(くみ)っ‼ 夏(なつ)木(き)六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)ぃ‼Ichi-nen ichi-kumi’‼ Natsuki Musashī‼Class-1 freshman!! Musashi Natsuki!!同(おな)じく轟(とどろき)嵐(らん)子(こ)！Onajiku Todoroki Ranko!Same here, Ranko Todoroki!
2. a year 2008(にせんはち)年(ねん)に橋(はし)を建(けん)設(せつ)し始(はじ)めるようだ。Nisenhachi-nen ni hashi o kensetsu shi hajimeru yō da.It seems like they will start constructing the bridge in (the year) 2008.

Kanji in this term 年 としGrade: 1 kun’yomi Alternative spelling 歳

⟨to2si⟩ → /tosi/ → /toɕi/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *təsi. Originally referred to grain, particularly rice, and by extension, the year’s harvest.[2]

• (Tokyo) とし [tòshíꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[1]
• IPA(key): [to̞ɕi]

年(とし) • (toshi)

1. (obsolete) grain, particularly rice
2. (obsolete) a grain harvest, a grain crop
3. a year
4. age
5. (specifically) used to describe the age of someone who should not do things inappropriate for their age Synonym: いいとし (ii toshi) 歳(とし)なのでtoshi nanodebecause one is no longer young

Kanji in this term 年 とせGrade: 1 kun’yomi

/to2se/ → /tose/

From Old Japanese.[2] Likely a shift in pronunciation from 年(とし) (toshi).

• IPA(key): [to̞se̞]

年(とせ) • (-tose)

1. (obsolete) used to count years
   • , text [2]: 阿麻社迦留(あまざかる)、比奈尓伊都(ひなにいつ)等世(とせ)、周麻比都都(すまひつつ)、美夜故能提夫利(みやこのてぶり)、和周良延尓家利(わすらえにけり)Amazakaru, hina ni itsu tose, sumahitsutsu, miyako no teburi, wasuraenikeriWhile living five years in the far-remote countryside, I wound up forgetting the manners of the capital

• “年”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎[3] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015-2026

From Middle Chinese 年 (MC nen).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ɲʌ̹n] ~ [jʌ̹n]
• Phonetic hangul: [년/연]

年 (eumhun 해 년 (hae nyeon), word-initial (South Korea) 해 연 (hae yeon))

1. hanja form? of 년/연 (“year”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [4]

年: Hán Việt readings: niên[1][2][3] 年: Nôm readings: năm[1][2][3][4], nên[1][2][3], niên[1][2][4], niền[2]

1. chữ Hán form of niên (“year”)
2. chữ Nôm form of năm (“year”)