他

他 U+4ED6, 他 ← 仕[U+4ED5] CJK Unified Ideographs 仗 →[U+4ED7] Stroke order Stroke order

他 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 人心木 (OPD), four-corner 24212, composition ⿰亻也)

• 咃, 𢫌, 𭰃, 𭩬, 𥅂, 𥿞, 𮕴, 𧦭(𬣢), 𫴞, 𦭟, 𮅅, 𤵩, 怹

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 92, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 370
• Dae Jaweon: page 195, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 115, character 6
• Unihan data for U+4ED6

Not to be confused with unrelated 也

trad. 他 simp. # 他

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *l̥ʰaːl): semantic 亻 (“man”) + phonetic 也 (OC *laːlʔ).

Corrupted form of 佗 (OC *l̥ʰaːl, *l’aːl), which is found in Zuozhuan.

Etymology not clear (Schuessler, 2007). Perhaps cognate with 誃 (OC *l’al, *l̥ʰjalʔ, “to separate”).

The modern sense of “he, she, it” only emerged after the Han period in colloquial passages, and displaced classical 其 (OC *ɡɯ) and 之 (OC *tjɯ) in Mandarin dialects (Pulleyblank, 1995).

The phonological development from Middle Chinese was irregular. The expected reflex is tuō, which is sometimes used in literary contexts for the classical “other” sense, but in most Mandarin dialects it is read like tā.

他

1. (chiefly Mandarin, Jin, Xiang, dialectal Wu, originally gender-neutral; nowadays usually referring to males) he; him; she; her 他去了。 ― Tā qù le. ― He went away. 我認識他。／我认识他。 ― Wǒ rènshi tā. ― I know him.
   • 士為將軍何可羞，六月重茵披豹裘，不識寒暑斷他頭。雄兒田蘭為報仇，中夜斬首謝并州。 [MSC, trad.]士为将军何可羞，六月重茵披豹裘，不识寒暑断他头。雄儿田兰为报仇，中夜斩首谢并州。 [MSC, simp.]From: 并州歌Shì wèi jiāngjūn hé kě xiū, liù yuè zhòng yīn pī bào qiú, bù shí hán shǔ duàn tā tóu. Xióng ér tián lán wèi bàochóu, zhōng yè zhǎnshǒu xiè bìngzhōu. [Pinyin](please add an English translation of this usage example)
   • 萬物是藉著他造的；凡被造的，沒有一樣不是藉著他造的。 [MSC, trad.]万物是借着他造的；凡被造的，没有一样不是借着他造的。 [MSC, simp.]From: 新標點和合本 (Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation), 約翰福音 (John) 1:3Wànwù shì jièzhe tā zào de; fán bèi zào de, méiyǒu yī yàng bùshì jièzhe tā zào de. [Pinyin]All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
   • 他也不怕狼蟲，不懼虎豹，登上山頂上觀看。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]他也不怕狼虫，不惧虎豹，登上山顶上观看。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]From: Wu Cheng’en, Journey to the West, 16th century CE, translation from The Journey to the West (2012), by Anthony C. YuTā yě bù pà lángchóng, bù jù hǔbào, dēng shàng shāndǐng shàng guānkàn. [Pinyin]Since he was afraid neither of wolves and lizards nor of tigers and leopards, [he] went straight to the mountaintop to look around.
   • 我這女學生名叫黛玉。他讀書，凡『敏』字，他皆念作『密』字；寫字，遇著『敏』字亦減一二筆。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]我这女学生名叫黛玉。他读书，凡『敏』字，他皆念作『密』字；写字，遇著『敏』字亦减一二笔。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18th century CEWǒ zhè nǚxuéshēng míng jiào Dàiyù. Tā dú shū, fán ‘mǐn’ zì, tā jiē niàn zuò ‘mì’ zì; xiě zì, yù zhù ‘mǐn’ zì yì jiǎn yī’èr bǐ. [Pinyin]My current girl-pupil – named Daiyu, whenever she reads, she pronounces every character mǐn (敏 “hasty”) as mì (密 “honey”); whenever [she] writes, [she] lessens every character 敏’s number of strokes by one or two.
2. A dummy pronoun. Compare object pronoun 之 (zhī) Alternative form: 它 睡他個昏天黑地／睡他个昏天黑地 ― shuì tā ge hūntiānhēidì ― sleep like there’s no tomorrow
3. other; another 別無他求／别无他求 ― bié wú tā qiú ― have no other request (formal)
4. a surname

• (personal pronoun):
  • Originally gender-neutral before the 1910s, when the character 她 (tā, “she; her”) was coined; now usually refers to males (also occasionally refers to females).
    • However, 他／她／牠／它／祂 (tā) is only a written distinction; they are all still pronounced as tā.
  • This term can refer to a person of unknown gender or there is no need to mention gender of the person referred to, while 他/她 (gender binary) is also used; see also Internet slang TA (tā, “they (singular)”).

Most of the words in the table below are gender-neutral in spoken form.

• (neologism, rare, specifically male) 𲰼 (tā)
• (neologism, rare, specifically gender neutral) 𲎿 (tā)

• 其 (qí)

• Wutunhua: ta (“he; she; it”)

他

1. Used in transcription.

他

1. alternative form of 馱 / 驮

• “他”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎[2], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014-

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: た (ta, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: た (ta, Jōyō)
• Kun: ほか (hoka, 他, Jōyō)
• Nanori: おさ (osa)、ひと (hito)、ほか (hoka)

Kanji in this term 他 ほかGrade: 3 kun’yomi Alternative spelling 外

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *poka.

Related to Baekje ホカ (*poka, “outside”),[1] compare Korean 밖 (bak, “outside”).

• (Tokyo) ほか [hòká] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
• IPA(key): [ho̞ka̠]

他(ほか) • (hoka)

1. another, other, some other, the rest この他(ほか)にも行(ゆ)き先(さき)がありますか。Kono hoka ni mo yukisaki ga arimasu ka.Do you have any other destinations? 他(ほか)にだれが手(て)伝(つだ)いに行(い)きますか。Hoka ni dare ga tetsudai ni ikimasu ka.Who else will go to help you?

• 他(ほか)ならぬ (hokanaranu)
• その他(ほか) (sono hoka)

1. 他(ほか)でもない (hoka de mo nai): “there isn’t anything else” → “specifically what I want to say is…” (used to emphasize what one is about to say)

Kanji in this term 他 たGrade: 3 on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 他 (MC tha).

• (Tokyo) た [táꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3]
• IPA(key): [ta̠]

他(た) • (ta)

1. another, other, some other この事(じ)業(ぎょう)は他(た)を利(り)するために開(かい)始(し)されました。Kono jigyō wa ta o risuru tame ni kaishi saremashita.This project was started in order to benefit others.

• その他(た) (sono ta)

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

他 (eumhun 남 타 (nam ta))

1. hanja form? of 타 (“another, other, some other”)

他: Hán Việt readings: tha[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] 他: Nôm readings: thà[1][2][3][4][5][6][7], thơ[1][2][3][4], tha[1][2][3][7], thè[3][4], thá[1], thả[1], thoa[1], xoa[1], đà[2]

1. chữ Nôm form of tha
   1. to forgive
   2. (of animals) to carry with the mouth
   3. used in tha ma (“(informal) graveyard”)
   4. used in thiết tha (“earnest; ardent; fervent”)
   5. used in thướt tha (“elegant”)
2. chữ Nôm form of thà
   1. (before verbs) used to signify a better choice or preference
   2. used in thật thà, thực thà (“truthful; honest; sincere”)
3. chữ Nôm form of thả (“to release; to let go; to set free”)
4. chữ Nôm form of thoa (“alternative form of xoa (“to apply, to put, to rub substances or liquids”)”)
5. chữ Nôm form of thơ
   1. young; tender
   2. used in thơ thẩn (“to wander with vague thoughts”)
6. chữ Nôm form of xoa (“to rub; to put; to apply; to smear”)

他

1. Sawndip form of de (“he, she, it”)