苟

See also: 茍

苟 U+82DF, 苟 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-82DF ← 苞つと [U+82DE] CJK Unified Ideographs 苠 → [U+82E0]

Translingual

Han character

苟 (Kangxi radical 140, 艸そうこう+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 廿にじゅう心しん口こう (TPR), four-corner 4462₇, composition ⿱艹句く)

Usage notes

This character is not to be confused with 茍, which contains ⻀ instead of 艹.

Derived characters

• 㺃 㻤 𠸚 𫽚 𣕉 𧛩 𨩦 𮏆 𥰄 𦴳
• 敬けい (Exception: Only for Mainland China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam character. Taiwan and Hong Kong character contain 茍 instead.)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1023, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 30790
• Dae Jaweon: page 1482, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3194, character 12
• Unihan data for U+82DF

Chinese

trad.		苟
simp. #		苟
alternative forms		芶 𠷜 𦯗 𦴆 𦴳

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 苟
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (句く) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
勾	*koː, *koːs
鉤かぎ	*koː
鴝	*koː, *ɡo
句く	*koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo
夠	*koː, *koːs, *kʰoː
枸	*koː, *koːʔ, *koʔ
軥	*koː, *koːs, *ɡo
狗いぬ	*koːʔ
苟	*koːʔ
岣	*koːʔ, *ko
笱	*koːʔ
玽	*koːʔ
耇	*koːʔ
豿	*koːʔ, *qʰroːɡ
敂	*koːʔ
怐	*koːs, *kʰoːs, *qʰoːs, *kos
雊	*koːs
竘	*kʰoːʔ, *kʰoʔ
齁	*qʰoː
呴	*qʰoːʔ, *qʰos
蚼	*qʰoːʔ, *ɡo
豞	*qʰoːs
訽	*qʰoːs, *ɡoːs
佝	*qʰoːs
拘かかわ	*ko
駒こま	*ko
眗	*ko
跔	*ko
鮈	*ko
痀	*ko
蒟	*koʔ, *kos
絇	*kos, *ɡo
邭	*kos
劬	*ɡo
朐	*ɡo
鼩	*ɡo
斪	*ɡo
翑	*ɡo
葋	*ɡo
姁	*ɡo, *qʰo, *qʰoʔ, *qʰos
欨	*qʰo, *qʰoʔ
喣	*qʰoʔ
煦	*qʰoʔ, *qʰos
昫	*qʰos

Phono-semantic compound (形聲けいせい／形声けいせい, OC *koːʔ) : semantic 艹 + phonetic 句く (OC *koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo) – a kind of grass, in original sense.

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): gǒu (gou³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄡˇ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): gou⁴ / gou³

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): gau²

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): geu²

• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): kiéu

  (Meixian, Guangdong): gêu³

• Northern Min (KCR): gě
• Eastern Min (BUC): gēu
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): kió / kó͘

  (Teochew, Peng'im): gou²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gǒu
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄡˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gǒu
    • Wade–Giles: kou³
    • Yale: gǒu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: goou
    • Palladius: гоу (gou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /koʊ̯²¹⁴/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: gou⁴ / gou³
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: gou / gou
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kəu²¹³/, /kəu⁵³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gau²
    • Yale: gáu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gau²
    • Guangdong Romanization: geo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɐu̯³⁵/
  • (Taishanese, Taicheng)
    • Wiktionary: geu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /keu⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kiéu
    • Hakka Romanization System: gieu^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gieu³
    • Sinological IPA: /ki̯eu̯³¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: gêu³
    • Sinological IPA: /keu³¹/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: gě
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ke²¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gēu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɛu³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kió
    • Tâi-lô: kió
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kioir
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kio⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kó͘
    • Tâi-lô: kóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kor
    • IPA (Taipei, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kɔ⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kɔ⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: gou²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kóu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kou⁵²/

---

• Middle Chinese: kuwX

Rime
Character	苟
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲こえ)	見み (28)
Final (韻いん)	侯ほう (137)
Tone (調しらべ)	Rising (X)
Openness (開ひらき合あい)	Open
Division (等ひとし)	I
Fanqie	古ふる厚あつ切きり
Baxter	kuwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kəuX/
Pan Wuyun	/kəuX/
Shao Rongfen	/kəuX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kəwX/
Li Rong	/kuX/
Wang Li	/kəuX/
Bernard Karlgren	/kə̯uX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gǒu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gau2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[k]ˤ(r)oʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*koːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	苟
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	gǒu
Middle Chinese	‹ kuwX ›
Old Chinese	/*[k]ˁ(r)oʔ/
English	if really
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	苟
Reading #	1/1
No.	7069
Phonetic component	句く
Rime group	侯ほう
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	苟
Old Chinese	/*koːʔ/

Definitions

苟

1. careless; casual; indifferent

   一絲いっし不ふ苟／一いち丝不苟  ―  yīsībùgǒu  ―  to not be the least bit negligent

2. casually; carelessly

   苟同どう  ―  gǒutóng  ―  to readily agree

3. tentatively; for the time being

   • 苟全ちょん性せい命いのち於亂世らんせい，不ふ求もとむ聞達ぶんたつ於諸侯しょこう。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     苟全ちょん性せい命いのち于乱世らんせい，不ふ求もとむ闻达于诸侯。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 227, 諸しょ葛かずら亮あきら (Zhūgě Liàng) (Zhuge Liang), 出師すいし表ひょう

     Gǒuquán xìngmìng yú luànshì, bù qiú wèndá yú zhūhóu. [Pinyin]

     For the time being, I did what I could to survive the chaotic times, and never wished to become eminent among the nobles.

4. (literary) if only; if

   • 苟能のう充たかし之これ，足あし以保ほ四海しかい；苟不ふ充たかし之これ，不ふ足あし以事こと父母ちちはは。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Gǒu néng chōng zhī, zúyǐ bǎo sìhǎi; gǒu bù chōng zhī, bù zúyǐ shì fùmǔ. [Pinyin]

     If the four principles can be developed, men will be capable of living and protecting all within the four seas; if the four principles are not developed, men will not be capable of serving their parents.

   • 苟利り國家こっか生死せいし以，豈あに因いん禍福かふく避趨之これ？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     苟利り国家こっか生死せいし以，岂因いん祸福避趋之これ？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1842, Lin Zexu, 《赴戍登とう程ほど口くち占うらない示しめせ家人かじん》

     Gǒu lì guójiā shēngsǐ yǐ, qǐ yīn huòfú bìqū zhī? [Pinyin]

     Were it to benefit my country I would lay down my life; What then is risk to me?

5. ^† a type of grass
6. a surname

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 如果 (“if”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		若わか, 假かり, 如, 使つかい, 令れい, 苟, 向むかい, 向こう使つかい, 向こう令れい, 假令たとい, 假かり使つかい, 誠まこと, 誠まこと使し, 倘, 儻, 當とう使つかい
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		若わか, 如, 如果, 若わか果はて, 果はて若わか, 假かり如, 假かり若わか, 假かり使つかい, 假設かせつ, 倘若, 倘或, 倘然, 倘使, 若わか是ぜ, 若わか然しか, 設しつらえ若わか, 設しつらえ使し, 設しつらえ令れい, 設しつらえ或ある, 設しつらえ
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	要よう是ぜ, 要よう
	Taiwan	要よう是ぜ, 要よう, 如果
	Malaysia	如果
	Singapore	如果
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	要よう是ぜ
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	要よう是ぜ
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	要よう是ぜ, 假かり比ひ
	Wuhan	要よう是ぜ
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	要よう是ぜ, 要よう, 假かり使つかい
	Hefei	要よう是ぜ, 倘此, 倘倘
Cantonese	Guangzhou	如果, 若わか果はて, 若わか然しか, 假かり使つかい間あいだ
	Hong Kong	如果, 若わか果はて, 若わか然しか, 若わか然しか之これ, 假かり使つかい, 假かり使つかい間あいだ, 假かり如
	Macau	假かり如
	Taishan	如果, 假かり使つかい
	Yangjiang	設しつらえ若わか
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	如果
	Singapore (Guangfu)	如果
Gan	Nanchang	要よう是ぜ, 若わか是ぜ
	Lichuan	假かり使つかい
Hakka	Meixian	係かかり話ばなし, 若わか係かかり, 如果
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	若わか果はて, 係かかり講こう, 係かかり話ばなし
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	係かかり講こう, 若わか係かかり, 假かり使つかい
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	係かかり講こう, 係かかり準じゅん, 係かかり準じゅん講こう, 準じゅん講こう, 準じゅん假かり, 係かかり若わか, 若わか係かかり, 假かり使つかい, 假かり詐いつわり
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	係かかり講こう, 若わか係かかり, 假かり使つかい
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	準じゅん講こう, 可か比ひ, 假かり使つかい, 係かかり講こう, 若わか係かかり, 若わか係かかり講こう, 準じゅん若わか講こう
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	係かかり講こう, 若わか係かかり, 假かり使つかい
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	若わか係かかり講こう, 假かり使つかい, 若わか講こう, 係かかり講こう, 若わか係かかり
	Kuching (Hepo)	假かり使つかい
Jin	Taiyuan	要よう是ぜ
Northern Min	Jian'ou	來らい是ぜ, 如果
	Pucheng (Shibei)	來らい是ぜ, 如果
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	儷是, 若わか還かえ
Southern Min	Xiamen	設しつらえ使し, 若わか是ぜ, 若わか, 若わか欲よく是ただし, 假かり若わか, 假かり若わか是ぜ, 欲よく, 欲よく是ただし, 甲きのえ若わか, 甲きのえ若わか是これ
	Quanzhou	設しつらえ使し, 若わか是ぜ, 若わか, 若わか欲よく是ただし, 假かり若わか, 假かり若わか是ぜ, 欲よく, 欲よく是ただし
	Zhangzhou	設しつらえ使し, 若わか是ぜ, 若わか, 假かり若わか, 假かり若わか是ぜ, 欲よく, 欲よく是ただし, 甲きのえ若わか, 甲きのえ若わか是これ
	Tainan	若わか是ぜ, 若わか準じゅん, 若わか, 假かり使つかい, 設しつらえ使し
	Penang (Hokkien)	若わか是ぜ, 若わか準じゅん
	Singapore (Hokkien)	若わか是ぜ
	Manila (Hokkien)	若わか是ぜ, 若わか, 假かり使つかい
	Chaozhou	若わか是ぜ
	Shantou	如果
	Jieyang	若わか, 若わか是ぜ
	Singapore (Teochew)	若わか是ぜ
Wu	Shanghai	要よう是ぜ, 如果, 假かり使つかい, 倘然, 倘使, 是ぜ得とく
	Suzhou	要よう, 如果
	Wenzhou	若わか是ぜ, 若わか
Xiang	Changsha	要よう是ぜ
	Shuangfeng	要よう是ぜ, 要よう此

Compounds

• 一いち字じ不ふ苟
• 一絲いっし不ふ苟／一いち丝不苟 (yīsībùgǒu)
• 不ふ苟 (bùgǒu)
• 不ふ苟且
• 不ふ苟言笑げんしょう (bùgǒuyánxiào)
• 不ふ苟言談だん／不ふ苟言谈
• 偷合苟容
• 偷生苟活
• 因循いんじゅん苟且 (yīnxúngǒuqiě)
• 媮合苟容／偷合苟容
• 方正ほうせい不ふ苟
• 狗いぬ苟
• 狗いぬ苟蠅營／狗いぬ苟蝇营
• 畏かしこ難なん苟安／畏かしこ难苟安やす (wèinángǒu'ān)
• 臨財不ふ苟／临财不ふ苟
• 臨財苟得／临财苟得
• 臨難苟免／临难苟免 (línnàngǒumiǎn)
• 苟且 (gǒuqiě)
• 苟且偷安
• 苟且偷生 (gǒuqiětōushēng)
• 苟且唐とう塞ふさが
• 苟且自じ度ど
• 苟免 (gǒumiǎn)
• 苟全 (gǒuquán)
• 苟同 (gǒutóng)
• 苟合 (gǒuhé)
• 苟合取と容よう
• 苟存
• 苟安 (gǒu'ān)
• 苟安一隅いちぐう
• 苟容
• 苟容曲きょく從したがえ／苟容曲きょく从
• 苟延殘ざん喘／苟延残ざん喘 (gǒuyáncánchuǎn)
• 苟延殘ざん息いき／苟延残ざん息いき
• 苟弟轉てん酷こく／苟弟转酷
• 苟得
• 苟政
• 苟活
• 苟為／苟为
• 苟然
• 苟營／苟营
• 苟生
• 苟留殘ざん喘／苟留残ざん喘
• 苟祿／苟禄
• 苟簡／苟简
• 苟言
• 苟非
• 蠅はえ營狗苟／蝇营狗いぬ苟 (yíngyínggǒugǒu)
• 行くだり不ふ苟合 (xíngbùgǒuhé)
• 行くだり不ふ苟容

 

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 苟 – see 茍 (“to be circumspect or cautious in one's behaviour ”). (This character is recorded in one or more historical dictionaries as a variant form of 茍).

References

• “苟”, in 漢語かんご多功たこう能のう字じ庫こ (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港ほんこん中ちゅう文ぶん大學だいがく (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

苟

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. any, at all, in the least

Readings

• Go-on: く (ku)
• Kan-on: こう (kō)
• Kun: いやしくも (iyashikumo, 苟いやしくも)

Derived terms

• 苟安(こうあん) (kōan)
• 苟合(こうごう) (kōgō)
• 苟且(こうしょ) (kōsho)
• 苟且(かりそめ) (karisome)

Korean

Hanja

苟 (eumhun 진실로 구 (jinsillo gu))

1. hanja form^? of 구 (“careless, frivolous”)
2. hanja form^? of 구 (“illicit”)
3. hanja form^? of 구 (“if, but, if only”)

Vietnamese

Han character

苟: Hán Nôm readings: cẩu

1. (Tính) Cẩu thả, ẩu, bừa. ◎Như: "nhất bút bất cẩu" 一いち筆ぴつ不ふ苟 một nét không cẩu thả.

2. (Phó) Tạm, tạm bợ. ◎Như: "cẩu an đán tịch" 苟安旦夕たんせき tạm yên sớm tối, "cẩu toàn tính mệnh" 苟全性せい命いのち tạm cầu cho còn tính mạng, "cẩu hợp" 苟合 lấy vợ lấy chồng không có đủ lễ chính đáng (không tính chuyện lâu dài).

Zhuang

Noun

苟

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